A Brief History
On May 23, 1939, the submarine USS Squalus demonstrated the dangers faced by submarine sailors even in peacetime. Squalus was commissioned in March of 1939, with a length of 310 feet and a normal crew of five officers and 54 enlisted men.
Digging Deeper
With four bow torpedo tubes and four more aft, Squalus was a formidable warrior, boasting a 3-inch gun and four machine guns. After completing a series of test dives, Squalus once again dove on May 23, 1939, and suffered the catastrophic failure of her fresh air intake valve, partly flooding the sub, drowning 26 men and sinking the sub in 243 feet of water.
A rescue effort was mounted, using a new McCann Rescue Chamber and divers using a revolutionary mix of helium and oxygen in their air tanks. All 32 surviving crewmen and a civilian observer were rescued, and the sub was raised to be recommissioned as the USS Sailfish, serving through all of World War II.
Note: See our many articles regarding Naval disasters we call “Oops! Moments.”
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Lavo, Carl. Back from the Deep: The Strange Story of the Sister Subs ‘Squalus’ and ‘Sculpin.’ Naval Institute Press, 2012.
Maas, Peter. The Terrible Hours: The Man Behind the Greatest Submarine Rescue in History. Harper, 1999.
The featured image in this article, a photograph of SS-192 in drydock after salvage, is a work of a sailor or employee of the U.S. Navy, taken or made as part of that person’s official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, it is in the public domain in the United States.
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