(later FNRS-3) Bathyscaph.
L:
6.5 dia. Tons:
12.5 tons. Hull:
nickel-chrome molybdenum. Comp.:
2. Built:
Emile Henricot Works, Court Etienne, Belgium; 1948.
The world's first bathyscaph was the creation of Swiss physicist and oceanographer Auguste Piccard. The principle of the bathyscaph—the word was Piccard's coinage, derived from the Greek words meaning "deep boat"—was simple. Piccard wanted a manned vessel fitted with observation portholes yet strong enough to withstand the enormous stresses created at great depths—as much as 8 tons per square inch—and able to descend and rise on its own, without being tethered to a mother ship.
Piccard was already well known for his ascent in a balloon to 50,000 feet in order to study cosmic rays, in 1931. The impetus for the bathyscaph arose from a conversation with King Leopold of Belgium, whose father had founded the Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique, the organization responsible for much of Piccard's research. Asked how his work was progressing, Piccard, who had long been interested in oceanography, found himself telling the king of his plans to build a bathyscaph for abyssal research.
The design of the first bathyscaph, FNRS-2 (the original FNRS was Piccard's stratospheric balloon), was relatively straightforward. The passenger compartment was a steel sphere large enough to hold two crew and fitted with two portholes. This sphere was attached to an elongated float filled with gasoline, which is lighter than water and therefore more buoyant. (The relationship of gasoline and water is comparable to that of helium and air, and the bathyscaph has been compared to an underwater balloon.) The tank also had provisions for water and iron ballast, which could be jettisoned at the bottom of the dive in preparation for the ascent.
On November 3, 1948, FNRS-2 made an unmanned trial descent to a record depth of 1.371 meters (4,500 feet) off Dakar, Senegal. Funding difficulties led to the bathyscaph's transfer to the French Navy, and it was officially renamed FNRS-3. In 1954, FNRS-3 descended to a record 4,049 meters (13,284 feet) off Dakar, a depth not exceeded until 1959 during
Trieste's workup for its assault on the 10,912-meter (35,800-foot) Challenger Deep. In the 1960s, FNRS-3 was replaced by the French Navy's FNRS-4.
Houot & Willm, 2000 Fathoms Down. Piccard, Earth, Sky, and Sea. Piccard & Ditez, Seven Miles Down.
