Dunlop history

[Mike Lev]

This is a must have book for any vintage diving collector or historian.Dunlop in War and Peace 1946 by Sir Ronald Storrs.It has a chapter on the British Frogmen dive suits and fins.Sam is correct it's mentions they were waiting on a shipment of fins from the U.S. but the ship was sunk.So they started making there own.Has a few pics of Frogmen with gear.Those Dunlop fins you posted.I have a pair from WW11.They have SBS on them.Stands for Special Service est 1940.Later became Special Boat Squardon.Heinke had some good gear also.I have a Pair of the Hans hass fins and a Hans Hass mask in the box with Hans face on it.The Britmarine and Typhoon stuff i have are cheap compared to Heinke and Dunlop dive items.

 

[David Wilson]

Thanks for this book recommendation, Mike. I have just ordered a copy online and I am looking forward in particular to reading the chapter about those early diving fins and suits. I recall reading elsewhere about the sinking of the original ship carrying Churchill fins across the Atlantic to supply the British Admiralty. I believe a second convoy eventually got through with a consignment of the fins. In the modern context, "SBS" stands for "Special Boat Service", one of the UK's special forces complementing the probably better-known land-based and airborne "SAS" or "Special Air Service". According to the Wikipedia article at Special Boat Service - Wikipedia, the SBS started as the "Special Boat Section". "Special Boat Squadron" was a further name change introduced during World War II.

I too have a System Hans Hass mask from Heinke, bought via eBay. Mine came without the box below, though, which would have added some interest and value to the purchase:

The mask itself (below) remains in perfect condition without corrosion or perishing after what must be 60 years or so of storage. The Heinke snorkel accompanying the mask is in similar top form. Sad that the historic British company manufacturing these items vanished in the early 1960s.

 

[Mike Lev]

I forgot the boat in special boat service.Let me know how you like the book later on.I also have those Italian fins.Can’t believe there Frogmen used them.They don’t look that old to me and with a company name on them?

 

[Mike Lev]

The Hans Hass mask I have two one is black the other green.Don’t know if that was the only colors they made?

 

[David Wilson]

I forgot the boat in special boat service.Let me know how you like the book later on.I also have those Italian fins.

Certainly will. There was a used copy on Amazon at a reasonable price and a delivery date later this month.

Can’t believe there Frogmen used them.They don’t look that old to me and with a company name on them?

This model? I believe production continued throughout the 1950s.

I found the following scan somewhere online. According to the table on the left-hand page, these Superga fins were available in either black (heavy rubber) or green (light rubber).

The original Italian military design was cruder:

 

[Mike Lev]

Ok that makes more sense.Thanks.

 

[David Wilson]

The Hans Hass mask I have twne is black the other green.Don’t know if that was the only colors they made?

The excerpts from Heinke flyers above suggest that the original Hans Hass mask was only available in green or black. By 1960, however, Heinke had a blue Hans Hass "Sea Hunter" mask in its repertoire:

This blue model plus the Senior version of the black Hans Hass dive mask survived Heinke's merger with Siebe-Gorman and appeared in the Siebe-Heinke "Blue Book" of 1963:

 

[Sam Miller III]

I knew Owen Potter Churchill rather well - Don't recall when we met, but would often see each other on the beach or at the various dive local functions and I visited with him two times at his family's Brentwood California home.

When I was gathering information for my HDS 3 part article on the history of fins 30 plus years ago we spent over a half of a day visiting and discussing the history of his fin development. It was during that conversation that he stated that the first shipment of fins to war time UK had been sunk. which I included in my article

It was, as I recall, 2500 pairs of fins---Mike or David can you verify from the book this number as 2500?

Churchills were the "Fins! In the initial day of the sport there were no bubble blowers, just free divers (aka Snorkelers in todays lingo) and they performed very well. After the arrival of the bubble machine in the US in late 1940s Churchills fell out of favor and were replaced by Brownie Brown's Duck Feet-- longer. stiffer and more powerful .

However the Churchills became the choice and still are the choice fin of the body boarders

Mike -- Great historical book - a big thanks for sharing

Sam Miller, 111

 

[Mike Lev]

Hello Sam no it doesn’t say the amount or the name of the ship.

 

[David Wilson]

Here's the relevant excerpt in your Historical Diver article, Sam:

So 50,000 pairs for US forces, an undisclosed number for British armed services. I expect the Official Secrets Act was applied in the UK to the size of the equipment order.