To see underwater

First Polish Signs

Although Poles are not visible in the history of diving, careful study of information allows us to discover evidence of their participation. From the archival documents of the first French World Exhibition (1855), we know that among the exhibitors there were only five manufacturers of diving equipment: three English (SIEBE, HEINKE and TYLER) and two French (CABIROL and ERNOUX). The most significant for us will be the company “C.E. HEINKE & Co.”, whose history dates back a 100 years earlier, when in 1806 Gotthilf Frederick Heinke, born in 1786 in Międzyrzecz (died in 1871 in London), emigrated to England. There, six years later, he married Sara Smith, with whom he had 5 children: John William (born in 1816), Charles Edwin (born in 1818 – he will later be “CE” in “CE HEINKE & Co.” ), Gotthilf Henry (born in 1820), Elizabeth Rosina (born in 1824) and Sarah Juliana (born in 1826).

The headquarters of the company founded by Gotthliff Frederick was for many years at the same address: 103 Great Portland Street in London. Gotthlif’s second son, Charles Edwin made the biggest contribution to creating and developing the family business. It was he who in 1845 submitted a diving helmet model to the patent register. According to a patent document held at the British National Archives, the front window was rectangular and the exhalation valve was placed on the orifice by the chin. These two elements remain a characteristic of HEINKE suits. Charles Edwin also developed a secure air pipe connection system.

The suits produced at 103 Great Portland Street won recognition. During the World Exhibition in Paris (1855), in the presence of Emperor Napoleon III, demonstration dives using them took place in the Seine. The brand went from strength and strength.

In March 1856, John William Heinke gave a lecture at the Institution of Civil Engineers in London entitled “Improvements to diving suits and other devices designed for underwater work.” The discussions and debates that followed him spread over the next three evenings, and brothers John William and Charles Edwin later became members of the Association. In 1862, Heinke filed another patent for “improvements to diving helmets, clothing, and equipment, some of which can also be used to extinguish fires aboard ships and other restricted spaces,” including the design of a 3-cylinder pump. HEINKE suits received recognition and were put to practical use. For example, in 1865, gold watches originating from loud theft from Walker’s jewelry store in Cornhill were found under the Blackfriars Bridge by divers Cornelius Wilkinson and George Smith, using HEINKE equipment and suits.

In January 1867, the ice broke under a crowd skating on a frozen lake in Regent’s Park, over 200 people fell into the icy water. 40 of them drowned. Divers from HEINKE were called to the place, but they were unfortunately only to extract bodies from a depth of about 4 m.

On 1^st April 1869, Charles Edwin died at the age of 50, and his older brother John William passed away the following year. Frederick William Heinke (son of John William) with a colleague John Davis, founded their own company HEINKE & DAVIS and published a book about the modern history of diving, also created thanks to the information provided by C.E. Heinke Association of Civil Engineers. The company at Great Portland Street continued production, now under the direction of Gotthilf Henry (he was then a competitor of his own nephew). Its founder, Gotthilf Frederick Heinke, died on 4^th April 1871. Gotthilf Henry successfully continued his father’s work and in 1881 filed a patent (No. 2.698) regarding “improvements made to the diving device, in particular, those intended for deep diving”. It was a rather complicated system with an exhaust pipe kept very high above the diver with the help of a float mechanism, a metal corset placed on woolen underwear, on which a canvas rubber suit, regulated by a system of laces, was worn.

Not all inventions related to the company’s operations came from its owners. Here at the end of the 1880s, rubber producers: William Robert Foster and Robert Fox, who had already cooperated with HEINKE, filed two patents for inventions: the first (No. 12,515) for “improving diving clothing” and the second (No. 12,516) for “improvement to facilitate communication between the diver and his assistant” (acoustic tube with a membrane inside the helmet). In 1902, after the death of Robert Fox, HEINKE and FOSTER merged and moved their joint headquarters from Great Portland Street to 87 Grange Road in London’s Bermondsey, where intensive cooperation began with four more partners: Frederick Sprang, Charles Edwin Lacey, James Blake (all three from the rubber industry) and James Holman (engineer in suit production). After two years of successful cooperation, Lacey (chemist) and Holman jointly filed a patent for the invention (No. 28.749) of a telephone system installed on their helmets.

HEINKE as a separate entity continued to manufacture diving equipment for many years. It existed until 1961 when it was bought by the competing company SIEBE-GORMAN.

The glass

There is no information about the glass used in old masks, at least not in publicly available sources. The history of tempered glass is not long. The technology of its production was invented and developed at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. One can assume that at least until that time ordinary household and window glass was used in helmets and masks because was easy to get, flat and transparent. The portholes in dive helmets were not large and the depths they were descended to, not as deep as today. However, the glass had to be thick enough to withstand the pressure underwater. The grilles mounted on the helmet windows prove that cases of broken windows were not uncommon – certainly not only under the water, but also on land when putting the equipment on or storing it. When in 1874 François Barthélémy Alfred Royer de la Bastie patented in England his way of obtaining “reinforced” glass, the diving industry was also just experiencing its most inventive period. Perhaps also the invention of the regenerative furnace and moulded glass in 1877 by Frierdich Siemens was recognised by manufacturers such as Heinke, Siebe-Gorman, and Cabirol. This would not be surprising, given how quickly technical innovations were put into production and use.

Into the 20^th century

In the 1930s, Guy Gilpatric (1896−1950), an American former aviator living in southern France, became a pioneer in using rubber glasses with glass lenses for diving. In the middle of this decade, the mask covering the eyes and nose (note the nose, unlike in ordinary goggles) evolved as a result of the creativity and ingenuity of many people. In 1938, Gilpatric published The Complete Goggler, the first book about amateur diving and underwater hunting, a sport that was gaining enthusiasts among amateurs. Among its readers was the French navy lieutenant Jacques Cousteau (1910−1997), one of the most well-known (if not the best-known) travelers and explorers of the underwater world. After World War II, there was a universal shortage of many things. So when in 1946 the first diving club in Great Britain was founded (The Amphibians Club in Aberdeen), its founder Ivor Howitt (1927−) modified an old civilian gas mask to meet his diving needs.

Here the stories of diving masks are intertwined with masks intended for others, for example, firefighters. Some of the early diving kits included full-face masks with a single hose (see Watanabe and Oghushi or Le Prieur). To this day, companies such as Scott and Kirby Morgan specialise in their production. They produce a breathing apparatus in this configuration for the use of fire departments.

Poland’s role in diving history

It seems that as a result of war and occupation Poland lagged behind for many years, especially in the area of inventions. When we easily find information about foreign patents for subsequent masks, cylinders, pumps and other types of diving equipment, Poland is missing from these lists. The Polish history of diving actually began in 1935, when Roman Wojtusiak (1906−1987), a researcher at the Department of Zoopsychology and Animal Ethology of the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, constructed and used a diving helmet. He attempted diving in it in 1935 first at the YMCA swimming pool in Krakow and a year later in the open waters of the Puck Bay. The official purpose of his dive was to conduct direct zoological observations of the bottom of the Puck Bay, while also testing the equipment of his own design. He published the description of his device, conducted observations and tests in the publication Diving helmet used for marine biological observation. He wrote: “About thirteen years ago, the above mentioned W. Beebe was introduced to undersea biological research at shallow depths, with simple and practical diving apparatus in the form of a helmet. This apparatus has become so popular in America that it is currently used not only for research but also as a pedagogical measure during marine biology courses.

Based on Beebe’s descriptions, I designed such a helmet in 1935 alone and gave it to one of the metallurgical companies in Krakow to be manufactured. In recent years I have had the opportunity to try it both on our Baltic Sea and in the Adriatic Sea.” Wojtusiak’s helmet was an angular box made of sheet metal, 1.0−1.25 mm thick, the front part of which was formed by two symmetrical panes at an angle of about 120°, 6−8 mm thick. The whole was preserved with waterproof varnish. The sheet around the bottom hole of the helmet was profiled so that the structure is relatively comfortable and stable based on the diver’s arms, which also allowed to keep the helmet in a vertical position. The principle of the helmet’s construction and operation was like the principle of the diving bell. “Water cannot get inside, because when the helmet is submerged with the hole down, the air has no way out. Because the helmet’s capacity is about 20 litres, with a weight of 7 kg, so that in order to immerse it in water, it must be properly weighted. For this purpose, two iron or lead weights − 10 kg each − are hung on tin flaps at the front and rear. The air in the helmet may be enough for just a few or a dozen breaths, which is why a new supply is pumped from the outside with a long rubber hose. The outlet of the air supply hose is located at the bottom of the helmet so that in the event of a pump breakage, all the air supply in the helmet does not escape under the pressure of water. A normal automotive pump is suitable for air supply. Much better, however, is a rotary pump or a small motor compressor, giving a lot of air. Only one person pumping air is necessary to operate the device. Among the advantages of the device, the designer mentions that you do not have to use a waterproof suit, and all you need is a regular swimsuit.” While a swimsuit might have been enough for diving in the Adriatic, the Baltic Sea was not as friendly. Divers, therefore, had to wear rubber suits to protect against body cooling.

17 years later the Polish diving community made another significant step. During the first exploration of the Cold Cave (orig. Jaskinia Zimna), cave divers used a classic diving suit. The diving suit was designed and made by Tadeusz Bernhard (1925−2016) and Włodzimierz Starzecki (1926−2007). The diver was wearing a thick rubber suit, boots, and gloves. The tin diving helmet, when put on the head, was attached to the suit with screws. The air was supplied to the helmet with a rubber garden hose. The cavers stopped further attempts with this type of suit due to the diver’s low operability. It was proposed to replace it with a lighter device that would give the diver a greater degree of freedom in extreme conditions, which is why different diving apparatus has met with much great interest from the cavers.

The second Pole, who has to be mentioned in the context of the history of Polish diving, was a photographer, publicist, translator, and diver − Witold Zubrzycki (1909−2018). He was a pioneer of diving, he was the first to test scuba (Self-Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus), was involved in the construction of native diving equipment. As an employee of the Marine Station of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Sopot, he promoted free diving; he conducted his training both in the open sea and in the lakes: Otomińskie, Rożnowskie and in Morskie Oko. He collected his experiences in the book Three Months Underwater (1956), considered to be the first Polish dive textbook. His other works were equally known as Underwater Photography (1958) and the article On Underwater Photography and Free Diving, in which he wrote: “Unfortunately, none of the scuba diver’s equipment is yet produced in the country (in Poland), and this is not surprising since there has been no demand for such products. So for the moment, the construction of such devices as underwater goggles, fins, nose clips, waterproof armour for the camera, etc. is a matter of individual ingenuity and often long-lasting and patient tests. When it comes to glasses, it seems that the simplest solution lies in the adaptation of motorcycle glasses. After choosing tightly adhering goggles, you should conduct a series of experiments, even in the bathtub. Take the lenses out of the flexible frame (only glasses made entirely of rubber without any metal parts are suitable for this), seal the ventilation openings with rubber plugs, and finally grease the edge of the lenses and the grooves of the rubber frame with the appropriate glue, eg “Cristalcement” produced by us. After inserting the glass, wait 12 hours for the glass to properly bond with the rubber. Put on the glasses and immerse the head in the water. If it turns out that the lenses have been well sealed, but there is a leak between the face and the rubber frame, you need to tighten the tape fixing the glasses to the head. If this does not help, properly trim (carefully) the frame so that it adheres better to the face.

The whole operation associated with the adaptation of protective or motorcycle goggles for diving purposes is not easy and requires a lot of patience. You could probably also seal such goggles, but they would allow a small immersion of 1−2 m, as deeper, the water pressure would force a large and very flexible glass into the interior, pulling it out of the frame” or, more likely, would cause injury pressure around the diver’s eyes.

Thanks to the great commitment and persistence of both Wojtusiak, Zubrzycki, and the whole group of other enthusiasts and scientists, despite the drastic distance that separated Polish technical thought and diving from representatives of other European countries, we were able to slowly make up for the years of partitions, war, and both Nazi and Soviet occupations.

The present times and the future

The mask is one of the most important and at the same time most personal elements of diving equipment. It gives you the unique opportunity to observe the underwater world with your own eyes. Due to the pressure prevailing underwater in this equipment element, tempered glass or high-quality composite materials are used, sometimes also covered with special coatings (e.g. anti-reflective). Thanks to the use of tempered glass, the lenses of diving masks are about four to six times harder than standard glasses, which means that in a high-pressure environment they do not break down into small and sharp pieces. Dive mask frames are available with one or two panes, and the choice between them depends entirely on the diver’s personal preferences (some believe that two panes give them a wider field of view). Diving masks can also be ordered with special corrective lenses for people with visual problems. These can be prefabricated lenses suitable for the certain mask model or lenses that can be fitted into the classic mask using a dedicated frame with the lense.

One of the suppliers of diving mask glasses is the company Schott AG, whose product UltraClear Schott Superwite™ is mounted in Venom masks from Atomic Aquatics. Considering the specific application, in addition to strength, the diver expects even more from their mask. Raw materials with a low content of iron oxide provide white to the glass, thanks to which the image they see has real colors. High smoothness and transparency, scratch resistance, low refractive index, and chemical resistance will also be appreciated.

The problem that has still not been solved is the evaporation from the glass underwater. It comes from the difference in temperatures between the diver’s face and the glass. The surface tension of the steam causes it to settle in the form of small droplets that cause a decrease in transparency. Divers use various methods to minimise this troublesome phenomenon.

Scientists also are interested in solving this problem. In 2011, employees of the University of Laval in Quebec, Canada: Pascale Chevallier, Stéphane Turgeon, Christian Sarra-Bournet, Raphaël Turcotte and Gaétan Laroche, developed a method of producing durable, multi-layer anti-fog coatings (Characterization of Multilayer Anti-Fog Coatings − American Patent Patent 2012 No. 8231971 [3]). A hydrophilic compound based on polyvinyl alcohol was used, to reduce the process of condensation of water vapour on glass or plastic, and developed an ultra-thin, non-abrasive coating, evenly disperses water. To be able to permanently apply the final anti-fog coating on the surface, a base of several layers of particles was first used to form a foundation that has binding properties and is then coated with an anti-fog compound.

Full face masks gain some interest among technical divers. Due to the larger “usable” surface, there is the possibility of using glasses with electrically conductive coatings. This opens up many possibilities. In 2016, the US Navy conducted research and implementation works on a futuristic diving system with augmented reality, which was to increase safety and facilitate the work of divers. The new DAVD technology (Divers Augmented Vision Display) gives the possibility of displaying vital information directly on the glass surface and right in front of the diver’s face. It can be a sonar map of the bottom, text messages with dive computer readings, charts, photographs, and even movies. More data is intended to improve orientation and facilitate underwater navigation while freeing the diver’s hands as computers are most often placed on the wrists.

One of the largest, if not the largest international diving organisations in the world is PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) with approximately 137,000 qualified members with instructor qualifications. It is estimated that 1,000,000 new scuba divers are certified annually in the world, new equipment stores are appearing, new and better computers, cameras, breathing machines are being developed. Recreational diving is becoming a multi-billion dollar industry because it is usually closely related to exotic travels.

At the same time, “technical diving” is developing, where high-tech equipment, gas mixtures, full-face masks, underwater voice communication systems, and devices with propulsion systems are used.