When you think of heavy-hitting metals, steel might be top of mind – but aluminum’s here to steel the show. In 1964, Reynolds Metal Company debuted Aluminaut in Connecticut, USA (1). Aluminaut was the world’s first aluminum submarine (2).
At 80 tons and 50 feet long, it could haul a crew of three to four, or eight researchers for 36 hours (1, 3). This beast dove 15,000 feet deep, making history as the first deep-sea vessel to achieve such a feat (3, 4).
It didn’t stop there. In ’66, Aluminaut helped recover a lost hydrogen bomb (1, 3, 5). In ’69, it rescued the sub Alvin (1, 6). Aluminaut made waves until 1970; today, it’s retired at the Science Museum of Virginia (4).
Bottom line: never underestimate your metal. That scrap you drop off today could be part of something legendary tomorrow. See what your metal can do when you recycle it at a SECURE location near you.
SOURCES
1. Submarine Force Library & Museum Association. April 6, 2018. “The Aluminum Submarine”. https://ussnautilus.org/the-aluminum-submarine/.
2. Ali, Saleem. 2023. “MOBILE METAL: How Aluminum Facilitated War and Peace.” In Columbia University Press, pp. 111-44, https://doi.org/10.7312/jerv20598-006.
3. Lacey, Amy. 2017. “Hidden History: The Aluminaut went where no other watercraft had gone before.” WRIC ABC 8News. June 14, 2017. https://www.wric.com/news/hidden-history-the-aluminaut-went-where-no-other-watercraft-had-gone-before/.
4. “Aluminaut” n.d. Science Museum of Virginia. Accessed March 27, 2025. https://smv.org/explore/things-to-do/aluminaut/.
5. Pierson, David. 2009. “Lost in the Sky Found in the Sea.” U.S. Naval Institute. https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2009/june/lost-sky-found-sea.
6. “History of Alvin.” n.d. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Accessed March 27, 2025. https://www.whoi.edu/what-we-do/explore/underwater-vehicles/hov-alvin/history-of-alvin/.