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, 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.