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Info:
In 1904 Siebe, Gorman & Co. Ltd acquired the rights in “ Oxilithe “, a
special preparation of sodium peroxide invented originally by the French
savant, Professor Georges Jaubert. This chemical, when breathed upon,
gives off oxygen and at the same time absorbs the carbon dioxide of the
expired air. In 1907 two British naval officers, Captain (afterwards
Admiral) S.S. Hall, C.B.E, and Fleet-Surgeon O. Rees,M.D., in
collaboration with Robert H. Davis, designed the apparatus as shown on
the picture page with all the components internal, in outward form like
the original Siebe open helmet, or hood, and jacket, and in which
“Oxilithe” in a metal container was employed as the air regeneration
medium. The fact that Oxylithe dispensed with the use of compressed
oxygen for the main supply of this gas probably influenced the
authorities in adopting the apparatus, and it was installed in
submarines of the British Navy, and, to a smaller extent, in those of
several other navies. It will be seen that the jacket is fitted with two
small cylinders of compressed air or oxygen- the larger for keeping the
water inside the hood to a certain safe level, the smaller for inflating
a buoyancy chamber inside the jacket when the wearer reached the
surface, so that he could safely open the window of his helmet and
breathe fresh air without risk of sinking. The original apparatus had a
flexible hood, but it was feared that the escapee arriving at high speed
at the surface might come in contact with some obstacle and injure his
head; it was therefore decided to substitute the metal headpiece. |
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