History of diving books

[Sam Miller III]

Thanks for this thread, emoreira, and for the kind words about my book. And we can all wish a happy anniversary to SEALAB I, whose four aquanauts were getting ready to surface 50 years ago this week. I was recently invited to write a brief tribute to SEALAB on the occasion of its 50th, a milestone most media are missing. In case anyone's interested, here it is:

Zócalo Public Square :: Is the Final Frontier Under the Sea?

I was also grateful to see Bob Barth the other day at a Florida State University symposium, where he and I both spoke as part of a commemoration of SEALAB's 50th. Bob, as some may know, is the sole surviving aquanaut from SEALAB I, and he also took part in SEALAB II and III. Definitely fits the definition of unsung hero.

Historically,
Ben

I concur with Ben and high recommend his book "Sea Lab." It is a book that is a classic in our time. Ben has documented what was undocumented for the past, present and future generations of divers.

A must for all who identify themselves as a "diver"

I am in frequent contact with Bob Barth who also has published a book of memories which I am anxiously awaiting its arrival via US mail


SDM

 

[emoreira]

I have just finished reading "Shadow Divers" from Robert Kurson. It's an amazing book. I suffered reading the parts when divers were in danger, as if I was seeing a movie.
I highly recommend it.

Now I will go trough "The Last Dive" from Bernie Chowdhury, which is directly involved in the U-869 wreck.

 

[emoreira]

I'm almost at the end of the nice book "The Last Dive". I have already read the book "Shadow Divers" and there is a huge contradiction between the two books related to the USCG chopper that took Chris' death corpse and dying Chrissy to shore.
While in the Shadow Divers book the USCG rescue swimmer didn't want to leave Chris' corpse in the Seeker and argued with John Chatterton. John wanted the chopper to leave without Chris corpse and save time. In the The Last Dive book, John Chatterton argued with the Rescue swimmer because the swimmer didn't want to carry Chris' corpse to shore and lose time and John wanted that Chrissy could see his father body at his side. This is a minor detail. I don't know which is the truth, but it seems that Bernie Chowdhury book has better information, as he is a diver and Robert Kurson is not.

 

[JMBL]

I will recommend any book by diver pionneer Hans Hass, like 'Manta' or 'Challenging the deep' (out of print but easy to get second hand), you'll see that rebreathers aren't anything new. If you're lucky, get a hand on his wife's book, Lotte Hass (who recently passed away) 'A girl on the ocean's floor' (first book about diving ever written by a woman).

If you're interested in the military aspect of diving, try 'The Naked Warrior' by Lt Cmmder D. Fane, about early UDT days during WW2, or 'The Final Dive: The Life and Death of Buster Crabb' by Don Hale, about the very 1st British frogman

 

[emoreira]

I'm almost at the end of the nice book "The Last Dive". I have already read the book "Shadow Divers" and there is a huge contradiction between the two books related to the USCG chopper that took Chris' death corpse and dying Chrissy to shore.
While in the Shadow Divers book the USCG rescue swimmer didn't want to leave Chris' corpse in the Seeker and argued with John Chatterton. John wanted the chopper to leave without Chris corpse and save time. In the The Last Dive book, John Chatterton argued with the Rescue swimmer because the swimmer didn't want to carry Chris' corpse to shore and lose time and John wanted that Chrissy could see his father body at his side. This is a minor detail. I don't know which is the truth, but it seems that Bernie Chowdhury book has better information, as he is a diver and Robert Kurson is not.

It seems that this was already discussed here.
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/wreck-diving/162643-shadow-diver-vs-last-dive.html