Harry Wham, the owner of the Keyboard Lounge--a very successful night club--in Las Vegas, Nevada, and a SCUBA expert and dive instructor with his own Whamco Divers Dive School, whose Navy and civilian diving experience dated back to 1941, when he devised some of the earliest underwater diving equipment ever used in Hawaiian waters, was high in his praise of Lake Mead.
One of the less than a hundred divers in the world qualified by the National Underwater Aquatic Institute at the time of his death, Harry Wham had dived in almost every important body of water in the world. His laboratory was crammed with underwater cameras, depth gauges, compressors, gold nuggets scooped from river beds, skeletons of marine life, rusty treasure from ancient ships, and almost every type of old and new diving equipment known.
Adventures to seek buried treasure or sunken galleons periodically lured Wham from Lake Mead, but his prime interest was the development and perfection of underwater equipment, instruction, and technique, which he felt he could best do at Lake Mead.
During World War II while serving in the U.S. Navy, Harry was a member of the Underwater Demolition Dive Team (UDT 10), whose job was to essentially clear the sea/beach of natural and man-made obstacles. UDT's were established after the bombing of Pearl Harbor; there were around 30 of these teams (1943-1946).
His Enlistment Date was 30 Jul 1941; Release Date was 11 Oct 1945.
Harry was one of the first members and instrumental in setting up the Lake Mead Search and Rescue Dive team. He was also on the committee and President of the Clark County Water Safety Council.
There were only two active certifying agencies in those halcyon days, the very demanding and certainly prestigious LACO (LA County) program and the national program: NAUI (National Association of Underwater Instructors). (PADI was an offshoot of LACO & NAUI and appeared ten years later as a private enterprise.) Harry was one of the early NAUI instructors.
HARRY'S LAKE MEAD SPEARFISHING TECHNIQUES & HIS SPECIAL LAKE MEAD SPEAR POINT
Harry could not spearfish in Lake Mead but was excited about spearing and would, on occasion, join in on some of the trips or visit with the tribe while in OC SoCal. His Wham Lake Mead Point was a 1-3/4 brass ball with a 5/16 NF thread for attaching to the spear gun shaft arrow. He had one made for a friend, which he used once at Catalina. It is probably the last original Wham Lake Mead Point remaining in the spearfishing community. Under the cover of darkness at Lake Mead, Harry secretly entered the water and secured his gun with the Wham Point underwater. He would go diving, retrieving his gun from its underwater hiding place and spearfish. The round ball point strikes the unsuspecting fish, causing massive internal damage but not making the telltale spear hole in the fish. He would string his catch on a common fishing stringer, as if a worm-drowning fisherman had caught the fish on a pole. He would exit the water with the stringer and generally proclaim, "Look what I found! A fisherman's string of fish!" Some would probably still be wiggling, but not a hole could be found. He continued spearfishing that way for many years and was never questioned by the local Fish and Game. Nor did he share his point and spearfishing technique, except with a few who are all now in the sunset of their lives or spearing on that big reef in the sky.
Yearbook Announcement: Santa Ana HS, Santa Ana, CA - Friday, March 1, 1940: The Alpha Club sponsored the Co-ed Dance. The music was furnished by Harry Wham, and the Country Club was the place.
Cremation took place at Bunkers Mortuaries, Cemeteries & Crematory, Las Vegas, Nevada.
One of the less than a hundred divers in the world qualified by the National Underwater Aquatic Institute at the time of his death, Harry Wham had dived in almost every important body of water in the world. His laboratory was crammed with underwater cameras, depth gauges, compressors, gold nuggets scooped from river beds, skeletons of marine life, rusty treasure from ancient ships, and almost every type of old and new diving equipment known.
Adventures to seek buried treasure or sunken galleons periodically lured Wham from Lake Mead, but his prime interest was the development and perfection of underwater equipment, instruction, and technique, which he felt he could best do at Lake Mead.
During World War II while serving in the U.S. Navy, Harry was a member of the Underwater Demolition Dive Team (UDT 10), whose job was to essentially clear the sea/beach of natural and man-made obstacles. UDT's were established after the bombing of Pearl Harbor; there were around 30 of these teams (1943-1946).
His Enlistment Date was 30 Jul 1941; Release Date was 11 Oct 1945.
Harry was one of the first members and instrumental in setting up the Lake Mead Search and Rescue Dive team. He was also on the committee and President of the Clark County Water Safety Council.
There were only two active certifying agencies in those halcyon days, the very demanding and certainly prestigious LACO (LA County) program and the national program: NAUI (National Association of Underwater Instructors). (PADI was an offshoot of LACO & NAUI and appeared ten years later as a private enterprise.) Harry was one of the early NAUI instructors.
HARRY'S LAKE MEAD SPEARFISHING TECHNIQUES & HIS SPECIAL LAKE MEAD SPEAR POINT
Harry could not spearfish in Lake Mead but was excited about spearing and would, on occasion, join in on some of the trips or visit with the tribe while in OC SoCal. His Wham Lake Mead Point was a 1-3/4 brass ball with a 5/16 NF thread for attaching to the spear gun shaft arrow. He had one made for a friend, which he used once at Catalina. It is probably the last original Wham Lake Mead Point remaining in the spearfishing community. Under the cover of darkness at Lake Mead, Harry secretly entered the water and secured his gun with the Wham Point underwater. He would go diving, retrieving his gun from its underwater hiding place and spearfish. The round ball point strikes the unsuspecting fish, causing massive internal damage but not making the telltale spear hole in the fish. He would string his catch on a common fishing stringer, as if a worm-drowning fisherman had caught the fish on a pole. He would exit the water with the stringer and generally proclaim, "Look what I found! A fisherman's string of fish!" Some would probably still be wiggling, but not a hole could be found. He continued spearfishing that way for many years and was never questioned by the local Fish and Game. Nor did he share his point and spearfishing technique, except with a few who are all now in the sunset of their lives or spearing on that big reef in the sky.
Yearbook Announcement: Santa Ana HS, Santa Ana, CA - Friday, March 1, 1940: The Alpha Club sponsored the Co-ed Dance. The music was furnished by Harry Wham, and the Country Club was the place.
Cremation took place at Bunkers Mortuaries, Cemeteries & Crematory, Las Vegas, Nevada.
Harry Wham, the owner of the Keyboard Lounge--a very successful night club--in Las Vegas, Nevada, and a SCUBA expert and dive instructor with his own Whamco Divers Dive School, whose Navy and civilian diving experience dated back to 1941, when he devised some of the earliest underwater diving equipment ever used in Hawaiian waters, was high in his praise of Lake Mead.
One of the less than a hundred divers in the world qualified by the National Underwater Aquatic Institute at the time of his death, Harry Wham had dived in almost every important body of water in the world. His laboratory was crammed with underwater cameras, depth gauges, compressors, gold nuggets scooped from river beds, skeletons of marine life, rusty treasure from ancient ships, and almost every type of old and new diving equipment known.
Adventures to seek buried treasure or sunken galleons periodically lured Wham from Lake Mead, but his prime interest was the development and perfection of underwater equipment, instruction, and technique, which he felt he could best do at Lake Mead.
During World War II while serving in the U.S. Navy, Harry was a member of the Underwater Demolition Dive Team (UDT 10), whose job was to essentially clear the sea/beach of natural and man-made obstacles. UDT's were established after the bombing of Pearl Harbor; there were around 30 of these teams (1943-1946).
His Enlistment Date was 30 Jul 1941; Release Date was 11 Oct 1945.
Harry was one of the first members and instrumental in setting up the Lake Mead Search and Rescue Dive team. He was also on the committee and President of the Clark County Water Safety Council.
There were only two active certifying agencies in those halcyon days, the very demanding and certainly prestigious LACO (LA County) program and the national program: NAUI (National Association of Underwater Instructors). (PADI was an offshoot of LACO & NAUI and appeared ten years later as a private enterprise.) Harry was one of the early NAUI instructors.
HARRY'S LAKE MEAD SPEARFISHING TECHNIQUES & HIS SPECIAL LAKE MEAD SPEAR POINT
Harry could not spearfish in Lake Mead but was excited about spearing and would, on occasion, join in on some of the trips or visit with the tribe while in OC SoCal. His Wham Lake Mead Point was a 1-3/4 brass ball with a 5/16 NF thread for attaching to the spear gun shaft arrow. He had one made for a friend, which he used once at Catalina. It is probably the last original Wham Lake Mead Point remaining in the spearfishing community. Under the cover of darkness at Lake Mead, Harry secretly entered the water and secured his gun with the Wham Point underwater. He would go diving, retrieving his gun from its underwater hiding place and spearfish. The round ball point strikes the unsuspecting fish, causing massive internal damage but not making the telltale spear hole in the fish. He would string his catch on a common fishing stringer, as if a worm-drowning fisherman had caught the fish on a pole. He would exit the water with the stringer and generally proclaim, "Look what I found! A fisherman's string of fish!" Some would probably still be wiggling, but not a hole could be found. He continued spearfishing that way for many years and was never questioned by the local Fish and Game. Nor did he share his point and spearfishing technique, except with a few who are all now in the sunset of their lives or spearing on that big reef in the sky.
Yearbook Announcement: Santa Ana HS, Santa Ana, CA - Friday, March 1, 1940: The Alpha Club sponsored the Co-ed Dance. The music was furnished by Harry Wham, and the Country Club was the place.
Cremation took place at Bunkers Mortuaries, Cemeteries & Crematory, Las Vegas, Nevada.
One of the less than a hundred divers in the world qualified by the National Underwater Aquatic Institute at the time of his death, Harry Wham had dived in almost every important body of water in the world. His laboratory was crammed with underwater cameras, depth gauges, compressors, gold nuggets scooped from river beds, skeletons of marine life, rusty treasure from ancient ships, and almost every type of old and new diving equipment known.
Adventures to seek buried treasure or sunken galleons periodically lured Wham from Lake Mead, but his prime interest was the development and perfection of underwater equipment, instruction, and technique, which he felt he could best do at Lake Mead.
During World War II while serving in the U.S. Navy, Harry was a member of the Underwater Demolition Dive Team (UDT 10), whose job was to essentially clear the sea/beach of natural and man-made obstacles. UDT's were established after the bombing of Pearl Harbor; there were around 30 of these teams (1943-1946).
His Enlistment Date was 30 Jul 1941; Release Date was 11 Oct 1945.
Harry was one of the first members and instrumental in setting up the Lake Mead Search and Rescue Dive team. He was also on the committee and President of the Clark County Water Safety Council.
There were only two active certifying agencies in those halcyon days, the very demanding and certainly prestigious LACO (LA County) program and the national program: NAUI (National Association of Underwater Instructors). (PADI was an offshoot of LACO & NAUI and appeared ten years later as a private enterprise.) Harry was one of the early NAUI instructors.
HARRY'S LAKE MEAD SPEARFISHING TECHNIQUES & HIS SPECIAL LAKE MEAD SPEAR POINT
Harry could not spearfish in Lake Mead but was excited about spearing and would, on occasion, join in on some of the trips or visit with the tribe while in OC SoCal. His Wham Lake Mead Point was a 1-3/4 brass ball with a 5/16 NF thread for attaching to the spear gun shaft arrow. He had one made for a friend, which he used once at Catalina. It is probably the last original Wham Lake Mead Point remaining in the spearfishing community. Under the cover of darkness at Lake Mead, Harry secretly entered the water and secured his gun with the Wham Point underwater. He would go diving, retrieving his gun from its underwater hiding place and spearfish. The round ball point strikes the unsuspecting fish, causing massive internal damage but not making the telltale spear hole in the fish. He would string his catch on a common fishing stringer, as if a worm-drowning fisherman had caught the fish on a pole. He would exit the water with the stringer and generally proclaim, "Look what I found! A fisherman's string of fish!" Some would probably still be wiggling, but not a hole could be found. He continued spearfishing that way for many years and was never questioned by the local Fish and Game. Nor did he share his point and spearfishing technique, except with a few who are all now in the sunset of their lives or spearing on that big reef in the sky.
Yearbook Announcement: Santa Ana HS, Santa Ana, CA - Friday, March 1, 1940: The Alpha Club sponsored the Co-ed Dance. The music was furnished by Harry Wham, and the Country Club was the place.
Cremation took place at Bunkers Mortuaries, Cemeteries & Crematory, Las Vegas, Nevada.
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