Diving suitIn 1834, the first U.S. patent for a practical underwater diving suit was issued to Leonard Norcross of Dixfield, Maine (No. X8255).* Calling it a "Diving Armor," he designed an airtight leather outfit with a brass helmet connected via a rubber hose to an air bellows pump on a boat. To reduce buoyancy, the feet were weighted with lead shot. In May 1834, one month earlier, he tested the diving suit in the Webb River. Norcross named his son Submarinus in honor of the achievement.* The first truly effective diving suit with pump is attributed to an Englishman, Augustus Siebe, who designed it in 1829 and was entrusted with equipping the French Navy until 1857.* |
