Who remembers Commandant Cousteau, one of the last great adventurers of the 19th century ? Winner of the Palme d'Or at Cannes with "The Silent World" in 1956 - the public discovered the richness of the seabed with the brand-new self-contained diving suit, a revolution at the time !
Then came the numerous documentaries - "L'Odyssée sous-marine de l'équipe Cousteau" (The Underwater Odyssey of the Cousteau team) - broadcast in France from 1969, at the start of color television...
Even then, he warned of pollution and its consequences... But nobody listened. Nevertheless, he succeeded in protecting Antarctica with a 50-year treaty.
Built in 1942 in the U.S.A. for the British - the "Calypso" is a wooden minesweeper 43m long and 7.15m wide, tonnage 329 tons.
She was the "spearhead" of all his adventures. Purchased by Commander Cousteau in Malta after the war and refitted, the boat made its maiden voyage in the Red Sea in 1951. Then came - among other things - the filming of "Silent World" in 1955.
From February 1967 to September 1971, the ship travels 140,000 nautical miles - without returning to its home port - with a host of new equipment, including all-new aerodynamic fairing suits. 24 films were shot for world television.
In 1972, with the addition of a Hughes TH-55A helicopter Osage on the bow and a hot-air balloon, she left for Antarctica. In 1974, the platform was installed on Calypso's quarterdeck.
Then, in 1973, came the Catalina seaplane, whose pilot - Philippe Cousteau - was killed in an accident in Portugal in 1979...
After a collision in Hong Kong in 1996, after the disappearance of Captain Cousteau in 1997, after a long and slow agony in La Rochelle, Calypso left for Turkey to regain her health...
The diorama :
It includes the 1955 Calypso in 1/125th scale.
The Catalina seaplane at 1/72 scale.
Calypso's bow, bow platform and Hughes TH-55A Osage helicopter en route to Antarctica in 1972 at 1/32nd scale.
Calypso on her final missions in 1980 on a scale of 1/125.
