- 5 months ago
"The Squalus Story" refers to the sinking of the USS Squalus (SS-192) on May 23, 1939, and its subsequent unprecedented rescue of 33 surviving crewmen using the McCann rescue chamber. The submarine sank during a test dive due to a mechanical failure, but the trapped survivors were rescued by divers from the USS Falcon. The Squalus was later raised, repaired, and recommissioned as the USS Sailfish, which had a distinguished career in World War II.
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Short filmTranscript
00:00A-ha! A-ha! A-ha!
00:30I'm Rear Admiral Thomas M. Dykers, retired, bringing you another true account of the silent service.
00:36This is the story of the USS Squalus and of 33 men trapped in their sunken submarine at the fearful depth of 240 feet below the surface.
00:46More than that, it is the story of the USS Falcon, a submarine rescue vessel,
00:51and of the first actual use of the submarine rescue chamber, better known as the Bell.
01:00It began on the peaceful morning of May 23, 1939, when the Squalus, our newest of 300-foot giants of 1,450 tons, was on the last of our preliminary trial runs.
01:14Off Portsmouth, New Hampshire, a high-speed dive was to be the day's routine.
01:20Match secure, sir. Eight degrees down, bubble. Level are off at 60 feet.
01:30The main induction's open. We're flooded.
01:40The surface, the main induction's open. Take a look. Blue oil palace tank.
01:47Blue eyes on the flame. On the head flank.
01:49On the head flank.
01:57One-fifty.
02:01One-seventy.
02:08Jackson.
02:09Yes, sir.
02:11Collins.
02:13Collins?
02:14One-seventy.
02:18Any more?
02:23That makes 33 of us in here.
02:25All phone circuits are dead, sir. Can't raise the engine room.
02:28Telephone buoy and smoke bomb ready, sir.
02:31Release.
02:33Dosh one of those battle lamps. Save its battery.
02:37Don't move around.
02:39We've got to conserve our air as much as possible.
02:42Upon diving that morning, the Squalus had sent the standard radio message to the Navy Yard,
02:48giving her position and time of dive.
02:51Two hours later, when no routine resurfacing message had been received,
02:55Admiral Cole knew something must be seriously wrong.
02:58The USS Sculpin, a sister ship of the Squalus, was operating in a nearby area.
03:03She was immediately ordered to search in the area of the Squalus' last reported position.
03:08Admiral Cole had notified the submarine base at New London and the rescue vessel Falcon,
03:14made ready to put to sea immediately.
03:16He had also warned New London and Washington to wait for further developments.
03:20The order had gone out, prepare to execute. Rescue plan.
03:23The smoke from the bomb that had been fired by the Squalus was red.
03:33The color saved for emergencies.
03:35There, sir.
03:37It's the buoy at Fort Powell.
03:41It's the buoy.
03:43Left ten degrees rudder. All ahead one third.
03:45Left ten degrees rudder. All ahead one third.
03:47There was a Squalus rescue buoy with telephone inside, and the Sculpin's crew soon had it on deck.
03:57Send a message to Admiral Cole.
04:00Thirty-three survivors in the forward torpedo room.
04:03Conditions apt and other survivors, if any unknown.
04:06Depth of water, two hundred and forty feet.
04:08Help's on the way.
04:10The Admiral has the Falcon standing by with a bell.
04:13Tell the divers it'll be cold work.
04:16Water temperature outside our hulls, thirty degrees.
04:19And...
04:21Hello?
04:24Hello, Sculpin.
04:27Hello, Sculpin.
04:29That last big swell ripped the buoy loose from Squalus.
04:32Phone and all. Now they're really cut off.
04:35Get ready to drop some buoys to mark the Squalus's position.
04:43At 13.06, Sculpin reported.
04:46Falcon shoved off at once, with the submarine rescue chamber aboard.
04:54Lieutenant Commander Charles B. Momson, inventor of the Momson lung and in charge of the experimental diving unit,
05:00took off from Washington, D.C.
05:02With him he had two Navy doctors and a master diver.
05:06Admiral Cole was hurrying to the scene, aboard the Petticoke.
05:08While the crews of Brooklyn, loaded with supplies and rescue gear, was underway at flank speed.
05:15The Navy would excite every strength and skill it possessed to rescue its own.
05:25Send this message to Admiral Cole aboard Petticoke.
05:28Information to Sculpin.
05:31Estimate, arrival, squalus position.
05:35Zero, four hundred.
05:37Tomorrow.
05:38Twenty-fourth.
05:39Aye, sir.
05:41Now get your spuds and anchors ready for mooring.
05:44Ready rescue chamber and all diving gear.
05:47Might as well take advantage of this daylight while we have it.
05:59Break out your mumps and lungs and keep them near you.
06:01All hands.
06:02Aye, Arthur.
06:07Listen, Chief.
06:08Why can't we just use the mumps and lungs and get out through the escape hatch?
06:12What are we waiting for?
06:14Look, kid, when you went through sub-school, what depth did you take off from?
06:18Eighteen feet.
06:19They told us we could try a hundred if we wanted, but eighteen was all we had to do.
06:23Why?
06:25There's more difference in numbers between eighteen feet and a couple of hundred.
06:28Like nitrogen narcosis and the bends and a few others thrown in for good luck.
06:33That's what pressure does.
06:35Then we can't use the mumps and?
06:37It's good gear and we'll use it if we have to.
06:40But you'd better pray that that bell gets here first,
06:42because it'll deliver you nice and dry and healthy.
06:45Pipe down.
06:47Save the air for breathing.
06:49Pentecook with Admiral Cole aboard had arrived and begun dragging the area with a grapnome.
06:58Not until Squalus was positively located could any diving be attempted.
07:03Meanwhile, Admiral Cole transferred to the Sculpin.
07:10The Sculpin.
07:11She's standing with her oscillator.
07:12Quiet!
07:13D-R-A-G-G-I-N-G-F-O-R-Y-O-U.
07:26Pentecook dragging for you.
07:29Chief.
07:31Take a hammer.
07:32One blow on the hull for a dot, two for a dash.
07:34Aye, aye, sir.
07:36Send.
07:39Send.
07:40We read you.
07:42When is Falcon expected?
07:43All right, send.
07:44Falcon arrival, estimated zero four hundred.
07:59Will your air hold out?
08:01That's it.
08:02That's it.
08:09Communication, Captain.
08:10Message from the Sculpin.
08:12Go ahead.
08:14Pentecook Graffnel caught in Squalus Hull.
08:16Nineteen hundred.
08:17Location void.
08:19Very well.
08:27Here, kid.
08:29No.
08:30I can't think to get anything down but fruit juice.
08:38Chief.
08:40Yeah?
08:42I'm scared.
08:43I'm scared.
08:47We all are.
08:51While Squalus lay helpless, her crew chilled to the bone,
08:54their remaining air being inexorably depleted,
08:57the seaplane with Lieutenant Commander Momsen and his group
09:00landed at Portsmouth Navy Yard.
09:03They were immediately transferred by the Admiral's barge to Sculpin,
09:06where they reported to Admiral Cole.
09:09It was not until 4.30 in the morning that Falcon reached the scene
09:12and the complex procedure of a four-point mooring could be begun.
09:20It was necessary to place four anchors precisely equidistant
09:23from the spot where Pentecook's Graffnel had located the Squalus
09:27so that Falcon could then moor exactly over the center of the square,
09:31over the sunken submarine.
09:34Working with the utmost speed, conscious of the dreadful need for urgency,
09:38it still took hours to complete the required procedure.
09:42Meanwhile, Admiral Cole, Lieutenant Commander Momsen, and the doctors,
09:45and their diver had all transferred to the Falcon.
09:49Well, they're getting weak.
09:51I had to pound out that last message three times before we could read it.
09:55What's the water temperature, do you know, sir?
09:58Thirty degrees at their depth, Sweden.
10:01Gonna be tough on the divers.
10:02Good.
10:04Who are you sending down first?
10:05Sibiski, sir.
10:07If anybody can get the Bell's downhaul cable aboard Squalus, it's Big Ski.
10:10Good.
10:12Rescue chamber ready, George?
10:14Yes, Admiral.
10:15We rechecked it en route.
10:17Have you asked how she's lying, sir?
10:20Before the phone boy broke loose, she told the Sculpin that she was lying on a fairly even keel.
10:26List of about seven degrees is all.
10:29I hope she stayed that way.
10:31Do you want to ask if there's been any change?
10:33No.
10:35Now every time they have to sledgehammer a message out, it just uses that much more air.
10:39We'll know as soon as you can get Sibiski down there.
10:44I'm gonna go to the ward room for coffee if you want me for anything.
10:47Sure.
10:49Uh, look, Commander, I didn't want to say it in front of the Admiral,
10:54but wasn't there some action pending on disqualifying Sibiski as a first-class diver?
10:59Yep.
11:00I'm sure he shouldn't be, and I'm gonna prove it.
11:04H-U-M-D-R-E-D.
11:10Mooring completed.
11:12Diver will be aboard you by ten hundred.
11:17Hear that, kid?
11:18Only thirty minutes more to go.
11:22I'll handle your phone myself, Ski.
11:25Thank you, Mr. Malmson.
11:26Good luck, Sibiski.
11:27Thank you, Admiral.
11:40FilibruΡΠΎΡΠ° soon.
11:42There we go.
11:43There you go.
11:45Come on.
11:48Here, ==
12:05Oh, yes, sir. The second Sabitsky has the cable attached to Squalus, the divers Milowski and Harmon here are all set to go.
12:27They've been down in the bell more often than anyone. Commander Momsen selected them.
12:31All right, fine. I'll double check with the medical officers.
12:34Yes, sir.
12:37220. 230.
12:45The diver. He's on deck.
12:47He's aboard.
12:49Perfect. You put him right near the forward hatch.
12:53He's lying okay, too. Seven degrees list is all.
12:57Yes, Guy.
13:01Can you cut the wires and clear it?
13:04Good. Forward escape hatch is blocked. Wires from the phone buoy when it broke loose.
13:09Sabitsky says he'll have it cleared in five minutes.
13:14Good work, Ski.
13:16Hatch cleared. Downhaul cable attached.
13:19You take over, Joe.
13:20Start bringing Ski up. 250-foot table for 20 minutes.
13:24Aye, aye, sir.
13:24C-A-B-L-E.
13:35Catch cleared. Cable.
13:37C-A-B-L-E.
13:37Hatch cleared. Cable.
13:39C-A-B-L-E.
13:44C-A-B-L-E.
13:54Black off the preventive wire.
14:24No sweat, no strain. Downhole rate now 50 feet per minute.
14:34Downhole rate 50 feet per minute, sir. Everything going normal.
14:39Depth 100 feet. Everything going well.
14:43Big Ski wants to talk to you, Commander. He's griping his head off.
14:49What's the matter, Ski?
14:52Relax, Ski. No matter how impatient you get, you're coming up by the tables.
14:57I want you ready to dive again, not sitting in the chamber and fighting the bends.
15:04Okay, so you're the strongest guy in the whole Navy. You're still coming up by the tables.
15:09Hold them at 90 feet for 10 minutes more.
15:12All right, sir.
15:14Depth 100 feet, all okay.
15:18Now, if there's anything you don't understand while you're stopping, then you can pass this along to all the other newsmen on your tux.
15:25Now, that wire with the diver attached to the forward escape hatch of Squalus is the downhaul cable.
15:32Now, there's a winch in the bottom of the bell, operated by compressed air from inside, that hauls the bell right down until it lands on the sub.
15:42Then they open the submarine hatch, take aboard six or seven men, close the hatch, undo the holding down rods, reverse procedure and float up.
15:55Now, the bell can then make the trip between the sub and the surface, just like an elevator.
16:00If everything goes according to the book.
16:03It's the bell.
16:04It's the border, man.
16:05That sounds good.
16:06Moving the lower compartment, sir.
16:07Everything is normal.
16:08Reelowski's attaching the holding down rod.
16:09First one's in place.
16:32Reelowski's opening the hatch.
16:41Hello.
16:42Here we are.
16:43Glad to see you.
16:44Glad you dropped in.
16:45What took you so long?
16:46Can you use some hot coffee?
16:47Yeah.
16:48We're gonna take the first six men aboard us now, sir.
16:51I got some you probably want even more.
17:03Open the valve.
17:04Give these people some of that high class fresh air.
17:06Fresh air!
17:22At 1.33 that afternoon, 29 hours after the accident,
17:26the first six men from the squalas were brought up
17:30and taken below for medical care and attention.
17:33The bell had proven itself an actual rescue.
17:37But there was no time for self-congratulation.
17:40There were still 27 men aboard the squalas.
18:00Great work, Ski!
18:02We must get rid of that disqualification business for sure.
18:04Thanks for giving me the chance, Mr. Monson!
18:07How many have they brought up?
18:09Nineteen!
18:10The bell's down on his third trip right now.
18:12Chief McDonald's handling her.
18:14Shortly after eight o'clock that night,
18:17the bell began its final ascent.
18:19It was carrying the squalas captain
18:21and the last seven survivors.
18:23Hold it!
18:25Nell's stuck at 160 feet.
18:28Try your downhaul.
18:30Maybe that'll clear it.
18:33All right, stand by, McDonald.
18:35Downhaul cable's fouled on the motor drum.
18:37They can't release it to rise or rewind it to clear.
18:39Why can't a diver come down and just cut it free?
18:42Then we can float up to the surface!
18:44Float!
18:45We go up like a rocket.
18:47Then you figure out what'll happen
18:48if we smash into the Falcon's hull.
18:50Well, if they can't do it,
18:51we'll have to do it for them.
18:53All right, Sweet.
18:54Tell them to flood their ballast tanks.
18:55As soon as they sink to the bottom,
18:56we'll have a diver down there
18:57to detach that foul cable.
18:59That'll mean trying to haul them up
19:00by the preventer wire.
19:01And that's only a guideline.
19:02It was never meant to take a load like that.
19:04I know that.
19:05But it's the only chance.
19:06There's no choice.
19:07Aye, aye, sir.
19:08Float your ballast tanks, McDonald.
19:10We're sending a diver down to detach that cable.
19:14Helmet on, Squires, and hurry!
19:17By the time you get below,
19:19they'll be on the bottom, Walter.
19:21Detach their downhaul cable
19:23and we'll try to bring them up with the preventer wire.
19:25Okay, up and over.
19:31The wire says the cable's too taut.
19:32He can't detach it.
19:34All right, send them down
19:36our biggest mechanical wire cutters.
19:38On the double.
19:39You think you'll be able to cut it, Sweet?
19:44I hope so, sir.
19:45If any man's got the strength to do it,
19:47Squires is the man.
19:50Okay, Walter.
19:51He's got the cutters.
19:56I can hear him panting.
20:00Squires is trying to cut the cable, Mac.
20:05They can hear him working outside the bell.
20:09Good work, Walter.
20:14He cut it.
20:15All right, bring Walter up to 90 feet.
20:18And be very careful to keep him away from the preventer wire.
20:23Those preventer wires are awfully thin.
20:25I know, sir.
20:26Well, here goes.
20:28Well, so far, so good.
20:40Sweet!
20:41Look!
20:41I see it!
20:43Fast heaving!
20:44Hold it!
20:46It's the wench.
20:47There's too much strain on that wire.
20:48We lower them again, by hand.
20:51We'll send another diver down, try to reave a new cable and shackle it onto them.
20:55McDonald, can I give you the word?
20:59Aye, aye, sir.
21:01Flood negative, very slowly.
21:03Leave, when you give the word, you're lowering away.
21:06Until we're on the bottom again.
21:08Right.
21:10Two divers attempted to attach a new cable.
21:12Both attempts failed.
21:14By now, the rescue chamber and its final load had been submerged for over four hours.
21:20Want me to send down another man, sir?
21:22Try again?
21:24No, it's sweet.
21:25No, it's hopeless.
21:29Well, they can't take much more of this.
21:32How are the men holding out?
21:38Believe it or not, sir, they're singing.
21:40For what?
21:43Men, this is Admiral Cole.
21:46Admiral Cole?
21:47Hey, wait down.
21:48How was it, see Admiral?
21:51Aye, aye, sir.
21:54They're gonna try to haul us up with a bad wire.
21:57It's the only way.
21:59Pull over up the tank.
22:01Give minimum strain.
22:04Below five seconds, Mac.
22:10The trick was to lighten the rescue chamber just enough by blowing ballast so that it could be hauled up by manpower alone.
22:17In this way, it was hoped that a parting strain would not be placed on the seriously weakened preventer wire.
22:22The Falcon's crew hauled away, steadily, evenly, to prevent jerks as the chamber was hauled off the bottom.
22:29The cable came in, but until that bad section of wire was aboard, the situation would be critical.
22:35The lives of ten men hung literally by a thread.
22:39The freight section's in board.
22:42It's passed.
22:44Yeah.
22:46One o'clock in the morning, the last of the rescued men was safely aboard the Falcon.
22:52This was an epic-making triumph for the United States Navy.
22:55Thirty-three men had been saved from what would have been almost certain death before the invention of the rescue chamber.
23:04I'll be back in a moment with our special guest.
23:06And now it gives me great pleasure to introduce to you Vice Admiral Charles B. Momsen, retired.
23:17One of whose most memorable exploits you have just seen.
23:21Good to have you with us, Admiral.
23:23I'm very glad to be here, Tommy, and I got a real kick out of your accurate reenactment of those hectic hours.
23:28As the inventor of the famous Momsen lung, and as the officer in charge of the experimental diving unit that made so many pioneering discoveries,
23:37I know that you dedicated a large part of your long and distinguished naval career to rescue work.
23:43But I imagine that the saving of those aboard the Squalus must have been one of the greatest moments of that career.
23:49You're right, Tommy. I can't recall anything that ever gave me greatest satisfaction.
23:54But let's not make it sound like a one-man job.
23:56You know that literally hundreds of men cooperated magnificently in making it possible.
24:02All hands certainly deserve the highest praise.
24:05And I'm sure that our viewers would be interested to learn from you what subsequently happened to the Squalus.
24:10Salvaging the sunken submarine was a long and difficult task, but we finally raised her.
24:16When she was recommissioned, her name was changed to Sailfish, and she went on to hang up an outstanding war record in combat.
24:22One final fact I think is well worth mention, Admiral.
24:26All of the 33 officers and men who were rescued from the Squalus, when offered their choice of further assignments in the Navy, chose unanimously to remain in submarines.
24:36I don't think we could find a great tribute to the submarine service.
24:40Yes, sir. After our many enjoyable years in the boats, I'm sure we won't have any trouble agreeing that they made the right choice.
24:46It's been an honor to have you with us, Admiral Momsen.
24:52We hope you'll be aboard again when we bring you another true account of the silent service.
24:56Five-to-day lives
25:10Around the now and off in line
25:11Through the deep blue underneath the ocean
25:13We'll control the ocean wide
25:15From down, down, underneath the sea
25:19Safe and forced we'll pass the word
25:22And souls will pass the word in the future's yet to be.
25:30That will stay as long as there's a submarine there underneath the sea.
25:38The rigs will dive and they will come.
25:43Down, down, go down, down, come beneath the ocean.
25:47Build and burn the mighty down in the deep blue pumpkin in the sea.
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