The Heroic Age of Diving: America's Underwater Pioneers and the Great Wrecks of Lake Erie

摘要

In The Heroic Age of Diving, Jerry Kuntz follows the careers of early 19th-century American divers and innovators who sought to advance diving technology. Their impetus was fueled by the desire to salvage shipwrecks, recover treasure, harvest underwater resources, and clear harbor obstructions to improve navigation. Most of these early pioneers would have been lost to history without a Kuntz to tell their stories. All of these adventurers were looking for sunken profit, and all were resourceful, courageous, egotistical, and in some instances, obsessed. Kuntz considers William Hannis Taylor to be the father of American diving. Although he failed as a privateer after being accused by a U.S. naval officer of piracy, Taylor cleared himself of the charges. In doing so, however, he lost his livelihood and his ship. He thought he might profit from another risky venture-the pearl-diving industry-if he could develop an assisted-breathing device. Subsequently, in 1837, he patented a diving suit called "submarine armor." The following year, Taylor founded the New York Submarine Armor Company, whose business plan focused on the practical work of wreck salvage, underwater demolition, and the manufacture and sale of submarine armor to the U.S. Navy.