divinghelmet

I remember divers working in the Limerick Docks up until the early 70's! One could see their suits hanging up to dry outside their room near the clock tower and their helmets and equipment were stored there. Beautiful objects in shining brass and bronze with tiny glass inserts. I am open to correction but I suspect that this is taken near the "floating Docks" in Limerick harbour with the gate to either that dock or the dry dock in the background.

Swordscookie Lovely, was hoping someone would know. With any more confirmation, I'll be able to add this photo to the map...

Technically he doesn't need to 'come up for air' as it is being pumped to the diver though the hose in his helmet so he could remain down for extended periods while he worked. Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus was unheard of until the 1950s and more importantly there was little knowledge of caisson's disease (DeCompression Sickness) and it was not know how long a diver could safely remain at any particular depth until he sustained 'the bends'. 'Safe(r)' limits were later established by the US Navy & other groups in the 1950s after 'experience' gained in WWII.

Aftermath of the Black Tom munitions explosion of July 30, 1916. See notes under
A very similar shot, titled "Diving for Shells", ran in the The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.), August 27, 1916. oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn83045782/1916-08-27/ed-1/se...

Thanks for providing context for this image. We'll add information to the catalog record when we update.

Though the Navy introduced its classic Mark V diving helmet in 1916 and the early evaluation work had been done in nearby Long Island Sound in preceding years, this diver appears to be wearing an earlier commercial model AJ Morse 3 light helmet

According to en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Renown_(1916), in 1919, HMS Renown "was refitted in preparation for a tour of Canada, Newfoundland and the United States by Edward, the Prince of Wales." Title should be "Diver" not "Driver."

The New-York Tribune., November 13, 1919, Page 4, column 3 chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030214/1919-11-13/ed-... indicates that the Renown anchored in the Hudson on November 12. Meanwhile, the Prince of Wales was in Washington, D.C. He traveled to Washington by train from Canada.

The Frank Hurley of Shackleton's expedition?

I love this picture, used it at my site www.stillwaters.at and I colored it - hope you like it?!

Michael Donovan YES! It reminds me of this poem from school.. "Full Fathom Five" is the second stanza of "Ariel's song",[1] better known than the first, and often presented alone. It implicitly addresses Ferdinand, who with his father has just gone through a shipwreck in which the father supposedly drowned. It is the origin of the identically worded catchphrase, which means "at a depth of five fathoms [of water]", and thus, in most evocations, drowned and lost as the father is. Full fathom five thy father lies; Of his bones are coral made; Those are pearls that were his eyes; Nothing of him that doth fade, But doth suffer a sea-change Into something rich and strange. Sea-nymphs hourly ring his knell: Ding-dong. Hark! now I hear them — Ding-dong, bell. see.. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ariel%27s_Song