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The Davis Submerged Escape Apparatus (also referred to as DSEA), was an early type of oxygen
Oxygen

Oxygen no O2 produced; 2) O2 produced, but absorbed in oceans & seabed rock; 3) O2 starts to gas out of the oceans, but is absorbed by land surfaces and formation of ozone layer; 4-5) O2 sinks filled and the gas accumulates]]...
 rebreather
Rebreather

A rebreather is a type of breathing set that provides a breathing gas containing oxygen and recycled exhaled gas. This recycling reduces the volume of breathing gas used, making a rebreather lighter and more compact than an open-circuit breathing set for the same duration in environments where humans cannot safely breathe from the atmosphere....
 invented in 1910 by Sir Robert Davis
Robert Davis (inventor)

Sir Robert Henry Davis improved the rebreather, after Henry Fleuss invented it. The Davis Escape Set was named after him.Davis Road in Chessington was named after him....
, head of Siebe Gorman and Co. Ltd.
Siebe Gorman

Siebe Gorman & Company Ltd was a United Kingdom company which developed diving equipment and breathing equipment and worked on commercial diving and marine salvage projects....
, inspired by the earlier Fleuss system. While intended primarily as an emergency escape apparatus for Royal Navy
Royal Navy

The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British Armed Forces . From the mid-18th century until well into the 20th century, it was the most powerful navy in the world, playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant world power from 1815 until the early 1940s....
 submarine
Submarine

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below water. It differs from a submersible, which has only limited underwater capability....
 crews, it was sometimes used for diving
Diving

Diving refers to the sport of performing acrobatics while jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard of a certain height. Diving is an internationally-recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games....
 and as an industrial breathing set.

The DSEA rig comprises a rubber breathing/buoyancy bag, which contains a canister of barium hydroxide
Barium hydroxide

Barium hydroxide is the chemical compound with the chemical formula Ba2. Also known as baryta, it is one of the principal compounds of barium....
 to scrub exhaled CO2
Carbon dioxide

Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalent bond to a single carbon atom. It is a gas at standard temperature and pressure and exists in Earth's atmosphere in this state....
 and, in a pocket at the lower end of the bag, a steel pressure cylinder holding approx.






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The Davis Submerged Escape Apparatus (also referred to as DSEA), was an early type of oxygen
Oxygen

Oxygen no O2 produced; 2) O2 produced, but absorbed in oceans & seabed rock; 3) O2 starts to gas out of the oceans, but is absorbed by land surfaces and formation of ozone layer; 4-5) O2 sinks filled and the gas accumulates]]...
 rebreather
Rebreather

A rebreather is a type of breathing set that provides a breathing gas containing oxygen and recycled exhaled gas. This recycling reduces the volume of breathing gas used, making a rebreather lighter and more compact than an open-circuit breathing set for the same duration in environments where humans cannot safely breathe from the atmosphere....
 invented in 1910 by Sir Robert Davis
Robert Davis (inventor)

Sir Robert Henry Davis improved the rebreather, after Henry Fleuss invented it. The Davis Escape Set was named after him.Davis Road in Chessington was named after him....
, head of Siebe Gorman and Co. Ltd.
Siebe Gorman

Siebe Gorman & Company Ltd was a United Kingdom company which developed diving equipment and breathing equipment and worked on commercial diving and marine salvage projects....
, inspired by the earlier Fleuss system. While intended primarily as an emergency escape apparatus for Royal Navy
Royal Navy

The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British Armed Forces . From the mid-18th century until well into the 20th century, it was the most powerful navy in the world, playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant world power from 1815 until the early 1940s....
 submarine
Submarine

A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below water. It differs from a submersible, which has only limited underwater capability....
 crews, it was sometimes used for diving
Diving

Diving refers to the sport of performing acrobatics while jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard of a certain height. Diving is an internationally-recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games....
 and as an industrial breathing set.

The DSEA rig comprises a rubber breathing/buoyancy bag, which contains a canister of barium hydroxide
Barium hydroxide

Barium hydroxide is the chemical compound with the chemical formula Ba2. Also known as baryta, it is one of the principal compounds of barium....
 to scrub exhaled CO2
Carbon dioxide

Carbon dioxide is a chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalent bond to a single carbon atom. It is a gas at standard temperature and pressure and exists in Earth's atmosphere in this state....
 and, in a pocket at the lower end of the bag, a steel pressure cylinder holding approx. 56 litres of oxygen
Oxygen

Oxygen no O2 produced; 2) O2 produced, but absorbed in oceans & seabed rock; 3) O2 starts to gas out of the oceans, but is absorbed by land surfaces and formation of ozone layer; 4-5) O2 sinks filled and the gas accumulates]]...
 at a pressure of 120 bar. The cylinder is equipped with a control valve and is connected to the breathing bag. Opening the cylinder's valve admits oxygen to the bag and charges it to a pressure equivalent to that of the surrounding water.

The canister of CO2 absorbent inside the breathing bag is connected to a mouthpiece by a flexible corrugated tube; breathing is carried out by the mouth only, the nose being closed by a clip. Goggles are also provided as a standard part of the apparatus.

The breathing/buoyancy bag is fitted with a non-return release valve which allows air to escape from the bag as the user ascends towards the surface and the water pressure decreases. The wearer can close this valve on reaching the surface, the air in the breathing/buoyancy bag then serving as a life preserver. If the bag becomes deflated while the wearer is on the surface awaiting rescue, it can be refilled (for use as a lifejacket) by opening the non-return valve and blowing through the mouthpiece.

The usual Royal Navy
Royal Navy

The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British Armed Forces . From the mid-18th century until well into the 20th century, it was the most powerful navy in the world, playing a key part in establishing the British Empire as the dominant world power from 1815 until the early 1940s....
 DSEA rig also included an emergency buoyancy bag on the front of the main breathing/buoyancy bag to help keep the wearer afloat after reaching the surface even if he had exhausted the air in the breathing/buoyancy bag. This emergency bag was inflated by an "Oxylet" canister inside it - a small steel oxygen cylinder which was opened by breaking its weakened neck and wrenching sharply.

It also had a speed-retarding drogue, which was a rubber apron unrolled and held out horizontally by the wearer as he ascended, dramatically reducing his speed of ascent through water resistance.

Adopted by the Royal Navy in 1929, DSEA was used with limited success to assist crew members to escape from several sunken submarines, for example HMS Poseidon
HMS Poseidon (1929)

HMS Poseidon was a Parthian class submarine designed and built for the United Kingdom Royal Navy, launched in 1929. It spent most of its short career assigned to the Yellow Sea region....
 in 1931, HMS Thetis
HMS Thetis (N25)

HMS Thetis was a Group 1 British T class submarine submarine of the Royal Navy which served under two names. Under her first identity, HMS Thetis, she commenced sea trials on 4 March 1939....
 in 1939 and HMS Perseus in 1941.

A small version of the DSEA, the Amphibious Tank Escape Apparatus (ATEA) was produced for use by the crews of amphibious DD tank
DD tank

DD tanks were amphibious vehicle swimming tanks developed during the Second World War. The phrase is mostly used for the M4 Sherman tank used by the Allies in the opening phases of the Battle of Normandy in 1944....
s such as those used during the Normandy landings.

There were instances, mostly during WWII
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
, of the DSEA being used for swimming down from the surface, i.e. for early scuba diving
Scuba diving

SCUBA diving is Underwater diving, or taking part in another activity, while using a scuba set. By carrying a source of breathing gas , the scuba diver is able to stay underwater longer than with the simple breath-holding techniques used in snorkeling and free-diving, and is not hindered by air lines to a remote air source....
.

The Davis Submerged Escape Apparatus was the first or nearly the first rebreather to be made in quantity.

See also

  • escape set
    Escape set

    An escape set is a breathing set, which lets its wearer survive for a time in an environment without breathable air, in particular underwater, primarily or originally intending mainly to survive long enough to reach safety where the air is breathable....
    , including history.


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