The Hagenuk Suit

In 1913, the German firm Neufeldt and Kuhnke filed a patent for a watertight ball-and-socket joint. This mechanism was used in the limbs of the first watertight diving armors, and several prototypes of this suit were built starting in 1910.

These suits, called Tiefseetaucher (or Deep Sea Diver), were constructed of steel and unlatched from the waist, with a buoyancy tank located in the head. It had jointed metal gloves which were later replaced with clamp-like appendages that were less prone to leaking. The suit utilized a rebreather system in which the diver would breathe pure oxygen and the exhaled carbon dioxide would be filtered out via a scrubber containing alkali salts.

As time went on, the Tiefseetaucher was improved upon. A newer model created in the 1920s was used by German divers to assist the British Navy in locating a lost submarine, called the HMS M1 at 240 feet underwater, though it was never found. This model was tested at depths of up to 530 feet without leakage, however it was discovered that the joints suffered some deformation at these high pressures.

By 1929, new models of the Tiefseetaucher had solved many of the issues of their predecessors. Neufeldt and Kuhnke cut the number of joints in the suit by half, reducing the risk of leaks and damage, and relocated the buoyancy tank to the waist for more control. They also moved the entrance hatch from the waist to the top of the suit, making it easier to prepare a diver. This model of suit is what set the standard for Neufeldt and Kuhnke, and is the body plan of the late-generation suit on display at the History of Diving Museum.
One of the most notable salvage operations this armored diving suit partook in was that of the SS Egypt. In 1922, this British ocean liner sank in 426 feet of water in the English Channel after a collision with another ship. The Egypt was enroute to India, carrying gold and silver with a value of over $1 million at the time, or more than $200 million today.

Italian salvage company SORIMA used both the German-designed Tiefseetaucher suit as well as a Galeazzi diving turret to work on the wreck. At 426 feet underwater, the Egypt was beyond the depth a hard hat diver could safely work. At the time, no salvage operation had ever succeeded at such a depth.

Atmospheric suits like this one allowed divers to safely observe the wreck of the Egypt and direct the operation of cranes on the surface, which placed explosives and manipulated the wreck in order to get to the Egypt’s storeroom, where the gold and silver bullion was kept. At the time the storeroom was finally accessed in 1932, it was the largest treasure salvage ever.

In 1937, the company that created Neufeldt and Kuhnke’s diving equipment, Hanseatische Apparatebaugesellschaft, merged with them, and the new company’s name became HAGENUK. The suit on display in the Museum was a late third generation suit produced by HAGENUK between 1935 and 1940.