Aluminaut
Aluminaut underwater in 1972 (NOAA/NURP)
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History | |
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United States | |
Name | Aluminaut |
Owner | Reynolds Metals Company |
Operator | Reynolds Marine Services |
Builder | General Dynamics Electric Boat, Groton, Connecticut, US |
Launched | 1964 |
In service | 1964 |
Out of service | 1970 |
Homeport | Miami, Florida , US |
Status | Preserved as museum ship; Science Museum of Virginia; Richmond, Virginia, US |
General characteristics | |
Type | Deep-submergence vehicle (DSV) |
Tonnage | 80 short tons (73 t) |
Displacement | 80 short tons (73 t) |
Length | 51 ft (16 m) |
Beam | 8 ft 1 in (2.46 m) |
Speed | 3 knots (5.6 km/h; 3.5 mph) |
Endurance | 32 hours |
Test depth | 17,000 feet (5,200 m) |
Capacity | 6,000 lb (2,700 kg) payload |
Crew | 6-7 (3 crew, 3-4 scientists) |
Aluminaut (built in 1964) was the world's first
Aluminaut is best known for helping recover a lost unarmed U.S. hydrogen bomb in 1966 and recovering its smaller fellow deep-submergence vehicle, DSV Alvin in 1969, after Alvin had been lost and sank in the Atlantic Ocean the previous year. After retirement, Aluminaut was donated to the Science Museum of Virginia in Richmond, where it is on permanent display.
1964: World's first aluminium submarine
Reynolds Metals was an early developer and manufacturer of aluminium products, including aluminium buses and other aluminium motor vehicles.[1]
Reynolds Metals designed and built the Aluminaut as an experiment. The concept of an aluminum submarine was developed at Reynolds during World War II in 1942 by executive vice president Julian "Louis" Reynolds, a son of the founder. Louis Reynolds led the foil division, which accounted for 65% of the company's sales before the war.[2] Reynolds Metals also played an active role in the U.S. war effort.[3][4]
In 1964, Reynolds had the
For flexibility, it was outfitted for many types of oceanographic and salvage missions. In September 1964, Time magazine reported on the vehicle's unique specifications, stating that its 51-foot (16 m) hull consists of 11 forged cylinders. Aluminum's strength-to-weight ratio exceeds that of steel, so Aluminaut's 6.5-inch-thick (170 mm) shell could withstand pressures of 7,500 pounds per square inch (52 MPa) at the sub's 17,000 ft (5,200 m) maximum diving range.[3]
The Aluminaut was designed at the
A one-sixteenth scale model of the final design was built in 1960 and run through stability and pressure tests.[citation needed]
1966: Helping recover a lost unarmed atomic bomb
The Aluminaut soon became useful during an incident with potentially major implications. On January 17, 1966, a 1.45-megaton-of-
Seven crew members were killed in the mid-air crash of a
The
The bomb was found by Alvin resting nearly 910 metres (3,000 ft) below the surface, and was raised intact on April 7, 1966.[7][8][9][10] Admiral Guest allowed it to be photographed by the news media, allowing the world at large its first peek at a thermonuclear bomb as it sat secured on the fantail of the 2,100-long-ton (2,100 t) submarine rescue ship USS Petrel.[7]
1969: Rescuing DSV Alvin
Although both were put into service in 1964, the smaller Alvin was to have a much longer life. As of 2023, the Alvin is still in active service, operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.[11] Yet Aluminaut proved vital to Alvin in 1969.
In October 1968, Alvin was being transported aboard the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution tender ship Lulu. Lulu was a vessel created from a pair of decommissioned U.S. Navy
In September 1969, Aluminaut was used to secure lines and a net to the Alvin, which was located, intact, almost a mile beneath the surface.
Other missions
Aluminaut did other work for the U.S. Navy, recovering a 2,100-pound (950 kg) current array
Retirement
The Aluminaut was retired in 1970. It was donated by Reynolds Metals Company to the Science Museum of Virginia in Richmond, Virginia, where it is on display at the Garner Pavilion. However, the submersible continues to be maintained in case it needs to be returned to active service.[5]
See also
- Black smoker– Fissure in a planet's surface from which heated water emits
- Hydrothermal vent – Fissure in a planet's surface from which heated water emits
- Mid-ocean ridge – Basaltic underwater mountain system formed by plate tectonic spreading
References
- ^ Alcoa, Inc. company history.
- ^ "Rosy Reynolds". Time. July 5, 1943. Archived from the original on December 14, 2008.
- ^ a b "Aluminaut & Aqucmauts". Time. September 11, 1964. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007.
- ^ Answers.com.
- ^ a b Aluminaut Archived May 1, 2007, at the Wayback Machine at SMV.
- ^ This Day in History, January 17th Archived May 2, 2007, at the Wayback Machine: The History Channel.
- ^ a b c "Untitled Time Archive article". April 15, 1966. Archived from the original on September 11, 2009. Retrieved May 30, 2007.
- ^ Palomares Archived June 14, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, Brook.
- ^ Classic Dive Books.
- ^ UK Divers Archived June 11, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ "History of Alvin". Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. December 2014. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
- ^ "Salvops 69 Archived 2011-10-08 at the Wayback Machine", "A review of significant salvage operations conducted by U.S. Navy salvage forces and other salvage activities during 1969", pp. 1-18, Department of the Navy, Naval Ship Systems Command, Washington, D.C.
- ^ BBC.
- ^ WHOI.
- ^ Aluminaut Archived April 14, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, HNSA.
External links
- "Aluminaut & Aquanauts". Time. September 11, 1964.