It ended on board the rescue ship Antaeus the period of technical-professional diving exchange between the US Navy and the Navy and with the participation of commander M. Hickey Bradley, deputy medical director of the Navy Experimental Diving Unit (NEDU) and head of delegation of a team of hyperbaric doctors.
The occasion was that of a dive carried out with the saturation technique by three divers of the Diving Operations Group off the coast of Finale Ligure (SV), with the support of Nave Antaeus, for an archaeological recovery of the remains of a wreck of a French armed boat, sunk in the battle of Capo Noli, in 1795 (v.articolo). The activity took place at a depth of 65 meters following the technical indications of the archaeological superintendency of Liguria in constant contact with the diving divers, through the control console of the underwater operations of the Unit, under the management and supervision of the Director of the Service. Health and Section Head of Underwater Physiology of the Comsubin Research Office.
Planning and conducting a saturation dive requires a deep knowledge of human physiology, the possession of high technical skills and adequate personnel training, being one of the most complex operations in the course of military underwater activities. The Navy is the only Armed Force in the Mediterranean to have this operational capability and, for this reason, it is considered among the leaders in this sector within the Atlantic Alliance.
This is the reason why the US Navy, which has not been diving in saturation for 7 years, has sent on board Nave Antaeus its staff so that it could follow and observe all the phases of the Capo Noli operation, to reacquire the skills of this technique, recognized as the highest expression of underwater professionalism. During each of the phases that characterized the complex operation, from the preparation of the hyperbaric system, to the formation and maintenance of the microclimate, from the passage of the operators in the Submersible Decompression Chamber (SDC) up to the moment of the desaturation of the operators, the team of the US Navy, had the opportunity to observe the procedures used by the Navy and to discuss with the medical director.
The exchange of technical skills between the Underwater and Incursors Group and the Navy Experimental Diving Unit, which will materialize in future collaboration agreements between the two Marines, will continue by sharing their respective experiences and developing studies and research in the field of Underwater Medicine. and Hyperbaric, a medical discipline peculiar to Comsubin and therefore to the Armed Force.
The conduct of the underwater operations of Capo Noli have been much appreciated by the observers of the NEDU so that, demonstrating the real willingness to collaborate with the Italian Navy, the head of health service and an official diver of Comsubin were invited to participate in the next dive in saturation that will be conducted by the US Navy.
