Soviet metallurgist Konstantin Khrenov successfully introduced underwater welding and cutting of metals in 1932. This technique, using a special electrode and waterproof insulation, was quickly adopted by the Soviet Navy for salvage and repair operations, and became essential for offshore construction and ship maintenance worldwide.

Khrenov's underwater welding, a practical solution to a complex engineering problem, embodied the Soviet era's emphasis on technological innovation and industrial might. This invention, and its role in salvage and repair, inspired poets and writers who celebrated the heroism of labor and the conquest of nature, from the socialist realist poets of the Soviet Union to the industrial poets of the West, who found in such feats a metaphor for human resilience and creativity.