THE ONLY PEOPLE IN THE WORLD WHO MANUFACTURE A FULL RANGE OF DIVING EQUIPMENT IN THEIR OWN FACTORY Standard and Harbour- Type Dvng Equpment Dvng Dress

Transcription

1 Vol. 6 H.M.S. VERNON No. 4, 4 h 11 (M 4tever the hazard,... t's safer wth SI:E8E< :GORMAN. 'ES';':43/SHEC, e I 9 ' STANDARD DIVING DRESS From head to toe, from specal underclothng to tough telephone breast-rope, ths dver s equpped exclusvely wth Sebe, Gorman gear. The Admralty Pattern 6-holt helmet and corselet, shown here, make a watertght jont wth the matchng Para-rubber and twll dress, whch s renforced at knees, crutch, feet and elbows. Front and back lead weghts arc suspended from the corselet, and a helmet cushon worn underneath spreads the weght over the dver's shoulders. The sturdy boots have lead soles and metal toe caps. Hangng from a leather belt s a readly wthdrawn sheath knfe. The multple ar hose has been tested to the hghest standard. In addton to the dress shown here we can supply all types of Dvng dresses, helmets, and other apparatus. Complete dvng equpment can be suppled on hre for all types of ()per atons. The servces of our team ICI expert dvers are also avalable. Detals and 'charges wll be suppled on request. SIEBE, GORMAN are long establshed supplers of safety equpment to the Admralty, the Publc Servces a ld Industry. Sebe, Gorman & Co. Ltd, Davs Road, Chessngton, Surrey TELEGRAMS: SIEBE, CHESSINGTON TELEPHONE: ELMBRIDGE 5900 Manchester Offce: 274 Deansgate Telephone: Deansgate 6000 COABBI O CO. I A.

2 THE ONLY PEOPLE IN THE WORLD WHO MANUFACTURE A FULL RANGE OF DIVING EQUIPMENT IN THEIR OWN FACTORY Standard and Harbour- Type Dvng Equpment Dvng Dresses Dvng Hoses Delta Dry Underwater Swmmng Suts Wet Suts The Hans Hass range of Fns and Masks Henke Lungs Henke Demand-valve Regulators Hgh-pressure Ar Chargng Unts for Aqua-lung Cylnders Pump Gear of all types Motor Compressors Hand Pumps Dver Phone Sets Knves, Compasses, Gloves, Weght-belts, etc. C. E. HEINKE & CO. LTD. 87 Grange Rd., Bermondsey, S.E.I Tel. Bermonthey I rl a EVERYTHING FOR THE SPORTSMAN OF THE POST FREE! Prce Lst and Illustrated Lterature MIDDLESEX Telephone HOUnslow 6722 We Specalse IN THE NEEDS UNDERWATER SPORTSMAN WET SUITS DRY SUITS LUNGS OF EVERY TYPE We hold a complete range of the foremost manufacturers' swmmng gear /4mq:detes 126 HANWORTH ROAD, HOUNSLOW DEFERRED TERMS ARRANGED

3 Contents PAGE SHARK REPELLENT 6 COMMAND BOMB AND MINE DISPOSAL UNIT H.M.S. `LOCHINVAR,' PORT EDGAR 11 NOTES FROM H.M.S. `RECLAIM' MANTA BOARD SURVEY TO ROTTNEST 15 'Yo-Yo' NOTES (H.M.S. `ADAMANT') 16 How TO USE AN AQUALUNG 19 CHATHAM DIVING SCHOOL 21 FLEET CLEARANCE DIVING TEAM, HONG KONG 21 DIVERS' X-WORD ANOTHER TRY FOR THE AULD MUG 25 51ST CLEARANCE DIVING TEAM NEWS 28 LONDONDERRY DIVING TEAM 31 NAVAL DIVERS AID TRAWLER 33 DIVERS' EMPLOYMENT BUREAU... 35

4 R.N. Dvng Magazne EDITORIAL STAFF Chef Petty Offcer R. L. BENFIELD, Edtor. Leutenant A. C. OTLEY, Treasurer. Instructor Leutenant F. J. D. KELLY, B.Sc., R.N., Secretary. Able Seaman A. LYDEN and L/Sea. M. J. BRASSINGTON, Cartoonsts. Vol 6 December, 1958 No. 4 WNWMgMAMSVPAMV4M% '016%%VIVAMVIVAS Chrstmas Greetngs and a Happy New Year 1 to all our readers from all R.. Dvers 4 womoomtexemwoortoomxtvammv,

5 Shark Repellent by Inst. I,eut. F. J. D. Kelly, B.Sc., R.N. MHOSE subscrbers who read the I last-but-one ssue of the magazne wll remember the artcle 'Shark Attacks n Australan Waters snce 1919'. As a result of ths, we receved a wealth of nformaton about these fshes whch should prove nvaluable to any dver who wllngly or un-wllngly happens to meet one. Approxmately 325 speces of shark are recognsed but many are ether of small sze or so restrcted n habtat as to be consdered unmportant as a hazard to men. The smple queston may now be asked, 'Is the shark dangerous to man or not?', but there s no smple answer. The place, the speces, and the tme, may all be decdng factors. -(7) an mportant factor makng for survval of not only dvers but those who are unfortunate enough to be wrecked n shark-nfested seas, s the elmnaton of anxety. A decrease n anxety s an ncrease n morale. If an effectve deterrent can afford swmmers protecton aganst shark attacks, thus rasng morale to the pont of prolongng survval, obvously t s worth carryng t. However, the ntal experments carred out on Dog sharks under laboratory condtons to fnd an effectve shark repellent were dscouragng. The strongest fsh posons, even n hgh concentraton, faled as a deterrent. The sharks, though klled wthn half-an-hour by the poson, devoured all the bat. Supersoncs, stenches, rrtants and dfferent types of nk clouds faled. Snce dark clouds dd not prevent the shark's predomnantly olfactory bran from scentng and locatng the food, clouds by themselves appeared to have lttle or no effect n the laboratory tests. Fnally, knowledge of lore among shark fshermen, substantated by supportng evdence and laboratory tests, led to the frst open sea tests. They conssted of presentng two dentcal bats, 30 to 50 feet apart, one of whch was guarded by the deterrent chemcal. The comparson n the number of strkes and catches on the two bats gave a factor of effectveness. effectveness = Sharks on control bat Sharks on deterrent X 100. Sharks on control bat The frst deterrent tested was copper acetate. Copper ons had proved effectve n laboratory tests ; and the acetate ons, an ngredent n decay- the (lvng area s one whch s used by mmense shoals of fshes then t s reasonable to assume that the sharks, voracous as they are, wll not attack ths unknown quantty. - But the most mportant factor of all s the speces of the shark. The Great Whte Shark, Carchares trcuspdates, and the Tger shark, are the three largest speces after the Whale shark and they are by far the most aggressve. Often these fshes are over 30 feet long, and eght or ten quck fn strokes are able to propel them at 50 mph. They are, ndeed, extremely dangerous. Another nterestng trat of sharks s that they are attracted to brght colours. Many experments have been tred and prove that dark objects are gnored whereas any whte or yellow object s attacked. It s, therefore, unwse for a dver to ncrease the lght surfaces on hmself by wearng any equpment whch may arouse the shark's curosty. Let s now consder the prncpal characterstcs of sharks. It s a prmtve elementary fsh. Its skeleton has never advanced to the bone stage but s cartlagnous lke our ears or the septum of our noses. It cannot adjust ts weght to a partcular depth as t lacks the ar bladder found n bony fshes and thus t must swm contnuously to prevent tself snkng to the bottom. Ths demands a lot of energy whch s obtaned from the broken-down food t devours. Unfortunately the gastrc juces are not able to dgest ths food entrely and research has shown that the power of assmlaton of the ntestne s about 50% of that of a normal fsh. Ths accounts for a shark's nsatable appette and ts fame as an extraordnarly voracous fsh. Normally sharks locate food by smell and sght. Ths sense of smell s derved from the olfactory lobes and the nasal chambers. Thor Heyerdahl, whle on hs famous expedton, spent much tme watchng the behavour of sharks and he found that whenever any blood was thrown overboard, as often happened after cleanng fsh, they would collect from a long way off and dash about n a blnd frenzy. Other people refute the dea that the shark's sense of smell s so acute and postulate that t s ther hearng sense whch nforms them that some other creature s dyng. The vbratons of the death throes travel far and fast under water and ths could well account for the unfalng regularty wth whch a shark arrves wherever there s a dyng fsh. The natural food of sharks generally conssts of a varety of small marne lfe such as fsh, squds, crabs and shellfsh. They seek food whch s relatvely easy to obtan, - especally stragglers from schools of fsh or wounded and helpless prey. Consderng the dvng that the Navy must do n tropcal waters, the Admralty decded that all precautons should be taken to ensure that dvers were not molested by the dangers of the deep. Some Naval personnel beleved that, snce Effectveness of a shark repellent s authentc ncdents of shark btes expressed as a percentage and s derved from the followng formula: were extremely rare, t was a mstake to recognse the danger by supplyng a deterrent, for such recognton of danger would magnfy t. However, As regards place, one should consder that the appearance of man s not a normal phenomenon to the shark. It wll not know whether man can be eaten or not, how dangerous he s, what hs defences are and hence wll hestate before attackng. If, on the other hand, the shark s encountered n waters where the war raged, t should be treated wth the utmost respect. Many are the tales of nghtmare scenes when hundreds of wrecked and wounded men were devoured; and, lke the bag-admnkanevalla, the man-eatng tgers of Inda who have tred human flesh and constantly slaughter people n the small jungle vllages to satsfy ther appettes, these sharks know and lke men. The tme of day, or rather the amount of lght, s also extremely mportant. Nearly all carnvorous fshes feed after dark. If, however,

6 and Branches Our READY-TO-WEAR Department offers you a choce of two-pece suts n 40 patterns of Glenheather' Thorn proof Tweed of ths orgnal specfcaton and there s no fner Tweed obtanable. Prce 16 gns. 1 s huntng for a mouthful n competton wth hundreds of thousands of other sharks. In some tests, wood chps were taken by sharks about as rapdly as peces of fsh. Mobbehavour among sharks s extremely rare under normal feedng condtons. It does occur artfcally at certan perods n conjuncton wth the shrmpng fleet operatons at St. Augustne, Florda, and at Blox, Mssssp. Durng open-sea tests at Blox, the score was reduced from 80%, to 45% effectveness. Ths fact establshed the necessty of developng a deterrent that would both mask the scent of the swmmer and dffuse around hm a dark cloud to screen hm from vew. The Naval Research Laboratory and the Calco Chemcal Corporaton dscovered a ngrosne-type dye whch was tested n May 1944, under the extreme mob-behavour condtons of St. Augustne.,An excerpt from the report follows. "... Sharks were attracted to the hack of the shrmp boat wth trash fsh. The sharks appeared as a dashng, splashng shoal. We prepared a tub of fresh fsh and another tub of fsh mxed wth repellent powder. We got up the shoal of sharks and the photographer started hs camera. I shovelled over the plan fsh for 30 seconds whle the sharks, wth much splashng, ate them. Then I started on the repellent fsh and shovelled for 30 seconds, after whch I shovelled plan fsh for 20 seconds, repeatng the procedure three tmes. On the frst tral the sharks were qute ferocous n feedng on the plan fsh rght at the stern of the boat. They ate fsh for only 5 seconds after the repellent mxture was thrown over. A few came back when the plan fsh were put out mmedately followng the repellent. (9) ng sharks bodes, had been found to keep sharks away from regons where they had been klled. It was thought that a deterrent whch protected nert fsh bat from attack mght also protect a swmmer. Snce t was obvously mpossble to use lve human bat for the experments, the nvestgators sought to establsh food preferences for sharks. A shrmp trawl nvarably attracts many sharks, but t was dffcult to attract them wth goat blood. Ths s n lne wth the belef of both commercal shark-fshermen and experts, who are of the opnon that anythng whch does not remotely resemble regular shark food s not, comparatvely speakng, an attractve bat. If a deterrent was capable of protectng the type of bat most attractve to sharks, that s, fsh, t was reasonable to suppose that t would gve protecton to less attractve bat, a swmmer. Snce no deterrent can be expected to be 100% effectve, the nterested agences agreed that a repellentguarded bat should be taken by sharks only 33% as often as unguarded bat under smlar crcumstances (67 A, effectveness). At the tme of ths agreement, a shark deterrent had already been tested n varous localtes off the west coast of South Amerca and off Florda. Under normal slow-feedng condtons t showed tself to be roughly 80% effectve. The term slow feedng s specfcally used n contrast to certan rare mob-behavour condtons of hgh stmulaton and exctablty. Under slow feedng, the shark seeks hs food, locates t, and attacks t prmarly by smell. Under mobbehavour condtons, a shark s convnced of the presence of food and strkes at anythng he sees. He Yor!Town or Country! QUEEN STREET, PORTSMOUTH 12 Tavstock Road Stoke 22 Ralway Street Castletown DEVON PORT CHATHAM PORTLAND

7 On a second tral 30 mnutes later, a ferocous school fed for 30 seconds that the plan fsh were suppled, but left as soon as the repellent struck the water. There were no attacks whle the repellent was n the water. On the thrd tral we could not get the sharks nearer than 20 yards to the stern of the boat. These results are far beyond anythng the nvestgators had expected to obtan. The A.A.F., on the strength of the evdence already avalable, mmedately ordered large quanttes of shark-deterrent packets SILENCE S NALID. EX v\ 0.1 Iv PRoGRESS, for use on overseas flghts between the lattudes of 45 north and south. It has been found snce that ths repellent s not really effectve and the results obtaned n the frst trals have been dsproved. The problem now s not solely the concern of the Amercans ; many other countres are nvolved and we n the Royal Navy are holdng trals on a new chemcal n the Far East and n the waters around Chrstmas Island. It s hoped that the fndngs wll be promulgated n some future edton of the Magazne. Command Bomb and Mne Dsposal Unt H.M.S. `Lochnvar,' Port Edgar SALUTATIONS gentlemen, from ths 'land of brown heath and shaggy wood, land of the mountan and the flood'. Snce our last epstle we have been to most corners of our far-flung empre, ncludng the followng: Fraserburgh, the Shetlands, Belfast, South Ust, Mallag and West Cumberland. One of our most nterestng jobs was a combned operaton n the Vctoa Channel, Belfast, wth our Standard frends. Long hard work was done by all concerned, and a very enjoyable Yorkshre run wth lmbo and other party trcks as a grand fnale made a fttng end to our frutful labours. For the record the tme taken from Renfrew to Belfast by B.E.A. was one hour, Belfast to Greenock by Bar-boat, 28 hours. However, the return trp, though not swft, was very enjoyable. The sea was lke a vertable mll-pond enablng one to vew the beauty and splendour of the Frth of Clyde n the autumn sunshne though vson was occasonally slghtly blurred by the fallng ash and thck black smoke (that B Belfast coal). Our frends n Brearley, Brenchley, and Dngley, are wth us agan, the last two havng just completed a good job n locatng a helcopter whch 'dtched' off Portrush n Northern Ireland. Today we bade a fond farewell to one of our oldest (.e. tme n the unt) members, namely Spder Webb, who s now on a southbound fler headng for the fleshpots of Portland. Frday November 21st wad's a hstorc day for, Port Edgar and Scotland, as the Secretary of State for Scotland, Mr. John MacLay, drove n the frst ple for the new Forth Road Brdge. Work s proceedng wth ths mmense project whch when completed wll be the longest suspenson brdge n Europe. Here's wshng a Merry Chrstmas and a Gud New Year to all dvers. MAC. `Excessve sebaceousness has a deleterous effect on the cytoplasm and, to a lesser extent, the metabolsm' (10) Notes from H.M.S. 'Reclam' T may seem a lttle ndelcate at Iths tme of the year to wrte about our summer cruse but, as our last contrbuton to the Magazne was solely concerned wth techncaltes, perhaps the readers wll forgve us. Anyway we ntend to gve a few of the hghlghts whch have occured snce the reft. At the end of August, havng completed extensve trals, we saled for Portland. The workng-up perod started and Reclam began to look her usual self, For a short perod we were emergency destroyer whch meant canteen leave only but the dvers managed to dve n the bay whch dd releve the monotony. They used Sebe Gorman's Mstral sets, S.A.B.A. and the gas mask. The Mstral proved very popular as t was new to many of the dvers, and was extensvely used. Rsden and Besley, the wellknown salvage company from Southampton, gave the hp a wreck to work on n 150 feet of water about 10 mles south of Portland Bll,

8 p a Lttle dd we realse at the tme that ths generous offer would almost result n a tragedy. On September 1st t was decded to vew ths wreck by asdc, moor over t and then sght t vsually ether by dvng or usng the observaton chamber. The asdcs very quckly made contact and after the shp was successfully moored a dver was sent down to vew the wreck. PO Newson faled to make contact and PO Mlls was then sent down after the shp had been moved a lttle. Reports came through that the wreck was below hm and that he could see what looked lke a davt stckng up and an engne-room hatch-gratng. As he then reported that the tde was startng to run, t was decded to brng hm up. We realsed ths was not gong to be as easy as t seemed. Hs ar-ppe had become foul of the wreck, and due to the strength of the tde the stand-by dver couldn't be sent down to ad hm. To make matters worse, the shot-rope became foul and parted, due to the tde; ths was now runnng at about 3 knots, the ncrease from slack water havng occured n ffteen mnutes. The only remanng hope was that the dver could reman below wthout any personal njury or damage to hsequpment untl the tde changed sx hours hence. All at once we found we could haul n both the ar-ppe and breast-rope, whch we proceeded to do at record speed but our efforts were nterrupted by a yell from the upper deck, `Dver on the surface, starboard sde, amdshps.' Every avalable dver rushed to fnd out what was happenng. The Coxswan was claspng the dver's hands whlst the Chef M.E. was hangng on to the Coxswan's feet. PO's Scantlbury and Holland (13) at once jumped overboard and secured lnes to the dver's helmet. Fortunately, the dver had surfaced by the mdshps door and he was soon nboard. Hs sut was cut off and he was rushed to the R.C.C. n the dvng flat, where the Surgeon- Leutenant took charge. We are glad to report that the dver has not suffered any ll effects after ths harrasng experence. He stll remans one of our keenest dvers. On nspecton of the equpment we found the nlet valve on the helmet had parted. All the screws securng both parts of the valve had sheared off, allowng the valve and the valve-sprng to fall out. Ths n tself normally proves fatal but happly the dver reported earler that hs sut was floodng-up and he had been gven maxmum ar supply. Ths extra ar plus the tde must have been all that was requred to carry the dver to the surface. But how he mssed the shp's bottom s stll a mystery. Two days later we saled for St. Jean-de-Luz, a beautful resort, stuated between Barrtz and the Spansh border. The voyage was uneventful. Blue skes and a calm sea augured well for the future and all were n hgh sprts. The long reft was enough to hatter the nerve, of even the most confdent person. We had to anchor n the bay, a mle off shore, as the harbour s equpped to take only fshng boats and pleasure yachts. Fshng s the man ndustry there and the people have. the typcal Basque frendlness. Ths was to prove advantageous when our lberty boats came alongsde and a horde of salors nvaded the town. Not long after anchorng, a fleet of small boats appeared. It seemed that the populaton of St Jean were

9 comng out en masse to vst the shp. Yachts, rowng boats and peddallos then proceeded to go round and round Reclam, thoroughly nspectng the pantwork and wonderng where we were concealng our guns. We n turn were feastng our eyes on the many bronzed bkn-clad madamoselles. It wasn't long before all ntal shyness vanshed. Ths array of small boats around the shp never altered throughout our stay and when we opened for vstors t was essental to have several men on duty solely to look after those ted alongsde. Great nterest was shown n the dvng flat and equpment but tryng to explan n French the techncaltes of the standard gear, the observaton chamber and the hundred and one thngs we have, almost drove us round the bend. Ths was especally so when the enqurer was a beautful French grl whose perfume and bkn rather tended to dsturb one's thoughts and concentraton. We were never short of passengers for trps to the sea bed, n the observaton chamber. Many tours were arranged for the crew by the Vce-Consul n Barrtz. They ncluded vsts to Lourdes, San Sebastan and a trp round the Basque country, and were great successes. On the Sunday we played a team of Brtsh exles at crcket and convncngly won. Ths means that last season we had a 100% success at crcket played one, won one, a record of whch we are justfably proud. That nght there was open-ar dancng n the square and to mark the end of the bull fghtng season the famous Battle of Confett and freworks dsplay was ncorporated. Ths proved mmense fun. Everybody had huge bags of confett wth (14) durng the neap tdes. Contact was made usng asdc sets but, as most readers already know, the Scmtar was recovered by the other salvage vessels present. We are now n Falmouth havng had a short spell n Portsmouth. Manta Board Survey to Rottnest by The Underwater Explorers Club of W.A. (Inc.) O N (15) nearest approach to low-level flyng by an arcraft. At ths juncture, a bref descrpton of the 'Manta' board would not be out of place. Frst, the word 'Manta' needs clarfyng. There has been some argument here lately, between those who say that the name s gven after the nsect, the prayng mants, and others who attrbute t to the manta ray. Probably the latter explanaton s correct, but no one can deny that the machne has a dstnct resemblance to both these creatures, wth ts elevators, ballast tanks and bent tubular constructon. Underwater sled s a name that could be appled to t, but 'Manta' board s our own dea, and we are stckng to t. It s a framework of lght tubular steel, a ballast tank s fxed on each sde longtudnally (ths s purely for postve buoyancy), a par of wooden blades are fxed at the head, and t s these blades whch work, smlarly to the elevators of an arcraft, the up and down postons through the varous depths. Push the blades downwards, and the 'Manta' board goes to whatever depth s requred. Pull the blades upward and t rses to the surface. The operator les full length ou the framework, tucks hs flppers securely whch they attacked the Royal Navy n no uncertan manner. The salors joned n the fun; and many a grl rued the fact that she had empted a handful of confett down a salor's whte front. The shp's group-- of muscans took over one cafe and the propretor was so pleased at the ncreased trade that from then on nobody n unform was charged for hs drnks. So the week passed and all too soon we had to say good-bye to St. Jean-de-Luz. However, t wasn't only the crew who wanted to stay. The observaton chamber, havng had so much to do wth the entertanng, decded to break loose and snk just before salng tme. Fortunately or unfortunately, dependng on whether one was marred or sngle, salvage of the msbehavng equpment was soon carred out and we saled only one hour adrft. Pompey rev's were produced by the engneroom staff and Reclam was certanly makng good tme when a sgnal came through dvertng us to Pembroke Docks. There we had to take on stores and men to play our part n the NATO exercse 'Shp Shape.' Anybody who has been to ths place wll realse what a come-down t was to St Jean. Fog, ran and cold replaced the sun and heat and t wasn't long before all vestge of tan faded. Part of the tme was spent at Barry whch s only a short tran journey from Cardff and ths releved the monotony. Nevertheless, dvng was restrcted to nspectons of suspected foul screws and rudders and clearng fouled loop sweeps. We left the exercse area on the 26th of September for Portsmouth but agan we were dsapponted, ths tme beng dverted to assst n the search for and possble salvage of the Scmtar arcraft whch had crashed whlst landng on H.M.S. Vctorous. The estmated poston was 16 mles south of Selsey Bll n 220 feet of water and rght n the mddle of the shppng lanes. No protecton could be expected from the land and only mnutes' dvng tme s possble Sunday 13th January 1958, ten dvng members of the Underwater Explorers Club of Western Australa, together wth a naval navgator, a marne bologst and a reporter, completed a twelve mle survey across the ocean floor between the man-land and Rottnest Island, the depth varyng from 25 to 72 feet. Ths survey was carred out on a tmanta' board, desgned and developed by one of our members, Len McWhnney. S.C.U.B.A. gear was used as the underwater breathng medum. Ths survey dd not brng to lght anythng of partcular nterest on the sea floor; no wrecks, no nterestng reef formatons or any spectacular results whch newspapers love. Sandy bottom, nterspersed wth seaweed, a few fsh and other marne lfe, usually only nterestng to the marne bologsts or keen underwater observers, were the only thngs sghted. It dd, however, (and ths was the real object of the exercse) prove that reasonably long dstances could be covered by a team of well-traned dvers on ths apparatus called the 'Manta' board. For the Club members' own enjoyment, ths method of travel s ncomparable, and s the

10 under a cross-bar, gves the sgnal to the towng craft, and proceeds to move forward at a speed of about 3 m.p.h. He s separated from the boat by about 150 feet of towlne (usually nylon). The dver submerges to the bottom where he levels off, and keeps movng 18 nches off the bottom. In ths atttude he settles down and observes the panorama wthout havng to exert hmself at all. For the purpose of the survey to Rottnest, we arranged a roster of dvers to stay down for 15 mnutes each. Durng that 15 mnutes the dver would surface every fve mnutes to sgnal all O.K. Our navgator plotted the poston at varous changeovers, the run taken and any change of course. Our marne bologst and reporter ntervewed each dver on hs reganng the mother shp for hs report ; we were then able to plot on a chart, depths, scenery, fsh and formaton of rock or marne growth. The whole outng was a pleasant one, wth the excepton of a N.W. breeze whch made the moton of the boat rather unpleasant. The arrval at Rottnest was one of satsfacton to ourselves, especally n vew of several crtcsms of some people as beng too dangerous and mpossble. Indeed, there were several tmes when we seemed to make no progress whatever, and t needed some determnaton to carry on. The nevtable result was that as we pulled nto the landng on completon of the trp, sprts were hgh and thrsts were excellent. As luck would have t, there happens to be an establshment called by the locals 'Quokka Arms', and t s to ths place we hurred to celebrate the longest underwater survey by cvlan dvers n the world. flashng the alds for about an hour, before we eventually found one wth an owner aboard who shouted he had only flashed hs torch at the boathouse to let them know that he had got back onboard n hs skff. I thnk he was a bt alarmed at havng a 90 ton M.F.V. hangng over hs yacht and was rather glad to see the back of us. We had an urgent call to go to the assstance of the 8,000 ton newly bult merchant shp Clan Mac Ivey, less to say, abandoned shp. B.D.O's and Barrngton's dvers had been down outsde but couldn't locate the hole. We assumed she was lyng on t so we went nsde, usng gas mask and all our avalable ar-ppe, to try and get a hook-bolt patch aganst the nrush of water. Ths proved mpractcable so we put an enormous plug n from outsde and stood by all nght whle she was pumped dry and rghted. Ths effort was front page news n all the Scottsh daly `Yo-Yo' Notes (H.M.S. 'Adamant') WE fnd great nterest n knowng the whereabouts of our frends n the branch and hence start our notes by gvng recent changes n the unt. Pony Moore departed for warmer clmes havng been releved by Jack Langley from Chats. Nck Querpel, complete wth brand new spouse, left us to re-jon Vernon. Robbe has been whpped away from Deepwater's Chandlery to take over the rens. S/Lt Smmons, the Dvng Offcer, s shortly to leave us as well. He jons H.M.S. Darng, beng releved by S/Lt Kempsall. On return from one of our submarne nspecton trps to Invararay last month, we encountered some unfrendly fog n Loch Fyne and found ourselves on the beach almost (16) alongsde a farmer's haystack. Nothng daunted, Mk.l's were rapdly donned, and a quck shorng job usng the dvng ladder and all avalable tmber, ensured the M.F.V. remaned perpendcular untl the next tde, when we were towed off wth the assstance of a T.R.V. As can be magned ths resulted n very wtty repartee beng exchanged wth the locals. We have been havng our share of bad weather too. One nght we were hauled out of our bunks to go to the assstance of a yacht who was supposedly flashng SOS to the shore durng the heght of the gale. Havng got to the yacht moorngs we worked n and out of about 50 yachts, soundng our sren and 4) whch was lstng dangerously n James Watt Dock, Greenock. When we arrved she had lsted as far as 55 and ddn't look as f she was very far from gong over on her sde. Apparently a fve nch dameter hole had been cut n her sde about four feet above the water lne to dran blge water; and durng the nght, whlst the nght watchmen were transferrng fuel or somethng, she took on a lst whch put ths hole under water. The watchmen, need- Photograph by knd permsson of Scottsh Daly Express (17) papers and we were hghly commended by F.O. Scotland. At the moment we are back wth the more ordnary tasks of floatng dock nlets, nspectons of submarnes and lost artcles, etc. The unt to date conssts of PO O'Connor and AB Stewart on H.M.S. Adamant, and on the boat we have CPO Roberts (Cox'n), PO Semple, POME Macntyre, LS Rees, AB Langley, and AB Beacom as chef.

11 ,..."..._..._..."..._..."_....,..., Send your Gfts-g through Bernards, Through the Bernard Drect Despatch Servce your choce of gfts can be sent to any address to arrve on any date desred and accompaned where requred by personal greetng cards or messages. jw Where t s not preferred to pay cash the cost of orders may be charged to a Credt account for settlement by Admralty Allotment or Banker's Order. A fully llustrated 28 page Gft Lst wll be sent on request. Make ths a happer Chrstmas wth Gfts from Bernards for you really DO BUY BETTER AT BERNARDS C. H. BERNARD & SONS LTD ANGLIA HOUSE, HARWICH and at 6-9 Queen Street, PORTSMOUTH and at :34 Branches Members of the II.N.T.A. I How to use an Aqualung. by Alott E. Dono MHIS artcle has been wrtten to I counter much whch has been publshed recently on the subject n a manner not becomng to the serousness of the operaton of dvng under water. Frst of all t s necessary to obtan an Aqualung; ths can be done by borrowng from a frend, takng out H.P. terms on one for the rest of one's lfe, fndng one, or as a last resort jonng an underwater swmmng club. Havng read all current Brtsh and Contnental lterature on the theory, ask your dvng colleagues for general advce and then use a dvng technque whch you fnd out by yourself by tral and error. Nevertheless you have presumably carred out the precauton of askng a number of frends to dve wth you as the 'buddy system' s hghly recommended. On ths occason they ether have to wash the car, vst a relatve or work overtme, but would have jumped at the opportunty otherwse. It s a good thng to decde now that you won't be takng any extra-ordnary rsks ths makes the justfcaton of dvng alone more palatable to the conscence. Naturally, as you wll be spendng a far tme around the 200 feet mark, you wll want plenty of ar, and a double or trple bank of 120 cubc ft cylnders wll satsfy your requrements ncely. It s always necessary to get assstance when clmbng nto the harness of the outft, as an nsurance aganst forgettng to do somethng. Make sure that the harness straps are a frm ft, payng partcular attenton to the Jock Strap. Have ths comfortably adjusted, then take t up an extra notch so that dstnct pressure s apparent beneath the armpts. The rest of your equpment s donned quckly, whlst checkng the newly gummed heel-grp of your fn (pronounced flpper on South Coast), whch unfortunately prevented you from dvng last week. A last check to see that your polythene nstructon book s securely n your weght belt, one more pull on your fag, then you can descend slowly nto the water. Immedately upon enterng the water you snk a lttle but t seems that your mouthpece s nowhere around so surface quetly and ask frend to brng t n front of your face nstead of behnd your head. Wth slow revolvng hand movements you now gracefully snk to fnd that at 6 feet down no ar s comng through. Fast hand movements and volent thrashng of legs wll propel you to the surface and t s better to clmb nto the boat for a breather. Whlst enjoyng your breather the cylnder valve can be opened by your frend who wll no doubt apologse for hs prevous oversght. Ten mnutes havng elapsed, you wll carry out your check drll metculously ths tme, stand on sde of boat and jump n forwards. Amdst the foam of green/blue bubbles whch shuttle about you, you wll experence freedom, but now a check on your depth gauge. Yes you are descendng well and as you move your left arm swftly towards your face the readngs are clear 10, 12, 14,

12 16 feet down, down, but now a floatng feelng agan and your head bobs above the surface, `Blmey', you must have whpped out the pn of your weght belt when takng that depth readng. That means the belt has gone complete wth your new three guneas stanless, supper back serrated, none snkng dvers knfe whch you had just purchased. Out of the water agan wth smple explanaton to frend. It's a good job there's another weght belt n the boat, t's not certan to whom t belongs but he probably won't mnd. Over the sde agan, shore sde ths tme, so everybody can see you. No you better come up agan as you have collected a pocket of ar n your bootees whch keeps you suspended upsde down. For a change you can roll n ths tme, over the back end of the boat, down--down down. Breathng s very tght at 20 feet, so you come for relef let's have a check on the ar content of the cylnders. Unharness, and ft the specal Amercan check gauge just as you suspected, empty. It doesn't matter though as t's just startng to ran and t's gettng late too. Upon reflecton of the day's actvtes, back at the pub, t certanly was a good thng to have had such a good basc tranng at the baths when you got your 'C' Class Underwater Marners Salvage and Oarsman's Ratng Certfcate or you mght have got nto trouble today. Specal Note: The Uxbrdge Sub-Aqua Group reluctantly declnes to take any credt for the research or factual accuracy of ths actcle. We feel that any complments are deserved by the author alone. INFORMATION OFFICER, Uxbrdge Sub-Aqua Group. Chatham Dvng School A LTHOUGH several changes occurred n the school's hgh command due to the payng off of H.M.S. Kngfsher, thngs are gong qute smoothly. CPO Hall, B.E.M., s now n the char and CPO Pearman s awatng draft to Scotland. Many queres have been receved regardng hs future employment and dlgent enqures have unearthed the fact that hs job wll be wth the Reserve Fleet, Rosyth. Malta has lost CPO Gates whom we welcome here wth open arms and PO Rust, havng been deprved of 'Ogges' snce leavng Devonport, s now a mere fourteen stone and ft for anythng. We are followng n the footsteps of the school at Horsea by erectng varous outbuldngs. To gve added tone a new Recompresson Chamber has been obtaned and ths s n the process of beng nstalled. The C.D. Team lost Leutenant Heatley, M.B.E., n November. He s emgratng to Australa. They have been farly busy recently wth mnes, smoke floats and msbehavng torpedoes but ths has not prevented PO Chrstmas, B.E.M., from spendng many hours n the E.V.T. Centre where slowly but surely a work bench s takng shape. Ths he ntends to place n hs shed as an ornament. Congratulatons to CPO Jackson on beng up-rated. He has left H.M.S. Caledona and s now n H.M.S. Forth. From Chatham may we extend to all our frends, our heartest and best wshes for Chrstmas and the New Year. -(20)- T WO Fleet Clearance Dvng Team, Hong Kong changes have occured n the herarchy of the team snce we last sent notes and, as wth all turn-overs, so much had to be done that we mssed the last ssue. Leutenant Checksfeld has releved Leutenant Commander Warner as the 'Boss', and CPO McKnlay s the new terror, replacng CPO Hopewell. AB Harrson replaced AB Burton who s gong outsde. He ntends to emgrate to Canada and assst the matchstck-makng ndustry. The most sensatonal job we've attempted recently was the search for 21- mllon dollars' (H.K.) worth of opum. The local customs were most anxous to recover t but we had no success, though we tred hard -(21)- enough. All our opum ppes are now for sale. Attacks have been carred out n many places, the worst of all requrng half the team to come up through a sewer to arrve at ther objectve. Ther best frends wouldn't speak to them far less tell them. Ths was bad enough but, havng left ther prsoners whlst attemptng to remove the odours, they found on ther return that all the beer had been drunk. Never has there been such a dscontented team. A vst to Sngapore soon followed and we combned wth the Home team for other exercses. These were great fun but most of us suffered chronc pans n our arms afterwards

13 due to throwng ball weghts at the lock gates from the attackng poston. Crocodle-nfested waters were next on the agenda. A most alarmng tme resulted as can be magned. However, the only souvenrs of ths perod are the red ants, whch Le Cornue s tranng as a crcus. Our return to Hong Kong brought us back to realty. Classes have restarted. Sales of the magazne may be ncreased f we can persuade the New Zealand lads from H.M.N.Z.S. Rotot that n order to qualfy a cht must be sent to Deepwater. The team runs are normally quet, fnshng at the stalls, the equvalent of the Honky Tonk or Sams, at about 0:1(81.It s usual to fnd that half the party has dsappeared by then but where they go s anybody's guess. We dd, however, have a hectc thrash when sayng farewell to Leut Commander Warner, but for further nformaton on ths evenng Leutenant (Ears) Donnally, the Gunnery Offcer, should he contacted. The mornng after, we nflct ourselves on PO Lews at B.D.O's for a pot dp as ther tea s much stronger than ours. The school s always open for exercsng dvers from any shp n the staton and t s hoped that they wll make full use of the amentes offered. MAc CLUES ACROSS Somethng can be ths through 3 across (4) A saucy Yorkshre rver fnds an openng (8) CLUES DOWN DIVERS' The Old Jew doesn't sound too happy you understand (8) Bronte's Jane (4) 10. Down-on the bed? (5) 4. Complete the washng and pass on (3, 3)- 11. It's useless - gvng one a long tme to dress (7) 5. Sore Red - seen n church (7) 12. Fnsh thus (3, 2) 6. Alone I dd t as t were (7) 13. Treat roughly - wth a hammer? (4) 7. Veer a long tme (4) 14. Qute dead (4) 8. To Ann a glmpse s enough to cover ths waterng place (10, 3) 17. One thng that we should not be ( 7) 9. One ths on jonng up (3, 2, 4) 20. Deservng of help (5) 22. Not new (4) 15. Sea tone - Full House? (3-4) 23. An angular character? 16. Revolutonary machne? (6) (5) 25. A shoe stoppng the flow? (4) 18. What the housewfe does (5) 26. Hymns of trumph (6) 19. Met wth n Commons (10) 27. Motorsts fnd these avod a let 21. Old con (5) down (6) 24. Can I touch you for ths? (4) 29/31. Abstaner n spectacles (4) 32. Pcked, gven tme (5) 26. Descrpton that won't hold water (6) 35. Small enough anyway (3). 28. Tea rot? (6) 36. Petty Offcers back to back work part 30. Ths beast s alrght n the head t of shp (4) seems (5) 38. Gunner or artst ntally (2) 33. Ths sle s heartless (4) 39. A dsused fght (5) 34. Lake pure and smple (4) 40. One requred to put up the score (8) 37. One doesn't need ths for a trck (3) X-WORD ll': ` : :::! 23 ; !lz ':111rl h ,.. mum: """" ::::: : 2 r 24 * :::: : 31 " ;" -... :,, l 39 4 The soluton to ths X-word s on page 27 -(23)- 28 I

14 L LAS I N Another try for January an Admralty Fleet Order was publshed askng for volunteers to crew Sceptre n the Amerca's Cup Race. Naturally there were plenty of takers and the most promsng forty-eght were gven a tral n Mr Owen Fsher's were tred out every week-end for sx weeks, the trals startng on March 13th. The man requrements were youth, strength, and plenty of tme to spare. Twenty were selected and full-tme boat trals started on the Auld Mug May 30th. Many professons were represented other than the Navy. An engneer, a unversty student, two boat bulders, a forestry expert and a broker were ncluded. Sceptre was based at Gosport and Evane at Cowes. Every day the two boats would meet n the Solent and do some practce races. Durng ths tme Evane had a rggng falure and broke her 90 ft mast. No one was njured as all the wreckage went over the sde. Later Sceptre moved to Cowes and both Outsde the Palace, July 9th 1958 L. to R. Tm Langford, Ted Mappley, Self, Joe Brooks, Mke Tremlett, Ian Lennox Photograph by knd permsson of Keystone Press Agency Ltd. (25) 12-meter Evane. Twelve to eghteen The fnest tobacco perfectly packed IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

15 Anaesthetc qualty Sofnol Soda-lme s used n over 30 countres for Anaesthetc apparatus, resprators, oxygen admnstraton, ar purfcaton n confned spaces etc., and s avalable n 3 grades Whte (nonndcatng), Green and Volet (self-ndcatng), n granule szes IV" to 40 B.S.S. Analytc qualty Sofnolte s a specal self-ndcatng soda-lme for gravmetrc CO2 determnaton. S L NON-HYGROSCOPIC SODA-LIME SOFNOL LTD., WESTCOMBE HILL, GREENWICH, LONDON, S.E.IO crews lved at the Royal Cornthan Yacht Club. After spendng almost a month there t became obvous that we should have to move elsewhere as the weather condtons were too peaceful n the Solent. After much dscusson Poole was decded upon and we moved there. The Royal Motor Yacht Club gave us the use of ther premses and we stayed n nearby houses. Day after day we were out off Poole practsng sal changng, tackng and racng. The only casualtes were one man overboard and the skpper of Evane whose leg was badly hurt when a block broke. On June the 28th the fnal crew was selected. Deepwater was well represented wth Lt-Cdr J. Brooks, navgator, Lt. E. Mappley and L/Sea A. Brooker as reserves. Also from Vernon was Lt.-Cdr D. Woods who was n charge of the shore-sde arrangements. July 9th was the bg day when we went to Buckngham Palace. Who was t who 'sad 'What a lovely walnut table fake of course'? We were nformally entertaned by the Duke of Ednburgh, who was most charmng. Unfortunately the Queen was ll at the tme. After further workng up we went to Camper and Ncholson's at Southampton to have the boat panted. On August 3rd Sceptre was loaded aboard the Cunarder Alsata, whch saled for New York the same day. The crew went over by the Lberte, Queen Elzabeth, Alsata and by ar. On arrval at New York Sceptre was towed to Stamford, Conn, where the mast was stepped and adjustments made. She was then towed to Newport, R.I., arrvng there on August 17th. We were gven a large house named lorsehead' by Mr and Mrs Sdney Wrght. It was very well stuated as t was on a bluff overlookng the harbour. Mr and Mrs Wrght were kndness tself and had the house renovated for the occason. More workng up, ths tme wth the Amercan 12-meter Gleam. The S.C.D.T. was often called upon to wpe the slme off Sceptre's bottorn and many other odd jobs. The least sad about the races the better. Columba was by far the better boat and went out of her way to prove t... Sceptre's crew was probably as good as Columba's but ths was of lttle help to her. Throughout our stay theamercans dd all,they could for us and made our stay most enjoyable. Although we ddn't acheve the object of the exercse we certanly learnt a lot. Any future attempt would have a much better chance and we would lke to try agan. If the crew were all dvers t would be a foregone concluson. A.W.G.B. (26) SOLUTION TO CROSSWORD Across (1) Seen; (3) Aperture; (10) Eder; (11) Garbage; (12) End so; (13) Haul; (14) Dodo; (17) Out Done; (20) Needy; (22) Used; (23) Eucld; (25) Clog; (26) Paeans; (27) Spares; (29/31) Ot To; (32) Oakum; (35) Tot; (36) Poop; (38) R.A.; (39) Scrap; (40) Nneteen. Down (1) Sadducee; (2) Eyre.; (4) Peg Out; (5) Reredos; (6) Unaded; (7) Ever; (8) Leamngton Spa; (9) Had to Sgn; (15) One Seat; (16) Cycle; (18) Dusts; (19) Opposton; (21) Ducat; (24) Loan; (26) Porous; (28) Rotate; (30) Okap; (33) Aran; (34) Mere; (37) Ace.

16 51st Clearance Dvng Team News REETING to all you lucky U-people who lve south of the Border from all of us up here we envy you reclnng on the sunsoaked beaches of Southsea whlst we hastly put on our long woolly combs to counteract the frst sgns of the 'brass monkey' weather now settng n. Ths last term has been an nterestng one, but at the same tme pretty hard work. Any smlarty between the programme planned and the programme n fact carred out s purely concdental and desgned to keep everyone guessng and to gve those of us beng chased by angry fathers wth shotguns a reasonable chance of escape. The autumn term started properly on Sunday 14th September, when the squadron saled from Port Edgar for a sx-week spell of exercses and vsts. Our frst stop was to be Portland but havng gone down rver and turned rght (south) at the entrance to the Forth, the shp decded that the sea ar was too strong and promptly broke down. The rest of the Squadron were very helpful. They anchored whlst we were beng repared and after a twelve-hour delay we were able to carry on. The rest of the journey passed wthout further mshap. Fog greeted us on arrval at Portland but a cloud of black smoke was seen through the murk ahead, combned wth a growlng, gruntng, puffng nose. Ths turned out to be our `Oppos', Dngley and the H.S.C.D.T., who were attemptng a crafty dash nto harbour before we arrved so that they would avod havng to form up. However, havng been caught red-handed, they ended up by enterng harbour last n the honoured poston of 'tal-end Charle'. Our stay at Portland was purely for busness reasons and as we are such a secret and 'hush hush' crowd we can't really tell you why we were there. Anyway, due to bad weather and lots of gales, the tme spent n harbour was qute extensve and gave us the chance to entertan a number of vstng experts of the C.D. world who carred out a thorough test of the varous beverages on board. From Portland we went to Portsmouth, arrvng n tme for the long week-end startng Frday 26th September. Or at least that's what we thought untl word was receved that we were requred to jon n the search for the 'Scmtar' arcraft that crashed nto the sea whlst landng on H.M.S. Vctorous. So Saturday saw us at sea agan and for the next sx days f we weren't at sea due to bad weather we were at short notce for t. Happly the 'Scmtar' search dd not nterfere wth our prevously arranged vst to Holland and on Monday 6th October, havng embarked Leutenants Burstall and Kelly (from Vernon), we departed for Den Helder. We receved a very warm and hosptable welcome from our Dutch opposte numbers and most of the exchange of deas and vews on dvng took place whlst vewng our hosts through the bottom of an upturned beer glass. However, a party of C.D.O's and C.D's dd go to sea one afternoon to wtness a demonstraton of a search used extensvely by the Dutch, and the followng day another party vsted ther Dvng School at Den Ouver. When the tme came to leave Den Helder the usual gale was blowng, so the nshores went to Amsterdam, our next port of call, va the Great North Holland Canal. It was an nterestng and enjoyable trp and enabled us to perfect a method of retrevng ducks that were shot en route by stoppng the shp n the mddle of the canal whlst one of the team leapt over the sde n sut and fns to brng back the prze. Amsterdam was a great success and a jolly good run ashore was had by all. We ntended to stay only sx days but once agan a gale blew up and we ended up by stayng for nne. Our two guests for the trp left very hurredly by ar one day before we fnally left sayng they were duty n Vernon and had to get back. It s wdely beleved that ths was not the case but that the stuaton was becomng too hot and they had to leave before the polce cr rate parents caught up wth them. Other than sayng that f not all, certanly most of us, at Amsterdam suffered alcoholc 'bends' due to all the bubbles n the local beer, t would be best that no future detals of our vst there should be publshed lest they conflct wth stores ah eady told by ndvdual3 to ther relatons and frends. From Amsterdam we returned to Chatham, and the rest of the squadron spent a week there before returnng north to Port Edgar. However, Brenchey cunnngly had another breakdown requrng a generator change and was delayed by four days much to the delght of the natves of the south and to the annoyance of) the natves of the north. (28) (29) We fnally arrved at Port Edgar on Sunday 2nd November, expectng a restful perod and a 'feet up' sesson. But not on your Narcoss we were greeted wth the news that we would be salng on the Tuesday for Northern Ireland to look for and recover a dtched helcopter. So on Tuesday the 4th we saled for Portrush va the Caledonan Canal. For those of you who haven't been through the Canal do not mss the chance f you get the opportunty. The scenery along the varous reaches of the Canal and through the locks s very beautful and mpressve regretably whlst passng through Loch Ness, the monster was undergong deep dps n an attempt tc square off the tax collector for the fnancal year, and was not seen. Our stay n and around Portrush and Londonderry lasted just under two weeks and, as long as weather condtons permtted the search carred on at full tempo every day. Just a few hours before the search was due to be abandoned the H.S.C.D.T.. embarked n Dalswnton for the operaton, reported seeng a werd object on the sea bed n one of the search areas allccated to them but the dver was unable to reach t, because of the tde. The followng day the werd object was dentfed as the helcopter much to everyone's delght. We arrved back at Port Edgar on Sunday 23rd November, and at the tme of wrtng are frmly establshed hgh and dry on the slp, so no one can send us off to sea for a t least another week. Snce the begnnng of July there have been many changes n the team. PO Norman s the frst C.D.I. to be apponted to Brenchley, a permanent and recently approved