''Jiaolong'' ( flood dragon) is a Chinese crewed deep-sea research

submersible A submersible is a small watercraft designed to operate underwater. The term "submersible" is often used to differentiate from other underwater vessels known as submarines, in that a submarine is a fully self-sufficient craft, capable of i ...

that can dive to a depth of over . It has the second-greatest depth range of any crewed research vehicle in the world; 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 "w ...

'' () in 1962, '' Deepsea Challenger'' () in 2012, and '' DSV Limiting Factor'' () in 2019 (with three diving to

Challenger Deep The Challenger Deep is the deepest-known point of the seabed of Earth, with a depth of by direct measurement from deep-diving submersibles, remotely operated underwater vehicles and benthic landers, and (sometimes) slightly more by sonar bathym ...

). 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, public research university in Shanghai, Shanghai, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, Ministry of Education of China ...

(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 ...

. 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 deepest oceanic trench on Earth. It is crescent-shaped and measures about in length and in width. The maximum known ...

in the western

Pacific Ocean 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 definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the conti ...

. 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 the shores of South China (hence the name), in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan and northwestern Ph ...

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 definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

. 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 (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-ei ...

and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

References

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

See also

References