'His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork.'
Mae West (1893-1980)
Picture: Everett Collection / Rex Features
C. B. MomsenBorn 21 Jun 1896; died 25 May 1967 at age 70.Vice-Admiral Charles Bowers Momsen was an American inventor and navy officer whocreated the Momsen Lung, an underwater breathing device for escape from disabled submarines. It was an oblong rubber bag hung from the neck and strapped around the waist. A tube led from the bag to a mouthpiece to inhale oxygen and a return tube through a canister of soda lime inside the canister to remove exhaled carbon dioxide and then recycle the air. This provided air for a gradual ascent to avoid the “bends.” In Aug 1937 he became Officer in Charge of Experimental Diving at the NavyYard, Washington, D.C., where he developed new decompression tables and supported proposed use of a helium and oxygen mixture for deep diving. Momsen received the Distinguished Service Medal (1933). Today, the Momsen lung has been superced by other methods, such as the Stanke Hood or free ascent.« |
