Jacques Cousteau and Pierre-Antoine was released in 1954. During the 1940s, Cousteau is credited with improving the aqua-lung design which gave birth to the open-circuit scuba technology used today. According to his first book, "" (1953), Cousteau started diving with Fernez goggles in 1936, and in 1939 used the self-contained underwater breathing apparatus invented in 1926 by Commander Yves le Prieur. Cousteau was not satisfied with the length of time he could spend underwater with the Le Prieur apparatus so he improved it to extend underwater duration by adding a demand regulator, invented in 1942 by Émile Gagnan. In 1943 Cousteau tried
The Voyage of the Arctic Tern Rose, which was an example of a carrack warship. A bit of the Mary Rose wreck's recent history is mentioned in the story, with a brief description of its first salvage attempt in the 19th century by brothers John and Charles Deane. Other real historical figures are also briefly mentioned in the story, such as 19th century French microbiologist Louis Pasteur, and 20th century French co-developers of the Aqua-Lung, Émile Gagnan and Jacques Cousteau. The main fictional character of Bruno was inspired by a real-life diver of wrecks named Bruno, whom Montgomery had met while working on the Mary Rose