Frogman
Encyclopedia
A frogman is someone who is trained to scuba diving
Scuba diving
Scuba diving is a form of underwater diving in which a diver uses a scuba set to breathe underwater....
or swim underwater
Underwater
Underwater is a term describing the realm below the surface of water where the water exists in a natural feature such as an ocean, sea, lake, pond, or river. Three quarters of the planet Earth is covered by water...
in a military capacity which can include combat
Combat
Combat, or fighting, is a purposeful violent conflict meant to establish dominance over the opposition, or to terminate the opposition forever, or drive the opposition away from a location where it is not wanted or needed....
. Such personnel are also known by the more formal names of combat diver or combatant diver or combat swimmer.
"Combat swimming" is often used to mean "combat diving", but according to some strictly speaking means surface swimming without a breathing apparatus for coastal or ship infiltration. Such actions are a historical form of "frogman" activity and an important feature of naval special operations.
The term '"frogman" is often popularly used to refer to a civilian scuba diver
Scuba diving
Scuba diving is a form of underwater diving in which a diver uses a scuba set to breathe underwater....
. The word arose around 1940 from the appearance of a diver in shiny drysuit and large fins. Though the preferred term by scuba
Scuba set
A scuba set is an independent breathing set that provides a scuba diver with the breathing gas necessary to breathe underwater during scuba diving. It is much used for sport diving and some sorts of work diving....
users is "diver", the "frogman" epithet persists in informal usage by non-divers, especially in the media and often in reference to professional scuba divers such as in a police
Police diving
Police diving is a branch of professional diving carried out by police services. Police divers are usually sworn police officers, and may either be employed full-time as divers or as general water police officers, or be volunteers who usually serve in other units but are called in if their diving...
role. Some sport diving
Scuba diving
Scuba diving is a form of underwater diving in which a diver uses a scuba set to breathe underwater....
club
Club
A club is an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal. A service club, for example, exists for voluntary or charitable activities; there are clubs devoted to hobbies and sports, social activities clubs, political and religious clubs, and so forth.- History...
s include the word "Frogmen" in their names.
In the U.S. military
Military of the United States
The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.The United States has a strong tradition of civilian control of the military...
, divers trained in scuba or SCUBA
Scuba
Scuba is an acronym for self-contained underwater breathing apparatus. It may also refer to:* Scuba diving, the use of a self-contained breathing set to stay underwater for periods of time* Scuba set, the equipment used to do scuba diving...
who deploy for military assault missions are called "combat divers". This term is used to refer to the Navy SEALs, elements of Marine Recon
United States Marine Corps Force Reconnaissance
The Force Reconnaissance Companies , are one of the United States Marine Corps's special operations "capable" forces that provide essential elements of military intelligence to the command element of the Marine Air-Ground Task Force ; supporting the landing or joint task force commanders, and...
, Army Ranger
United States Army Rangers
United States Army Rangers are elite members of the United States Army. Rangers have served in recognized U.S. Army Ranger units or have graduated from the U.S. Army's Ranger School...
RRD members, Army Special Forces divers, Air Force Pararescue
Air Force Pararescue
Pararescuemen are United States Air Force Special Operations Command and Air Combat Command operatives tasked with recovery and medical treatment of personnel in humanitarian and combat environments...
, and the Navy Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) units.
In Britain, police divers
Police diving
Police diving is a branch of professional diving carried out by police services. Police divers are usually sworn police officers, and may either be employed full-time as divers or as general water police officers, or be volunteers who usually serve in other units but are called in if their diving...
have often been called "police frogmen". The first British police diver was Ian Fraser, a policeman who, needing to search underwater for evidence of a body, did not use a drag but went home and fetched his sport scuba gear.
Some countries' frogman organizations include a translation of the word "frogman" in their official names, e.g. Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
's Frømandskorpset and Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
's Froskemanskorpset; others call themselves "combat divers" or similar. Others call themselves by indefinite names such as "special group 13" and "special operations unit".
Many nations and some irregular armed groups deploy or have deployed combat frogmen.
The first frogmen
The first well-known frogmen were the navy diverNavy diver
Navy diver is a general term to describe members of a country's naval forces who specialize in underwater diving and military diving.* Australia: Royal Australian Navy clearance diver* Canada: Canadian clearance diver...
members of World War II Italian commando frogmen
Italian commando frogmen
COMSUBIN is the elite combat frogman force and one of the Italian special forces....
, now ComSubIn, being part of Decima Flottiglia MAS
Decima Flottiglia MAS
The Decima Flottiglia MAS was an Italian commando frogman unit of the Regia Marina created during the Fascist regime.The acronym MAS also refers to various light torpedo boats used by the Regia Marina during World...
, nicknamed "Uomini Rana", Italian for "frog men", because of an underwater swimming frog kick
Frog kick
The frog kick is a swimming action sometimes used by scuba divers when they are swimming near a soft silty seabed or lakebed which they do not want to stir up damaging the visibility. It is like the swimming action of a frog or the leg part of the breaststroke...
style, similar to that of frogs. Originally these divers were called "Uomini Gamma" because they were members of the top secret
Top Secret
Top Secret generally refers to the highest acknowledged level of classified information.Top Secret may also refer to:- Film and television :* Top Secret , a British comedy directed by Mario Zampi...
special unit called "Gruppo Gamma", which originated from the kind of Pirelli rubber skin-suit
Skin-tight garment
A skin-tight garment is a garment that is held to the skin by elastic tension. Many skin-tight garments are also one-piece garments.In athletics and performance applications, skin-tight garments—or 'skinsuits' provide protection from injury from dancing, gymnastics, swimming, cycling, skating,...
nicknamed muta gamma used by these divers, but Uomini Rana was afterwards commonly used. This special corps used an early scuba set
Scuba set
A scuba set is an independent breathing set that provides a scuba diver with the breathing gas necessary to breathe underwater during scuba diving. It is much used for sport diving and some sorts of work diving....
which did not make bubbles, called A.R.O (from Auto Respiratore ad Ossigeno), an evolution of the Dräger
Dräger
The Drägerwerk AG is a German company based in Lübeck which makes breathing and protection equipment, gas detection and analysis systems, and noninvasive patient monitoring technologies. Customers include hospitals, fire departments and diving companies....
oxygen self-contained breathing apparatus designed for the mining industry and of the Davis Submerged Escape Apparatus
Davis Submerged Escape Apparatus
The Davis Submerged Escape Apparatus , was an early type of oxygen rebreather invented in 1910 by Sir Robert Davis, head of Siebe Gorman and Co. Ltd., inspired by the earlier Fleuss system...
made by Siebe, Gorman & Co and by Bergomi, designed for escaping from sunken submarines. This was used from about 1920 for spearfishing
Spearfishing
Spearfishing is an ancient method of fishing that has been used throughout the world for millennia. Early civilizations were familiar with the custom of spearing fish from rivers and streams using sharpened sticks....
by Italian sport divers, modified and adapted by the Italian navy engineers for safe underwater use and build by Pirelli
Pirelli
Pirelli & C. SpA is a diverse multinational company based in Milan, Italy. The company, the world’s fifth largest tyre manufacturer, is present in over 160 countries, has 20 manufacturing sites around the world and a network of around 10,000 distributors and retailers.Founded in Milan in 1872,...
and SALVAS from about 1933, and so became a precursor of the modern rebreather
Rebreather
A rebreather is a type of breathing set that provides a breathing gas containing oxygen and recycled exhaled gas. This recycling reduces the volume of breathing gas used, making a rebreather lighter and more compact than an open-circuit breathing set for the same duration in environments where...
.
For this new way of underwater diving, the Italian frogmen trained in La Spezia
La Spezia
La Spezia , at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the Liguria region of northern Italy, is the capital city of the province of La Spezia. Located between Genoa and Pisa on the Ligurian Sea, it is one of the main Italian military and commercial harbours and hosts one of Italy's biggest military...
, Liguria
Liguria
Liguria is a coastal region of north-western Italy, the third smallest of the Italian regions. Its capital is Genoa. It is a popular region with tourists for its beautiful beaches, picturesque little towns, and good food.-Geography:...
, using the local Genoese
Genoese
Genoese may refer to:* A person from Genoa* The Genoese dialect a variant of main Ligurian language* The Republic of Genoa, a state in Liguria from ca. 1100 to 1805 with various possessions in the Mediterranean...
newly diffused spearfishing free diving equipment (diving mask
Diving mask
A diving mask is an item of diving equipment that allows scuba divers, free-divers, and snorkelers to see clearly underwater. When the human eye is in direct contact with water as opposed to air, its normal environment, light entering the eye is refracted by a different angle and the eye is unable...
, snorkel, swimfin
Swimfin
Swimfins, swim fins, fins or flippers are worn on the foot or leg and made from finlike rubber or plastic, to aid movement through the water in water sports activities such as swimming, bodyboarding, bodysurfing, kneeboarding, riverboarding, and various types of underwater diving.Scuba divers use...
s, wetsuit
Wetsuit
A wetsuit is a garment, usually made of foamed neoprene, which is worn by surfers, divers, windsurfers, canoeists, and others engaged in water sports, providing thermal insulation, abrasion resistance and buoyancy. The insulation properties depend on bubbles of gas enclosed within the material,...
), the first specially made diving watch
Diving watch
A diving watch is a watch designed for underwater diving that features, as a minimum, a water resistance greater than , the equivalent of . The typical diver's watch will have a water resistance of around , though modern technology allows the creation of diving watches that can go much deeper...
(the luminescent Panerai
Panerai
Officine Panerai Marketing e Communicazioni Srl, a wholly owned subsidiary of Compagnie Financière Richemont S.A., designs, manufactures, markets and sells watches under the Officine Panerai brand through authorized dealers and company-owned boutiques worldwide. Giovanni Panerai founded Officine...
), and the new scuba
Scuba set
A scuba set is an independent breathing set that provides a scuba diver with the breathing gas necessary to breathe underwater during scuba diving. It is much used for sport diving and some sorts of work diving....
unit. This was a revolutionary alternative way and the start of the transition from the usual heavy underwater diving of the hard hat divers
Standard diving dress
A standard diving dress consists of a metallic diving helmet, an airline or hose from a surface supplied diving air pump, a canvas diving suit, diving knife and boots...
(the only method used from 18th century) to self-contained divers, free of being tethered by an air line and rope connection.
In 1933 Italian companies were already producing underwater oxygen rebreathers, but the first scuba diving set is generally recognised inside the USA as being invented in 1939 by Christian Lambertsen, who dubbed it the Lambertsen Amphibious Respirator Unit (LARU).
Defending against frogmen
Anti-frogman techniques are security methods developed to protect watercraftWatercraft
A watercraft is a vessel or craft designed to move across or through water. The name is derived from the term "craft" which was used to describe all types of water going vessels...
, port
Port
A port is a location on a coast or shore containing one or more harbors where ships can dock and transfer people or cargo to or from land....
s and installations, and other sensitive resources both in or nearby vulnerable waterways from potential threats or intrusions by frogmen.
Types of armed-forces divers
Military diving is a branch of professional diving carried out by armed forcesArmed forces
The armed forces of a country are its government-sponsored defense, fighting forces, and organizations. They exist to further the foreign and domestic policies of their governing body, and to defend that body and the nation it represents from external aggressors. In some countries paramilitary...
. They may be divided into:
- Combat / assault divers.
- Armed forces work divers (called Clearance DiverClearance DiverA clearance diver was originally a specialist naval diver who used explosives underwater to remove obstructions to make harbours and shipping channels safe to navigate, but later the term "clearance diver" was used to include other naval underwater work...
s in the Royal NavyRoyal NavyThe Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
and Royal Australian NavyRoyal Australian NavyThe Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...
), who do general work underwater. - Armed forces work divers who are trained in defusing mineNaval mineA naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, an enemy vessel...
s and removing other explosives underwater.
These groups may overlap, and the same men may serve as assault divers and work divers, as in the Australian Clearance Diving Team (RAN)
Clearance Diving Team (RAN)
The Clearance Diving Teams of the Royal Australian Navy also act as commando frogmen: they consist of naval personnel who are qualified in diving, demolitions, underwater repairs, and reconnaissance...
.
Frogman training
Training armed forces divers, including combat divers, is often harder, longer, and more complicated than civilian sport scuba diver training, typically takes several months full-time, and the trainees must be at full armed forcesArmed forces
The armed forces of a country are its government-sponsored defense, fighting forces, and organizations. They exist to further the foreign and domestic policies of their governing body, and to defend that body and the nation it represents from external aggressors. In some countries paramilitary...
fitness and discipline at the start. It needs much higher levels of fitness, and during the course there is often a high elimination rate of trainees who do not make the grade. For more details see the articles on each nation's frogman group below and their external links.
Typically, a frogman with closed circuit breathing equipment will stay within 8 metres (26.2 ft) due to the risk of oxygen poisoning. For comparison, trained and properly educated recreational divers with open circuit equipment can dive to 50 metres (164 ft) or more.
For example, the PADI
Padi
Padi or PADI may refer to:* Padi, Chennai, India* Padi , a musical group* Paddy field, a type of cultivated land * Professional Association of Diving Instructors, a scuba organization...
Open Water Diver
Open Water Diver
Open Water Diver is an entry-level full diver certification for scuba diving. Although different agencies use different names, similar entry-level courses are offered by all diving agencies and consist of a combination of knowledge development , confined water dives and open water dives...
(the most basic rank) course takes 5 dives in a swimming pool
Swimming pool
A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, or simply a pool, is a container filled with water intended for swimming or water-based recreation. There are many standard sizes; the largest is the Olympic-size swimming pool...
and 4 dives in open water (i.e. sea
Sea
A sea generally refers to a large body of salt water, but the term is used in other contexts as well. Most commonly, it means a large expanse of saline water connected with an ocean, and is commonly used as a synonym for ocean...
, lake
Lake
A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...
, etc.); after the course the qualified diver is allowed to dive to 18 metres (59.1 ft). The next step (Advanced Open Water Diver
Advanced Open Water Diver
Advanced Open Water Diver is a scuba diving certification level provided by several diver training agencies, such as Professional Association of Diving Instructors , Scuba Schools International and Underwater Explorers' Federation...
) allows him to dive to 30 metres (98.4 ft). A further Deep Diver speciality course allows him to dive to 40 metres (131.2 ft) maximum, which is considered safe for civil scuba diving. European agencies commonly impose a 50 metres (164 ft) maximum on recreational diving. This can be compared with military frogman training courses as described in some of the articles about national military frogman bodies included or pointed to below, and their included external links.
In some cases, well-trained and experienced amateur divers can - legislation permitting - be capable of accomplishing tasks that regulations forbid professional divers from undertaking. As an example, Simon Mitchell
Simon Mitchell
Simon Mitchell is a New Zealand physician specializing in occupational medicine, hyperbaric medicine and anesthesiology. Trained in medicine, Dr Mitchell was awarded a PhD for his work on neuroprotection from embolic brain injury. Mitchell has also published more than 45 research and review...
was able to conduct a search for the engine of a crashed helicopter at 74 metres (242.8 ft), when naval or police divers could not.
Breathing sets
Frogmen's breathing sets on covert operations should have particular features.- Some are needed because they may need to swim fast and far.
- Some are needed to avoid detection.
- Sometimes patrol divers may have to be sent down to find or arrest submerged suspect divers. For reasons stated in Anti-frogman techniques#Sending other frogmen against them, underwater fights between divers are much rarer in reality than in fiction, and thus suitability of the frogman's kit for "diver to diver combat" is less important than some other features when designing it; but the point is considered here for completeness.
USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
frogmen's rebreathers tended to have the breathing bag on the back before enclosed backpack-box rebreathers became common.
Features needed
A frogman's breathing set should:- Be as silent as possible in use.
- Have a full face diving maskFull face diving maskA full-face diving mask is a type of diving mask that seals the whole of the diver's face from the water and contains a mouthpiece or demand valve that provides the diver with breathing gas...
:- To let frogmen communicate underwater.
- Be less easily knocked off underwater.
- Be much less easily lost if the frogman goes unconscious underwater.
- Be securely fastened, see here about full-face diving masks. It should have as little as possible (e.g. an excessively bulky or projecting set/air valve) that can catch on things or that an attacker could easily grasp.
- Be a dull color to avoid being seen from out of the water. Many are black, but the Russian IDA71's backpack box is mostly dark green. No large bright-colored badges or manufacturer's logos.
- Contain as little iron or steel as possible, to avoid detection by magneticMagnetismMagnetism is a property of materials that respond at an atomic or subatomic level to an applied magnetic field. Ferromagnetism is the strongest and most familiar type of magnetism. It is responsible for the behavior of permanent magnets, which produce their own persistent magnetic fields, as well...
sensors. This is also useful when the frogmen have to remove or defuse mineNaval mineA naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, an enemy vessel...
s underwater. - Be as light and agile as possible, as far as is compatible with an adequate dive duration:
- Be well streamlinedDrag (physics)In fluid dynamics, drag refers to forces which act on a solid object in the direction of the relative fluid flow velocity...
, and as small and light as possible for the dive duration. With a combat diver this may mean removing safety features such as an open-circuit bailout that would add bulk. Long trailing hoses (e.g. regulatorDiving regulatorA diving regulator is a pressure regulator used in scuba or surface supplied diving equipment that reduces pressurized breathing gas to ambient pressure and delivers it to the diver. The gas may be air or one of a variety of specially blended breathing gases...
hoses) are easily fouled and or pulled at and add to drag. If an underwater fight, or a quick need to escape, develops, agility and lack of cumbersomeness could be vital. This applies to:- Streamlining in straight swimming, as he may have to swim fast and far.
- Streamlining when he rolls over and twists about.
- The diver's inertia when he must roll over quicklyRadius of gyrationRadius of gyration or gyradius is the name of several related measures of the size of an object, a surface, or an ensemble of points. It is calculated as the root mean square distance of the objects' parts from either its center of gravity or an axis....
. - The risk of snagging on things in dark water, or being taken hold of by. The Russian IDA71 military and naval rebreatherRussian IDA71 military and naval rebreatherThe Russian IDA71 military and naval rebreather is an oxygen rebreather intended for use by naval and military divers. As supplied it is in a plain backpack harness with no buoyancy aid. Its casing is metal, not plastic. It has a small optional diluent cylinder which can be clipped on its outside...
is a good example here.
- Be well streamlined
- Have a long dive duration.
- The front of the frogman's abdomen should be clear so he can easily climb in and out of small boats or over obstacles, particularly out of the water.
- Have its breathing bag toughened against stabbing and scratches, or safely inside a hard backpack box.
- All controls should be where the frogman can easily reach them, and not projecting. Turning the usual type of sport diving scuba's air off or on is easy for an attacker from above but difficult or impossible for the diver himself (and has been known to happen by itself when a diver pushes through thick kelpKelpKelps are large seaweeds belonging to the brown algae in the order Laminariales. There are about 30 different genera....
), unless the cylinder or cylinders are mounted inverted. However, that needs more pipework, and it is easy to bump the valvework on things, including when taking the set off. - Have its working parts and breathing tubeBreathing tube (in breathing apparatus)A breathing tube is a flexible tube for breathing through, as part of a scuba set or other breathing apparatus or a medical oxygen apparatus or anaesthetic apparatus They are wide, and usually corrugated to let the user's head move about without the tube pinching at...
or tubes should be safe from snagging on things in dark water, and from attack in an underwater fight, including in the risk of being "jumped" from above.- Long trailing breathing tubeBreathing tube (in breathing apparatus)A breathing tube is a flexible tube for breathing through, as part of a scuba set or other breathing apparatus or a medical oxygen apparatus or anaesthetic apparatus They are wide, and usually corrugated to let the user's head move about without the tube pinching at...
s or regulator hoses may snag on things in dark water and can easily be grasped and pulled. - Older Siebe GormanSiebe GormanSiebe Gorman & Company Ltd was a British company which developed diving equipment and breathing equipment and worked on commercial diving and marine salvage projects...
-type rebreatherRebreatherA rebreather is a type of breathing set that provides a breathing gas containing oxygen and recycled exhaled gas. This recycling reduces the volume of breathing gas used, making a rebreather lighter and more compact than an open-circuit breathing set for the same duration in environments where...
s (see Siebe Gorman CDBA) had one breathing tube, which was in front of the chest and easier for the frogman to keep track of.
- Long trailing breathing tube
Not open-circuit scuba
- Open-circuit scuba makes large amounts of bubbles, showing where the diver is.
- Open-circuit scuba makes noise (on exhalation, and regulatorDiving regulatorA diving regulator is a pressure regulator used in scuba or surface supplied diving equipment that reduces pressurized breathing gas to ambient pressure and delivers it to the diver. The gas may be air or one of a variety of specially blended breathing gases...
valve intake hiss as the diver breathes in) showing underwater listening devices where the diver is.- There have been experiments with making released air or gas come out through a diffuserDiffuser (breathing set part)A diffuser is a device fitted over an underwater breathing set's exhaust hole to break up the resulting bubbles small so they will not be seen from out of the water, and make less noise...
, to break the bubbles up; this may sometimes work with the small amounts of gas that are sometimes released by rebreathers, but open-circuit scuba releases so much gas at every breath that a diffuser large enough to handle it without making breathing difficult would be too bulky and would interfere with streamliningStreamline (swimming)Used most typically in competitive swimming, the streamline position is the position a swimmer takes underwater after pushing off a pool wall. To streamline, a swimmer must tuck the head into the collar bone, pointing both arms straight ahead in a tight line. The underside of both arms should be...
. Holding the breath to avoid making noise at critical moments is not recommended and very risky: see diving hazards and precautions
- There have been experiments with making released air or gas come out through a diffuser
- The bulk of an open-circuit set makes the diver heavy and cumbersome in rolling over and changing course or speed.
- The dive duration of open circuit sets is much shorter than the dive duration of naval rebreathers, in proportion to bulk. However, some "technical divingTechnical divingTechnical diving is a form of scuba diving that exceeds the scope of recreational diving...
" rebreathers are very burdened with safety devices such as inflatable flotation and open-circuit bailout. (Some modern rebreathers, such as the Draeger, are lighter.) The rebreathers which are the most compact in proportion to dive duration are oxygen rebreathers, but these are depth limited to about 8 metres (26.2 ft) because of the oxygen toxicityOxygen toxicityOxygen toxicity is a condition resulting from the harmful effects of breathing molecular oxygen at elevated partial pressures. It is also known as oxygen toxicity syndrome, oxygen intoxication, and oxygen poisoning...
risk. - The common sport open-circuit scuba set is not recommended for a fight against a trained naval or combat diver, because in any sort of underwater combat, a man with a large aqualungAqua-lungAqua-Lung was the original name of the first open-circuit free-swimming underwater breathing set in reaching worldwide popularity and commercial success...
has a high rotation-inertiaRadius of gyrationRadius of gyration or gyradius is the name of several related measures of the size of an object, a surface, or an ensemble of points. It is calculated as the root mean square distance of the objects' parts from either its center of gravity or an axis....
and is very unstreamlined in the twisting and turning involved in fighting and straight swimming, and his maneuvering is slowed critically compared to a man with a light streamlined rebreather with all parts close to his body.
Combat frogmen sometimes use open-circuit scuba sets during training and for operations where being detected or long distance swimming are not significant concerns.
The Russian IDA71
The Russian IDA71 military and naval rebreatherRussian IDA71 military and naval rebreather
The Russian IDA71 military and naval rebreather is an oxygen rebreather intended for use by naval and military divers. As supplied it is in a plain backpack harness with no buoyancy aid. Its casing is metal, not plastic. It has a small optional diluent cylinder which can be clipped on its outside...
is a typical frogman set:
- Its working parts are in a hard smooth rounded metal backpack casing which has little that can snag on things or be easily grasped and pulled at. There is no mass of projecting valvework behind his neck to cause hydrodynamic drag and for an attacker to grasp.
- Its only external control is its on/off switch, which is on its right edge near the bottom where he can reach it easily, and does not stick out.
- It does have looping breathing tubeBreathing tube (in breathing apparatus)A breathing tube is a flexible tube for breathing through, as part of a scuba set or other breathing apparatus or a medical oxygen apparatus or anaesthetic apparatus They are wide, and usually corrugated to let the user's head move about without the tube pinching at...
s like an old-type aqualungAqua-lungAqua-Lung was the original name of the first open-circuit free-swimming underwater breathing set in reaching worldwide popularity and commercial success...
, but these originate well apart next to where they come over his shoulders and do not have to reach across from the back of his neck. They can be strapped to the shoulder straps so they do not float up into big vulnerable loops behind the shoulders. - When the frogman comes out of water quickly, the holes in the casing let contained water drain quickly, so he is quickly rid of the weight of that water.
- In oxygen rebreather mode it is said to last 4 hours on a filling.
Masks
Some frogmen use an ordinary diving maskDiving mask
A diving mask is an item of diving equipment that allows scuba divers, free-divers, and snorkelers to see clearly underwater. When the human eye is in direct contact with water as opposed to air, its normal environment, light entering the eye is refracted by a different angle and the eye is unable...
; some use a fullface mask, which is less easily lost underwater. The older type of British frogman's and naval diving mask
Diving mask
A diving mask is an item of diving equipment that allows scuba divers, free-divers, and snorkelers to see clearly underwater. When the human eye is in direct contact with water as opposed to air, its normal environment, light entering the eye is refracted by a different angle and the eye is unable...
was full face and had a mouthpiece inside it.
Some frogmen use a mouthpiece and noseclip or a mouth-and-nose (orinasal) breathing mask
Orinasal mask
An orinasal mask is a breathing mask that covers the mouth and the nose only. It may occur independently, as an oxygen mask, or on some anaesthetic apparatuses, or it may occur inside a fullface mask on a scuba set or an industrial breathing set to reduce the amount of dead space...
instead of a diving mask with eye windows, and special contact lens
Contact lens
A contact lens, or simply contact, is a lens placed on the eye. They are considered medical devices and can be worn to correct vision, for cosmetic or therapeutic reasons. In 2004, it was estimated that 125 million people use contact lenses worldwide, including 28 to 38 million in the United...
es to correct the vision refraction error caused by the eyeballs being directly submerged. This is to avoid a searchlight
Searchlight
A searchlight is an apparatus that combines a bright light source with some form of curved reflector or other optics to project a powerful beam of light of approximately parallel rays in a particular direction, usually constructed so that it can be swiveled about.-Military use:The Royal Navy used...
or other lights reflecting off the mask window and thus revealing his presence, but it exposes the eyeballs to any pollution
Pollution
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat or light...
, poison
Poison
In the context of biology, poisons are substances that can cause disturbances to organisms, usually by chemical reaction or other activity on the molecular scale, when a sufficient quantity is absorbed by an organism....
, or organism
Organism
In biology, an organism is any contiguous living system . In at least some form, all organisms are capable of response to stimuli, reproduction, growth and development, and maintenance of homoeostasis as a stable whole.An organism may either be unicellular or, as in the case of humans, comprise...
s in the water.
The United States military has adopted Oceanic
Oceanic Worldwide
Oceanic is a company which currently designs and manufactures sport-type scuba gear. They were founded by Bob Hollis in 1972 and are based in San Leandro, California, USA.-Rebreathers:...
/Aeris's "Integrated Diver Display Mask
Integrated Diver Display Mask
The Integrated Diver Display Mask is a diving mask which contains a small basic heads-up display that lets divers monitor depth, bottom time, tank pressures, and related information while leaving their hands free for other tasks....
". It is a basic "Heads-Up Display" that lets divers monitor depth, bottom time, tank pressures, and related information while leaving their hands free for other tasks.
Fins
Another problem with a frogman who may have to come ashore and operate on land is the awkwardness of walking on land in finsSwimfin
Swimfins, swim fins, fins or flippers are worn on the foot or leg and made from finlike rubber or plastic, to aid movement through the water in water sports activities such as swimming, bodyboarding, bodysurfing, kneeboarding, riverboarding, and various types of underwater diving.Scuba divers use...
, unless he plans to discard his kit and return to base by some other way than by diving, or if the frogmen plan to take and hold a position on land until other troops arrive. Some sport diving fins have the blade angled downwards for more effective swimming, but this makes walking on them more awkward.
The usual solution is for the frogman to take his fins off and carry them, but that takes time and occupies a hand carrying them unless he can clip them in to his kit or thread an arm through the fins' straps. Nowadays all fins can be clipped onto a belt without having any disadvantages.
Another type of fin that frogmen could use would have a lockable hinge which on land can be unlocked to let the fin blade hinge up out of the way when walking: for example Flipfins.
The first type of British naval swimming fin had a short blade which was even shorter at the big toe side: this made walking on land easier for such purposes as creeping up on a sentry from behind on land, but reduced swimming speed.
Diving suits
The frogman's diving suit should be a tough scratch-and-cut-resistant drysuit (perhaps reinforced with kevlarKevlar
Kevlar is the registered trademark for a para-aramid synthetic fiber, related to other aramids such as Nomex and Technora. Developed at DuPont in 1965, this high strength material was first commercially used in the early 1970s as a replacement for steel in racing tires...
), and not a soft foam wetsuit
Wetsuit
A wetsuit is a garment, usually made of foamed neoprene, which is worn by surfers, divers, windsurfers, canoeists, and others engaged in water sports, providing thermal insulation, abrasion resistance and buoyancy. The insulation properties depend on bubbles of gas enclosed within the material,...
. A wetsuit can be worn under the drysuit as a warm undersuit
Undersuit
An undersuit is a garment worn under a diver's drysuit or under a spacesuit....
. In very warm water, a thin tough drysuit can be worn with no undersuit
Undersuit
An undersuit is a garment worn under a diver's drysuit or under a spacesuit....
.
For Bomb Disposal Operations, Canadian Naval Divers wear Bomb suits.
It should not have obvious bright colored patches, unit badge
Badge
A badge is a device or fashion accessory, often containing the insignia of an organization, which is presented or displayed to indicate some feat of service, a special accomplishment, a symbol of authority granted by taking an oath , a sign of legitimate employment or student status, or as a simple...
s or the suit's maker's advertising
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
. Diving sea-police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
types, however, may find that a unit badge is useful.
Tools and weapons carried underwater
Weapons that can be carried by a frogman include:- Knife: standard weapon.
- A speargunSpeargunA speargun is an underwater fishing implement designed to fire a spear at fish.The basic components of a speargun are:A spear, a stock/barrel, and a handle/grip containing a trigger mechanism...
has been seen advertised in circumstances suggesting its use for combat and not for fishing. - Underwater firearms:
- Russian APS Underwater Assault Rifle
- Russian ASM-DT Amphibious Assault RifleASM-DT Underwater Assault Rifle-History and design:The introduction of the APS Underwater Assault Rifle solved the problem of how frogmen guarding a naval base could be armed, but there remained the problem of how to arm naval Spetsnaz combat frogmen when they were deployed on assault missions...
- Russian ADS Amphibious Assault RifleADS amphibious rifleThe ADS is an Assault rifle of Russian origin specially made for combat divers. It is of a bullpup layout and is chambered in the 5.45x39mm M74 round...
- Russian SPP-1 Underwater PistolSPP-1 Underwater PistolThe SPP-1 Underwater Pistol was made in the USSR for use underwater by Soviet frogmen as an underwater firearm. It was developed in the late 1960s and accepted for use in 1971. Underwater, ordinary-shaped bullets are inaccurate and very short-range...
- Heckler & Koch P11 Underwater Pistol
- Standard firearms:
- Canadian DiemacoDiemacoDiemaco was a Canadian defense company based in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, that manufactured the C7 family of rifles under a licence from Colt. It was acquired by Colt on May 20, 2005, in a $18.2 million purchase from parent company Héroux-Devtek Inc, which had purchased Diemaco in 2000....
C7 and C8 assault rifles
- Canadian Diemaco
- Many types of explosives may be used:
- C-4C-4 (explosive)C4 or Composition C4 is a common variety of the plastic explosive known as Composition C.-Composition and manufacture:C4 is made up of explosives, plastic binder, plasticizer and usually marker or odorizing taggant chemicals such as 2,3-dimethyl-2,3-dinitrobutane to help detect the explosive and...
, C13 grenadeM67 grenadeThe M67 grenade is a fragmentation hand grenade used by the United States Military and Canadian Forces, where it is referred to as the C13. The M67 is a replacement for the M61 grenade used during Vietnam and the older Mk 2 "pineapple" grenade used since World War II.-Composition:The M67 Grenade...
, and clay explosives - And, most famously, the limpet mineLimpet mineA limpet mine is a type of naval mine attached to a target by magnets; they are so named because of their superficial similarity to the limpet, a type of mollusk....
.
- C-4
- Other tools include net-cutters.
Transport for frogmen
Frogmen may approach their site of operation and return to base in various ways including:- Swimming all the way.
- Small boats, such as a canoeCanoeA canoe or Canadian canoe is a small narrow boat, typically human-powered, though it may also be powered by sails or small electric or gas motors. Canoes are usually pointed at both bow and stern and are normally open on top, but can be decked over A canoe (North American English) or Canadian...
or sea scooterPersonal water craftA personal water craft , also called water scooter, is a recreational watercraft that the rider rides or stands on, rather than inside of, as in a boat....
. - TendersShip's tenderA ship's tender, usually referred to as a tender, is a boat, or a larger ship used to service a ship, generally by transporting people and/or supplies to and from shore or another ship...
and remotely operated vehicles (ROV). Canadian diversCanadian armed forces diversCanadian Forces diving is performed by units of the maritime, land, and air environmental commands , the Experimental Diving and Undersea Group , and Special Operations Forces...
use the Phantom ROV and Yard Diving Tenders (YDT). - Being dropped off or picked up by fast rigid-hulled inflatable boatRigid-hulled inflatable boatA rigid-hulled inflatable boat, or rigid-inflatable boat is a light-weight but high-performance and high-capacity boat constructed with a solid, shaped hull and flexible tubes at the gunwale. The design is stable and seaworthy...
s. - The SubskimmerSubskimmerThe Subskimmer is a Diver Propulsion Vehicle which is a form of RIB with an outboard petrol engine. It is equipped to inflate and deflate itself as it runs. When submerged it seals its motor and runs with battery-electric thrusters, which are on a rotatable cross-arm, and is deflated...
and similar. - In World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, ItalyItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and the United KingdomUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
used manned torpedoes to carry frogmen to their targets. Some nations still keep manned torpedoes. - Powerful versions of sport-diving submersibleSubmersibleA submersible is a small vehicle designed to operate underwater. The term submersible is often used to differentiate from other underwater vehicles known as submarines, in that a submarine is a fully autonomous craft, capable of renewing its own power and breathing air, whereas a submersible is...
s, modified with longer duration batteries. - The Protei 5Protei-5 Russian diver-riderThe Protei-5 is a small Russian one-man diver propulsion vehicle often used by Russian commando frogmen. It is battery electric powered, using six non-sealed lead–acid batteries. It clips on under the diver with a clip over each shoulder and one up between his legs. Its casing is aluminium...
and similar diver propulsion vehiclesDiver Propulsion VehicleA diver propulsion vehicle is an item of diving equipment used by scuba and rebreather divers to increase range underwater...
. - Midget submarineMidget submarineA midget submarine is any submarine under 150 tons, typically operated by a crew of one or two but sometimes up to 6 or 8, with little or no on-board living accommodation...
s such as the X-craft, the SDVSEAL Delivery VehicleThe SEAL Delivery Vehicle or is a manned submersible and a type of Swimmer Delivery Vehicle used to deliver United States Navy SEALs and their equipment for special operations missions....
or the US Advanced SEAL Delivery SystemAdvanced SEAL Delivery SystemAdvanced SEAL Delivery System was a midget submarine operated by the United States Navy and United States Special Operations Command that is designed to provide stealthy submerged transportation for special operations forces from the decks of nuclear submarines for primary use as an insertion...
(ASDS) that have an airlockAirlockAn airlock is a device which permits the passage of people and objects between a pressure vessel and its surroundings while minimizing the change of pressure in the vessel and loss of air from it...
for frogmen to exit and return. - Full-sized submarineSubmarineA submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
s which frogmen can exit and return to, sometimes through an airlockAirlockAn airlock is a device which permits the passage of people and objects between a pressure vessel and its surroundings while minimizing the change of pressure in the vessel and loss of air from it...
or a torpedo tubeTorpedo tubeA torpedo tube is a device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units installed aboard surface vessels...
. These two methods, like all methods, need precautions. This link (in Russian) describes a risky diving incident from a submerged submarine: the sub was neutrally buoyant at the start, but when the first frogman airlockAirlockAn airlock is a device which permits the passage of people and objects between a pressure vessel and its surroundings while minimizing the change of pressure in the vessel and loss of air from it...
ed, the sub's buoyancy changed causing the sub to start floating up. In later dives, the sub's captain improved ballast to keep the sub on the seabed while frogmen were coming out or in. - Some frogmen are trained to parachuteParachuteA parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag, or in the case of ram-air parachutes, aerodynamic lift. Parachutes are usually made out of light, strong cloth, originally silk, now most commonly nylon...
to the site of operation. The backpack box of the RussiaRussiaRussia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n IDA71 frogman's rebreather has two metal clips to fasten to a parachute harness.
Types of frogman operations
- Amphibious assault: stealthy deployment of land or boardingBoarding (attack)Boarding, in its simplest sense, refers to the insertion on to a ship's deck of individuals. However, when it is classified as an attack, in most contexts, it refers to the forcible insertion of personnel that are not members of the crew by another party without the consent of the captain or crew...
forces. The vast majority of combat swimmer missions are simply to get "from here to there" and arrive suitably equipped and in sufficient physical condition to fight on arrival. The deployment of tactical forces using the arrival by water to assault land targets, oil platformOil platformAn oil platform, also referred to as an offshore platform or, somewhat incorrectly, oil rig, is a lаrge structure with facilities to drill wells, to extract and process oil and natural gas, and to temporarily store product until it can be brought to shore for refining and marketing...
s, or surface ship targets (as in boardings for seizure of evidence) is a major driver behind the equipping and training of combat swimmers. The purposes are many, but include feint and deception, counter-drugDrugA drug, broadly speaking, is any substance that, when absorbed into the body of a living organism, alters normal bodily function. There is no single, precise definition, as there are different meanings in drug control law, government regulations, medicine, and colloquial usage.In pharmacology, a...
, law enforcementLaw enforcement agencyIn North American English, a law enforcement agency is a government agency responsible for the enforcement of the laws.Outside North America, such organizations are called police services. In North America, some of these services are called police while others have other names In North American...
, counter-terrorismCounter-terrorismCounter-terrorism is the practices, tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, militaries, police departments and corporations adopt to prevent or in response to terrorist threats and/or acts, both real and imputed.The tactic of terrorism is available to insurgents and governments...
, and counter-proliferationCounter-proliferationCounter-proliferation refers to diplomatic, intelligence, and military efforts to combat the proliferation of weapons, including both conventional weapons and weapons of mass destruction...
missions. - Sabotage: This includes putting limpet mines on ships.
- Clandestine surveying: Surveying a beachAmphibious reconnaissanceThe concept of amphibious reconnaissance, or commonly amphib recon, are used primarily in conjunction with ground and naval reconnaissance concerning the littoral area bordering coastal or maritime areas of interests...
before a troop landing, or other forms of unauthorized underwater surveying in denied waters. The article "Riding on Proton" by Afonchenko (in Russian) may describe in passing a Soviet Bloc frogman infiltrationInfiltration tacticsIn warfare, infiltration tactics involve small, lightly equipped infantry forces attacking enemy rear areas while bypassing enemy front line strongpoints and isolating them for attack by follow-up troops with heavier weapons.-Development during World War I:...
into South KoreaSouth KoreaThe Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
n sea. - Clandestine underwater work, e.g.:
- Recovering underwater objects.
- Clandestine fitting of monitoring devices on submarine communications cableSubmarine communications cableA submarine communications cable is a cable laid on the sea bed between land-based stations to carry telecommunication signals across stretches of ocean....
s in enemy waters.
- Investigating unidentified divers, or a sonarSonarSonar is a technique that uses sound propagation to navigate, communicate with or detect other vessels...
echo that may be unidentified divers. Diving sea-police work may be included here. See anti-frogman techniques. - Checking shipShipSince the end of the age of sail a ship has been any large buoyant marine vessel. Ships are generally distinguished from boats based on size and cargo or passenger capacity. Ships are used on lakes, seas, and rivers for a variety of activities, such as the transport of people or goods, fishing,...
s, boatBoatA boat is a watercraft of any size designed to float or plane, to provide passage across water. Usually this water will be inland or in protected coastal areas. However, boats such as the whaleboat were designed to be operated from a ship in an offshore environment. In naval terms, a boat is a...
s, structures, and harborHarborA harbor or harbour , or haven, is a place where ships, boats, and barges can seek shelter from stormy weather, or else are stored for future use. Harbors can be natural or artificial...
s for limpet mines and other sabotage; and ordinary routine maintenance in war conditions. If the inspection divers during this find attacking frogmen laying mines, this category may merge into the previous category. - Underwater mineNaval mineA naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, an enemy vessel...
clearance and bomb disposalBomb disposalBomb disposal is the process by which hazardous explosive devices are rendered safe. Bomb disposal is an all encompassing term to describe the separate, but interrelated functions in the following fields:*Military:...
.
Mission descriptions
The U.S. and U.K. forces use these official definitions for mission descriptors:Stealthy : Keeping out of sight (e.g. underwater) when approaching the target.
Covert : Carrying out an action of which the enemy may become aware, but whose perpetrator cannot easily be discovered or apprehended. Covert action often involves military force which cannot be hidden once it has happened. Stealth on approach, and frequently on departure, may be used.
Clandestine
Clandestine operation
A clandestine operation is an intelligence or military operation carried out in such a way that the operation goes unnoticed.The United States Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms defines "clandestine operation" as "An operation sponsored or conducted by governmental...
: It is intended that the enemy does not find out then or afterward that the action has happened. Installing eavesdropping
Eavesdropping
Eavesdropping is the act of secretly listening to the private conversation of others without their consent, as defined by Black's Law Dictionary...
devices is the best example. Approach, installing the devices, and departure are all to be kept from the knowledge of the enemy. If the operation or its purpose is exposed, then the actor will usually make sure that the action at least remains "covert", or unattributable: e.g. "...the secretary
Secretary of State
Secretary of State or State Secretary is a commonly used title for a senior or mid-level post in governments around the world. The role varies between countries, and in some cases there are multiple Secretaries of State in the Government....
will disavow any knowledge of your actions."
Derivative word usages
- Some scuba divingScuba divingScuba diving is a form of underwater diving in which a diver uses a scuba set to breathe underwater....
clubClubA club is an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal. A service club, for example, exists for voluntary or charitable activities; there are clubs devoted to hobbies and sports, social activities clubs, political and religious clubs, and so forth.- History...
s have an entry class called "TadpoleTadpoleA tadpole or polliwog is the wholly aquatic larval stage in the life cycle of an amphibian, particularly that of a frog or toad.- Appellation :...
s" for younger children who want to start scuba diving.
Wrong use of the word frogman
A new English translation of the book Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea uses the word frogman uniformly and wrongly to mean a diver in standard diving dressStandard diving dress
A standard diving dress consists of a metallic diving helmet, an airline or hose from a surface supplied diving air pump, a canvas diving suit, diving knife and boots...
or similar, to translate French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
scaphandrier.
Supposed ancient scuba divers/frogmen
Ancient AssyriaAssyria
Assyria was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom, extant as a nation state from the mid–23rd century BC to 608 BC centred on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times through history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur...
n stone carvings show images which some have supposed to be frogmen with crude breathing sets. However, the "breathing set" was merely a goat
Goat
The domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep as both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae. There are over three hundred distinct breeds of...
skin float used to cross a river, and its "breathing tube
Breathing tube (in breathing apparatus)
A breathing tube is a flexible tube for breathing through, as part of a scuba set or other breathing apparatus or a medical oxygen apparatus or anaesthetic apparatus They are wide, and usually corrugated to let the user's head move about without the tube pinching at...
" was to inflate it by mouth. See timeline of underwater technology
Timeline of underwater technology
This is a timeline of underwater technology.The entries marked ## are about decompression tables.-Pre-industrial:* Several centuries BC: This is a timeline of underwater technology.The entries marked ## are about decompression tables.-Pre-industrial:* Several centuries BC: This is a timeline of...
.
Aqualungs
Many comics have depicted combat frogmen and other covert divers using two-cylinder twin-hose open-circuit aqualungsAqua-lung
Aqua-Lung was the original name of the first open-circuit free-swimming underwater breathing set in reaching worldwide popularity and commercial success...
. All real covert frogmen use rebreather
Rebreather
A rebreather is a type of breathing set that provides a breathing gas containing oxygen and recycled exhaled gas. This recycling reduces the volume of breathing gas used, making a rebreather lighter and more compact than an open-circuit breathing set for the same duration in environments where...
s because the stream of bubbles from an open-circuit set would give away the frogman's position.
Many aqualungs have been anachronistically
Anachronism
An anachronism—from the Greek ανά and χρόνος — is an inconsistency in some chronological arrangement, especially a chronological misplacing of persons, events, objects, or customs in regard to each other...
depicted in comics in stories set during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, when in reality, at that time period, aqualungs were unknown outside Jacques-Yves Cousteau
Jacques-Yves Cousteau
Jacques-Yves Cousteau was a French naval officer, explorer, ecologist, filmmaker, innovator, scientist, photographer, author and researcher who studied the sea and all forms of life in water...
and his close associates in Toulon
Toulon
Toulon is a town in southern France and a large military harbor on the Mediterranean coast, with a major French naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur region, Toulon is the capital of the Var department in the former province of Provence....
in south France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Some aqualungs were smuggled out of occupied France during the war (these may have been Commeinhes aqualungs), but the aqualung for the most part was not a player in combat in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
The movie The Frogmen
The Frogmen (film)
The Frogmen is a 1951 black-and-white film made by Twentieth Century Fox. It is based on operations by United States Navy Underwater Demolition Teams, popularly known as "frogmen," against the Japanese Army and naval forces in World War II...
also made this mistake, using three-cylinder
Gas cylinder
A gas cylinder is a pressure vessel used to store gases at above atmospheric pressure. High pressure gas cylinders are also called bottles. Although they are sometimes colloquially called "tanks", this is technically incorrect, as a tank is a vessel used to store liquids at ambient pressure and...
ed aqualungs, as seen in the movie poster. DESCO
DESCO
DESCO is an underwater diving equipment maker which was first organized in 1937 in Wisconsin in the USA as Diving Equipment and Salvage Co.It was founded by:-...
were making three-cylinder constant flow sets that lacked the demand valve of the aqualung, but they were rarely deployed in the war, and the preferred system was the rebreather
Rebreather
A rebreather is a type of breathing set that provides a breathing gas containing oxygen and recycled exhaled gas. This recycling reduces the volume of breathing gas used, making a rebreather lighter and more compact than an open-circuit breathing set for the same duration in environments where...
developed by Dr. Christian J. Lambertsen
Christian J. Lambertsen
Christian James Lambertsen was an American environmental medicine and diving medicine specialist who was principally responsible for developing the United States Navy frogmen's rebreathers in the early 1940s for underwater warfare...
.
After Ian Edward Fraser
Ian Edward Fraser
Ian Edward Fraser, VC, DSC, RD and Bar, JP , was an English diving pioneer and recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. Fraser was born in Ealing, London and went to school...
in 1957 wrote a book, Frogman V.C.
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
, about his experiences, whoever designed its dust cover depicted on it a frogman placing a limpet mine
Limpet mine
A limpet mine is a type of naval mine attached to a target by magnets; they are so named because of their superficial similarity to the limpet, a type of mollusk....
on a ship, wearing a breathing set with twin over-the-shoulder wide breathing tube
Breathing tube (in breathing apparatus)
A breathing tube is a flexible tube for breathing through, as part of a scuba set or other breathing apparatus or a medical oxygen apparatus or anaesthetic apparatus They are wide, and usually corrugated to let the user's head move about without the tube pinching at...
s emitting bubbles from behind his neck, presumably drawn after an old-type aqualung
Aqua-lung
Aqua-Lung was the original name of the first open-circuit free-swimming underwater breathing set in reaching worldwide popularity and commercial success...
. http://www.scrattledbooks.com.au/si/1971.html http://www.scrattledbooks.com.au/shop_image/product/1971.jpg.
The film Submarine X-1
Submarine X-1
Submarine X-1 is a 1969 British World War II war film loosely based on the Operation Source attack on the German battleship Tirpitz in 1943. In the film James Caan stars as Lt...
, made in 1969, loosely based on the real Operation Source
Operation Source
Operation Source was a series of attacks to neutralise the heavy German warships – Tirpitz, Scharnhorst and Lutzow – based in northern Norway, using X-class midget submarines....
, gets British wartime frogman's equipment very wrong and anachronistic. The breathing sets shown were open-circuit and were merely a very fat cylinder crosswise across the belly, with a black single-hose second-stage regulator such as was not invented until the 1960s. Also shown were ordinary sport scuba weight belts and ordinary eyes-and-nose diving mask
Diving mask
A diving mask is an item of diving equipment that allows scuba divers, free-divers, and snorkelers to see clearly underwater. When the human eye is in direct contact with water as opposed to air, its normal environment, light entering the eye is refracted by a different angle and the eye is unable...
s with elliptical windows. The frogmen in the real war operation mostly used Sladen suit
Sladen Suit
The Sladen Suit was a heavy type of British divers' drysuit made by Siebe Gorman. It is entered by a wide rubber tube at the umbilicus: this tube is folded and tied off before the diver dives. It was used by British manned torpedo riders and for general underwater work.It was sometimes nicknamed...
s and an early type of Siebe Gorman
Siebe Gorman
Siebe Gorman & Company Ltd was a British company which developed diving equipment and breathing equipment and worked on commercial diving and marine salvage projects...
rebreather
Rebreather
A rebreather is a type of breathing set that provides a breathing gas containing oxygen and recycled exhaled gas. This recycling reduces the volume of breathing gas used, making a rebreather lighter and more compact than an open-circuit breathing set for the same duration in environments where...
.
Drawing and artwork
There have been thousands of drawings (mostly in comics, some elsewhere) of combat frogmen and other scuba divers with two-cylinder twin-hose aqualungAqua-lung
Aqua-Lung was the original name of the first open-circuit free-swimming underwater breathing set in reaching worldwide popularity and commercial success...
s shown wrongly with one wide breathing tube coming straight out of each cylinder top with no regulator, far more than of twin-hose aqualungs drawn correctly with a regulator, or of combat frogmen with rebreathers. See this image for the correct layout of an old-type aqualung.
Another common mistake when drawing a diver standing on land or on deck with a bulky backpack breathing set is to show him standing vertically, whereas in reality he would lean forwards somewhat, as the weight of a backpack breathing set (20 kg or more with big twin air cylinders) pushes his center of gravity
Center of gravity
In physics, a center of gravity of a material body is a point that may be used for a summary description of gravitational interactions. In a uniform gravitational field, the center of mass serves as the center of gravity...
backwards. The same often happens with a film actor wearing mockup non-metal air cylinders (in somewhat the same manner as an actor carrying an empty suitcase or wearing an empty camping backpack).
Movies and fiction
Frogman-type operations have featured in many comics, bookBook
A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...
s, and movie
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
s. Some try to reconstruct real events; others are completely fictional. Some make mistakes as described above. Examples are:
- The 1951 film The FrogmenThe Frogmen (film)The Frogmen is a 1951 black-and-white film made by Twentieth Century Fox. It is based on operations by United States Navy Underwater Demolition Teams, popularly known as "frogmen," against the Japanese Army and naval forces in World War II...
, made by Twentieth Century Fox, shows some United StatesUnited StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
frogman operations against the JapanJapanJapan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese in World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, but with wrong kit (see above). - The James Bond film ThunderballThunderball (film)Thunderball is the fourth spy film in the James Bond series starring Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. It is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Ian Fleming, which in turn was based on an original screenplay by Jack Whittingham...
depicts an extended underwater battle, featuring frogmen. - Listed at Human torpedo#Movies and fiction.
- Listed at United States Navy SEALs in fictionUnited States Navy SEALs in fictionThis is a list of occurrences of United States Navy SEALs in fiction.-Games:*SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs series*Counter-Strike Series, features DEVGRU...
. - James BondJames BondJames Bond, code name 007, is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. There have been a six other authors who wrote authorised Bond novels or novelizations after Fleming's death in 1964: Kingsley Amis,...
's modern biography includes serving with the Special Boat ServiceSpecial Boat ServiceThe Special Boat Service is the special forces unit of the British Royal Navy. Together with the Special Air Service, Special Reconnaissance Regiment and the Special Forces Support Group they form the United Kingdom Special Forces and come under joint control of the same Director Special...
through the Royal NavyRoyal NavyThe Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
. - Simon and GarfunkelSimon and GarfunkelSimon & Garfunkel are an American duo consisting of singer-songwriter Paul Simon and singer Art Garfunkel. They formed the group Tom & Jerry in 1957 and had their first success with the minor hit "Hey, Schoolgirl". As Simon & Garfunkel, the duo rose to fame in 1965, largely on the strength of the...
's song "Baby Driver" contains the following line: "My daddy was a prominent frogman. My mamma's in the Naval reserveUnited States Navy ReserveThe United States Navy Reserve, until 2005 known as the United States Naval Reserve, is the Reserve Component of the United States Navy...
."
History
In ancient RomanAncient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
and Greek
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
times, etc., there were many instances of men swimming or diving for combat, but they always had to hold their breath and had no diving equipment, except sometimes a hollow plant stem used as a snorkel.
The first known frogmen-type operations using breathing apparatus were by the Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
Decima Flottiglia MAS
Decima Flottiglia MAS
The Decima Flottiglia MAS was an Italian commando frogman unit of the Regia Marina created during the Fascist regime.The acronym MAS also refers to various light torpedo boats used by the Regia Marina during World...
, which formed in 1938 and was in action first in 1940. See Timeline of underwater technology
Timeline of underwater technology
This is a timeline of underwater technology.The entries marked ## are about decompression tables.-Pre-industrial:* Several centuries BC: This is a timeline of underwater technology.The entries marked ## are about decompression tables.-Pre-industrial:* Several centuries BC: This is a timeline of...
and each of the nations' frogman unit links below.
In 1942, a young physician named Christian J. Lambertsen
Christian J. Lambertsen
Christian James Lambertsen was an American environmental medicine and diving medicine specialist who was principally responsible for developing the United States Navy frogmen's rebreathers in the early 1940s for underwater warfare...
invented the first Self-contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus (SCUBA) and demonstrated it to OSS (after already being rejected by the U.S. Navy) in a pool at a hotel in Washington D.C. OSS not only bought into the concept, they hired Dr. Labertsen to lead the program and build-up the dive element of their maritime unit. The OSS was the predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
and the maritime element still exists inside their Special Activities Division
Special Activities Division
The Special Activities Division is a division in the United States Central Intelligence Agency's National Clandestine Service responsible for covert operations known as "special activities"...
.
See also: Lionel Crabb
Lionel Crabb
Lionel "Buster" Crabb OBE, GM was a British Royal Navy frogman and MI6 diver who vanished during a reconnaissance mission around a Soviet cruiser in 1956.-Early life:...
, a frogman who spied on a Soviet warship in Portsmouth
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
, UK.
Nations with military diving groups
Italy started World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
with a commando frogman force already trained. Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
started commando frogman forces during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Australia
The Clearance Diving Team (RAN)Clearance Diving Team (RAN)
The Clearance Diving Teams of the Royal Australian Navy also act as commando frogmen: they consist of naval personnel who are qualified in diving, demolitions, underwater repairs, and reconnaissance...
is Australia's combat frogman and underwater work force. The Australian SAS also undertakes water operations.
Belgium
The Special Forces Group (Belgium)Special Forces Group (Belgium)
The Special Forces Group is a special forces unit in the Land Component of the Belgian Armed Forces.Members of the Special Forces Group are normally selected from the paracommando units of the Belgian Army. Lately, there has been a problem in filling vacancies in this Army group...
has a specialized diving company for education and training of combat swimmers.
Croatia
Croatian BSDSpecial Operations Battalion (Croatia)
The Special Operations Battalion , or popularly BSD was founded on 8 September 2000 with merging of the Special Combat Skills Center from Šepurine and personnel from the 1st Croatian Guard Corps...
's 3rd Company is specialized for seaborne operations and is responsible for training of combat swimmers and divers.
Egypt
They played a major role on the War of attritionWar of Attrition
The international community and both countries attempted to find a diplomatic solution to the conflict. The Jarring Mission of the United Nations was supposed to ensure that the terms of UN Security Council Resolution 242 would be observed, but by late 1970 it was clear that this mission had been...
and the Crossing of the Suez Canal on 6 October 1973, by obstructing the oil pipes that would pump burning oil from Bar Lev Line
Bar Lev Line
The Bar Lev Line was a chain of fortifications built by Israel along the eastern coast of the Suez Canal after it captured the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt during the 1967 Six-Day War.-Overview:...
to the canal.
Eritrea
During EritreaEritrea
Eritrea , officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa. Eritrea derives it's name from the Greek word Erethria, meaning 'red land'. The capital is Asmara. It is bordered by Sudan in the west, Ethiopia in the south, and Djibouti in the southeast...
's war of independence against Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
, the rebel forces had a combat frogman force. After the war, some of those frogmen were retrained as dive guides for the sport scuba diving tourism
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
trade.
Finland
The Finnish NavyFinnish Navy
The Finnish Navy is one of the branches of the Finnish Defence Forces. The Navy employs 2,300 people and about 4,300 conscripts are trained each year. Finnish Navy vessels are given the ship prefix "FNS" simply short for "Finnish Navy Ship"...
has trained Finnish combat divers since 1954. Conscripts and career military are eligible to apply for the training. Annually, about 20 conscripts are trained for diving duties. Applying for combat diver training is voluntary, and the selection criteria are stringent. The conscript divers are trained either for anti-mine
Naval mine
A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, an enemy vessel...
or for commando
Commando
In English, the term commando means a specific kind of individual soldier or military unit. In contemporary usage, commando usually means elite light infantry and/or special operations forces units, specializing in amphibious landings, parachuting, rappelling and similar techniques, to conduct and...
operations, while career personnel may also be trained for deep-sea diving duty. All conscript divers receive at least NCO
Non-commissioned officer
A non-commissioned officer , called a sub-officer in some countries, is a military officer who has not been given a commission...
training during their 12-month service period.
Greece
- 1953: first Amphibious Reconnaissance Squad is founded.
- 1957-1968: Underwater Demolition Training School operates in Kannelopoulos training center.
- 1968: UDTUnderwater Demolition TeamThe Underwater Demolition Teams were an elite special-purpose force established by the United States Navy during World War II. They also served during the Korean War and the Vietnam War...
Division established in Skaramanga. - 1969: UDT Division renamed to Underwater Demolition Unit.
- 2002: Underwater Demolition Unit renamed to Underwater Demolition Command.
- http://www.hellenicnavy.gr/dyk_history_en.asp
India
The MCU is the elite naval special operations unit of the Indian Navy that undertakes underwater combat.Israel
Shayetet 13 is the elite naval commandoCommando
In English, the term commando means a specific kind of individual soldier or military unit. In contemporary usage, commando usually means elite light infantry and/or special operations forces units, specializing in amphibious landings, parachuting, rappelling and similar techniques, to conduct and...
frogmen unit of the Israeli Navy. The unit is considered one of the primary Special Forces units
Sayeret
Sayeret , literally means "reconnaissance unit" in the Israel Defense Forces . In practice, these units specialize in commando and other special forces roles, in addition to reconnaissance...
of the Israel Defense Forces
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
. The unit is one of the most secretive in the Israeli military. The details of many missions and identities of active operatives are kept highly classified.
Jordan
King Abdullah II of JordanJordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
is a qualified frogman.
Malaysia
Malaysia Royal Malaysian NavyRoyal Malaysian Navy
The Royal Malaysian Navy is the naval arm of Malaysian Armed Forces. All commissioned ships of the RMN have the prefix KD , which means Royal Ship.-Straits Settlement Naval Volunteer Reserve:...
has a navy special force his called Paskal
PASKAL
The Royal Malaysian Navy PASukan Khas Laut , commonly known as the PASKAL compose the Special Operations Forces of the Royal Malaysian Navy, employed in direct action and special reconnaissance operations...
and Royal Malaysia Police has a team of special elite force VAT 69 frogman able to run their operations It includes frogmen.
Netherlands
The DutchNetherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
Amphibious Reconnaissance Platoon is part of the Special Forces unit of the Royal Netherlands Marine Corps.
New Zealand
The New Zealand Navy trains all NZ Army, NZ PoliceNew Zealand Police
The New Zealand Police is the national police force of New Zealand, responsible for enforcing criminal law, enhancing public safety, maintaining order and keeping the peace throughout New Zealand...
, and NZ Customs
New Zealand Customs Service
The Customs Service is a state sector organisation of New Zealand whose role is to provide border control and protect the community from potential risks arising from international trade and travel, as well as collecting duties and taxes on imports to the country. New Zealand's Minister of Customs...
divers. The NZSAS's Amphibious Troop act as an elite Frogman Force. Military Dive Training support is also supplied to Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, Malaysia, Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
, Tonga
Tonga
Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga , is a state and an archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean, comprising 176 islands scattered over of ocean in the South Pacific...
, and Samoa
Samoa
Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...
.
Norway
NorwayNorway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
's commando frogmen corps is called Marinejegerkommandoen
Marinejegerkommandoen
Marinejegerkommandoen is a Norwegian maritime special forces unit. It was formally established in 1951. It is located in Ramsund in the northern part of Norway and at Haakonsvern Naval Base in Bergen...
, "the naval ranger command
Command (military formation)
A command in military terminology is an organisational unit that the individual in Military command has responsibility for. A Commander will normally be specifically appointed into the role in order to provide a legal framework for the authority bestowed...
", which is something like the British SBS
Special Boat Service
The Special Boat Service is the special forces unit of the British Royal Navy. Together with the Special Air Service, Special Reconnaissance Regiment and the Special Forces Support Group they form the United Kingdom Special Forces and come under joint control of the same Director Special...
.
Norway has a clearance diver
Clearance Diver
A clearance diver was originally a specialist naval diver who used explosives underwater to remove obstructions to make harbours and shipping channels safe to navigate, but later the term "clearance diver" was used to include other naval underwater work...
group called Minedykkerkommandoen
Minedykkerkommandoen
Minedykkerkommandoen is Norway's clearance diver group. It is a branch of the Norwegian naval defenses specializing in explosive ordnance disposal. MDK is subordinate to Minekrigsflotiljen , which is a division of the Norwegian Navy...
, "the mine
Naval mine
A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, an enemy vessel...
diver
Underwater diving
Underwater diving is the practice of going underwater, either with breathing apparatus or by breath-holding .Recreational diving is a popular activity...
command
Command (military formation)
A command in military terminology is an organisational unit that the individual in Military command has responsibility for. A Commander will normally be specifically appointed into the role in order to provide a legal framework for the authority bestowed...
".
Pakistan
PakistanPakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...
's SSG
Special Services Group
The Special Service Group , also known as Black Storks, because of their distinctive headgear, the unit is also known as Maroon Beret, are a special operations military unit of the Pakistan Army mandated with fourteen primary and special missions: Asymmetric warfare,Anti piracy,Special...
has a naval unit modeled on the US Navy SEALs. The SSGN
Special Service Group Navy
The Special Service Group Navy, codename SSG, are the Pakistan Navy's elite principal special operations naval force component. Together with the PAF 312th SS Wing, Special Service Group, Pakistan Marines, and Rangers, they form Pakistan Special Operations Command under the joint administrative...
has headquarters
Headquarters
Headquarters denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the top of a corporation taking full responsibility managing all business activities...
in Karachi
Karachi
Karachi is the largest city, main seaport and the main financial centre of Pakistan, as well as the capital of the province of Sindh. The city has an estimated population of 13 to 15 million, while the total metropolitan area has a population of over 18 million...
headed by a Pakistan Navy
Pakistan Navy
The Pakistan Navy is the naval warfare/service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. Pakistan's Navy is responsible for Pakistan's coastline along the Arabian Sea and the defense of important civilian harbors and military bases...
Commander. It has a strength of one company and is assigned to unconventional warfare operations in the coastal regions. During war, it is assigned to Midget submarine
Midget submarine
A midget submarine is any submarine under 150 tons, typically operated by a crew of one or two but sometimes up to 6 or 8, with little or no on-board living accommodation...
s. All other training is similar to the Army SSG with specific marine orientation provided at its headquarters.
Poland
Three PolishPoland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
military divisions train and deploy frogmen in military operations. Most known are GROM
GROM
GROM is one of five special forces units of the Polish Armed Forces. It was officially activated on July 8, 1990...
water operations detachment, 1 Pułk Specjalny Komandosów
1st Special Commando Regiment
The 1 Pułk Specjalny Komandosów, 1 PSK is one of the three special operations forces currently operating within the Polish military's structure, Special Forces of Poland....
's frogmen company and Naval Special Operations Unit "MJDS "Formoza"
FORMOZA
Formoza, MJDS en. "Naval Special Operations Unit", is a new name of the Polish Navy Special Operations Sections , now Special forces of Poland , which used to operate also under the name of Special Naval Frogmen Group...
". Polish frogmen operators are confirmed to use these weapons:
- H&K USP SD 9x19mm pistol
- H&K MP-5, MP-5SD 9x19mm sub-machine gun
- PM-84P Glauberyt 9x19mm sub-machine gun
- PKM/PKSM 7.62x54mmR general purpose machine gun
- UKM-2000 7.62x51mm general purpose machine gun
- Beryl 5.56x45mm assault rifle
- AKMS 7.62x39mm assault rifle
- H&K G36 rifle
The Polish SF uses e.g. R.C.H OXY-NG2, Aqua Lung Amphora closed-circuit apparatus
Rebreather
A rebreather is a type of breathing set that provides a breathing gas containing oxygen and recycled exhaled gas. This recycling reduces the volume of breathing gas used, making a rebreather lighter and more compact than an open-circuit breathing set for the same duration in environments where...
.
Spain
Spain has been training combat divers and swimmers since 1967. Two units in the Spanish NavySpanish Navy
The Spanish Navy is the maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces, one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Armada is responsible for notable achievements in world history such as the discovery of Americas, the first world circumnavigation, and the discovery of a maritime path...
currently operate under a Naval Special Warfare mandate:
- UOE (Special Operations Unit) - All aspects of maritime special operations at sea, on land, and by air.
- UEBC (Specialist Combat Diver Unit) - Mainly hydrographic surveys and underwater demolitions.
There are working plans to fuse the two units into a single "Naval Special Warfare Unit" (UGNE), while maintaining their functional distinctiveness.
Sweden
- The Reconnaissance Platoon, also referred to colloquially as the Attack Divers (A-dyk). They conduct long-range reconnaissanceReconnaissanceReconnaissance is the military term for exploring beyond the area occupied by friendly forces to gain information about enemy forces or features of the environment....
missions behind enemy lines, sabotageSabotageSabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening another entity through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. In a workplace setting, sabotage is the conscious withdrawal of efficiency generally directed at causing some change in workplace conditions. One who engages in sabotage is...
, clearing beach obstacles, hydrographicHydrographyHydrography is the measurement of the depths, the tides and currents of a body of water and establishment of the sea, river or lake bed topography and morphology. Normally and historically for the purpose of charting a body of water for the safe navigation of shipping...
surveys, and although combat is not their priority, they have a limited ability to conduct direct action missions such as ambushAmbushAn ambush is a long-established military tactic, in which the aggressors take advantage of concealment and the element of surprise to attack an unsuspecting enemy from concealed positions, such as among dense underbrush or behind hilltops...
es. Between 6 and 10 are trained each year. The Reconnaissance Platoon is a commandoCommandoIn English, the term commando means a specific kind of individual soldier or military unit. In contemporary usage, commando usually means elite light infantry and/or special operations forces units, specializing in amphibious landings, parachuting, rappelling and similar techniques, to conduct and...
unit, belonging to the amphibious battalion of the Swedish Amphibious CorpsSwedish Amphibious CorpsAmfibiekåren is the coastal defence arm of the Swedish Navy. Until 2000 it was known as Kustartilleriet , but the name was changed to reflect its different role in a post-Cold War world, where its amphibious special operations arm, "Kustjägarna", has grown in significance while its coastal...
. They offer one of the hardest and most demanding training regimens in the Swedish armed forcesSwedish Armed ForcesThe Swedish Armed Forces is a Swedish Government Agency responsible for the operation of the armed forces of the Realm. The primary task of the agency is to train, organize and to deploy military forces, domestically and abroad, while maintaining the long-term ability to defend the Realm in the...
. - Navy EOD-divers (Röjdyk)
- Army divers (FArb-dykare) Underwater welding, obstacle clearance, underwater demolition and repairs. Belongs to the engineer troops.
- Pioneer divers (Pionjärdyk) of the amphibious battalion. Underwater obstacle clearance, repairs and EOD on land.
- Navy attack divers. (Flottan A-dyk) Underwater sabotage on enemy ships and harbours.
Turkey
Underwater search and Finding Commership is the unit that gives diving services in Turkey. It also gives deepwater diving and mine diving lessons to officers and petty officers. They become 1. Class Divers. Su Altı Taaruz commandos are high level divers.United Kingdom
See:- British commando frogmenBritish commando frogmenBritain's commando frogman force is now the Special Boat Service , which is part of the Royal Marines. They perform various operations on land as well as in the water....
for a list of their World War IIWorld War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
operations. - Special Boat ServiceSpecial Boat ServiceThe Special Boat Service is the special forces unit of the British Royal Navy. Together with the Special Air Service, Special Reconnaissance Regiment and the Special Forces Support Group they form the United Kingdom Special Forces and come under joint control of the same Director Special...
- Royal Engineers Specialist - Diver
- Naval Clearance Divers
- Clearance DiverClearance DiverA clearance diver was originally a specialist naval diver who used explosives underwater to remove obstructions to make harbours and shipping channels safe to navigate, but later the term "clearance diver" was used to include other naval underwater work...
Further reading
- Frogman Operations: Decima Flottiglia Mas, Underwater Demolition Team, Human Torpedo, Sinking Of The Rainbow Warrior, Russian Commando Fro
- Frogman - Commander Crabb's story, Marshal Pugh - 1956
- Frogman V.C., Ian Fraser - 1957
- America's First Frogman, Elizabeth Kauffman Bush
- Frogman Spy, Michael G. Welham, Jacqui Welham - 1990