The Making of a Torpedo-Proof Chair | Made Here | Popular Mechanics

Fire kills warships. In the early days of World War II, the USS Vincennes was set ablaze when Japanese shells shattered the heavy cruiser’s hangar space. The damage itself was not fatal, but the boat’s own paint and inventory—spare airplane parts, life jackets, and machine oil—fed the fire, lighting up the night sky to attract more heavy-caliber gunfire. In the early morning hours of August 9, 1942, the Vincennes rolled over and sank near Savo Island in the South Pacific.

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As similar losses mounted, the U.S. Navy embarked on a campaign to rid its combat ships of almost everything that would ignite. A new ban prohibited cork insulation, linoleum flooring, rugs, and curtains, along with items from sailors’ personal belongings, like excess books, dress uniforms, and hair oils. When elimination proved impossible for some necessary items, such as wooden mess benches, the Navy sought non-flammable alternatives. A proposal seeking submissions for a new shipborne chair caught the attention of a young Baltimore engineer named Wilton Dinges. The chairs had to be waterproof, fire- and corrosion-resistant, and light yet tough enough to endure constant abuse and withstand a torpedo blast. With help from aluminum producer Alcoa, Dinges created the seven-pound Model 1006 (“ten oh six”).

Due to wartime scarcity, Alcoa could only supply Dinges with the softest zero-temper aluminum, recycled from scrap. But he used this to his advantage, leveraging the malleable state of the metal to craft the chair’s gentle back curve and tapered front legs. Dinges then exposed the soft aluminum to a series of heat and acid treatments that achieved a hardness three times that of steel. Later testing showed that a single chair could support 1,700 pounds.

To prove the 1006’s strength and resilience to the Navy, Dinges held a demonstration from an eighth-story hotel room in Chicago. With naval officers watching, Dinges dropped his chair from the window. In a silver blur, the 1006 streaked toward the ground, bounced, and clattered to the curb unharmed. Dinges won the contract and established the Electric Machine and Equipment Company (Emeco) to produce it. In 1944, the first chairs equipped Navy submarines.

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The Making of a Torpedo-Proof Chair | Made Here | Popular Mechanics