SS-192 (cont.)
23-25 MAY 1939
SS-192 (cont.)
It had been 26 hours since SQUALUS (SS-192) slipped below the waves off New Hampshire’s coast, only to be partially flooded and sink 240 feet below. The McCann Rescue Chamber had arrived lashed to the fantail of USS FALCON (ASR-2), and Navy diver Martin Sibitsky sat beside the chamber awaiting the securing of his round copper helmet. He would have to dive on plain air, as the special mix of oxygen and helium recently developed at the Experimental Deep-Diving Unit was not available. At the depth SQUALUS rested, Sibitsky risked nitrogen narcosis, not that the extreme pressure alone wasn’t enough! But 33 men were still alive, so he had no choice. He stepped onto his wooden lowering platform and watched the seawater swirl around his faceplate.
In order to deploy the McCann Chamber, FALCON had to be stable on the surface, oriented on the exact heading of SQUALUS below. In the rough seas that task had taken some time during the previous day. But now FALCON bobbed in one spot, anchors deployed in four directions. Slowly Sibitsky coursed deeper and deeper. At last the silhouette of the submarine came into view. By sheer luck he landed on the sub’s main deck, only ten feet from the forward escape hatch! He shackled the down-haul line to the hatch.
On the surface the down-haul line was secured to a winch in the rescue chamber. TM1c John Mihalowski and GM1c Walter Harmon piled in, followed by hot drinks, sandwiches, blankets, and CO2 absorbent. By now the temperature inside SQUALUS had dropped to freezing and carbon dioxide in the air had risen to 3%. At 1130 on the 24th the 10′ X 7′ spherical chamber tasted saltwater. The down-haul went as planned. The chamber married correctly to the escape hatch and Mihalowski and Harmon double checked seals and blew compressed air into the entry chamber. Mihalowski climbed to the lower chamber and spun the sub’s hatch. Gaunt faces appeared from the darkness as the hatch was lifted. “Hi fellas, here we are!” was Mihalowski’s first comment.
At 1342 the first seven of SQUALUS’ sailors reached the surface. Three more times the device was lowered until only Naquin and the last seven crewmen were loaded. About 2014 the final up-haul began. But the chamber rose only a few feet before a fouled line jerked it to a stop. Metalsmith First Class Edward Clayton made a second hardhat dive and struggled for hours to free the haul line. He was successful, and at 0023 this morning the chamber broke the surface for the last time. All 33 who survived SQUALUS’ sinking were rescued, it was the first successful rescue from that depth. Naquin had spent 36 hours in a downed sub and an additional four hours and nine minutes in a snagged chamber.
Watch for more “Today in Naval History” 1 JUN 26
CAPT James Bloom, Ret.
Department of the Navy, Naval History Division. Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Vol 6 “R-S”. Washington, DC: GPO, 1976, pp. 233-35.
Gray, Edwin. Disasters of the Deep: A Comprehensive Survey of Submarine Disasters & Accidents. Annapolis, MD: USNI Press, 2003, pp. 138-53.
LaVO, Carl. Back from the Deep: The Strange Story of the Sister Subs Squalus and Sculpin. Annapolis, MD: USNI Press, 1994.
ADDITIONAL NOTES: In the elation that followed this first rescue, observers overlooked essential contributing factors–the chamber was only 200 miles distant at the time of the sinking, and Squalus settled upright–an absolute requirement for the chamber to work.
After a trying 113-day effort the wreck of SQUALUS was raised and towed back to the yards in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. She was repaired and recommissioned, this time under the name SAILFISH (SS-192). She fought throughout WWII in the Pacific, being awarded nine Battle Stars and the Presidential Unit Citation for her combat service. She was sold for scrap in 1948.
