Shadow Divers

When the Seeker took its next trip out to the diving site, tragedy struck. Steve Feldman, a scuba diver just beginning to explore the world of deep-sea diving, was excited to continue the investigation with more experienced divers. However, while in the wreck, Feldman lost consciousness, most likely from nitrogen narcosis. His partner, knowing that divers sometimes regain consciousness in shallower water, started hauling him up. He met two other divers on their way down, and while resting to decompress, accidentally let go of the line, dropping Feldman in the process. One of the other divers went down to try to retrieve Feldman but was unable to find him. Subsequent searches yielded nothing. Nagle was forced to radio in to the Coast Guard to report a missing diver, which revealed the coordinates of subsequently the wreck. The incident destroyed the optimistic atmosphere of the expedition, and a more somber mood ensued. The risks of deep-sea diving were painfully apparent to all the other divers.

Feldman’s death, however, created an opening in the crew, and Richie Kohler, the diver and historian who had heard of the wreck from a crew member, stepped in. In many ways the polar opposite of Chatterton, Kohler was a member of the Atlantic Wreck Divers (AWD), a “hard-core” and reckless group of skilled divers. Chatterton disliked the group because they relentlessly stripped wrecks for anything that wasn’t nailed down, regardless of its value, displaying a crass materialistic attitude that clashed with Chatterton’s dedication to respectful exploration. Additionally, Kohler had been a crew member of Bielenda’s boat in the past, and during that time, he had indirectly clashed with Chatterton. Chatterton, while exploring the Andrea Doria with Nagle, had used his commercial diving skills to torch an obstacle that kept divers out of the third-class deck. This gave Nagle’s crew access to an unprecedented number of artifacts. Bielenda found out and planned to steal everything he could before Nagle’s crew returned for another sweep. However, Nagle found out about the plan and enlisted Chatterton to find a solution. Chatterton and another diver designed a grate to fit over the new entrance, displaying a message that the area was “closed for inventory” (112). No other divers could enter the hole, thwarting Bielenda’s plan. Although Kohler had been angry in the moment, he later laughed and admitted that Nagle’s divers had beat them fair and square. Kohler eventually broke with Bielenda entirely, and now Chatterton was reluctantly willing to give him another chance, especially after learning that Kohler was a German historian. After descending to the wreck with Kohler, Chatterton discovered dishware marked with a swastika and the year 1942, proving that the wreck was a German U-boat. Seeing Kohler’s unabashed enthusiasm at the find, as he yelled through his breathing regulator and danced “like a child” (118), Chatterton realized that they were alike in their fascination with new discoveries. Later, Kohler told Chatterton that his favorite part was being in the water with him and knowing that they were the only two people in the world who knew that the wreck was a German U-boat.

The text examines Richie Kohler’s background. He was born in New York, and his German father often took him out on the ocean to dive. He studied military history as a child and decided that he wanted to be an astronaut. When his parents split up, his mother took him with her to Florida. After the move, Kohler began getting into trouble and starting fights, at one point starting a fire in another kid’s locker. Consequently, he was denied admittance to the US Navy, a dream of his during high school. He began working for his father’s glass company while continuing to dive for enjoyment.

He joined a diving group, initially called the Thugs. These skilled and experienced divers took Kohler under their wing and taught him their “pirate” philosophy. These “loud and rowdy” (134) men nonetheless operated with the same calm and rationality as Chatterton underwater, and Kohler idolized them. Their teamwork while systematically stripping wrecks of artifacts became Kohler’s instruction in the principles of diving: Move fast, stay calm, problem-solve as you go, and take everything you can. The men, though rough, were incredibly knowledgeable about wrecks. Later, they became the AWD and admitted Kohler into their ranks. Although Kohler and the AWD had used Bielenda’s boat for their dives and knew about the rivalry between Bielenda and Nagle, Kohler didn’t hesitate when he heard that Nagle needed another diver. Kohler had similar qualms about Bielenda, believing that he was overly concerned with the bottom line. When Nagle’s crew accepted Kohler, he became a “blur of longing and desire” (140), consumed by thoughts of the U-boat discovery.