Aluminaut

Aluminaut underwater in 1972 (NOAA/NURP)
History
United States
Name:	Aluminaut
Owner:	Reynolds Metals Company
Operator:	Reynolds Marine Services
Builder:	General Dynamics Electric Boat, Groton, Connecticut, USA
In service:	1964
Out of service:	1970
Homeport:	Miami, Florida, USA
Status:	Preserved as museum ship; Science Museum of Virginia; Richmond, VA, USA
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:	15,000 feet (4,600 m)
Capacity:	6,000 lb (2,700 kg) payload
Crew:	6-7 (3 crew, 3-4 scientists)

Aluminaut was built in 1964 and was the world's first aluminum submarine since the WWII Type 21. An experimental vessel, the 80-ton, 15.5 meter manned deep-ocean research submersible was built by Reynolds Metals Company, which was seeking to promote the utility of aluminum. Aluminaut was based in Miami, Florida, and was operated from 1964 to 1970 by Reynolds Submarine Services, doing contract work for the U.S. Navy and other organizations, including marine biologist Jacques Cousteau.

Aluminaut is best known for helping recover a lost unarmed U.S. atomic bomb in 1966 and recovering its smaller fellow deep-submergence vehicle, Alvin (DSV-2) 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.

Reynolds Metals was a pioneer in research and development of other products using aluminum. These included an aluminum transit bus and other aluminum motor vehicles.

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. At 34, Louis Reynolds led the foil division, which accounted for 65% of the company's sales before the war. Reynolds Metals played an active role in the U.S. war effort, but it was 20 years before the aluminum submarine was built.

In 1964, Reynolds had the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics in Groton, Connecticut build the world's first aluminum submarine. The submersible was operated by subsidiary Reynolds Submarine Services Corporation, based in Miami, Florida. Compared to many deep-sea vessels, Aluminaut was large. It weighed 80 tons and could accommodate a crew of three and three to four scientists. It had four view ports, active and passive sonar, manipulators, side-scan sonar and could hold 6,000 pounds (2,700 kg) of payload.