Submersibles Through Time
The bathysphere (1930)
While many of the world's navies have long used highly developed
submarines in military operations, scientists began their underwater
exploration with more primitive vessels. These early manned
submersibles were often heavy, cramped metal containers, dangled
like anchors into the sea. In 1930, William Beebe (left) and Otis
Barton (right) became the first humans to observe the deep ocean in
their newly designed bathysphere, gazing through quartz-glass
portholes three inches thick. By 1934, the team reached a
world-record depth of 3,028 feet, more than twice as deep as their
previous dives.