 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, 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 aluminum submarine. An experimental vessel, the 80-ton, 15.5-metre (51 ft) crewed 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. 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.