Leonardo da Vinci designed an early diving suit with a mask, breathing tubes, and a floating air-filled bell.
His underwater apparatus appears in studies traditionally dated to the late fifteenth or early sixteenth century. The design included a face mask connected to tubes that reached above the water, while a floating structure was intended to provide access to air. Some versions also show a container for collecting urine, reflecting Leonardo’s attention to the practical problems of remaining underwater.
The apparatus was associated with military operations, including the possibility of attacking enemy ships below the waterline. There is no reliable evidence that Leonardo’s suit was built and successfully tested.
It is often called an early diving suit, but it was not modern scuba equipment. It lacked a compressed-air cylinder and regulator. Leonardo was investigating underwater breathing and movement centuries before practical self-contained diving equipment became available.