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NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive

Aluminaut

Specifications: Aluminaut was built for Reynolds Metals Co. by the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics in Groton, Connecticut in 1964. She was operated by Reynolds Submarine Services Corp., based in Miami, until 1970.
Displacement (sub/srf tons): 80/ un known, Dimensions: (L*B feet/meter): 51`0*8.1/15.6*2.5, Propulsion: un known, Speed (sub knots): 3.0, Range (sub n/miles@knots): 32 hours operation time, Diving Depth (feet/meter): 15,000/4,570, Complement: 3 crew, 3-4 scientists

Click On Image For Full Size	Size	Image Description	Source
0850810	NR	DEEP-DIVING ALUMINUM SUBMARINE This is an artist’s conception of the Reynolds *Aluminaut*, a deep-diving aluminum submarine being designed to explore the ocean 3 miles deep.	A.P. Wirephoto. Image and text provided by Library of Congress, Washington, DC. Photo from the EEvening Star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 25 February 1959, Image 4, courtesy of chroniclingamerica.loc.gov
0850812	927k	LT G.M. Brewer, USN, head of the Navy Underwater Photographic Team check as a scale model of the proposed deep water oceanographic submarine *Aluminaut*, during test conducted at the Naval Ordnance Laboratory, White Oaks, MD. June, 1959. is tested for underwater stability in the weapons test tank at the Naval ordnance Laboratory, White Oakds, MD.	Photo USN 1047094 courtesy of history.navy.mil
0850809	927k	A model of the proposed deep water oceanographic submarine *Aluminaut* is tested for underwater stability in the weapons test tank at the Naval ordnance Laboratory, White Oakds, MD. *Aluminaut* is designed to reach depths of 14,000 feet. July, 1959.	Photo USN 1047098 courtesy of history.navy.mil
0850811	NR	Depth-Probing Craft To Map Ocean Floor.	A.P. Wirephoto. Image and text provided by Library of Congress, Washington, DC. Photo from the EEvening Star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 01 October 1961, Image 18, courtesy of chroniclingamerica.loc.gov
0850813	262k	Top-secret missions, daring rescues, record-breaking feats, unimaginable nautical innovation and amazing scientific explorations … what is it? The *Aluminaut*, of course, the world’s first aluminum deep-ocean research submarine! Built by Reynolds Metals Company in the 1960s, the engineering masterpiece now lives at the Science Museum of Virginia!	Photo courtesy of youtube.com
0850814	262k	1960s U.S. NAVY ALUMINAUT RESEARCH SUBMARINE FILM	Photo courtesy of youtube.com
	335k	A mockup of the 42-foot *Aluminaut, shown at WHOI in 1961. The deep submergence vehicle (DSV) was owned by the Reynolds Metals Co. (later Reynolds Aluminum) and operated briefly by WHOI in the early 1960s. In 1969, the Aluminaut* helped retrieve the Alvin (DSV-2) from beneath 5,000 feet of water, a year after *Alvin* accidentally sank to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean when support cables snapped. The 80-ton sub also did contract work for the US Navy and filmaker Jacques Cousteau, among others. After retirement, *Aluminaut* was donated to the Science Museum of Virginia in Richmond, where it is on permanent display.	Photo & text courtesy of whoi.edu.
0850815	846k	*Aluminaut*, a deep diving research sub, is checked over before diving in search of a lost Air Force bomb off the coast of Palomares, Spain, June 1966.	Photo USN 1120146 courtesy of history.navy.mil
	115k	Aboard Petrel (ASR-14), off the coast of Spain, 1966; NOTS crew after successful recovery of "Robert" the H-Bomb(foreground,behind anchor), with Cable-controlled Undersea Recovery Vehicle (CURV) in the background (magazine photo). The recovered thermonuclear bomb was displayed by U.S. Navy officials on the fantail of the submarine rescue ship *Petrel*, after it was located in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Spain at a depth of 762 meters and recovered in April 1966.	Photo & text courtesy of wikimedia.org. & nawcwpns.navy.mil
	697k	Alvin (DSV-2) and *Aluminaut* in the well deck of either the Fort Snelling (LSD-30). The two submersibles were berthed together until *Aluminaut's* tender arrived.	Photo courtesy of the Naval Historical Center & text via writtenbybarbaramoran.com.
	720k	*Aluminaut* with arms on bow, shown leaving Charlestown Navy Yard, will grasp Alvin (DSV-2) and assit in hauling her to the surface. Photo taken on 16 August 1969.	A.P. Wire photo courtesy of Tommy Trampp.
0835525	438k	In 1968, while Alvin (DSV-2) was being brought onboard its support ship, *Lulu, a cable broke. With the hatch open, the submersible quickly filled with approximately 8000 pounds of water and sank in 5200 feet of water, 88 miles off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts. Photo taken from Aluminaut*.	Photo courtesy of wikimedia.org
	68k	*Aluminaut* at work in the deep.	Photo courtesy of wikimedia.org.
	95k	*Aluminaut* at the Science Museum of Virginia where it is on permanent display.	Photo courtesy of photobucket.com.
	471k	Cut out of the *Aluminaut*.	Photo courtesy of rms-titanic.perso.sfr.fr. & scalemodelcastings.com.
	746k	*Aluminaut* plaque.	Photo courtesy of Kelly Michals via National Museum of the U.S. Navy.