We all live in a titanium submarine...

I have long been a fan of submarines, starting with Captain Nemo in Jules Verne’s classic, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, to the modern day nuclear submarines of the United States Navy.  In my younger days I was thrilled to read about the exploits of Jacques Cousteau in National Geographic and his legendary trips under the sea, exploring new waters and discovering sea life and species never before seen by mankind. There was one point in my youth that I actually considered a career in oceanography, however, once out in the real world, I discovered titanium and its many uses and was forever hooked on the metal. My last blog article featured Sir Richard Branson’s new deep sea diving submarine, "Virgin Oceanic".  I find this subject utterly fascinating and applaud Sir Richard’s visions and courage and wish him great success with his new venture.    
                                                                                            
I am very happy to see that titanium has again made its way into the world of deep sea diving submarines. For those of us  who follow the titanium industry on a regular basis, we are aware of titanium’s unique characteristics having to do with seawater corrosion and the strength advantage of using  titanium for those very high pressures that are found so deep in the ocean. Sir Richard and his design crew have done what we all have hoped would happen in the titanium world for many years.  Branson has taken a dream and has designed his vehicle using the proper materials for sea water applications. We all remember the Alvin Submarine, which used titanium many years ago and has recently been refurbished using titanium for its pressure sphere.

Over the years there has been titanium usage on submarines, from titanium brine pumps, sewage pumps and titanium cast balls for ball valves, to titanium components for mast assemblies, and many more components than there is space to list in one blog posting.  The Russians have successfully produced titanium hulled submarines and even the author Clive Cussler uses titanium in many of his thrilling Dirk Pitt adventures.

When one designs equipment for deep sea diving applications, one must be sure to request the proper materials that will withstand the tremendous pressures of the deep as well as to protect equipment from seawater corrosion.  In Branson’s Virgin Oceanic design, titanium was the obvious and correct choice. What a pleasure it is to see the metal being used for new commercial applications.  I wish Sir Richard and his crew great success in his endeavors and thank them for utilization of a very great and wonderful metal, titanium.