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MURRAY BLACK'S 1943 MILLER-DUNN U.S. NAVY
MK V DIVING HELMET
Miller-Dunn
Only Made 1200 MK V's
MURRAY D. BLACK, FOUNDER DIVCON INC.
COMMERCIAL DIVING HALL OF FAME HONOREE
Custom DIVCON Stand and Extensive Personal Archive of
Murray D. Black, and a copy of his autobiography,
"Between the Devil and the Deep",
is included!
See Page two of this listing.
TOTAL
WEIGHT: 51 1/2 lbs BONNET: 30 1/2 lbs BREAST PLATE: 21 lbs
SERIAL NUMBER:51 DATE: 8.1.1943
Copyright
2011 by Land And Sea Collection™, All Rights Reserved
Murray D. Black was a lot of things in his life and
amazing career. Probably the foremost was that of an adventurer with entrepreneurial instincts. He managed to position himself
in the right place at the right time, putting his love of diving to use in dangerous and rewarding ways. Three times he had
the bends. He built and helped build two major dive companies of the 1950's and 1960's with operations from the North Sea
to South American waters. He sold his second company, DIVCON, Inc in June, 1967, becoming a wealthy man, took up cattle ranching,
and went broke. Then specializing in explosive diving as the nexus of a second career, he built a second fortune. He died
in California on March 21, 2004 again a wealthy man. Along the way, he traveled to exotic places, took up trophy hunting wild
life in Africa, India, Alaska, Australia and elsewhere, and lived life to the hilt.
Murray
had a knack of befriending men with like passions. He had some noteworthy ones outside the field of commercial diving. First
among them was aquanaut and astronaut, Navy commander, Scott Carpenter who was a Navy SeaLab II and III diver before he was
a Mercury Astronaut and commanded the Aurora
7 spacecraft . They were best friends from the time they first met in London in 1962 while both worked part
time for Standard Oil. Scott used to tease Blackie by calling him "The Second Greatest Deep Sea Diver in the World", with
himself as the first. Scott also, assisted Blackie in becoming a member of the prestigious Explorer's Club. Later in 1972,
while living in Southern California, he crossed paths with actor, John Wayne when both invested in the same startup company.
They became close friends, partied, and played lots of bridge together. They cruised frequently to Mexico in Wayne's WW II
mine sweeper converted into a yacht, “The Wild Goose”. These are only two of Black's large circle of friends in
and out of the commercial diving arena.
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Examples of archive include Center left; John Wayne became a close friend in 1970. Bottom;
From 1962, Astronaut Scott Carpenter was his Best Friend Forever. |
Presented
is Murray Black's historic U.S. Navy Miller-Dunn MK V helmet with low serial number 51. It is one of a few vintage dive helmets
whose history can be traced to the present time making it an exceptional find for the serious collector of diving gear.
HELMET & MARKINGS: Authentic 12 bolt,
4 light Miller-Dunn Navy MK V dated 8.1.1943 with serial number 51 on the maker's tag. All the brails are marked 51 on their
rear. And two are marked Front, 1, and two are marked Rear, 2 on the outer surface. There is no number in or on the outside
of the helmet's neck rings. Instead, the proof that Miller-Dunn was the maker of the bonnet is the special signature elbows
with a cast gusset that were only used by them.
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Gusset
on air elbow unique to Miller-Dunn | |
Gusset
on comm elbow unique to Miller-Dunn | |
PROVENANCE:
The date and place Murray Black acquired this helmet is uncertain. It is not a presentation piece, but has the scars of a
working helmet. What is known with certainty is that the special DIVCON stand made from a hollowed tree trunk has a Houston,
Texas tag on the front. He moved there from Monaco in 1967 after the sale of DIVCON to International Utilities, and at that
point assumed a managerial role and never went back in the water. Since then, it has been in his, and his family's possession
until now.
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A
young Murray suited up and ready to dive in a MK V rig. Ca 1958 |
Like all used diving gear, this is being sold for DISPLAY ONLY. It should
not be dived without having passed inspection by a certified dive shop.
DOCUMENTATION:
A certificate of authenticity covering of all the facts concerning this helmet will be included with its purchase. The complete
mini archive summarizing the diver's career includes:
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Left
side with drop down lock, custom guards | |
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Right side with banana exhaust,
custom guards | |
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Inside
of bonnet. Telephone receiver missing. | |
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The tag
is readable close up | |
CONDITION: Considering its 68 years age and use,
it is in good condition overall. The lead tag is worn and the imprints are difficult to read, but can be made out. There are
the dents and scrapes that would be expected, the largest of which is on the back left. The air vents
are all intact.The right side chin relief valve, spit cock handle, front door wing nut, all turn easily. The B& E star
wheel is frozen. All the port guards have the center sections removed. The telephone receiver is missing. In place of the
more familiar dumb bell lock, there is a drop down lock which was authorized. There is no Naval Inspection stamp of "U anchor
S". The
brass handles on the stand are bent on both sides.
Like all used diving gear, this is being sold for DISPLAY ONLY. It should not be dived without having
passed inspection by a certified dive shop.
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Back
View. Note the "2" on the brails and drop down lock |
|
Dive
ship "LA BUSCA" x Navy minesweeper off the coast of Peru Ca 1964 |
BRIEF HISTORY OF MILLER DUNN DIVING HELMETS:
The Miami, FL. company was founded by William S. Dunn and William F. Miller around
1914 with a focus on shallow water diving using helmets and simple equipment that did not require special training. Its first
helmet of consequence was the No 1 Divinhood introduced around 1914, which was quickly adopted for use in all forms of light
duty shallow water work. After 18 months in process, in August ,1916, they were issued
U.S. patent 1195793.
It
was followed by the Style 2 Divinhood which became the U.S. Navy's first official shallow water diving apparatus, and was
part of the ship's gear on many naval vessels prior to World War II. With the outbreak of WW II, the company built the ubiquitous
Style 3 to U.S. Navy specifications in large numbers taking most of their production capacity. For this reason, very few of
the Miller Dunn Navy Mk V helmets were made and fewer yet survived. They are eagerly sought after by serious collectors.
After the war, the need for helmets decreased dramatically
due in part to the large surplus of helmets finding there way to the salvage equipment market. The business of Miller-Dunn
was adversely affected and the company ceased operations sometime in the 1960's.
Schrader and Morse Diving were the two original
suppliers.During the onslaught of World War II only Morse and Schrader were making dive helmets for
the navy. DESCO and Miller-Dunn went into production around 1943. In total only about 7,000 MK V helmets were produced by
all four companies during the war years with DESCO producing the most, then Morse, Schrader and Miller-Dunn the least at 1200
helmets. The scarcity of the latter is the reason they are so much in demand and command a higher price in the market.
WE ALSO HAVE A 1929 MILLER - DUNN NAVY DIVINHOOD STYLE 2 FOR SALE
CLICK HEREhttp://landandseacollection.com/id784.html
BRIEF HISTORY of NAVY MK V
DEEP SEA DIVING DRESS:
By 1915, the Bureau of Construction and Repair had designed
the MK V Diving Helmet which seemed to address many of the problems encountered in diving. This deep-sea outfit was designed
for extensive, rugged diving work and provided the diver maximum physical protection and some maneuverability.
The 1915 MK V Diving Helmet had an elbow inlet with a safety
valve that allowed air to enter the helmet, but not to escape back up the umbilical if the air supply were interrupted. Air
was expelled from the helmet through an exhaust valve on the right side, below the port. The exhaust valve was vented toward
the rear of the helmet to prevent escaping bubbles from interfering with the diver’s field of vision.
By 1916, several improvements had been made to the helmet,
including a rudimentary communications system via a telephone cable and a regulating valve operated by an interior push button.
The regulating valve allowed some control of the atmospheric pressure. A supplementary relief valve, known as the spitcock,
was added to the left side of the helmet. A safety catch was also incorporated to keep the helmet attached to the breast plate.
The exhaust valve and the communications system were improved by 1927, and the weight of the helmet was decreased to be more
comfortable for the diver.
After 1927, the MK V changed very little. It remained basically
the same helmet used in salvage operations of the USS S-51 and USS S-4 in the mid-1920s. With its associated deep-sea dress
and umbilical, the MK V was used for all submarine rescue and salvage work undertaken in peacetime and practically all salvage
work undertaken during World War II. The MK V Diving Helmet was the standard U.S. Navy diving equipment until succeeded by
the MK 12 Surface-Supplied Diving helmet in February 1980, which in turn was replaced by the MK 21 in December 1993.
OUR
UNCONDITIONAL NO NONSENSE GUARANTEE: If not completely satisfied with your purchase it may be returned within
five days of receipt in its original packaging if without damage. Return items must be insured for their full value. Only
a prior email authorization from us for the return is required. Shipping charges are included in this offer within the continental
United States if an error is due to our fault.
SHIPPING & PACKING: The cost of shipping, packing, handling, and insurance to your destination
is an additional charge. We price our shipping honestly, but we expect to be reimbursed for the nominal cost of packaging
materials and handling. Within the continental United States, a helmet will generally ship for $125.00 depending on destination
and amount of insurance.
International buyers welcome, but inquire first. We have satisfied customers in Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bermuda,
British Virgin Islands, Canada, Chile, China, Czech Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, Denmark, Estonia, England, France,
Germany, Greece, Holland, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Latvia, Luxembourg,
Malaysia, Martinique, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Nova Scotia, Panama, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Puerto Rico,
Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Scotland, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, St. Maarten, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey,
United Arab Emirates, USVI and the Eastern Caribbean.
ACCEPTED
FORMS OF PAYMENT are Bank wire transfer, cashier's check, money order, or personal check in which case the item will
be held until cleared. No credit cards or PayPal accepted.
Copyright
2011 by Land And Sea Collection™, All Rights Reserved
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