Leonardo da Vinci sketched a diving suit designed to let a person breathe while exploring underwater.
His early 16th-century concept included a sealed suit, a mask, and tubes leading upward toward the surface. The tubes were intended to supply air, while a float or cork structure helped keep their openings above water. Some versions also included a bag for collecting exhaled air or a means of regulating breathing.
The design has often been linked to underwater military operations, such as approaching enemy ships unseen. Leonardo’s notes show that he understood the practical problems of water pressure, buoyancy, and air supply, but there is no reliable evidence that his complete suit was built or used historically.
A diving suit differs from a diving bell, which encloses air in a rigid chamber, and from a modern scuba suit, which normally uses an independent compressed-air cylinder. Leonardo’s proposal was an important early study of underwater breathing equipment, not a modern scuba system.