''Jiaolong'' () is a Chinese crewed deep-sea 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 ...

that can dive to a depth of over , developed from the Sea Pole-class bathyscaphe. It has the second-greatest depth range of any crewed research vehicle of the Chinese Navy; the only crewed expeditions to have gone deeper were the dives of the ''Trieste'' bathyscaphe () in 1960, ''

Archimède The bathyscaphe ''Archimède'' is a deep diving research submersible of the French Navy. It used of hexane as the gasoline buoyancy of its float. It was designed by Pierre Willm and Georges Houot. In 1964, ''Archimède'' descended into "what ...

'' () in 1962, ''

Deepsea Challenger ''Deepsea Challenger'' (DCV 1) was a deep-diving submersible designed to reach the bottom of the Challenger Deep, the deepest-known point on Earth. On 26 March 2012, Canadian film director James Cameron piloted the craft to accomplish this go ...

'' () in 2012, and '' DSV Limiting Factor'' () in 2019 (with three diving to

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 ...

). The general designer is Xu Qinan (徐芑南), a former professor at the School of Naval Architecture, Ocean and Civil Engineering (船舶与海洋工程学院) of

Shanghai Jiao Tong University Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) is a public university in Shanghai, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, Ministry of Education of China. The university is part of Project 211, Project 98 ...

(SJTU), who also designed many other Chinese submersibles and uncrewed underwater vehicles. Xu is now an academician for the

Chinese Academy of Engineering The Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE, ) is the national academy of the People's Republic of China for engineering. It was established in 1994 and is an institution of the State Council of China. The CAE and the Chinese Academy of Sciences a ...

. The first deputy general designer is Cui Weicheng (崔维成), and the deputy general designer was Zhu Weiqing (朱维庆). On June 27, 2012, the ''Jiaolong'' with two oceanauts reached a depth of 7,062 meters (23,169 feet) in the

Mariana Trench The Mariana Trench is an oceanic trench located in the western Pacific Ocean, about east of the Mariana Islands; it is the deep sea, deepest oceanic trench on Earth. It is crescent-shaped and measures about in length and in width. The maxi ...

in the western

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

. Previously, on June 19, 2012, the ''Jiaolong'' reached a depth of 6,965 metres (22,851 feet). It had its first test in

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by South China, in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan island, Taiwan and northwestern Philippines (mainly Luz ...

between May 31 and July 18, 2010, reaching a depth of with three crew. On July 22, 2011, ''Jiaolong'' reached a depth of in northeastern

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

. The five-hour mission included chemical, physical and biological research. Seventeen dives have been completed. Besides China, other countries that have developed deep-water technology include the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

Japan 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 ...

References

{{authority control Submarines of the People's Republic of China Deep-submergence vehicles Research submarines of China

See also

References