A.J. Morse U.S. Navy Mark V

Product Features

Andrew J Morse & Son was the lead company in the production of the US Navy Mark V Diving Helmet in 1916. A photo of the Mark V prototype in the 1916 US Navy Diving Manual is of AJMS serial number 2178. A few years ago one of the early production Morse Mark V helmets, serial number 2198 was found in Wisconsin. The Morse Mark V has been in continuous production for 109 years. When DESCO purchased the assets of Morse Diving Inc. we vowed to keep the legacy alive and build Morse helmets as faithfully as possible. Some patterns and tooling were gone so hard decisions were made. The Morse air and communication elbows were never quite right. They angled too close to the bonnet shell and made connecting the air and communication lines more difficult. Some Morse helmets we have seen over the years had some bad wrench scars by the elbows. Instead of making new patterns it was decided to use the DESCO elbows. These conform the the 1942 Bureau of Ships drawing and didn't have the clearance issue. We did hold true to only using borosilicate glass in the faceplate and windows. The glass is about four times the cost of acrylic but it is accurate for a Morse helmet. We also had to figure out how to hand Tin a helmet. Morse would dip the Copper shells in a vat of molten Tin then solder on the castings. We don't have a vat of molten Tin so we apply a Tin paste used for making electronic circuit boards to the shells then melt the paste in an oven. There is allot of cleanup with this process but we get the desired appearance. Morse had been building helmets since the 1850s and some of their other methods were unique and still being used in 2015. These features are why a Morse Mark V helmet is significantly more expensive than a DESCO. With a DESCO helmet there is a $250.00 charge for polishing the helmet. On a Morse helmet the $250.00 fee is for plating the helmet. It is all about the hand labor involved in the finishing. Our goal is to provide the helmet you want and will be proud to own.