Abstract: This study carried out the underwater and in-air wire-feed laser deposition of an aluminium alloy with a thin-walled tubular structure. For both the underwater and in-air deposition layers, both were well-formed and incomplete fusion, cracks, or other defects did not exist. Compared with the single-track deposition layer in air, the oxidation degree of the underwater single-track deposition layer was slightly higher. In both the underwater and in-air deposition layers, columnar dendrites nucleated close to the fusion line and grew along the direction of the maximum cooling rate in the fusion region (FR), while equiaxed grains formed in the deposited region (DR). As the environment changed from air to water, the width of DR and height of FR decreased, but the deposition angle and height of DR increased. The grain size and ratio of the high-angle boundaries also decreased due to the large cooling rate and low peak temperature in the water environment.Besides, the existence of a water environment benefitted the reduction of magnesium element burning loss in the DR. The microhardness values of the underwater deposition layer were much larger than those of the in-air layer, owing to the fine grains and high magnesium content.