Cousteau Britannic Expedition?

[Ron]

Hey I have been looking into the Cousteau Britannic Expedition from the 70's and I am not having any luck seeing what dive gear they used. I know they used the saucer, but supposedly they made manned dives as well. Does anyone have anything on this?

[jbrians]

Hey I have been looking into the Cousteau Britannic Expedition from the 70's and I am not having any luck seeing what dive gear they used. I know they used the saucer, but supposedly they made manned dives as well. Does anyone have anything on this?

I will pull out my video with footage of the exploration. My memory says they were diving trimix with triples and a Mistral.

[Sniox]

Triple Technisub 12 liters tanks
A single La Spirotechnique Royal Mistral without any back up regulator
Cressi Rondine flippers
Technisub / La Spirotechnique Aqua- Rama mask
Ordinary Beuchat / La Spirotechnique black sharkskin wetsuits with the yellow stripes.
La Spirotechnique Delta depth gauge
No lead
Knife
Watch of own choice

Cousteau dives without the neoprene hood and uses his red knitted hat instead; he seals the suit wearing a towel around his neck

I have the GUE 99 expedition to Bretannic on DVD as well; they know how to make the dive difficult

[capn_tucker]

I also read somewhere (correct me if I'm wrong) that they jammed the triples to 5000 psi (!)

[Sniox]

I think the triple Technisub tanks set was 250cf of air at 3000psi

But they used some 5000 psi titanium tanks at calypso as well

[capn_tucker]

I think the triple Technisub tanks set was 250cf of air at 3000psi

But they used some 5000 psi titanium tanks at calypso as well

Oh ok, I knew I had read something about 5000 psi tanks somewhere..

[Ron]

Can you guys expand a little bit about custom gases at that time? I know trimix was not used in mainstream diving for a LONG time after the 70's, so do you guys have any idea how they planned the dive? I'm very interested in the expedition, because it proves the technical viability of our gear.

[swimjim]

Just my laymans opinion. I have Cousteaus search for the Brittanic on DVD and I have found it facinating. Their dives were supervised by a doctor who seemed to be responsible for the gas mix and the tables they were running. As far as technical viability is concerned, I think it is absolutely validated. The only thing that is really different is redundancy. Cousteau knew his gear would work and the modern tech guys do not have that confidence. I think the big differences are that the Cousteau team was using a very simple single stage two hose reg's which were freshly serviced. Read simple and fresh. The "modern" tech guys are depending on someone else to service their gear in general and because of that they experience more failures. I have learned this the hard way. I had the local techie trainer go through my Poseidons the last time. Big mistake for me. That's the last time anyone touches my LIFE SUPPORT EQUIPMENT !!!!! from now on I service all my own gear, Period!!!! The last thing I need is a free flow at 150 feet because some knob was to lazy to put the right o-ring in the right place. Might have taken 30 seconds to do it right, but I digress. Cousteaus dives were well planned and well thought out. This isn't Steve Irwin here. He had the right gear and just as important he had the right support. He was very safe in what he did. he had the support in spades. Modern tech divers on OC would be hard pressed to duplicate what he did. Just my dos centavos.

[Sea Explorer]

They located the ship in 1975 and returned to dive the wreck in 76. Here are the tanks:



108 lbs empty.

The episode is available on DVD in the US. If memory serves me correctly they did 68 manned dives. 400' to sand. Bottom time 17min. Helium mix. Submersible decompression chamber waiting at 150ft. Here is a link to some photos and equipment from The Cousteau Odyssey (1977-1982):

http://www.flashbackscuba.com/museum/Cousteu_Odd.html

I can double check the volume of the tanks when I'm down at the museum tomorrow. 3000/200bar for sure 12liters fits with my recollection for about 255cf.

Helium goes back a bit:

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~lpt/mixhistory.htm

-Ryan

[Ron]

Awesome Ryan, thanks so much for the info!

[Ron]

I wonder what the buoyancy characteristics of those tanks were? In the clips that I can find, it looks like they are using plastic balls for buoyancy.

[jbrians]

I wonder what the buoyancy characteristics of those tanks were? In the clips that I can find, it looks like they are using plastic balls for buoyancy.

no kidding! Given that they were diving wetsuits, they must have been 20 pounds neg at the bottom unless they were hanging weights on the way down.

[Sea Explorer]

I wonder what the buoyancy characteristics of those tanks were? In the clips that I can find, it looks like they are using plastic balls for buoyancy.

They did use floats on Britannic and other dives with large triple sets.:



You can see floats on a different set of tanks here:



-Ryan

[Popeye]

Calypso's Search for the Britannic
The crew explores the Aegean site where the Titanic's sister ship mysteriously sank in 1916.
Fri 6/11 12:00-1:00pm TCM

Did you miss it today?

[Ron]

I know that this is an old thread, but someone was nice enough to upload the documentary about Brittanic onto Youtube. Check it out here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxSUlAtgHT8

I embedded it as well for your viewing pleasure:

[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxSUlAtgHT8[/video]