In 1937, the Aqua-Lung claimed its first diver.

Maurice Fargues

Maurice Fargues, who was a close friend and colleague of Jacques Cousteau and Dumas, was attempting to set a new depth record. At 385 feet, Fargues stopped tugging at his safety line, a method used by divers to tell teammates on the surface that he was still alive. He was immediately hauled up to the boat, and his mouthpiece revealed to be hanging on his chest. Even though resuscitation efforts continued for 12 hours, Fargues still did not wake. He had lost his mouthpiece and drown due to nitrogen narcosis, a sense of extreme numbness felt while diving to great depths.

Everyone was distraught, but Cousteau suffered the biggest blow.

“Dumas and I owed our lives to Maurice Fargues […] We will not be consoled that we were unable to save him.”

As a result, research and tests were immediately conducted to reduce nitrogen in compressed air tanks to avoid any incidences of narcosis in the future.

In the midst of these tests and exploration dives, Cousteau and Tailliez were planning their first archaeology trip to Tunisia to explore the Roman wreck of Mahdia.

L’Ingénieur Elie Monnier

The group was given the vessel Albatross by the French Navy, and was renamed L’Ingénieur Elie Monnier. This allowed them absolute freedom to sail across the seas, a home to live in, and access to all the equipment on the ship.   The wreck  of Mahdia was twice the size of Elie Monnier and were filled with many artifacts believed to be dated about 80BC. The men returned to Toulon, thrilled at the success of the industrial use of the Aqua-Lung.

Also, Gagnan, who had moved to Canada, was still producing Aqua-Lungs, this time, for North America. The production of the apparatus for the French market was done mostly by the Undersea Research Group, and the team was keen on bringing their innovation to other parts of the world. However, Cousteau and his team were slowly gaining recognition, and more and more people were starting to take an interest in underwater exploration.