There’s an old saying: “You can’t work in gloves.” So what does that mean for a diver sealed inside a heavy, so-called hard suit built to reach great depths? Encased in a steel shell, a person can only observe or grasp small objects with specialized pincers.
But those limited actions weren’t enough to raise the Lusitania, which had been sunk by a German torpedo at the very beginning of World War I.
And sending divers in soft suits down to depths of 100 meters posed another serious risk. That’s a dangerous proposition.
Then someone remembered honey. People have long believed honey boosts the body’s vitality and endurance, so they decided to try this age-old remedy. They selected the strongest, most resilient divers and began acclimating them to a honey-heavy diet. Over six months, each diver consumed 6 poods of honey—equivalent to a whole barrel. The divers became so accustomed to it that they could eat up to 700 grams a day.
And honey did its job. Divers in soft suits successfully carried out the work of raising the Lusitania from depths of over 100 meters.
