What is "argonaut"

Argonaut \Ar"go*naut\, n. [L. Argonauta, Gr. ?; ? + ? sailor, ? ship. See Argo.]

1. Any one of the legendary Greek heroes who sailed with Jason, in the Argo, in quest of the Golden Fleece.

2. (Zo["o]l.) A cephalopod of the genus Argonauta.

   2. One of those who went to California in search of gold shortly after it was discovered there in 1848. [U. S.]
   --Bret Harte.

   The ``Argonauts of '49'' were a strong, self-reliant, generous body of men.
   --D. S. Jordan. [Webster 1913 Suppl.] ||

"sailor of the Argo," 1580s (implied in argonautic), from Argo + Greek nautes "sailor" (see naval). Adventurers in the California Gold Rush of 1848 were called argonauts (because they sought the golden fleece) by those who stayed home.

n. 1 A pelagic octopus of the genus ''Argonauta''. 2 An adventurer on a dangerous but rewarding quest.

1. n. someone engaged in a dangerous but potentially rewarding adventure

2. (Greek mythology) one of the heroes who sailed with Jason on the Argo in search of the Golden Fleece

3. cephalopod mollusk of warm seas whose females have delicate papery spiral shells [syn: paper nautilus, nautilus, Argonauta argo]

Argonaut may refer to:

• Argonaut (animal), a kind of octopus in the genus Argonauta
• Jason and the Argonauts, sailors in Greek mythology
• Argonauts of Saint Nicholas, a military order in Naples
• Argonaut Conference, the codename for The Yalta Conference, 1945 wartime meeting between Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin
• a person who took part in the California Gold Rush
• a member of the Argonauts Club, an Australian children's radio program

In transportation:

• Argonaut (submarine), a class of submarines built by engineer Simon Lake

• , name of two submarines of the United States Navy

• HMS Argonaut, name given to four ships of the Royal Navy
• French ship Argonaute, name of various French vessels
• Argonaut (train), train operated between Los Angeles and New Orleans
• Argonaut (aircraft), C4 Argonaut, a variant of the Canadair North Star airliner
• Argonaut (automobile), an American automobile manufactured from 1959 to 1963

Companies:

• Argonaut Games, a British video game company
• Argonaut Mine, a defunct gold mine in Jackson, California

Other:

• Argonaut class reactor, a type of small nuclear research reactor
• Toronto Argonauts, a team in the Canadian Football League
• Argonaut Rowing Club, a rowing club in Toronto, Ontario
• Argonaute proteins, catalytic components of the complex that mediates RNA interference
• Argonaut Island, real name Ulleungdo, a South Korean island
• The Argonaut, a former literary journal based in San Francisco
• The Argonaut, the student newspaper of the University of Idaho
• Argonaut Building, an office building in Detroit, Michigan
• Mission Argonaut Loudspeaker, produced by UK audio manufacturer Mission Electronics
• "Argonaut", code name assigned to Ron "Captain Clarinet" Peterson in the comic book series PS238
• Argonaut, a fictional spaceship in the anime series Heroic Age

The argonauts ( genus Argonauta, the only extant genus in the family Argonautidae) are a group of pelagic octopuses. They are also called paper nautiluses, referring to the paper-thin eggcase that females secrete. This structure lacks the gas-filled chambers present in chambered nautilus shells and is not a true cephalopod shell, but rather an evolutionary innovation unique to the genus Argonauta. It is used as a brood chamber and for trapped surface air to maintain buoyancy. It was once speculated that the argonauts did not manufacture their own eggcases but instead borrowed them from other organisms, in the manner of hermit crabs. Experiments by pioneering marine biologist Jeanne Villepreux-Power in the early 19th century disproved this hypothesis, as Villepreux-Power was able to successfully rear argonaut young and observe the development of their shells.

Argonauts are found in tropical and subtropical waters worldwide; they live in the open ocean, i.e. they are pelagic. Like most octopuses, they have a rounded body, eight arms and no fins. However, unlike most octopuses, argonauts live close to the sea surface rather than on the seabed. Argonauta species are characterised by very large eyes and small distal webs. The funnel–mantle locking apparatus is a major diagnostic feature of this taxon. It consists of knob-like cartilages in the mantle and corresponding depressions in the funnel. Unlike the closely allied genera Ocythoe and Tremoctopus, Argonauta species lack water pores.

Of its names, "argonaut" means "sailor on the Argo"; "nautilus" is derived from the Greek ναυτίλος nautílos, meaning "sailor", because it was formerly supposed that Argonauta used their shell-secreting arms as sails when they were at the surface.

The chambered nautilus was later named after the argonaut, but belongs to a different order, the Nautilida.

The Argonaut was an American automobile manufactured from 1959 to 1963, or at least the company is listed as being in existence during those years. The Argonaut Motor Machine Corporation was based in Cleveland, Ohio. The company's president was Richard S. Luntz (1919–2006).

The company announced its production plans for a line of U.S.-made luxury cars in September 1958, planned as the finest and most luxurious in the world. The prices quoted ranged from a low of $28,600 to a high of $36,000; a variety of stainless and other special steels were proposed for the car's manufacture. A supercharged V-12 ohc aluminum air-cooled engine developing some was designed for the Argonaut, and all cars were to carry a four-year guarantee. The company claimed, in its catalogue, that two of its models (the "Smoke" and the "Raceway") had maximum speeds approaching 240 mph.

A number of high tech features were claimed, among them special tires with interwoven strands of steel to withstand sustained speeds of 200 mph, electric shock absorbers (individually adjustable from the cockpit) and 3 independent braking systems.

A news article about the Argonaut announcement appeared in The Washington Post on September 14, 1958, and Popular Science magazine published an article with several illustrations in the January 1959 issue, including a photo of a chassis and engine. A number of local articles also appeared in Cleveland area newspapers over the next few years. The "Spotlight on Detroit" column on page 12 of the December 1958 issue of Motor Trend Magazine (not available online) has pictures of the frame, a few parts including the instrument panel, and drawings of the different proposed body styles.

In a 1987 interview, Luntz said that an influential group of backers "felt that to put Italian bodies on an American chassis would infuriate the steel companies". In one article, these Italian coachbuilders were stated to be Bertone and Touring. Luntz also stated that 3 Argonaut prototypes were built, but all research since has only verified one surviving example: a 392 cubic inch Chrysler marine V-8 engine and 3-speed manual overdrive transmission mounted in a custom-built rolling chassis, but without any body. This is the chassis that was publicly displayed and pictured in newspaper accounts of the period, and was listed (with photo) in an auction catalog from the late 1970s, then owned by a private New York State collector.

The Blackhawk Museum in Danville CA featured a complete Argonaut automobile from 1988 up to about 1997, but this vehicle's appearance bears only a vague resemblance to the Argonaut Raceaway. Rather, its beautifully finished boattail speedster body is more akin to a low-slung mid-1930s Duesenberg. This speedster may have been built on the 'show' chassis; Blackhawk literature makes reference to a '240-MPH speedometer' and a chassis that is a 'formidable feat of engineering'. As of 2005, the Blackhawk Museum was unaware of this car's whereabouts.

The Argonaut was the Southern Pacific Railroad's secondary passenger train between New Orleans and Los Angeles via Houston, San Antonio, and El Paso, Texas; Tucson, Arizona; and Palm Springs, California. It started in 1926 on a 61 hr 35 min schedule Los Angeles to New Orleans, five hours slower than the Sunset Limited; it was discontinued west of Houston in 1958. (It was also dropped from May 1932 until May 1936.) In earlier years it carried sleeping cars from New Orleans to Yuma that would continue to San Diego via San Diego & Arizona Eastern, a SP subsidiary. Westbound trains carried sleeping cars from New Orleans and Houston to San Antonio.

The Sunset Limited was the premier SP train on the " Sunset Route" — and probably on the whole SP system — and the Argonaut was slower, needing fifty hours between New Orleans and Los Angeles, while after 1950 the Sunset Limited needed forty-two. In summer 1936 the Argonaut took about 58 hours each way via Lordsburg and Maricopa, leaving New Orleans at 11 PM and Los Angeles at 8 PM; in summer 1946 about the same, but eastward via Douglas.

Unlike the first-class Sunset Limited the Argonaut was a train for economy travel, carrying standard coaches and few standard sleepers, allowing people to travel at moderate prices but with full dining and sleeping car service.

Through its life the train had olive green and black heavyweight passenger cars, pulled by steam locomotives like the GS-1 4-8-4 or MT-4 4-8-2, sometimes even a Cab Forward 4-8-8-2. In its last years the train was pulled by EMD F7 or ALCO PA/PB diesel locomotives.

Additional material from Night Trains, Johns Hopkins University Press, 1989.

The Argonaut was a class of submarines built by engineer Simon Lake. When used without clarification generally refers to the second built and larger one launched in 1897 at Baltimore. She was long, cigar shaped and built of steel. She had a gas engine and propeller, dynamo, searchlight, and pumps for air and water. Her main attribute like that of the older sibling and predecessor Argonaut Junior (1894); was a wet diving chamber that allowed a diver to leave and re-enter the submarine. The "Argonaut No 1", and "Argonaut No 2" are used as the name of this vessel.

"Argonaut No 1" was built in 1897 and is in length. In September 1898 it made an open-ocean passage from Norfolk, Virginia, to Sandy Hook, New Jersey, becoming the first submarine to operate successfully in the open sea.

"Argonaut No 2" was a reconstruction of "Argonaut No 1" finishing in 1900 with a length of and significantly different profile.