As always the rally held on November 2, at the College of Oceaneering was a lot of fun with everyone having a good time and leaving at the end of the day tired, dirty and with a big smile on their face. We had a total of 15 hard hat dives as well as several members diving their vintage scuba gear. The two COO students who won the raffle were Will Kerchiner and Jose Figueroa. The helmets used were Jocko Robinson's "Fire House Special," Charlie Orr's Desco-Kirby, and Rick Eriksen's Yokohama.
As special guest, we had Lori Meistrell, wife of Bill Meistrell owner of Dive 'n Surf in Redondo Beach, plus a number of relatives and friends. Don Williams and Kevin Monahan, both from San Diego drove up to spend the day. Decompression followed at the Whale and Ale in San Pedro.
Our thanks to the COO for their continued support and for providing us with a great BBQ lunch. Also thanks to everyone who helped throughout the day and stayed to help with the clean up.
Next COO Rally
January 18, 2003 - We will be diving at the COO on this date, so mark your calendars! We will start at 8:00 a.m. and continue until about 4:00 p.m. Bring along any new gear you want to try out (must be in good working order). The COO will be furnishing us with BBQ hamburgers for lunch. If you are new and plan to attend Divers' Day at the Aquarium you will need to be at the COO Rally to receive instructions on the use of the equipment and to make your first dive. Expect to have a good time! Call Charlie @ (310) 834-7051 for additional info or questions.
Mark your calendar! The date has been set for the second annual Divers' Day Rally at The Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, California. It isn't often we have the opportunity to make a dive to almost 30 feet with perfect vis in crystal clear water with monster sea bass, sharks, and other creatures of the deep.
We will be diving both hard hat and vintage scuba gear. A display of diving equipment and other dive related memorabilia will be set up beneath the model of the big blue whale in the Great Hall of the Pacific. Other groups such as the HDS-USA, the Catalina Chamber of Commerce, California Diving News, College of Oceaneering, and the U.S. Navy Dive Unit from San Diego will also have booths and exhibits.
Since we will be diving in tanks occupied by live sea creatures and what can only be considered as a "fragile environment," only experienced divers will be allowed in the water. However, there will be lots to do for everyone as we will need help tending, communications, overseeing the air supply and the display, loading and unloading gear, taking pictures, etc. A pre-dive meeting will be held February 26 - 7:30 p.m. at the Aquarium of the Pacific (use front entrance) to plan and discuss the many details to make this a truly successful event that will be a lot of fun for everyone. A postcard reminder for the meeting will be mailed to all members who live within a reasonable travel distance of the Aquarium. All members who plan to participate should be at this meeting if at all possible!
Certified divers will receive free admission by presenting valid proof of certification with a photo I.D. Our members will also be admitted free by presenting their membership card. General admission: Adult - $18.75; Child (Age 3-11) - $9.95; Senior (Age 60+) - $14.95. In addition to all the Divers' Day festivities, guests will enjoy the many exhibits at the Aquarium. The Café Scuba will be open for lunch and there is also a very nice gift shop.
If you plan to dive or can help in any way, contact Charlie Orr (310) 834-7051 (e-mail: Neverbent@aol.com)
On October 18 - 20, the HDS-USA held their annual Conference and Rally in celebration of their 10th Anniversary. Friday evening a reception was held at the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum giving everyone the opportunity to look at the newest exhibit, "A Salute to American Diving."
Saturday consisted of a full day with presentations and catered luncheon at the Santa Barbara City College. Speakers included Chuck Blakeslee, co-founder of Skin Diver Magazine; Dr. Alexander Sledkov, HDS Russia; Leslie Leaney, HDS USA; and Bob Ramsay HDS SEAP. A chance to see the rare Australian Clifford "double-helmet" owned by Lee Seleski was enough to make the day worthwhile. Dinner followed at the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum with Dick Anderson winding up the evening with one of his hilarious tales.
Sunday found everyone back at the Maritime Museum for diving demonstrations by the Central Coast Working Equipment Group and the chance to take another look at the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum exhibits.
Banning's Landing - Plans are being made to dive at Banning's Landing probably sometime in June. No date has been set at this time. We will keep you posted.
Portside L.A. - Plans are also being made to set up a booth for the "Portside L.A." held at the Phineas Banning Home in Wilmington. This will be to promote the diving history of the construction of the L.A. Harbor. We plan on having a display and possibly do a dry dress-in. This should be in August, but no date as yet.
COO San Diego - The COO has opened their new campus in San Diego. A dive rally will be held there as soon as the tanks are completed. This will be sometime later this year.
by Bob Kirby
Bob Kirby, co-founder of the original Kirby Morgan company, has just published a book on his adventures in diving and equipment design. It spans his career from a 1950's USN diver through to his work with Associated Divers, Bev Morgan, USN, Jim Cameron, and it compliments the continuing series of articles on the History of Kirby Morgan that appear in Historical Diver Magazine. The book is hard bound with 262 pages with numerous black and white photos and tells Bob's story "with humor as my medium, plus an occasional dose of terror." The book is available solely through the HDS-USA and more details can be found by logging on to the HDS website. THERE ARE ONLY 1,000 INDIVIDUALLY NUMBERED COPIES OF THIS BOOK.
Like the limited edition books by HDS member's Torrance Parker, Leon Lyons, and Tom Burgess, this book will also sell out. The price is $40, plus $8 domestic P&P. Ca residents add 7.75% sales tax. For Overseas P&P contact HDS@HDS.ORG. Bob's next signing date will be in mid January. So, if you want a low number you should act quickly. (From the HDS E-Newsletter #10)
Note: The last time I spoke with Leslie Leaney just before
Christmas, he said the books were going so fast that it was
necessary to use a hand cart to haul them to the P.O. for
shipping. Don't delay if you want a copy of this book. Contact
the HDS by e-mail (HDS@HDS.org), through their website
(www.HDS.org), or by mail - Historical Diving Society, 340
S. Kellogg Ave Ste E, Goleta, CA 93117
~ Charlie Orr
After struggling for the past year to stay within our allotted space limit on the Geocities free webpage site, we finally bite the bullet and opted to sign up for our own domain. Leslie Leaney of the HDS often refers to our group as "Cal Classic" which we thought looked and sounded better than simply using our initials CCED. We now have almost twice the amount of space which saves me from deleting or compressing files to gain room for the latest events.
A second free website at http://cced_bars.tripod.com was obtained last year. However, their set up has been difficult to work with (at least for me) and proved to be very time consuming to maintain. They do have a calendar of events that we will continue to updated and possibly use the free space for small articles or events that can be dropped when they are no longer of interest.
So now, when someone ask what our website address is, instead of that long string of words, dot, slash, underline, that no one could remember, it is simply - www.calclassic.org.
from Dr. Sam Miller
I am sad to report: On October 1, 2002 Skin Diver Magazine ceased operations and closed its doors forever. The last issue, November 2002, has been shipped.
Skin Diver Magazine was established by Chuck Blakeslee and the late Jim Auxier in December 1951. Its original title was "The Skin Diver; a magazine for skin divers and underwater spearfishermen." It was the first magazine in the world specifically established to address the needs of the then infant sport of recreational diving. Complete sets of the magazine are very rare, less than 30 complete sets are known to exist. The first edition, vol.#1 issue #1 originally sold for 25 cents, but a very rare first edition realized considerably over $1000 at a recent DEMA auction. Yes, they are very valuable and extremely collectable for skin divers and underwater spearfishermen. (October 11, 2002)
~ Samuel Miller III, Pismo Beach, CA
Note: For those who had ongoing subscriptions to Skin Diver there has been no word nor indications that there will be a refund or other compensation. At the last we heard, the publishers had closed and locked the doors and there is no way to contact them. ~ Dab
Underwater Demolition Teams have a history with the Aqua-Lung that dates back to early 1949. Prior to this date the breathing device of choice was the pure oxygen rebreather. The OSS had success with the Lambertson Unit and there's documentation that some of the early UDT classes in Ft. Pierce did some training with the Desco Model B Rebreather in 1944-1945. Because of depth limitations with the oxygen rebreather, the stage was set for a breathing device that would allow a diver to go deeper and stay longer without the inherent dangers of blackout and convulsions.
The Aqua-Lung was first brought to the attention of Commander Doug Fane when he was shown an article by James Dugan in the December 1948 issue of Science Illustrated. The article described a breathing device co-invented by Jacques Cousteau and how he and his "men-fish" where able to conquer the ocean depths without the problems associated with the rebreather. Fane was immediately interested in getting his hands on one. But first let's go back a few more years to World War II and trace the origins of the Aqua Lung. With the German occupation of France, Navy Lieutenant Jacques Cousteau now had time to spend trying to solve the problem of remaining underwater for long periods of time. In the late 1930's Cousteau was an avid free diver in the Mediterranean. In order to extend his time underwater he did some experimenting with rebreathers, but was quickly discouraged because of their limitations.
Convinced the rebreather was not the answer, Costeau experimented with some existing free flow breathing apparatus, the Fernez and the Le Prieur. They were far safer because they both used air as the breathing medium. However, each of them had drawbacks: the Fernez was surface supplied, which meant the diver was connected to the surface with an air hose; the Le Prieur used compressed air in a tank, but most of it was wasted because of its free flow design.
Cousteau wanted a breathing apparatus that used compressed air in a tank and had a demand valve so as not to waste the air. In 1942, through a family contact, he teamed up with a brilliant gas engineer, Emile Gagnan, who worked for Air Liquide, a major industrial gas supplier in France. Gagnan was working on a regulator that would allow an automobile engine to run on natural gas. At this time in France petroleum was in short supply. Gagnan mulled over the problem that Cousteau presented to him and he soon realized that the regulator he designed for natural gas, with some modifications, would solve Cousteau's problem.
A prototype was built, tested, and modified a few times, and in early 1943 a working model performed as envisioned by Cousteau. He now had a demand regulator that did not waste air and automatically adjusted the breathing pressure to the surrounding water pressure, and compensated for depth…Cousteau and Gagnan would call their invention the "Aqua Lung." This was Cousteau's key to the Silent World.
With the June 6, 1944 Allied invasion, France would soon be liberated. In November, Cousteau traveled to London and explained to the Allied Navies the military potential of his Aqua Lung. Unfortunately, the Americans and the British thought it had arrived too late to make a difference in the outcome of the War.
After World War II ended, commercial production of the Aqua Lung began in France for European distribution and a short time later production began in Canada for the North American market.
This brings us back to the beginning of our story. Commander Fane read about the Aqua Lung in Science Illustrated, and in early 1949 made arrangements to meet with Cousteau and get a few Aqua Lungs for testing. EDU in Washington D.C. and two oceanographic institutions, Woods Hole and Scripps, also began evaluating and testing the Aqua Lung. The early reports were positive: the Aqua Lung performed well with no mishaps.
Through 1949 Fane and some select UDT divers continued evaluating and testing the Aqua Lung. They were very impressed with its performance. Then in December of 1949 the UDT's had an opportunity to use the Aqua Lung on its first operational deployment. A sunken wreck was blocking the Norfolk shipping channel and because of heavy currents divers in conventional heavy gear were having trouble placing explosives. Doug Fane and his Aqua Lung divers were able to swim in the heavy currents and place the explosives where needed. This was a great early success with the Aqua Lung--it was opening doors to the underwater world.
With this new tool Fane envisioned expanding UDT operations from surface swimming to true underwater missions. SDVs would be developed to cover greater distances at greater speeds. Locking in and out of submarines would make covert underwater missions possible. With the aid of compasses, frogmen could do long distance swims underwater and remain undetected.
The first UDT combat operation with the Aqua Lung was in October 1950. The Pirate and the Pledge, small mine-sweepers, were sweeping Wonsan Harbor (a major North Korean Harbor) for underwater mines. Both ships hit submerged mines and were quickly sunk. A rescue operation to save as many personnel in the water and on the sinking ships left little time to remove secret code materials that went down with the two minesweepers. The secret codes would have to be recovered or destroyed so as not to fall into enemy hands. Because of the 100 foot depth where the ships sank it was decided to destroy the ships and their contents rather than spend the time at a recovery mission. But first the two ships would have to be located, and quickly. In the area where the Pledge went down a stream of air bubbles was noticed rising to the surface. The first combat Aqua Lung diver dressed out in a rubber dry suit, triple steel tanks on his back with the trade mark double hose Aqua Lung around his neck, mask and fins in place, slipped beneath the surface and descended to the depths. He followed down the rising stream of bubbles and quickly located the Pledge lying on her side in the mud. Attaching a marker buoy he was assured the salvage divers could quickly do their job. The Pirate was located a few days later. But before the ships were destroyed, the Aqua Lung divers quickly salvaged what they could of the sweep gear, which was needed to further clear Wonsan Harbor. Later the salvage divers went to work and after a few days of blasting the ships were reduced to small fragments on the ocean floor--no worry about secret codes falling into enemy hands.
The Aqua Lung's continued use and deployment had made it a key piece of equipment to all UDT divers. As early as 1951 it was included in the Navy Diving Manual and was part of every frogman's training. Throughout the 1950's production continued with some improvements along the way. By the early 1960's a non-magnetic Aqua-Lung was developed for EOD use around magnetic mines. In 1973 production ceased although units were available for a couple more years from inventories. Parts were available for servicing until 1985.
Into the 1990's the Aqua Lung was still an important tool for training; however, because of parts shortages it was becoming harder to keep them in service. Inventories were supplemented with double hose regulators imported from Spain. But as time passed even these were hard to procure. Because of the demand and probably some pressure from the Navy, the old Aqua Lung is again in production. The newest model is called the "Mentor." It is very close in design to the original with some improvements in air flow characteristics and the addition of high and low pressure ports. Almost 60 years has passed since the Aqua Lung was first introduced to the military for underwater operations. Jacques Cousteau would be proud to know that his Aqua Lung is still playing an important roll in the "Silent World."
CCED T-Shirts are available and include navy blue as well as the black and grey shirts. The shirts are Hanes Beefy T's, with a Mark V Helmet on the back encircled with the name "California Classic Equipment Divers." The printing is a combination of black, grey, white and gold. On the front, left side, is a double-hose with twin bottles, also encircled with the group name. Sizes Medium to XX-large. Cost is $15.00 plus $4.00 for mailing - total $19.00 if mailed. Limited number available! State size & color desired and send with check to Charlie Orr, 1036 Gulf Ave., Wilmington, CA 90744 or by phone (310) 834-7051 (E:mail: Neverbent@aol.com)