Aluminaut & Aqucmauts

Studying the depths of the sea by sonar, dredging, and instruments lowered from ships, oceanologists have so far gained about as accurate an idea of what lies below as man had about the continents back in 1750. The obvious need has been for more precise exploration of the deep. And the obvious lack, until now, has been ways and means to plunge to great depths, remain there for days or weeks at a time and explore such mysteries as the exact topography and geological composition of the ocean floor.

Fatheaded Whale. Last week a deep-diving laboratory was launched by the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics Corp. in Groton, Conn. Christened the Aluminaut and looking for all the world like a fatheaded sperm whale, the craft is the world's first aluminum submarine. Its 51 -ft. hull consists of eleven forged cylinders. Since aluminum's strength-to-weight ratio exceeds that of steel, the Aluminaut's 6 1/2-in.-thick shell will withstand pressures of 7,500 lbs. per sq. in. at the sub's 17,000-ft. maximum diving range. At the same time, the craft is buoyant enough to surface, submerge and operate easily under its own power.

Boasting a cruising speed of 3.8 knots and an operating range of 80 miles, the Aluminaut will be able to stay submerged for up to 72 hours and explore 60% of the oceans' floors. Its three-man crew -- a captain and two scientists -- will have two tons of scientific gear at their disposal. All of this should lead to important new discoveries in oceanology, marine biology and undersea geology -- plus practical profits. The Aluminaut may hold out interesting possibilities in ship salvage, in drilling for oil and mining from the bottom of the ocean, says Reynolds Metals Executive Vice President J. Louis Reynolds, who conceived the aluminum submarine idea back in 1942.

Helium Quack. Oceanologists, meanwhile, have not been idly waiting around for the Aluminaut to show up. This summer, in waters off Bermuda, the U.S. Navy has carried out an experiment in underwater living. For nine days last month four U.S. aquanauts lived in a cigar-shaped, 40-ft.-long contraption named Sealab 1, resting in the coral-covered crater of an extinct volcano 192 ft. below the surface. The experiment proved that aquanauts could live and work for long periods of time hundreds of feet below the surface, thus eliminating the need for repeated and lengthy decompressions and making practical such sustained jobs as oil-well drilling and underwater mining.

The next step for Sealab is a deeper dive, possibly 300 ft. next summer, and then a month's stay at 600 ft. And this fall Reynolds Metals' Aluminaut is scheduled to undergo intensive sea trials off the Bahamas.

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