ABSTRACT
The need for salvage diving in England developed before the Industrial Revolution of the mid-eighteenth century. Diving bells allowed shallow-water salvage operations. Although there was interest in underwater treasure, most salvage operations were concerned with the more mundane task of recovering valuable scrap. The actual cause of caisson disease was first clinically described in 1878 by French physiologist Paul Bert. The diving equipment developed by Charles and John Deane, Augustus Siebe, and other inventors gave humans the ability to remain and work underwater for extended periods, but movement was greatly limited by the requirement of having air supplied from the surface. The underwater freedom brought about by the development of scuba equipment led to rapid growth of interest in diving. Sport diving has grown astronomically, and in its wake underwater recovery operations rapidly followed. The original underwater recovery teams were made up of sport divers volunteering their time.
