DIVERS AND THEIR WORK
This page is dedicated to divers and undersea explorers and their work.
Above: A diver setting up on a "come-along," or ratchet chain hoist.
From the first time someone lost a valuable object underwater and someone else was willing to go get it--for a price--there have been commercial divers. It wasn't until the late 1940's and early 1950's that people could engage in recreational diving. Before that time, all divers were working divers, engaged in either exploration, salvage, or military work. The military, in particular the navies of the world, led the way in innovation in diving and salvage equipment and training from the late 1700's to the 1950's. It was not until the offshore oil boom in the 1950's that private industry leapt ahead of the military in technological progress. Commercial divers today work at a variety of tasks from salvaging ships to scientific research to offshore oil platform construction and inspection. This page contains a sample of notable divers and photos of divers and their work. Enjoy.
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Left: Max "Gene" Nohl getting dressed in for the first record-setting civilian mixed-gas dive. On December 1, 1937, Nohl descended to 420 feet in Lake Michigan, wearing on his back high pressure cylinders containing a helium-oxygen mixture. Nohl went on to become one of the founders of DESCO Diving Equipment and was instrumental in designing the DESCO Jack Browne mask, which is still in production today. Max Nohl and his wife were killed in a car accident in the 1960's. |
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Right: Norman "The Black Prawn" Feltham in a photo taken in 1958. The Black Prawn was born in England in 1916, and in 1950 he and his wife Lucy moved to Hong Kong. Over the course of a career spanning 21 years, the Black Prawn recovered more than twenty ships and an oil rig. Because of his efforts he was awarded an MBE by the Queen in 1966. He retired in 1971 and subsequently returned to England, where he passed away in 1983. |
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Below: A very dramatic photo of North Sea diver/welder Danny Bowman welding in a hyperbaric system off the BP Forties Alpha Platform in 1980. The welding must be done in a dry environment and uses a process called inner-shield, which is like MIG or TIG welding. He is wearing an AGA mask with welding shield and a dry suit and is working at a depth of about 230 feet.
Above is the Ninian Central Production Platform, located in the North Sea. When this photo was taken in 1983, this platform was producing 307,000 barrels of oil per day. It has a cement protective wall, called the Jarlin Wall, which runs from about 100 feet above the surface of the water to the sea bed 574 feet below and protects the structural supports of the platform structure from wave action. Divers periodically have to dive to the bottom of the Jarlin Wall to inspect the wall and clear away debris which could cause dissimilar metal corrosion. The only way to dive the wall is through the top of the wall in a diving bell.
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In this picture you can see the diver being hauled up from the water to the diving area by a stage. In some cases the dive area is over 150 feet above the water. If the diver were facing surface decompression, a normal practice for air range divers (0-165 feet) in the North Sea, this would require a fast trip to the surface, with the diver trying to get as much gear off as possible as he is being hauled up. In surface decompression, or Sur-D-02 diving, the diver has to go from his 30-foot decompression stop to surface and back down to 40 feet in a chamber in less than 3 minutes to avoid getting the bends. Once in the chamber the diver could be brought back to surface in a slow and controlled manner. This is much safer and more comfortable for the diver as opposed to in-water decompression. |
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Here is a picture of a two-man Sub Sea saturation bell. This bell was used to transfer divers from the surface habitat system on a ship or oil rig down to their job, which in some cases was in over 1000 feet of water. Once the divers reached the bottom they would pressurize the inside of the bell to the exact bottom depth and open the hatch. Then one diver would go out and work while his partner would stay in the bell and tend him or act as a backup if anything went wrong. Bells carried emergency breathing gas for 24 hours and other spare emergency gear. They were equipped with external lights and diver-to-surface communications and video,which would allow the surface crew to monitor the status and progress of the divers. Space inside the bell was cramped and dimly lit. A diver inside the bell could hear the breathing rate of his partner working outside, as the working diver's breathing gas would "rattle" through the bell's pipes. It was very exciting to lock out of the bell--kind of like exiting a space craft on an unknown planet. |
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Here is a photo of a Sub Sea vertical system and transfer lock, or "hot dog," under repair at the Sub Sea base in Aberdeen, Scotland. The habitat is the large vertical chamber on the left. Two divers would live in this system for up to thirty days at a time. The bunks for the divers curved around the wall and the toilet was located in the middle of the floor. To take a shower you went into the transfer lock. On top of the transfer lock is the flange to which the diving bell would be attached. The divers would crawl up into the bell and shut the doors to the habitat and the bell. The space between them would be depressurized and the bell would be removed and lowered into the water to take the divers to the job site. |
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Here is a photo of the saturation diving control van on the DSV Stena Seahorse. You can see all the gauges, oxygen analyzers, control valves and recording equipment and radios. From this control van the diving supervisor could monitor and direct the divers who were in the diving bell or working outside the bell. The diving supervisor had to monitor many factors constantly, including the divers' gas mixture, their mental and physical status, their depth, and their hot-water suit temperatures. The supervisor had to ensure that all systems in the bell were functioning properly, and monitor the bell's carbon dioxide levels. |
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