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Cat. No. 29600
Development of the helmet Communications
The Stillson Concept Helmet is DESCO's attempt to actually make the helmet shown on the cover of the 1915 Diving Report by G. D. Stillson for the U.S. Navy. As many standard DESCO parts were used as possible but most pieces required heavy modification. Some interpretation and guesswork were required but the result was a interesting and unique helmet.
Development of the Stillson Concept Helmet:
With the advent of the 20th century the nation was riding a wave of technological advances in science, medicine, engineering, and industry. Keeping pace was no less difficult then than it is today. The U.S. Navy didn't have any standards for diving or equipment. In 1912 a Gunners Mate named George David Stillson submitted a report critical of the shortcomings in the Navy diving program. True to the adage be careful what you wish for Gunner Stillson was given the task of addressing those shortcomings. After much research and testing of available equipment and practices he issued his landmark Report on Deep Diving Tests 1915. The results of this report were the U.S. Navy Diving Manual, The Mark V Diving Helmet, and the standardization of virtually all the diving apparatus in the USN inventory. The significance of Stillson's work cannot be overstated.
A few years back Ric got the idea to build a helmet from the concept drawings and descriptions contained in G. D. Stillson's 1915 report.
From the beginning we had to try and think as they did. Keeping in mind the equipment they were reviewing some conclusions are possible. Stillson had been reviewing and testing all available helmets and he must have found features he liked and those he didn't. Keeping this in mind here are the details we came up with.
Features of the DESCO Stillson Concept Helmet:
1. Uses a Commercial breastplate without loops or a seal bead.
2. Uses commercial style bubble shell.
3. Has a screw down lock assembly.
4. Flanged wingnuts on breastplate similar to Sponge type with "Mickey Mouse ears". Other wing nuts look like
standard Mark V type.
5. Air hose and communications line clamping fair leads attached to the neckring.
6. Neck ring is a non-recessed type.
7. Spitcock is made in reverse of a normal Mark V one, and is mounted on the right side of the helmet
8. Exhaust valve is mounted below the right window. The banana tube is short without an end tab for a rivet.
9. Exhaust valve is a single spring Morse type with an 8 point handle.
10. The side window guards have a single bar cross.
11. The top window guard is similar to a commercial top window guard.
12. The front door glass is installed from the front like the top and side glass.
13. The door and toggle bolt hinge pins are rounded on top like a rivet and held in place by peening.
14. The transceiver is mounted to the left of the front door where the spitcock on Mark V helmets would be.
15. The communications and air inlet elbows point downward.
From the drawing the air elbow appears to be vertical while the communications elbow is not. We are assuming both were meant to be vertical as canting the communications elbow outwards would tend to make the cable bow out from the diver's body. this would create a snagging hazard. Since the elbows are spaced about at armpit width it is a reasonable assumption.
The helmet we are building is a prototype. Starting with the base commercial top and breastplate shells we had new neck rings machined non-recessed, meaning there is no outer lip containing the gasket. The windows were changed to match the drawing and temporary patterns were made from wood and Plexiglas. The front door parts are made from Mark V castings. The clamps are made from billet. we keep going back to the report to try and glean more details. No lock was shown on the drawings so we were planning to install a ball lever with a open lock stop. Wading through the text we came across a reference to a locking mechanism:
A small stop, or pin, is provided at the back of the helmet which is turned down into a recess on the breastplate as a precaution against the helmet screwing off. (Appendix 3, Page 233)
This sentence made us rethink our decision and we came up with a lock more in tune with it. A threaded pin screws down into the lockstop like the one on the Browne Utility Helmet.
For this helmet we are trying to use as many off the shelf parts as possible. The four flanged wingnuts have "Mickey Mouse ears" and we think we can modify the Mk V door wingnut casting to serve. A bit of tricky machining on the spitcock and we have the left handed one we need. We did go ahead and have a pattern and core boxes made for the elbows.
The helmet & breastplate are polished and assembly begun. We finalized a design for the tag. It is designed in keeping with the idea of this helmet as a concept and not a production piece. The tag is hand stamped on a Copper disk and will be soldered onto the breastplate.
The top is nearly complete. Everything except the headset is installed. We have to come up with a realistic looking skull cap for the headset. It would similar to the canvas flyers helmet from WWII.
The Stillson Concept Helmet is substantially done. it will be moved into the display room as soon as we make a place for the stock Abalone helmet. The communications system still needs some work. We purchased a pair of old headphone of the style which would have been in use back then. The comms were four wire. Now the trick is finding or having made the canvas skull cap for the headphones. It would look muck like the canvas aviator helmet (see the movie Midway when the US flyers are on their way to attack the Japanese fleet). We will still have to make a four wire receptacle for the elbow, and a corresponding plug to fit into a Navy comm cable end.
05/27/11
Stillson Concept Helmet #001 is residing in our display room. It is the prototype and will be a permanent part of our collection.
The helmet was intended to be used with a four wire telephone setup. A speaker is mounted in a ring at the location of the spitcock on a Mark V. The diver would wear a skull cap with earphones which are attached via a plug in the helmet. We purchased a headset on ebay for 001 but we are still hung up on the skull cap. Our thinking is a World War II Naval Aviators canvas flying helmet.
The speaker we chose to use is the Dynelec noise canceling one as it has the proper look. It is mounted in a ring in the location shown in the report.
Our next issue is the connecting jack in the elbow. The report was non-specific so we are getting creative. We machined a piece of phenolic and pressed and epoxied in four Brass female contacts. One contact is smaller in diameter and will index the connection. The back is recessed to give the wiring some room. Our plan is to modify a Mark V comm plug with male pins to attach to this jack.
