The

bathyscaphe A bathyscaphe () is a free-diving, self-propelled deep-sea submersible, consisting of a crew cabin similar to a '' Bathysphere'', but suspended below a float rather than from a surface cable, as in the classic ''Bathysphere'' design. The floa ...

''Archimède'' is a deep diving research

submersible A submersible is an underwater vehicle which needs to be transported and supported by a larger ship, watercraft or dock, platform. This distinguishes submersibles from submarines, which are self-supporting and capable of prolonged independent ope ...

of the

French Navy The French Navy (, , ), informally (, ), is the Navy, maritime arm of the French Armed Forces and one of the four military service branches of History of France, France. It is among the largest and most powerful List of navies, naval forces i ...

. It used of

hexane Hexane () or ''n''-hexane is an organic compound, a straight-chain alkane with six carbon atoms and the molecular formula C6H14. Hexane is a colorless liquid, odorless when pure, and with a boiling point of approximately . It is widely used as ...

as the

gasoline Gasoline ( North American English) or petrol ( Commonwealth English) is a petrochemical product characterized as a transparent, yellowish, and flammable liquid normally used as a fuel for spark-ignited internal combustion engines. When for ...

buoyancy of its float. It was designed by Pierre Willm and

Georges Houot Georges Houot (29 August 1913 – 7 August 1977) was a French naval officer and commander of a bathyscaphe unit. Biography He was born in Paris and educated at the Prytanée militaire military school at La Flèche in the Pays de la Loire region. ...

. In 1964, ''Archimède'' descended into "what was then thought to be the deepest part of the

Puerto Rico Trench The Puerto Rico Trench is located on the boundary between the North Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea, parallel to and north of Puerto Rico, where the oceanic trench reaches the deepest points in the Atlantic Ocean. The trench is associated with ...

", which the NY Times reported as . ''Archimède'' was christened on 27 July 1961, at the French Navy base of

Toulon Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department. The Commune of Toulon h ...

. It was designed to go beyond , and displaced 61 tons. In October 1961, ''Archimède'' passed its first dive tests, diving to unmanned. On 27 November 1961, ''Archimède'' achieved a speed of , over a distance of at a depth of in the Mediterranean Sea. On 23 May 1962, ''Archimède'' descended to off Honshu, Japan, in the Pacific, at the

Japan Deep Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. On 15 July 1962, ''Archimède'' descended to into the Kurile-Kamchatcha Trench, making it the second deepest dive ever, at that point in time, second only to the dive on the

Challenger Deep The Challenger Deep is the List of submarine topographical features#List of oceanic trenches, deepest known point of the seabed of Earth, located in the western Pacific Ocean at the southern end of the Mariana Trench, in the ocean territory o ...

. On 12 August 1962, ''Archimède'' descended to in the Japan Deep south of

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. ''Archimède'' explored the

Mid-Atlantic Ridge The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is a mid-ocean ridge (a Divergent boundary, divergent or constructive Plate tectonics, plate boundary) located along the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, and part of the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest mountai ...

jointly with the submarine ''Cyana'' and submersible , in

Project FAMOUS Project FAMOUS (French-American Mid-Ocean Undersea Study) was the first-ever marine scientific exploration by manned submersibles of a diverging Plate tectonics, tectonic plate boundary on a mid-ocean ridge. It took place between 1971 and 1974, w ...

(French-American Mid-Ocean Undersea Study) in 1974. ''Archimède'' operated until the 1970s. It was placed on reserve in 1975, and decommissioned in 1978. Since 2001, ''Archimède'' is on display at the

Cité de la Mer The Cité de la Mer ("city of the sea") is a maritime museum in Cherbourg, France. The museum is in the cruise terminal of Cherbourg. This monument was built in 1933; it is one of the bigger Art Deco, art-deco monuments of today. History The ...

museum in Cherbourg. ''Archimède'' was honoured with a stamp in

Palau Palau, officially the Republic of Palau, is an island country in the Micronesia subregion of Oceania in the western Pacific Ocean. The Republic of Palau consists of approximately 340 islands and is the western part of the Caroline Islands ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Archimede Bathyscaphes Submarines of France Ships built in France Deep-submergence vehicles 1961 ships fr:Bathyscaphe#Les différents bathyscaphes