Maximilian Eugene Nohl was born September 22, 1910 in Milwaukee, WI to local attorney
Leo Frederick and Emma Nohl. His parents named him after his uncle, Max W. Nohl, an
attorney and local judge. Leo and Emma also had a daughter Mary (1914-2001) who
became a well-known local Milwaukee area artist. Nohl is sometimes referred to as
Max Gene Nohl.
After high school Nohl attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1929,
graduated in 1935 with a Bachelor of Science, and wrote his thesis on diving. At age
27, on December 1, 1937, Nohl set a world record for diving 420 feet in Lake
Michigan. In 1945, he married Eleanor Hecker.
Throughout his adult life Nohl did underwater salvage work, commercial diving and
underwater film work. He developed new diving equipment and worked with physicians
on creating an underwater breathing apparatus. He worked with Dr. Edgar End, of
Marquette University, on recompression chamber technology, studying decompression
sickness, also known as “the bends”. This is a physical condition affecting divers
(or aviators) who experience rapid changes in pressure. He was also involved with
helping advance underwater filming through his diving and equipment development. He
was one of the founders of DESCO, Diving Equipment and Supply Company, but left
early on to pursue more diving and salvage operations. Some of the salvage missions
he worked on include Phillip Lord’s Seth Parker Expedition, the John Dwight sunken
steamship and the Prins Willem V. His last mission was his 2nd attempt at
salvaging/raising the Prins Willem V which sank in 1954.
Max and Eleanor Nohl died February 6, 1960 in an automobile accident in Arkansas.
They are buried in Forest Home Cemetery in Milwaukee, WI.
