Leonardo da Vinci designed a diving suit for divers exploring underwater environments.
His notes from the early sixteenth century describe a suit with a mask, breathing tubes, and a system intended to let a diver remain below the surface. The design is associated with military and engineering studies connected to Venice, where underwater attacks on enemy vessels were a strategic concern.
Leonardo’s concept included a flexible covering and breathing equipment, but it was never verified as a practical working suit. Long breathing tubes would have been difficult to use safely because water pressure, tube length, air exchange, and movement all limit how far a person can breathe from the surface.
The design is sometimes incorrectly presented as a modern scuba suit. It had no compressed-air cylinder, regulator, or buoyancy-control device. Nevertheless, Leonardo recognized that underwater exploration required both protection from the water and a controlled supply of breathable air.