![]() ![]() ‘’Trieste’’ consisted of a heavy crew sphere suspended from a hull containing tanks filled with gasoline (petrol) for buoyancy, ballast hoppers filled with iron shot and floodable water tanks to sink. īuilt in Italy and launched on 26 August 1953 near the Isle of Capri on the Mediterranean Sea it was operated in the Mediterranean by the French Navy for several years until it was purchased by the United States Navy in 1958 for US$250,000, equivalent to $2.5 million today. The term bathyscaphe refers to its capacity to dive and manoeuvre untethered to a ship in contrast to a bathysphere, bathys being ancient Greek meaning "deep" and scaphe being a light, bowl-shaped boat. Trieste was designed by the Swiss scientist Auguste Piccard, based on his previous experience with the bathyscaphe FNRS-2. General arrangement, showing the key features JSTOR ( January 2011) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message).Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.įind sources: "Trieste" bathyscaphe – news Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. This section needs additional citations for verification. ![]() ![]() Since the 1980s, it has been on exhibit in the National Museum of the United States Navy in Washington, D.C. The vessel was first owned and operated by the French Navy until it was purchased by the US Navy in 1958. It was built in Italy and first launched in 1953. The bathyscaphe was designed by Swiss scientist Auguste Piccard, the father of pilot Jacques Piccard. They reached a depth of about 10,916 metres (35,814 ft). The vessel was piloted by Swiss oceanographer Jacques Piccard and US Navy lieutenant Don Walsh. The mission was the final goal for Project Nekton, a series of dives conducted by the United States Navy in the Pacific Ocean near Guam. In 1960, it became the first crewed vessel to reach the bottom of Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench, the deepest point in Earth's seabed. Trieste is a Swiss-designed, Italian-built deep-diving research bathyscaphe. Navy.Trieste shortly after her purchase by the US Navy in 1958Īcciaierie Terni/ Cantieri Riuniti dell'Adriatico In early 1980, the bathyscaphe was transported to the Washington Navy Yard where the vessel was placed on exhibit at the National Museum of the U.S. After a number of dives, Trieste discovered debris from Thresher 220 miles off Cape Cod that included the submarine’s sail, which clearly showed the number “593.” For her part in the Thresher search, the bathyscaphe and her commander received the Navy Unit Commendation.Īfter the search mission was complete, Trieste was taken out of service and returned to San Diego. Trieste was transported across the country to Boston where she began to search for the lost submarine. In April 1963, nuclear submarine Thresher (SSN-593) was lost with all hands off the Massachusetts coast. Beginning in December of 1958, Trieste was fitted with a stronger sphere, fabricated by the Krupp Iron Works of Germany.įollowing the ship’s fabrication, Trieste was transported to Guam to participate in Project “Nekton.” On 23 January 1960, Trieste made history when Lieutenant Don Walsh, USN, and Jacques Piccard descended seven miles to the Challenger Deep-located at the southern end of the Mariana Trench-the deepest known point of the Earth’s oceans.įollowing the historic dive, the bathyscaphe was overhauled and then conducted a number of dives out of the San Diego area supporting Navy research objectives. Navy acquired the vessel in August 1958 and transported the bathyscaphe to San Diego, California, where she was homeported. In August 1953, the bathyscaphe was first placed in the water and later in that month, Piccard and his son, Jacques, dove to a depth of five fathoms.Īfter several years of operations in the Mediterranean, the U.S. Scientific and navigational instruments for the vessel came from Switzerland, Germany, and Italy. In 1952, Piccard was invited to Trieste, Italy, to commence construction. World War II delayed his work on the deep-sea research submarine until 1945 when he worked with the French government on the development of the craft. Trieste-a research bathyscaphe-was the development of a concept first studied in 1937 by Swiss physicist and balloonist Auguste Piccard. ![]()
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