Most active submersible in service

Most active submersible in service

Last updated: June 8, 2018 at 15:21 pm

Human Occupied Vehicle (HOV) Alvin (a.k.a. DSV-2) — Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). On December 12, 2017, Alvin had completed 4,932 dives. Commissioned on June 5, 1964, it is owned by the U.S. Navy and operated by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. Alvin is manned by a three-person crew of one pilot and two scientific observers. It is launched from the U.S. Navy deep submergence support vessel RV Atlantis (AGOR-25) and it has a maximum operating depth of 4,500 m (14,770 ft) for dives lasting up to 10 hours. Alvin’s most famous exploits include locating a hydrogen bomb in the Mediterranean Sea (1966), exploring deep-sea hydrothermal vents (1980s), and it conducted the first submersible dive on the wreck of the Titanic in 1986. Research conducted by scientists working aboard Alvin has been featured in approximately 2,000 science papers. Alvin was named to honour its main proponent, M. Allyn Vine.

Alvin Dive Statistics	as of 31/12/2017
Total Dives	4,932
Total Depth	10,207,539 m (33,489,301 ft)
Average Depth per Dive	2,070 m (6,791 ft)
Total Time Submerged	34,455 hours
Average Time Submerged per Dive	6.99 hours
Total Persons Carried	14,787
Dive Purpose Breakout
Biology	1,902
Geology/Geophysics	1,540
Chemistry/Geochemistry	702
Engineering/Equipment Tests	316
Search/Survey/Recovery	244
Orientation/Training	147
Certification	81

Other records and firsts by Alvin:

Deepest recovered sandwich
Deepest submersible recovery
First dive on the Titanic
First link-up between submersible and the ISS
First woman on a science dive aboard a submersible

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI)

The Alvin submersible. Photo by OAR/NURP (Public Domain)

Alvin submersible in 2006. Photo by NOAA (Public Domain)

The sunken Alvin on the ocean bottom in June 1969, photographed from the Aluminaut submersible. Photo by U.S. Navy (Public Domain)

Alvin emergency release mechanism. Photo by Office of Naval Research (Public Domain)

Alvin general layout. Photo by Office of Naval Research (Public Domain)

The DSV Alvin on the fantail (stern) of the R/V Atlantis following a dive. On the right side of the photograph the A-frame crane can be seen that lowers Alvin into the water and on the left, Alvin's hangar. Photo by Taollan82 (Creative Commons)

Comments are moderated: (1) Stay on topic (2) Be respectful (3) Refrain from vulgarity and abusive language (4) Do not publish materials that violate copyright. OFFENDING COMMENTS WILL BE DELETED.

In order to ensure your browsing experience is as enjoyable as possible, banners are kept to an absolute minimum, which means that advertising revenues alone cannot sustain this 100% FREE publication. Researching and updating the Diving Almanac requires a lot of time and dedication. If you believe the diving community needs a central body of information to record, validate and make available our shared history and accomplishments, please show your support by making a contribution to the Diving Almanac via PayPal (Porbeagle Press). Thank you!

First diver to tag a Greenland shark underwater

By Jeffrey Gallant

2004 — Jean-Yves “Tag” Forest tagged a free-swimming Greenland shark off Baie-Comeau, Québec, during [...]

First shark observation cage dives [Canada]

By Jeffrey Gallant

2000 — Jeffrey Gallant and Chris Harvey-Clark (GEERG), observed several blue sharks off the coast of Halifax, Nova Scotia. The cage was used as a precaution [...]

Slowest fish

By Jeffrey Gallant

Dwarf seahorse (Hippocampus zosterae) — 152 cm per hour (0.001 km/h) or 60 in. per hour (0.0009 mph). Size: 4.2 cm (1.7 in). The dwarf seahorse swims in an upright position using its [...]

Coldest seawater

By Jeffrey Gallant

Seawater with an average salinity of 35 ppt (parts per thousand) freezes at -1.94°C (28.5°F). The coldest seawater ever recorded at −2.6 °C (27.3 °F) was found in a stream under [...]

Oldest decompression diver

By Jeffrey Gallant

Gregg Bemis (USA), 76, made a 62-minute dive on the wreck of the RMS Lusitania (Ireland) in July 2004. The Lusitania lies at a depth of 92 m (300 ft) [...]

First commercially built submersible in the USA

By Jeffrey Gallant

The Asherah, capable of reaching a depth of 183 m (600 ft) and a speed of 4 knots, was launched about one month before Alvin in May 1964. It was designed [...]

Largest isopod

By Jeffrey Gallant

Giant isopod (Bathynomus giganteus) — The largest known deep sea isopod whose average length is between 19 and 36 cm (7.5 - 14.2 in), reaches up to 76 cm (30 in) and 1.7 kg [...]

Largest barrier reefs

By Jeffrey Gallant

Great Barrier Reef (Australia) — Over 2,300 km (1,400 miles). The Great Barrier Reef is made up of over 900 islands and 3,400 reefs. It is the largest structure on the planet built by living [...]

Deepest wreck dive [Men]

By Jeffrey Gallant

236 m (774 ft) — Alessandro Scuotto (Italy), Mario Marconi (Italy) and Pim van der Hofirst (The Netherlands). Wreck of the Milano, Lake Maggiore [...]

First scuba diving family

By Jeffrey Gallant

1945 | The Cousteaus — Jacques-Yves, Simone, Jean-Michel and Philippe Cousteau did their first dives as a family in the Mediterranean Sea near Marseille, France [...]

First female scuba diver

By Jeffrey Gallant

1943 — Simone Melchior Cousteau (1919-1990), first wife of Jacques-Yves Cousteau. Her first dives were in the Mediterranean Sea in the summer of 1943. Her sons [...]

First saturation dive under polar ice

By Jeffrey Gallant

Jim English (Memorial University, Canada) and Bob Wicklund (Manager Hydrolab, USA) — Arctic IV Expedition led by Dr. Joe MacInnis in Resolute Bay [...]

Oldest drinkable champagne… and beer?

By Jeffrey Gallant

In 2010, Swedish divers recovered 145 bottles of champagne and five bottles of beer from the 170-year-old Föglö wreck south of the Åland [...]

First mixed gas dives under polar ice

By Jeffrey Gallant

Doug Elsey (Canada) — Arctic IV Expedition led by Dr. Joe MacInnis in Resolute Bay, Nunavut (Canada), May 1974. Elsey descended to 67 m [...]

Most valuable fish

By Jeffrey Gallant

The bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) can measure up to 3 m (10 ft) in length weigh more than 635 kg (1,400 lbs). On January 4, 2019, a single 222-kg (489 lbs) bluefin was sold for [...]

First diver to reach the bottom of Dean’s Blue Hole

By Jeffrey Gallant

Jim King (USA) | 1992 — King took 11 minutes to descend to the bottom (202 m / 663 ft) on TRIMIX. After spending 3 [...]

First robotic diver

By Jeffrey Gallant

OceanOne (2016), a humanoid robotic diver from Stanford University, is powered by artificial intelligence and haptic feedback systems. OceanOne was used to explore and to recover [...]

Most fin patents

By Jeffrey Gallant

Bob Evans (USA) — Since 1971, he has patented 33 revolutionary fin designs including the Force Fin Tan Delta (polyurethane) which is part of the permanent collections of the New York [...]