The Last Dive

Summary

The Last Dive: A Father and Son's Fatal Descent into the Ocean's Depths (2000)[1] is a non-fiction book written by diver Bernie Chowdhury and published by HarperCollins. It documents the fatal dive of Chris Rouse, Sr. and Chris "Chrissy" Rouse, Jr., a father-son team who perished off the New Jersey coast in 1992. The author is a dive expert and was a friend of the Rouses.[2]

The Last Dive: A Father and Son's Fatal Descent into the Ocean's Depths
AuthorBernie Chowdhury
Cover artistWes Skiles/Karst Productions, Bradford Foltz
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreNon-fiction adventure
PublisherHarperCollins Publishers, Harper Perennial
Publication date
2000, 2002
Media typePrint (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages356 pp (hardback)
ISBN0-06-019462-6 (hardback), ISBN 0-06-093259-7 (paperback)
363.14, 797.23
LC Class00-033426

The divers were exploring a German U-boat in 230 feet (70 m) of water off the coast of New Jersey. Although experienced in using technical diving gas mixtures such as "trimix" (adding helium gas to the nitrogen and oxygen found in air), they were diving on just compressed air.[2] The pair had set out to retrieve the captain's log book from the so-called U-Who to "fulfill their dream of diving into fame."[3]

Chowdhury is a technical diver who, according to writer Neal Matthews' review of Robert Kurson's book Shadow Divers (2004), "was among the first to adapt cave-diving principles to deep-water wrecks".[3] Also according to Matthews, "His book documents how the clashes of equipment philosophy between cave divers and wreck divers mirrored the clash of diving subcultures."[3]

References edit

  1. ^ Chowdhury, Bernie (2000). The Last Dive: A Father and Son's Fatal Descent into the Ocean's Depths. HarperCollins. ISBN 9780060194628.
  2. ^ a b Miller, Laura (October 29, 2000). "Out of Their Depth: The story of father-and-son divers who died off the New Jersey coast in 1992". New York Times. Retrieved July 26, 2013.
  3. ^ a b c Matthews, Neal (July 11, 2004). "Depth charge: 'Shadow Divers' gives the glossy treatment to a true adventure tale, and dive-bombs its credibility". San Diego Union Tribune. Retrieved July 26, 2013.

External links edit

  • "The Last Dive: A Father and Son's Fatal Descent into the Ocean's Depths by Bernie Chowdhury". HarperCollins Publishers. Retrieved July 26, 2013. Publisher's write-up on The Last Dive