Andrea Doria + doubel hose + no pressure gauge

[eskimo3883]

Hi,

I just finished “Deep Descent” by Kevin F. McMurray. Most of the book focuses on non-vintage deep technical diving on Andrea Doria but it also covers the first double hose dive a few days after it sank in 1956 (Life mag; August 6 & 13th 1956). Also covers several dive trips in the 50's and 60's. Air was used most of the way until the 90's. Amazing how many early dives went with no issues. The first death happened many years afterwards. The book is a good education on diving and a great read.

[shackle]

That is an issue I have often wandered about. I know there were a lot less sport divers and divers in general in the early years of the sport, but per capita, were there any more instances of fatalities before all the so called safety features like SPG's, alternate air sources and BCD's were introduced? A lot of accidents these days seem to hinge on overdependence and yes, even dependence on the above. SPG's should not be a replacement for sound air management. BCD's should not be used in lieu of good weight management. It seems like way too often people have replaced skills with "gear". I got certified in 1969 at the age of 16 and dove accident free with only a regulator, mask and fins until 1975 when a cattle boat in Key Largo made me rent a banjo and SPG before I could dive. Guess that's why a lot of us older guys like vintage; heck, that's the way we learned.

[JES]

Here's a link to a website that covers this very subject. It is very interesting and worth a look:

http://www.andreadoria.org/TheDeep/Life ... Divers.htm

[shackle]

Fascinating. Thanks for posting that site.

[21]

I know two of the California divers on the AD dive.

Bob Dill was an early California diver who received his Doctorate at Scripps a few years after the AD dive. I met him about 1960 on a Underwater Photography (UPS) boat trip. Zale was the president of UPS at that time. There is a picture of him and others taken on that trip that was converted into a cover of SDM. I saw Bob on several other ocasions but never became close. Bob passed on several years ago.

Ramsey Parks was a local diver who was well respected and certainly knowledgeable and skilled diver. I don't reacall when we met but it seems like we had known each other forever--he was that sort of a fellow.

He was Bev Morgan's best friend and diving buddy for many years. They met as LA Co Life guards, both attended the original Scripps course taught by Connie Limbaugh and Andy Rechnitzer which became the basis for the LA county course.

They also became Abalone divers and were also members of the ill fated sailing trip on the Chiquiri which was a serial story in the 1957 (?) SDMs.
Ramsey became the first director of the Santa Barbara marine science ( commerical diving School) at SB City college.

He was 45--30 years ago- when he he left the college to go home for the week end. He made dinner, ate part of it, evidently was not feeling well so laid down and expereienced a major heart attack. He was discovered on Tuesday by his grown daughter.

The diving world was shocked and certainly saddened by his death, but it was Bev who was affected the most for he lost his best friend.

Earl Murray--never met him and don't know him or anything about him, other than he dissappeared from the visable diving world some time in the later part of the 1950s or early 1960s. A diving dropp out!

So now you know the rest of the story,

Aren't you glad you belong to VDH?

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[21]

I just reaclled that Ramsey Parks was a big fan of the Mistral regulator.

He liked the simplicity of it...I don't recall what he used on the Doria dive but on the Chiiquiri adventure they took a hand full of mistral HP seats and that was essentially all they took for spares.

So Ramsey was a very early fan of the single stage double hose regulator

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[21]

Shackle,

The Mar Mac was introduced in 1954 until 1960 (?) it was the only SPG on the market. The Sportsways reintroduced the SPG.

The Mar mac had two problems;
1) there was no saftey glass in the dial
2) the hose was not resticted; it was a straight unobstructed hose from the regulator to the face of the SPG--it would often blow out.

There was no floatation other than WW11 surplus "Mae wests"

Diver were first water oriented people, who migrated into diving.. They did not watch Sea Hunt and jumped off the couch and said I will become a diver. A world of difference between the early divers and the tube sucking late model bubble blowers of today.

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[eskimo3883]

Hi,

The web page is pretty much word for word from the Life Magizine article but the life magazine article has a few more photos that show some of the gear. No one has gloves on. Beautiful weight belt that looks like a modified ammo belt. I think the weights are in ammo bags with the original buckle switched to a quick release. One diver is wearing a hood with just a strap around the chin. Most have wet suits on but it looks like Macleish is wearing a latex dry suit, like an Aquala. Ramsey Parks has SDDS across his wet suit. I am sure 21 knows what this stands for. One mask is blue with no metal ban around the glass. It looks a bit older that the others.

[21]

[quote="eskimo3883"]Hi,
"No one has gloves on."
>>>>Gloves if used were generally garden or HD leaher ones during that time frame. I the neoprene gloves as we know them today did not become popular until the late 1950s or earty 1970s after Scuba Pro introduced them. They were produced in Ensanada, BC Mexico by Ruben Pena for SP. FYI most of the rubber Scuba Pro equipment was made in Mexico--except for Jet Fins made in USA

"Beautiful weight belt that looks like a modified ammo belt. I think the weights are in ammo bags with the original buckle switched to a quick release."
>>>>Ammo belts very common for weight belts. Very comfortable. They were modified via grinding off the tabs and drilling a hole through the tab and inserting a pin, generally a brass cotter pin attated to a line which was secured to the belt. To activate the pin was pulled and the belt fell free.

"One diver is wearing a hood with just a strap around the chin."
I have not seen the article for a long time.. It was probably a padded USN WW11 Submariners watch cap. Fit like a wet suit hood and was fastened via a strap under the chin. Very warm and comfortable to wear. a modern version would be the O' Neil watch surf cap which I always wore in warm tropical H2O

"Ramsey Parks has SDDS across his wet suit."

>>>>San Diego Divers Suppy --SDDS was established by Rechnitzer & Limbaugh as a retail company as a way for the Scripps people to obtain equipment at a reasonable price. It was sold th Chuck Nicklin who still owns it bur it operated by his son Flip.

"One mask is blue with no metal ban around the glass. It looks a bit older that the others."

>>>> Don't know! Could possibly be a homemade Bottom Scratcher Mask...

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