Atmospheric diving suit
Encyclopedia
Submersible
A submersible is a small vehicle designed to operate underwater. The term submersible is often used to differentiate from other underwater vehicles known as submarines, in that a submarine is a fully autonomous craft, capable of renewing its own power and breathing air, whereas a submersible is...
of anthropomorphic form which resembles a suit of armour, with elaborate pressure joints to allow articulation while maintaining an internal pressure of one atmosphere. The ADS can be used for very deep dives of up to 2300 feet (700 m) for many hours, and eliminates the majority of physiological dangers associated with deep diving; the occupant need not decompress, there is no need for special gas mixtures, and there is no danger of decompression sickness
Decompression sickness
Decompression sickness describes a condition arising from dissolved gases coming out of solution into bubbles inside the body on depressurization...
or nitrogen narcosis
Nitrogen narcosis
Narcosis while diving , is a reversible alteration in consciousness that occurs while scuba diving at depth. The Greek word ναρκωσις is derived from narke, "temporary decline or loss of senses and movement, numbness", a term used by Homer and Hippocrates...
. Divers do not even need to be skilled swimmers.
The ADS has variously been referred to as a Winnie the Pooh suit (because of its large head), armored diving skirt, articulated diving suit, Iron Duke, Iron Mike, and 'deep-sea diving robot'. The term 'atmospheric diving suit' itself did not come into widespread use until the invention of the JIM suit
JIM suit
The JIM suit is an atmospheric diving suit , which is designed to maintain an interior pressure of one atmosphere despite exterior pressures, eliminating the majority of physiological dangers associated with deep diving...
in the early 1970s.
Atmospheric diving suits in current use include the Newtsuit
Newtsuit
The Newtsuit is an atmospheric diving suit designed and originally built by Phil Nuytten.The suit is used for work on ocean drilling rigs, on pipelines, salvage jobs, photographic surveys, and is standard equipment in many of the world’s navies....
and the WASP, both of which are self-contained hard suits that incorporate propulsion units. The Newtsuit is constructed from cast
Casting
In metalworking, casting involves pouring liquid metal into a mold, which contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then allowing it to cool and solidify. The solidified part is also known as a casting, which is ejected or broken out of the mold to complete the process...
aluminum (forged
Forging
Forging is a manufacturing process involving the shaping of metal using localized compressive forces. Forging is often classified according to the temperature at which it is performed: '"cold," "warm," or "hot" forging. Forged parts can range in weight from less than a kilogram to 580 metric tons...
aluminum in a version constructed for the US Navy for submarine rescue), while the WASP is of glass-reinforced plastic
Glass-reinforced plastic
Fiberglass , is a fiber reinforced polymer made of a plastic matrix reinforced by fine fibers of glass. It is also known as GFK ....
(GRP) body tube construction. The upper hull is made from cast aluminum. The bottom dome is machined aluminum.
History
- 1715: John LethbridgeJohn LethbridgeJohn Lethbridge invented the first underwater diving machine in 1715. He lived in the county of Devon in South West England and reportedly had 17 children....
constructs his " diving engine". Essentially a wooden barrel about 6 feet (1.8 m) in length with two holes for the diver's arms sealed with leather cuffs, and a 4 inches (101.6 mm) viewport of thick glass. It was reportedly used to dive as deep as 60 feet (18.3 m), and was used to salvage substantial quantities of silverSilverSilver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
from the wreck of the East Indiaman Vansittart which sank in 1718 off the Cape VerdeCape VerdeThe Republic of Cape Verde is an island country, spanning an archipelago of 10 islands located in the central Atlantic Ocean, 570 kilometres off the coast of Western Africa...
islands.
- 1838: Englishman W. H. Taylor designed the first armored suit with real joints, which were designed as leather pieces with rings in the shape of a spring (also known as accordion joints). The diver's hands and feet were to be covered with leather. Taylor also devised a ballast tank attached to the suit that could be filled with water to attain negative buoyancy. While it was patented, the suit was never actually produced. It is considered that its weight and bulk would have rendered it nearly immobile underwater.
- 1856: Lodner D. Phillips designed the first wholly enclosed ADS. His design comprised a barrel-shaped upper torso with domed ends and included ball and socket joints in the articulated arms and legs. The arms had joints at shoulder and elbow, and the legs at knee and hip. The suit included a ballast tank, a viewing port, entrance through a manhole coverManhole coverA manhole cover is a removable plate forming the lid over the opening of a manhole, to prevent anyone from falling in and to keep unauthorized persons out....
on top, a hand-cranked propeller, and rudimentary manipulators at the ends of the arms. Air was to be supplied from the surface via hose. There is no indication, however, that Lodner's suit was ever constructed.
- 1882: the Carmagnolle brothers of Marseilles, France, patented the first properly anthropomorphic design of ADS featuring rolling convolute joints consisting of partial sections of concentric spheres formed to create a close fit and kept watertight with a waterproof cloth. The suit had 22 of these joints: four in each leg, six per arm, and two in the body of the suit. The helmet possessed 25 individual 2 inches (50.8 mm) glass viewing ports spaced at the average distance of the human eyes. Weighing 830 pounds (376.5 kg), the Carmagnole ADS never worked properly and its joints never were entirely waterproof. It is now on display at the French National Navy MuseumMusée national de la MarineThe Musée national de la Marine is a maritime museum located in the Palais de Chaillot, Trocadéro, in the XVIe arrondissement of Paris. It has annexes at Brest, Port-Louis, Rochefort , Toulon and Saint-Tropez...
in Paris.
- 1894: Australian inventors John Buchanan and Alexander GordonAlexander GordonAlexander Gordon , fought as a Royalist and was captured by Oliver Cromwell's army at the Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651 at the end of the English Civil War. He was imprisoned at Tothill Field outside London over the winter of 1651–1652. He was transported to the New World in 1652 and...
of MelbourneMelbourneMelbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
developed an armored suit. The construction was based on a frame of spiral wires covered with waterproof material. The design was improved by Alexander GordonAlexander GordonAlexander Gordon , fought as a Royalist and was captured by Oliver Cromwell's army at the Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651 at the end of the English Civil War. He was imprisoned at Tothill Field outside London over the winter of 1651–1652. He was transported to the New World in 1652 and...
by attaching the suit to the helmet and other parts and incorporating jointed radius rods in the limbs. This resulted in a flexible suit which could withstand high pressure. The suit was produced by Siebe GormanSiebe GormanSiebe Gorman & Company Ltd was a British company which developed diving equipment and breathing equipment and worked on commercial diving and marine salvage projects...
and trialed in Scotland in 1898.
- 1914: MacDuffy constructed the first ADS to use ball bearings to provide joint movement. The suit was tested at New York to a depth of 214 feet (65.2 m), but was not very successful.
- 1915: Harry L. Bowdoin of BayonneBayonneBayonne is a city and commune in south-western France at the confluence of the Nive and Adour rivers, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department, of which it is a sub-prefecture...
, N.J., patented a new type of oil-filled rotary jointed ADS. The joints use a small duct to the interior of the joint to allow equalization of pressure. The suit was designed to have four joints in each arm and leg, and one joint in each thumb, for a total of eighteen. Four viewing ports and a chest-mounted lamp were intended to assist underwater vision. Unfortunately there is no evidence that Bowdoin's suit was ever built, or that it would have worked if it had been.
- 1915: the German firm Neufeldt and Kuhnke built two atmospheric diving suits based on their patented ball and socket joint, using ball bearings to transfer the pressure load, the bearings sealed by rubber skirts. The suit achieved fame during the salvage of gold and silver bullion from the wreck of the SS Egypt, an 8,000 ton Peninsular and OrientalPeninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation CompanyThe Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, which is usually known as P&O, is a British shipping and logistics company which dated from the early 19th century. Following its sale in March 2006 to Dubai Ports World for £3.9 billion, it became a subsidiary of DP World; however, the P&O...
liner that sank in May 1922. The suit was relegated to duties as an observation chamber at the wreck's depth, and was successfully used to direct mechanical grabs which opened up the bullion storage.
- 1917: Benjamin F. Leavitt of Traverse City, MichiganTraverse City, MichiganTraverse City is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Grand Traverse County, although a small portion extends into Leelanau County. It is the largest city in the 21-county Northern Michigan region. The population was 14,674 at the 2010 census, with 143,372 in the Traverse...
, dived on the SS Pewabic which sank in 182 feet (55.5 m) in Lake HuronLake HuronLake Huron is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Hydrologically, it comprises the larger portion of Lake Michigan-Huron. It is bounded on the east by the Canadian province of Ontario and on the west by the state of Michigan in the United States...
in 1865, salvaging 350 tons of copper ore. In 1923, he went on to salvage the wreck of the British schooner Cape Horn which lay in 220 feet (67.1 m) of water off PichidanguiPichidanguiPichidangui is a Chilean coastal town in the commune of Los Vilos in Choapa Province, Coquimbo Region, near the border with Valparaíso Region. The town has a significant amount of tourism due to its beaches. It is a popular destination for various windsports enthusiasts, thanks to the abundant wind...
, ChileChileChile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, salvaging $600,000 worth of copper. Leavitt's suit was of his own design and construction and he had previously dived to 361 feet (110 m) in it in Lake MichiganLake MichiganLake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron...
. The suit used manganese bronzeBronzeBronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive. It is hard and brittle, and it was particularly significant in antiquity, so much so that the Bronze Age was named after the metal...
to resist corrosion and weighed only 350 pounds (158.8 kg) complete, which reduced to 75 pounds (34 kg) underwater, and was lined with sheet rubber for insulation. The arms and legs were constructed of flexible copper tubing with ball bearing joints at knee and elbow, while the helmet had four 0.5 inches (12.7 mm) windows of shatterproof glass and was equipped with a telephone. The most innovative aspect of Leavitt's suit was the fact that it was completely self-contained and needed no umbilical, the breathing mixture being supplied from a tank mounted on the back of the suit. The breathing apparatus incorporated a scrubber and an oxygen regulator and could last for up to a full hour.
- 1919: BostonBostonBoston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
mechanic Charles H. Jackson constructed an ADS which in 1920 is used by John Turner to reach a depth of 360 feet (109.7 m).
- 1922: British engineer Joseph Salim PeressJoseph Salim PeressJoseph Salim Peress , was a pioneering British diving engineer, inventor of one of the first truly usable atmospheric diving suits, the Tritonia, and was involved in the construction of the famous JIM suit....
patented the first spherical type joint which uses a fluid to equalize pressure, and in 1932 built an ADS which was referred to as the Tritonia, and is now commonly called "Jim I." It was successfully used on the wreck of the RMS LusitaniaRMS LusitaniaRMS Lusitania was a British ocean liner designed by Leonard Peskett and built by John Brown and Company of Clydebank, Scotland. The ship entered passenger service with the Cunard Line on 26 August 1907 and continued on the line's heavily-traveled passenger service between Liverpool, England and New...
at a depth of 312 feet (95.1 m). Peress's expertise was later harnessed to help develop the JIM suitJIM suitThe JIM suit is an atmospheric diving suit , which is designed to maintain an interior pressure of one atmosphere despite exterior pressures, eliminating the majority of physiological dangers associated with deep diving...
, named after Peress's chief diver Jim Jarrett. This was the first practical working ADS.
- 1924: The German Navy tested the second-generation of the Neufeldt and Kuhnke suit (see 1915 above) to 530 feet (161.5 m), but limb movement was very difficult and the joints were judged not to be fail-safeFail-safeA fail-safe or fail-secure device is one that, in the event of failure, responds in a way that will cause no harm, or at least a minimum of harm, to other devices or danger to personnel....
, in that if they were to fail, there was a possibility that the suit's integrity could be impaired.
- 1945: The German Navy possessed several Neufeldt and Kuhnke suits, called "Panzertaucher" (armored diver) during World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, which later found their way into Allied hands after the war, and there are unconfirmed reports that the Russian Navy built copies.
- 1952: Alfred A. Mikalow constructed an ADS employing ball and socket joints, specifically for the purpose of locating and salvaging sunken treasure. The suit was reportedly capable of diving to depths of 1000 feet (304.8 m) and was used successfully to dive on the sunken vessel SS City of Rio de JaneiroSS City of Rio De JaneiroThe SS City of Rio de Janeiro was an iron hulled steam powered passenger ship, launched in 1878, which sailed between San Francisco and various Asian Pacific ports. On 21 February 1901, the vessel sank after striking a submerged reef at the entry to San Francisco Bay while inward bound from Hong...
in 328 feet (100 m) of water near Fort Point, San Francisco. Mikalow's suit had various interchangeable instruments which could be mounted on the end of the arms in place of the usual manipulators. It carried seven 90 cubic feet (2.5 m³) high pressure cylinders to provide breathing gas and control buoyancy. The ballast compartment covered the gas cylinders. For communication, the suit used hydrophoneHydrophoneA hydrophone is a microphone designed to be used underwater for recording or listening to underwater sound. Most hydrophones are based on a piezoelectric transducer that generates electricity when subjected to a pressure change...
s.
- 1969: the JIM suitJIM suitThe JIM suit is an atmospheric diving suit , which is designed to maintain an interior pressure of one atmosphere despite exterior pressures, eliminating the majority of physiological dangers associated with deep diving...
, possibly the most well-known ADS, was designed and manufactured by Underwater Marine Equipment Ltd (later Oceaneering Int) and marketed by DHB Construction. The first suit was completed in November 1971 and underwent trials aboard HMS ReclaimHMS ReclaimHMS Reclaim was a deep diving and submarine rescue vessel of the British Royal Navy. She was originally intended to be the King Salvor-class ocean salvage vessel Salverdant and was fitted with specialised equipment including underwater television cameras and sonar and echosounding apparatus...
in early 1972. In 1976 the JIM suit set a record for the longest working dive below 490 feet (149.4 m), lasting five hours and 59 minutes at a depth of 905 feet (275.8 m). The first JIM suits were cast of magnesiumMagnesiumMagnesium is a chemical element with the symbol Mg, atomic number 12, and common oxidation number +2. It is an alkaline earth metal and the eighth most abundant element in the Earth's crust and ninth in the known universe as a whole...
because of its high strength-to-weight ratio and weighed around 1100 pounds (499 kg) in air (including the diver), but the magnesium casting was eventually replaced with glass-reinforced plasticGlass-reinforced plasticFiberglass , is a fiber reinforced polymer made of a plastic matrix reinforced by fine fibers of glass. It is also known as GFK ....
(GRP) construction. The GRP suit was known as the JAM suit. A lighter more anthropomorphic suit was built of aluminum or GRP, and was known as the SAM suit. The aluminum model was rated to 1000 feet (304.8 m) and the GRP suit was rated to 2000 feet (609.6 m). JIM was eventually surpassed by the WASP Suit (its sister ADS), and the Newtsuit, as oil platforms gradually removed subsea walk-ways. Such walk-ways were essential to bottom-walking suits, as JIM was never fitted with any kind of propulsion.
- 1987: the "NewtsuitNewtsuitThe Newtsuit is an atmospheric diving suit designed and originally built by Phil Nuytten.The suit is used for work on ocean drilling rigs, on pipelines, salvage jobs, photographic surveys, and is standard equipment in many of the world’s navies....
" was developed by the Canadian engineer Phil Nuytten. The Newtsuit is constructed to function like a 'submarine you can wear', allowing the diver to work at normal atmospheric pressure even at depths of over 1000 feet (304.8 m). Made of wrought aluminiumAluminiumAluminium or aluminum is a silvery white member of the boron group of chemical elements. It has the symbol Al, and its atomic number is 13. It is not soluble in water under normal circumstances....
, it had fully articulated joints so the diver can move more easily underwater. The life-support system provides 6–8 hours of air, with an emergency back-up supply of an additional 48 hours. The Newtsuit was used to salvage the bell from the wreck of the SS Edmund FitzgeraldSS Edmund FitzgeraldThe SS Edmund Fitzgerald was an American Great Lakes freighter that made headlines after sinking in a Lake Superior storm on November 10, 1975, with the loss of the entire crew of 29. When launched on June 8, 1958, she was the largest boat on North America's Great Lakes, and she remains...
in 1995.
- 1997: the ADS 2000, developed jointly with OceanWorks International Corp. and the US Navy, is an evolution of the Newtsuit to meet US Navy requirements. The ADS2000 provides increased depth capability for the US Navy's Submarine Rescue Program. Manufactured from forged T6061 aluminum alloy it uses an advanced articulating joint design based on the Newtsuit joints. Capable of operating in up to 2000 feet (609.6 m) of seawater for a normal mission of up to six hours it has a self contained, automatic life support system. Additionally, the integrated dual thruster system allows the pilot to navigate easily underwater.
- 2006: the ADS 2000 became fully operational and certified by the US Navy during full depth diving off southern California. Equipped with an ADS 2000 Chief Navy Diver Daniel Jackson established a new record on August 1, 2006. He was submerged at 2000 feet (609.6 m) deep. The existing US Navy program has four ADS 2000 Suits and three self erecting Launch and Recovery Systems. The system is designed to be flown to a rescue site on various military and commercial aircraft.