The Boy in the Alvin Sphere

Oceanus - 

The titanium personnel sphere for the new deeper-diving Alvin submersible began undergoing a series of tests Tuesday in a pressurized tank at a facility in Annapolis, Md., to see how it reacts to pressures simulating depths from 6,500 to 8,000 meters (4 to 5 miles).

It seemed a perfect time to publish this gem of an e-mail and photographs, which we received from the son of the engineer who built Alvin’s original pressure hull, a pressure-resistant sphere, made of steel, that housed scientists and pilots during dives.

To the Editor: Thank you for writing the story of the deep submersible Alvin on the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution website.

My name is Raymond Pechacek Jr., and I thought you might be interested in some additional details concerning Alvin’s early history.

My father, Raymond Pechacek Sr., was vice president for engineering at Hahn and Clay in Houston, Texas, and personally designed the original pressure hull for Alvin.

My Dad talked quite a bit about designing and building Alvin, and it was an important part of his career.

He passed away on Jan. 31, 1999. I ‘interviewed’ him concerning his design work on Alvin around Christmas shortly before he died.

I heard bits and pieces of the account throughout my life and wanted to learn the full version.

My Dad said Alvin’s pressure hull was the heart of the sub design—the stronger the hull, the deeper Alvin could dive.

The objective was to design, develop, and build as perfectly round a sphere as possible, so the extreme pressure of the ocean would be equally distributed on all surfaces.

Full story...

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