During the second world war Pirelli rebreathers were in use by both Italian and German forces. Many websites are dedicated to these war heroes. Part of the photos from the Germans are from Michael Jung’s book “Sabotage Unter Wasser”.
The book describes the effords of the German Kamfswimmer during WWII and there relation with the Italien Decima Mas.
ISBN 3-8132-0818-4, 2004 Verlag E.S. Mittler & Sohn Gmbh Hamburg; Berlin; Bonn
Pirelli build two special units for the Decima Mas during WWII.
First together with a company IAC Pirelli build there first unit the Modello 49.
Pictures show units with a single mouthpiece but also with the mouthpiece integrated in the mask.
The second Unit build was the Modello 49/bis, a double tank unit with mask and two glasses.
Later Modello G50 was develloped. The unit had a bigger canister and double oxygen bottles.
The G50 was the predecessor of the post-war Pirelli LS901 and is most times to been seen with a single mask.
If you have additional information or photo’s about these units don’t hesitate to sent it to me!
Pirelli 49/bis and G50
| Model | Date | Author |
|---|---|---|
| G 50 | 02-04-2019 | JW. Bech |
| Manufacturer | Pirelli | |
| Model | G 50 | |
| Country of origin | Italy | |
| Design Year | 1940? | |
| Production years | 1940 – 1946 | ? |
| Breathing type | Pendulum | Dual hose or Pendulum |
| User group | Military | Civil / Military |
| Other name used for this model | Maiale | |
| Working Principle | Flowvalve with manual bypass | Constantmass flow, Manual addition, Valve operated, On demand, Electronic |
| Gas | Oxygen | |
| Cylinder volume | 2 x 1,5 ltr | ? |
| Max cylinder pressure | 150 bar | |
| Cylinder material | steel | |
| Loop volume | 16,7 liter | |
| Longtype | Single | Single/Dual |
| Scrubbersize | ||
| Scrubbertype | Radial | Axial/Radial |
| Scrubber volume | 1700 cc | ? |
| Factory adviced scrubber medium | ||
| Divetime duration | ||
| Operating temperature | ||
| Magnetic signature | Magnetic | Magentic/ Nonmagentic |
| Weight on land | ||
| Weight in water | ||
| Factory advised maximum operating depth | ||
| Color | Black | |
| Worn | Front | Front/Back/Both |
| Mouthpiece style | Moputhpiece integrated in Mask Dual Glasses | Fixed/ with valve / with position to ambient air |
| Additional info 1 | 49 single bottle 49/bis dual bottle twin glass 50 dual bottle single glass | |
| Additional info 2 | ||
| Additional info 3 | ||
| Infosource | ||
| Thanks to | ||
| Revision date | 02-04-2019 |
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!