first tanks sold with a USD black label Broxton?

[eskimo3883]

Does anyone know:

Were the tanks sold with a USD black label Broxton also USD?

Were these were stamped RENE US Divers?

When did they switch from a painted to a galvanized coating?

[YankDownUnder]

The earliest tanks I have seen were 1800 psi and stamped USN. They have a large neck and are seen with a plug and a pillar type k-valve. They looked a lot like Mike Nelson's twin 38's. I cannot honestly say they were sold by Rene Sports (US Divers) but I have seen them offered on ebay with USD markings..

The earlier tanks were WWII surplus just about everywhere and I cannot imagine Rene Bussoz doing anything different. When I was a boy in southern California (1952), the surplus stores were filled with WWII hardware. Rifles, web gear, rafts and radios were stacked high. I was only 8 years old and I remember it well. Here in Australia in 1958, the same was true to a lesser extent. The first scuba tanks here were twin 26 cu. ft. oxygen tanks. They came from scrapped aircraft. I still have a set and they work fine with my older regulators. They came wrapped in steel wire, which had to be removed to prevent rusting underneath. Sea Hornet and Air Dive both utilized them. Porpoise also used surplus aircraft tanks initially.

Porpoise designer Ted Eldred made the first commercially successful single hose regulator. He pointed out that demand valves had been around for a long time. What was needed was suitable high pressure tanks. In WWII, high pressure tanks were made for torpedoes, life rafts, fire extiquishers, medical oxygen and industrial gasses. My Salvus rebreather tank is stamped 1942. Mine Safety Appliances made scuba for amphibious armored vehicle escape, but those were small like a Spare Air. Some of the early Cousteau used German aircraft oxygen tanks.

The earliest scuba tanks from US Divers in my collection are the ones in the avatar, they are stamped Rene, 1954 (1049 Broxton Ave). Steve

[eskimo3883]

I have 1940's era surplus tanks sold by USD but these are all smaller than 72's, are 1800psi, and were sold in the late 1950's. You can see them in the 1950's catalogs with their neck adapters.

The earliest UDS stamped tank I have is a 1953 RENE 72 cu ft tank. It is a 2150 psi tank with a concave bottom that will stand up on its own (SN 5035). I have a 1954 Rene 72 cu ft tank that is 2150 psi tank but it has the rounded convex bottom. The bottom of the 1954 is not "hemisphere round" but rounded enough to prevent it from standing upright.

The 1954 tank is zinc galvanized but the 1953 has no zinc, just a thin painted coating like what you would see on a welding tank.

Not sure how tank serial numbers relate to production:

SN for 1953: 5035
SN for the 1954: 14910.