Siebe Gorman

Siebe Gorman was a British engineering and manufacturing company whose name became closely associated with underwater breathing equipment, commercial diving and marine salvage. The business grew from the mechanical-engineering workshop of Augustus Siebe, a German-born engineer who settled in London after the Napoleonic Wars. During the nineteenth century, Siebe developed and manufactured equipment that helped establish the standard diving dress: a helmet connected to a full-length, watertight suit and supplied with air from the surface. This design became an important foundation of professional diving and was adopted for naval, engineering, salvage and underwater-construction work. The company’s early expertise extended beyond diving helmets. It produced breathing apparatus, oxygen rebreathers, escape equipment, pressure-related equipment and other engineered products. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Siebe Gorman worked with British naval and government bodies on deep-diving equipment and diving practice. Its products included the Proto industrial rebreather, the Salvus breathing apparatus and Robert Davis’s Davis Submerged Escape Apparatus. Davis joined the company as a boy, became a senior manager and was knighted for his contributions to breathing-apparatus engineering. During the Second World War, Siebe Gorman manufactured large quantities of gas masks and developed specialist breathing equipment for military use. Its Amphibious Tank Escape Apparatus was designed for crews of Duplex Drive tanks and provided a short-duration underwater rebreathing capability if a tank sank. Wartime bombing destroyed much of the company’s historical documentation, and the business moved from Lambeth to a larger site at Chessington in Surrey during the war. After 1945, the company faced major changes in the diving market. Standard diving dress remained an important product, but newer self-contained scuba technology, especially equipment influenced by Cousteau-Gagnan designs, altered the competitive landscape. Siebe Gorman responded with aqualungs, regulators, dry suits, wetsuits, masks and accessories aimed at commercial and recreational divers. The Essgee and Essjee ranges included single- and twin-cylinder sets, junior equipment and later Mistral-style regulators. The company also continued supplying professional diving systems, diving-bell equipment and decompression chambers. Corporate ownership and scope changed in the second half of the twentieth century. Fairey Aviation acquired Siebe Gorman in 1959, and the company absorbed Heinke, another British diving-equipment maker, in the early 1960s. For a period, products were marketed under the Siebe-Heinke name. From the late 1960s, the broader Siebe corporate group increasingly represented a diversified engineering conglomerate, while Siebe Gorman referred more specifically to the original breathing-apparatus and diving-equipment activities. In 1975 the operating business moved to Cwmbran in Wales and concentrated increasingly on firefighters’ breathing equipment. The historical Siebe Gorman brand is therefore important both as a diving-equipment pioneer and as an ancestor of a larger engineering group, rather than simply as a current consumer diving label.

Augustus Siebe was born in Saxony in 1788 and trained in metalworking and engineering. After military service in the Prussian army, he moved to London in 1816 and established himself first as a watchmaker, gunmaker and instrument maker. In 1819 he began trading as a mechanical engineer. His early work included tools, firearms and other mechanical devices, but his most enduring contribution came through underwater equipment. Around 1830, Charles and John Deane asked Siebe to adapt a smoke helmet for underwater use. Siebe refined the concept by combining a helmet with a full-length watertight canvas suit and an effective air-valve arrangement. The result became the basis of standard diving dress, allowing professional divers to work underwater while supplied with air from the surface. The design was adopted and improved for naval work, salvage, underwater construction and marine engineering. The business became associated with the Siebe and Gorman families. Augustus Siebe transferred control in 1870 to his son Henry Herapath Siebe and William Augustus Gorman, after which the firm traded as Siebe & Gorman and later Siebe Gorman & Co. It moved from Denmark Street to premises in Lambeth in 1876. The company supported the development of Henry Fleuss’s oxygen rebreather in 1878 and continued to expand its breathing-apparatus expertise. Robert Henry Davis joined as an office boy in 1882, became general manager in 1894 and eventually played a central role in the company’s twentieth-century development. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Siebe Gorman worked with the Admiralty on deep-diving equipment. The company manufactured the Proto industrial rebreather and later the Salvus and Davis Submerged Escape Apparatus. Davis was knighted in 1932, principally in recognition of his breathing-apparatus work. In 1938 he acquired a larger site at Tolworth near Chessington for a new factory, called Neptune Works. The company was heavily involved in wartime production. In the years immediately before the Second World War it manufactured civilian and civil-defence gas masks. The Lambeth factory was bombed in May 1941, destroying a substantial portion of company and family records. Siebe Gorman moved its operations to Chessington and continued production. In 1943 it designed the Amphibious Tank Escape Apparatus for Duplex Drive tank crews. The apparatus used a rebreathing canister and was intended to provide several minutes of underwater escape capability. It was used in training for amphibious operations, including preparations connected with the Normandy landings. After the war, standard diving dress reached a production peak around 1950, but changing technology and competition from American-developed scuba equipment weakened the company’s traditional market. Siebe Gorman entered the recreational and sport-diving market with Cousteau-Gagnan-influenced aqualungs, regulators, masks, wetsuits and dry suits. The Essgee and Essjee product families included single- and twin-cylinder sets, junior equipment and later Mistral-style regulators. The company also supplied commercial diving systems, pressure chambers and diving-bell equipment. Corporate restructuring followed. Fairey Aviation acquired the company in 1959, and Heinke was taken over in 1961. During the early 1960s, products appeared under the Siebe-Heinke name, including regulators and the lightweight Dip suit. By the late 1960s, the Siebe name was also being used for a broader engineering group that acquired other firms. This diversified group became Siebe plc, while Siebe Gorman continued to identify the historic breathing-apparatus and diving-equipment business. In 1975 the business moved to Cwmbran, Wales, where its focus increasingly shifted toward firefighters’ breathing apparatus. The wider Siebe plc group later became a major British engineering company and merged with BTR in 1999 to form Invensys. Schneider Electric acquired Invensys in 2014. The available historical material does not establish the complete later ownership and operating status of the Siebe Gorman brand itself, so its present status is recorded as unknown.

• 1999

  Siebe plc merges with BTR

  [1]Siebe Gormanen.wikipedia.org

  The broader Siebe plc engineering group merged with BTR to create Invensys; this milestone concerns the successor group rather than necessarily the continuing brand operations.

• 1975

  Move to Cwmbran

  [1]Siebe Gormanen.wikipedia.org

  The company moved to Cwmbran and concentrated increasingly on firefighters’ breathing equipment.

• 1971

  Neptune regulator introduced

  [1]Siebe Gormanen.wikipedia.org

  The company introduced the Neptune single-hose, two-stage diving regulator.

• 1961

  Heinke takeover

  [1]Siebe Gormanen.wikipedia.org

  Siebe Gorman acquired Heinke and temporarily marketed some products under the Siebe-Heinke identity.

• 1959

  Acquisition by Fairey Aviation

  [1]Siebe Gormanen.wikipedia.org

  Fairey Aviation took over Siebe Gorman.

• 1943

  Amphibious Tank Escape Apparatus developed

  [1]Siebe Gormanen.wikipedia.org

  The company designed a compact rebreathing escape apparatus for Duplex Drive tank crews.

• 1932

  Robert Davis receives a knighthood

  [1]Siebe Gormanen.wikipedia.org

  Robert Davis was knighted for contributions that included the invention of the Davis Submerged Escape Apparatus.

• 1907

  Deep-diving equipment work

  [1]Siebe Gormanen.wikipedia.org

  Following Admiralty deep-diving research, the company began producing improved equipment including the Proto industrial rebreather.

• 1878

  Fleuss oxygen rebreather collaboration

  [1]Siebe Gormanen.wikipedia.org

  Siebe Gorman assisted Henry Fleuss with a practical oxygen rebreather.

• 1870

  Business passes to Siebe and Gorman successors

  [1]Siebe Gormanen.wikipedia.org

  Augustus Siebe transferred the business to Henry Herapath Siebe and William Augustus Gorman, leading to the Siebe & Gorman name.

• 1830

  Development of standard diving dress

  [1]Siebe Gormanen.wikipedia.org

  Siebe refined the Deane brothers’ smoke-helmet concept into a helmet and watertight suit system that became standard diving dress.

• 1819

  Augustus Siebe establishes an engineering business

  [1]Siebe Gormanen.wikipedia.org

  Augustus Siebe began trading as a mechanical engineer in London, creating the industrial foundation from which Siebe Gorman developed.

A specialist British engineering brand positioned around technical reliability, underwater safety, professional diving and respiratory protection.

• Professional diving equipment · 1830

  Standard diving dress

  Siebe Gorman’s defining product was the standard diving dress: a metal helmet connected to a watertight full-length suit and supplied with air from the surface. Its valve and integrated construction gave professional divers a more practical and reliable system for salvage, naval, engineering and underwater-construction work. The design became one of the best-known forms of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century diving equipment.

• Rebreather · 1907

  Proto industrial rebreather

  The Proto was an industrial oxygen-rebreathing apparatus produced for work requiring a self-contained breathing supply. It reflected Siebe Gorman’s transition from surface-supplied diving helmets toward portable breathing systems for industrial, military and rescue applications.

• Submarine escape equipment

  Davis Submerged Escape Apparatus

  Developed by Robert Davis and manufactured by Siebe Gorman, this apparatus provided a breathing supply for personnel escaping from submerged vessels. It became an important part of the company’s reputation in naval safety and breathing-apparatus engineering.

• Scuba equipment · 1954

  Essgee and Essjee aqualungs

  The Essgee and Essjee ranges were Siebe Gorman’s postwar aqualung products for commercial and recreational divers. They included single-cylinder, twin-cylinder and junior sets, alongside masks, suits, weight belts and other accessories. Later models incorporated design features associated with Cousteau-Gagnan and Mistral-style regulators.

• Diving suit · 1962

  Siebe-Heinke Dip suit

  Introduced after the Heinke takeover, the Dip suit was a relatively economical lightweight dipped-latex dry suit with a roll-seal waist entry. It was marketed mainly to recreational divers but was also presented as suitable for sailors, fishermen, canoeists and water skiers.

• Scuba regulator · 1971

  Neptune regulator

  The Neptune was a single-hose, two-stage diving regulator introduced in the early 1970s. It represented the company’s continuing attempt to participate in modern scuba equipment after the decline of standard surface-supplied diving dress.

• Military escape and breathing equipment · 1943

  Amphibious Tank Escape Apparatus

  The Amphibious Tank Escape Apparatus was designed for Duplex Drive tank crews. It used a rebreathing canister and mouthpiece to provide a short period of underwater breathing if a tank sank during amphibious operations. Training with the device formed part of preparations for wartime river-crossing and landing operations.

• 1965Thunderball underwater-production support

  United Kingdom

  Siebe Gorman promoted its role in providing divers and underwater support for the production of the James Bond film Thunderball. The company’s team helped with safety and underwater working duties during filming.

  Outcome. The activity connected the brand with a prominent popular-culture depiction of underwater action, although it was primarily a technical-support engagement rather than a conventional advertising campaign.

  Source
• 1959British underwater fishing team equipment promotion

  United Kingdom

  Siebe Gorman advertising highlighted the use of its wetsuits and weight belts by the British team at the World Underwater Fishing Championships held near Malta and Gozo.

  Outcome. The campaign associated the brand with competitive underwater sport and helped support its recreational-diving positioning.

  Source

• 1975

  Shift the operating base and emphasize respiratory protectionStrategy

  Background

  Traditional diving-dress production had declined as newer scuba technology changed professional and recreational diving.

  Action taken

  Siebe Gorman moved to Cwmbran in Wales and concentrated increasingly on firefighters’ breathing equipment.

  Aftermath

  The move marked a strategic emphasis on respiratory protection rather than the company’s earlier dominance in standard diving dress.

  Source

• 1961

  Acquire HeinkeM&A

  Background

  Heinke was another established British diving-equipment manufacturer, and Siebe Gorman sought to consolidate its position in the diving market.

  Action taken

  Siebe Gorman took over Heinke and temporarily used the Siebe-Heinke name on selected products.

  Aftermath

  The combined business marketed regulators, suits and other equipment, but the Heinke name was phased out by the later 1960s.

  Source

• 1959

  Accept acquisition by Fairey AviationM&A

  Background

  The company was operating in a changing postwar market in which modern scuba equipment was challenging the dominance of traditional diving dress.

  Action taken

  Fairey Aviation took over Siebe Gorman and incorporated it into a broader industrial ownership structure.

  Aftermath

  The company continued developing diving and breathing products, and later took over Heinke.

  Source

1. 1Siebe Gormanen.wikipedia.org