Patrick Raude was a combat diver in the Marine Nationale before joining Comex and working for them 25 years. He took part in the historic Janus IV operation establising a new world record at the time at 460m
The Janus IV Operation The Janus IV Operation, organized by Comex comprised two phases. The experimental phase took place in December 1976, in Comex?s Hyperbare experimental center in Marseille. Comex divers Jacques Verpeaux, Patrick Raude, Louis Schneider, Philippe Jeantot, Vito Lentini, and John Mac Kenna, as well as two divers from the French Marines, Emile Sevellec and Gérard Vial,took part in tests and exercises inside a sphere fi lled with water. The pressures they experienced were equivalent to those at 430 to 480 meters. The practical phase of the operation was carried out in the Mediterranean, off the coast of Cavalaire in France. The divers were Jacques Verpeaux, Patrick Raude, Louis Schneider, Philippe Jeantot, Emile Sevellec and Gérard Vial. The saturation chambers that they were to live in for the entire operation were slowly pressurized to the pressure experienced at below 430 meters of sea water. Then their vessel, the Petrel, made its way toward the site of the operation. The fi rst diving team was made up of Patrick Raude, Jacques Verpeaux and Gérard Vial. All three went down to 460 meters in the open sea. Over the next three days, several successful dives down to 460 meters were made, during which the divers installed a mechanical and hydraulic subma-rine pipeline, carrying out tests of underwater soldering procedures. On the evening of October 19, 1977, as the divers were resting in their chamber, Comex director Henri Germain Delauze told them over the loud-speaker how pleased Comex was with the results. He further announced that Comex?s scientifi c committee had decided to attempt a descent to the never-before attained depth of 500 meters. He asked the six divers if they agreed to try, and all volunteered to do so. The following morning, Jacques Verpeaux was chosen for the fi rst dive, and Gérard Vial for the second. As they descended, the pressure was brought from that of 430 meters (the pressure of the chambers they had been living in) to that of 490 meters. Jacques Verpeaux made his dive, and the registers on the surface indicated he had reached a depth of -501 meters, an exploit never before accomplished. A record had been beaten, and all the sirens of the Petrel and the accompanying boats went off in celebration. Verpeaux smiled for the cameras, then took up a plastic slate and wrote ?Janus IV, 500 meters, 1647 feet?. Ten days later, the divers were acclaimed by an enthusiastic crowd. The Janus IV Operation was the last diving test made in the open seas using Trimix Helium, which was principally made up of helium, with oxygen and a tiny percentage of nitrogen. It helped deter-mine the limits of human intervention in diving technology. This is a truly exceptional watch with unquestionable provenance that helped shape the history of professional diving.