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Ship's diver was a diving qualification in the Royal Navy.
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Ship's diver was a diving qualification in the Royal Navy.
Officers and Ratings from all branches could apply. Members of the RN who volunteered as Ship's Divers underwent a one-day aptitude test, concentrating on swimming ability and suitability for diving.
Those selected went on a four-week course, which consisted of basic compressed air (open-circuit) diving. There was also extensive instruction (and practice) on searching ships bottoms for explosives, as well as instruction in working on ship's hulls, decompression chambers and maintenance of diving equipment.
On completion, the diver returned to his ship or shore establishment and to maintain their qualification (and get their diving pay) were required to dive for at least 120 minutes during each four-month period.
Later in their careers some Ship's Divers undertake further training in order to qualify as Search and Rescue Helicopter crew. As well as general SAR duties they are also trained to jump from Helicopters in order to rescue aircrew of fixed wing aircraft should it ditch on take off from an Aircraft Carrier.
Ships' Divers were to disappear entirely from the Royal Navy in 2006, to be replaced by roving Clearance Diver Teams that will accompany deployment groups. All Ships Diver training stopped as of 1st Oct 2005.
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A divemaster (DM) is a role that includes organising and leading recreational dives, particularly in a professional capacity, and is a qualification used in many parts of the world in recreational scuba diving for a diver who has supervisory responsibility for a group of divers and as a dive guide. As well as being a generic term, 'Divemaster' is the title of the first professional rating of many training agencies, such as PADI, SSI, SDI, NASE, except NAUI, which rates a NAUI Divemaster under a NAUI Instructor but above a NAUI Assistant Instructor. The divemaster certification is generally equivalent to the requirements of ISO 24801-3 Dive Leader.
A frogman is someone who is trained in scuba diving or swimming underwater in a tactical capacity that includes military, and in some European countries, police work. Such personnel are also known by the more formal names of combat diver, combatant diver, or combat swimmer. The word frogman first arose in the stage name The Fearless Frogman of Paul Boyton in the 1870s and later was claimed by John Spence, an enlisted member of the U.S. Navy and member of the OSS Maritime Unit, to have been applied to him while he was training in a green waterproof suit.
Standard diving dress, also known as hard-hat or copper hat equipment, or heavy gear, is a type of diving suit that was formerly used for all relatively deep underwater work that required more than breath-hold duration, which included marine salvage, civil engineering, pearl shell diving and other commercial diving work, and similar naval diving applications. Standard diving dress has largely been superseded by lighter and more comfortable equipment.
Professional diving is underwater diving where the divers are paid for their work. The procedures are often regulated by legislation and codes of practice as it is an inherently hazardous occupation and the diver works as a member of a team. Due to the dangerous nature of some professional diving operations, specialized equipment such as an on-site hyperbaric chamber and diver-to-surface communication system is often required by law, and the mode of diving for some applications may be regulated.
Commercial diving may be considered an application of professional diving where the diver engages in underwater work for industrial, construction, engineering, maintenance or other commercial purposes which are similar to work done out of the water, and where the diving is usually secondary to the work.
Police diving is a branch of professional diving carried out by police services. Police divers are usually sworn police officers, and may either be employed full-time as divers or as general water police officers, or be volunteers who usually serve in other units but are called in if their diving services are required.
Underwater divers may be employed in any branch of an armed force, including the navy, army, marines, air force and coast guard. Scope of operations includes: search and recovery, search and rescue, hydrographic survey, explosive ordnance disposal, demolition, underwater engineering, salvage, ships husbandry, reconnaissance, infiltration, sabotage, counterifiltration, underwater combat and security.
Naval Diving Unit (NDU) is the special forces formation of the Republic of Singapore Navy.
A clearance diver was originally a specialist naval diver who used explosives underwater to remove obstructions to make harbours and shipping channels safe to navigate, but later the term "clearance diver" was used to include other naval underwater work. Units of clearance divers were first formed during and after the Second World War to clear ports and harbours in the Mediterranean and Northern Europe of unexploded ordnance and shipwrecks and booby traps laid by the Germans.
A United States Navy diver refers to a service personnel that may be a restricted fleet line officer, civil engineer corps (CEC) officer, Medical Corps officer, or an enlisted who is qualified in underwater diving and salvage. Navy divers serve with fleet diving detachments and in research and development. Some of the mission areas of the Navy diver include: marine salvage, harbor clearance, underwater ship husbandry and repair, submarine rescue, saturation diving, experimental diving, underwater construction and welding, as well as serving as technical experts to the Navy SEALs, Marine Corps, and Navy EOD diving commands.
Rescue swimmer is a designation given to rescue specialists, most commonly in the service of the military. Rescue swimmers usually are charged with the rescue, assessment, and rendering of medical aid to persons in distress in the sea, on the land, or in the air. This highly specialized position is extremely challenging.
The Divers Group is the Portuguese Navy's diving unit. It was created in 2004 through the grouping of the several already existing diving subunits, to exercise administrative, logistical and operational control and management, over all diver units and personnel. It groups under a single command, all previously existing Sappers Divers Units and Services.
Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) divers are specialists trained to conduct underwater operations within their respective environmental commands. Divers within the CAF are qualified in any sub-category of diving, whether a member of a diving team or a CAF member who is maintaining currency and qualification through casual diving with a CAF diving team. Divers within the CAF be trained as Clearance Divers, Search and Rescue Technicians (SAR), Port Inspection Divers (PID), Ship's Team Divers, and Combat Divers.
The US employs divers in several branches of the armed forces, including the navy, army, marines, air force and coast guard.
The Combat Divers Groupment, abbreviated to GRUMEC, is a special operations unit of the Brazilian Navy.
The Naval Air Command Sub Aqua Club (NACSAC) was an organization within the Royal Navy that oversaw sports, technical diving training activities for naval aviation, and fleet units. Today it has branches at RNAS Culdrose, and RNAS Yeovilton. Both bases provide training, and club members regularly dive in their local areas on weekends. Diving instruction, from beginner to advanced level, is offered under the auspices of the British Sub-Aqua Club. In 2005 NAC-SAC was closed down as an organization in favour of a Royal Navy Sub Aqua Club, which is what Lieut. Graham and CPO Larn had wanted from the outset of NAC-SAC which was only given that title since HMS Vernon, the RN Diving School at Portsmouth, would not support the idea of sport diving within the service.
Richard James Vincent Larn, OBE is a retired Chief Petty Officer in the Royal Navy, a businessman and maritime history writer who is widely regarded as one of Britain's leading historic shipwreck experts.
Army engineer divers are members of national armies who are trained to undertake reconnaissance, demolition, and salvage tasks underwater. These divers have similar skills and qualifications as professional divers. In the United States Army, they are members of the Corps of Engineers. In the British Army they may be Royal Engineer Divers or Commando Engineer Divers.
The United States Air Force Combat Diver Course—administratively known as the 350th Battlefield Airmen Training Squadron, Det 2—is held at the Navy Diving Salvage and Training Center, Naval Support Activity Panama City and trains Pararescuemen, Combat Rescue Officers, Combat Controllers, and Special Tactics Officers to conduct and participate in special operations diving missions.
