In Mr. Rush’s telling, innovation was the province of maverick individuals, not stodgy legacy players and certainly not cumbersome government bureaucracies. That story is often wrong, and it was 100 percent wrong in this case. Realizing this could be a powerful military communications tool, they worked with the U.S. Navy to develop technologies that exploited this sound channel. As its name suggests, Aluminaut was developed with the Reynolds Metals Company, one of the largest aluminum companies in the world. What the Navy and Woods Hole were not willing to do, however, was to risk lives.

---

Persons: Rush’s, Rush, SOSUS, Alvin, Aluminaut, James Mavor Jr Organizations: United, Oceanographic Institution, U.S . Navy, U.S . Office, Naval Research, U.S . Navy Bureau of Ships, Reynolds Metals Company, Navy Locations: Silicon Valley, America, United States