Sir Robert Henry Davis (1870 – 1965) was an English inventor and director of the Siebe Gorman company. His main invention was the

Davis Submerged Escape Apparatus The Davis Submerged Escape Apparatus (also referred to as DSEA), 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, and adopted by the Royal Nav ...

, an oxygen rebreather that Davis patented for the first time in 1910, inspired by the rebreathers that Henry Fleuss patented as of 1876. Davis breathing set was destined to allow British submarine crews to escape when their ship started to sink. While still directing Siebe Gorman Davis was the first British to buy a licence from the Cousteau- Gagnan

Aqua-Lung Aqua-Lung was the first open-circuit, self-contained underwater breathing apparatus (or "scuba") to achieve worldwide popularity and commercial success. This class of equipment is now commonly referred to as a twin-hose diving regulator, or dem ...

(from the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

company La Spirotechnique), starting commercialization of

scuba set A scuba set, originally just scuba, is any breathing apparatus that is entirely carried by an underwater diver and provides the diver with breathing gas at the ambient pressure. ''Scuba'' is an anacronym for self-contained underwater breathi ...

s in Britain as of 1948. Siebe Gorman aqualungs ended being known under the name of ''tadpole sets''.The Siebe Gorman ''tadpole set'' is here described by a French collector.
/ref> Davis Road in

Chessington Chessington is an area in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames within Greater London. Historically part of Surrey, today it is the largest salient of Greater London into that county. At the 2011 census it had a population of 18,973. Th ...

(where Siebe Gorman's factory was for a while) was named after him.

Publications

He wrote the books: * ''Diving Scientifically and Practically Considered. Being a Diving Manual and Handbook of Submarine Appliances'', first edition 1909, published by Siebe, Gorman & Co., Ltd. in London. * ''A Diving Manual and Handbook of Submarine Appliances'', second edition 1919, published by Siebe, Gorman & Co., Ltd. in London. * ''Breathing in Irrespirable Atmospheres'', and in some cases, also underwater, first published 1948 by

St. Catherine Press, Ltd ST, St, or St. may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Stanza, in poetry * Suicidal Tendencies, an American heavy metal/hardcore punk band * Star Trek, a science-fiction media franchise * Summa Theologica, a compendium of Catholic philosophy an ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. It has 376 pages, c.250 photographs, and diagrams. * 4th edition, published 1935.

References

External links

"Breathing in Irrespirable Atmospheres"

"The Latest Means of Deep Sea Exploration", May 1932, Popular Mechanics
Drawings of ''The Davis Deep-Sea Observation & Directional Chamber'', a little-known Davis invention]
"Historical Diver No.6 Winter 1995 - pages 16-22"
1870 births 1965 deaths British inventors Underwater diving in the United Kingdom {{UK-engineer-stub