From the Archives

Until the early 1980s, the 105-foot catamaran Lulu served as the support vessel for the deep submergence vehicle Alvin. Here, engineers use a pedestal crane on the WHOI pier to conduct a stability test on the sub’s pressure-resistent sphere, which carried a pilot and two passengers below the surface. Keeping Alvin in optimal working and diving condition is still paramount today—in 2014, it completed a major upgrade). Lulu retired from service after 119 expeditons. Since then, research vessels Atlantis II and Atlantis have served as Alvin‘s support vessels.(Photo courtesy of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Archives)