An Cosantóir

An Cosantóir Dec 2015 / Jan 2016 www.dfmagazine.ie 30 | by CPO MARTIN BUCKLEY, RETIRED I n May 1964 a young Lt Joe Deasy nS received notification from naval hQ that he was being sent to England on a seven- month torpedo Anti-Submarine (tAS) course. on learning that the first part of the course comprised of a four-week diving module he was underwhelmed to say the least, having never felt anything remotely resembling a desire to go diving, and simply shrugged his shoulders and went home to inform his new wife about the course. However, when Lt Deasy returned home in November not only had he successfully completed his TAS course but, much more importantly for the future of the Naval Service, he had been bit- ten by the diving bug and had begun to sow the seeds of a vision that would eventually lead to what is undoubtedly Ireland's most advanced diving group, the Irish Naval Diving Section. Roll on to a Friday afternoon in June 1981. I was on the 14.20 Cork train on the way home to Dublin. It was the June Bank Holiday weekend and I shared the train with many other naval personnel heading to Dublin to spend time with our mammies. (Well, at least enough time to say hi, drop off a bag full of dirty laundry, and grab a bite to eat, before heading out to catch up with the mates.) On the train that day I bumped into my good friend L/Sea Mui- ris (Mossy) Mahon on the way to the dining carriage. Mossy was a diver and I was interested in trying out a bit of diving myself. 'Hi Moss, would there be any chance of maybe doing a dive next week, just in the Police chamber? you know, just to see how things go. Nothing too exciting, mind!' 'yeah, no bother. I'll shout you if we get the chance.' Back in Haulbowline on the Tuesday after the long weekend, I was working in the Gunnery Bay, where I was a leading gunner. On answering a knock on the door, I was told to get down to the diving store fast as they were looking for me. When I entered the store I was met by another friend PO Gerry Duffy, standing over some diving kit laid out on the deck. 'Martin, I hear you're interested in doing a dive.' 'yeah...' (Suddenly I got a sense of dread.) 'Well, come on! Get dressed, we don't have all day.' The next few days was a whirlwind of dives, a medical in Dublin, more dives, a visit to the dentist, another train journey to Dublin, followed by a flight to Heathrow and a train ride to Portsmouth, where, late on a Sunday night, A/Tel John Lynch and I reported to HMS Vernon for diver training. Thus began my 29- year career as a Navy diver. In June 2013 there was a reunion in the Naval Base for all past, retired, and current divers. Presentations were made by the then Flag Officer Commanding NS, Commodore Mark Mellett; after which there followed a prayer meeting, a poetry recital and a delightful practical demonstration of needlepoint and crochet... No, there didn't! Two days later, having recovered from the drink, I decided that somehow or other, somebody, somewhere, was going to have to write the history of the Diving Section before we all popped our collective socks. Still, how could I ask anybody to write it if I wasn't prepared to? And so the die was cast: I would do it myself! The book is an account of how the Diving Section developed from what was essentially one man's acciden- tal entry into diving and how his subsequent vision became a reality. It tells of how, in the early 1970s, a succession of naval officers, NCOs and sailors, underwent diver training with the Royal Navy, and how, after a short while, it was realised that the Naval Service could, and should, train its own, and train them better. Thus in 1982 the first Naval Service diving course was conducted. To date, 30 courses have been run, with 132 personnel qualifying. Focusing primarily on three main themes, 'training', 'operations' and the 'recompression chamber' (RCC), and how they dovetailed, the book attempts to show how divers were few in num- ber, and operations even fewer, during the early, formative years, but as time passed more diver training led to more men and, hence, more kit and equip- ment and increased diving capability. Naval Diving Section THE nInTH sHIP

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