Rescue of the Squalus: Rescue of the Crew

Most of the day of May 23 rescuers rushed to the scene. Charles "Swede" Momsen, two doctors and a diver left Washington, DC, from the Anacostia Naval Air Station by seaplane and landed at Portsmouth at 7:30 p.m. After transferring to a Coast Guard cutter, they arrived on station at 11:30 p.m. Admiral Cole got to Squalus' sister submarine Sculpin on a small vessel named Penacook, which then succeeded in hooking a grappling hook onto some part of the Squalus. The rescue vessel Falcon (ASR-2) a slow, former minesweeper came to the scene through a fog. She was equipped with a rescue chamber, air pressure systems, a recompression chamber for divers and diverse diving gear.

Ashore, the wives and families of the Squalus Sailors awaited news. The message tapped out from the sunken submarine "condition satisfactory but cold" was interpreted most hopefully. Interviews with relatives nearby and at distant locations were published and broadcast by reporters. One group of newsmen rented a boat for a 15-hour journey to the scene and back, only to learn that not all the crew survived. The impact of this word on the wives and relatives was devastating.

Momsen learned that there were 33 survivors in an atmosphere about twice normal pressure. There were three options to save the men. One was to pump out the flooded compartments to bring the Squalus to the surface. However, it was very risky, since the reason for the sinking was still not known. The second option was to have the men come to the surface using their Momsen Lungs. But their depth was somewhat greater than the 207 feet for which the Lung had been tested. The men were very cold and undoubtedly weak from the foul air and tension. Momsen recommended, and Admiral Cole concurred, that using the rescue bell to retrieve the men was the best choice.

How does the rescue bell work? [MPEG (1.4 MB) | Text Only]