British divers, operating the 'Chariot' human torpedo or swimming from X-class midget submarines, were issued with an early drysuit, the 'Sladen suit'. The suit was developed in early 1942 by the eponymous Commander Geoffrey Sladen, an experienced British submariner. It included an integral rebreather based on the Davis Submerged Escape Apparatus, an oxygen rebreather used in escapes from submarines. The Sladen Suit was made from a rubberised twill fabric. It was a full-body suit, including a hood to cover the head, but did not cover the hands. The hood also included a mask - in early variants, there were individual eyepieces, but this soon changed to a single visor, allowing the diver to use binoculars. The suit was entered through a hole in the stomach, typically feet-first. The hole was covered by a rubber skirt or trunk, which could be folded up and sealed using a pair of metal plates to make the suit watertight. The suit did not cover the hands, meaning that gloves had to be worn to keep them warm. However, these were clumsy things, and most divers preferred not to wear them, instead using a thick layer of engine grease to protect their hands. As the suit was a drysuit, the frogmen could wear whatever they chose beneath them. The most successful combination was silk underwear worn under woollen underwear, with kapok-padded jackets and trousers worn over the combination. The suit was relatively warm, but uncomfortable to wear - for example, the diver's sweat tended to condense inside the hood - and it quickly acquired the nickname 'clammy death' as a result.