R.A.N. 6-bolt diving apparatus and manual pump

Tasked with updating the Standard Dress diving equipment then in use in the early part of the 20th Century, Robert. H. Davis – the Managing Director of legendary diving equipment company, Siebe, Gorman & Co. – designed a helmet attached to the corselet by just six-bolts rather than the traditional twelve-bolts favoured by commercial divers.

The six-bolt design was of particular value to the British Admiralty as it allowed faster dressing of the diver and quicker entry into the water; a desirable feature for certain diving applications.

Always a conservative breed, opposition to the six-bolt helmet – apparently on the grounds of ‘safety’ – divided the diving community; traditionalists, defending their continued use of the proven 12-bolt helmet, by claiming that the only reason that the six-bolt helmet had been adopted so readily by the Navy was that sailors had to use both hands to count to ten, and were incapable of counting to twelve without first removing a shoe and sock.

Siebe Gorman 6-bolt helmet

(Knighted in 1932 for his services to diving, Sir Robert Davis was a prolific inventor and designer of breathing apparatus.)

—ENDS—

Categories: History

Tags: Asian Dive Expo, cave diving, commercial diving, deep wreck diving, dive training, Global Underwater Explorers, mixed gas diving, OZTeK, PADI, rebreather diving, recreational diving, scuba, SSI, TDI, technical diving, underwater navigation, Underwater photography, wreck divers