I need a tank detective...

[eskimo3883]

Hi,

I purchased a regulator and a tank got tossed in. It is a yellow shorty with a typical ~5" US Divers yellow & black tank label (tank with double hose reg) but there is a crown on the face of the label's reg. The 1959 vertical stem valve & lead burst disk goes into a bushing before entering the tank. Stamps are as follows:

ICC-3A1800
US GOVT
WK&CO
NONSHATERABLE

12-43
8@ 59
8 67

I have a Vigo tank made with a bushing I consider authentic. Is this a pre-WWII air force tank painted up as a US divers or did US Divers get hold of surplus tanks from 1943?

[Scuba Cowboy]

The WK & CO means its a Walter Kidde tank, maybe they made them for USD but I hadn't heard of a relationship between them before.

[capn_tucker]

Well, if the original date on the tanks is 12-43, then they definitely weren't made for US Divers, which did not exist until 1949? Those are mid-war USAAF issue.

[eskimo3883]

Hi,

If they are Air Force tanks rated at 1800 psi anyone know if they were originally for CO2 fire extinguishers, air, or oxygen?

[pescador775]

The shorty is war surplus oxygen tank used in aircraft and marked "aviators breathing oxygen". For example, the 38 cf WK were carried aboard the AD6 fighter, three per rack directly behind the cockpit. "Non shatterable" refers to the wire wrapping with which the tank was originally fitted. The cylinder was shatter resistant when struck with a projectile. The thread is 3/4 inch NPT. Thousands of these tanks entered the civilian dive market.

[pescador775]

My memory was faulty WRT the aircraft designation. The aircraft was an AD-4, a prop driven fighter. Also, I believe the racks held 4 each, not three. I've seen the tanks in other planes, including bombers, also. As an aside, the "ICC3A" refers to low tensile, carbon steel used in the manufacture of the WK cylinders of the time.

[capn_tucker]

I've got two of these tanks. They're marked ICC3A-1800 also, and dated 10/48...

[slindo]

There's some info on the Taylor-Wharton website that suggests that later 3A tanks may have used manganese rather than ordinary carbon steel.

It also suggests that a reason for going to chromemoly was the military's desire for a more shatterproof tank. Anyone ever seen a wrapped 3AA?

BTW I have an old set of double 38s kicking around I have always assumed were made of surplus tanks. Dug them out yesterday and noticed that the two tanks, while identical WK 1800s, are 3AAs and dated ten years apart - 1952 and 1962. This suggests that they were maybe not surplus at all, but they have no other markings, either govt or vendor. Crappy black paint job with bare metal underneath so probably not sold as dive tanks and very similar to a 1952 WK 1800 70 I have.

As an aside, the "ICC3A" refers to low tensile, carbon steel used in the manufacture of the WK cylinders of the time.

As an aside, the "ICC3A" refers to low tensile, carbon steel used in the manufacture of the WK cylinders of the time.