Safecracking Under Seas

As a child, Charles Courtney was intrigued with everything mechanical that he could fix or take apart. He was especially fascinated with locks, and so began his lifelong career as a lock expert. However, he had resolved to become a diver and do all the things his great, great uncle, Jules Verne, a novelist, had described in his famous book, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea. Years later, Charles Courtney realized his dream. Because of his talent for picking locks, he was hired as a diver to open safes on sunken ships. He was the first to do a locksmithing job 400 feet under water, and he recovered many millions of dollars for the salvage companies. Charles Courtney achieved international fame as a Master Locksmith, also known as a collector of antique locks, many of them now a part of the Schlage collection.