Carl Atkinson

Carl Atkinson (-1985) was a renowned Australian diver and salvage expert from Darwin in the Northern Territory of Australia.

Carl Atkinson
Carl Atkinson with the wheel from USS Peary, sunk in Darwin Harbour
Personal details
Born
Carl Atkinson
Died1985
NationalityAustralian
OccupationDiver and salvaging

Diving

Atkinson lived at Doctor's Gully from 1945 to 1979, where he lived with his pet crocodile named Cuthbert, a snake named Sammy and many dogs. He is attributed with starting the practice of fish feeding, which locals and visitors to Doctor's Gully continue to do today.[1]

Atkinson was an experienced diver for decades. He assisted police on several occasions with search and retrieval work.[2][3][4]

Atkinson built a decompression chamber which was used by Japanese pearl divers to prevent suffering the ‘bends’ after diving. He is known to have saved at least 16 pearl divers lives with this equipment.[1]

Salvage work

After World War II, Atkinson began acquiring the rights to salvage Darwin's wartime wrecks. With permission from the US Government, he salvaged the cargo of USAT Meigs in 1946 including Jeeps, Ford and Chevrolet trucks. Controversy erupted when Atkinson was required to pay heavy duty sales tax on the cargo.[5] He nearly died during the salvage mission when his speedboat sank, leaving his adrift in Darwin Harbour for 11 hours.[6]

He also discovered the location of USS Peary.[7] In 1958, Atkinson sold the salvage rights to four wrecks to Japanese company Nanyo Boeki Kaisha Ltd, ahead of the Fujita salvage operation in 1959.[8]

References
  1. "Carl Atkinson". Aquascene: Fish Feeding Sanctuary NT. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  2. "BERRY SPRINGS TRAGEDY". Northern Standard. 4 (143). Northern Territory, Australia. 18 February 1949. p. 14. Retrieved 24 January 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. "DARWIN TRAGEDY". Centralian Advocate. II (90). Northern Territory, Australia. 18 February 1949. p. 13. Retrieved 24 January 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. "Launch Stranded On Vernon Islands: Man Found After Beins Lost In Bush". Northern Standard. 2 (14). Northern Territory, Australia. 3 April 1947. p. 8. Retrieved 24 January 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. "Meigs Salvage: Customs Intervenes". West Australian. 20 September 1946. p. 13.
  6. "DIVER ADRIFT IN DARWIN HARBOR". Northern Standard. 1 (3). Northern Territory, Australia. 14 June 1946. p. 1. Retrieved 24 January 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. "Darwin's mystery wreck intrigues Australia". Northern Standard. 3 (114). Northern Territory, Australia. 30 July 1948. p. 1 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. "Naps getting ready to salvage wrecks". Northern Territory News. 10 July 1958.
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