Who designed the first pressure-proof machine that was considered a diving suit?

The very first diving suit design appeared in the 18th century. John Lethbridge (1675-1759) was an Englishman who lived in the county of Devon in South West England and reportedly had 17 children. He was a wool merchant who invented the very first diving machine in 1715 that was used to salvage valuables from shipwrecks.

The machine was an airtight oak barrel that allowed the diver to submege long enough to retrieve underwater material. It consisted of a pressure-proof air-filled barrel with a glass viewing hole and two watertight enclosed sleeves for the diver’s arms. This suit gave the diver more maneuverability to accomplish useful underwater salvage work.

He first tested the machine in his garden pond, specially built for this purpose and then he used it on a number of shipwrecks; four English men-of-war, one East Indiaman, two Spanish galleons and a number of galleys.

As a result of his efforts, he became very wealthy. One of his better-known recoveries was on the Dutch ‘Slot ter Hooge’, which had sunk off Madeira, an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean. It held over 3 tons of silver on board.

The other options listed were men who either designed different diving suits or made improvements to diving suits.