Diagram of the diving bell, improved by Edmund Halley. Engraving by Louis Figuier. The Wonders of Science, 1867-1891 • WIKIMEDIA COMMONS Since ancient times, man has been looking for a way to move underwater free from the constraints imposed by breathing. In addition to snorkelers, there is evidence that the Assyrian army had swimmers who breathed with goatskin skins, much like the Roman "divers" called urinatores . However, none of them could reach great depths. It is in the XVI th century that a process was devised that made it possible to remain at the bottom of the sea for a long time. If we put aside the visionary projects of Leonardo da Vinci, these inventions are linked to a new need that emerged with the discovery of America and the increase in maritime traffic:the salvage of goods and equipment from wrecked ships. Spain at the forefront In particular, the Spanish Crown had a great interest in recovering the cargoes of the galleons of the Indian Fleet lost during storms and hurricanes. It does this by encouraging innovations that prove effective and protecting their inventors with "invention privileges" and exclusive salvage contracts. These measures encourage the development of a multitude of equipment. In 1539, Captain Blasco de Garay offered Emperor Charles V "a process by which any man can remain under water as long as he wishes as peacefully as if he were on land". Soon after, in 1597, the Navarrese Jerónimo de Ayanz won a royal patent allowing him to use several of his inventions in India:diving goggles, air containers with mouthpieces and pipes with purge and exhaust valves. feeding from the surface which he himself tested in front of King Philip III by immersing himself in the Pisuerga for an hour. This immersion can be considered the first official record of a successful diving equipment test. Goatskin and polished horn At the beginning of the XVII th century, two other Spanish inventors created a real diving suit. Diego Ufano, a Spanish military engineer assigned to Flanders, presented in 1613 a global solution for the recovery of cannons from wrecks. In his Artillery Treatise appears a beautiful illustration of a diver equipped with a suit in goatskin composed of a hood and glasses in polished horn allowing to see under water. The diver breathes through a tube kept afloat. This rudimentary set gives him safety and autonomy while he retrieves a cannon with an instrument similar to an auger. Ufano acknowledges in his book that he was inspired by Genoese divers who recovered sunken guns off the Azores. "One or two or more people go down to the bottom of the sea […] for a period of three or four hours," says Pedro de Ledesma. In 1623, the royal secretary Pedro de Ledesma described in a handwritten work the diving suit usually used to recover the cargo of the galleons of the Silver Fleet that sank in Matecumbe, including the famous galleon Atocha. The text, accompanied by plates, describes the invention as "safe for one or two or more persons to descend to the bottom of the sea to depths of 16 to 25 fathoms [26-42 m] for a period of three or four o'clock." Again, we must give credit to its practical use, as Ledesma claims, "I put this invention into practice in 1623 in the two islets of Matecumbe. » Ufano's and Ledesma's outfits – improved in 1720 by Alejandro Durand with bellows and hoses to renew the air – laid the foundations for the modern rigid-helmeted diving suit invented in 1818 by the Briton Augustus Siebe. Timeline 1519 Leonardo da Vinci draws diving outfits:hoses, flippers, breathing devices...1539 Captain Blasco de Garay presents Charles V with a suit to stay underwater "as long as you want".1602 The Navarrese Jerónimo de Ayanz tries on his diving suit in front of Philip III by immersing himself for an hour in the Pisuerga.1613 Diego Ufano invents a solution to recover the guns of sunken ships.1623 Pedro de Ledesma details the diving suit used to recover objects from the wrecks of Matacumbé.
