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Incidents List

  1. Year Month Day Surname Forenames Location Contractor Client Depth Type of Diving Details
  2. 1937 9 7 Not Recorded Australia S/S Air "Divers left to Drown", "Divers Drowned. Vessel caught fire". News of the death of three Japanese divers in the Arafura sea was brought to Darwin today. Three divers on the Dai Nippon Maru were at work on the ocean bed when the lugger's compressor burst. The lugger caught fire at such a rate that the divers could not be brought up before the crew had taken to the lifeboats. They were left to their fate". Reported in the Northern Star.
  3. 1937 8 0 Not Recorded Australia 64 S/S Air Pearling lugger out of Darwin, diving to 35 fathoms of Elcho Island, had been down 20 minutes when there was a vigorous tug on the lines they floated to the surface, no sign of diver, helmet boots etc. . Reported that a few fragments of clothing were seem floating on the surface the day after. Presumed to be an attack of “a 'white death' shark. Same article refers to this being the 7th diver fatality in the previous few weeks with the other fatalities being put down to 'diver's paralysis'. The Milwaukee Journal. This a duplicate/later report of the death of a Jaopanese diver in early May.
  4. 1937 7 9 Not Recorded Australia Topsides "News reached Darwin today that the mother ship of the Japanese pearling fleet, the 'Sanyo Maru", foundered in 14 or 15 fathoms of water off the North Australian coast about 15 miles from the mouth of the Liverpool river during a terrific squall. The purser and a diver were drowned but other members of the crew managed to get ashore. The luggers in the field have ceased work and are concentrating on salvage work as the vessel carries shell worth £42,000. Reported in the Canberra Times.
  5. 1937 5 9 Not Recorded Australia S/S Air “Mysterious Monster Feared By Divers�. Darwin, May 11. “A mysterious monster has added to the grim toll of the sea among pearl divers with the Japanese fleets. It devoured a diver on the seabed, lugger crews believe, and it has struck terror into their hearts. Crews returning today from beds north of Echo Island told how it devoured the diver and his heavy gear in one vicious attack. The first intimation the lugger's crew had of the tragedy on the seafloor was a rending tug on the diver's airline. Then – slowly - the lines floated ominously to the surface. Gone was the diver and also his heavy metal diving helmet. Next morning, the sole clue to the tragedy, a few remnants of clothing, floated on the surface. The grim toll of the sea steadily mounts. Seven Japanese divers have been lost in seven weeks. Most have died from paralysis.. Reported in the Kalgoorlie Miner, WA. (This incident was not reported in the American press until mid August)
  6. 1937 1 2 Not Recorded Australia Celebes Trading Co S/S Air Two divers drowned when waterspouts swampeds pearling boat. "Two divers drowned. While the pearling fleet of the Celebes Trading Co was fishing off the SouthEast corner of the Aru Islands, four waterspouts suddenly formed close to the fleet which were trailing slowly. The boats steeered away from the danger but the waterspouts suddenly changed direction and all fout converged into one big waterspout. This giant waterspout engulfed one vessel, the Arcadia, which foundered, and two Malay divers were drowned. Another boat canted over at a dangerous angle, but a second waterspout struck her and drove her upwards again". The Cairns Post.
  7. 1936 11 10 Not Recorded Australia S/S Air Pearl diver out of Darwin, reported as “15th death recently�. No details
  8. 1936 8 5 Not Recorded Australia 40 S/S Air "Two Japanese Divers Drown When Boat Drifts" Two divers working in only helmets, corselets and flannels signalled to the tenders to slacken the air pipe to enable them to gather shell. When no further signals were received, the crew hauled up the lines the helmets came up without the divers. It is believed that the divers were following the common practice of taking off their helmets to gather shell and that the boat had drifted too far, carrying the helmets beyond the reach of the divers. The fleet spent some considerable time searching for their bodies, but without success. 5 deaths from paralysis are reported to have occurred recently among the divers of the Japanese fleet which is extimated to comprise of more than 70 boats. Reported in the Central Queensland Herald
  9. 1936 7 8 Not Recorded Spain S/S Air Newspaper headline "Octopus Seizes Diver". "A diver working on the seabed near Tarragona was attacked by an enormous octopus. He signalled frantically to be brought to the surface and was helped into the boat with the octopus clinging to him. It was killed by a boatman'. Straits Times
  10. 1935 11 17 Not Recorded Australia S/S Air Japanese pearl diver, reported as 'became paralysed in the water and died later' Possible dual report for Sahden Bin Yachie who died 1/11/1935?)
  11. 1935 9 14 Not Recorded Panama S/S Air Aged 73, pearl diver diving off the lugger 'Winifred' Reported as "Divers epic battle with shark, dies from wounds, Panama, Saturday (Incident could have been the previous Saturday, the 7th September. No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Hull Daily Mail/The British Newspaper Archive
  12. 1935 8 0 Not Recorded Australia 59 S/S Air Japanese pearl diver working in 35 fathoms near Echo Island, had been down 20 minutes when there was a vigorous tug on the airlines. Lines floated to surface with no sign of diver or metal helmet. "Scientists say that the only known monster capable of such an attack is a 'white death' shark which are usually about 40 feet long though there have been reports f 'white death' sharks 100 feet long". Next morning a few remnants of clothing were found floating on the surface. Diver's body and equipment never recovered. Reported in the Milwaukee Journal
  13. 1934 9 27 Not Recorded Australia S/S Air Salvage dive from the vessel 'Bertha'. No details
  14. 1934 2 27 Not Recorded Tom UK Royal Society Lecture 15 S/S Air During a lecture in London, Sir Robert Davis (Inventor of the submarine escape apparatus) described how a diver "Tom," got drunk 50' underwater. "While salvaging a ship, found himself in a air pocket, free of water. He spotted a case of whisky near by, and promptly unscrewed the mouthpiece of his diving helmet and broached a bottle. He tied his lifeline round a stanchion to avoid his enjoyment being interrupted from the surface. We became anxious as Tom sent up no cargo for two hours. When at last he reached the surface he was dead drunk. If the air pocket had filled with water, or Tom had miscalculated his capacity and failed to replace the mouth-piece of his helmet he would have been drowned." Reported in the Brisbane Courier Mail.
  15. 1933 11 0 Not Recorded USA S/S Air A story of slow death by suffocation six fathoms under the surface of the Gulf of Mexico was told today by the fire charred wreckage of the sponge fishing boat Xios and bones and diving helmets of two members of her crew located on the sea floor 12 miles off Cedar Kevs�. No details, but appears that vessel caught fire and sank, in the process drowning the two divers working at the time. St Petersburg Times
  16. 1933 7 24 Not Recorded Australia 31 S/S Air “DIVER'S HELMET PULLED OFF�. DARWIN, Monday. – “A diver's remarkable escape from death, while working in 17 fathoms of water is reported by several pearlers from the Aru Islands. The diver signalled to the tender to take up the loaded basket and send down an empty one. As the tender was hauling up, the rope of the laden basket fouled the helmet of the diver, but the tender, considering the extra weight due only to the heavily-laden basket, continued hauling up, and pulled off the diver's helmet. The diver was soon hauled to the surface, apparently drowned, but without signs of the usual paralysis. Other boats, summoned by a distress signal, rushed to his help, and one man used resuscitation methods. After almost an hour's work the diver was revived. Next day he resumed diving as usual�. Reported in the Barrier Miner, Broken Hill, NSW
  17. 1931 6 16 Not Recorded Italy S/S Air "Diver drowned locating wartime submarine" "Milan, June 16, A diver attempting to verify the reported location of an Australian submarine lost in war time at Porto Recanati (South of Ancona, Italian Adriatic Coast), he located the vessel but was suffocated on his third descent". Reported in the Townsville Daily Bulletin, Queensland.
  18. 1930 9 13 Not Recorded France Caisson "Divers suffocated, Two dead and three others in critical condition. Five workers engaed in submarine works at Martiques, near Marseilles were found unconscious when a diving,,," No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Nottingham Evening Post/The British Newspaper Archive
  19. 1929 6 0 Not Recorded UK S/S Air "Scapa diver's death. From our own correspondent, Kirkwall, Thursday 20th June, 1929, Today Sheriff Brown and a jury held fatal accident inquiry into the circumstances attending..." "Diver who was working on the salvaged Kaiser." (Scuttled 21st June 1918, raised in March 1929, moved and broken up in Rosyth in 1930). No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Aberdeen Journal/The British Newspaper Archive
  20. 1928 12 3 Not Recorded Brazil S/S Air 3rd of December, build up to big celebration in Rio de Janeiro for the return home of famous airman Alberto Santos-Dumont. A Dornier Wal (Seaplane) carrying Politicians and dignitaries crashed into the sea killing all 14 onboard. A diver died during an operation to recover the bodies from the plane when his air lines became entangled. Reported in The New York Times
  21. 1927 11 20 Not Recorded USA S/S Air Swedish, searching for 3 bodies after a motor schooner was sunk after a collision, 4th dive, died, no details
  22. 1927 8 0 Not Recorded Algeria "Divers Dynamited Underwater. Paris, Sunday, A message from Algiers to the Matin reports that one diver was.." "Killed by Explosion. Paris, Friday, A message reports that one diver was.." "One diver was killed and four others seriously injured by the preature explosion of some dynamite which they were using for the ..." No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Aberdeen Journal/The Lanarkshire Post/The British Newspaper Archive
  23. 1927 6 7 Not Recorded Italy Military S/S Air "..Diver suffocated, arrest follows tragedy of torpedo search, Rome Tuesday. An under sea tragedy is reported in a message from Fiume today...." No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Bristol Mercury/The British Newspaper Archive
  24. 1927 1 0 Not Recorded France Military 37 S/S Air “NAVAL DIVER'S FATE. While searching for a torpedo which had sunk to a depth of 120 ft near the Salins d'Hyeres, near Toulon, a naval diver fainted. He was at once hoisted to the surface, given medical aid and rushed off in a tug to the land, but he died later in hospital�. Reported in The Cessnock Eagle and South Maitland Recorder, NSW
  25. 1926 11 0 Not Recorded UK S/S Air “How diver met his death. A Manchester ship canal accident� “How diver lost his life in Manchester Ship canal was described at the inquest in Irlam yesterday (29/11/1926)� “Diver's strange death� No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in The Post (Lanarkshire)/Aberdeen Journal/The British Newspaper Archive
  26. 1926 4 0 Not Recorded Australia S/S Air "A message from Broome statyes that a Malay, who was unacustomed to pearling work, decided to try his hand at diving. He went below and 12 minutes afterwards was dragged to the surface dead. He had shut of the air supply in order to sink to the bottom and failed to turn it on again". Northern Star, NSW, Auistralia
  27. 1925 10 30 Not Recorded Persian Gulf "Pearl divers perish in cyclone. Reports of the recent cyclone in the Persian Gulf show that 32 pearl divers were…." No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Angus Evening Telegraph/The British Newspaper Archive
  28. 1925 10 1 Not Recorded Bahrain Topsides Persian Gulf Storm, 32 drowned, 35 boats lost. Message received in Bushire from Bahrein Island in the Persian Gulf confirm the statement that the first reports of the cyclone on October 1 were exaggerated and that 32 Pearl divers were drowned and 35 boats are unaccounted for, a further 14 damaged. The town was not damaged. Casualties to boats belonging to other ports are estimated at 50. The duration of the storm was half an hour. The Mercury, Hobart.
  29. 1925 10 0 Not Recorded UK S/S Air ".. Weymouth diver's death. Crushed by motor engine. A fatal accident occurred Thursday afternoon…"No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Western Gazette/The British Newspaper Archive
  30. 1923 0 0 Not Recorded USA Chamber Reported as possibly the first recorded chamber fire, at the Cunningham Sanitorium in Kansas City. The chamber was outside the buildings and heavily insulated to protect the patients from extreme winter temperatures. The nurse inside the entry lock/TUP called "The tank is on fire", the doctor went into the enty lock and saw hazy smoke in the other compartment, he evacuated the pateints and then emptied the other tank. No apparent damage except charring of the wooden floor. They had external naked gas burners under the tanks to keep them warm in winter and it is believed somebody turned up the gas too much resulting in the wooden floor interior scorching. No injuries reported. Sheffield and Desautels “Hyperbaric and hypobaric Chamber fires, a 73 year analysis�, Undersea Hyperbaric Medicine, 1997, 24 (3): 153-164. They missed the fire that killled Anna Crouch 17/11/1922 (TC)
  31. 1922 9 11 Not Recorded Malaysia FMS Railway Company 12 Caisson Pahang province, about 26 miles from the town of Kuala Lipis, railway construction department building a bridge over the Jelai river, a Philippino diver was working at the bottom of one of the two 40' deep coffer dams when "the whole structure was sucked down below the bed of the river. Mr. Snelling, the diving expert attached to Messrs D. G. Robertson Ltd., was telegraphed for, but although air had been pumped through the life lines for the 96 hours before his arrival, no hopes were entertained of recoverimg the body of the diver". Straits Times"
  32. 1921 12 2 Not Recorded Australia Morley Pearling 11 S/S Air Pearl Diver Killed. Further information has been received by the Inspector of Police, Cairns, regarding the recent death of a Japanese diver, aged 20 years, off Thursday Island. The deceased was engaged by the Morley Pearling Co. of Thursday Island, and was diver and captain of a ketch named "Dart." He was at work in six fathoms of water when the spring of the pump burst, and he was immediately hauled to the surface. When his head-gear was removed he was found to be dead. The scene of the fatality was at the fishing grounds, 60 miles from Thursday Island, known as Badu. Deceased was-taken to Thursday Island, where death was declared to be due to suffocation while diving in apparatus. Reported in the Cairns post, Qld.
  33. 1918 5 11 Not Recorded USA Military “Plumber� drowned at navy deep sea training school - A training accident, no details
  34. 1917 10 0 Not Recorded UK "Diver's Terrible Death At Avonmouth Docks. Mr. A. E. Barker (City Coroner) resumed an inquest yesterday (18th October 1917) respecting the death of a ..." No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Western Daily Press/The British Newspaper Archive
  35. 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
  36. 1914 6 20 Not Recorded France Military “DIVERS NARROW ESCAPE. Buried torpedo nearly kills and then saves him. While a diver was engaged today in recovering a torpedo buried in the mud of the harbour (Cherbourg), the mechanism suddenly started, and the propeller severed the air pipe of the diving apparatus. The diver, with great presence of mind, clung to the torpedo, which bore him to the surface. He was dragged into the boat by his astonished comrades, in an almost asphyxiated condition. After an hour or two he was revived.� New York Times
  37. 1914 6 20 Not Recorded Australia S/S Air "Diver Dies from Paralysis". Darwin, 23rd June, "A Japanese diver died from paralysis about midnight on Saturday onboard a lugger in Shoal Bay. He had just previously made three descents, on the last occasion being in the water for 15 minutes". The Bendigo Advertiser, Vic.
  38. 1914 5 24 Not Recorded Australia Topsides "Lugger goes to bottom. Loss of Two Lives. The chief harbourmaster at Freemantle has been advised by the wharfinger at Broome that the lugger 'Eleanor' sank off Wallal after parting her moorings in a south-east gale. Two members of the crew, a Japanese diver and a Malay, were drowned. The balance of the crew, including a white man named Chapman who was in charge of the lugger, were picked up after being in the water 6 hours. Reported in the Kalgoolie Western Argus.
  39. 1913 6 20 Not Recorded Australia Francis and Co. 9 S/S Air "A Diver Drowned in full dress". "Perth, Friday, The Marine underwriters Assiociation, Perth, have received a wire from Broome to the effect that Francis and Co.'s lugger "Myrtle Olga' had capsised and sunk off Tapper's Inlet in 5 fathoms of water. The diver, it was further stated, was drowned whilst in full dress" Reported in the Bunbury Herald.
  40. 1912 6 4 Not Recorded France S/S Air "While a diver was engaged in submarine work in the harbour at Toulon on June 4 he was attacked by a giant octopus weighing 135 lbs. The octopus wrapped its tentacles, 25 ft. in length, around the diver, and when the latter was hauled to surface he was unconscious. The diver could not be released until the octopus had been stabbed to death". Straits Times. Another reports states:- DIVER AND OCTOPUS. A Naval Diver at Toulon, in France, was suddenly attacked the other day by a giant octopus while under water in the harbour. He gave the hoisting signal and was hauled to the surface together with the octopus whose tentacles, said to be 25’ long, were wrapped round him. The diver was unconscious. The octopus held fast to the diver until it was stabbed to death. It weighed 135 lbs and the suckers on its tentacles were as big as five shilling pieces. Reported in the Evening News, Sydney.
  41. 1912 5 8 Not Recorded Australia Topsides DIVER FINED. BROOME. May 8 “A white diver recently imported from England for pearling was fined £20, in default a month's imprisonment for having destroyed a leaf out of a ship's diary�. Reported in The Register, Adelaide, SA
  42. 1911 6 10 Not Recorded Australia S/S Air "A Pearling Tragedy. Four of the crew Drowned. The pearling lugger 'Neptune', carrying a crew five Japanese and one Manila man capsised while pearling off Melville Island this week and four of the crew were drowned including the Japanese diver who was below in his diving dress at the time of the accident. The 'Neptune', which was owned by Captain Edwards, is supposed to have been carrying too much sail at the time. The pearling season to date has been exceeedingly disappointing, (unreadable) water conditions prevailing throughout. Reported in the Advertiser, Adelaide.
  43. 1910 4 21 Not Recorded Australia Topsides “JAPANESE DIVER'S FATE� Thursday Island, April 21. “A Japanese diver died to-day from an extraordinary accident. His lugger was changing ground and he attempted to cross the bows of another lugger, with the result that the bobstay of the other lugger caught him across the stomach while he was sitting in his diving dress on the deck-house. His spleen was split�. Reported in the Advertiser, Adelaide, SA
  44. 1909 12 3 Not Recorded UK S/S Air "Fatal Diving accident. Engineer's sudden illness underwater. A sad accident which resulted in the …" No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Dover Express/The British Newspaper Archive
  45. 1909 9 16 Not Recorded Italy S/S Air "Delayed Dynamite Explosion causes death of three daring men". Ravenna, Italy, Dynamite placed to destroy old masonry in the harbour failed to explode, divers descended to investigate. The charges then exploded, killing three of them. Warsaw Daily Times (Warsaw, Indiana)
  46. 1909 6 14 Not Recorded "One of two divers salving the Russian drowned yesterday.." No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser/The British Newspaper Archive
  47. 1909 3 8 Not Recorded UK Mersey Dock Board S/S Air "Diver drowned. Defective gear. The Liverpool Crown Coroner conducted inquest on Saturday concerning the eath of Mersey Dock Board …. " No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Mancheste Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser/The British Newspaper Archive
  48. 1908 9 0 Not Recorded Malta Navy S/S Air DIVER FALLS ASLEEP. An extraordinary story of a diver falling asleep underwater is reported from Malta. Some time ago when the battle ship Dreadnought was there, one of her seamen divers went below to clear her propeller of some flotsam but failed to come to the surface again. Signals by telephone and lifeline were sent to him without avail, and when some brushes and other things came to the surface it was feared that the man was dead. Another diver was then sent below, and found the other man asleep seated comfortably upon one of the giant propeller blades. Reported in The Braidwood Dispatch and Mining Journal, NSW
  49. 1908 6 0 Not Recorded UK S/S Air "Divers death underwater, fails to answer signal. Caledonian canal fatality. The authorities at Fort william have been appraised of a peculiar fatality which..." No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Dundee Courier/The British Newspaper Archive
  50. 1904 7 11 Not Recorded Australia 21 S/S Air “Diver's Terrible Fate. A diver at Boonton, New Jersey, a small village near Paterson, has met with a terrible fate. At Boonton there is a largo reservoir, and the diver was sent down for some purpose to the bottom of the great basin. He caught his foot in some manner at a depth of 70 feet under the surface, and signalled for help. As soon as possible, assistance was sent to him, and diver after diver went down, staying as long as possible in the hope of effecting his release. By Tuesday, the man had been 24 hours under water, and seven divers failed in their efforts to bring him up. Every effort was made to extricate him, and to cut away the obstruction that held his foot, but all the efforts were in vain, and late in the afternoon the signals that the diver had been making grew fainter, and finally ceased� Reported in The Cumberland Argus and Fruitgrowers Advocate, Parmatta, NSW
  51. 1903 8 14 Not Recorded Australia S/S Air Diving Fatalities. BRISBANE. August 21. “A Japanese diver was killed whilst engaged in diving operations in the Missionary Passage, Thursday Island, through a pipe bursting. This makes the third fatality within a week. Reported in the Western Star and Roma Advertiser, Toowoomba, Qld FATALITIES AT THURSDAY ISLAND. The Treasurer has received a notification from the Inspector of Pearlshell Fisheries at Thursday Island, that the ‘Mabel’ had reported that a Japanese diver named Hiogo Santra was killed whilst diving in the Missionary Passage, through the pipe bursting. This makes the third fatality to Japanese divers in a week. A man from the lugger ‘Clifton’ died from paralysis at Kumusi, Missionary Passage, on 14th, and one from the lugger ‘Ivy’ from paralysis at Stephens Island on The 16th. Reported in the Brisbane Courier, Qld.
  52. 1902 8 20 Not Recorded Malta Military S/S Air "A diver's death. How a missing torpedo cost a life. A few days ago, HMS Barham (Third class cruiser launched in 1899, scrapped in 1914) was at torpedo practice outside the harbour at Malta.." . No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Angus evening Post/The British Newspaper Archive
  53. 1901 3 28 Not Recorded Australia Topsides “Another Chinaman died of dysentery in Palmerston Chinatown on Thursday night last. A Japanese diver died on Thursday from, we believe, the same cause�. No details. Reported in the Northern Territory Times and Gazette
  54. 1900 11 23 Not Recorded UK Military S/S Air "Naval diver's death. Diving in support of the Battleship Howe (Admiral class battleship launched in 1885), died shortly after recovering a…" Presumed to be a report on the death of Alexander Virco (TC) No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Portsmouth Evening News/The British Newspaper Archive
  55. 1900 8 14 Not Recorded UK "Diver Killed By Sluice Valve. In the Lady Windsor Dep Dock at Barry Docks. On Tuesday, a diver…" No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Western Mail/The British Newspaper Archive
  56. 1900 5 25 Not Recorded UK "Tragic death of a diver. Last night the steamer 'Fawn', which had been at the steam liner "Dewdrop" of Aberdeen, which was wrecked at the Swarf, Stronsay,..." (Fishing liner 'Dewdrop' went ashore at Linga Sound, Stronsay, in a storm, refloated and put back into service). No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Angus Evening Post/The British Newspaper Archive
  57. 1898 7 18 Not Recorded Australia S/S Air "AnotherJapanese diver has lost his life diving in the deep water at Burke Island' Barrier Miner, NSW, Australia
  58. 1897 12 0 Not Recorded Australia S/S Air “Another Japanese diver in Torres Straits his died from paralysis caused by deep diving.� No details. Reported in the Brisbane Courier
  59. 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
  60. 1896 7 13 Not Recorded Australia S/S Air Thursday Island (Provincial Press Agency), July 13. "The lugger 'Muriel' has returned to port with the body of a Japanese diver who had died from paralysis while working in too deep water, making the second death from the same cause". Warwick Argus, Qld
  61. 1896 5 19 Not Recorded Australia S/S Air “A report from Thursday Island states that a diver of the lugger 'Elen' has died of diving paralysis, off Darnley Island, making the second death from the same cause on the same vessel within three months�. Reported in the West Australian.
  62. 1896 3 30 Not Recorded Australia Almond Surface Swimmer On board a cutter owned by Mr. Almond, 11 o'clock at night: "Fearing they would be murdered, the diver gave a signal to the Japanese trader and they both jumped overboard. They swam near each other and when the dinghy approached, the men therein knocked the diver with a paddle so that he drowned. As the dinghy approached the trader he dived, and being an expert swimmer he eluded his pursuers and eventually swam to a small island near West Island after about 11 hours swimming". He lived on shellfish for four days until rescued by a Manilla cutter that took him to Thursday Island. "It is quite possible that he and the diver fancied that they were in trouble, but without any foundation for the belief, for it seems clear that the trader avoided the dighy from false fear. An inquiry is being held". Reported in the Argus, Melbourne.
  63. 1896 3 6 Not Recorded Australia S/S Air "Japanese Divers - Another killed" By Telegraph to Brisbane, March 6th. "Another Japanese pearl diver near Thursday Island has died from the effects of diving in deep water near Cape Granville". Reported in the Western Star and Roma Advertiser, Toowoomba, Qld.
  64. 1895 12 0 Not Recorded Australia Topsides Thursday island. “A diver named John Anderson reported on Saturday that three mainland natives, who formed part of the crew of his lugger Dart, mutinied when anchored out of sight of all land to the westward of Badu. The balance of the crew was composed of two Malays and one Cooktown native. Just before daylight the three Binghies attacked the two Malays and Anderson with shell-knives. Anderson grappled with his man, and both fell overboard, but Anderson got safely back to the lugger. The Cooktown native assisted the Malays, and eventually the two assaulters were either thrown or jumped overboard. The three natives were evidently afraid to attempt to return to the lugger, and relied for deliverance upon the extremely remote chance of reaching some land. If they were saved it would be little short of a miracle�. The Brisbane Courier
  65. 1895 12 0 Not Recorded Australia 26 S/S Air “The pearling lugger 'Waterlily' returned to port on Saturday with the body of a Japanese diver who had died from the effects of diving in about fourteen fathoms of water off the 'Warrior reef. He was a young diver� The Brisbane Courier
  66. 1895 11 29 Not Recorded UK "The wreck of the Dorian, diver was drowned whilst assisting the work of removing the cargo.." No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Shields Daily Gazette/The British Newspaper Archive
  67. 1895 10 21 Not Recorded Divers and Diving. ..before the divers who could reach the treasure room beneath the three decks. Two diver lost there lives in the vain attempt, the .." No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Shields Daily Gazette/The British Newspaper Archive
  68. 1895 8 0 Not Recorded Australia S/S Air "A Japanese diver of the lugger 'Pero' was drowned near Ka Moos reef while diving in fifteen fathoms of water. His diving gear fouled at the bottom. It was blowing a heavy south-east gale at the time". Reported in The Sydney Evening News
  69. 1895 7 18 Not Recorded Australia S/S Air Thursday Island, July 18. "A Japanese diver has died as a result of working in water which was too deep" Reported in the Advertiser, Adelaide. Dual report for Chobe on July 19th?
  70. 1894 8 28 Not Recorded Australia 13 S/S Air "A Thurday Island telegram states that another Japanese diver has been drowned while working in 7 fathoms of water off Bada Island". South Australian Register. "The air pipe burst, and the diver, being inexperienced, failed to come to the surface, and the tender failed to haul him up until it was too late". The Morning Bulletin, Rockhampton. "The pump and piping used were made in Japan" Reported in the Sydney Morning herald
  71. 1894 8 0 Not Recorded UK Military S/S Air "Man of War Diver drowned, ..aid of divers, but several divers sent from various ships of the squadron were employed to search for the torpedo from the Benbow..." (HMS Benbow was an Admiral class battleship launched in June 1885 serving with the mediterranean fleet until 1891, held in reserve until 1894, then served as a guardship at Greenock, scrapped in 1909). No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Whitstable Times and Herne Bay Herald/The British Newspaper Archive
  72. 1894 5 9 Not Recorded Australia S/S Air "Another Japanese diver was drowned at Thursday Island on Wednesday" Reported in the Colac Herald, Vic
  73. 1893 11 0 Not Recorded Spain S/S Air Salvaging the wreck of the steamer "Cabo Machichaco" which exploded (Carrying a mixed cargo including dynamite) in Santander Harbour in November 1893. Divers had reported that as they salvaged the cargo they wre getting close to the remaining dynamite but it was supposed that the explosive had lost its power after so many weeks in the water. Three divers were down with a support boat carrying 7 men over the location, around 50 men were working on the nearby docks when the cargo exploded killing the divers and men on the boat, a further 30 were reported as seriously injured. New York Times
  74. 1893 10 20 Not Recorded Australia S/S Air "Two divers were brought to Thursday Island from Darnely Island paralysed, but both are expected to recover. A Manilla diver named Leon died there on October 17th, making the fourth victim during the few days. The Hon J. Douglas at Darley, is reported to have issued a notice to divers warning them against diving deeper than 20 fathoms. It is asserted that they frequently go down 30 fathoms for a few moments". Wanganui Herald, National Library of New Zealand
  75. 1893 8 20 Not Recorded Australia S/S Air Thursday Island, Sunday. "Another Manila diver has died in the hospitalfrom the effects of diving in deep water" The Argus, Melbournes, Vic.
  76. 1893 8 10 Not Recorded Australia S/S Air "Quern Island". Thursday Island, August 15. "Another Manilla diver died in hospital last Thursday through diving in deep water off Thursday Island. He had been an inmate of the Hospital for nearly a fortnight. A second Manila diver is now in hospital paralysed beyond hope of recovery through working in the same locality". Zeehan and Dundas Herald, Tas.
  77. 1893 6 2 Not Recorded Australia S/S Air "Death of Another Diver". Thursday Island, Monday (In a paper dated Monday 5th June). It is reported that another diver, a native of Manilla, died Friday night through working deep water off Darnley Island. He belonged to Kell's Station. Several cases of paralysis have also occurred. Evening News, Sydney, NSW. May be a double report of one of the other fatalities?
  78. 1893 5 0 Not Recorded Australia John Tolman S/S Air "Death of another Diver". Thursday Island, Monday - (In a paper on Monday 22nd, so could be 15th? TC) "Another diver is reported to have died through diving in deepwater, but this time the occurrence took place some distance from where the others met their fate. Deceased was working from Mr John Tolman's fleet. Evening News, Sydney. May be a double reoport for one of the other May fatalities?
  79. 1892 10 28 Not Recorded Australia Tomlin S/S Air "Cooktown. HMS 'Lizard' arrived from New Guinea where all is quiet. It is reported at Samarai (Island off SE New Guines in the Chana Strait) that one of Tomlin's and one of Clarke's pearl divers have drowned through disarrangement of the gear. Reported in The Norther iner (Charters Towers Qld)
  80. 1892 10 28 Not Recorded Australia Clarke S/S Air "Cooktown. HMS 'Lizard' arrived from New Guinea where all is quiet. It is reported at Samarai (Island off SE New Guines in the Chana Strait) that one of Tomlin's and one of Clarke's pearl divers have drowned through disarrangement of the gear. Reported in The Norther iner (Charters Towers Qld)
  81. 1891 3 0 Not Recorded UK "Serious accident to divers who were in a diving bell in Ayr harbour removing an…" No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Sheffield Evening Telegraph/The British Newspaper Archive
  82. 1889 7 0 Not Recorded UK "The Fatality To A Shields Diver. Yesterday (18/7/1889) an inquest was held at the Police Station , Mill Dam, South Shields, before Mr. Coroner..." "Death of a diver. A fatal accident to a diver is reported from Breadnell..." No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Shields Daily Gazette/The British Newspaper Archive
  83. 1889 3 13 Not Recorded Malta S/S Air "A German diver drowned. Malta, March 13. The 'Sultan' is still in the same position, but some anxiety is felt on account of the swell.." (HMS Sultan, a broadside iroclad, was launched in 1870, ran aground 600 yards in the Comino chamnnel between Malta and Gozo on 6th March 1889, she slipped off the rocks killing a diver and sank on the 14th March in a gale, refloated by Baghino & C, refitted and served until 1896, in reserve until 1906, renamed Fishgard IV as a training ship). No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Shields Daily Gazette/The British Newspaper Archive
  84. 1886 11 0 Not Recorded New Guinea "A party of pearl divers have been murdered at Johannes Island, near New Guinea. Six soldiers at Cairo, finding an unexploded shell, struck it with a hammer, causing a detonation..." No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the North Devon Journal/The British Newspaper Archive
  85. 1885 7 16 Not Recorded UK "The Late Fatal Accident at Portsmouth Harbour. A diver went down this morning at the entrance of No 1 dock near…" No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Portsmouth Evening News/The British Newspaper Archive
  86. 1884 3 5 Not Recorded UK "Fatal accident to a diver. A fatal accident occurred of Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, on Wednesday afternoon. It appears that the tug Tydemoth, of Portsmouth, having on board.." No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Gloucestr Citizen/The British Newspaper Archive
  87. 1880 1 7 Not Recorded UK S/S Air London Times article on divers recovering bodies after the Tay Bridge disaster (Reproduced in the New York Times 26/1/1880)
  88. 1879 2 5 Not Recorded France S/S Air "..submarine diver who died on the fifth day of February 1879 by being drowned at sea on the coast of France." No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Liverpooll Mercury/The British Newspaper Archive
  89. 1878 8 27 Not Recorded UK Military S/S Air "..body of a diver who died from syncope while engaged in diving practice from the gunnery ship 'Excellence' in Portsmouth Harbour, the..." No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Bristol Mercury/The British Newspaper Archive. Presumed to be another report into the death of Jeremoah Shanahan(27/8/1878)
  90. 1877 12 18 Not Recorded UK "Shocking Accident To A Diver. Strange fatality occurred at Her Majesty's Devonport Dockyard yesterday. A heavy spar…." No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Manchester Evening News/The British Newspaper Archive
  91. 1877 6 0 Not Recorded UK "A diver suffocated. A diver engaged at Holyhead harbour met with fearful death last week. A number of men have been for employed a wreck.." No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Edinburgh Evening News/The British Newspaper Archive
  92. 1876 12 0 Not Recorded Australia S/S Air Cape Verde Islander, one of two pearl divers killed in December working out of Somerset (North Australia, on the York Penninsula). "He was walking along the bottom when his when his life line became entangled around a large piece of cup shaped coral, the only obstruuction for a considerable distance. The boat to which he was attached was drifting with the tide as he walked on, and, the life line getting foul, the boat was anchored as it were.The strain thus brought on the life line would appear to have drawn the diver down to the coral, thereby creating such alarm as to cause him so far as to lose his presence of mind as to cut the line. He might just as well cut his throat as by his thoughtless act he transferred the boat's strain from the rope to the air pipe, which was soon pulled out of its socket on the helmet" When the body, sometime later, was recovered, "It was on it's back and a knife firmly clutched in the right hand. No blame appears to have been attached to the boat's crew". Grey River Argus, Papers Past, National Library of New Zealand.
  93. 1873 7 21 Not Recorded UK Tyne Commissioners "Fatal Diving Bell Accident. On Monday night a fatal accident took place.." A diver drowned in Shields Harbour on Monday owing to the diving bell capsizing." No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in Staffordshire Sentinel/The British Newspaper Archive
  94. 1872 8 12 Not Recorded UK S/S Air "Diver drowned at the Aberdeen Beakwater. One of the divers at the new breakwater, Aberdeen,…" No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in Dundee Courier/The British Newspaper Archive
  95. 1863 4 16 Not Recorded Richard UK S/S Air "A diver has been drowned at Lowestoft by water getting into his helmet while working at a wreck in the bottom of the sea" No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the John O' Groat Journal/The British Newspaper Archive
  96. 1859 10 0 Not Recorded UK S/S Air "Shocking Death of a Diver. During survey last week of the wreck of the Robert Garden, schooner belonging Dover, recently run down off the South Foreland by collision with the ..." "Last week, at Ramsgae, Maurice, a diver..."No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Dover Express/The British Newspaper Archive. (Possibly dual report for the death of Maurice Alward?)
  97. 1859 3 17 Not Recorded UK S/S Air "Diver drowned whilst a boat's crew were engaged about the wreck of the barque Saxon King off Stranraer" "Diver Drowned. ...the diver, when they found him quite dead. The air pipe had got entangled among the steps of the ladder and air supply had..." (The Saxon King left Samarand with a cargo of sugar for the Clyde but ran aground on rocks off the South Rock Lighthouse (Off Ireland) on the 10th of January. She was refloated after three hours and made for the Clyde where she anchored off the Corsewall Lighthouse (Near Stranraer) where she foundered and sank). No other details (Pay for access archive). Reported in the Cambridge Chronicle and Herald/The British Newspaper Archive
  98. 1857 5 15 Not Recorded UK S/S Air "Naval and Military Intelligence. An experienced diver who died under mysterious circumstances while occupied in diving for the purpose of recovering a 32 pounder ..." Suspected duplicate report of the death of Edward Barnicoat (20/5/1857). No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Caledoian Mercury/Belfast Mercury/The British Newspaper Archive
  99. 1854 5 2 Not Recorded UK "Fatal Accident happened on the 2nd inst. to one of the divers employed upon the Portland Breakwater works. The man…" No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Westmoreland Gazette/The British Newspaper Archive
  100. 1841 11 11 Not Recorded "Pearl diver, that died (from over exertion or some other cause) immediately after he had reached the land or boat from which he …" No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in The Worcester Journal/The British Newspaper Archive
  101. 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?
  102. 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.
  103. 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
  104. 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
  105. 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.
  106. 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.
  107. 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.
  108. 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
  109. 2014 9 14 Not Recorded Kuwait Diver killed: An Egyptian diver in his 40s died while doing maintenance work on a huge gate in Al-Zour, reports Alam Alyawm daily. However, the Al-Seyassah daily said the diver fell off a boat and drowned. The corpse was fished out of the waters by divers from the Coast Guard. Reported in the Arab Times online
  110. 2014 10 11 Not Recorded Saudi Arabia INW 31m SCUBA Seabed survey and marking of subsea assets prior to a jack-up workover rig being mobilised in the KJO Oilfield (Al-Khafji Joint Operations). Failed to surface, body recovered 24 hours later. Longstreath/Emirates 24/7, A report in the Saudi gazzette read:- "DAMMAM – Search and rescue teams from the Eastern Province Border Guards recovered the body of an expatriate diver who drowned in the Al-Khafji area while performing routine work laying down electrical cable signs. Spokesman of the guards, Capt. Omar Al-Aklabi, said the victim was working with a fellow worker who returned to the shore after completing his work, only to find his colleague had not returned with him. He added that search and rescue operations lasted two days and the body was finally located 22 miles from the shore. The case has been referred to investigation bodies"
  111. 2021 4 30 Not Recorded USA "OSHA Report . April 30, 2021 – E. Tri Lakes Crown Lake Dam, AR Summary - Employee was working on a drain pipe to see if it was clogged. The employee had placed a small metal tub plate over the opening of the drain pipe and he accidentally removed the tube. The debris that was clogged inside the drain was removed and became unclogged causing a whirlpool and pulled the employee into the drain approximately 60 feet down and employee's body was ejected approximately 120 feet away from the opening of the drain. The employee's body was severed in half causing a fatality. While this was not a diving fatality, the employee was a diver working in a wet suit. Similar hazards as other dams / plants with Delta P issue and not being aware of where the inlets / outlets piping of the dam were. RLH Construction – OSHA Inspection #1540325.015 – OPEN. i. Citations – 30OCT21 is the 6 month date ii. Problems - Improper manning / training? Lack of knowledge of system?"
  112. 2003 12 6 Norwood Michael Palau TV 76 Rebreather British TV presenter filming a documentary in the series “ Deep Sea Detective�. Technical dive on the wreck of the second world war wreck of the USS Perry off Palau. Ran out of gas, attempted sharing, lost consciousness, failed to activate reserve, did not respond to treatment.
  113. 1974 3 30 Norris William UK 61 British, pipe-lay barge? Medically unfit to dive (no medical), died in DDC following a dive, reported as decompression illness
  114. 1999 7 21 Nordeen Tim USA Nowesco Died 9 miles inside a tunnel dry diving operation in New Deer sewage outfall, Boston, double fatality (Juse). Both divers died as a result of bad air quality that resulted from extremely poor equipment and equipment not made to be used in a tunnel environment. Over $200,000 in fines for wilful violations. Boston Globe and others
  115. 1996 0 0 Noordhof Ellard Netherlands GB Diving 0 S/S Air Working off a jack up, umbilical caught on wellhead, asphyxiated on the surface
  116. 1949 1 22 Noor Ahmat bin Mohamed Singapore Singapore Harbour Board 15 S/S Air Malaysian aged 25 diving off the harbour approach in Tanjong Pagar salvaging a truck. Had attached two lifting wires but then stopped giving signals. Another team member dived in (without gear) but could not reach 50' but noticed the diver's helmet floating free in mid water, dived again and put it on his head and went down. "I could not see the bottom as it was not clear. I felt something with my feet. It was the diver's body". The second diver suggested that "the diver might have collapsed from fatigue and then his diving gear came off". Returning a verdict of "Misadventure", the coroner said there was no evidence to show the diving helmet was faulty. Straits Times.
  117. 2010 11 18 Nolesolo Roberto Villata Peru SCUBA Aged 38, one of two shellfish divers (Valiente Zapata Wilbert was killed) diving from the scallop boat 'Robert Alexander' off the island 'Lobos de Tierra' involved in a decompression incident. No details. Reported by GPS Diving
  118. 1938 0 0 Nohl Max USA DESCO 31 Saturation Max Nohl and Dr. Edgar End spent 27 hours at 101' in a decompression chamber at Milwaukee Hospital, after a 5 hour decopression, Max Nohl has a DCI.
  119. 1937 12 0 Nohl Max USA 128 S/S Mixed Gas First deep dive using a heliox mixture and DESCO gear (Developed by Diving Equipment and Salvage Company set up in Winsconsin by divers Max Nohl and Jack Browne with hyperbaric physiologist Edgar End) in Lake Michigan
  120. 1933 11 13 Nishi Shotaro Australia Roy Edwards 33 S/S Air Japanese pear diver, aged 48, lugger belonging to Mr Roy Edwards working out of Darwin. 60 miles Northwest of Bathurst Island, spent 6 hours doing in water therapeutic decompression the day before, not fully cured, dived the next day to continue treatment (and gather pearls!). Apparently lost control of his air valve, major squeeze, pulled up bleeding profusely from nose, ears etc, died. Reported in the Courier Mail and Canberra Times
  121. 1948 10 20 Nimmock Wilfred Australia 16 S/S Air “Diver disappears� CAIRNS, Wed. ‘A Torres Strait native diver, Wilfred Nimmock, 24, dived into about nine fathoms from the pearler ‘Penguin’, He surfaced 50 yards from the boat without helmet or corselet, then sank. Some of the Penguin's crew dived but found no trace of Nimmock, his diving gear, or shell bag. Reported in The Courier-Mail, Brisbane, Qld.
  122. 2010 12 22 Nikolaev Alexander Vietnam Tourist SCUBA Russian tourist diving off the island of Cu Lao Cau, double fatality (with Frenchman Philippe Busso). Another diver reported being knocked unconscious by a powerful explosion, local police blamed poachers 'blast' fishing. Voice of Russia
  123. 1984 7 19 Nielsen Lt. Jorgen Seligmann Denmark Navy Died on a training exercise dive at the Navy Seal combat training failities in Kongsore harbour due to an explosive charge being detonated close to him in error. Reported by navalhistory.dk
  124. 1998 8 13 Nicolson Constable David Canada Police SCUBA Police diver searching dam for missing 12 year old boy was sucked into same sluice. On a life line but it broke (along with his regulator) when pulled by the surface crew. Drowned. Ontario Ministry of Labour investigator concluded the diver would not have drowned had the dive been conducted according to the  Occupational Health and Safety Act and its diving regulations and recommended charges be laid against Waterloo regional police for several offences under the act, including failing to properly plan, equip and supervise a dive of that type, but the ministry chose not to lay charges because there was not a reasonable prospect of securing a conviction (his investigation identified safe-diving practices that were not followed that night including lack of identifying and controlling the hazardous sluice, failing to use a supply of air from the surface for a dive near a dam, and limited training in doing dives near dams. Several officers argued that police dive teams should be exempt from diving regulations when they are doing an emergency rescue. Investigators argued that the rules do not distinguish between emergency dives and commercial dives because "the hazards facing divers is the same no matter what their purpose." Police officer in charge of operation said that if it had been a missing adult, the search would probably not have gone ahead at that time, 'but with a child.........'
  125. 1934 4 6 Nggeboe Adoe Australia V. J. Clark 16 S/S Air Aged 30, from Koepang, Pearl diver out of Darwin diving Northwest of Bathurst Island, second dive of the day, paralysed in the water, dead when recovered onboard, had been working the pearl boats for about 6 years. Reported in the Courier Mail Brisbane.
  126. 2016 4 25 Ngay Le Van Vietnam Int Manpower and Construction Aged 46, died on the way to hospital the day after diving at Ha Tinh on an embankment project for the Taiwanese company, Formosa Hung Nghiep steel, who are alledged to have polluted and killed large numbers of fish in recent weeks. Team members also claimed they had felt unwell after diving there. Ha Tinh News
  127. 1972 10 10 Ney Jean Pierre Gabon Comex Oilfield dive. Switched to breathing pure oxygen with full face mask/comms on decompression stops, no basket, strong current. Shouted and pulled off mask, taken under barge by current. PC
  128. 1908 9 12 Newton UK Military S/S Air "Navy diver killed, Air pipe cut by warship cable. Navy diver met his death in a strange manner at Cromarty Firth on Saturday. Chief Carpenter…" "..tide, the diver's gear came into contact with the ship's cable, and was completely severed. Newton must have died immediately from...." No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Cheltenham Chronicle/Derby Daily Telegraph/The British Newspaper Archive
  129. 2009 7 12 Nevmatov Rafik Azerbaijan Caspian Diving and Rescue Topsides MI-8 helicopter coming in from the block 4 off Chilov island, crashed into the sea in the Azerbaijani sector of the Caspian Sea, wreckage located at a depth of 85-89 meters.. Three man crew survived and one passenger survived, two passengers missing, presumed dead - crane operator Viktor Mostavenko and commercial diver Rafik Neymatov.
  130. 2012 4 13 Neve Nigel Gabon Topsides Acting as Company Site Representative on a DSV offshore Gabon, reported as possible stomach heamorrhage, no other etails. Longstreath blog
  131. 1894 1 22 Nelson David UK S/S Air Yesterday afternoon a diver, named David Nelson, elderly man, residing at Kings Wear met with a singular death whilst engaged in his occupation in Dartmouth Harbour..." No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Exeter and Plymouth Gazette/The British Newspaper Archive
  132. 1953 9 15 Nellman Tom Jack Australia Duffield Brothers 37 S/S Air “PEARL DIVER DISAPPEARS. THURSDAY ISLAND, Fri. “A Torres Strait Islander, Tom Jack Nellman (30) disappeared last Tuesday while diving for pearlshell in about 20 fathoms off Bobo, near Daru Island, from the launch ‘Laura’, owned by Duffield Brothers of Thursday Island. The ‘Laura’ returned here late last night. The police are investigating�. Reported in the Northern Miner, Charters towers, Qld
  133. 1944 10 13 Neller Horace UK Aged 62, :Diver died at work, adjusted air valves, signalled to…." No other details (Pay for access archive) Gloucester Citizen/The British Newspaper Archive
  134. 1979 0 0 NEDU USA USN 549 Saturation Using the 'Ocean Simulator Facility (OSF), NEDU divers completed a 37 programme to a maximum depth of 1,800'
  135. 1968 0 0 NEDU USA Military 312 Saturation Excursion dive to 1025' from saturation holding depth of 825' made at NEDU
  136. 1992 4 17 Navarro Terry USA ProDiver, Ottawa 15 S/S Air Aged 37, Lasalle, Illinois, Commonwealth Edison nuclear Power plant, contracted in to seal a valve. To reach the repair had to descend 60', penetrate laterally 20' and then ascend 20' to reach the valve. He finished the work but then appeared to be in distress. They tried to pull him out but the line snagged. Supervisor went in and pulled him out but he died in hospital the following day. Was diving a Desco with what appears to be an inadequate air supply resulting in high CO2 and asphyxia. Three man team, supv, diver, tender. Court proceedings in 1995 concluded faulty (low) air supply/high CO2 and upheld OSHA citations.
  137. 2016 12 13 Nava Pascasio Nino Mexico CAPAMA Aged 58, working for the Acapulco Municipal Water and Sewage Commission (CAPAMA), Papagayo 2 catchment are in the town of Salsipuedes, pumps still running, took six hours to recover the body (Nobody could authorise turning off the pumps), appears to have been another differential pressure incident. Reported by El Sur, periodico de guerrero
  138. 2017 6 22 Naung Ko Saw Myanmar An-na-wa 40m Aged 45, Salvage of a crashed Tatmadaw (Myanmar military) Y-8 (Chinese built (Shaanxi) four engine turboprop military transport plane) off Launglon Township (13 miles from Dawai). Removing nets from the tail and trying to locate the black box, at least two, possibly three successive dives with partner Ko Thant Zin Oo, surfaced and prepared to eat, Ko Saw Naung collapsed, Ko Thant Zin Oo paralysed legs/hands. 'Local villagers' took them both down to 60 feet, Ko Saw Naung recovered consciousness. Recovered to surface and both passed out, possibly 6 further attempts at in water treatment 'I recovered conscious, he did not' said Ko Thant Zin Oo. Taken ashore and given three further therapeutic treatments, Ko Thant Zin Oo recovered in hospital but Ko Saw Nauntg died. Reported in the Myanmar times
  139. 2010 6 19 Nasca Michele Italy Aged 57, 7 o'clock in the morning, snorkel diving with his brother to collect seafood near a pier near in the town of Zapponeta (Foggia, Italian East Coast north of Bari), sucked into into the 1 metre diameter inlet of a pump 2.5 metres below sea level (grill may have been faulty) supplying salt water to the 'Margherita di Savona' natural salt drying pans. Reported as 'shredded' by the impeller which was located only 30cm from the entrance. Apparently there was a sign prohibiting swimming in the area at the head of the pier, but not on the beach either side of it. A local fisherman was reported as saying that many years ago another spear fisherman had died at the same place in the same manner. Reported by Stato quotidiano
  140. 2008 6 19 Nasca Michele Italy SCUBA Paraphrased from various press reports- “An amateur diver aged 57 diving with his brother 'died after coming into contact with the suction pump connected to a dock.' ' The body, horribly mutilated, and was recovered by police divers.' 'The judiciary is investigating the hypothesis that there is no protection grill on the turbine plant.'
  141. 1898 5 0 Nanosaki Hinado Philippines S/S Air Japanese diver died from 'paralysis', no details. Reported in the Brisbane Courier
  142. 1978 0 0 Names witheld at the request of the diver UK Wharton Williams 145 Saturation DSV 'Tender Carrier', working diver fed pure helium from a McDermott blender (sensors failed) and became unconscious. Recovered by bell partner, (ex Royal marine) and brought to surface. Brain damage meant him having to re-learn how to walk. Off work six months but then continued to dive until 1986.
  143. 2008 8 5 Nalin Indonesia Fisherman S/S Air Aged 60, Tidung Island, suffered leg paralysis fom decompression incident and died a week later. Reported as being a 'compressor' diver (Used a tyre compressor for diving), survived by his wife, four sons and three daughters. Reported by www.pulauseribu.net
  144. 2007 7 17 Nahar Indonesia Paraphrased from press reports:- Pier Ipi, Nusa Damai, Ende, Flores Island. Wreck of a vessel sunk in September 2004, needed to be removed as it was obstructing ferry access to the pier. Diver killed in an explosion cutting into the hull during salvage operations. No details. Metrotvnews.com
  145. 1976 12 4 Nabusset Norbert France Comex SCUBA Off Brittany coast. Dived from one moonpool to the other in high current, tide took him away, dragged back by lifeline but lost head gear, drowned. PC
  146. 1929 9 10 Nabiki Sligoro Australia S/S Air "Japanese diver drowned, Perth September 17, a Japanese diver named Sligoro Nabiki was drowned while diving off Mardi Island, on the North-west coast, recently". Reported in the Mercury (Hobart)
  147. 1935 12 5 Myquick Sammy Australia BRISBANE, Saturday. — When the pearling lugger ‘Aldinia’ reached Thursday Island today she had on board two iead men. They were a Japanese diver, Ichitaro Miyao, 35, and a Mapoon native, Sammy Myquick, 17. The lugger was working at Warrior island with the diver down five fathoms. When no signals had been received for some time the captain went down and found Miyao dead in his driving dress. As the lugger was returning to Thursday Island Myquick was found dead in the hold. 'The Government officer at the island found that the diver had died from heart failure, while the aborigine had been poisoned by fumes from a broken exhaust pipe in the engine. The Mail, Adelaide, SA
  148. 2007 10 25 Myers Mathew USA Sealife Centre SCUBA American, aged 44, Resurrection Bay, Alaska, training dive to become a Sealife centre scientific diver, "ran out of air, may have panicked trying to take off his weight belt" drowned.
  149. 2007 9 25 Myers Mathew USA Sealife Centre SCUBA Aged 44, Marine mammal scientist with the Sealife Centre in Seward, alaska. Training dive, ran out of air, surfaced with instructor, decided to swim to shore (rather than to their anchored boat), unable to release weight belt or inflate buoyancy, submerged, instructor assumed he was trying to release his weight belt but he did not resurface. Pair were diving alone. Body recovered 90 minutes later.
  150. 1941 4 2 Muthuraja Muthuswamy India Aged 40, resident of Srirangam, working locally in Tiruchchirapalli, Tamil Nadu, inside a well with four others, died of electric shock from a pump in the well at the Kambarasam Pettai Municipal water works. The others received mild shocks and survived. The Indian Express
  151. 2001 7 24 Murray David UK RN 81 Rebreather Diving from the British Underwater Test and Evaluation Centre at Kyle of Lochalsh, RN "Could not reveal the nature of the men's dive" Aged 28, a member of Fleet Diving Unit 3, based at Horsea Island in Portsmouth for just 6 weeks, failed to surface and was reported missing on the morning of July 24. His body was recovered that afternoon. The cause of the incident was not reported pending a Board of Inquiry.
  152. 1989 1 30 Murphy Steven Canada St. Lawrence Seaway Authority 10 Aged 29, Lock 1 on the Welland Canal.. Another diver, Andrew Dykstra was checking a valve on the lock but became trapped against logs, Steven Murphy, the stand-by diver went in the assist and also became trapped. Both were eventually brought to the surface, Steven Murphy pronounced dead on site, Andrew Dykstra died later in hospital. No other details. Reported in the Toronto Star.
  153. 1977 10 3 Murphy R L UK Taylor Diving and Salvage 30 S/S Air Trench barge 316, dredging operation, Snagged subsea on stinger? Lost comms. Cut umbilical, bailout not activated, asphixia?
  154. 1915 3 25 Murphy James Joseph UK Topsides "Death of well known government diver who died in Dover from pneumonia at the …" No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Dover Express/The British Newspaper Archive
  155. 1970 0 0 Mumford Paul Saudi Arabia Algosaibi Drowned in shallow water when his suit over-inflated leaving him 'feet up, head down' in the water. PC
  156. 2005 7 25 Mumbai High India ONGC Mumbai High platform, DSV 'Samundra Suraksha' collided with platform, riser broken, fire destroyed the platform a rig, a helicopter and the DSV. 22 fatalities.
  157. 2010 10 13 Muller Travis USA Ron Perrin Water Technologies 9 SCUBA Paraphrased from press reports:- “A 28 year old diver from Arlington died at about 09:45 this morning while working inside a nearly full City of Richmond municipal above ground water storage tank in Richmond this morning. The diver worked for a contractor who was performing routine (Two yearly silt removal) maintenance on the 500,000 gallon tank, which is about 50 feet tall and was three-quarters filled with water. The diver descended into the tank in SCUBA gear (09:15) and went to the bottom (09:18) was vacuuming the bottom of it to clean it. His partner who was outside the tank on the top noticed the diver's tether line became slack (09:28). He then also put on scuba gear and went into the tank to find what was wrong. He found the man unresponsive with his mask off but started having regulator problems and surfaced. The Richmond fire Department responded and recovered the diver’s body (10:50)". Declared dead. Houston Chronicle.
  158. 1935 11 6 Mukai Chukuro Australia V. R. Kepert (Darwin) S/S Air Japanese pearl diver, aged 39, became paralysed underwater and died later. No details, but reported as the 7th diver that season to have died, the majority of paralysis, one from a bite from a coral snake. Aged about 39, diving from the lugger 'Winifred', on the Bathurst Island pearl beds, "Died, it is supposed, from paralysis caused by pressure'. 'Complained of pain in his left arm. For more than 14 hours he was brought to the surface by stages, but he died in the evening"Reported in the Canberra. Times et al
  159. 2002 7 6 Mouritson Chris USA Caldive 32 S/S Air 34 year old with 12 years experience from the DSV 'Mr Fred' at Eugene Island 273, BP, KM 17B, helmet flooded, drowned but unclear if he ditched it, poorly maintained hat with valve issues (see IMCA SF 01/03).
  160. 1958 6 24 Mott Leonard K Canada Seaboard Marine Divers SCUBA Aged 26. Following the collapse of the new Second Narrows bridge being constructed over Burrard inlet with a loss of 18 lives on the 17th, a commercial diver died two days later during body recovery operations. He had come to the surface to change cylinders, wearing a heavy weight belt, slipped and went down, drowned. Reported in the press on the occasion of the 50 anniversary ceremony in 2008 (CTV.ca). "Mott, formerly of Nelson, BC., worked as a stand-in for actor Peter Lorre in the movie 20,000 Leagues under the Sea. Wife and two children. Calgary Herald
  161. 1954 9 24 Motlop Fred Australia Haritos Brothers 34 S/S Air Aged 32, diving off the pearl lugger “Fram� off the Arhem coast (Off Maroonga Island between Millingimbi and Elcho Island missions). Some reports are more complete than others. One just says :- “A deck-hand lost his balance in heavy seas and in an attempt to save himself dragged the tender operator overboard with him. The tender lost Motlop's air and life lines and the diver sank to the 'bottom. Before he could be raised again he tore off his helmet and rocketed to the surface. The crew did not realise his lungs had burst. They fitted another helmet on him and lowered him to the bottom to "stage' him. (Staging is a treatment to prevent "bends," a form of paralysis, caused by bringing a diver to the surface too quickly.) The crew 'staged" Motlop for about an hour, (but they found he was dead when they raised him to the deck)�. As reported in the Canberra Times. A second report says:- "His air line became entangled in the propeller and Motlop was dragged towards the surface (from 17 fathoms). He was pulled up to 6 fathoms before the crew could stop the lugger and free his line. The diver's tender was holding Motlop's line keeping him steady at 6 fathoms when the lugger pitched badly in a heavy sea. A native crewman slipped and grabbed the tender and both fell overborad. Motlop plummeted to 17 fathoms before the crew could gab the lines. Before they could bring the diver up slowly he hsad thrown off his helmet, apparently in panic, and shot to the surface. The crew fiitted him with another helmet and sent him down for an hour or so in an effort top avoid bends." He was dead when brought up, a post mortem completed by a visiting Docor Langsford from Darwin concluded the divers lungs were ruptured. Sydney Morning Herald
  162. 1952 10 15 Motlop Harry Australia Dept of Native Affairs S/S Air “THURSDAY ISLAND�. October 15— Harry Motlop, a half-caste island diver, attached to the lugger ‘Ella’, owned by the Department of Native Affairs, was brought in the early hours of this morning, and died in hospital. The lugger was working in the vicinity of Mabulag Island. Reported in the Townsville Daily Bulletin, Qld
  163. 2000 11 23 Moscow USSR Military An elite, specially-trained team of combat divers guards the Kremlin against potential attackers trying to gain access to the Kremlin through the sewers underwater from the River Moskva and the underground network of sewers. But any would-be transgressors would be met by sinister-looking combat divers - known as strategic-purpose divers. The first units of combat divers were set up in the 1960s to combat underwater saboteurs. They now form part of the Presidential Bodyguard Service. The divers all have officer's rank and get free flats in Moscow. As well as patrolling the sewers, they also inspect the River Moskva around the Kremlin, protect all the presidential residences from offshore and accompany the president when he goes to the Black Sea resort of Sochi. A special underwater pistol was designed as a non-automatic four-barrel gun loaded in the same way as a hunter's rifle, by opening the breach. The bullets look strange too. A bullet is actually a long needle or a "nail" as the divers call it. The nails can kill at a distance of six to 17 metres, depending on the depth. The divers say that underwater fighting with knives only exists in films. A basic principle of underwater combat is that whoever attacks first, wins. Even the slightest wound could be lethal underwater because water pressure leads to massive loss of blood which renders the diver useless in seconds. If their oxygen supply is cut, the special purpose divers have a small reserve balloon attached to their chest with enough oxygen to get to the surface, Reported in the Russian weekly newspaper Versiya and BBC
  164. 1990 8 31 Mortimer Michael USA SCUBA Aged 31, Lake Worth fire fighter, recreational dive for lobster off Juno Beach in the notorious 'mini-season'. Died due to air in this cylinder being contaminated carbon monoxide. Reported in the Miami Herald. Later, it was reported in the Sun Sentinel that “Attorney Tracy R. Sharpe, who represents the victim's widow, said he thought the carbon monoxide got into the tank when [Michael R. Mortimer] filled it with oxygen from a larger oxygen tank that National Weldco of Miami had delivered to his home� (Doubtful it was oxygen for a sports lobster dive, probably decanting air, but still no explanation of where the CO came from, TC)
  165. 1982 2 15 Morrison Perry Canada Hydrospace Saturation Canadian, aged 24, diver in sat onboard the Ocean Ranger which sank in a storm with the loss of all 84 personnel onboard. How many other divers were onboard, which contractor,?
  166. 1973 4 16 Morrison Kenneth Singapore Selco Salvage Private limited 3 Injured in the same accident that killed Mohamed Mohamed and injured Atan bin Jain when a hatch on the Italian vessel Igara (Ex Japan en route to Brazil with Iron ore which had sunk following striking a rock near Horsburgh lighthouse on March 19th) they were opening exploded open under pressure. Straits Times
  167. 1884 7 26 Moreton UK S/S Air "A diver drowned in the Firth of Forth setting up moorings for the Lord Waeden. Intelligence was received at Sheerness Dockyard on Saturday that a riggers diver….. ." No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in The Lancaster Gazette/The British Newspaper Archive
  168. 2014 2 1 Moreno Franco Israel Costa Concordia, Gigio Island, Italy Underwater Contractor Spain 3m Air News report from Canadian Business: ROME: A diver died Saturday while working on the shipwrecked Costa Concordia, apparently gashing his leg on an underwater metal sheet while preparing the wreck for removal, officials and news reports said. Italy's civil protection agency, which is overseeing the removal of the Concordia from Tuscany's coast, said the diver hailed from Spain. Tuscany's La Nazione newspaper said the diver had been working on preparations to affix huge tanks onto sides of the Concordia to float the ship off its false seabed and tow it to a port for eventual dismantling. It said he apparently gashed his leg on an underwater metal sheet and was then unable to get free, bleeding profusely before a diver colleague was able to bring him to the surface. The report said he was conscious upon surfacing but later died. The diver, who wasn't identified by authorities, is the first to die in the line of work on salvaging the Concordia ever since it slammed into a reef off Giglio island on Jan. 13, 2012, killing 32 passengers and crew. A diver died last year, but the causes were reportedly unrelated to the work. The Concordia was righted in preparation for removal during a remarkable, 19-hour engineering feat last fall in which a system of pulleys wrenched the 300-meter-long (1,000-foot-long), 115,000-ton cruise ship from its side to vertical. A dozen giant tanks were affixed to its exposed port side and filled with water to help pull the ship upright.<br />The current project that the diver was working on was to prepare the starboard side, which had been underwater until the ship was righted, to hold a similar number of tanks. The tanks will be emptied of water and used to literally float the wreck off the seabed, so it can be towed away from Giglio, brought to a port and taken apart for scrap. Officials say they hope to have it removed by June. The 600 million euro ($810 million) removal project, which has already run nearly twice its original cost estimates, is the most ambitious ever attempted for a ship the size of the Concordia. In a statement, the head of the civil protection agency, Franco Gabrielli, expressed condolences for the death and recalled the dedication of people working on the wreckage, saying they had worked for two years without a break, in difficult conditions not without risks, to achieve the common goal of removing the Concordia from Giglio. The ship's captain is currently on trial for manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and leaving the ship before all passengers were evacuated. Prosecutors have accused him of taking the ship off course in a stunt to bring it closer to Giglio. Capt. Francesco Schettino has said he saved lives by steering the ship to shallow waters after it ran aground on a reef that wasn't on his nautical charts. On Friday, Italy's highest court let stand plea bargains reached by five other Costa employees. Costa is a unit of Miami-based Carnival Corp., the world's largest cruise line.
  169. 2014 2 1 Moreno Franco Israel Italy UCS 10m Spanish, from La Coruna, aged 41. Working on the salvage of the Costa Concordia (Sank off the island of Grigio in January 2912 with the loss of 32 people), subcontracted to Titan, the main salvors, Metal brace being cut off fell on hin crushing his chest and gashing his groin, trapping, brought to surface by fellow diver, apparently still concious but later died of blood loss. Reported in 'The Province', Associated Press and Reuters
  170. 2009 11 15 Morales Miguel Angel Chile 2 SCUBA Aged 49, Cleaning operation in a 'pond' (9 billion m3 storage facility) owned by the National oil Company, described as having 30 years diving experience and working for a diving sub-contractor. One other team member (A none-diver, so effectively a solo SCUBA dive) raised the alarm when he failed to surface. Body recovered 7 hours later. No other details. La Estrella/Cronica
  171. 2008 10 20 Morales Primitovo Philippines Gaspar salvage & Lighterage Part of a 20 man diving team cutting up wreck of Ocean Papa which sank off Malalison Island in Culasi, Antique, Philippines “The vessel exploded on Oct. 20 during salvage operations, injuring 2 salvage divers� “Trapped air explosion knocked divers off their feet� Hospitalised with breathing difficulties, discovered to have “diabetes and previous respiratory ailment� (Prob oxy/arc incident, TC)
  172. 2004 10 15 Moore David UK Sea Technical Services for British Waterways 3 SCUBA British, aged 29 from Southsea, Hampshire, trapped under collapsed temporary dam on the Upper Lode lock gate (near Tewkesbury) during draining operations. British Waterways, the diving contractors and the diving supervisor all pleaded guilty to breaching Health and Safety and Diving at Work regulations. The supervisor was also the owner and director of diving contractor which employed divers paid on a daily basis. The diver was involved in construction work on the upstream side of a temporary dam, the water had been drained from the lock basin down to a depth of 0.3 metres. This meant there was a differential of more than three metres with the water level on the other side of the dam and this exposed leaks in the dam which the diver was sent down to seal. The diver suddenly shouted out and then there was a flood of water shooting out from the downstream side of the dam. The umbilical went tight and colleagues could see he had stopped breathing, they tried to pull him to the surface but it was impossible because of the pressure trapping him against the dam. They realised that the standby diver would face the same enormous pressure if he went in so took the decision to equalise the pressure first by closing the lock gates and opening a central gate - all of which took 15 minutes. Mr Moore was then flown by air ambulance to Cheltenham General Hospital but never regained consciousness. Four months later when the scene was finally safe to examine in detail it was found that the only place where the hessian seal had been effective had been in the centre of the lock. This was because the floor of the lock was convex and sloped down towards the edges which prevented the hessian seal being effective and leaks then occurred which caused the intense water pressure on the diver. "Hessian seals were known to be effective only if equally compressed along their length which would clearly require a level lock floor, however, these concerns were not recorded and they don't appear to have been considered by engineers or communicated to the dive teams, who had no previous experience of hessian seals." British Waterways had failed to carry out sufficient risk assessment, the contractor failed to protect its divers during the whole period of the project from September to October 15 and too had failed to carry out adequate risk assessment, the diving supervisor failed to ensure the dive site was safe, that there was a risk assessment for the dive, that the materials used were adequate and safe and he failed to obtain sufficient information about the hessian seal before committing the diver to the water." British Waterways were fined £87,000 with £75,000 costs, the contractor £15,000 with £6,000 costs and the diving supervisor £6,000 with £2,000 costs. Comment from the judge “"It is particularly grave when the events leading to his death were in my judgement so obviously avoidable, as this prosecution has demonstrated� Reported in the Daily telegraph, BBC, British Press, etc
  173. 2003 3 20 Moore Steven Allan Canada Courtnakyle Fisheries Limited SCUBA Canadian, aged 40, one of a three man commercial sea urchin harvesting diving team in Nova Scotia, failed to surface, body recovered 3 days later. Company charged with failing to ensure workplace safety by allowing Mr. Moore to dive without a knife, secondary air supply, standby diver, recall system, diver buoy and life-line; failing to ensure safety equipment was available; failing to follow a code of practice; and failing to ensure the propeller on the vessel Doug's Dream was adequately guarded
  174. 1976 12 24 Moore M R or H R UK Comex 0 SCUBA British, aged 29. Drill rig "Sedneth 701". Heavy swell, difficulty getting into basket, tried to swim to stand-by boat, presumed drowned, possibly run over by stand-by vessel, body never recovered.
  175. 1975 0 0 Moore Glen USA Taylor Diving and Salvage Dive hose pinched/lost air. Bailed out but came up under barge. Drowned. No bailout bottle
  176. 1943 6 24 Moore Louise USA WOMAN DIVER. Louise Moore, 21-year-old Jacksonville (USA) girl, has a war job that is probably unique for a woman-that of a diver engaged in the work of salvaging sunken ships. "There is nothing to worry about in deep-sea diving if the diver is careful," she explained. "And it certainly is a thrilling occupation!� Her first salvage dive, at Cocoa, Fla., was a two-hour Inspection of a sunken freighter. "That would have been just routine work," she said, 'except that four huge tiger sharks insisted on sticking around and watching me. They kept circling around me the entire time until I neared the surface. At times they were so close I could have put out my hand and touched them-but I didn't." The feminine diver said they made no move to attack her and she was confident they wouldn't. Other sharks and other fish, big and little, watch her as she goes about her job of salvaging. She began professional diving at the age of 15. Prior to the war, however, her experience was limited to inspection work and the recovering of lost articles. She prefers salvaging to all types of diving. Miss Moore believes that she and her sister, Mrs. Fannie Peterson, 23, also of Jacksonville, are the only working professional divers in the United States. Their father worked at that profession for for many years, and two older brothers, Warren and William, have many diving years to their credit. A younger brother, Stanley, worked with Louise in Cocoa, Fla., in the recent salvage of a large British freighter that was sank off the coast after being torpedoed by a Nazi submarine. Reported in The Northern Miner, Charters Towers, Qld.
  177. 2012 11 3 Montozzi Maximilian Argentina Police Aged 37, Buenos Aries Province police diver, one of a team searching the Roggero Dam in Moreno on Monday for the bodies of two young men who disappeared the previous Saurday 3rd (presumed drowned, both bodies were subsequently recovered). Went missing during the morning, his lifeless body was recovered from a few metres away from where he disappeared in the afternoon. Reported swept away by strong current and trapped on a grill, drowned. His brother Marcos, also a policeman, had also died in the line of duty. Noticas Argentinas
  178. 2011 2 12 Montecinos Juan Francisco Vejar Chile 8 SCUBA Aged 34, volunteer with the town of Chol Chol fire team, training exercise off Lican Ray, reported as having lost consciousness underwater, brought to the surface by other team members but did not respond to treatment. No further details. Reported in El Diario Austral.
  179. 1987 0 0 Monstra Kanute UK Saturation Trapped in a stranded welding habitat (with Fred McNally), became hypothermic, both were rescued by Neil 'Wiggy' Wiggins (who had previously rescued George Lawson after an oxy arc explosion on the Kingsnorth Explorer in May 1984). Neil Wiggins was presented with the Silk Cut award for Nautical achievements ( He died on 23 Dec at the age of 47), MCDOA website. Does anyone remember the details of this incident?
  180. 2008 4 28 Monreal Dwight USA SCUBA Aged 62, professional golf ball diver, Tampa Palms Golf and Country Club, attacked by an alligator while retrieving balls from a lake near the 13th hole. Dislocated left shoulder and puncture wounds to his left arm. Officials said the 13th hole would be closed until the alligator was captured and killed.
  181. 1968 12 19 Monette Robert R USA Military SCUBA American police officer aged 25, Virginia Beach, Virginia, drowned in a diving accident
  182. 2012 2 10 Moneley Sorcha USA KESMARC Chamber Aged 33, from Ireland, at the facility as an observor with an interest in taking the hyperbariv treatment technology to Europe, seriously injured in the same explosion that killed Erica Marshall, airlifted to Shands (University of Florida) for treatment (head trauma). KESMARC (Kentucky Equine Sports Medicine And Rehabilitation Centre) Farm in Ocla. 12' diameter hyperbaric chamber built in 2009 by New Phase Construction used for treating horses with high ppO2. The horse from Virginia (Landmark's Legendary Affair, a 6 year old thoroughbred gelding), which was being being treated for tissue damage, was killed instantly. Two employees monitoring the horse said that about 22 minutes into the treatment, he became agitated and started to kick (conflicting statements as to whether the horse was sedated on this occasion, though it had received 4 or 5 treatments before without incident), they tried to activate an emergency decompression sequence but the horse had already kicked off a quarter inch thick protective coating. They saw a "massive spark inside the chamber and then flames", Ms Moneley left the panel to call the fire department, Ms Marshall began the decompression sequence. There was an initial explosion followed by a much larger blast that blew debris 1,200 feet, ripped off part of the roof and the side walls. The horse's steel shoes were not taped or covered "As the chamber had a irremovable protective coating that makes it unecessary". Star Banner, Florida
  183. 1938 7 7 Mohamet Yusop bin Australia V. Kepert & Co. S/S Air “DIVING FATALITY. With its flag flying half-mast, the pearling lugger ‘Don Percival’ returned to port from the pearling beds on Friday evening with the body of Yusop bin Mohamet, 24, a Malay diver who had died from diver's paralysis. The lugger, which is owned by V.R. Kepert and Co., of Darwin, was operating 50 miles south-west of Bathurst Island. On Thursday, Mohamet, who was recovering from a previous attack of paralysis was, staged and recovered sufficiently to resume his duties as second diver. He went down and got a basket of shell. When he came on deck he complained of giddiness, a symptom of paralysis. He was staged for 15 minutes. Receiving no reply to his signals the, tender brought him on deck. He was dead. At the time of his death Mohamet was diving in corselet and helmet only, which dress is most favoured by divers�. Reported in the Northern Standard, Darwin, NT
  184. 1973 4 16 Mohamed Mohamed lasen Bin Singapore Selco Salvage Private limited 3 Aged 42, killed, 2 other dives (Kenneth Morrison and Atan bin Jain) injured when a hatch on the Italian vessel Igara (Ex Japan en route to Brazil with Iron ore which had sunk following striking a rock near Horsburgh lighthouse on March 19th) they were opening exploded open under pressure. Straits Times
  185. 1908 7 12 Mogg Joseph Australia McPherson 15 S/S Air Paraphrased from a report in the Northern territory times and gazette. “Inquiry held at the Court House into the cause of death of pearl diver Joseph Mogg, The lugger 'Ada' was anchored off Shoal Bay. His only experience was acquired recently in the Arru I Island pearling fleet. Had been down 30 minutes when the first length of piping, directly connected with the pump, burst on deck. It was about four minutes from the time the pipe burst until on diver was on surface, bleeding from his mouth and eats, possibly "diver was little bit alive." One witness stated that he had complained that the length of piping which burst was not good. The owner denied this (the same length of pipe had been used on the previous tide to 19 fathoms and stated that he had 22 years practical experience of pearling, and attributed present mishap to a flaw in the piping. “The life of piping with steel wires was about 4 years, and this piping had only been in use two and a half seasons. A diver who knew his business would at once close the air escape valve in his helmet. If that were done there was, according to the maker's specifications, enough air in the dress to keep a man alive for 15 minutes). The evidence showed that the valve had never been closed, and, in his opinion, “The diver had never tried to come up. In a precisely similar accident which bad taken place at Cape Keith four years ago, the diver had been brought up alive, and practically unhurt, from 21 fathoms of water.� The Jury found "That J. Mogg's death was caused by suffocation through an air pipe breaking, and that no blame is attachable to anybody." Also added a rider to following effect: " We are of opinion that the system of half yearly tests of diving gear should be carried out at Port Darwin under some responsible Government official." (This is the earliest recommendation for 6 monthly dive equipment inspection witnessed by a third party that I have found, pity it took us 70 or 80 years to catch on! TC..........)
  186. 1935 12 5 Miyao Ichitaro Australia Morey & Co. 9 S/S Air BRISBANE, Saturday. — When the pearling lugger ‘Aldinia’ reached Thursday Island today she had on board two iead men. They were a Japanese diver, Ichitaro Miyao, 35, and a Mapoon native, Sammy Myquick, 17. The lugger was working at Warrior island with the diver down five fathoms. When no signals had been received for some time the captain went down and found Miyao dead in his driving dress. As the lugger was returning to Thursday Island Myquick was found dead in the hold. 'The Government officer at the island found that the diver had died from heart failure, while the aborigine had been poisoned by fumes from a broken exhaust pipe in the engine. The Mail, Adelaide, SA
  187. 1935 12 5 Miyao Shitarao or Ichitaro Australia Topsides BRISBANE, Saturday. — When the pearling lugger ‘Aldinia’ reached Thursday Island today she had on board two iead men. They were a Japanese diver, Ichitaro Miyao, 35, and a Mapoon native, Sammy Myquick, 17. The lugger was working at Warrior island with the diver down five fathoms. When no signals had been received for some time the captain went down and found Miyao dead in his driving dress. As the lugger was returning to Thursday Island Myquick was found dead in the hold. 'The Government officer at the island found that the diver had died from heart failure, while the aborigine had been poisoned by fumes from a broken exhaust pipe in the engine. The Mail, Adelaide, SA
  188. 1935 7 28 Mitsui Kioshichi Australia J & T Muramata 42 S/S Air Japanese pearl diver aged 54. Lugger 'Cleve' out of Darwin, working the beds off Bathurst Island diving to 18 and 23 fathoms both morning and afternoon. On surfacing in the afternoon, complained of paralysis, was put back into gear and lowered to 120' before being brought in stages towards the surface. After 35 minutes he came to the surface by himself was hauled onboard but found to be dead. Reposted to be the third diver employed by Australian pearling companies to have died and been brought ashore in Darwin but that two others on foreign boats had also died but been taken ashore in the Dutch east Indies bring the Total to 5 fatalities in July. Reported in the Sydney morning Herald
  189. 2011 4 10 Mitchell David UKCS Acergy Saturation Aged 49, bell run from the Acergy Osprey, returned to the bell, fell ill and died. Initial reports indicate a heart attack
  190. 1982 2 15 Mitchell Gord Canada Hydrospace Saturation Diver in sat onboard the Ocean Ranger which sank in a storm with the loss of all 84 personnel onboard. How many other divers were onboard?
  191. 1976 3 26 Mitchell Michael Jay Singapore General Marine American, aged 29 from Seattle, died in hospital following a salvage dive from the barge 'Federal 401' during which his left foot was trapped in an air vent underwater. No other details. Straits Times
  192. 1913 11 10 Mitchell Joe USA S/S Air Aged 35, diving off the Dredger “Tampa� off Hooker's Point, called out to recover a piece of the dredger's mooring equipment lost overboard but marked by a buoy. Several minutes into the dive, the maker buoy bobbed indicating the diver was using it as a signal line, surface began pulling on his lines but he was entangled in debris. Eventually bobbed to the surface feet first (Had removed foot weights), his suit was full of water, taken ashore but pronounced dead. “It is believed that he drowned head down�. Reported in the Evening Independent.
  193. 1961 6 15 Missa Roy Australia 62 S/S Air Aged 36, Torres Strait Islander, diving in the Darnley Deeps, 150 miles off the island, got into difficulties at depth, apparently ditched his helmet, surfaced, paralysed from the waist down, died in hospital. “He also received damage to the brain from water pressure after removing his diving helmet to help himself surface� Reported in The Age.
  194. 2009 2 25 Mirabella Maurilio Honduras Waihuka Adventure Divers SCUBA Diving business owner on Roatan island selling shark feeding dives to tourists. Allegedly tried to kill a competing dive operator underwater at a shark feeding site. Witnesses said he attacked another dive guide who took a group of tourists to the shark feeding site, apparently attempting to prevent the competing dive operator from profiting off of "his sharks". He tried to shut off his air supply. The authorities have charged Mirabella with attempted murder (He declined to comment on the charges, but said he sells shark feeding dives because "without sharks, scuba diving in Roatan isn't worth much").
  195. 1971 11 1 Minn Hnutt UK Divcon Oceaneering 84 S/S Mixed Gas British, aged 31. Drill ship "Glomar III", "Standard gear", no bell, tangled in lines, overan dive, surfaced rapidly (suit malfunction), embolism, recompressed on air in DDC, died
  196. 1982 5 28 Ming Allan Indonesia Oceaneering Topsides Singaporean, one of 7 passengers who died when a Perlita Air Services 'Puma' crashed into the sea en route to Natuna Island from a Gulf Oil installation. At least three of the passengers (Henry lim Kim Bin, Leong way Hok and Allan Ming) were divers working for Oceaneering Singapore. Straits Times
  197. 1937 5 9 Minamie Masaji Australia S/S Air Returning crews sailed into Darwin to-day for the funeral rites of Masaji Minaraie, a Thursday Island diver. He died at the Echo Island beds, another paralysis victim. Reported in the Kalgoorlie Miner, WA. (This incident was not reported in the American press until mid August)
  198. 1937 5 10 Minami Masaji Australia S/S Air "Diver Drowns" 6 Pearling luggers arrived in Darwin with flags at half mast,with the lugger 'Medlar' bearing the body of a 28 year old Japanese pearl diver. The fleet had breen working round the English Company's islands and had intended returning to Thursday Island but the winds were adverse so had made for Darwin instead. The man was an experienced diver when using a full suit but was learning to dive with a helmet and corselet only. The crew believe that he made some mistake as the lifeline fouled a buoy and he was drowned before any assistance could reach him. The loss to each lugger attending the funeral is estimated at fully £200. One diver a week is being lost on overseas luggers on average. Reported in the Albury Banner and Wodonga Express, NSW.
  199. 1966 4 1 Millikin George USA Military SCUBA American police officer, Anapolis, Maryland, died during a dive on duty, heart attack
  200. 2004 3 11 Miller Mark USA Fireman SCUBA American fire-fighter/diver aged 43, testing new equipment in a lake, not tethered to partner, drowned under ice, ill fitting dry suit and 44lb weight belt blamed as contributory factors. NIOSH Report
  201. 2000 11 8 Miller Gary A UK Arkal Ltd British, aged 36, experienced commercial diver, ex-Navy, bridge construction at Canary Wharf, indications of poor equipment (one missing crutch strap, the other taped on) and band mask may have been incorrectly assembled such that the band holding the hood on parted and the pieces separated. Recorded verdict “diver was unlawfully killed�.
  202. 1982 2 15 Miller Wayne Canada Hydrospace Saturation Diver in sat onboard the Ocean Ranger which sank in a storm with the loss of all 84 personnel onboard. How many other divers were onboard?
  203. 1967 0 0 Miller USA Military Serving on the USN "Skylark" (ASR 20, submarine Rescue vessel) that may have been operating in the Meditterrranean or UK waters at the time, killed in a divng accident along with fellow Navy Diver Sprinkle. No details. Reported in navydivers.net
  204. 2013 7 10 Millecan Joel USA 20 S/S Air Aged 56, diving solo on hookah about a mile off Loma Point for sea urchin. Deck hand on the 35 foot boat called 911 when he failed to surface, lifeguards brought him to the surfaceunconscious and not breathing and performed CPR before he was transported to a local hospital where he later died. Reported in the San Diego Times
  205. 2005 5 31 Millasich David Scott USA On his 44th birthday, went spear fishing (solo) off Paseo del Mar, was found lying on the rocks by a passerby walking his dog. Rolled him over and the saw that he was bleeding from the right side of his chest. The diver managed to tell him that he had slipped and fallen on his own 7" diving knife. Apparently he had pulled it out himself. Died from the wound. Daily Breeze.
  206. 2015 8 17 Millard Jeremy Puerto Rico Deep Solutions 14m Diving with two others on a fibre optic cable job when he touched the left side of his chest and started floating, rescued by the Pinones Maritime Unit but had no vital signs. Press report says 'died because of health complications'. Reported by Endi/elnuevodia.com
  207. 1999 12 22 Militello A USA Paraphrased from press reports:- "Lobster Man Dies After Getting Caught in Propeller Shaft. The man, aged 40 from Goucester was on the 'Dean', a fishing boat, near Bakers Island Massachusetts (about 3 miles from the entrance to Beverly and Salem Harbours, when he became caught in the prop shaft.. A nearby fishing vessel notified the Coast Guard which transported him to Manchester Marina. He was then moved to Beverly Hospital and pronounced dead from "multiple trauma". Not clear if this was a diving accident. Polson Enterprises list of propeller incidents/Associated Press
  208. 1990 11 1 Miles Carl USA Undersea Systems Inc Aged 34, one of a three man team conducting 'routine maintenance' on the screens at the New Johnsonville power plant (Part of the Tennessee Valley power Authority) near Waverly. They drained the water intake tunnel to recover the body. No details but inference is compromised screen, SCUBA, no lifeline, pumps running, sucked in)
  209. 1965 1 20 Mihulec Robert W USA Fountain Hill Emergency Diving Team SCUBA Aged 20, volunteered to search under ice for the body of a 9 year old boy who had fallen through the ice into the Lehigh River, entered the water roped together with a 19 year old companion, companion survived (treated for hypothermia), diver drowned. Gettysburg Times
  210. 2010 8 30 Mieses Kelvin Dominican Republic S/S Air Aged 24, reports unclear, but appears to have been a decompression incident related to long or deep surface supplied air dive during which the compressor failed preventing him from undertaking decompression stops. Treated at the local El Seibo hospital and referred to regional hspital in San Pedro de Macoris where he died. Unclear if there was a back up air supply, a bailout or if there was a DDC on site or at either hospital. Reported in diariolibre.com
  211. 1959 12 22 Mielke Donald USA 1 SCUBA Aged 17, diving under ice on the Wolf River at New London with Steven Austen, aged 15, as part of an ongoing search for the body of a three year old boy who apparrently fell into the river a month earlier. Suffocated under the ice when his regulator apparently froze. He was shared regulators with his dive partner, who also nearly sufficated but was rescued by other divers. The Milwaukee Sentinel
  212. 2014 1 16 Michaud Luigi Antarctica University of Messina SCUBA Aged 40, member of the XXIX Italian Expedition to Antarctica, diving at the Marion Zucchelli Scientific Station to collect bacteriological samples (working on developing new anti-biotics for the treatment of cystic fribrosis). Wife and two children. 'fatal accident while diving'. No details. Reported by Redazione Research Italy
  213. 1997 3 18 Mestaz Charlie "JR" USA Yakima Fire Department SCUBA American, aged 37. One of a two man (Hauber) fire team trying to rescue two divers (Rhode/Eberle) from a 2210 long, 13 foot diameter irrigation tunnel, their lights were seen returning to the entrance but they failed to surface, they were pulled out by two stand-by divers. They had run out of air, died in hospital three days later. Qudruple fatality (Rhode, Eberle, Hauber)
  214. 1999 8 9 Mercer Scott USA Titan Marine Underwater oxy arc explosion, improperly vented tank. Offshore Diver. Also reported as "Diver was killed from a build-up of gases while welding on a salvage operation. Diver had not vented for gases to escape. USCG Findings: 1) Mercer was the diving supervisor of this operation. He was diving at the time without leaving a designated individual as supervisor topside while he was in the water, directly against industry policy. Mercer was Titan’s representative on the ADC BoD and therefore should have especially known industry policy better than anyone. 2) All areas were suppose to be vented first before any welding started. However, there was no records kept and consequently, Mercer begin welding in one of those areas that had not yet been vented. NAOCD/cDiver
  215. 1972 0 0 Megsy Australia 49 S/S Air From Eden, NSW, double fatality, diving with Jim Babbington for abalone off Black Head. No bailouts or secondary supply, no one on the surface, compressor cut out. Made it to the surface and got ashore to the Mallacoota Abalone divers co-op hyperbaric unit. Decompression was taken over by Australian Navy but Jim Babbington died from decompression illness (Was overweight and had a history of DCIs - for which reason he had left the industry - but returned to diving following a price rise). Megsy was asked to move the body to the entry lock but he became jammed in the door (rigor mortis/big man) so nobody could then lock in or out. Megsy then became ill and, assuming it was DCI, the Navy kept blowing him back down. Eventually, he lost comsciousness and died. Reported that actual cause of death was oxygen poisoning. Bubblesbloer/Longstreath
  216. 1976 11 4 Meeham C V UK KD Marine 0 SCUBA American, aged 24. Semi-sub drilling rig "Ocean Voyager", night dive to connect anchor pennants, surface tending, rough weather (Outside KD policy, being pushed by Company man on rig), lines entangled in pontoon anodes, knocked unconscious? Double fatality (Spensley)
  217. 2004 9 15 Medusa Spar USA Built to operate in deep water, the Medusa Spar is located in 678m of water in the Gulf of Mexico and was capable of handling 40,000 barrels of crude per day. Prior to Hurricane Ivan, a Nabors Industries workover rig had been installed on the platform. This rig was toppled during Ivan, sustaining extensive damage and causing some minor topside damage to the Medusa Spar. The workover rig was to be removed and the damage repaired in autumn 2004
  218. 2020 9 21 Medina González Orlando Andrés Curacao Curacao Industrial Diving Venezuelan. Curacao, Damen Ship Repair, Pier B, (Double fatality with Eustoquio Madrid), one diver drowned, the second taken ashore alive but died, initial reports indicate 'unauthorised' (SCUBA) equipment. No other details. Reported by SubaQuatica Magazine: https://www.subaquaticamagazine.es/dos-buzos-mueren-en-accidente-en-damen-shiprepair-en-curazao-el-caribe/
  219. 2010 3 22 Medina Daniel Choquehuanca Renzo Peru Aged 21, from La Bocana, shellfish (Scallops) diving operation off the island 'Lobo de Mar' (Or Isla Lobo de Tierra) 8 hours out of Parachique from the vessel 'Brandon IV', reported as a long dive, surfaced with a pulmonary embolism and died. Body brought ashore and taken to the central morgue in Piura, pronounced cause of death as lung collapse. Reported in La Primera, Peru
  220. 1930 7 14 Meany Pat UK 9 S/S Air News Headline "Diver Fights a Sea Monster". Fishguard (Wales). A fight to the death between a diver under the sea and a monstrous black conger eel occurred here to-day. The man won with the aid of a hammer. a pick-axe. and a jack-knife. Mr. Pat Meany, a diver who is preparing the foundations of a slipway at Fishguard harbour for the use of the lifeboat, was thirty feet below the surface of the water when he saw through the window of his diving helmet a monster more than six feet long and of great girth writhing towards him. The eel attacked the diver by curling itself round his legs. The man, hampered by his heavy suit and by the pressure of the water, was in danger of being thrown on the sea bottom. “I struck the creature with all my strength on the head with a hammer." Mr. Meany told me. "It went of slowly but soon returned to the attack with its mouth open in an alarmingly ferocious manner. “I took a pick-axe and pinned the eel against the rocky side of the confined space in which I was working, and then with a long knife struck it deep under the gills. “It then wrlthed slowly away, leaving a trail of blood.� Straits Times archives
  221. 2007 4 6 McSween,USN Joseph Adam Iraq US Navy Topsides Aged 26, He was assigned to Explosive Ordnance Disposal Unit 11, based at Whidbey Island, Washington. Survived by wife and two daughters aged 5 and 2. Also killed in the same incident were two other divers, Chief Petty Officer Gregory J. Billiter, 36, of Villa Hills, Ky., and Petty Officer 2nd Class Curtis R. Hall, 24, of Burley, Idaho, the Defense Department said. The three were specialists in identifying explosive materials and disarming them. Military Times
  222. 2013 2 17 McQuade Michael R USA Hydro Marine Construction 0 Topsides Aged 34, former marine corporal, wife and two sons, working as a diver but killed on deck in a crush accident on a barge on the Sayreville side of the morgan Bridge north of Laurence Harbour. Appears to have been a back hoe, "The Operator of the equipment could not see Mike. Mike was brushed once and not hurt. When the Operator was informed, he reacted and moved the wrong way and crushed Mike to death" Press reports in legacy.com, nj.com etc
  223. 1987 0 0 McNally Fred UK Saturation Trapped in a stranded welding habitat (with Kanute Monstra), became hypothermic, both were rescued by Neil 'Wiggy' Wiggins (who had previously rescued George Lawson after an oxy arc explosion on the Kingsnorth Explorer in May 1984). Neil Wiggins was presented with the Silk Cut award for Nautical achievements ( He died on 23 Dec at the age of 47), MCDOA website. Does anyone remember the details of this incident?
  224. 2004 2 16 McLellan Sgt William Germany Army SCUBA REME Officer based at Osnabruck, routine exercise in the river weser with two colleagues, drowned, faulty SABA gear (SABA was condemned as unsafe by a 2002 MOD inquiry into two previous deaths by drowning)
  225. 1892 8 18 McLean Duncan Australia Stocton Coal 34 S/S Air “Sudden Death of a Diver. NEWCASTLE, Friday – “Duncan McLean, aged 34, a diver by profession, died in the hospital at 7 o'clock last night, having only been admitted at 3 o'clock that day. It appears the poor fellow was engaged at the Stockton Coal Pit to do some work in their shaft. The shaft is 110 feet deep and nearly full of wafer. McLean, who is a good diver, descended the shaft yesterday morning. He stayed down two hours and appeared in good health, when brought to the surface, but after being in the open for a few minutes he was seized with a fit and was taken to Dr. Hester’s surgery. Dr. Hester directed his removal to the hospital and accompanied him to the institution. Everything was done to revive him, but to no purpose, and the unfortunate fellow died as stated�. Reported in the Evening News, Sydney, NSW
  226. 1908 9 1 McLachlan Alexander Australia Topsides The ravages of the great blow off La Grange Bay have been repaired, and Broome has practically forgotten the incident. Widespread sympathy was ex-pressed with sufferers by the disaster, and in the case of Mrs. McLachlan, whose husband, the well-known Freemantle diver, was drowned off his own lugger, a sum of £200 was promptly raised and placed at her disposal. It came at a time of sore need, as she had just passed through a maternity ordeal, and the loss of the breadwinner was a terrible blow. Most of the vessels lost during the tornado have been replaced, and pearling operations are now in full swing. reported in The Western Australian, Perth. Suspected named report for diver killed in the storm reported in April of 1908.
  227. 1984 2 0 McKerlich Sarge UK ? 12 SCUBA (Elder brother of Jock McKerlich who died in the late 70s). Scallop diving? Ex sat diver, MFV "Boy John", Plock of Kyle. First dive after misunderstanding with diving doctor, he should never have returned to diving after a major deck accident offshore.
  228. 1979 0 0 McKerlich Jock or Jack UK Northern Divers 6 S/S Air Inquest was held in Banf in May 1980, date of fatality not known. (Jack was the younger brother of Sarge McKerlich who died in a commercial diving accident in 1984). Aged 21 from Kyle of Lochalsh, working in Macduff harbour, post lunch dive (reported as havng had 2 pints of beer with a bar lunch), vomited, no suit inflation, negatively buoyant, could not stay on surface, tender continued to pay out slack, burst Aorta. Reported at the inquest that 'drinking and diving is common practice on civil engineering contracts'. A diving inspector claimed he would not have been allowed to go for a drink if stricter rules - "now under consideration" - had been implemeted. Fellow diver stated that the primary cause of him vomiting was the 12' jump into the cold harbour water. Reported in the Glasgow Herald
  229. 1944 3 11 McKenzie George Wight UK S/S Air Aged 35, working in a diving bell at the bottom of the Clyde, killed in an explosion attributed to marsh gas from the silt at the bottom of the river, double fatality with George McCann, Inquest recorded a verdict of "Death by drowning in the river Clyde after an explosion" The Glasgow Herald
  230. 1970 3 25 McKee RAN Able Seaman Quatermaster Gunner David Australia Navy “Diver dies. Able Seaman Quarter master Gunner David McKee, aged 20, of Mentone, Victoria, a diver in the crew of the RAN destroyer escort, HMAS ‘Derwent’, died during a standard diving exercise in Manila Bay on Wednesday. An inquiry has been ordered. Reported in the Canberra Times.
  231. 1989 2 14 McIlrath Russell USA SCUBA BAYPORT - A commercial sponge diver died in 40 feet of water off the Hernando County coast Tuesday. U.S. Coast Guard Command Duty Officer Keith Scally said Russell McIlrath, 33, of Parsons, Tenn., died while harvesting sponges from the commercial boat Dream Diver, out of Hudson in Pasco County. Scally said McIlrath was working in the Gulf of Mexico about 25 miles west of Bayport when the accident occurred about 12:30 p.m. Tuesday. McIlrath was taken by helicopter to Shands University Teaching Hospital in Gainesville, where he was pronounced dead at 2:51 p.m., according to Shands spokesman Ralph Ives. The fatality was the second sponge-diving death on the North Suncoast this year; on Jan. 15, St. Petersburg sponge diver Scott Gassner died while diving in 40 feet of water off the Citrus County coast. St Petersburg times
  232. 1997 11 11 McHazlett J. Jerry GOM CalDive International Sat Diving Jerry was aboard the Witch Queen and had completed his first 4 1/2 hour rotation of saturation diving at a depth of approximately 300 feet. Upon reentry into the diving bell Jerry fell back towards the moon pool unconscious and was brought back into the bell by diving partner. The diving partner attempted three times to close bell hatch which had a previously noted faulty pneumatic mechanism and seal. Diving partner attempted to do CPR and finally got hatch closed and bell was brought to surface. Top-side personnel did not attempt any resuscitation or medical treatment. Top-side personnel did not contact on-shore physician to get medical instructions including the use of adrenaline which was available. Witch Queen returned to dock and Jerry was transported to morgue.
  233. 1887 10 7 McGuire George Australia Topsides MURDERED BY NATIVES. [BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.] (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) COOKTOWN, October 8. Nicholas Minister arrived at Somerset last night, nearly killed and not expected to recover, he, with a diver named George McGuire, having been attacked by a boat's crew of natives of Cape Sidmouth. McGuire was killed in the attack. Later news from the Paterson Telegraph Station says that the cutter is now off Mount Adolphus. Minister, with a Malay and woman, were in the boat at Somerset. The four natives attacked them while asleep, killing the diver and wounding Minister, not seriously. The natives cleared out. Reported in the Brisbane Courier
  234. 2006 8 29 McGrath Chandon Lee USA Bisso 67 S/S Mixed Gas East Area block 346, Rowan Drilling, Removal of the MODU "Rowan Halifax" (Sank on the lease during Hurricane Rita) Mixed gas surface diving from the DP II DSV "Global Explorer" run by International Subsea Inc., Houston. No real details, no audio record recovered by CG investigators, "audio malfunctioned"
  235. 2015 10 7 McGrath Dennis USA Eat Local Fish SCUBA Aged 56, From Scarborough, diving in Portland Harbour removing rope from the propellor of the 65' Fishing Vessel 'Jamie and Ashley'. "While he was working, the engine was running and at some point the prop was engaged' said the authorities. Police divers recovered the body. "It is not clear whether the person who engaged the propeller was aware that the diver was in the water". Reported in the Portland Press Herald
  236. 1968 11 9 McGinnis John USA Ocean Engineering 50 SCUBA Two divers, Berend Joost, aged 34 of the University of Miami, and John McGinnis, aged 51 of Ocean-Engineering, were installing acoustic recording equipment at the edge of the Gulf stream off Miami when McGinnis noticed that Joost had dropped to the seabed, he went down to help but Joost had a strong grasp on the rope. Joost's mouthpiece dropped out, McGinnis replaced it but had to surface as had run out of air and suffered from decompression illness (treated, believed OK). A third diver, Jim Nangle, aged 23 and also an Ocean-Engineering technician recovered Joost's body to the surface. Reported in the Toledo Blade
  237. 1887 8 1 McGhee Charles UK S/S Air "A diver suffocated. While a marine diver named Mchee was working at the wreck of a sunken yatch - the Cyrene - off Greenock this morning, the air...", "A diver drowned, the air pipe broke, and insensible when brought to the surface, dying…." "While Charles McGhee was engaged in passing chains round a sunken wreck off Greenock this morning, the air..." (The yatch was in a collision with another yatch - the Lorelei - against whom they were racing in the Firth of Clyde on the 9th of July 1887) No other details (Pay for access archive) Reported in the Sheffield Daily Telegaph/Shields Daily Gazette/The British Newspaper Archive
  238. 1996 12 15 McFadden Timothy J USA SCUBA American, aged 34, described as “a commercial diver from Ventura", died diving off the fishing vessel "Sea Worthy" harvesting sea urchins, flown to a DDC but died, Daily News, California
  239. 1975 3 18 McDonald Norman Canada Can Dive Services 6 Chamber Described as “Working in water more than 200 feet deep off the Harmac pulp mill (owned byMacMillan Bloedel Ltd)�, required surface decompression in deck chamber, “The RCMP said a diver burned to death when a spark ignited in the pure oxygen in the decompression chamber". Victim was not named. Reported in the Windsor Star. An alternative report says that the diver was completing his surface decompression at 1.6 bara (20 fsw) following a routine mixed gas dive dive to 275'. His respirator mask was not working correctly so he switched to a second that was 'Y' connected and put it on free flow which by-passed the overboard dump and allowed the O2 inside the chamber build to an estimated 40%. The diver was wearing two sweathers for warmth. As the chamber was being vented the diver removed his wool sweater from over the synthetic one. There was a flash inside the chamber and smoke poured out of the vents and BIBS dump. It was concluded that static electrical discharge was the initiating factorThe diver died as a result of the explosion, CO poisoning and asphyxia. Sheffield and Desautels “Hyperbaric and hypobaric Chamber fires, a 73 year analysis�, Undersea Hyperbaric Medicine, 1997, 24 (3): 153-164
  240. 2010 7 27 McCullough Mike USA SCUBA American, mid twenties. Paraphrased from press reports:- “A SCUBA diver retrieving golf balls at The Coeur d'Alene Resort Golf Course drowned Tuesday afternoon, the Kootenai County Sheriff's Department said. "The lady driving the boat to the green said she had seen him at the back edge of the green diving for balls but hadn't seen him in an hour and half," said one golfer. “We started looking around to see if we could see him and when we looked over the left side of the green, we saw his face down body limp under the water, about 15 feet (offshore). But he wasn't moving and there weren't any bubbles coming out. The witness and a staff member took a boat out, pulled the body aboard and took the victim to an adjacent dock around 4 pm. The witness said the body was without diving gear when it was spotted. He was pronounced dead at Kootenai Medical Center around 5 p.m He was working for a contractor who picks up golf balls and other debris from the lake bottom in the area. Tuesday afternoon his gear was still at the bottom of the lake, said the sheriff's department. “Our divers will recover that and investigate this as the case goes on�. CDA Press.
  241. 1968 12 19 McClung Roger L USA Military SCUBA American police officer aged 32, Virginia Beach, Virginia, drowned in a diving accident
  242. 2009 9 16 McCloskey Sgt Ist Class Shawn Afghanistan US Special Forces 0 Topsides Aged 33-year-old , killed by a roadside IED, Special Operations Diver Supervisor (amongst many qualifications) serving in Helmand province. Enlisted into the U.S. Army in January of 2002 as a Special Forces candidate. He completed the Special Forces Qualification Course in May 2004. (Included for information, a diver, but not working as a diver so not counted as a diving fatality TC). Reported by Fayette County News.
  243. 1988 11 0 McCasland Martin USA Aged 41, retrieving Oxygen bottles that had rolled off the deck of a vessel in Dutch Harbour. Dry suit malfunction, rapid ascent. Family awarded $1.73 million on the grounds that the dry suit inflation valve malfunction was partly to blame for his death. No details
  244. 1982 6 25 McCarty Michael USA 14 SCUBA "Navy SCUBA diver died Friday afternoon 45 feet under the waters of Long Beach Harbour under the World War II Battleship 'New …. ?" Reported as a 'valve malfunction'. Los Angeles Times
  245. 2010 11 29 McCarthy Peter Joseph Thailand 80 Rebreather British, aged 47, diving instructor, disappeared on an 80 metre deep dive into the mouth of a submerged volcano off the Thai island of Koh Tao with a party of eight other British and Italian divers at about noon, local time, on Monday. The other instructor on the dive told Thai media that Mr McCarthy did not come up after the nine man hour-long dive. Each of the divers had two hours of oxygen. The other divers used up their remaining oxygen in searching for their instructor, reports said. The instructor was described as a very experienced technical diver - expert in a specialised type of scuba diving that uses a mix of gases to allow divers dive go deeper and for longe (Technical diving). The original diving group consisted of the two instructors, four men and three women. Mr McCarthy had a diving licence issued in the Gulf of Thailand province of Chumpon. Daily Mail UK
  246. 1944 3 11 McCann George UK S/S Air Aged 38, working in a diving bell at the bottom of the Clyde, killed in an explosion attributed to marsh gas from the silt at the bottom of the river, double fatality with George Wight McKenzie, Inquest recorded a verdict of "Death by drowning in the river Clyde after an explosion" The Glasgow Herald
  247. 2002 11 28 McAulay Lt Paul UK RN 3 Surface Swimmer British, aged 27, Breath holding exercise, (recovery of mask from bottom of lake) during training at Horsea island, dived at 10pm after eating, vomited, inhaled, choked, heart attack. No stand-by diver. MOD prosecuted, family awarded £750,000 damages
  248. 2011 3 28 Mayo Hector Luelmo Spain Military 35 SCUBA Aged 24, Soldier with the V Batallon de Intervention en Emergencias based in El Ferral de Bernesga, Leon. Diving exercise, lost contact with his 4 man group. His three companions were treated for decompression illness. Body recovered the next day. No details. Reported in GPS Buzeo
  249. 1885 5 4 Maynard Richard Australia S/S Air Yesterday the inquest on the body of a diver named Richard Maynard, who died in the Sydney Hospital on Monday afternoon, was resumed concluded at the Coroner's old office, King-street, before the City Coroner, Mr. H. Shiell, J.P. It will be remembered that on Monday last the deceased was employed at the Circular Quay searching for some cargo which had fallen overboard from a vessel. After he had gone down into the water, another diver, named Henry Christian, happened to pass by the spot where air was being pumped down to him; and, noticing that something seemed to be wrong with the air-piping, he informed those in charge of the fact, and tee deceased was brought up to the surface. The man was then in an unconscious state. He was taken to the Sydney Hospital and attended to by Dr. Lowes, but he died shortly after being admitted to the institution. The medical evidence showed that death resulted from cerebral congestion and asphyxia. After hearing the evidence of a number of witnesses, the jury returned the following verdict: "We find that the deceased died from the combined effects of cerebral congestion and asphyxia, the result of the absence of sufficient air to maintain life whilst carrying out his occupation as a diver." The jury also appended the following as a rider to their verdict:-"We desire to add that we consider it to be the positive duty of all vendors of diving gear, and persons letting such gear for hire, to see that it is in sound order." The Sydney Morning Herald
  250. 1906 4 11 May George Australia Topsides VICTORIA. MELBOURNE. April 12. “George May, a diver, residing at Footscray, was killed last night at Williamstown by being run over by a train. His body was found on the line this morning shockingly mutilated�. Reported in the Kalgoorlie Miner, WA
  251. 1993 11 3 Maxwell David USA SCUBA Aged 25, off Maine, less than two weeks diving experience, trying to untangle catch bag alongside rocks, caught in surf, found 20 minutes later, drowned, boat owner cited for violations of commercial diving standards
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