Archimède

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title: "Archimède" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["bathyscaphes", "submarines-of-france", "ships-built-in-toulon", "deep-submergence-vehicles", "1961-ships"] description: "French Navy bathyscaphe" topic_path: "geography/france" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archimède" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary French Navy bathyscaphe ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox ship "]

Field	Value
infobox_caption
display_title	ital
section1	{{Infobox ship/image
image	Bathyscaphe Archimede.jpg
image_caption	Archimède in 1961, on launch
section2	{{Infobox ship/career
country	France
flag
name	Archimède
namesake	Archimedes
builder	Arsenal de Toulon (DCAN)
commissioned	27 July 1961
decommissioned	1978
status	Preserved at the Cité de la Mer museum
section3	{{Infobox ship/characteristics
type	Bathyscaphe
displacement	61 tons
::

|infobox_caption= |display_title= ital |section1={{Infobox ship/image |image= Bathyscaphe Archimede.jpg |image_size= |image_caption= Archimède in 1961, on launch

|section2={{Infobox ship/career |hide_header= |country= France |flag= |name=Archimède |namesake=Archimedes |ordered= |builder=Arsenal de Toulon (DCAN) |laid_down= |launched= |acquired= |commissioned=27 July 1961 |decommissioned=1978 |in_service= |out_of_service= |struck= |reinstated= |fate= |status= Preserved at the Cité de la Mer museum

|section3={{Infobox ship/characteristics |hide_header= |header_caption= |type=Bathyscaphe |displacement=61 tons |length= |beam= |draught= |draft= |propulsion= |speed= |range= |endurance= |test_depth= |complement= |sensors= |EW= |armament= |notes=

The bathyscaphe Archimède is a deep diving research submersible of the French Navy. It used 42000 gal of hexane as the gasoline buoyancy of its float. It was designed by Pierre Willm and Georges Houot. In 1964, Archimède descended into "what was then thought to be the deepest part of the Puerto Rico Trench", which the NY Times reported as 27500 ft.

Archimède was christened on 27 July 1961, at the French Navy base of Toulon. It was designed to go beyond 30000 ft, and displaced 61 tons. In October 1961, Archimède passed its first dive tests, diving to 5000 ft uncrewed. On 27 November 1961, Archimède achieved a speed of 3 kn, over a distance of 4.5 mi at a depth of 7870 ft in the Mediterranean Sea.

On 23 May 1962, Archimède descended to 15744 ft off Honshu, Japan, in the Pacific, at the Japan Deep. On 15 July 1962, Archimède descended to 31350 ft into the Kuril–Kamchatka Trench, making it the second deepest dive ever, at that point in time, second only to the dive on the Challenger Deep. On 12 August 1962, Archimède descended to 30511 ft in the Japan Deep south of Tokyo.

Archimède explored the Mid-Atlantic Ridge jointly with the submarine Cyana and submersible , in Project FAMOUS (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 museum in Cherbourg.

Archimède was honoured with a stamp in Palau.

References

References

1. Cloud, Wallace. (August 1964). "Jeeps in the Deep". Popular Science.
2. (1979). "Exploring the Deep". Collins.
3. (19 December 2018). "'Five Deeps' mission to explore mysterious ocean trenches". American Association for the Advancement of Science.
4. (21 August 1964). "DEEPEST ATLANTIC TEEMING WITH LIFE; Scientists in the Bathyscaph Surprised by Terracing in Puerto Rico Trench". The New York Times.
5. (29 July 1961). "French Bathyscaphe". Dayton Beach Morning Journal.
6. (29 July 1961). "New French Bathyscaphe to Seek Record Ocean Deep". The New York Times.
7. (30 October 1961). "French Bathyscaphe Tested". The New York Times.
8. (28 November 1961). "Bathyscaphe Hits 3 Knots". Milwaukee Sentinel.
9. (24 May 1962). "French Bathyscaphe Dives To 15,744 Feet". Baltimore Sun.
10. (16 July 1962). "Reports Intensive Life Down At 31,350 Level Of Ocean". Dayton Beach Morning Journal.
11. (13 August 1962). "Bathyscaphe Archimede Descends 30511 Feet". The New York Times.
12. Paine, Lincoln P.. (2000). "Ships of Discovery and Exploration". Mariner Books.
13. Sullivan, Walter. (21 May 1975). "3 Craft to Dive Deep in Mid-Atlantic Valley". The New York Times.
14. (7 June 1973). "A cry 'Eureka!' From the Mid-Atlantic Ridge". New Scientist.
15. (2010). "F.A.M.O.U.S. (French American Mid Ocean Underwater Survey)".
16. (2002). "Oceanographic History: The Pacific and Beyond". University of Washington Press.
17. "Bathyscaphe Archimède". netmarine.net.
18. "L'Archimède: Quelques dates". ifremer.fr.
19. "Maritime Topics On Stamps : Research Submersibles". seemotive.de.

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