Featured Image Credit: NOAA/OAR/National Undersea Research Program (NURP)
By Sarah Sharkey
The world’s first diving suit was invented by Leonard Norcross, a known inventor of agricultural inventions.
As you can see in the picture, that suit looks very different from the ones we wear today. The suit was made of elastic Indian rubber-backed cloth and attached to a metal helmet that formed a watertight seal. The helmet was then connected to an air supply at the water’s surface by hoses.
Throughout the centuries that preceded Norcross and his invention, many people dreamed of being able to breathe underwater. There are sketches by Da Vinci in the 16th century for a leather diving suit, complete with a bamboo breathing system. Da Vinci designed it for soldiers to attack a ship from underwater.
The real key to Norcross’ invention was the recent innovation of elastic rubber. The rubber allowed Norcross to design a suit that would be filled with air by hoses, which would keep the diver dry. The buoyancy added by the air was counteracted by iron shot in the diver’s boots.
The suit was tested in 1834 in the Webb River in Maine. Luckily for the test diver, the suit proved to be nonfatal. The test diver was able to walk around underwater without any problems. Norcross was granted a patent on June 14, 1834.
Although Norcross was not the first inventor to receive a patent on a diving suit, but the use of rubber in his design sets this suit apart from the few that came before it.