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Comment by Dive Diva on October 3, 2009 at 7:14am

Nice pictures Chris, you have some important equipment in diving history posted here.

The PC-3B (Techdiver) was made by Perry Oreanographics back in the early 1960s. At 22 feet long it carried 2-3 people and had a depth range of 600 feet.

On June 5, 1965 Techdiver was trailing a 1/4 inch nylon line and surface bouy, when she became stuck at a depth of 400 feet along a vertical encarpment in the Tongue of the Ocean, Bahamas. She was able to move backward enabling her to free herself. It was discovered that the line had gotten hung up on an outcrop. Later is was determined that the line wouldn't have been breakable by deballasting. After this incident the line was permanently removed.

By 1970 Techdiver had been purchased by Andre Galerne, owner of International Underwater Contractors, Inc. for use in a variety of commercial applications. It was one of the first submarines used for commmercial work. Booker T. Washington, Jr. an ex-Navy diver was I.U.C. 's choice for their first commercial submarine pilot. Besides being Techdiver's first commercial pilot, he was also the first African-American commercial submarine pilot in this country.

Another PC-3B (Cubmarine) was involved in the recovery of a B-52 bomber's H-bomb that was lost off the coast of Spain in 1966.