Jacques-Yves Cousteau - the father of modern diving

Born on 11 June 1910 in Saint-André-de-Cubzac, son of a lawyer. Not exactly a role model in his youth (expelled from school for breaking 17 windows), in 1930 he entered the French Naval Academy École Navale in Brest, where he attained the rank of artillery officer.

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In the meantime, he had graduated from an aviation academy, but a serious car accident in 1936 derailed his career as a pilot. In the same year, near the port of Toulon, he tested the “goggle” model he had invented, which, as it later turned out, was the prototype for modern diving masks.

During the Second World War, in the company of Emil Gagnan, he conducted experiments which were supposed to result in longer, freer and safer exploration of the underwater world. The result of this research was the creation of the first aqualung.

During the war, the first underwater film was made, with Cousteau as the director. After the war, together with Gagnan, they created a project to penetrate sea wrecks and also to remove underwater mines.

As president of the oceanographic society in 1950, he purchased a fishing vessel aptly named “Calypso”. After numerous modifications, it was adapted not only as a research vessel, but also as a laboratory and television studio.

The first expedition took place between 1952 and 1953 in the Red Sea, where the first colour film showing life underwater was made at a depth of 45m. Cousteau became famous for finding an ancient Greek ship near Marseille.

One of his many achievements was the invention, together with Jean de Wouters, of the first underwater camera, the Calypso-Phot, the patent for which was sold to NIKON.

Together with Jean Mollard, he constructed a miniature model of the SP-350 submarine, which could reach depths of 350m. However, this did not satisfy the constructors and in 1965 they achieved a result of 500m.

10 years later, off the coast of Kreos Island, Jaques Cousteau finds the famous transatlantic liner Britannic, which sank in 1915 after running aground on a mine.

Cousteau was the director of the oceanographic museum in Monaco, as well as the director of the Conshelf Saturation Dive Program, a scientific experiment whose main goal was to create a habitable undersea colony.

In 1974, the Cousteau Society was founded, which now has 300,000 members dedicated to protecting life in the oceans.

The Frenchman used to call himself an oceanographic technician and a great fascination with nature, especially the sea. It was thanks to him that the aquatic environment became so close to all divers. To this day, he is one of the most famous and respected naturalists around the world.

Source and Photo: wikipedia.org