The Bathyscaphe Trieste

Brandon Felde

Trieste

• Developed by Auguste Piccard, Swiss physicist and inventor

• Named after the city Trieste, Italy– Most of the Trieste’s initial investors were

living in Trieste

• Bought by U.S. Office of Naval Research purchased the vehicle 1957

The Float

• The float is the large submarine-like structure which makes up the most of Trieste’s size

• Influenced by the hot air balloon. “[Trieste is] the underwater equivalent of a

lighter-than-air craft, much like a blimp operating in revere.”

-The University of Delaware College of Marine Studies

The Float• Compartments balance air pressure.• Filled with petrol oil (gasoline) before diving• As the oil changes volume due to pressure and

temperature, a double valve lets water pass in and out of the float – Water keeps the pressure equal on both sides of the

float’s side plating, preventing the float from becoming warped

– If a pressure difference of 0.15 atmospheres is detected, a backup valve is released to balance pressure

Cabin

• Constructed from forged steel– Forged metals are more malleable

• Cabin is spherically shaped to evenly distribute pressure

• 13 ft. below water’s surface even when craft is resting

• Connected to surface by 25 inch wide tube equipped with ladder

The Door

• The door is conic shape, and weighs 352 pounds

• A counter spring on the hinge makes the door easy to open and shut with one hand

Air Recycling in the Cabin

• How do Trieste’s occupants avoid suffocating in the tiny cabin?

• Gas-tanks with pressurized oxygen force carbon dioxide enriched air into cartridges.

• Soda-lime within the cartridges absorbs the carbon dioxide. The air is returned to the cabin.

The Challenger Deep

• January 23,1960, Trieste traveled to the bottom of Mariana Trench

• Roughly seven miles deep: deepest known region of the Earth’s oceans.

• Whole trip took almost five hours, although only twenty minutes was spent at the very bottom.

Significance of Voyage

• Trieste discovered red shrimp-like creatures

• Proved once and for all that life can exist in the deepest most extreme conditions

• Still holds the record for only unmanned vessel in existence to travel to the deepest part of the oceans

USS Thresher

• 1963 the Trieste was used to look for the wreckage of the missing submarine USS Thresher

• The Trieste dove over 8000 ft deep

• Eventually found some wreckage, but was never able to find the hull of the ship

Trieste

• Was eventually retired, and now is one display at the Naval Historical Center

• Trieste II was build to replace and improve upon the first