Prof. Picard Makes New Descent -- The scene off Capri when the Bathysphere made its descent. The Swiss Physicist, Professor Piccard and his son, Jacques, made their first deep sea dive in his new Bathysphere recently and succeeded in reaching a depth of 1,052 meters (About 3,450ft).The descent was made a few miles south of Capri. The Bathysphere which was escorted by two vessels of Italian navy, submerged for 48 minutes and lay on the sea bottom for 5 minutes. August 31, 1953. (Photo by Paul Popper, Paul Popper Ltd.).