As you know, what is relevant for “today” may become out of date “tomorrow”. Today we know that modern deep-sea bathyscaphes can sink to the very bottom of the Mariana Trench, and there is no place deeper on Earth. Today even presidents sink to the bottom in autonomous vehicles, and this is considered normal. But … how did people come to the bathyscaphe or sink to the bottom before its invention? For example, the deepest ocean depth known in the 30s of the last century was determined at 9790 m (near the Philippine Islands) and 9950 m (near the Kuril Islands). The famous Soviet scientist, academician V. I. It was in those years that Vernadsky suggested that animal life in the oceans, in its noticeable manifestations, reaches a depth of 7 km. He argued that floating deep-sea forms can enter even the greatest ocean depths, although finds from the bottom deeper than 5, 6 km were unknown. But people already then tried to descend to the greatest depths and did it with the help of the so-called chamber devices, which at that time represented the highest stage in the development of diving technology, since they allowed a person to descend to such a depth that no diver cannot descend. equipped with the best tough spacesuit.
Danilevsky's apparatus during the search for the "Black Prince".
Structurally, these devices made it possible to descend to any depth, and the immersion depth of the device depended only on the strength of the materials from which they were made, because without this condition they would not be able to withstand the enormous pressure increasing with depth.
The first designer of such a device, which reached a diving depth of 458 m, was the American inventor engineer Hartman.
The deep-sea descent apparatus built by Hartmann was a steel cylinder, and the inner diameter of this cylinder was such that it could fit one person in a sitting position. For observations, the walls of the cylinder were equipped with portholes, which were covered with a very strong three-layer glass. Inside the apparatus, above the portholes, electric lamps were arranged, reflecting light with the help of parabolic reflectors. The current for the lamp was obtained from a 12-volt battery placed in the apparatus. The device was equipped with a portable automatic oxygen device, the action of which provided the divers with oxygen for two hours, chemical devices for absorbing carbon dioxide, a small telescope and a photographic apparatus. There was no telephone communication with the surface base. In general, the whole device was rather primitive.
In the late autumn of 1911, in the Mediterranean Sea, near the island of Aldeboran, east of Gibraltar, Hartmann made his famous descent from the Hansa to a depth of 458 m, the duration of the descent was only 70 minutes. “When a great depth was reached,” wrote Hartmann, “consciousness somehow immediately suggested the danger and primitiveness of the apparatus, as indicated by the intermittent crackling inside the chamber, like pistol shots. The realization that there were no means to report upstairs and the impossibility of giving an alarm signal was terrifying. At this time, the pressure was 735 psi.inch apparatus, or total pressure was calculated at 4 million pounds. Equally awful was the thought of the possibility of the lifting cable breaking or getting tangled. In the intervals between the stops, which acted soothingly, there was no certainty as to whether the craft was sinking or being lowered. The walls of the chamber were again covered with moisture, as was the case in preliminary experiments. There was no way to tell if it was just sweating or water was forced through the pores of the apparatus by terrible pressure. Soon fear gave way to surprise at the sight of the fantastic representatives of the animal kingdom. The panorama of the most bizarre life that the human eye first observed came on the descent. In the water, illuminated by the sun in the first thirty feet, moving fish and other creatures were observed.
This first deep-sea descent ended safely. Subsequently, the US government used the Hartmann apparatus during World War I to photograph sunken German boats and to mark them on maps.
In 1923, a chamber apparatus similar to the Hartmann apparatus, designed by the Soviet engineer Danilenko, was built. Danilenko's apparatus was used by an underwater expedition of the Black and Azov Seas to inspect the bottom of the Balaklava Bay, undertaken in connection with the search for the Black Prince, an English steam warship that sank in 1854. Danilenko's apparatus had a cylindrical shape. In its upper part, two rows of portholes were located one above the other, intended for viewing sunken objects. In order to expand the field of view, a special mirror was installed outside it, with the help of which the image of the ground was reflected into the windows. This apparatus consisted of three "floors". A room for two observers was arranged in the upper part of the apparatus, where hoses were run for supplying fresh air and removing spoiled air. In the second "floor" - under the room for observers - there were mechanisms, electrical devices, intended to control the ballast tank located on the first "floor". The descent and ascent of the apparatus was carried out using a steel cable and lasted (to a depth of 55 m) no more than 15-20 minutes.
It is impossible not to mention also the interesting crab-like deep-sea apparatus of Reed. This device was designed to stay at great depths for two people for 4 hours. It was installed on an internally controlled tractor and could move along the bottom. Reed's apparatus was designed so that the people sitting in it could control two levers, with the help of which it was possible to perform various operations of drilling large (up to 20 cm in diameter) holes in a sunken ship, laying lifting hooks into these holes, etc.
In 1925, the Americans undertook a deep-sea study of the Mediterranean Sea. The purpose of this expedition is to explore the cities of Carthage and Posilito sunken in the sea, to survey the Greek treasure galley that sank on the North coast of Africa, from which many bronze and marble statues had already been raised and were at one time placed in museums in Tunisia and Bordeaux. In addition to these remarkable works of ancient art recovered, the galley contained 78 more texts embossed on bronze plates.
The chamber of the apparatus of the Mediterranean sea expedition, designed for immersion up to 1000 m, consisted of a double-walled cylinder made of high-quality steel. The inner diameter of this chamber is 75 cm, it was designed for two people, who were placed one above the other. The camera was equipped with instruments for measuring depth and temperature, a telephone, a compass and electric heating pads, in addition, it was equipped with a perfect photographic apparatus with which it was possible to take underwater photographs from the same distance as the human eye sees. A heavy load was suspended under the camera by means of an electromagnet, which, in the event of an accident, could be dropped in order for the camera to float to the surface. To rotate and tilt the camera in water, it was equipped with two special propellers. Outside, special devices were arranged that allowed researchers to catch sea animals and keep them in the water under such pressure that would ensure the life of these animals.
Bathisphere Biba. William Beebe himself is on the left.
Finally, the last building in this area is the famous spherical bathysphere of the American Beebe, a researcher at the Bermuda Biological Station. Bib's chamber was connected to the base ship by a cable, on which she was submerged in the water, and cables for supplying electricity to the chamber and for communication with the ship. The supply of oxygen to the researchers in the bathysphere and the removal of carbon dioxide from the latter was carried out by special machines. With the help of a bathysphere, Beebe performed in 1933-1934. a number of descents, and during one of them the researcher managed to reach a depth of 923 m.
However, suspended-type vehicles associated with the base ship had a number of disadvantages: lifting and descent of such an apparatus to great depths requires a lot of time and the presence of bulky lifting devices on the base ship. The duration of the immersion of the device to a great depth is associated with the possibility of a catastrophe. In addition, this camera, being suspended from the ship on a long flexible cable, will move in the water all the time, regardless of the will of the observers, which greatly worsens the observation conditions.
In this regard, the idea of building an autonomous self-propelled vehicle for deep-sea descents arose in the USSR. This project provided for the creation of a hydrostat having a cylindrical body with an elongated axis. In the upper part of the device there was to be a superstructure, thanks to which the hydrostat would acquire stability and buoyancy in the surface position. However, nowhere in the description of the project was it said that this "superstructure" or "float" would be filled with kerosene. That is, only the internal volume would impart positive buoyancy to it!
The height of the hydrostat with the superstructure is 9150 mm, and the height of the service room alone is 2100 mm. The weight of the entire apparatus was supposed to be about 10555 kg, the outer diameter of the cylindrical part is 1400 mm, the maximum immersion depth is 2500 m.
The descent of the hydrostat to a depth of 2500 m could take about 20 minutes, and the ascent about 15 minutes. The project provided for the ability to regulate the speed of diving and ascent, and if necessary, the speed can be increased to 4 m / s, which reduced the ascent time to 10 minutes.
The hydrostat was designed to stay under water for two people for 10 hours, if necessary, the number of the hydrostat's crew could be increased to 4 people, and the duration of its stay under water was also increased. When the hydrostat floated on the surface of the water, with a closed blade, with the help of which the cylindrical superstructure communicates with the seawater, it had a buoyancy reserve of 2000 kg. In this case, the height of the underwater side would not exceed 130 cm. The immersion system of the hydrostat worked by releasing and injecting a certain amount of water into the equalizing tank.
It was supposed to supply it with two weights (150 kg each), which are dropped in cases where the ascent of the hydrostat needs to be accelerated. To increase the immersion speed, an additional weight could be suspended from a cable 100 m long to the hydrostat. The weight of this weight depends on the desired sink rate. In addition, this additional weight also serves to prevent the hydrostat from hitting the bottom during a quick dive. The battery compartment is located in the lowest part of the hydrostat, under the lower platform. In the same room, there was to be an original rotary mechanism, the purpose of which is to impart rotation to the hydrostat about a vertical axis so that it can turn under water for observation. Now thrusters do an excellent job with this. But then the designers came up with a mechanism consisting of a flywheel mounted on a vertical shaft. The upper end of this shaft is connected to a 0.5 kW electric motor.
The weight of the flywheel was supposed to be about 30 kg, and the maximum number of revolutions was about 1000 per minute. And he worked like this: when the flywheel turns in one direction, the hydrostat turns in the opposite direction. It was believed that the mechanism allows the hydrostat to rotate 45 degrees within one minute.
The hydrostat was to be equipped with three portholes, one of which was intended for observing the surrounding water space, the second for observing the seabed with the help of mirrors, and the third for producing flashes for photography.
Bathysfera on the cover of the "Technology-Youth" magazine.
To regulate the flow of water into the equalizing tank and into the hydraulic mechanism, with the help of which the cargo is dropped, for the supply of compressed air and for other purposes, the author of the project provides for a complex system of pipelines.
Such was, in the most general outline, the project of the Soviet bathysphere, about which it was written in the technical journals of that time that this homeland and deepest bowels of the ocean, where man has never penetrated”. But … it turned out that the construction of this apparatus was prevented (and perhaps fortunately, it was very complex in design) by the war, and after it, apparatuses of a completely different type appeared. But this is a completely different story …
