William Bourne designs a wooden submarine

William Bourne designs a wooden submarine

Last updated: February 26, 2019 at 0:19 am

[ 1578 ] William Bourne, an English mathematician draws the first plans for an underwater boat powered by oars. The wooden submarine covered with waterproof leather is never built.

William Bourne. 1578. Inventions or Devises. Very Necessary for all Generalles and Captaines, as wel by Sea as by Land

Plans for Bourne underwater boat (Public Domain)

Please note that comments are moderated: (1) Stay on topic (2) Be respectful (3) Refrain from vulgarity and abusive language (4) Do not make personal complaints about a person’s character, business, work or associations (5) Do not publish materials that violate copyright. OFFENDING COMMENTS WILL BE DELETED.

Have you discovered a mistake? Discrepancies are frequently found with names, dates and places while researching historical data. If you find errors or if you would like to suggest historical events for consideration in the next update, please contact us so that we may make corrections or additions. Thank you.

In order to ensure your browsing experience is as enjoyable as possible, banners are kept to an absolute minimum, which means that advertising revenues alone cannot sustain this 100% FREE publication. Researching and updating the Diving Almanac requires a lot of time and dedication. If you believe the diving community needs a central body of information to record, validate and make available our shared history and accomplishments, please show your support by making a contribution to the Diving Almanac via PayPal (Porbeagle Press). Thank you!

Diving History

Divers rescue 12 boys and coach from flooded Thai cave

By Jeffrey Gallant

[2018] On July 2, cave divers Rick Stanton and John Volanthen locate all 12 members of a youth football team and their coach [...]

Diving History

The SPID is designed and built

By Jeffrey Gallant

[ 1964 ] Edward A. Link designs and builds a two-man undersea habitat called the SPID (Submersible, Portable Inflatable Dwelling). Two commercial [...]

Diving History

Two divers die in Johnson Sea Link

By Jeffrey Gallant

[1973] Edwin Clayton Link and Albert Dennison Stover died from carbon dioxide poisoning after the submersible was entangled for over 24 hours at a depth [...]

Diving History

Commeinhes develops open-circuit scuba

By Jeffrey Gallant

[ 1937 ] The first model of a two-cylinder open-circuit breathing apparatus with demand regulator is developed by Georges Commeinhes for [...]

Diving History

Priest publishes The Art of Breathing Underwater

By Jeffrey Gallant

[ 1681 ] French priest Abbé Jean de Hautefeuille publishes L’art de respirer sous l’eau (The Art of Breathing Underwater) in which he explains why it is not [...]

Diving History

Refit of Cousteau’s Calypso restarts

By Jeffrey Gallant

[ 2016 ] Jacques-Yves Cousteau’s famed oceanographic vessel Calypso is moved to Turkey for a full refit, including new engines; Calypso's sad saga began [...]

Diving History

Discovery of HMS Erebus

By Jeffrey Gallant

[ 2014 ] On September 7, Parks Canada archeologists from the 2014 Victoria Strait Expedition discover the wreck of one of the ships from the ill-fated [...]

Diving History

Record habitat dive in Romania

By Jeffrey Gallant

[ 1994 ] Romanian aquanauts Liviu Miron and Constantin Mihaï set the European record for the longest uninterrupted stay in an underwater habitat by [...]

Diving History

The bathyscaphe Trieste is designed

By Jeffrey Gallant

[ 1950 ] Dr. Auguste Piccard and his son Jacques design the bathyscaphe Trieste, which is launched in 1953. The bathyscaphe consists of [...]

Diving History

Archaeologists find HMS Terror

By Jeffrey Gallant

[ 2016 ] On September 18, 2016, Parks Canada confirms that the wreck discovered by the Arctic Research Foundation is HMS Terror. The archaeological [...]

Diving History

Leonardo Da Vinci designs a diving suit

By Jeffrey Gallant

[ CIRCA 1500 ] Leonardo Da Vinci designs a diving suit and flexible snorkel system for breathing at depth. The snorkel is made of cane tubes [...]

Diving History

First dives for treasure

By Jeffrey Gallant

[ 480 BCE ] Herodotus tells of Cyana (a.k.a. Hydna of Scione) and her father Scyllias, a pair of divers who recovered sunken treasure for the Persian King Xerxes. When Xerxes [...]

Diving History

Divers in the Trojan War

By Jeffrey Gallant

[ 1194 BCE ] Homer writes of divers attacking ships during the Trojan War in the Iliad. Whether there is any historical reality behind the Trojan War remains an open question. Many [...]

Diving History

William Bourne designs a wooden submarine

By Jeffrey Gallant

[ 1578 ] William Bourne, an English mathematician draws the first plans for an underwater boat powered by oars. The wooden submarine covered [...]

Diving History

Edmond Halley improves the diving bell

By Jeffrey Gallant

[ 1690 ] English astronomer Edmond Halley—of Halley’s Comet fame—improves the diving bell. Additional air is available in weighted barrels [...]

Diving History

Artifacts recovered from Antikythera

By Jeffrey Gallant

[ 2015 ] Archaeologists excavating the Antikythera shipwreck recover more than 50 items including a bronze armrest, remains of a bone [...]

Diving History

Anthony’s Key Resort is founded on Roatan

By Jeffrey Gallant

[1968] Julio Galindo Sr. and his wife, Cheryl Galindo, welcome their first guests on the island of Roatán, Honduras. Anthony’s Key Resort has since become [...]

Diving History

Renowned explorers in the High Arctic

By Jeffrey Gallant

[ 2015 ] A team of renowned explorers mounts the Elysium – Artists for the Arctic expedition to the High Arctic to produce a feature documentary, a book [...]

Jeffrey Gallant

Jeffrey Gallant is the Editor-in-Chief and Records Keeper of the Diving Almanac. He is also a contributing editor of DIVER Magazine, and the scientific director of the Greenland Shark and Elasmobranch Education and Research Group (GEERG). Jeffrey started diving in 1982.