Comment

Comment by A.. Parnell on April 14, 2010 at 9:04pm

Do you have anymore information on Capt. Sorcho ? I would like to see it published. Thanks Ace

Comment by Dive Diva on November 8, 2009 at 10:38pm

Ace, I have collected more info about the Capt. just didn't put alot of it up. He reportedly invented the two way communication system that went into the hard hats and allowed the divers to talk with the topside.

Comment by A.. Parnell on November 8, 2009 at 9:00pm

Dive Dive, Thank you for your photo and research on Capt. Sorcho as I have an early photo of him in my collection but have had little knowledge of his work until now. Mr. Torrrance Parker of Long Beach Harbor, Ca. asked me for a copy of the photo and I was happy to pass it on to him however was still left with no actual knowledge of Capt. Sorcho's work.
Just one other question did he make any movies that can be reviewed ? Thanks Again.
Ace Parnell

Comment by Dive Diva on November 8, 2009 at 7:34am

Transcription from the New York Times
April 16, 1900

THE SEARCH OF THE MAINE
From the New Orleans Times-Democrat

Diver Sorcho Tells How He Recovered One Hundred and Thirty-two Bodies.

Only a little over two years ago the wh*** civilized world wanted to know what was going on in a submarine space a few hundred yards in area, and cared for little else. That space was in Havana Harbor, and its central spot was occupied by the wreck of the battleship Maine. Capt. Louis Sorcho, descendant of three generations of divers, was the chief source of information, and what the world received came from him - and by telephone!

"I went through and around the wreck," said Capt. Sorcho, Saturday night, "and whenever I noted anything worth recording I telephoned it to the members of the Board of Inquiry on the Mongreve, from on board of which vessel the search was prosecuted and directed. As fast as I came across bodies I pulled them down to the h*** in the hull, put them through, and telephoned that a body was coming. However, the attendants could follow my movements by the bubbles. Nearly all the bodies were as far toward the top of the wreck as they could float, and as soon as free in the water they mounted instantly to the top. Yes, it was hard on the nerves, but a man's brain isn't as clear under pressure of salt water as it would be above, and impressions are scarcely as vivid. The pressure affects the memory, too, which was another reason for my telephoning everything above as fast as I discovered it."

Comment by Dive Diva on November 8, 2009 at 7:26am

CAPTAIN SORCHO
And His
MONSTER SUBMARINE SHOW
Spectacular Exhibition Showing In A Huge Glass Tank
A Submatine At Her Deadly Work. Also A Startling and
Intensely Vivid Demonstration OF Seep-Sea Diving and A
Submarine Telephone In Operation.
(NOT A MOVING PICTURE)

Captain Sorcho, the feature act, was a great attraction. The U-boat was now playing a vital part in the war. The Lusitania had been sunk. People knew very little about this ne menace. Captain Sorcho's lecture explained the tactics employed by the submarine, the firing of the torpedoes, the explosion of a mine, and the eventual salvage work. During the Captain's talk the various actions were demonstrated by a diver submerged in the tank." ~ Review by Fred Allen


This was the age of vaudeville; before TV or even radio. Most people didn't even have a phone.
Captain Sorcho's Diving Shows were often given top billing even of such famous vaudvillians as of "Fatty Arbuckle & the Bowry Boys"