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HOV Alvin

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Alvin during its 2014 science verification cruise in the Gulf of Mexico. The submersible has safely transported over 3,000 researchers on more than 5,000 dives to depths of 21,325 feet (6,500 meters). (Photo by Chris Linder, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

Human Occupied Vehicle (HOV) Alvin is part of the National Deep Submergence Facility (NDSF). Alvin enables in-situ data collection and observation by two scientists to depths reaching 6,500 meters, during dives lasting up to ten hours.

Commissioned in 1964 as one of the world’s first deep-ocean submersibles, Alvin has remained state-of-the-art as a result of numerous overhauls and upgrades made over its lifetime. The most recent upgrades, begun in 2011 and completed in 2021, saw the installation of a new, larger personnel sphere with a more ergonomic interior; improved visibility and overlapping fields of view; longer bottoms times; new lighting and high-definition imaging systems; improved sensors, data acquisition and download speed.  It also doubled the science basket payload, and improved the command-and-control system allowing greater speed, range and maneuverability.

With seven reversible thrusters, it can hover in the water, maneuver over rugged topography, or rest on the sea floor.  It can collect data throughout the water column, produce a variety of maps and perform photographic surveys.  Alvin also has two robotic arms that can manipulate instruments, obtain samples, and its basket can be reconfigured daily based on the needs of the upcoming dive.

Alvin's depth rating of 6,500m gives researchers in-person access to 99% of the ocean floor.  Alvin is a proven and reliable platform capable of diving for up to 30 days in a row before requiring a single scheduled maintenance day.  Recent collaborations with autonomous vehicles such as Sentry have proven extremely beneficial, allowing PIs to visit promising sites to collect samples and data in person within hours of their being discovered, and UNOLs driven technological advances have improved the ability for scientific outreach and collaboration via telepresence

Alvin is named for Allyn Vine, a WHOI engineer and geophysicist who helped pioneer deep submergence research and technology.

Click on the image below to learn more about HOV Alvin.

Recent News

YouTube Premiere: “Boundary of Creation”

August 8, 2024

Rarely-seen footage of Alvin’s role in a major study of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. YouTube premiere Aug. 13

Celebrating 60 years of Alvin

May 30, 2024

Newly discovered sea worm moves like a ‘magic carpet’

March 7, 2024

This feathery species gets its name, Pectinereis strickrotti, from the WHOI Alvin pilot that helped find it

What is the future of submersibles after Titan implosion?

July 5, 2023

News Releases

Sixty Years of Deep Ocean Research, Exploration, and Discovery with Human-Occupied Vehicle Alvin 

June 4, 2024

In June 1964, the world’s first deep-diving submersible dedicated to scientific research was commissioned. What have we learned over the past 60 years?

New Study: Deep Sea Sensor Reveals That Corals Produce Reactive Oxygen Species

December 4, 2023

A new sensor on the submersible Alvin discovered reactive oxygen species for the first time in deep-sea corals, broadening our understanding of fundamental coral physiology    Woods Hole, MA – Just…

Scientists Aboard R/V Atlantis Discover Deep-Sea Coral Reefs in the Galápagos

April 17, 2023

Observations using the newly upgraded human-occupied vehicle Alvin are the first of a deep-water coral reef in the Galápagos Marine Reserve.
The reefs are located at depths between 400-600 m, atop previously unmapped seamounts.

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution honored with IEEE Milestone for Technical Innovation and Excellence

October 27, 2022

HOV Alvin recognized as one of world’s most important deep-sea scientific instruments

WHOI in the News

Woods Hole scientists explore new deep-sea phenomenon

April 11, 2024

‘Like a magic carpet.’ New creature seen by Cape resident off Costa Rica now has his name

March 27, 2024

The mini-sub that carried the first humans to the Titanic is in San Diego looking for fresh discoveries

July 7, 2023

Scientists discover pristine deep-sea Galápagos reef ‘teeming with life’

April 18, 2023

Oceanus Magazine

Racing an undersea volcano

March 18, 2021

Using AUV Sentry to make a high-resolution, near-bottom, seafloor map before the next volcanic eruption at the East Pacific Rise

Journey to the Bottom of the Sea

October 4, 2018

My eyelids were tightly pressed down as I mustered all the tricks I could think of to get myself to sleep. I rolled around with no sign of getting close…

The Discovery of Hydrothermal Vents

June 11, 2018

In 1977, WHOI scientists made a discovery that revolutionized our understanding of how and where life could exist on Earth and other planetary bodies.

Pop Goes the Seafloor Rock

June 20, 2017

WHOI scientists used the human-occupied submersible Alvin and the autonomous underwater vehicle Sentry to explore a surprising discovery: gas-filled volcanic rocks on the seafloor that “pop” when brought up to the surface.

 

Duke University Stories

August 2017

Two Duke Scientists Go To Sea with Alvin

For two weeks last summer, a pair of marine scientists joined the venerated submarine to explore the ocean shelf off Massachusetts

Journal of Ocean Technology

May 2017

The Deep Submergence Vehicle Alvin

An Advanced Platform for Direct Deep Sea Observation and Research