Bathyscaphe (redirected from bathyscaphes)

bathyscaphe

Navigable diving vessel developed by Auguste Piccard (assisted by his son Jacques), designed to reach great depths in the ocean. The first bathyscaphe, the FNRS 2, was built in 1946–48 in Belgium. A later version, the Trieste, was acquired by the U.S. Navy; in 1960 it dived to a record 35,810 ft (10,916 m) in the Mariana Trench. The bathyscaphe consists of two main components: a steel cabin, heavier than water and resistant to sea pressure, to accommodate the observers; and a light container called a float, filled with gasoline, which, being lighter than water, provides the necessary lifting power (replacing cables, which had previously been used to support descending chambers but had proven unreliable at great depths).

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bathyscaph, bathyscaphe, bathyscape

a submersible vessel having a flotation compartment with an observation capsule underneath, capable of reaching ocean depths of over 10 000 metres (about 5000 fathoms)

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Bathyscaphe 

a deep-sea, independent (self-propelled) device for oceanographic and other research. The bathyscaphe consists of a light shell—a float filled with a filler which is lighter than water (gasoline)—and a steel sphere—the gondola. The float contains tanks with ballast and the storage batteries. The gondola contains the crew of the bathyscaphe, navigational instruments, an air regeneration system, a radio system for communication while above water, an ultrasonic telephone, a television camera, and research equipment. The electric motors with screw propellers and the spotlights are located on the hull. Modern bathyscaphes are equipped with devices for collecting bottom samples, cameras, and remote-control devices for underwater work. The buoyancy of the bathyscaphe is regulated by the jettisoning of solid ballast, usually steel shot, and the release of gasoline from ballast tanks.

The first bathyscaphe (FNRS 2) was constructed and tested by the Swiss scientist A. Piccard in 1948. In 1953, Piccard and his son Jacques descended in the bathyscaphe Trieste to a depth of 3,160 m. In 1954, the Frenchmen G. Houot and P. Willm reached a depth of 4,050 m in the bathyscaphe FNRS 3. In January 1960, J. Piccard and D. Walsh descended in the reconditioned bathyscaphe Trieste to the bottom of the Marianas Trench in the Pacific. At this time, the bathyscaphe is the only means available to man for the investigation of the extreme depths of the ocean.

REFERENCES

Houot, G., and P. Willm. Na glubine 4,000 m. Leningrad, 1960. (Translated from English.)
Piccard, J., and R. Dietz. Glubina—sem’ mil’. Moscow, 1963. (Translated from English.)
Diomidov, M. N., and A. N. Dmitriev. Podvodnye apparaty. Leningrad, 1966.

V. S. IASTREBOV