Standard diving dress - Definition and Overview

A standard diving dress consists of a copper, brass or bronze diving helmet, an umbilical cord leading to a surface supplied diving air pump, a canvas diving suit and lead boots. Diving suits of this type were sometimes called "diving dresses".

The watershed development was the "closed" helmet, in 1837 by Augustus Siebe, where the helmet was sealed to the suit making the suit watertight, which increased safety and diver efficiency making underwater work much more viable than before.

This type of diving equipment is also known as hard-hat equipment. It was commonly used for underwater civil engineering, salvage, commercial diving and naval diving until the 1960s when SCUBA equipment and saturation diving became more common.

As the diver walks on the sea bed, the diver must wear lead, generally on the chest and boots, to counteract the buoyancy of the air inside the helmet and diving suit.

External links

The Historical Diving Society (http://www.thehds.com/)

Historical Diving Society diving at Stoney Cove, England

Hardhat diver entering water at Stoney Cove, England

U.S. Navy diving dress being lowered into the water