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Incidents List

  1. Year Month Day Surname Forenames Location Contractor Client Depth Type of Diving Details
  2. 1920 0 0 Cram J H USA Porter Brothers American, sued his employers claiming that he been incapacitated for some time after “his hoses were caught� and his air cut off
  3. 1916 0 0 Not Recorded UK "Fatal Accident to a Diver. A fatality occurred at Chatham…" No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Manchester Evening News/The British Newspaper Archive
  4. 1916 0 0 USS F-4 USA 93 S/S Air US Navy divers Crilley, Loughman and Nielson dive to 304' on air during salvage of the US Submarine F-4 using an early version of the Mk V Morse and Schrader dress (Without communications) The finalised version was adopted by the US Navy 1917 and used until introduction of the Mk 12 in the late 1970s
  5. 1915 0 0 Pearl divers Australia S/S Air In total, more than 800 divers and their support crews lost their lives because of cyclones between 1882 and 1935. In only 3 years, 1912 to 1915, 93 divers died from the bends. These were boom years for the industry, but the price in human terms was very high.'
  6. 1912 0 0 Nowry RN Australia S/S Air In 1912, twelve ex-Royal Navy divers and tenders were brought from England to take over the diving from the Asians, whose presence conflicted with the “White Australia� policy in force at the time. William Webber, perhaps one of the world’s most famous divers, headed the group. Before the season was over, Webber, the most reliable of all divers, was dead. Another was paralysed, one had suffered partial paralysis, and all had withdrawn from the pearling fleet. The Japanese and Malay divers, and their employers, were jubilant. The Navy divers felt bitter and betrayed. At the subsequent Royal Commission, one of the Navy divers stated that they had been sabotaged, and that they were often taken to areas where the shells were depleted. That may have been true, but the Asian diver had to raise eight times as much shell as the Englishman, for the same wage. Nowry, the second in charge of the Royal Navy divers, recalled “We did well around the Banks group, but at depths I had never reached before, about 170 foot (51 m). I had a good shift and was back on deck, with the next run not being due for another 2 hours. My arms and shoulders began to ache with intense pain such as I had never experienced before. I went down 50 foot (15 m) or so and hung on by shot line. Gradually the pains left me, as the Malay skipper said they would. But I had diver’s paralysis and could not walk. Six months in hospital and I was back on my feet again, feet that could not get me back to civilisation quick enough.� He subsequently died from decompression sickness in Victoria, testing out a new diving suit. Rubicon Research Repository
  7. 1912 0 0 Webber RN William Australia S/S Air "In 1912. William Webber, a darling of the British Diving Fraternity, lasted only 4 months in the waters off Broome before he suscumbed, apparently to the bends" One of 9 British Navy divers sent to Broome to "Claim the industry for the white man" White divers were not wanted, not because of goodwill towards the so-called Asiatics but because they threatened the wealth of the pearlers who could employ Asiatics for a pittance. His family were told his air hose had been cut and believe the master pearlers put a price on his head. Reading Eagle
  8. 1908 0 0 Haldane John Scott UK Topsides Haldane, in conjunction with Arthur Boycott and Guybon Damant, publish "The Prevention of Compressed Airs", largely regarded as the landmark paper on the development of decompresion tables. Tables based on this paper were later adopted by the Royal Navy and used worldwide.
  9. 1900 0 0 Virco Alexander Joseph S/S Air Extraordinary death of a diver. … held an inquiry at Wimbledon concerning the death of Alexander Joseph Virco, aged 37 years..." Report dated Saturday 1st December 1900. No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Illustrated Police News News/The British Newspaper Archive
  10. 1898 0 0 Campbell George USA Baltimore Wrecking Company Chamber Salvage operation recovering the cargo of the sunken steamer 'Pewabic' in Thunder Bay off Milwaukee. Working from a bell with partner Peter Olsen. Both men drowned when one of the glass ports failed
  11. 1897 0 0 Not Recorded USA Tom and James Reid 32 S/S Air Salvage of the Cayuga (Sailing from Milwaukee to Buffalo, sank 10th May 1895 on the Great Lakes after a collision with the wooden lumber hooker "Joseph L Hurd" in fog southwest of Grays Reef light, near the Skillagalee Shoals. No loss of life, both crews rescued by the steamer "Mamola"). Because the "Cayuga" was a new steel vessel, the salvage company spent nearly 4 years and nearly bankrupted themselves trying to salvage her. "One diver was crushed to death so badlythat could not remove his helmet" The wreck now lies in 100' of water still attached to four of the pontoon used in the salvage attempt. shipwreckexplorers.com
  12. 1897 0 0 Olson Peter USA Baltimore Wrecking Company Chamber Salvage operation recovering the cargo of the sunken steamer 'Pewabic' in Thunder Bay off Milwaukee. Working from a bell with partner George Campbell. Both men drowned when one of the glass ports failed
  13. 1894 0 0 Fairchild USA New York Dock Department S/S Air Killed in an underwater explosion when setting dynamite charges on new pier 14, North River, New York.
  14. 1889 0 0 Woods James W USA Merritt Wrecking Company 18 S/S Air American, drowned under the wreck of the "Iberia" (Sank three miles off New York, 10th November 1888, collision in fog) whilst salvaging cotton, his helmet flooded through a tear in his suit near his neck. His signal line was tied off to a stanchion some distance from the worksite. Quote from proprietor of the salvage company, Israel J Merritt, who was “of the opinion that the death was due to Wood's own carelessness�.
  15. 1887 0 0 Tester Spain 49 Diver engaged to recover the last box of treasure (9 of 10 had been salvaged in 1885) from the Spanish steamer 'Alphonso XII' which sank of Point Gando, Grand Canaria in February 1885. Salvage team was using Heinke equipment and had been on site four months, the deceased had made about 60 dives but on his last dive stayed down some 36 minutes and after a 10 minute break went down again for a further 10 minutes. At first seemed well but then complained of pain in his left arm. Taken ashore and 'the usual treatment in case of pressure attacks was resorted to". Not withstanding all the efforts to relieve him, he expired after suffering considerable, on the evening of the following day. Papers Past/The Aroha News (New Zealand)
  16. 1878 0 0 Steele H USA 20 S/S Air English, aged 40. Had previously assisted in recovering treasure from the �City of San Francisco� and raised schooner “Mabel and Edith� in 1877. 15 minutes into a diver was recovered to surface by tenders as they received no signals. Unconscious, died 15 minutes later. The owner of the apparatus, A. W. Von Schmidt, found that the diver neglected to close the end of a hose. “The apparatus is for two divers and when used by one only the other end should have the cap screwed on. After reaching a depth of 11 fathoms he received no fresh air and had only the air in the helmet to breathe�.
  17. 1876 0 0 Fleuss Henry UK Rebreather Development of the firsrt working self contained oxygen rebreather using compressed oxygen and a closed circuit and caustic potash to absorc CO2
  18. 1869 0 0 Jurgens or Ingen Louis USA Neptune Submarine Telegraph Company Topsides Working on demolishing the wreck of the steamer 'Scotland' which sank off New York in about 30' of water. Set charges but the submarine detonation apparently set off a sympathetic explosion of a second charge on the diving boat. Four killed including the diver who had previously set the charge. One of the survivors was a man by the name of Sterne who had been a gunner on the 'Monitor' during the battle with the 'Merrimac'. New York Times.
  19. 1853 0 0 MacDonald USA S/S Air Reported as having died in an incident similar to that of John Tope who died a year later in 1854. The accident at the wreck of the 'Erie' last year, when MacDonald lost his life, was similar to this (Tope), though the victim in that case had but little experience as a diver. Too much care cannot be observed by those who follow this hazardous business. No details, but presumably another squeeze. New York Times
  20. 1837 0 0 Siebe Augustus UK Siebe Ltd S/S Air Augustus Siebe designed the first completely sealed (watertight) diving dress. Though there were many refinements, the overall design was largely unchanged until replaced by SCUBA and modern surface supplied helmets in the 1960s. First used by the Royal Navy in 1840 to continue salvage of the "Royal George", the "Siebe Improved Diving Dress" was then adopted as the standard diving equipment for the Royal Engineers leading to setting up of the first Navy Diving School in 1843
  21. 1828 0 0 Deane Brothers Charles and John UK Developed their earlier design (1823) 'Smoke Hood" into a diving suit (Helmet not sealed onto dress so if diver inverted his helmet flooded. Was used successfully to salvage canons from the wreck of HMS "Royal George" (Sank in 65' of water at Spithead in 1783) in 1834 and 1835
  22. 0 0 0 Hansen Charles 'Big Charlie' USA Article in Time Magazine dated October 1934 referring to an attempted gold salvage operation HMS 'Hussar', sank 23rd November 1780 off New York in the East River near treacherous Hell Gate, rumoured to be carrying gold. Robert Roy Hansen dived from the Tug 'Terminal' using an armoured diving suit - "Eleanor" - invented by salvage company president, Thomas P. Connolly, & Weighing 675 Ib. on deck, the suit has a head and body of steel, with grotesque protuberances for eyes and something that looks like a nose. Of rubber reinforced by interwoven copper strips, the arms and legs become flexible when subjected to high underwater pressure. The two parts of the suit join at the waist instead of around the neck. The diver goes down without an airhose, carries an oxygen bottle, a respirator, caustic soda to absorb carbon dioxide. The tall, gangling, muscular man who went down encased in ''Eleanor" is a crack deep-sea diver named Roy Robert Hansen. He worked on the S-51 and S-4 jobs when those U. S. submarines went to the bottom (TIME, Oct. 5, 1925; Dec. 26, 1927). His father, a diver called "Big Charley," was killed working in the Great Lakes, and "Big Charley's" father also lost his life diving. The Terminal's procedure was to pay out 2,000 ft. of cable with Hansen in "Eleanor" at the end, then drag him along against the swirling tide. Though the depth was never more than 112 ft., Hansen thought it the nastiest job of his career, said he was bumped against rocks and whirled around until he was groggy. By week's end he had encountered six drowned hulks, identified none as the Hussar. But Diver Hansen appraised as practically nil the chances of the rival salvage vessel 'Josephine'. Wearing ordinary diving-suits, the Josephine's divers worked only during slack tide, 20 min. twice a day. Reported in Time Magazine
  23. 0 0 0 Harrison USA Failed compensation claim by relatives
  24. 0 0 0 HMS Vernon UK RN Chamber 2 overseas (possibly Iranian?) Navy divers under training killed instantly when the castellated door on a one man chamber failed (blown through the mining shed wall by the force of escaping air). Rumours that incorrect depth/pressure gauges had been fitted and that the door had failed previously under test but no remedial action had been taken After the incident, the chamber door was modified with a simple 'padlock' to prevent the door opening. The same chamber was mobilised to HMS Bossington and used during Suez canal clearing operations in 1974. PC
  25. 0 0 0 Marti André Saudi Arabia Berri field, Saudi Arabia, H2S poisoning
  26. 0 0 0 Not Recorded India Saturation Diver off Bombay, died during saturation decompression. Death ascribed to myocardial infarcation and therefore not diving related. Other sources consider that a likely cause was undiagnosed spontaneous pneumothorax. Cannot include this incident without further details, can anybody help?
  27. 0 0 0 Not Recorded UK Standard gear When working in the river Severn by Gloucester Quay, a diver was killed when an explosive charge was detonated prematurely.
  28. 0 0 0 Not Recorded USA Fireman 9 SCUBA A 41-year-old fire captain carrying out a body search with a newly formed scuba team was retrieved from 30 feet after it was noted on the surface that his regulator was free-flowing. Autopsy showed drowning, but damage occurred before or during the accident, but the description of the event is consistent with ear rupture during the descent. This dive was apparently a first open-water dive. The department team had only just completed its pool training, and was scheduled for open-water check-outs
  29. 0 0 0 Not Recorded USA Fireman Surface Swimmer American, aged 30, trained rescue diver, attempting to rescue child from submerged vehicle in Florida but had no rescue gear, only mask, snorkel and fins, drowned
  30. 0 0 0 Not Recorded USA Police 30 SCUBA 56-year-old sheriff’s department search and recovery team diver. The victim was the training instructor for the department, and was said to have had extensive Navy diving background, as well as Master Diver and Instructor certifications.The victim was making his second dive of the day to a depth of approximately 100 feet in an effort to recover the victim of a boating accident. Visibility on the bottom was reported to have been almost zero. The diver’s buddy stated that the victim apparently experienced difficulty with his air supply, that it had probably run low, and he had attempted a free-swimming ascent. The buddy lost sight of the victim in the dark water, surfaced, and found that the victim had not returned to the surface. A standby diver followed the victim’s safety line, but was unable to bring the victim to the surface. Efforts by surface personnel to pull the victim to the surface using his safety line met with strong resistance. Even though four or more persons were tugging on the line, they failed to bring the victim up. The victim was eventually brought o the surface after fifteen or more minutes of effort. Despite heroic resuscitation efforts, the victim did not survive.
  31. 0 0 0 Not Recorded USA 24 SCUBA American, Vallejo, California. Sewage outfall pipe (1,800 feet long), diver entered via a manhole on SCUBA and a lifeline. Lost lifeline. Body recovered the day after. Following lawsuit awarded significant damages to the diver's widow. No details. Mentioned in a blog on OD.
  32. 0 0 0 Not Recorded USA Parker Divers SCUBA San Francisco Bay Area, Salvage/hull scrubbing contractor. Diver killed by a ship's propeller (body never recovered, only fragments of wetsuit and tissue). No details. Mentioned in a blog on OD.
  33. 0 0 0 Not Recorded Taylor SCUBA American, a diver and his tender had performed a scuba pontoon inspection on the B&R barge M 289 and were at the stern of the vessel exiting the water. Diver and tender were at the bottom of the ladder where Diver removed his swim fins, climbed the ladder and removed his gear. Looking back over the stern for his tender, Diver lost site of him and no more bubbles were present. Diver immediately contacted the tower and ordered all hands to the port hand rails for a man overboard (the current was running towards the port bow). Diver dove back off the stern but could not locate the tender. A deck hand spotted a body off the port and relayed the information via the PA. Diver exited the lay barge and jumped onto the pipe supply barge from which he entered the water swimming toward the lifeless body. The bow crane whip line was lowered to the water to assist in bringing the man back on board. Diver had attempted in water CPR while swimming him back to the barge. CPR was performed on deck without success. Cause of death was drowning. OD
  34. 0 0 0 Peck John W American, commercial diver, died in an accident, no details
  35. 0 0 0 Shambhu Article on rescue divers working the Varanasi Ghats in the Express of India in 2008. “In another incident, a diver, Shambhu, died while trying to extract a defective water-pump from a well in the Central Hindu School at Varanasi". No details.
  36. 0 0 0 Witherow David Mexico American, head injuries during spoolpiece lifting operation
  37. 1967 0 0 Maclean Edward (Ted) Australia Divcon 130ft S/S Air Ashmore Reef, NW Australia, Water depth 130ft Died in Deco Chamber , Combination of Missed Deco and heat exhaustion. Incident happened late 1967. Drill Barge Investigator owned and operated by Zapata. <br />longstreath.com
  38. 1968 0 0 Mathieson Edward (Ted) Australia International Oilfield Divers 230ft S/S Mixed Gas? Incident probably mid 1968, Bass Strait, Australia. Diving heavy gear air dive off Coring Vessel Neuhavns Rose recovering riser from seabed ,water depth 230 ft. Divers Umbilical parted when fouled in riser, Standby diver unable to reach diver. Body recovered next day. The dive team comprised trainee divers from the Dive school in Bairnsdale, Victoria with the exception of Ted<br />who was hired from the States.<br />longstreath.com
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