Scientific Diving

Exploring the underwater world means we are always pushing at the boundaries of human endurance. The only way to test our limits safely is through carefully monitored scientific (experimental) diving.

Scientific divers rarely get wet. They are usually subjected to simulated pressure in high pressure chambers in land-based facilities.

Such experiments have resulted in world record-breaking dives that have revolutionised commercial and military diving. Many of those incredible world records were made in Alverstoke, Gosport.

The stories of those world records and the facilities in which they were made form an important part of our collection. We even have the diving bells and chambers in which those records were made.