A unique opportunity given to graduating members of our marine diving technology class was the chance to dive in old school heavy diving gear. The two most vintage hats being dived were the US Navy MkV and the slightly more modern Kirby Morgan air hat, which I'll profile in a following post. Let's start with a very short history of the legendary Navy MkV which I've shamelessly taken from around the internet.
The US Navy MkV (pronounced "mark five") diving apparatus was originally conceived in 1915 in response to an increased need for serious deep diving gear for Navy divers. The helmet provided a relatively simple design and was similar to other diving helmets of the era in that the hat connected to a breastplate which connected to a rubberized canvas suit and was water tight meaning the diver was (relatively) dry.
The MkV had some improvements over other hats of the era with it's hinged face plate and exhaust towards the back of the divers head where bubbles could not obscure the diver's view. Also, the hat had more "lights" also known as ports than other hats of the era and all were made of glass and had protective grills installed over them. Like any other large, drysuit based diving system, a lot of weight was necessary to permit the diver comfortable movement on the seafloor. With this in mind, you have to wear a heck of a lot of weight when in the MkV dress. When I went diving with it at school, our entire load out weighed about 175lbs. For reference, I weigh about 145lbs... hefty.
Unbelievably, the MkV apparatus was to be used by the US Navy and commercial divers with little modification over the course of decades until the US Navy officially ceased using them in 1984 when they phased into the new fangled Kirby Morgan "Superlight" diving hats. It's reasonable to think there are still holdouts doing commercial work with the MkV all over the world.
That's enough of my butchered history lesson. Let's move on to photos from our day diving the venerable MkV! Much photo credit is necessary to my classmate, fellow history of diving enthusiast, musician, and former US Navy corpsman, John Ruhl.
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| Getting dressed is a process, and you need a lot of help. |
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| The Deepsea boots, though apparently designed for Shaq, worked ok on my size 8 paws. |
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| Lots and lots and lots of weight! |
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| Pretty close to the coolest I've ever felt. |
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| Riding the crane operated stage into our training tank at SBCC's unique diving facilities. |
This was probably a once in a lifetime chance to dive in heavy gear and in particular, the MkV. Complete, ready to dive MkV systems are now very rare and the expertise in their operation is even more difficult to find. Thankfully Dan Vasey, one of our instructors, is a huge diving historian and member of the Historical Diving Society. It is an experience I will no doubt remember for the rest of my life.
Having now dived the rig (albeit in a tank), I can tell you that it's actually very comfortable underwater and easy to operate in terms of inlet and exhaust. It's easy to imagine why the Navy used it for so long as it is simple in operation, supremely durable, and a reliable diving system. Sure, you can't turn your helmet to look at things but there's lights on both sides! It's a long trip to the water with 175lbs on your shoulders but once you get there it is sweet. Oh, I got some GoPro footage as well! Enjoy!
Soon to follow is another photo essay with some information about the Kirby Morgan Air hat and some other diving apparatus we got to try out. Thanks for reading.
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