Launched in 1964 this was the world’s first aluminum submarine constructed with civilian funding and designed for research, salvage and exploration at a time when most submarines were built using government funding.
Its massive buoyancy allowed it to carry 6000 pounds – a record for deep submersibles at the time. The pressure hull consisted of two hemi-spheres connected by a series of cylinder shaped sections. The hull was designed to withstand 7000 pounds per square inch of pressure. The 6.5” inch thick pressure hull was made of forged high-strength aluminum.