The History of Scuba Diving

World War II provided the incentive for rapid strides in the development of scuba. In September, 1941, Italian Navy

The modern scuba diver goes to sea with a full load of equipment. In addition to the basic breathing apparatus, undersea hunting weapons and photographic equipment add new dimensions to the sport.

scuba divers dramatically demonstrated its importance and potential military value when they carried out a successful attack against a British tanker at Gibraltar. This attack and others that followed did much to give the United States and British Navies an interest in developing scuba and training scuba divers.

However, the attempts to develop a scuba system go far back in time. There are many reports of different primitive tribes whose divers went under water with inflated bladders full of air which provided an underwater air supply. Man’s first self-contained recirculating diving apparatus is probably the equipment designed in 1680 by Giovanni Borelli, an Italian astronomer and mathematician. Crude by any modern standards, his equipment demonstrated man’s desire to be able to dive free of encumbrances and independent of a surface supply of air.

The apparatus consisted of a large air bag which fitted over the diver’s head. It had a single glass port for vision. Air circulated through a tube running outside, through a smaller bag intended to trap moisture, and back into the air bag. Borelli believed that water cooling would remove impurities from the exhaled air, making it suitable for rebreathing. In order to help the diver regulate his displacement in water, the apparatus also had a complicated cylinder and piston displacement. Although this equipment did not work, it foreshadowed later closed-circuit scuba.

A great stride toward modern scuba came in 1825, when W. H. James, an Englishman, designed a self-contained diving suit incorporating a supply of compressed air contained in an iron reservoir worn about the waist. Unfortunately, this equipment aroused little interest and was not considered important at the time, but this suit was the first to incorporate a supply of compressed air. In 1866, Benoit Rouquayrol of France patented the first satisfactory regulator for open-circuit scuba. This device constituted a milestone in man’s work toward freedom and mobility beneath the sea. The drawback to his equipment, however, was the lack of a suitable supply of high-pressure air such as we have today. As a result, his equipment was developed into a surface-supplied diving suit, and the development of true scuba had to wait.

Then, in 1878, H. A. Fleuss of the British firm, Siebe-Gorman & Co., designed a workable closed-circuit oxygen rebreathing scuba. The unit utilized a solution of caustic potash to remove carbon dioxide from the exhausted gases. In 1902 Fleuss improved the unit in collaboration with Sir Robert H. Davis. This apparatus was the prototype of modern submarine-escape appliances and the forerunner of modern closed-circuit scuba.

Borelli’s design

James’s design

By late 1940, the Americans were in the field of scuba development. In that year, Christian J. Lambertsen developed and demonstrated his oxygen-rebreathing scuba the LARU (Lambertsen Amphibious Respiratory Unit). This device was first adopted by the Office of Strategic Services, and early in 1942 the first American scuba divers were in training. The same unit was later adopted by our Underwater Demolition Teams for use in operations requiring stealth.

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