A Design patented in 1889 by Oliver Pelkey, is of little merit. It is not a completely armoured dress, the armour (in two portions) only covering the head and trunk. Over this is worn an ordinary diving-dress, the arms of this, however, being stiffened by long wire spirals, a device which found much favour with later inventors. Source: R.H. Davis, deep diving and submarine operations.
Pelkey’s patent: https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/93/84/51/7219534b3df734/US418053.pdf
During the summer of 1891, Oliver Pelkey made headlines showing a diving suit with metal rings designed to support it against water pressure. Pelkey descended successfully to Pewabic, but on his second dive, he became entangled in debris and the suit collapsed. He made headlines a second time when his lifeless body was hauled from the wreck.
Read more about the Pewabic https://www.nps.gov/nr/feature/places/pdfs/14001096.pdf
Therebreathersite was founded by Jan Willem Bech in 1999. After a diving career of many years, he decided to start technical diving in 1999. He immediately noticed that at that time there was almost no website that contained the history of closed breathing systems. The start for the website led to a huge collection that offered about 1,300 pages of information until 2019. In 2019, a fresh start was made with the website now freely available online for everyone. Therebreathersite is a source of information for divers, researchers, technicians and students. I hope you enjoy browsing the content!