Leonardo da Vinci designed an early form of scuba gear using breathing tubes connected to a floating bell.
His underwater apparatus appears in sixteenth-century manuscript material associated with studies of military and maritime technology. The proposed diver wore a mask or hood supplied with air through tubes that reached the surface. A floating structure was intended to help keep the air supply above water while the diver worked below.
This idea differs from a traditional diving bell, which is itself a chamber lowered into the water and occupied by a diver. Leonardo’s proposal aimed to let a person move more freely underwater while remaining connected to an air source. It also was not modern scuba equipment, because it lacked a portable compressed-air cylinder and a regulator.
Leonardo reportedly worried that such equipment could be used for covert attacks on ships, which may help explain why the design was treated cautiously. Whether he built or tested it is uncertain. Its historical importance lies in recognizing that underwater mobility requires both a breathing interface and a dependable air supply.