All text and photographs in this article are © copyrighted by Andrew Iver Johnsen

Introduction

It was during the latter part of the nineteeth century that Andrew Johnsen, a Danish immigrant to the United States, became a professional hard hat diver.  He either learned the trade in Denmark or in America.  Andrew was a tall man at 6 foot 3 inches tall with very large hands.  A U.S. quarter dollar would easily fit through his ring finger.  Mr. Johnsen was a successful diver on the Great Lakes.  His days as a professional diver ended prematurely due to a diving accident.  A steamship on the Great Lakes had gotten its propeller fouled with a steel cable.  This was in the days before underwater burning torches were in wide use.  Andrew went down to free the propeller with a hacksaw.  As he cut through the cable, the propeller turned slightly crushing his chest and pinning him between the ship's hull and the propeller.  The engineers in the boiler room had failed to relieve all the steam pressure on the ship's engine!  Surviving the accident he never fully regained his health and retired from active diving.  He was however able to remain in the business by becoming a diving superintendent.  It was during this period that he taught his younger brother Iver the diving business.

Andrew Johnsen   photo taken in 1890 Chicago, Illinois.


During the 1890's Iver Johnsen established his own diving business.  Iver worked all around the Great Lakes, Canada, and the west coast of the U.S.  He was very well know in the trade.  Iver dove on every water intake crib in Chicago as they were being constructed and commisioned.  He was called out to Portland, Oregon to lay a large pipe across the Portland River.  The maximun depth was over 100 feet.  At that time Mr. Johnsen was one of the few divers who would work in river current at such depths.  None of the engineers dared to go down to inspect his work after the job was completed.  There were never any complaints after the completion of the job. This attests to the fact that the project was a success.

Iver Johnsen   Photo taken in Racine, Wisconsin circa 1900.

Iver, fully dressed. He is wearing an A.J. Morse and son 3 light commercial helmet with no communication facilities. 

The Eastland disaster

On Saturday morning July 24, 1915 Iver received a call at his Chicago southside home.  There had been a terrible accident at the downtown Chicago city docks, the excursion boat Eastland had tipped over into the Chicago River with over 2,500 people on board.  A special South Shore interurban train was sent to the southside to pick up Iver, his son Walter and all their gear and speed them to the accident site.  Walter, who was only 17 years of age at the time, was one of the tenders to his father over the next several days as hundreds of victims were pulled from the ships hull.  This was to become and still is Chicago's greatest disaster with 844 men women and children losing their lives that day.  There were as many as 10 professional divers at the disaster site.   Iver recovered over 100 bodies in two of days diving.  He was the first diver at the scene and the last to leave.  For his efforts he was awarded the Chicago Coroner's silver badge which states, "For Valued Services to the Coroner, Eastland Disaster 1915."  Many other, "Heros of the Eastland", received the Coroner's badge for their meritorious service.  For more information on this maritime disaster go to http://www.eastlanddisaster.org


Photo taken in 1915 at the site of the Eastland Disaster. Iver is the second diver from the left.

A famous helmet

The helmet Iver used on the Eastland and many other diving jobs is still in family posession today! Notice the great shape it is in. The exhaust, placed way in the back, and the stamped name A.J. Morse and Son, identify this as an early diving helmet. The helmet carries # 4F.

Family business

In the succeeding years after the Eastland Disaster Iver instructed Walter in the diving business.  When a newspaper reporter once asked Iver about Walter's diving ability, he said, "Did you know that Walt has always been a natural diver?  Yes sir, I remember way back in 1915 when I threw him in 30 feet of water with the 200 pound suit on him.  He dropped to the bottom and would still be there if I hadn't pulled him up.  He liked it so much.  He's just a natural." 

For many years Iver and Walter worked as a diving team with their  business named "Iver Johnsen & Son, Sub Marine Divers and Contractors."  Iver made his last professional dive in 1945 at the age of 75.  In 1945 there were not many professional divers available due to all the able bodied men being active in the armed services.  Iver, who was still activly diving, was called to the US Steel Gary Works plant.  A massive concrete section of the ships turning basin wall had fallen into the water.  The concrete was too heavy to be lifted out by any of US Steels huge cranes.  To solve this problem, he dove, drilled holes in the concrete, set dynamite charges, and blasted the section of seawall into smaller pieces that could then be lifted out by crane.  

Iver and Walt made headlines on a regular basis.

Walt enjoying a cigarette after a job is done.

The myth of Oscar the giant turtle


 Walter continued to dive after his father's retirement.  In the spring and summer of 1949 Walt went on a holiday.  In this case it was a diving holiday.  That year the country had become enamoured about the story of a giant turtle that was sited in a lake near Churubusco, Indiana.  Walter dove into the murky, boggy water of Fulk Lake in search of the great turtle.  A sea turtle was even used as bait to lure the great turtle from his hiding spot.  All was in vain.  The giant turtle was never found, but the myth of Oscar the giant turtle of Churubusco lives on.  For more information on the giant turtle go to http://www.churubusco.net

Walter Johnsen chasing Oscar.  Photo taken in 1949 at Lake Fulk, Churubusco, Indiana.

Walter continued to dive into the early 1950's.  Walter's nephews Kenneth and Andrew Johnsen took up scuba diving in the 1970's as a hobby.  The Johnsen family diving tradition lives to this day as Iver's great niece Janice Davis is actively scuba diving in Tampa, Florida.

 Many thanks to Andrew Iver and Ken Johnsen. Without their help this article would not have been possible.

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