Charlestown Shipwreck & Heritage Centre

Here you can see many varied items of diving equipment from the past to the present day including a vast underwater collection that dates back as far as 1715.

A varied collection of diving suits can be seen here including a Siebe Gorman deep sea suit, a World War Two frogman's suit, standard diving suits used for treasure recovery and early SCUBA gear. See how diving apparatus has changed over the years and how the suits have evolved to provide divers at all depths with the latest technology.

Diving equipment

Siebe Gorman diving air pumps	Early diving apparatus
A decompression unit from the 1950's, similar to that used by Jacques Cousteau.

All these items demonstrate the relationship between diving and shipwrecks. Man's first venture underwater was to gather food, followed by a desire to recover lost possessions - eventually including the cargoes of sunken ships.

Pegasus. Known as the 'human torpedo'. This diver delivery vehicle is the only one in the world. It was used to carry 2 divers to enemy coastlines for covert surveillance operations.