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Sam McDowell with Iron Mike on the Ocean City Boardwalk
Tracking Down Iron Mike
He stood there in the back of the Old Smuggler’s Shop on the
Ocean City Boardwalk at 13th Street
Everybody who was there at the time, from he sixties through
the seventies, knew Iron Mike, and it seemed like you couldn’t walk past the
boardwalk shop without stopping in to see him. He was the star attraction in a
shop full of sea shells, antiques, historic replicas, whaler’s harpoons, a giant
whale bones, and nautical gifts.
Iron Mike was an early metal deep sea diving suit that
seemed to have found its niche in the back of Sam McDowell’s shop. The shop’s
motif was a good reflection of its owner, who was born in Somers Point, was an Ocean
City Princeton
in the winters, and ran his boardwalk shop in the summer.
Vacationing on the West Indians island of Becquia in the
winters, McDowell filled some of his shop with exotic art, crafts he brought
back from the islands, including scrimshaw, which McDowell, the artist, started
carving himself.
At a private party in Princeton , he
met then Senator John F. Kennedy, an avid scrimshaw collector who admired
McDowell’s work, and advised him to develop that talent more fully.
President Kennedy's scrimshaw prominently displayed on his Oval Office desk
So under the advisement of a future president, McDowell left Princeton and Ocean City, moved fulltime to Bequia and spent most of his time carving scrimshaw, which he found even more lucrative and enjoyable than teaching or hawking his Smuggler’s wares on the boardwalk. He also bought a summer home inCarmel ,
California Ocean
City
President Kennedy's scrimshaw prominently displayed on his Oval Office desk
So under the advisement of a future president, McDowell left Princeton and Ocean City, moved fulltime to Bequia and spent most of his time carving scrimshaw, which he found even more lucrative and enjoyable than teaching or hawking his Smuggler’s wares on the boardwalk. He also bought a summer home in
But what became of Iron Mike?
That’s what Steve Garza wanted to know. Steve read about McDowell’s
art donations to the Ocean City
I remember his shop well from when I was growing up. Do you
know what happened to Iron Mike? Many Thanks, Steve. Sent from my iPad.”
Since I didn’t know I told Steve that Sam was in Carmel ,
California
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Sam McDowell with Whale Bones at Smuggler Shop on Ocean City Boardwalk (Circa 1970s)
IN SEARCH OF IRON MIKE –
By Steve Garza (steve@stevegarza.com)
Many of us who visited Ocean
City
Although I was very young when I visited the Smuggler’s
Shop, I have vivid memories of the place and its two shopkeepers, Sam McDowell,
the shop’s owner, and Iron Mike, the imposing armored diving suit that greeted
visitors.
During a recent visit to Ocean
City
As for Sam McDowell, an internet search led me to an article
on Bill Kelly’s blog about Sam. As readers may already know, Sam is a
well-known artist who resides in California
Now in his 80s, Sam wrote that he now lives between his home
in Carmel, California and his long time second home in Bequia, an island in the
West Indies, though he seldom gets down there anymore.
Bequia is where he acquired some of the memorable items for
his shop, such as the giant whale skull and native arts and crafts.
Sam said he is enjoying life with is wife, kids and grand
kids, though he seems far from retired and makes a living as a full time
artist, doing both painting and scrimshaw. He is recognized as one of the best
scrimshaw artists working today, and also collects historic scrimshaw pieces.
Sam focuses much of his time making fine art, hand-crafted scrimshaw pocket
knives, which are sold by fine art galleries across the country.
Sam was also kind enough to include scans of two postcards
he formerly sold at the shop, one of Iron Mike and one of the huge whale skull.
On the topic of Iron Mike, Sam said that he had sold the
iron diving suit to a nautical museum in City
Island Bronx ,
New York Florida
Those who remember Sam and the fascinating items in his shop
may want to check out some of the galleries that sell his scrimshaw pocket
knives. They’re collectible works of art that could also hold some personal
meaning to those of us who remember the Smuggler’s Shop days.
IRON MIKE FOUND
It took a lot of internet searching to find any current
information on Iron Mike. Finally I found some pictures on Flickr tagged as
Iron Mike that were taken by some tourist of a large yellow painted diving suit
in a museum in Islamorada, Florida. When I looked closely at the pictures,
there was no doubt it was Iron Mike, who had received a yellow paint job on his
upper body at some point in his travels.
While it appears that Iron Mike is a popular tourist attraction, the museum doesn’t mention him on their web site.
While it appears that Iron Mike is a popular tourist attraction, the museum doesn’t mention him on their web site.
I called the museum to see if they had any more information
about Iron Mike and his history and virtually met Amber Weller, of the Florida
Keys History of Diving Museum, the present home of Iron Mike, and she filled me
in with many of the following details.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF IRON MIKE
Iron Mike was built in the early 1930s by the Empire Marine
Salvage and Engineering Corporation of New York City 17
Battery Place New York World
Trade Center Hudson
River in Jersey City , New
Jersey
Iron Mike’s primary ‘occupant’ was a well known commercial
diver, Roy R. Hansen, of Perth Amboy , NJ
According to the patent, Iron Mike was designed with a
number of innovative features, most of which were significant improvements over
standard diving equipment of the times, including:
Iron Mike was fully pressurized and self-contained, with an
oxygen tank that provided approximately four hours of air time, which was
included within the suit, so no air hoses were necessary, and a bottle of
caustic soda would absorb the CO2 emitted by the diver.
A telephone line was attached so the diver could keep in
contact with the boat on the surface, and the mechanical “hands” of a grappling
jaw permitted him to grasp objects.
The suit consists of a top and bottom pieces, secured together with a threaded ring, which could easily be opened. The buoyancy of the suit made it naturally return to an upright position, a feature the diver could take advantage of to lean over to closely inspect an object, as the suit would upright itself.
The suit consists of a top and bottom pieces, secured together with a threaded ring, which could easily be opened. The buoyancy of the suit made it naturally return to an upright position, a feature the diver could take advantage of to lean over to closely inspect an object, as the suit would upright itself.
Iron Mike undertook three dives that received notable press
coverage, and made him something of a celebrity. There were likely other dives,
but without the company’s records, they can’t be documented. If Iron Mike could
speak, he probably would have many fascinating stories to tell.
HMS Hussar, October, 1934. The Hussar was a British ship
carrying pay for their soldiers during the American Revolution. In 1780 the
Hussar hit a rock and sank in the Hells Gate, a treacherous waterway off New
York City
The search continued along the shores of theBronx for
about a month during which Hansen identified six shipwrecks, none of which was
the Hussar. The search was then called off because Simon
Lake Pleasantville , NJ Lake was ultimately unsuccessful
in this effort.
The search continued along the shores of the
It is now believed that the amount of blasting, dredging and
filling in the Hells Gate, beginning in 1876, probably buried the remains of
the Hussar under landfill in the Port Morris section of the Bronx .
A humorous side note – a Time Magazine article about the
dive said the crew had nicknamed the suit “Eleanor.” Thankfully, someone later
reconsidered this decision and Iron Mike took hold.
A New York Times article about the expedition reveals some interesting insights about the mission and Iron Mike. Roy Hansen, by this point very experienced using Iron Mike, was supremely confident in the suit and the changes of success on this mission. He even claimed he could stay down for 16 hours at a time. Hansen also said he believed the suit could dive to 2,000 feet.
The article named his two assistants – James Cullom and
William Hogarty, both from Jersey City Camden , New
Jersey Merida
Quarry Dive in Pen Argyl , Pa. Merida Pennsylvania
Post 1930s.
It is not clear what became of Thomas Connelly and his
company, or when Iron Mike was retired from commercial diving. Iron Mike was
reportedly stored at the Philadelphia Naval Ship Yard at some point in the
1940s, and after that was part of a live diving demonstration in Atlantic
City
From there he was acquired by Sam McDowell and spent his years in
From there Iron Mike was acquired by Drs. Joe and Sally
Bauer, the founders of the Florida Keys History of Diving Museum in Islamorada,
Florida, and the museum has been his home ever since.
Sometime before he got to the museum, his upper body was painted
yellow for an unknown reason. The museum is interested in restoring him to his
original finish, but does not have the resources to do so at this time.
Today, Iron Mike is one of the most popular attractions at the Islamorada museum.
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Special thanks to Sam McDowell, for sharing his
recollections, and Amber Weller of the Florida Keys History of Diving Museum
for sharing her research and patiently answering my questions. Amber’s research
skills and attention to detail have uncovered a lot of fascinating information
about Iron Mike.
LINKS:
http://www.divingmuseum.org/
Steve Notes:
http://www.historyofdivingmuseum.blogspot.com/.
Iron Mike
Patent:
http://www.google.com/patents?id=Ord9AAAAEBAJ&zoom=4&dq=diving%20suit%201934&pg=PA1#v=onepage&q=diving%20suit%201934&f=false
Sam McDowell Knives:
