Uploaded August 2023 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
The Tauchretter ('Dive Rescuer') was a German WWII escape set, used by submariners to bail out from a sinking submarine. Based on the rebreather principle, wherein exhaled air is scrubbed of carbon dioxide and recycled, the Tauchretter could provide its user with around 30 minutes of breathing gas. Rebreathers were widely used during the Second World War, not only as escape sets but also as diving equipment for combat frogmen - though their use of pure oxygen limited the depths to which they could be used. Today, rebreathers are extremely sophisticated, computerized devices used by cave divers, combat swimmers, and other specialists who require extended endurance and bottom time.
SOURCES:
joe-tauchretter.tripod.com/index.html
warhistoryonline.com/instant-articles/swede-momsen-and-his-lung.html?Exc_D_LessThanPoint002_p1=1
https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/museums/undersea/explore/exhibits/online/nedu/sub-rescue.html
http://www.therebreathersite.nl/Zuurstofrebreathers/German/draeger_counterlung_to_swimmdive_device.htm
usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2021/august/sinking-and-submerged
http://www.therebreathersite.nl/Zuurstofrebreathers/English/photos_dsea.htm
http://www.therebreathersite.nl/Zuurstofrebreathers/English/dsea.htm
Video on the Sinking of HMS Thetis: youtube.com/watch?v=lFLf34hXmFM
The Tauchretter ('Dive Rescuer') was a German WWII escape set, used by submariners to bail out from a sinking submarine. Based on the rebreather principle, wherein exhaled air is scrubbed of carbon dioxide and recycled, the Tauchretter could provide its user with around 30 minutes of breathing gas. Rebreathers were widely used during the Second World War, not only as escape sets but also as diving equipment for combat frogmen - though their use of pure oxygen limited the depths to which they could be used. Today, rebreathers are extremely sophisticated, computerized devices used by cave divers, combat swimmers, and other specialists who require extended endurance and bottom time.
SOURCES:
joe-tauchretter.tripod.com/index.html
warhistoryonline.com/instant-articles/swede-momsen-and-his-lung.html?Exc_D_LessThanPoint002_p1=1
https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/museums/undersea/explore/exhibits/online/nedu/sub-rescue.html
http://www.therebreathersite.nl/Zuurstofrebreathers/German/draeger_counterlung_to_swimmdive_device.htm
usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2021/august/sinking-and-submerged
http://www.therebreathersite.nl/Zuurstofrebreathers/English/photos_dsea.htm
http://www.therebreathersite.nl/Zuurstofrebreathers/English/dsea.htm
Video on the Sinking of HMS Thetis: youtube.com/watch?v=lFLf34hXmFM
