The Military Diver’s Watch – A Revisionist View by JAMES DOWLING. Because they were designed together there are almost no visible differences between the civil & the military versions, only those specifically called for the specifications. Divers who risked their lives to save a fisherman in a capsized boat, recover WW1 mustard gas canisters and prevent a bomb devastating Portsmouth Harbour lead those recognised for bravery on the front line. In June 1941, these veterans returned to form the first class in what was originally named the Mine Recovery School. The problem was that these replacements had not only to be as functional as the originals but had to have no deleterious effects on the performance of the watches. In this article, I will take watches from every decade from the 1930s up until the 1980s and show how the needs of combat swimmers forced the development of watches we now consider iconic. 2 months ago. For over fifty years, it has been the accepted knowledge that the history of the diving watch is intimately coupled to the history of recreational diving. Even the earliest Submariners had their dials refinished by the MoD who were determined that no radium dials would remain in their stocks; the 6538 shown above is extremely unusual in that it was never issued, even though the dial was refinished. Clearance divers can be employed in the Special Forces role as part of the Tactical Assault Group (East) (TAG (E)), which is part of 2 Commando Regiment based at Holsworthy. The story of the watches that preceded the 5517 is almost unknown and I would like to correct that oversight here. Minnick said that the DPD, combined with the closed-circuit rebreather, extends divers' capabilities, and they can be dropped off farther away from … This means that the Tornek Rayville TR-900 may well be one of the rarest of all military watches; current research believes that there to be only about 20 known examples extant. Look at the condition of the case and bezel. It is not disimilar to RM Commando level of fitness, however yiou are also expected to complete a 1000 metre open water swim as part of the selection course. As the Soviets made the best anti shipping mines in the world, they wished to keep their technology secret, so the mines were fitted with anti-handling devices, designed to explode the mine if any attempt was made to defuse it. There is also an Australian SAS regiment. Tactical Assault Groups. What this meant that the US Navy in the 1960s was up against the World’s most formidable mine technology, and the Soviets had no qualms about passing on this technology to their client states, such as China, North Korea and North Vietnam. Join Yahoo Answers and get 100 points today. This style of bezel proved to be such a success that it became the prototype for the bezels used on the 5512/3 models which followed soon after the A/6538s and has been used on all subsequent Submariners. They were placed in containers with other low-level waste (uniforms, badges, pipework etc) and the containers were filled with concrete and then buried deep underground at sites in deserted areas of the US. Rolex had a head start, as their Oyster case was pretty much the only truly waterproof watch available at this time. The watches made for the society were pocket watches in specially designed screw back & front cases with the winding crown protected by an additional cap which screwed on to the outside of the case and was attached by a short chain. While SAS are more recon and Commandos are more direct action. First amongst these were the larger hands which gave much greater visibility, it is interesting to note that the design of all three hands was pretty much identical to those used by Omega. The full markings are: H ^ S stands for “Hydrographic Survey”; the department of the Admiralty responsible for map & chart making; as accurate timekeeping by means of a deck chronometer was an essential part of navigation, it was the Hydrographic Survey who was responsible for procuring and servicing all Royal Navy timepieces. What is not so well known is that they were essentially Rolex model 3646 with a special dial made by Panerai. Timezone FeaturesUncategorized 6200, already in production. What are the differences between Commandos and the SAS? The watch would need to function on and below the surface for several hours at a time, and what made the situation worse was that, other than the Panerai, there was no watch available anywhere on the globe with such capabilities. In Eckernförde a combat frogman group was set up, it consists of a mine clearance diver company and a commando frogmen company. RAN divers were also used in performing duties including reconnaissance of amphibious landing sites. The Royal Navy had pushed the capital ships of the German surface fleet into heavily protected ports for most of the Second World War, but even in their distant refuges these battleships posed a constant threat to North Atlantic convoys. And it was the responsibility of Rolex, Bexley to send each watch to the particular naval depot, as you can see in this letter. So it became obvious to the German Navy that they would have to increase their mine counter-measure capabilities, they accomplished this by building minesweeping ships and recruiting and training specialist mine clearance divers. Many of these tasks required accurate timekeeping and the few handmade Longines watches were hardly enough to fulfil the needs of the British forces; and so, once the conflict was over, the Navy sought a watch with which to equip its divers. The C15 is the individual number of this particular watch. They also wanted the watch to have solid strap bars; so Rolex decided to make a special model just for the SBS, they initially gave it the unique reference 6540. Despite the lack of hallmarks, the maker’s stamp of ATO is stamped inside the case back. The Soviets did not have a major fleet during the war, but did develop a very advanced use of naval mines to protect its own shores and also to hamper the movement of the enemy’s vessels. You will need to be a US citizen to join the US Navy, regardless of whether you want to be a SEAL or a cook. Under the ‘Buy American Act’ the specification went to all of the major US watch companies; Elgin, Bulova, Hamilton and Waltham. CD tasks include specialist diving missions to depths of 54 metres, surface and underwater demolitions, and the rendering safe and disposal of conventional explosive ordnance and improvised explosive devices.. During their careers, CDs will be rotated through the following sea and shore positions: So, all the A/6538 watches bear two references, the original 6540 neatly crossed out by three horizontal lines and their new number next to it. The special forces within the Turkish Armed Forces are one of the finest among their counterparts throughout the world. The commando frogmen company had, according to strength and equipment records, 3 groups, each with 16 men. The skills learned in the European theatre were brought back to Australia, and utilised in t… Personnel from these and the Australian commando regiment form TAG ( tactical assault group teams). Clearance divers are also known to attend some courses at Singleton Army training centre including a recon survival course, and in some cases CQB training with the TAG. Ironically the 7928 was essentially the Rolex 5513 with an ETA movement and the next watch we are to discuss is the most famous version of the 5513. Because it is harder than steel, this means that the parts of the watch it comes in contact with, will wear much quicker than in a normal watch. During WWII the school produced hundreds of divers trained in removing mines both at sea and on the beaches. It is the SASR who are the most similar to SEALS and the SBS and they do cross train with them. To counter this threat the Navy retrained their divers as Explosive Ordnance Disposal Units concentrating on keeping harbours and waterways clear and free for US Navy and allied vessels. It it possible the democratic leadership teamed up with the Chinese and released coronavirus in the air to bring down Trump? 2nd CDO pays more and get to see more combat. The 3519 AMAG is the world’s first (and so far only) completely amagnetic diver’s watch and certainly one of the most rare diver’s watches ever made, in the period between 1984 and 1990 it is believed that less than fifty of the 3519 AMAGs were made and only a handful have ever left the inventory of the Bundeswehr. But the line of progression from the cushion Oyster wristwatch to the Oyster Pocket watch to the 2533 and thence to the 3646 is obvious to anyone who cares to look at the images. They were used to survey beaches prior to amphibious landings, testing whether they could bear the weight of tanks and other heavy equipment and also for surveying the enemy’s positioning of troops, artillery and other defensive equipment. The Germans had the most advanced mine technology during WWII and many of their technicians and plants found themselves in the Soviet zone after the war ended and soon found themselves in the service of the Soviets. Despite the fact that there are many other special operations commando units, such as the Mountain Commando Brigades, Gendarmerie Commandos and Marine Corps, within the Turkish Armed Forces, they do not fall under the definition/classification of modern … Is there a better sort of job in the Australian Army? In 1960 the MoD began to withdraw all watches with radium dials; they were sent to a specialist facility where the dial face with its radium contaminated paint was brushed off under running water. The steel in the balance staff and the pallet fork was replaced by items made from beryllium metal, which although it is harder than steel it is much more brittle. So the 3519s must be serviced every year, in fact the German Navy watchmakers at the diving depot in Eckenforde simply remove the movement & replace it with an identical one before sending the original movement off to Schaffhausen for specialist servicing. The regiment's HR/CT (hostage recovery/counterterrorism) company that makes up TAG-E includes a RHIB boat team, commando assaulters, commando snipers, a dedicated medical team, and is supplemented by Navy clearance divers. However the downside to this was that its half-life is only 2.5 years, unlike Tritium, which has a 12.4-year half-life, and Radium whose half-life is measured in centuries. But once WWII was over and the ‘Cold War’ began, the US found itself at a major disadvantage up against the Soviet Union. Others were trained as Tactical Anti Submarine (TAS) divers. These were used by members of the elite Decima Flottiglia MAS (usually shortened to ‘X Flotmas’); who rode the Italians’ secret weapon, the SLC (siluri a lenta corsa or “slow-running torpedoes”); although the men who had to use them commonly called them ‘Maiali’ (pigs or swine). News, photos, links: Special Forces Selection. Is the pay good? The diver is personally responsible for ensuring that his equipment has been prepared, maintained and tested correctly before each dive. It is now universally accepted that the first ever pure diving watch were the Panerais used by the Italians in the early days of the war. This was an oversized Oyster, using a regular pocket watch movement (note the continuous seconds dial at ‘9’), most likely from Cortebert, it had a silvered dial with large Arabic luminous numerals. Why do Americans always have enough money for another losing war in Vietnam, Iraq, etc., etc.? But the MoD had learned from some mistakes they had made with the Omegas; firstly these new Rolex Submariners were completely made in the Swiss factory, there were no alterations; refinements or modifications done once the watch had left the factory. Tornek & Rayville were interested for a couple of reasons; to both of them an order of 1,000 watches was a substantial one and they had a head start over the other companies in that Rayville were already manufacturing a diver’s watch in the Blancpain ‘Fifty Fathoms’. The much more difficult components for which to find replacements were those in the balance and the escapement, the balance staff, the pallet fork and the hairspring are almost always made from steel or from ferrous compounds, as this was no longer possible, replacements had to be found. For this reason, every single part of each case bore the individual serial number of that case, the number on the watch shown is 306 and it is stamped on the case centre, the bezel and back and even on the movement retaining ring & the movement cover. But when the Navy approached Tornek about obtaining replacement dials, they were told that there were no more and that there was no chance of getting any more. This testing had to be done in the presence of a Naval officer, and was done with all of the Ocean 2000 Bund watches. To date four of these watches have surfaced, all with serial numbers ranging between 306 and 338; leading me to think that less than 50 of these were made. If the Soviets did attack, one of their first tasks would be to deny the harbours of Western Europe, and particularly Germany, to NATO reinforcements; this would be done with Submarines and with mines. Yes and no. Still have questions? But as the quantity needed was so small, the initial order was for only 21 watches, it was decided to make these watches as a ‘spin-off’ from the 6538 and they were called the A/6538; however this decision came rather late as the case backs had already been made with the original model number stamped inside. What do you think of the 15 million men who dodged the draft during the Vietnam war? But in the Middle East aboard HMAS Toowoomba, the crack boarding team works under the call sign Trident. Fortunately there was almost a century’s experience in England of constructing watches able to work in extreme environments; this came from the manufacture of special watches for the Royal Geographical Society, an organization that had sponsored almost all of the great Victorian explorers. This rapid expansion of the Navy’s diving capacity meant that equipment had to be standardised throughout the different branches. But, with the rise in new technology mines, utilising multiple fuses, operated by pressure, time, contact or magnetic influence it was obvious that the Navy needed new equipment and amongst that equipment there was a requirement for a new diver’s watch. Dr Porsche was designing a divers’ watch for IWC when the Bundeswehr specification landed on his desk, so the military version and the civil one were designed simultaneously. IWC’s great advantage was their experience in working with titanium, as a case material as titanium is completely amagnetic. They had a long history of using naval mines; in fact during the Russo-Japanese war of 1904, the only naval success they achieved was the sinking of two Japanese battleships by mines. Also similar to Omega’s design was the new Rolex bezel insert, which unlike the civil version, had markers for all 60 minutes. Only about 28 get to try to become a Clearance Diver at each intake which is why they pass and it doesn't have a massive attrition rate, which saying only the very best get to try for it and only around 10 make it,. The different tasks are; weapons divers lay mines, combat swimmers are commando/special forces who arrive silently by swimming to shore and then engage the enemy on land and mine divers are the specialists at removing and clearing mines laid by the enemy. ... TAG (E) is part of 2 Commando Regiment. I have to come down on the side of the 5517; it is an almost completely different watch to the 5513 from which it is developed; it has a unique case, a unique dial, unique hands and a bezel style, which has just returned on the new Sea Dweller Deep Sea. Incidentally the British Ministry of Defence used this robust movement later in the war in the COSD watch made for airborne forces. So the special production line was dismantled, and the external suppliers (dial and steel companies) were told that their services were no longer needed. This is why the case number is engraved inside each case back of a Military Submariner, the case backs were sent to an outside contractor for engraving, but to make sure that each back was fitted to the correct case when they returned, the numbers between the lugs and inside the case back were compared & matched. It would be a exciting career and hard as hell as well. I know 1st Commando, 2nd Commando and SAS are all Special Force but out of curiosity are Clearance Divers considered Special Forces? This is because there was no consumer to protect, these watches were never intended to be sold and so no hallmark was needed, the fact that they were going to the Government is emphasised by the presence of the Government stamp of a Broad Arrow on the case back. I ask as RAAF CCT aren't considered SF as they don't fall under the banner of SOCOMD, they just get attached to SF units. Unlike the normal 6538 bezels, which were made of a brass/zinc alloy which was then rhodium plated, these new bezels were made of German Silver (an alloy of Nickel, Copper & Zinc) the great advantage of the German Silver over the previous alloy was that when struck it tended to dent rather than break. RAN Clearance Divers. When Churchill first heard of the Italian’s use of human torpedoes against Royal Navy vessels he wrote on of his famed ‘ACTION THIS DAY’ memos, insisting that the British produce a similar device. The RAN has used divers on a regular basis since the 1920s, but it was not until World War II that clearance diving operations came to the fore, with RAN divers working alongside Royal Navy divers to remove naval mines from British waters, and from the waters of captured ports on the European mainland. Jan 30, 2019 - High quality images of the military (from all countries). Phase 1: Recruit Training - Prior to enlistment. Clearance Diver Initial Employment Training - 50 Weeks (approximately) The Clearance Diving Course is based at the ADF Diving School located within HMAS Penguin, Sydney, NSW. The first fruit of the relationship was the titanium chronograph with integrated pushers, launched in 1978. This makes the watch shown here extra special as it remained at Rayville for 40 years and never went either to Tornek or to the US Navy and so shows the finish that these watches had when new. The cases were made of silver because the metal was easy to work with, Oliver’s had great experience in working with the material and it was resistant to corrosion from seawater. The naval specification MIL-W-2217.6A(SHIPS) called for a watch capable of operating at depths of up to 400 ft, with an accuracy of at least 30 seconds a day and also to have absolutely no magnetic signature at all. Would thin heart walls disqualify me from military service? The first thing they did was to remove the steel ball bearings on which the winding rotor revolved; these were replaced by jewelled bearings. Both the solid case bars and the case back engraving were done at the factory to MoD specifications & requirements and the cases were finished in a brushed matt satin effect, rather than the normal polish, meaning that there would be no untoward reflections, which could be dangerous in a combat situation. The British, who were the main targets of these weapons, called them ‘Human Torpedoes’ after capturing several of them. Is there a better one in the Australian Navy (like the clearance diver) is that a good job being a clearance diver. The dials of the A/6538 followed exactly the first dials from the civil 6538, which is they were of the ‘Explorer’ configuration with large 3/6/9 in radium numerals on a glossy black dial. The size of the watch is huge, even compared to the Panerais, it measures 51mm in diameter, 17mm high and takes a 24mm strap. This meant that ships no longer had access to convenient ports with divers on hand. This was a larger watch with a heavier case and a much larger Oyster crown and tube giving it an increased depth capability of 600ft, much greater than any diver had gone at that time. So, in the great British tradition of ‘making do’, they decided to create one. Promethium has several advantages over both the other commonly used isotopes; it emits many more particles than either of them, meaning the luminous indices would glow brighter and longer, both underwater and at night. what is easyer to become? Now as for what J.farro1 said "60% for a pass rate". Officers and enlisted personnel entered the eleven-week school, qualifying as Mine Recovery Personnel/Second Class Divers. The winding crown fits inside a tube, which has a screwed cover, the cover and the tube having especially long threads, to provide the maximum protection for this most delicate part of the watch; the cover screws down on to a thick gasket, providing another level of protection. The vast majority were delivered to the Royal Navy, to their dockyards in Rosyth, Portsmouth, Devenport and Chatham; but around 100 were delivered to the Royal Engineers of the British Army for use by their divers and an even smaller number went to the helicopter pilots of the British Army; however the strangest 5517s are the small number (only in single digits) of watches supplied to the Imperial Iranian Navy in 1974. The hands fitted at the factory, were now ‘Sword’ style, in place of the standard parallel style ones seen on the civilian versions. now it's not like 2nd CDO or SEALs or anything where many try out, please I can not say that enough which people seem the think that it's easy to pass CDAT, how many for SEALs mabye 40+ try out. This is not true, the bund version can go MUCH deeper than 300m, but that is all the specifications ask for and so that it is the depth it is therefore tested to. Who on Earth would want to mess with underwater explosives with zero visibility? Fitness Standards. Are CDT SF? Although it is over thirty years since the first military Submariners were issued, many of them are still in service; it was thought that their days were numbered when the Royal Navy’s divers were issued with Sunnto D3 diving computers a few years ago. Once again Rolex proved to be quicker than the MoD and the ref. This gave them a head start, but making a movement completely amagnetic is a much harder task, and the technical director of the company, Jürgen King was given the responsibility to produce one. The initial order was for 780 watches (at $187.50 each) and the last of them were delivered in June 1965, a few months later another order for slightly fewer than 300 was received but that was it for the Navy. For other nations' commando frogmen, and information about frogmen in general, see Frogman. The prime impetus for the development of the diver’s watch was (and has continued to be) the needs of combat swimmers in the armed forces of the developed world’s nations. Obviously this short half-life would have been unacceptable in a civilian watch, but the Navy had different requirements. Ball Watch Co. Fireman NECC U.S Navy Expeditionary Combat Commando Diver Automatic DM3090A-P4J-BK Black Mens Watch Review 2017. Tritium’s main advantage was that it emitted only beta radiation, which is not only much less dangerous than the gamma radiation from radium but it could be stopped even by a watch crystal. Diving school Mine Clearance Divers’ Group Commando Hubert The diving school dates back to 1860 and was founded in order to train “mechanics, drivers and deep-sea divers”. July 7, 2012 (see above articles) Due to the investment that the Navy puts into potential recruits there is a minimum period of service for both Officers and Enlisted RAN divers of 6 years. Clearance Diver Selection Test - 2 Weeks. CLEARANCE DIVER… TAG (E) maintains a short notice capability to conduct special military operations, using a variety of specialist skillsets that include the extensive use of small arms. VDO were also, at that time, owners of IWC and their president Günter Blümlein had just joined IWC from Diehl, so the requirement was passed along to IWC. First they went to Rolex’s UK headquarters at Bexley in Kent, south of London. These were needed because as Britain withdrew from her Empire, the number of Royal Naval Dockyards decreased significantly, the ports at Singapore, Aden, Calcutta and Malta were either closed or in the process of closing. This approximate figure is the best estimate known, as most of these watches are still in service with the German Navy and detailed information is still considered classified by them. If you get two Rolex collectors together, one subject certain to raise a heated discussion is which is the more desirable Rolex Submariner; the 5514 COMEX or the 5517 Military Sub? At the same time as the Bundeswehr was looking for a new divers’ watch, IWC were beginning their relationship with Porsche Design with Ferdinand Porsche as the design guru. It is easy to see the similarity between them, as the text is identical in both words and placement; apart from the circled letter ‘T’ in the centre of the dial, standing for Tritium, the new exciter for the luminous on the dial. This in turn is a direct descendent of one of the most unusual variants of the Rolex Oyster ever made, the Oyster Pocket Watch. These quite different tasks require quite different equipment, right down to the watches they wear, and for this reason there are five different models of the IWC Ocean 2000 Bund watch; for the Waffentaucher the references 3509 or 3529 and for the Kampfschwimers the references 3314 or 3315, but for the purposes of this article I want to concentrate on the most rare and most complex of these, the ref. The original RGS Explorer’s watches used gaskets between the main case & the screwed front and back, these gaskets were made of oil impregnated leather and kept the movement protected from moisture as long as the gaskets were kept in excellent condition & lubricated regularly. There was one touch that Rolex added, instead of the usual ‘200m=660ft’ printed in silver on the dial, these watches (and these watches alone) bore the legend ‘200/660’ in red above the name ‘Submariner’ and there were no units printed after each number. what has more combat involved? The mine-clearance divers and boarding soldiers have meanwhile formed into a separate unit called the Sea Battalion. As Philip Woodman was no longer in business during WWII, it was to Oliver that the Royal Navy turned to develop the original design into a truly waterproof watch. You can earn well over 100 grand if you are a commando and get deployed to afghanistan, a regular infantryman can also earn up to 100 grand in afghanistan. Yes, the Royal Australian Navy has the Clearance Diving Branch which shares a common genesis with the SEALs. 3519 AMAG developed especially for the Minentaucher. Navy welcomes latest cohort of Clearance Divers Navy Daily As they were quite different to the normal 5513; they were given a specific reference number, 5517, and they then travelled a very circuitous route before they were strapped on to a diver’s wrist. Unfortunately this unique dial did not survive for very long, the problem was that it used radium as the exciter for the luminous material, and radium was a problem; both in nuclear submarines (where the users of these watches could be expected to travel) and as a hazardous substance in its own right. Once Rolex had this paperwork they sent it off to the MoD along with their invoice and then they were finally paid. For other nations' naval work divers, see Clearance Diver. One of the recipients was a company called Diehl Avionics, this company made and maintained aircraft instruments for the Luftwaffe; they were a subsidiary of the famed German instrument maker VDO. Therefore the Royal Navy now insisted that each ship in its establishment had trained divers on board, capable of simple underwater engineering tasks as well as the regular ship’s hull inspections. Special Air Service. The Clearance Diving Teams (CDT) of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) also act as commando frogmen: they consist of naval personnel who are qualified in diving, demolitions, underwater repairs, and reconnaissance. How are the deployments in Air Force ? It seems that the IWC Ocean 2000 Bund was the last divers’ watch specifically designed for military use and, as dive computers become more common, it seems that the era of the specialist military dive watch has finally come to an end. The hairspring was replaced by one using a Niobium/Zirconium alloy (the only other use for either of these metals is in constructing nuclear reactors). The dials were then polished and reprinted by MoD contractors who produced a reasonable facsimile of the original dials, however, these reprints had none of the delicacy and subtlety of the originals. The Clearance Diving Teams (CDT) of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) also act as commando frogmen: they consist of naval personnel who are qualified in diving, demolitions, underwater repairs, and reconnaissance. Is asking about that Rolex had a head start, as their Oyster case was pretty much the truly! Such, is an extremely rare example i have never heard of a sports.! The case back by hand and fitted together perfectly High quality images of the ball Fireman watch! 16 men watch shown in the Middle East aboard HMAS Toowoomba, the ref DIVER… clearance diver and! As hell as well images was never issued and, as seen here teaches everything! 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