Legacy of the Deep – Historic Diving Collection

A Brief History of Diving

Humans have been drawn to the depths of the sea for thousands of years. Ancient free divers collected sponges, pearls, and seafood, holding their breath as they explored beneath the waves. But as curiosity—and the need for air—grew, so did our ingenuity. By the 1600s, divers in Europe were using crude diving bells, inverted barrels weighted to trap air and allow for brief underwater work. In 1691, astronomer Edmund Halley advanced the design, creating a bell with a window and a system for replenishing air—laying the foundation for future underwater exploration.

Fast forward to the 19th and early 20th centuries, and hard-hat diving had become the standard for deep-sea work. These divers wore canvas suits and iconic copper and brass helmets like the U.S. Navy’s Mark V, introduced in 1916. The Mark V became a symbol of underwater exploration—its distinctive design protected divers and supplied air through surface-fed pumps. While the system was bulky and limited mobility, it enabled long-duration dives for salvage, construction, and military missions.

In the 1950s, scuba diving took a revolutionary leap with the popularization of the Aqua-Lung, developed in 1943 by Jacques Cousteau and Émile Gagnan. This self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (SCUBA) freed divers from surface hoses and gave rise to recreational diving as we know it. Vintage 1950s tanks, paired with double-hose regulators, were heavy but represented new freedom—allowing divers to move easily, explore coral reefs, and even observe creatures like the octopus, as Gilbert Klingel once did with his helmet and 80 pounds of lead weights.

Today’s divers benefit from lightweight gear, advanced materials, and training—but every dive is still rooted in the same human curiosity that first pulled people beneath the surface centuries ago.