Leonardo da Vinci sketched a diving suit for underwater exploration.
His design included a sealed suit, a mask, and breathing tubes leading toward the surface. Leonardo’s notes connected the apparatus with underwater military operations, including the possibility of allowing divers to approach enemy ships unseen. The concept is usually associated with sketches from the early sixteenth century.
The suit was not a modern self-contained scuba system. Its diver depended on air supplied from above, and the long tubes would have created serious practical problems involving breathing resistance, water pressure, and entanglement. There is no firm evidence that Leonardo built or tested the complete apparatus.
Leonardo’s design is sometimes confused with a diving bell, which encloses a pocket of air for one or more divers. It also differs from a submarine, which is a vessel rather than wearable equipment. His sketch nevertheless shows a remarkably early attempt to solve the separate engineering problems of underwater breathing and protection.