Pictures from Below: The Development of Underwater Photography

Stephen Frink and I!

Hello there, my name is Denisse and I will be spending most of the summer working in the History of Diving Museum alongside Amber getting first-hand experience in museum operations and non-profit administration. I am very lucky to have joined such a welcoming, fun and knowledgeable staff here at the museum. (Not to exclude a small schnauzer named Simi and local house cat, Mrs.Snickers of course.) The first event in the many to come was the Seminar series that just occurred last Wednesday. It featured Stephen Frink who is a brilliant underwater photographer and got me thinking more about the subject of Underwater Photography. These days underwater cameras have a variety of uses. Underwater cameras can be used for archeological, scientific, building and even artistic purposes. They are also a method of documenting marine life, cave systems, and landscapes.

 

I decided to take a deeper look into our museum collection and found that it began with William Bauer, a German inventor during the Crimean War in 1865 who was the first to try and capture images underwater by taking photos through the portholes in the submarine. Also in the same year, according to the British Society of Underwater Photographers, the first underwater photograph was taken by William Thompson using a housed plate camera that was lowered to the seabed and operated from a boat. Thompson was inspired by the possibility of using underwater photography to assess the damage done to bridges in times of flood. However it wasn’t until 1893 that the first real underwater photograph was taken by Dr. Louis Boutan. An article by John Humphrey in Science states that Dr.Boutan earned a doctorate in sciences from the University of Paris and had his first diving experience in Banyuls-sur-Mer when they invited him to use the laboratory’s diving suit. He, like many divers, found himself fascinated by the underwater landscape and wanted to capture it. He proceeded to invent a camera that sustained the pressure of the water and had external controls allowing him to operate the camera underwater. Thus the first photos taken underwater emerged after a long 30 minute exposure and up to a depth of 50 meters. Here is a self-portrait of Louis Boutan I managed to dig up from the HDM photo vault, including one of Stephen Frink holding a replica of Boutan's design!

Stephen Frink holding a replica of the camera casing invented by Dr.L Boutan in 1893.

© Stephen Frink/stephenfrinkphoto.com

Now that the impossible had become possible there still remained the problem with lighting and “back-scatter.” Back-scatter refers to the reflection of tiny particles in the water. To diffuse this he invented a magnesium lamp to improve lighting and added a blue filter in front of the lens. And like all devices, underwater cameras have been improved upon and have developed enough to be used to film underwater. The first underwater films occurred in the early 1900’s by Jack Williamson who used a submersible sphere to create a film set underwater.

Submersible sphere by Jack Williamson

This would lead to the making of Jules Verne’s classic, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Other, more compact devices for filming developed in the 1930’s by Yves Le Prieur. Now that underwater housing for camera equipment had developed, it was time to tackle the issue of color. Let it be known that it was here in Florida Keys where the first color photo was taken! Dr. William Longley and National Geographic staff photographer Charles Martin captured a color photo of a hogfish in 1926. The next significant figure is Hans Hass whose special housings and other inventions in the 1940’s led to a higher quality and overall improvement in the field. It was not long before a consumer friendly underwater camera joined the market.

This photo features Hans Hass using one of his cameras.

 Nikon developed the first commercial cameras in 1960’s, the first of which was the Calypso followed by the Nikonos. Although it was discontinued in 2001 the museum has a Nikonos III which is able to take photos up to 50 meters in depth and is all weather proof!

The museum also has some of the camera housings used by Art McKee and a modern underwater camera by Amphibico Inc!

Art McKee's underwater camera housing

 Amphibico Inc

We hope you can join us as all of these can be seen as you tour the South Florida Room here in the museum!

Under Pressure: Decompression Chambers

I have to admit, decompression sickness and hyperbaric medicine are two things I know very little about. They are both complex subjects, so I'm very thankful - and grateful - for the doctors who are able to utilize pressurized chambers and oxygen, a gas that we all breathe every single day, to save lives.

Decompression sickness (DCS) is a very serious issue for our sport. Originally coined 'caissons' disease' in the 19th century, it was first discovered in bridge construction workers who experienced joint pain upon returning from working in pressurized enclosures (caissons) at the bottom of rivers and lakes. Today it is commonly referred to as "the bends."

Here at the History of Diving Museum, we have two decompression chambers. The one below is located just outside our building and dates to the 1960's. It features a very simple cylindrical design and two view ports to observe the patient.






It is considered roomy compared to the collapsible chamber located inside our "Abyss" exhibit. This is an extremely rare chamber made by the German company, Drager. Its telescopic quality allows it to fit inside a small box and expand quickly for emergency situations aboard a ship. It also features two view ports for observation.






If you are interested in learning more about how hyperbaric chambers are used to treat the bends and other ailments, join us at the Museum on Wednesday, December 21st at 7pm. Dennis Holstein, Program Director for Hyperbaric Medicine and Would Care Departments at Mariners Hospital, will present a free program, "Hyperbaric Medicine: It's Not Just for Divers."

-Erin
Manager of Collections and Administration
All photos courtesy of the History of Diving Museum

Henry Fleuss: An Early SCUBA Pioneer

Henry Fleuss (1851-1933) was a diving engineer for Siebe, Gorman & Co. of London. He is widely recognized as a pioneer in the field of diving and some even credit him as the first SCUBA diver. You didn't think it was Jacques Cousteau, did you?


Though he is credited with many other inventions including the Fleuss vacuum pump and a steam car, it is widely accepted that his most important was for the first self-contained breathing apparatus (SCUBA) using pure compressed oxygen. Originally designed in 1876, he was granted a patent for the apparatus in 1878 which freed the diver from having to rely on breathing surface-supplied air.


The apparatus consisted of a rubber mask, a breathing bag, a copper tank to hold the oxygen, and a scrubber. The closed-circuit system was designed to reuse the oxygen by removing the carbon dioxide using a rope yarn soaked in a solution of caustic potash. Originally used to rescue mine workers, Fleuss was lauded for this early SCUBA apparatus.

Its revolutionary and brilliant design became an invaluable piece of equipment for military operations during WWII. The Fleuss rebreather came to be preferred over all other available diving apparatus because it offered the diver total concealment (no air bubbles!).

Although the Fleuss rebreather limited the diver's working depth due to the threat of oxygen toxicity, it was truly revolutionary and is without a doubt a very important part of diving history.

Visit the Museum to learn more about early rebreathers and the evolution of other early SCUBA equipment!

-Erin
Manager of Collections and Administration

Jake's Journey: Closer to Home

Meet our friend Jake. Some of you may have had the chance to see him on display at First State Bank in Key Largo where he has been on loan for the past two years. Jake has served as an outreach tool for the History of Diving Museum by helping to spread the word about our institution while making many new friends.

After his assignment in Key Largo was up, we were very happy to receive news that Hampton Inn and Suites in Islamorada was interested in 'adopting' Jake to become part of their family. When they assured us that Jake would have plenty of play dates with friends from around the world every day of the week, we knew it was a perfect fit! We are so happy to announce Jake's return to Upper Matecumbe Key. He is now on display just inside the lobby - ready to greet guests and again serve as an ambassador for the Museum.

'Jake', a full-dressed diver on loan from the History of Diving Museum, is now on temporary display at the Hampton Inn and Suites in Islamorada, Florida.

After about a month in his new home, we can report that Jake is very happy and feeling settled. We are so happy to have him closer to home!

The next time you are passing by, visit Jake and make sure he's behaving himself.

-Erin
Manager of Collections and Administration

A Diver and His Helmet: A Happy Reunion

It was a routine business call that brought Jon Hazelbaker to Upstate New York last week, but the series of events that took place were anything but ordinary.

In 1986, commercial diver Jon Hazelbaker was working on a big diving project in Corinth, New York for the International Paper Company. After about three months, the job was almost complete. However, he was called back for a few more days to work on another part of the power plant. After packing up his gear - helmet and everything - Hazelbaker headed back into Albany and checked in to a hotel around 1 o'clock in the morning. The next day started early around 6am. and as he was checking out of the hotel, he discovered that his truck had been broken into. His helmet was gone.

This discovery was completely disheartening, not only because of its obvious monetary value, but because Hazelbaker had accumulated literally thousands of hours working time in it; it was a helmet that he had used and lovingly abused for 16 years.


Devastated, he took out ads in local newspapers and trade magazine with a photo of the helmet (pictured above) and offering a reward for its return. He even sent out letters and photos to local dive shops and other commercial dive firm competitors.

Flash forward 25 years to 2011 when Hazelbaker was assigned by ADCI to perform a safety audit for commercial diving firm Seaway Diving & Salvage - a routine practice in the industry. While scheduling his visit to Waterford, New York, Hazelbaker recited the story of his stolen helmet to the owner of Seaway, Tim Joslyn. After a few minutes, Joslyn said, "I think we have that picture still here." He quickly located the original photo from 1986 in a file and told Hazelbaker that he knew where that helmet was. The previous owner, Kevin Lengyel, had kept the photo around all those years. Overwhelmed with joy, he exclaimed over the phone, "Tim, that is my hat!"

After taking care of business at Seaway, Hazelbaker took Joslyn's advice and soon found himself en route to a dive shop in Clifton Park, New York - ready to get his hat back. Upon arrival, Hazelbaker was asked to identify the helmet in detail, and of course he was able to recall each and every fitting and dent in the helmet, many unique to this particular hat. After a little while, he was finally reunited with his old helmet, almost 25 years to the day when it was stolen.

Commercial diver Jon Hazelbaker reunited with his helmet in Upstate New York.

Hazelbaker gives credit to the owners of Seaway for this happy reunion; to Kevin, who kept the picture around so long, and to Tim who is responsible for putting all the pieces together.

If you have any happy stories like this one, we would love to hear about them!

-Erin
Manager of Collections and Administration

Capt. Jon Hazelbaker is a commercial diving consultant and Board Member at the History of Diving Museum.

Remembering an Aquanaut: Dewey D. Smith

As we gear up for our next event, I can't help but to be reminded of a certain helmet in our permanent collection. Next week's program, "Space Exploration and the Aquarius Underwater Habitat" will be presented by a team of Aquanauts and talk about their latest mission with NASA.


NOAA Aquarius Reef Base, colloquially known as Aquarius, is an underwater laboratory located in 63 feet of water approximately 3 1/2 miles offshore of Key Largo in the Florida Keys and is often used by marine biologists studying the reefs. For the past 10 years, NASA has used the underwater habitat for its NEEMO missions to study the effects of extreme environments.

On May 5, 2009, NOAA, Aquarius, and the diving community lost a friend and true hero. Dewey D. Smith was a habitat technician for Aquarius who passed away at the age of 36 as a result of a diving accident. He had worked as a diver with Aquarius for two years and previously served in the US Navy as a Medical Corpsman for five years.

His passing truly left a huge void in the Aquarius family. In honor of Smith's life and legacy, the Aquarius Reef Base donated a Superlite 17 helmet to the Museum. The Superlite 17 is a modern helmet with a fiberglass shell and built-in demand regulator and is the helmet most frequently worn by the Aquanauts. Initially on special display in our Research Library, we are happy to announce that it is now on permanent display in our Commercial Diving exhibit (yellow helmet pictured below).

Every time the Aquanauts come to the Museum for a presentation, you can be sure to find each one paying a visit to the commercial diving exhibit where they remember their friend. We are proud to display this helmet and and honored to present it in memory of Dewey. He will surely be present in all of our thoughts on Wednesday.

-Erin
Manager of Collections and Administration

Literacy Month: A New Chapter for HDM

Did you know that September is National Literacy Month? There have been special events happening at libraries, parks, and museums all over the country, and although we haven't had one here just yet (we're planning something special in February!), it has certainly been an exciting month for us at the History of Diving Museum.


We hope that you have already heard about the development of our Research Library, but if not, here's your chance to catch up! Over the past year we have been working on building the Bauer Diving History Research Library, a special collection library and archive to house thousands of books and archival materials related to the history of diving. Funded in part through a grant provided by the Monroe County Tourist Development Council, it is a project that the entire staff has put many hours into and we are excited to see it almost complete. The Bauer Diving History Research Library is named after the museum's founders, Drs. Joe and Sally Bauer.


So what's so exciting about this month??? BOOKS! We have finally begun to fill our bookshelves and let me tell you that after staring at empty bookcases for months and months as we finished construction and technical upgrades (think 70" flat screen TV), it feels so amazing to walk in the space and see the shelves so full and happy. We still have a long way to go as we finish moving books from our Collections Storage into the Library as well as processing the Bauer Collection, but the progress feels great!


The majority of materials come from the Bauer Collection - amassed by Drs. Joe and Sally Bauer over approximately four decades. Their collection contains thousands of rare books as well as photographs, patent drawings, posters, articles, and so much more that will be made available to the public through the very first research library of its kind - dedicated entirely to the history of diving and man's longstanding quest to explore under the sea.

The opening and dedication of the Bauer Library will be held in February and we'll be sure let you know all the details.

Stay tuned to the blog for more!

-Erin, Manager of Collections and Administration

The Divinhood: Practical and Profitable

"A diving apparatus so simple anyone can use it."

That was the slogan for the Miami-based Miller-Dunn Company who designed and produced the Divinhood helmet in the early part of the 20th century. A summary of the significance of this helmet can be found in an earlier blog entry here.

As you may know by now, we love the Divinhood. But before the Style 2 gained fame as the centerpiece for the History of Diving Museum's logo, it was lauded at the time by many for its simplicity, affordability, and practicality. Today I wanted to share with you some contemporaneous quotes from those who used the Divinhood and shared their success stories with Miller and Dunn themselves.

"We want to thank you for building it and congratulate ourselves for buying it."
- W. H. Ebsary, January 12, 1926

"I would not be without it."
- E. F. McDonald, Jr., September 29, 1927

"This is to inform you that since the receipt of the Divinhood we purchased from you two weeks ago, we have recovered over $500.00 worth of merchandise that had gone overboard in Biscayne Bay and could not be found by skin divers. It has already paid for itself."
- John. T. Bennett, July 1st, 1925

"I sat down on a convenient rock, shut my eyes and recited to myself, 'I am not at home, nor near any city or people; I am far out in the Pacific near a desert island, sitting on the bottom of the ocean; I am deep down in the water in a place where no human being has ever been before; it is one of the greatest moments of my whole life; thousands of people would pay large sums, would forego much for five minutes of this!' "
- William Beebe, New York Zoological Society, December 25th, 1925

William Beebe in the Miller-Dunn Style 2 Divinhood

All quotes taken from American Dive Catalog Collection by Ray Mathieson.

-Erin, Manager of Collections and Administration

Getting A Handle on Things

Well, it's my second week here at the History of Diving Museum and I feel like I'm finally starting to get the hang of things. Erin and I have been photographing, cataloging and labeling objects in the museum's collections and I've learned more about diving in the last week than I had in the previous 26 years! One particularly interesting object that needed "collections attention" was a dagger handle salvaged from a Spanish shipwreck by Arthur McKee, known to many as the "father of modern treasure hunting."

Art "Silver Bar" McKee (1910-1979) made a name for himself in the Florida Keys before scuba diving became a popular recreational activity. One of the few "celebrity divers," Art appeared both in LIFE Magazine and on the Dave Garroway Show in the 1950's. He is credited, along with Ed Link and Mendel Peterson, for the invention of the underwater metal detector, jet propulsion vehicle and sift cage. Art was also no stranger to museum collections, starting the world's first "Museum of Sunken Treasure" in 1949, just north of here on Plantation Key (now the Montessori School). In its time, Art's Museum of Sunken Treasure was the premier tourist attraction in the Upper Keys, composed of many local artifacts. Treasures from the shipwrecks of the 1733 Spanish Plate Fleet really built up Art's collection in the early days, as he salvaged them for years after receiving information regarding their fate from the Archive of the Indies in Spain in the late 1930's.
The ill-fated Spanish Fleet left port from Havana, Cuba on July 13, 1733 (Friday the 13th), bound for Spain and loaded with precious cargo. Little did they know of the approaching hurricane that two days later would ground most of the twenty-two ships in the shallow waters of the Keys. Luckily for the Spanish, the hurricane was not a severe one, resulting in many survivors and the opportunity to recover many of the treasures themselves. Still, they couldn't salvage everything, leaving plenty behind for Art McKee to uncover more than 200 years later.

The dagger handle, now on display at the History of Diving Museum, was one of the objects left behind by the Spanish and recovered by Art McKee. It is a wonderful piece of craftmanship, with a design resembling the head of a lion. When I first handled it in my cotton gloves, I couldn't help but imagine whose hands had gripped it in the past, and for what purpose? Art McKee liked it so much that he posed for a portrait with it (also seen in the exhibit)! Perhaps its original owner thought it so commonplace that they discarded it on purpose. Or perhaps it was lost in the mad scramble to shore after the ships ran aground! No one will ever know its exact history for sure, but it will fuel imaginations for years to come. That's part of what's so great about museums! Art certainly recognized that and his imaginative and adventuresome spirit lives on in the "Art McKee and the Treasure Hunters" gallery at the History of Diving Museum. If you are interested in seeing the dagger handle, be sure to visit the museum soon, as it is currently on loan from the collection of Carl Fismer!

Black and white photos of Art McKee courtesy of the State Archives of Florida.

Part II, the U.S. Navy Mark V

Hello HDM blog-followers! Good to have you back with us for Part II of the U.S. Navy Mark V saga! This blog entry will provide an overview of the components of the Mark V. For those of you who missed Part I, (the history of the Mark V) I urge you to reference back here before reading this blog.

"The U.S. Navy Mark V is the most coveted and recognized diving helmet in the world. It embodies helmeted diving with its bold look, functional design and long-standing history in American diving."

Stream-lining of the Mark Helmets

An earlier age of diving pioneers held the belief that the more extravagant and involved a diving apparatus, the more sophisticated it was, and therefore, the better it would be to convey a diver to depth. By the turn of the twentieth century, helmet manufacturers came to this realization that the more extravagant the design, the better chance something would fail, and there began a shift toward simplicity.

The U.S. Navy Mark V was created during the diving craze of the early twentieth century, when many different helmets were produced and knowledge about diving was becoming increasingly common. By 1917, G. L. Stillson completed the design of the Mark V, but at the time, no one could have foreseen the impact it would have on the history of diving.

This, of course, begs the question, what was different about this helmet that separated it from helmets of the same generation? Well, when Stillson called for the standardization of the Navy dive program, they needed not only good equipment, but it had to be the best. Main considerations were that it had to be easily fixable, comprehensible by the average enlisted-man, and sufficient for deep-dives. The combination of these requirements produced a well-built unit that would be used by the U.S. Navy for more than fifty years!

The design of the helmet, the placement of the components, and the size and weight considerations were completed by a process of trial and error. Four helmets were constructed and tried: the Marks I, II, III, and IV, and the best aspects from these four designs were used to build the Mark V helmet.

Early Mark Helmets: I-IV

Two companies manufactured the early Mark helmets. The Morse Company of Boston was first commissioned to build helmets to the navy standard. The identifying feature of the Morse helmets is the oval shaped side ports. The Shrader Company of New York was commissioned to build early Mark helmets as well but with their design instead, has circular side ports. Below are the Mark I-IV helmets made by Morse and Shrader:

The protagonist, the Mark V...

The Navy used the Marks I-IV, as shown above, with great success for many years, but with four designs in circulation, there still wasn't a standard helmet for the diving program (which was the original purpose of improving the diving program). Incorporating various design features of the earlier Mark helmets, allowed for the Mark V helmet to take on a common shape and features.

The Navy commissioned four companies to produce the Mark V diving helmets. They continued the already existing tradition with the Shrader and Morse Companies, but added the Diving Equipment and Supply Company (DESCO) of Milwaukee and the Miller-Dunn Company of Miami.


Morse Mark V

Schrader Mark V

DESCO Mark V

Miller-Dunn Mark V

Mark V Expanded

The strategic placement of the components separated the Mark V from all other helmets. The Mark V remained the U.S. navy standard from 1915 to 1979 while it remained largely unchanged.

Front View

Side View

Top View

Symbolism of the Mark V

The longevity of the helmet's application both militarily and commercially are are symbolic of the United States military at large. It stands as an identity of the ingenuity and design associated with the military similarly to the M16 rifle and the M113 tank.

If you ever get a chance to dive a Mark V you will understand why they are among the best ever made.