Bathyscaphe Trieste, deep sea scientific submarine
The Bathyscaphe Trieste is a preserved deep-sea submersible now displayed as a museum ship in Washington. The craft measures roughly 18 meters long and just under 6 meters tall, with a round steel sphere in the middle built to withstand intense water pressure.
The submersible was designed and built in Italy during the early 1950s by Swiss scientist Auguste Piccard. In 1960, it became the first crewed craft to reach Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench, descending nearly 11,000 meters below the surface with two men aboard.
The name comes from the Italian city of Trieste, where the craft was designed and built. Visitors today see the compact steel pressure sphere that held only two people, and can imagine how tight and dark it must have been inside.
The museum ship sits in a covered display area and is accessible from all sides. Visitors can walk around the craft and read information panels that explain how it worked and the challenges faced by its crew.
During the record dive in 1960, one of the outer windows cracked at over 9,000 meters depth, but the crew continued the mission and returned safely. The tiny viewing port made of thick acrylic gave the two men only a narrow glimpse into the total darkness at the ocean floor.
Location: Kitsap County
Capacity: 2
Height: 5.64 m
Length: 18.14 m
Accessibility: Wheelchair limited access
Website: http://navalunderseamuseum.org/permanent
GPS coordinates: 47.70022,-122.62380
Latest update: December 5, 2025 15:18
These preserved submarines open their hatches to visitors who want to see where sailors lived and fought beneath the ocean surface. From World War II patrol boats that hunted across the Pacific to the first nuclear-powered vessel that changed naval history forever, each submarine reveals the cramped reality of underwater service. You walk through narrow steel corridors, peer into bunks stacked three high, and stand where officers once studied charts and gave orders in near silence. The collection includes vessels from harbors across the United States and around the world, each one a working museum where the instruments, torpedo tubes, and engine rooms remain as they were during active duty. Some of these submarines sank enemy warships and rescued Allied prisoners during the Second World War. Others served through the Cold War, carrying crews on patrols that lasted weeks without seeing daylight. A few pushed the limits of technology, proving that nuclear reactors could power a vessel across thousands of miles and even under the polar ice. Whether docked in a busy port or resting beside a quiet lake, these submarines bring you face to face with the men who descended into the deep, closed the hatch, and did their work in spaces smaller than a city bus.
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