Debborah Lecocq and Samuel G. Lecocq

Samazon’s Deep Dive, 1954

After a great deal of discussion and careful preparation, September 12, 1954 was the date John Clark Samazon had set to make an attempt to better the deep diving record of 300 feet that Frederic Dumas made off the coast of France in the Mediterranean. Despite many challenges, the record had stood for seven years.

Known to his friends as Clark, Samazon was a fellow Frenchman and a diving partner of Sam Lecocq. He was a loyal customer at Rene Sports and U.S. Divers in Los Angeles. A certain amount of competition had always existed between the expatriot French divers at U.S. Divers Co. in Los Angeles and the divers and corporate execs at the Spirotechnique Co. in Paris, over the redesign and refinements of equipment and the challenge of setting deep diving records.

One day Clark came into the shop and asked Sam if he and U.S. Divers were willing to help him organize an open water dive to 350 feet. He knew he could do it. It was time for California to claim that record and to do it in open water in the channel off Catalina Island where more divers were being introduced to the underwater realm than anywhere else in the world. Sam agreed and they immediately went to work planning the dive.

With a good background in engineering Samazon had decided to use a mixture of oxygen and helium to avoid the problems of compressed air at depth, as the U.S. Navy had been doing since the 1930’s. Sam and John contacted a company called Gordon Duff in West Los Angeles specializing in high pressure gases and contracted with them to prepare a mixture of 80% helium and 20% oxygen and then fill a series of 72 cubic foot diving tanks.

Sam Lecocq reviewing dive plan with the crew

Clark and Sam assembled the equipment for the dive: one a tank assembly with three 70 cu. ft. tanks mounted together on a triple manifold for Samazon to wear on the descent, and another assembly of two 70 cu. ft. tanks on a twin manifold to be stationed at 225 feet on the descent line for backup air on the return to the surface.

On the day of the dive the site was established near Catalina Island on a 42-foot cruiser, the Anna-M, anchored in 365 feet of water. A heavy weight secured to the descent line was dropped to the bottom and secured on the surface to a 55 gallon drum. They had attached a marker to the line at 350 feet which Samazon was to remove and bring to the surface to prove he had reached the record-breaking depth. On deck they had a medical specialist, a friend of Sam Lecocq’s who was director of the emergency medicine department of Santa Monica Hospital; two safety divers, Perry Bivens and Sam Lecocq; a photographer to document the event; as well as Zale Parry, the captain of the boat, and a few others.

Samazon suiting up for the dive with Dr. Markovitch observing

Samazon dressed in a constant volume suit, donned the huge triple tank assembly and immediately began descending hand over hand down the line.

Samazon just before his descent

He reached the marker at 350 feet in a matter of minutes. Starting his ascent he returned to 225 feet where he met Perry Bivens stationed to assist him with the backup air supply, but it was not necessary. Samazon continued with decompression stops during his ascent and was met by Sam Lecocq at 90 feet carrying another set of twin 70’s with pure oxygen. Sam ascended with Clark to 33 feet where Samazon switched over to the pure oxygen to begin his final stage of decompression.

Samazon completed his decompression, ascended to the surface and having removed the heavy tanks he climbed onboard the dive boat to a round of applause, backslapping and photos. He was examined by the doctor who found him to be in perfect medical condition. This marked the first occasion that an open water diver had reached a depth of a 350 and returned without suffering injury of any sort. And some had failed to return at all. Thanks to John Clark Samazon’s deliberate planning and careful preparation, combined with bravery and a certain esprit d’aventure, a new deep water world record was safely accomplished in open water by a sport diver. He had determined the gas mixture required for the mission, tested all the equipment with the help of Sam Lecocq, and they had managed to do it.

Following the successful record-breaking dive
(Sam Lecocq, Don Calhoun, Clark Samazon, Zale Parry)

Ironically, the record-breaking dive took place without Rene Bussoz knowledge or presence, precisely scheduled to occur while he was in France. Rene was informed of the event by the executives at Spirotechnique who were not at all pleased that the boys from California had taken the record from France.

Keller’s Deep Dive, 1963

A little less than ten years later another deep water record dive would be attempted at Catalina Island, but with a very different outcome. Hannes Keller, a twenty-one year old Swiss math teacher had taken up diving as a hobby and soon became interested in proving that a diver could reach great depth by changing the mixture of breathing gases as the depth increased. He had some theories and went to his professors at the University of Zurich for their help in devising a very specific gas mixture which he dubbed his “secret” gas and used to make a series of dives in submersible chambers.

their pressurized chamber in Toulon. On November 4th 1961, with Jacques Cousteau observing, Keller reached a simulated depth of 820 feet in the chamber and emerged with a total decompression time of only 49 minutes.

Hannes Keller in the chamber before his
test dive in Toulon, France

By that time the U.S. Navy, the French Navy and most major oil companies were seeking a way for man to operate at greater depths, with the goal of putting a man on the continental shelf which was known to have vast oil and mineral resources. Keller received grants from several military and industrial concerns to pursue his research, enabling him to have a more elaborate submersible pressurized chamber built, the Atlantis, to prove deep diving was feasible and safe for a working diver.

His first goal with Atlantis would be the dive to 1,000 foot where he would exit the chamber, something he had never done. Atlantis was built with a hatch on the bottom which could be opened allowing water to enter so the diver could exit. In 1962 Keller contacted Shell Oil Company which agreed to provide their research vessel, Eureka, fully equipped with the latest state of the art equipment for oceanographic research.

Keller selected a dive site off Catalina Island. He had assembled his own support group of doctors, cable handlers and a lawyer to assist him in every aspect of the dive mission. Nearly all were from Switzerland and they arrived at Catalina, speaking only a dialect of Swiss/German, with the exception of Peter Small and his twenty-one year old wife. Keller’s Swiss crew had the complete responsibility for direction and control of the operation which made communication with the crew of Eureka difficult. The Swiss crew monitored events inside the chamber by means of closed circuit television and could communicate with Keller inside the chamber.

Keller had met Peter Small, a free-lance journalist and sport diver with the British Sub Aqua Club in England, earlier in 1962. Keller invited Peter Small to accompany him in the chamber to document the event for the print media. Two journalists from Life Magazine, Lawrence Schiller and Peter Stackpole, would be present on deck of the Eureka to photograph and write articles from their perspective. Keller had also invited a number of other observers on deck: three U.S. Naval officers, including Commander Norval Nickerson; Al Tillman, himself a diver and an instructor with Los Angeles County Instructors program; Sam Lecocq, and a few others including officials from Shell Oil.

I had met Hannes Keller a few days earlier in a restaurant in Avalon, the only village on Catalina Island, where all the crew returned each evening. We both spoke French and, with similar interests in exploring the underwater world, we quickly developed a good rapport. He was interested in my knowledge of diving equipment and my participation in the Samazon dive, the first deep open water dive with mixed gas accomplished successfully nine years earlier. Keller invited me to join them on Eureka to observe their 1,000 foot dive.

The next day, December 1st, again at the Waikiki restaurant across from the pier, Hannes introduced me to Peter Small, Peter’s wife of three months, Mary, and Keller’s Swiss colleagues. Keller announced he and Peter would be making their first preliminary dive that day in the Atlantis to a depth of 300 feet where they would also exit the chamber for the first time underwater. To my knowledge it was to be the first open water deep dive for Small, who had been strictly a sport diver. The dive took place with the two descending to 300 feet breathing Keller’s “secret” mixture. They exited the chamber for a period of time breathing mixed gases on an umbilical. Following a brief and routine decompression they returned in the chamber to the surface.

Shortly after, Peter Small began to complain of joint and muscle pain. It was immediately decided that he was most likely suffering decompression sickness, he was put back in the chamber and decompressed slowly for four and a half hours. When he emerged from the chamber he reported feeling okay and the record-breaking dive to 1,000 feet remained on schedule for December 3rd. The question came up about concerns in exposing a man who had suffered decompression sickness at 300 feet to a depth of 1,000 feet 48 hours later, but they decided to go ahead as planned. It was the opinion of all experienced divers that Peter Small should never have been given the okay to proceed with the 1,000 foot dive, but the Swiss group decided to go ahead as planned.

Keller had appointed two safety divers from California. One of them, Dick Anderson, a friend of mine, was a very knowledgeable and experienced commercial diver about twenty-eight years old. The other, Chris Whittaker, was a nineteen year old UCLA student from England. He was also a member of the British Sub Aqua Club and a good friend of Peter Small. Though he had limited experience as a sport diver, and none in deep diving, he was allowed to join the team due to his close friendship with Peter Small.

Shortly after ten o’clock on the morning of December 3rd the Eureka motored out to a dive site two and a half miles off Catalina Island and anchored in 1006 feet of water. Keller and Peter Small entered the chamber at 12:06 hours and completed a series of tests of the breathing apparatus. Keller soon discovered that the valve on the main mixed-gas air supply tank was leaking and that the tank was only half full. Peter and Hannes each had a small portable mixed-gas tank that could be recharged from the main supply tank, for use inside the chamber and for Keller’s exit. The small tanks normally provided a 15 minute supply of gas, but with the low pressure in the main tank the small tanks could only provide about a 5 minute supply of breathing gas. Instead of aborting the dive that day to repair the malfunction, Keller decided to go ahead with the descent planning to recharge the small tanks as needed from the main gas supply tank inside the chamber.

They reached 1,000 feet at 12:29 hours, according to the ship’s log. Keller opened the hatch and emerged partially from the chamber, no longer visible on the TV monitor. He was to swim to the ocean floor to plant a Swiss and a U.S. flag, a dubious symbolic gesture of nationalism. He claimed later that he became entangled in the flags which obscured his vision. Keller became disoriented and confused, groped his way back into the chamber, and slammed the hatch closed, not realizing that the tip of his fin had prevented the hatch from closing completely.

Before exiting the chamber the plans called for Keller to recharge the small tanks, his and Peter’s, from the main gas supply tank. On reaching 1,000 Keller elected not to do that, because he felt he could quickly exit, swim to the bottom, and then refill the tanks when he returned. But after he re-entered the chamber and closed the hatch he ran out of gas almost immediately, before he could refill either tank. In a state of confusion and desperation at that point Keller turned on the compressed air valve to fill the chamber, all of this visible in the TV monitor onboard Eureka. Keller and Small collapsed almost immediately and fell to the floor of Atlantis, no longer visible to the support team on deck.

The Swiss director of operations immediately gave the order to raise the chamber to 200 feet where they stopped briefly to pressurize the chamber so they could begin the decompression process during the remainder of the ascent, planning to continue decompression on the surface. The director realized very quickly that gas was escaping and he could not maintain sufficient pressure to continue the ascent safely. He sent the two safety divers, Dick Anderson and Chris Whittaker, to descend to 200 feet to check that all valves and hatches were closed and look for leaks.

Dick and Chris made a quick dive, closed all external valves and returned to the surface. They reported all valves were closed. But the director again reported he could not maintain pressure. The safety divers were asked to go back down and see if they could see any problem. Dick Anderson immediately jumped in the water and began his descent.

Chris Whittaker, however, had experienced a problem on the ascent in equalizing his sinuses and was bleeding profusely from the nose. He was very nervous and excited, desperate to go back down to save his friend Peter Small. He had fully inflated his Mae West-type buoyancy vest on the ascent, and tried frantically to deflate the vest but, for some reason, was unable to do so. He pulled out his knife punctured the vest to let out the air and moved to the side of the vessel to jump back in the water. At that point, U.S. Naval Cmdr. Nickerson tried to restrain Whittaker realizing his physical and mental condition appeared to be impaired. But Chris Whittaker dropped over the side and quickly descended to catch up with Dick Anderson.

After a short period of time Dick returned to the surface and reported he had discovered that a tip of Keller’s fin was preventing the chamber hatch from closing, that he had cut it off and the hatch had immediately snapped shut. He asked, “Where is Chris?”, saying Chris had not returned to help him at the chamber. He was told that Chris had descended minutes after Dick had. Chris Whittaker was never seen again. The U.S. Navy and coast guard immediately mounted a search for Chris, while the chamber was pressurized and brought to the surface as quickly as possible.

Atlantis being hoisted onboard Eureka following the dive

During the ascent Keller regained consciousness and was asked about Peter’s condition. Keller gave some conflicting reports and Peter Small was not able to communicate. At 12:54 hours the Atlantis was taken aboard Eureka to begin a 6 ½ hour decompression process. Hannes reported his vital signs, and those of Peter Small, to the Swiss physician, Dr. Buehlman. Later, he was asked to report again on Peter’s vital signs, but Keller declined to do so saying Peter was sleeping and he did not want to disturb him.

By this time the Eureka was proceeding at full speed to Long Beach, California. It had been decided with the approval of the U.S. Naval authorities to rush to the Navy pier before opening the chamber. Arriving there the chamber was opened. Peter Small’s inert body was placed on a stretcher and Mary accompanied him in an ambulance which took him to a Long Beach Hospital where he was pronounced dead. Keller emerged from the chamber and disappeared immediately into a waiting car.

Many questions remain. Why were two inexperienced divers, Peter Small and Chris Whittaker, allowed to participate in a deep open water dive? How and why did they die? Compounding the tragedy, Peter Small’s wife of only three months returned to England, devastated, and shortly thereafter took her own life. Hannes Keller left the U.S. He survived that day, despite all his mistakes, thanks to the selfless courage of Dick Anderson to whom he owes his life.

Exploration into deep diving continued, but without Hannes Keller. The U.S. Navy and the giant French commercial diving company, Comex, both world experts in underwater construction and deep diving made controlled dives successfully to 1,500 feet. Soon after, ROV’s replaced human divers in deep water exploration.

Sam Lecocq was a witness to all these events, invited onboard Eureka by Hannes Keller. Without Keller’s knowledge Sam had taken his 16mm movie camera along that day and filmed events on deck, almost certainly the only film ever made of what took place that tragic day. Too many questions remain to be addressed here in this condensed account. A coroner’s inquiry followed during which many interesting facts were revealed and are explored in greater detail in the book by Samuel Georges and Debborah Lecocq.

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The above is an extract from the book by Samuel G. Lecocq Unfogging the Mask; Evolution, Intrigue and Controversy in the development of Scuba.

© 2008 Samuel G. Lecocq and Debborah Lecocq
All Rights Reserved.