Leonardo da Vinci designed a diving suit with breathing tubes.
His concept included a full suit, a mask, and tubes extending to the surface so the diver could breathe underwater. Leonardo described the apparatus in the Codex Atlanticus while studying underwater operations and possible naval applications. Some versions also include a system for managing buoyancy or collecting urine inside the suit.
The design is often associated with an imagined underwater assault on enemy ships. However, surviving evidence does not show that Leonardo built or tested a complete working suit. The practical problems would have included water pressure, tube collapse, breathing resistance, visibility, and reliable sealing.
Leonardo’s idea predates modern self-contained diving equipment by centuries. It also differs from a diving bell, which encloses an air space and descends as a chamber. Modern scuba equipment supplies air from a cylinder carried by the diver, rather than through long surface-connected breathing tubes.