Leonardo da Vinci specified leather for the outer covering of his diving suit.
His early-sixteenth-century concept used a leather suit connected to a breathing system. The diver’s head was enclosed by a mask, while tubes extended upward toward the water’s surface. Leonardo also included provisions for buoyancy and for collecting urine, reflecting his attempt to design a complete underwater outfit rather than merely a breathing mask.
The suit is often linked to military plans for underwater sabotage near enemy ships. Leonardo described the idea while working in Venice, a city whose canals and maritime defenses made underwater operations strategically interesting. There is no reliable evidence that his proposed suit was used in combat.
Leonardo’s design was not equivalent to modern scuba equipment. It depended on air from the surface and lacked a compressed-air tank, regulator, and modern diving controls. Its importance lies in recognizing that a diver needed both a waterproof garment and a managed air supply.