The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1947-02-03
TO MAKE. 200 DIVES
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~ MIAMI &OO Ia LO
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ed under ordinary air pressure,
which is different.
Under ordinary pressure at
that depth the divers feel as
though they have had several
drinks of liquor. Their arms and
feet do not quite obey the die
tates of their aninds. They are
mehtally and pay sica ally sluggish
and are subject to bends after
wards. X asS' 81
I'VE are working on decoln-
preston tables which will, we
hope, shorten the time diver
must remain beneath the surface
and his decomposition is COM
pleted under pressure in a dry
chamber on board. This adds
much to the comfort of the diver
and protects his exposure to
rough seas or cold water as when
ordinary decomposition in the
water is used.
Furthermore, the decompreS-
sion time when breathing air is
cut more than half when pure
oxygen is breathed as is done by
our divers"
Leave Key West Each Day
The experimental divers leave
Key West every morning at 7 a.
m. and proceed .abord the Chan
ticleer, a submarine rescue YES
sci, to a point about two miles
southeast of Sand Key Light.
There they are sent over the side
to various depths for periods up
to 2 l-2 hours, so that Capt. Van
DerAue can check the safety of
the experimental decomposition.
Eleven divers, under the
charge of Chief Boatswain Mate
Thomas F. Reid. a master diver,
and Capt. Van DerAue, came
here from Washington in a speci-
al Navy air transport. The other
ten, all divers first class, are:
Kurt o. Fletcher, Seldom ].
Davenport, Robert c. King, Geo.
w. Mccullough, Keith r. Mill
holen, Alton E. Reid, Clifton E.
Sherrow, Joseph E. Vogel, An
drew J. Walkowski and Richard
d. Wilson.
Volunteer To Dive
Four other divers. all members
of the crew of the Chanticleer,
volunteered for the work, There
are a total of Is qualified divers
and six men in training aboard
the ship. The four volunteers up
to the present time are:
Earl C. Wafford, Robert L.
Stevens, Frank. j. French and
John M. Collier Jr.
Ages, of the divers run from
25 to 80. Capt, Van DerAue says
that when man reaches toward
40 he is getting past the stage
when he can make dives without
danger to himself.
1T is essentially young mans
game, said the captain. When
he's young his blood moves free
ly through his system and he is
not so susceptible to the bends as
are older men. A fat man is more
liable to get into trouble than one
who is essentially thin"
All Slender Men
AS the writer walked around
the deck of the Chanticleer all of
the divers seemed slender and /
wiry. Their shoulders generally
were broad, their arms muscu-
lar. but their stomachs, waists
and legs all were slender.
Young Diver Mccullough was
typical of the divers. He is now
20 and has seen much service, in
Guiding more than three years in
a Japanese prison camp. He
would not tell about that expert
ence. But he told of his expert
ences off Key West.
"a diver has nothing to fear
from sharks, said Mccullough,
The sharks and other fish found
in local waters are merely Curl
Gus when they see us go down."
Capt. Van DerAue said the di-
vers would remain in Key West |
about six weeks to complete |
about 200 dives. Then they will
leave here TO carry on similar |