two years on – the Maldives - Bracknell Sub Aqua Club

history lessons
Mike Lindsay
Twelve <strong>years</strong> ago I joined the Historical Diving Society
(HDS) to learn about the inventions and changes that
man had made to conquer the undersea world. A couple
of <strong>years</strong> later, I thought there must be a better way to
learn about diving so I spoke to a couple of nice people
at Bracknell BSAC and signed up as a novice.
Recently I noticed an advertisement
for the forthcoming HDS Conference in
Canary Wharf. So I grabbed my anorak
so that I could hear what is new... on
reflection a bit of an oxymoron.
railway divers
The first presentation about Railway
Divers was by Dr Nick McIver,
a specialist in diving medicine.
He described how, with the fast
developing Victorian railway system,
came the attendant problems of
flooding tunnels and bridge inspection.
A diving department was formed
over the next fifty <strong>years</strong> although
training was extremely basic. A man
was a craftsman first and foremost
– he was then put into a diving suit
and on the job training began!
Two notable incidents included
the Tay Bridge disaster when a train
careered off the bridge and into the
Firth of Tay. Railway divers were called
from all over to recover the bodies and
all refused payment for the work.
The second incident was the
flooding of the Severn Tunnel which
must have been one of the first uses
of a rebreather. It was used because
the conventional airline system was
apt to become caught in the tunnel
construction debris.
A valve had to be shut to stem
the flooding and a brave diver tried
twice to do so, nearly dying of
oxygen poisoning, which at that
time was a virtually unknown hazard.
He only failed on his second attempt
as nobody had told him it turned
anti-clockwise too!
sunken treasure
Another lecture dealt with the
supposed treasure that sank with the
defeated French and Spanish fleets in
Vigo Bay in Portugal.
Nothing has ever been found and
the gold was probably unloaded and
transported overland when the British
fleet was spotted earlier, but this didn’t
stop various diving expeditions trying
their luck for the next hundred <strong>years</strong>.
Dr David Earle’s book: Treasure Hunt,
is due for publication next year.
navy yarns
After lunch, <strong>two</strong> light-hearted lectures.
The first ‘One Size Fits All’ by
Lieutenant Commander Richard Larn.
Royal Navy diving equipment
has often lagged behind the latest
developments. For example, it took
<strong>two</strong> men to dress a diver in a suit
nicknamed the ‘Clammy Death’ while
at the same time the Italian Navy
had lightweight suits similar to our
own drysuits. The British also wore a
watertight rubber latex hood. It had the
unfortunate habit of causing ‘reverse
ear’, which burst the eardrum on
surfacing. Oh and did we mention the
fins that only came in size 9?
you’re in the army now
The last presentation was by Colonel
Peter Chitty who created the Royal
Engineers Diving section. Since its
formation, this division has been
deployed globally from Korea, Vietnam
and Malaysia to The Falklands.
At one time divers were so scarce
that Ghurkha soldiers were trained.
But surprisingly, Colonel Chitty’s
claustrophobia prevented him
becoming a diver himself.
One of the projects he was
involved in was the Mary Rose
where the majority of the technical
diving and actual raising was by
Royal Engineer Ghurkhas.
Proud of his involvement in this
project, he showed us a photo of
himself with Prince Charles, King
Constantine and Sir James Irvin,
musing that “all we needed was the
Bishop of London and we’d have a
complete chess set!”
some personal thoughts
It was an interesting day. Returning
home, I reflected how much we owe
to the forerunners of diving for a sport
that has been made safer by their
courage and dedication.