The Rest of the Story

The buoy cable had broken and the Squalus had to be located for the rescue to proceed. The harbor tug Penacook cruised back and forth for hours with a grapnel attempting to snag the Squalus near where the marker buoy had been discovered. It did manage to hook something but no one knew if it was the Squalus or a boulder or something else. Even if it was the Squalus the grapnel was unlikely to be near the escape hatch. The USS Falcon arrived near dawn the next morning with the diving bell lashed to her fantail. It was foggy and the sea was heavy so it took until almost 10 am for the rescue ship to be properly moored.

At 10:15 am Boatswains Mate Martin Sibitsky donned 200 pounds of diving gear. Air hoses and a telephone line were connected to his helmet. He could only spend minutes in the depths as the pressure would force nitrogen into his blood. That could cause strange behavior: blindness, symptoms of drunkenness and unconsciousness. Sibitsky was to attach a half inch steel cable to the escape hatch of the Squalus. Sibitsky was lowered into the water and followed the cable from the Penacook down. When Sibitsky reached the bottom he discovered the Penacook cable had caught on a railing about four feet from the hatch they needed to use to get the men out. Sibitsky spotted the broken cable from the buoy and disconnected it to keep it from interfering with the diving bell. The downhaul cable from the diving bell was lowered and Sibitsky hooked it to the middle of the escape hatch. That simple task took him 22 minutes. It took 40 minutes to return him to the surface and he was placed in a recompression chamber. Lt. Commander Momsen knew there were 33 men alive in the Squalus. He planned to bring them up in four trips with 7, 8, 9 and 9. He was hoping the diving bell would hold 9. The chamber in the bell was 10 feet high and 7 feet wide. It had an upper and lower chamber which could be attached to the submarine with a rubber seal. At 11:30 am Torpedoman's Mate John Mihalowski and Gunner's Mate Walter Harman were loaded into the upper chamber and lowered into the depths. It took half an hour to lower to the Squalus. Mihalowski maneuvered the rescue chamber over the escape hatch and bolted the diving bell to the hatch. They opened the hatch and loaded the first 7 survivors into the bell. The men were chosen by Lt. Naquin, the Squalus commander based on his assessment of who was the weakest. At about 2:00 pm the first seven climbed out of the diving bell onto the deck of the Falcon. On the diving bell's second trip Momsen ordered 8 survivors be brought up. Chief Machinist's Mate William Badders had a different idea. He had operated the bell more than anyone else and was convinced it could handle more men. The bell came back up the second time and Momsen thought it looked too heavy. The rescue would require 5 trips not 4. Nine survivors emerged from the bell. Momsen told Badders he brought up too many men but told him to do it again. The third trip went smoothly and 9 more men arrived on the Falcon at 6:27 pm.

The final rescue began at 6:41 pm and the final 8 men including Lt. Naquin were loaded into it. The bell began to ascend at 8:14 but at 160 feet below the surface it stopped. The steel wire had jammed on the reel. The men would heave the wire to clear it. It did not work. As the men hauled on the wire it began to break apart. The diving bell was gently lowered back to the bottom. Chief Torpedoman Walter Squire was sent down to free the wire. He attempted to unshackle it but it was too taunt. He cut the wire and the freed bell bounced off the Squalus. Torpedoman's Mate Jesse Duncan was sent down to try. His diving suit caught on the frayed wires. As he struggled to free himself he fell onto the diving bell and got entangled in those wires. He was finally freed and hoisted back to the surface. Metalsmith Edward Clayton was sent down and he got entangled in the lines as well. Momsen decided it was too difficult to attach a new wire. They would haul the bell up by hand with the frayed wire. Momsen told McDonald to blow the ballast tank for 3 seconds every time he gave the word. On the Falcon the men took hold of the half broken preventer wire. They pulled but the 21,600 pound bell was too heavy. McDonald was told to blow water out of the ballast tanks for 15 seconds. Six men on deck pulled on the wire. The bell was still too heavy. Another order for a 15 second ballast blow was given. The men pulled again and the bell began to move. Soon the frayed portion of the wire was on the deck and after 4 and a half hours the bell made it to the surface. All 33 Squalus survivors were now safe.

A final effort had to be made to determine if there were any survivors in the torpedo room. They may have been able to close the door and hold back the flood from the engine room. Badders and Mihalowski climbed into the bell again and were lowered to the Squalus. The bell was lowered to the hatch and bolted in place. Badders climbed into the lower chamber and opened the hatch. Water flooded in to his waist until Mihalowski blasted compressed air into the chamber and forced the water back into the submarine. The torpedo room was completely flooded. No one could have survived. The bell returned to the surface. The rescue of the Squalus crew was over.

The Navy wanted to find out what happened and salvage operations began. The Squalus was raised from the bottom on September 13, 1939 and the bodies of 25 men were recovered. One seaman had apparently gotten out of the hatch and his body was never recovered. The Squalus was cleaned out, repaired and recommissioned as the Sailfish in February 1940. The Sailfish sank seven ships during World War 2. The conning tower now serves as a memorial to those who died at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. Divers William Badders, James McDonald and John Mihalowski were awarded the Medal of Honor for their efforts.

So, please take time to follow those things that arouse your curiosity. There are lots of great stories out there.