The “ESPAÑA” waistcoat (1934)
“El Chaleco ESPAÑA”
Ruben Castrillo – Nemrod Museum – 20 November 2024
Autonomous equipment for submarine escape and diver work
Faced with the need to provide the Spanish submarine weapon with equipment that would make it possible for crews to escape from a sunken submersible, Pablo Rondón Soriano, a senior Navy diver, patented in 1934 a piece of equipment popularly known as the “Spain System” or “Spain Vest”.
Based on the principles of existing foreign closed-circuit equipment, he designed a simple and functional device that would not only be used for emergency escape from a submarine, but also for use in all types of underwater work at shallow depths and even as a surface respirator in toxic or foul atmospheres.
According to the detailed description in the patent, it consisted of a watertight bag or lung of about 14 litres capacity, made of several layers of rubber and textile fabric, which was passed over the diver’s head and fastened to his chest by straps attached to the back and crotch. The central part of the bag had a rubber trachea with a mouthpiece which was placed in the diver’s mouth and secured to the mouth by a rubber strap around the neck. At the bottom of this bag were connected two small 0.4 litre cylindrical steel tanks, one filled with a mixture of O2 and N2 and the other with 100% O2. Both could be charged to a maximum pressure of 150 atm resulting in a total storage of 120 litres of breathing gas. By means of taps that could be adjusted at will by the diver, the cylinders released the gas mixture as it was needed. The proportion of the gas mixture with which the cylinders were filled varied according to the working conditions in which the equipment was to be used.
It was also equipped with an overpressure valve that allowed the release of excess gas accumulated in the bag and a receptacle that housed the chemical product responsible for absorbing the CO2 resulting from the diver’s breathing, which prevented intoxication and allowed for a much longer time of use. Thus, the air that accumulated inside the bag or lung could be used several times. The total weight of the equipment, with both cylinders loaded, did not exceed 8 kg.
Source: Cartagena Histórica – Monographic Notebook no. 36
Pablo Rondón, after personally carrying out a series of tests in a hydraulic tank and open sea, demonstrated that his equipment, in the hands of an experienced diver, could provide an autonomy of use of up to 2 hours at -5 m depth. Logically, this autonomy would decrease proportionally to the increase in depth and physical activity of the diver.
Juan Ivars, in his excellent publication ‘Historia del buceo. Its development in Spain’ (Ed. Mediterráneo, 1987), confirms that Pablo Rondón himself successfully tested the possibility of abandoning a submarine from a depth of -20 m using the “España” equipment.
The equipment was completed with weighted wooden sandals (if used for underwater work), watertight binocular goggles and a rubber nose clip with spring.
The ‘España’ autonomous gas mixing equipment was validated by the Spanish Navy and was supplied to the crews of its submarines and surface ships for several years until it was replaced by other more advanced systems. We do not know the date up to which it was in use in the Navy.
Curiously, when the original 20-year patent was about to expire, in 1954, Pablo Rondón registered a new patent for improvements to the ‘España’ equipment. We do not know if these new modifications were ever applied or if it was a simple formality in order to keep the patent in his possession for another 20 years.
Source: Cartagena Histórica – Monographic Notebook nº 36
The Inventor
Pablo Rondón Soriano was born in 1900 in La Línea de la Concepción (Cádiz). The son of a professional diver, he started very young in the risky family profession, where in a few years he stood out thanks to his great work in various ship refloating and civil works of underwater engineering.
In 1922 he entered the Navy Diving School in Cartagena as a 3rd class diver and in 1927 he was promoted to 1st class diver. In the Navy, he distinguished himself for his determination in tackling the toughest and most dangerous tasks and was always highly regarded by the base commanders. He also took on teaching duties as a teacher at the Diving School.
In 1935 he was awarded the 1st class Cross of the Order of Naval Merit with white badge.
In 1953 he retired from active service as a Navy Diver, a position he held for his last 12 years in the Navy.
In December 1970, his son, Antonio Rondón Guil, also a Navy diver, lost his life during the refloating and salvage of the cargo ship ‘Erkowit’ stranded in the Ría de A Coruña (Galicia).
Source: The Line in Black and White
“In 1982, a few weeks after meeting Juan Ivars, he died at the age of 82”.
I would like to thank Rubén for this fantastic article that makes a very valuable contribution to the diving history of Spain!
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!