Submarine Products

Submarine Products Ltd (1959−1990) was a diving gear manufacturer, with a factory in Hexham in Northumberland, England. It was founded in 1959 by Lieutenant-Commander Hugh Oswell.

Until the late 1950s, the British Siebe Gorman company patents kept aqualungs expensive in Britain, and many British sport divers had to use home-made breathing sets and ex-armed forces or ex-industry rebreathers. Some became expert at home-making scuba diving demand regulators from industrial parts such as Calor Gas regulators.

In 1959 Hugh Oswell designed around the Cousteau-Gagnan patent and made sport diving breathing sets accessibly inexpensive. Submarine Products Ltd were the first company to make scuba sets readily available to the public in the United Kingdom. They developed a unique diver delivery vehicle (the Subskimmer), and were important for introducing high quality plastics (e.g. ABS) into the manufacture of underwater breathing apparatus. For many years they supplied their Black Prince regulators and other open circuit equipment to the Royal Navy. When the British Navy decided to purchase foreign competitors' closed circuit equipment, imports became increasingly difficult. After financial difficulties, Submarine Products Ltd ceased in 1990.