I AGREE WITH YOU IN THE 50'S NEOPREME WAS NOT SO POPULAR SO I THINK THAT (oops)the term diver was the hardhat rig. having nothing else to wear then .skin. with advent of SCUBA the anacronymn freeing the diver from the surface alslo freed the diver from the hardhat. cold water hindered the spread of fdiving because of lack of exposure protection. you are right the wet suit came later. i did not word my post very well.
The term "Skin Diver".
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A fun thread to read, with lots of good information on the development of underwater nomenclature. However, i can't let the thread die without the addition of another term, usually applied to navy divers who wear big fins and a tank of air on their back, FROGMEN. I had a navy frogman action figure back in the 60's (yes we had action figures back then, sort of. No one wanted a navy "diver," the hard hat kind, but a navy "frogman" was cool.
DivemasterDennis.
DivemasterDennis.
At least in my small circle of divers, Frogmen were understood to be a nickname for US Navy Underwater Demolition Team (UDT) members. For us, it would have been like calling a recreational diver a SEAL today. I remember the 1951 movie The Frogmen was shown on our B&W TV after my Sea Hunt obsession began. We did occasionally hear the media refer to open-circuit Scuba divers as Frogmen, but it really made us cringe. Keep in mind this was not that long after WWII and the UDT were the real life Supermen of the day. As I recall, the Mike Nelson character on Sea Hunt indicated that he was an ex-Navy Frogman in some episodes and ex-UDT in others.
In the mid-to-late 1960s the media would occasionally refer to sport divers as Aquanauts, which was a name for the US Navy Sea Lab divers. There were a few actual Aquanauts from Sea Labs 1-3 assigned to the diving system I was on in San Diego in the early 1970s. They were the only divers who were afforded the title at our command. The term Oceanauts was coined by Cousteau for the divers on his Conshelf experiments, but I never heard it used anywhere else. I think somebody use Hydronauts but I cant remember for sure. Obviously the names were inspired by the American Astronauts and Soviet Cosmonauts of the day.
In the mid-to-late 1960s the media would occasionally refer to sport divers as Aquanauts, which was a name for the US Navy Sea Lab divers. There were a few actual Aquanauts from Sea Labs 1-3 assigned to the diving system I was on in San Diego in the early 1970s. They were the only divers who were afforded the title at our command. The term Oceanauts was coined by Cousteau for the divers on his Conshelf experiments, but I never heard it used anywhere else. I think somebody use Hydronauts but I cant remember for sure. Obviously the names were inspired by the American Astronauts and Soviet Cosmonauts of the day.
captain
Contributor
I believe the term SCUBA was first used by the Navy. The Navy already was using SCBA for their breathing equipment used for ship board firefighting and rescue so adding a U for underwater was easy and the military loves acronyms. The 1955 edition of the Navy diving manual refers to the use of SCUBA as self contained diving.
For about the first 10 years of self contained diving the Aqua Lung sold by US Divers was the first and by far the most commonly used equipment so Aqua Lung became the generic term for a tank and regulator set even if it was made by a different manufacturer.
For about the first 10 years of self contained diving the Aqua Lung sold by US Divers was the first and by far the most commonly used equipment so Aqua Lung became the generic term for a tank and regulator set even if it was made by a different manufacturer.
This source credits Christian Lambertsen with the acronym:
Scuba set - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I can't say that the statement is entirely accurate but it seems reasonable to me and is consistent with many of Lambertsen's obituaries. By implication, he is credited by inventing the pure oxygen rebreather which does not seem right to me. I believe the British, Germans, and Italians all had rebreathers well before 1940.
Scuba set - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I can't say that the statement is entirely accurate but it seems reasonable to me and is consistent with many of Lambertsen's obituaries. By implication, he is credited by inventing the pure oxygen rebreather which does not seem right to me. I believe the British, Germans, and Italians all had rebreathers well before 1940.
DaleC
Contributor
What I've gleaned from my books...
The Italians would be the first of the "Frogmen" as members of the 10th light flotilla or Decima Mas. This group was split into two groups; above water and underwater. The underwater section was further split int two operational groups; those that operated human guided torpedoes called Maiale, and free swimmers called Gamma men. Both used oxygen rebreathers or Austorespiratore ad ossigeno. This was, of course, during WW2. During WW1 the Italians also developed a human guided torpedo but in this case the drivers, in rubber suits, were intended to keep their heads above water and did not have supplemental air.
The British followed suit in the 40's with their frogmen, who also rode a torpedo like vehicle called the Chariot. They also used rebreathers.
The Americans also joined in with their UDT frogmen or, underwater swimmers, which in many cases did not use rebreathers. They were often dropped off of fast moving boats along an anticipated beachhead to survey, recon and/or blow up landing obstacles.
Open circuit SCUBA did not really appear until after the war.
During the war, Cousteau, Tailliez, Dumas (and others of that era) who were first goggling and then compressed air skin diving (as opposed to being "dressed" like hardhat divers, as stated earlier) experimented with various means of environmental protection. They tried covering themselves with grease, wearing sweaters, coating those sweaters with rubber paint etc... until Cousteau developed the Constant Volume Suit which allowed him to equalize a rubber suit via his exhaled breath.
SCUBA is a term that encompasses both open circuit diving and rebreather diving, as both are self contained breathing apparatus. Post war, rebreathers were more common in some places than open circuit rigs due to the sale of surplus equipment but it seems the danger of oxygen toxicity and resulting depth limitations caused them to fall out of favour. Hans Hass, in some ways as popular in his time as Cousteau, did all of his work either free diving or with rebreathers.
It would appear that the terms "skin diver" and "free diver" might also be used to differentiate between the lesser equipment intensive of two activities. Initially the deviation was between hardhatters and divers not attached to the surface by an umbilical. As SCUBA became more popular the deviation became between those using compressed air and those who were diving without supplemental air:
Hardhat dressed diver vs undressed or "skin" diver.
SCUBA diver vs non SCUBA or "skin" diver.
Umbilical reliant diver vs self supported or "free" diver.
SCUBA reliant diver vs non SCUBA or "free" diver.
Initially, diving without supplemental air was called goggling, a term popularized by Guy Gilpatric (as noted earlier). It has also been called skin diving and free diving. The only term which has not crossed boundaries it would seem is snorkeling, which has always inferred diving without supplemental air.
The Italians would be the first of the "Frogmen" as members of the 10th light flotilla or Decima Mas. This group was split into two groups; above water and underwater. The underwater section was further split int two operational groups; those that operated human guided torpedoes called Maiale, and free swimmers called Gamma men. Both used oxygen rebreathers or Austorespiratore ad ossigeno. This was, of course, during WW2. During WW1 the Italians also developed a human guided torpedo but in this case the drivers, in rubber suits, were intended to keep their heads above water and did not have supplemental air.
The British followed suit in the 40's with their frogmen, who also rode a torpedo like vehicle called the Chariot. They also used rebreathers.
The Americans also joined in with their UDT frogmen or, underwater swimmers, which in many cases did not use rebreathers. They were often dropped off of fast moving boats along an anticipated beachhead to survey, recon and/or blow up landing obstacles.
Open circuit SCUBA did not really appear until after the war.
During the war, Cousteau, Tailliez, Dumas (and others of that era) who were first goggling and then compressed air skin diving (as opposed to being "dressed" like hardhat divers, as stated earlier) experimented with various means of environmental protection. They tried covering themselves with grease, wearing sweaters, coating those sweaters with rubber paint etc... until Cousteau developed the Constant Volume Suit which allowed him to equalize a rubber suit via his exhaled breath.
SCUBA is a term that encompasses both open circuit diving and rebreather diving, as both are self contained breathing apparatus. Post war, rebreathers were more common in some places than open circuit rigs due to the sale of surplus equipment but it seems the danger of oxygen toxicity and resulting depth limitations caused them to fall out of favour. Hans Hass, in some ways as popular in his time as Cousteau, did all of his work either free diving or with rebreathers.
It would appear that the terms "skin diver" and "free diver" might also be used to differentiate between the lesser equipment intensive of two activities. Initially the deviation was between hardhatters and divers not attached to the surface by an umbilical. As SCUBA became more popular the deviation became between those using compressed air and those who were diving without supplemental air:
Hardhat dressed diver vs undressed or "skin" diver.
SCUBA diver vs non SCUBA or "skin" diver.
Umbilical reliant diver vs self supported or "free" diver.
SCUBA reliant diver vs non SCUBA or "free" diver.
Initially, diving without supplemental air was called goggling, a term popularized by Guy Gilpatric (as noted earlier). It has also been called skin diving and free diving. The only term which has not crossed boundaries it would seem is snorkeling, which has always inferred diving without supplemental air.
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I am sure that he himself would bow to the true SB expert on dive history, Dr. Sam Miller. I am not sure Sam would add a lot to this, though, since I think there is already a lot of very good information here, at least as far as I know. There was a thread a few weeks ago dealing with a question of dive history, and I sent him a PM asking him to jump in. He didn't respond, so he may not be participating in SB much these days.
captain
Contributor
Remember SCUBA does not differentiate between open and closed circuit devices. The Lamberten Lung as it was commonly called was the Navy's first true scuba.
Christian Lambertsen - Father of U.S. Combat Swimming & SCUBA
[url]http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_country_of_origin_is_the_word_scuba_derived_from
[/URL]
Christian Lambertsen - Father of U.S. Combat Swimming & SCUBA
[url]http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_country_of_origin_is_the_word_scuba_derived_from
[/URL]
Here are some more bits to the evolutionary puzzle. Probably the first diving rig that could be untethered, but not for very long, was the built by Rouquayrol and Denayrouze using some parts developed by Siebe Gorman. The Rouquayrol Denayrouze lung was described in Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.
Here is an interesting chronology: History of Scuba
A later open circuit non-demand untethered breathing system was developed by Yves le Prieur about 1925. I first noticed it in Cousteau's The Silent World. The way I understand it, pure oxygen rebreathers were first developed for mine safety and firefighting and later modified for diving. This is much the same evolution of deep sea gear which started with the Deane smoke helmet that was later modified into a closed dress by Augstus Siebe about 1834.
I remember reading that the early application of the term freediving to open circuit SCUBA was because they were free of a surface supply umbilical. Perhaps all this confusion is why a lot of modern international freedivers prefer to use the term Apniest.
:hijackedthread:
Maybe not exactly a hijack, but a mild rant: It appears to me that there have been no actual diving technology developments. Almost every evolutionary step had to wait for advancements in other areas and adapted to diving. Émile Gagnan's regulator developed with Cousteau was originally designed for regulating fuel. Even that regulator was not all that much different than Rouquayrol's, though much smaller and higher pressure. The wetsuit waited for closed-cell Neoprene sold for vehicle sound dampening. The foundation for oxygen rebreathers goes back at least to 1800s chemists. Even the most sophisticated saturation diving systems are little more than a collection of off-the-shelf components adapted to the task. I can't think of a single material or base technology developed for diving.
Here is an interesting chronology: History of Scuba
A later open circuit non-demand untethered breathing system was developed by Yves le Prieur about 1925. I first noticed it in Cousteau's The Silent World. The way I understand it, pure oxygen rebreathers were first developed for mine safety and firefighting and later modified for diving. This is much the same evolution of deep sea gear which started with the Deane smoke helmet that was later modified into a closed dress by Augstus Siebe about 1834.
I remember reading that the early application of the term freediving to open circuit SCUBA was because they were free of a surface supply umbilical. Perhaps all this confusion is why a lot of modern international freedivers prefer to use the term Apniest.
:hijackedthread:
Maybe not exactly a hijack, but a mild rant: It appears to me that there have been no actual diving technology developments. Almost every evolutionary step had to wait for advancements in other areas and adapted to diving. Émile Gagnan's regulator developed with Cousteau was originally designed for regulating fuel. Even that regulator was not all that much different than Rouquayrol's, though much smaller and higher pressure. The wetsuit waited for closed-cell Neoprene sold for vehicle sound dampening. The foundation for oxygen rebreathers goes back at least to 1800s chemists. Even the most sophisticated saturation diving systems are little more than a collection of off-the-shelf components adapted to the task. I can't think of a single material or base technology developed for diving.
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Akimbo,
I too think that Gagnan has been overlooked for his seminal contributions, as happens often in history.
I applaud your rant. The history of this occupation is relatively short and many of the principals are still among us. I had the honor of interviewing one of them before his demise. Anyone committed to this sport will understand the impulse to salute those who have shown the way.
I too think that Gagnan has been overlooked for his seminal contributions, as happens often in history.
I applaud your rant. The history of this occupation is relatively short and many of the principals are still among us. I had the honor of interviewing one of them before his demise. Anyone committed to this sport will understand the impulse to salute those who have shown the way.
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