FSX-797 Navy spec for submersible watch, with rigorous dust and moisture specifications, tested under pressure while submerged in water. In Operation Overlord during the D-Day landings, the Navy's CDU teams on
Utah Beach were able to clear 1,600 yards of beach of steel and concrete obstacles, paving the way for the liberation of France, and the end of World War II.
18W8 (INT) wristwatch (watertight) "buship" "canteen" dive watch An iconic post military watch and a result of the Navy's FSX-797, colloquially known as the US Navy's
Bureau of Ships "canteen watch", started out with Jacques Depollier & Sons' waterproof and dustproof strap watch. The first known example of the now common "screw down crown", unlike later examples of the canteen watch, this one lacked the emblematic chain anchoring the crown to the watch. One unusual feature of this watch was the heat disk on the back of the case to prevent the heat from the wearer's wrist from causing the oil in the watch to drip out of the jewel holes. Depollier ads claim that the US Army Signal Corps used the case to protect watch movement stores in long-term storage. The gasketed and spring-loaded screw-down crown is kept on the case by two flanges on the crown held against two grooves on the case. US Navy Bureau of Ships specification 18W8, published in December 1944. A matte black metal dial, two vertical luminous dots over 12, along with one for every other hour, the hour and minute hand, as well as the tip of the second hand covered in radium lume. With war shortages, the case was made of chromed base metal. A Koroseal gasket is used inside the crown. The crystal is tempered glass with a metal rim soldered to the case, creating a watertight seal. The 17-jewel sweep-second movement is covered by another Koroseal gasket under the caseback. Later, better-known dive watches would come from
Elgin and
Hamilton.
22717A With the advent of
SCUBA diving, the canteen watches, limited to 49 feet, needed to be replaced. The military needed watches, issued in 1961 for special forces, that could be submerged up to 400 ft and were nonmagnetic. A new spec needed to be included to accommodate this; spec 22717A, which superseded several previous specs. With SCUBA's commercial and public use, as well as the natural evolution of watches, the military started buying the commercial dive watches that were entering the market. Popular examples included the
Benrus 7951 and 7952, the
Blancpain 50 Fathoms, the
Doxa 300T, the
Rolex Oyster Perpetual, and
Submariner, the
Tudor Submariner and Prince, the
Seiko DEO-95, and the Zodiac Sea Wolf. The first watch made for 22717A was made by Allen Tornek in the Rayville Factory, a representative of Blancpain, it was the
Tornek-Rayville TR900.
Mil-W-50717 ==See also==