Scuba diving has served many purposes throughout history — from military and survival to education and tourism. From Greeks, to the French, to Americans, the ocean has remained a beacon of intrigue for centuries and scuba diving continues to thrive as a billion-dollar tourism industry.

The military has long been fascinated with stealth methods of maneuvering around one’s enemy, so naturally scuba diving took off. During the Trojan Wars, divers sabotaged enemy vessels by boring holes in the ships’ hulls. The Greeks also tried constructing elaborate underwater defensive shields to keep their attackers away.

In 500 BC, Scyllias, a Greek soldier, dove from Persian King Xerxes’ ship and held his breath underwater for hours, using a hollow reed as a snorkel, until he could alert his compatriots of the imminent danger. In 414 BC, Thucydides wrote of divers who swam to the bottom of the ocean to remove underwater obstacles so their ships could pass safely into the harbors.

In 332 BC, Aristotle reported that Alexander The Great was lowered into the water in “a fine barrel made of white glass” — which was made out of a bell — during the siege of Tyre. The Italians used scuba gear extensively in WWII and American combat divers were dubbed “frogmen” for their initially shocking appearance.

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This entry was posted on Friday, October 5th, 2007 at 6:33 pm and is filed under Recreation & Leisure. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.