Oregon Coast Magazine added a book review to their July/August 2010 magazine:
Rebecca Harrison's title, Deep Dark and Dangerous, promises excitement,
and the book delivers. It traces the history of salvage diving in the
Northwest through the true stories of divers who were pioneers in their
field. Each chapter is a stand alone tale of incredible courage. Through
these stories and historic photos, the reader can see how diving suits
evolved over the decades and how equipment and tools were created as
needed.
A new book review in the Oregon Coast Magazine, July/August 2010-
"Even now, salvage divers work underwater in a blinding darkness,
despite carrying hand-held lights. Their cumbersome diving gear, divers
have barely enough room to move around, while at the same time fighting
the cold temperatures and fast currents.
...They must be able to adapt all blueprints, tools and supplies to the
harsh realities of the underwater environment." This quote from the
introduction gives a feel for the job. They also have to work for short
periods, depending on how deep they are, and come back slowly, stopping
for various intervals at certain levels to keep from having the "bends,"
a condition that can kill.
One of the chapters profiles Fred Devine, who was born in 1898. He
began as a gillnet diver at the age of 11, started his own diving
company at age 16, and in 1949 created the Salvage Chief from a World
War II surplus ship. Since then, the Salvage Cheif has rescued 325
distressed vessels, helped repair and refloat the damaged Exxon Valdez,
and is docked in Astoria awaiting her next rescue job. Devine passed
away several years ago, but his company continues on.
Deep Dark and Dangerous is well researched, and Harrison manages to
educate and entertain by interweaving true stories of danger with the
lore of the diving profession.
This exciting book is available online through Amazon and Barnes
& Noble as well as numerous bookstores and museums on the Oregon
Coast.
- Judy Fleagle
My book was reviewed on Oceans Enterprises March 21, 2010
DEEP, DARK AND DANGEROUS.
On the Bottom with the Northwest Salvage Divers.
Rebecca Harrison.
There is no shortage of biographical material written by old-time divers whose literary ability does not quite match their underwater skills, so it is exciting to read a book that is so well writen, and covers a number of divers over an even greater number of fascinating circumstances. The author has done an excellent job of oral and document research on the the lives of many of the toughest and most accomplished ‘hard-hat' divers of the period 1800s into the 1900s, working in the north-west region of the USA. And one of them is a woman - that has to be ‘first'. John Bevan, himself a well-respected author, modern diver and businessman, states, "(Harrison) has colourfully described many of the gruelling, and sometimes gruesome jobs the divers carried out. Indeed, the book is an excellent representation of the work of the early helmet divers." Bevan continues (in a review in Underwater Contractor International), "The main thing is the quality of the stories! I thoroughly enjoyed reading this action-packed book. Unlike many other books about helmet diving, it is not about an ego, boasting about his personal prowess. It's about remarkable feats of a selection of some of the most capable, helmet divers, as seen through someone else's eyes." I certainly am in no position to disagree with anything Bevan has to say about diving, and make the presumptious conclusion that he is right. It is a great read; anyone with even a modicum of interest in the hardships of early commercial diving will not be disappointed. Softcover, 89 pages, mono photographs, bibliography, endnotes. $32.00 -Peter Stone, Oceans Enterprises, 303 Commercial Road, Yarram, Vic 3971, Australia
BOOK REVIEW, October 29, 2009
Harrison, Rebecca, Deep, Dark, and Dangerous: On the Bottom With the Northwest Salvage Divers. BookSurge Publications. Softbound, small 4to, 89 pages, many black&white photographs. $16.99.
Hardhat salvage diving is an odd field. It is usually overlooked in lists of dangerous occupations, but any area that combines diving into deep, often polluted, cold water in order to retrieve and perhaps repair, machinery and ships surely must be more difficult than shipping out on a crab boat in the Bering Sea.
The author has interviewed all the divers she can find in the Seattle area and found some peculiar traits, besides courage. Diving tends to be an inherited field. Apparently a son (or daughter in one case) who pumps air for dad is apt to give it a try in a few years. Another peculiarity is the lack of progress of technology up until recent times. No imaging of the bottom, pressing buttons to activate the right amount of air in the suit; nope, just the old-fashioned but useful putting on the suit, making sure the air hose is hooked up and the surface person is standing by, then down you go into the depths, hoping your hose doesn't get tangled with whatever you're working on, that you can surface gradually enough, should you be deep, that you don't get the nitrogen-in-the-body deadly "bends", and then do your work successfully. Today, I've been told, that danger has been largely ameliorated by fine-tuning of the gases so the "bends" are far less dreaded, but salvage diving remains a field for a select few.
Harrison has done a lot of research. Who knew Classical Greek and Roman divers existed or the first diving dress was patented in 1828? But this is only prologue to the families she interviewed. Four generations of the Finch family were divers; a father and son even came up to Alaska during the Gold Rush. They found nothing, but returned a few years later to look for the fabled S.S. Islander, said to contain a fortune in gold. Nothing there, but they contributed some spectacular salvage on the Pacific Coast.
Ships are not the only area for the professional diver. Dams and bridges on rivers and even retrieval of the occasional train engine provide income and challenges. Some excellent photographs show successful salvage being lifted.
One of the hardest parts of writing on a subject as unknown as this is explaining to a lay audience what makes other salvage divers gasp with wonder or shrug off an operation as ho-hum. The author has done an excellent job of distinguishing the two, although she told this reviewer a most spectacular event, the poor diver in the throes of a giant octopus and his near-miraculous escape, a very exciting incident in the book, was later said to be manufactured. The fabricator could have at least confessed before the book was printed, but perhaps hard-hat divers have a peculiar sense of humor.
A completely true account of the horrors faced by Robert Sheats, an interviewee who loaned his personal diary to the author, concerns the Philippines and the battle of Corregidor in 1942. Navy divers were among the 7,000 servicemen and 2,000 Filipinos who surrendered after food and ammunition were exhausted and the notorious Bataan Death March begun.
Sheats was among those who dove to retrieve silver pesos that had been buried underwater by him and other divers. They spun the mission out as long as possible, and amazingly he was among the survivors at the end of the war.
Overall, if you have ever thought of becoming a hardhat diver, or more likely, not thought about it until you heard of the book, this is well worth reading.
D. L.
Deep Dark and Dangerous: On the Bottom with the Northwest Salvage Divers
Some of the best helmet stories in print
Deep Dark and Dangerous - On the bottom with the Northwest Salvage Divers.
Deep Dark and Dangerous is a splendid collection of early, gritty, helmet diving stories.
The tales come from the north-west of the USA, an area that I have not seen covered before. The type of diving work described is largely salvage work, the toughest sort of diving there is. The diving conditions are also the most challenging, with poor visibility, cold water and often, treacherous currents.
The author, Rebecca Harrison, has carefully researched the lives of many of the toughest and most accomplished of the divers of the period, which extends from the 1800s into the 1900s. She has colourfully described many of the gruelling and sometimes gruesome jobs the divers carried out. Indeed, the book is an excellent representation of the work of the early helmet divers.
ADVENTURE
The feeling the reader is left with, is that these men (and in one case, lady) earned every penny they got. The book rolls easily from one adventure to another. Diver-readers will enjoy sharing the experiences, though probably shivering and wincing with many of them. Non-diver readers will certainly be shocked and amazed at the courage and tenacity of the selected divers. However unbelievable the stories may sound, they are authentic, true accounts.
Much of the material comes from 'oral history' and the author is not a diver herself. So we have to forgive a few historical and technical inaccuracies. The main thing is the quality of the stories!
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this action-packed book. Unlike many other books about helmet diving, it is not about an ego, boasting about his personal prowess. It's about remarkable feats of a selection of some of the most capable, helmet divers, as seen through someone else's eyes.
The account of a classic fight with a 9-foot octopus whilst entangled in the netting of a fish trap at 85 feet, is the best I have read so far. The surface tenders had the unusual benefit of listening to the diver's slow and desperate progress over his telephone link.
TRAPPED
Certainly the most melancholy story was that of the diver who drowned when he was trapped in a trench cave-in and had his helmet dislodged by falling debris. The surface tenders couldn't haul him up, so they sent for another diver to recover the body. That diver turned out to be the son of the dead diver.
These are amongst the best helmet diving stories you will ever read. I strongly recommend this truly fascinating book.
Deep Dark and Dangerous, by Rebecca Harrison, 89 pages, BookSurge Publications, 2006, ISBN 1-4196-2583-7; available from: www.booksurge.com; email: orders@booksurge.com; Tel: + 1 866-308-6235. Check also the website: www.deepdarkanddangerous.com.
- John Bevan
Underwater Contractor International Magazine
January/February 2009
www.under-water.co.uk/index.html
Dee Longenbaugh
The Observatory, ABAA
299 North Franklin Street
Juneau, Alaska, 99801
Since 1977
Alaska Specialists
deelong@alaska.com