Vocal 4º Relaciones Internacionales Antonio Badias |
Buenos días a todos:
Como ya sabeis el sábado pasado estaba invitado a participar en la conferencia que organiza anualmente la HDS del Reino Unido, en representación de la HDS España.
La verdad es que no tengo problemas para participar en este tipo de actos, y el inglés se me dá medio bién, por lo que el viernes no estaba nervioso cuando me puse a darle un último repaso a mi presentación.
El problema vino cuando el sábado, al empezar la conferencia, nombraron a algunos de los participantes de años anteriores: Hans Haas, Ian Frasier, Geroge Wookey, James Vorosmati, André Galerne... Durante unos minutos me entraron sudores fríos. Me tranquilizó pensar que no estaba allí por mis méritos como buzo, sino para hablar de la importancia de España en el mundo del buceo, y que yo no era más que el portavoz de nuestra asociación. Intenté hacer la charla lo más amena posible, y creo que lo consegí, dejando el pabellón nacional en buén lugar.
Este texto era mi guión, pero durante la charla fuí añadiendo comentarios sobre las 45 diapositivas del powerpoint que presenté. El resultado final fué mas extenso que el del guión escrito.
Me han llegado algunos mensajes de distintos asistentes con comentarios positivos:
-Delighted to hear you had a good time and many thanks for your fascinating talk. Everyone I spoke to thought it was excellent...
-We met in Birmingham over the weekend. You talk was most interesting...-Hi Antonio, It was great to see you both at Birmingham. Thanks for a very interesting and entertaining presentation...
Espero no haberos aburrido. Un abrazo a todos.
Texto de la conferencia:
Ladies and gentlemen, fellow Navy officers, divers, and friends:
I would like to thank my
collegues at the HDS UK for giving me the opportunity to join you in such an
important event. I am extremely pleased and honoured to be one of the speakers
today.
I must start my presentation
by explaining that it should be my friend, mentor and president of the Spanish
Historical Diving Society, Mr. Juan Ivars who should be here with you today. He
is co-author of the book “Historia del buceo y su desarrollo en España” along
with Mr. Tomás Rodriguez. The only reason why I am taking this place is because
I am able to communicate in english (and not too well as you will experience
during my talk).
Once this point has been made
clear, I will speak about diving, about the history of diving, and more
precisely, about the history of diving in Spain. Please, bear in mind that the
concept of Spain as we know it today, has changed during the course of history,
and what once was the biggest empire on earth, started as a roman colony in the
Mediterranean.
I shall try to give you all
the information on the most relevant events, in chronological order, and you
are welcome to interrupt me should you have any questions.
First evidences of the use of
divers are shown in 125 B.C. in “The Histories” by Greek author Polybius. It
reflects the use of “urinatores” by Roman general Scipio the African, against
the Carthaginians which took place in 209 B.C. This is the first full time
amphibious military unit that was created.
During the conquer of Seville,
in 1.248, admiral Ramón de Bonifaz commanded an important fleet of 18 Spanish
vessels against Moorish king Axafat, who was defeated and handed the city’s
keys to the Castillian admiral. From this moment the Spanish Navy was formed
with its first military regulations. The Fleet started developing its
importance, and begun using divers for reconnaissance missions.
In 1372, a Spanish fleet
commanded by Ambrosio Bocanegra (22 vessels) defeated the Earl of Pembroke (36
vessels) at la Rochelle,
using fire ships (hellburners) and divers. It was the first time that Spanish
vessels use embarked artillery
The Nao Victoria, a Spanish
carrack was the first ship to successfully circumnavigate the world
(1519-1522). During its stay at the isle of Tadore, in the Malaku islands, the
king of Tadore sent 8 local divers to locate hull damages in order to repair
the ship, not having a suitable harbour or dry dock available. The long haired
divers, would dive along the hull of the ship, with their heads nearly in
contact with it. Whenever a pull was felt in their long hair, a leak was
located. This system enabled quick repair of minor leaks, which were
undetectable by other means.
During the XIVth century,
given the importance of the Spanish empire and its fleet, being the biggest and
most important fleet on the seas, and having ships and vessels sailing all over
the world, the “Flota de corso y buceo” (Salvage and Diving fleet) was created.
Its original purpose was to recover sunken ships and cargo in the waters of the
Bahamas and the gulf of México. It was
later given a worldwide scope.
In the city of Toledo, in 1538
the first diving bell was used in Spain, in presence of Emperor Charles V, and
over 10.000 spectators. A successful demonstration of recovery of sunken
objects was made.
One year later, in 1539,
Spanish Navy captain, and engineer, Blasco de Garay who invented the
paddleboat, offers his own device to Emperor Charles V to recover sunken ships. A candle was lit
inside and it would allow men to comfortably stay underwater. The Emperor
forwarded the subject to his privy council, but was not adapted.
During the battle of Mühlberg, in 1547, Emperor Charles V used
combat divers to cross the river Elbe, and conquered the German city, as
reflected in the work of friar Prudencio de Sandoval “Historia del Emperador
Carlos V, Rey de España”.
In the waters of Puerto Rico,
in 1550, a
500 ton Spanish galleon, “Santa María de Jesús” was lost during a storm,
sinking when colliding with a coral reef. She carried a great treasure of
silver, gold, gems and worked items in gold and silver. Her total treasure was
valued at 6 million pesos. Whilst divers were recovering its cargo, a mulatto
from Cali arrived on his own galleon, and retrieved most of the treasure!
Pedro Juan de Lastanosa, a
Spanish mathematician and engineer, explains in his book “Los veintiún libros
de los ingenios y de las máquinas” in 1551, a device which consisted of a glass ball
(or ceramic with glass windows) with a hole to place over the head of the
diver, with a leaded wooden frame around it. He later modified his design, to a
barrel type bell, in order to accommodate the entire body of the diver.
Jose Bono, a Spanish inventor,
in 1582, obtained a royal grant from king Phillip II, which allow him to
recover goods in all the waters of the Empire, using his newly developed vase
or bell, giving the crown 10% of his findings. He had demonstrated to the
Spanish authorities the feasibility of his bell in the waters of Lisbon,
retrieving a few lost anchors.
Jerónimo de Ayanz y Beaumont,
a knight of the order of Calatrava, was another Spanish soldier and inventor.
Best remembered for the invention of a steam-powered water pump for draining
mines, and the first air conditioned machine, and he also designed a surface
supplied submarine vessel. More relevant
to us was a diving suit which he successfully demonstrated in the waters of the
river Pisuerga in the presence of King Phillip II. The diver, with continuous
air supply, stayed underwater, at a depth of 9 feet, over an hour. The
king, bored with the experiment ordered the trial to end. He had also developed
a simple and a double snorkel with purge valves.
Diego de Ufano was a Spanish
artillery captain, and in 1613 designed a diving suit which consisted of a
hooded vest made of goat’s skin, with a hose reaching to the surface, and a
float to keep the end out of the water. Underwater vision was provided by
polished horn lenses. The diver wore leaded soles to keep him stable whilst at
work.
In 1623 Pedro de Ledesma, the
king’s secretary on the Council of the Indies, developed a diving suit, similar
to the one of Diego de Ufano, which he claimed was usable down to 25 fathoms (42 metres). He also
designed a scissor type dredge and several wreck finding devices.
The Spanish galleons Nuestra
Señora de Atocha, and Santa Margarita, sunk in the waters of Florida after a
furious storm. Francisco Núñez Melián was King Philip IV of Spain's official
ship salvager, thanks to his new invention, a
680-pound bronze diving bell which he
had built in la Havana,
and provided with seats and windows, recovered in 1626 the majority of
the silver, and all the bronze cannons.
The Spanish Bell
(also known as Bell of Cadaqués), was developed in 1654 by Andreu Ximenez who
was commissioned by Don Juan de Austria (illegitimate son of emperor Charles V)
and viceroy of Cataluña, to recover the important cargo of two galleons, la Pelícana and la Anunciata, which had
sunk in the waters of Cadaqués, carrying silver and precious stones. Two barges
were used to lower the bell over the wrecks, and the slave moorish divers
sitting on a bench inside the bell, would proceed with the diving operations. The
well known term “la mordida” (bribery) originated when the divers were allowed
to keep as many coins as they could keep inside their mouth after a day’s work.
José de Acevedo, salvager of
sunken ships, sent a letter to the king of Spain in 1684, stating that he had
developed an invention (a diving bell) which allowed the diver to maintain his
breath for over an hour, and that he had been contacted by the duke of
Marlborough and the duke of Albernado regarding it. They proposed to become
partners, but he refused.
The bell of Santander,
developed in 1686 by Valentín Noval, is the first bell to offer underwater
navigation by the use of a propeller. It was built in wood, with iron rings
surrounding it, and with an interior leather lining to make it waterproof. The
bell was constructed and tested but became unstable when brought up to the
surface and onto the ship’s deck, due to the size of the propeller, which was 3,5 metres in diameter.
This is the first evidence of the use of a propeller. It was never used again
Ten years later, in 1696,
Antonio Verde built a diving bell and was commissioned by the duke of
Albuquerque, and field marshal Obruyn, to recover the cargo, mainly silver
ingots, from the wreck of the galleon La Viuda, in the waters of
Sanlucar de Barrameda. However, only lead ballast was found.
Alejandro Durant, baron
of Marzabrat, designed the first
pneumatic diving suit, with two hoses (intake and exhaust), and two bellows to
provide air to the diver, glass lenses for underwater vision, and a spear. The
continuous air supply allowed the diver to reach 12 fathoms wearing the
necessary ballast.
In 1733 Manuel Gispert
designed in la Coruña
a new snorkel, which allowed the diver to have surface communications. He
called his invention the Gispert gun.
Louis Des Balbes de Berton de
Crillon, duke of Crillon, and Mahón, plans to mine the ships anchored around
Gibraltar and organised a group of divers for this purpose. It is the first
combat diver unit in the Spanish Navy.
The 20th of
February of 1787 (this year we celebrated the 225th anniversary) set
a landmark in the history of diving. The Spanish Navy created the first diving
schools in the world. HM King Charles III signed the decree which established
the conditions for three diving schools (one on each maritime department) and
to provide training to ten boys (aged 14 to 18) to become divers, on a regular
basis.
The salvage of the ship San
Pedro de Alcántara, which sunk near Peniche, in Portugal, showed the need for
such schools. Although the majority of the money and cargo was recovered, the salvage operation reflected a need for
more, properly trained divers. During this operation, all Navy divers (even
those imprisoned) were used, as well as some civilian and even foreigners. The
diversity of their origin, and their poor training was evident.
From now on, all divers would
receive standardized training in areas such as naval construction, rigging,
salvage, underwater repairs and use of underwater explosives. The training would
be directed by the most senior diver of each naval arsenal. Such was the
importance of divers that Navy regulations stated that during action stations,
divers were to remain in the infirmary assisting the doctors or carry forward
ammunition to the guns, but were to remain safe until needed.
A valencian inventor, Vicente
Ferrer, built his “Conqueror of the seas” which consisted of a copper ball,
opened on the bottom, with a leather skirt acting as a water tight seal. It
also had openings for the arms, equally provided with leather seals, and a
viewfinder or porthole at face level. A long metallic tube connected it to the
surface. Two metallic rings were used to tie ropes which were held from the
surface, and maintained the device in position. Each time he recovered treasure
from the bottom, he exclaimed “We succeeded thanks to the help of the Virgin
Mary, and to the devil for placing it there”. Mixing the Virgin Mary and the
devil was not approved by the Inquisition and therefore he was sentenced to
death!
An architect from Cádiz, Pedro
Angel de Albizu, obtained a royal grant for his invention of an underwater
machine in 1793. The grant established that he would hand the crown all cannons
and anchors he would recover, and keep everything else for himself.
Two years later, in 1799, the
Spanish Navy master diver Manuel Sánchez de la Campa claimed to be the author of the invention
patented by Albizu. The subject was taken to court, and the lawsuit finished
six years later. De la Campa
was awarded all privileges previously given to Albizu. The machine was made a
mandatory piece of equipment in all Spanish harbours.
Pedro Padret, in 1801,
requested to try his diving suit in Cartagena, to the Navy’s Commander in
Chief. According to his description, a diver could work underwater, place
explosives, remove rocks and obstacles from harbours. The Navy did not approve
his design, but encouraged him to further development.
In 1825, a 4.000 kg bell with twelve
portholes was used by Isaac Dickson, on his ship Enterprise, in the waters of
the bay of Rande. Three anchors, twenty
five cannons and a water fountain dated 1621 were recovered.
A wood sphere to be used as a
submarine is built in 1831 by Cervo. He imagined that the spherical shape would
withstand the water pressure, but did not take into consideration that the wood
used in its construction would not. He tried his submarine in Barcelona, but he
did not return to the surface!
A salvager called Gregorio
Dominguez received a royal grant in 1834 to salvage the waters surrounding the
arsenal de la Carraca
(Cádiz) using his own diving bell and divers. We do not have data of his type
of bell, but we suppose his bell was surface supplied by bellows.
The first Siebe helmets were
bought by the Spanish Navy in 1847, and arrived at el Ferrol on the ship Jorge
Juan. An invoice describing an air pump, two suits, one helmet, shoes, hoses,
woolly underwear, and spare parts plus shipping from London added up to £169, 11 shillings and 4 pence. From this
moment, all Navy divers were trained with this new equipment.
Cosme García, a Spanish
inventor, performed successful trials with his submarine in Barcelona in 1858.
One year later he improves his vessel with a new design, which he patented in
Paris. More successful trials happened in Alicante in 1860. Disappointed by the
lack of interest shown by the Navy, he sunk his own submarine in the harbour of
Alicante.
In 1859, Narciso Monturiol,
tried his Ictineo in the harbour of Barcelona, again with great success. His
ship is designed mainly to collect red coral in the Mediterranean waters. The
first Ictineo was human powered, and a second version, which had a
reciprocating engine while in the surface, and a steam powered engine while
submerged was built. The lack of funds to continue the development, ended this
venture.
The first french Rouquairol-
Denayrouze diving equipment is bought in 1866, for a cost of 3.075 francs, and
they were sent to the frigate Tetuán. Further sets are purchased, and divers are
instructed to use them with utmost care, even instructed to breath hold dive
when the use of these equipment was not absolutely necessary.
In 1883 the Siebe diving
manuals were translated into Spanish and a copy sent to each of the Navy
arsenals. They became official training manuals. The practical exam for student
Navy divers was to descend in standard dress and then, using a wooden board and
copper tacks, to inscribe the words ‘VIVA ESPAÑA’!
In 1885, the well known diver
Alexander Lambert, recovered 9.800 gold
coins from the wreck of the Alfonso XII, which sank in the waters of Gran
Canaria, on its way to Cuba. Lambert blew the ships decks using dynamite to
access the safe.
Spanish Navy Lieutenant Isaac
Peral, tried his submarine in Cádiz in 1888. It proved to be a great success
despite the adverse weather conditions. The submarine was powered by two
battery powered electric engines, and carried two torpedoes. A second project
was rejected by naval authorities. In 1890 a decree set the end of
the projects of underwater navigation in the Spanish Navy. Peral, frustrated,
retired from naval active duty in 1891. He refused to sell his invention to Mr.
Thomson, a Glasgow shipyard owner.
In 1904 new regulations for
diving in the Spanish Navy were published, given the importance of the changes
experienced in recent years.
The first hyperbaric chamber
is bought in 1924. It was a Siebe Gorman and it was set on an auxiliary barge.
It was used until 1979, and saved the lives of 21 divers.
A new Navy’s Diving School is
built in Cartagena in 1927. It had a diving tank capable of simulating dives up
to 100 metres.
The use of a divers log book is mandatory from now onwards.
In 1933 a submarine escape
apparatus, and closed circuit diving equipment was designed by Navy diver Pablo
Rondón Soriano. The chaleco España used two diving tanks (air and oxygen) a
scrubbing cannister and a counterlung/vest. The diver could control the gas
mixture according to the operating depth. Rondón himself tested it to 60 metres.
During the Spanish Civil War,
and more precisely in 1937, the Navy organised the Comisión para el Salvamento
de Buques, or Navy’s Ships Salvage Commission. Its purpose was to clear all
harbours and to recover to seaworthy condition as many ships as possible, and
scrap those that were not. It employed
34 divers (military and civilian) and it salvaged 117 ships with a total
displacement of 160.000 tons.
In 1953 the manufacture of
diving helmets started in Spain. Carbonell Gimeno was a fire fighting equipment
importer and manufacturer who started producing diving equipment in the 1940s.
Their first helmet was made in 1953. Another well known diving equipment
manufacturer from Spain is Nemrod. They started as a toy manufacturing company,
and again, they produced a line of diving items. Their helmets were also made
in the 1950s. These helmets were standard equipment in the Spanish Navy until
the 1980s. Finally, the French firm Spirotechnique made some helmets in Spain,
and more precisely in Barcelona, where a Nemrod employee would build helmets
for the French company in the evenings when he finished his work at the Nemrod
factory.
Modern Spanish combat diving
started in 1953 as what was known as the Grupo de Illetas, since it was in this
place in the Balearic island where the unit was created. The unit was created
by Spanish Royal Marines captain Gororodo, and Lieutenant Commander Fernández
de Bobadilla developed their own closed circuit rebreather. It was manufactured
by Nemrod, and it was named the H103 model.
In 1955 the first armoured
diving units are bought by the Navy. They were the Galeazzi observation chamber
known as Sofía, and the atmospheric diving suit called Roberto.
A sport diving record was set
in 1957 when divers Admetlla, Ribera, Ferrán, Vidal, and Veglisón, with the
support of the Spanish Navy, set a world record, diving to 100 metres on air.
--
Antonio Badias
www.hdses.com
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario