Working Underwater: The Story of the Commercial Diving Industry

A two-lock recompression tank (above) and
a three-lock recompression tank (right) at
the U.S. Naval Submarine Base New
London in Groton, Connecticut. Until 1994
New London was home to the Escape
Training Tower which was used to train
submarine crews in escape techniques and
to train naval special operations teams.
COURTESY OF THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.
with air hose and communication line
attached, the Mark V would be the mainstay
for underwater work for decades. When the
second world war broke out, the Mark V, with
a few modifications from the 1917 model, was
still the U.S. Navy’s standard diving helmet.
While most of the Navy’s diving work was
accomplished by men wearing these helmets,
the war also saw the first military use of scuba
equipment, face masks and swim fins.
THE HISTORY OF COMMERCIAL DIVING
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