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There are moments in military history that defy belief, and the story of the USS Squalus (SS-192) is one of those extraordinary chapters. On May 23, 1939, a routine dive for the USS Squalus—a US Navy submarine—turned into a nightmare that nearly ended in disaster. But what followed, both during the rescue and after, became a remarkable tale of survival, resilience, and an unbelievable twist of fate—one that involved the submarine being bent 18-feet to the left.
The Squalus, a Sargo-class submarine, was a state-of-the-art vessel at the time, designed to be faster and more maneuverable than earlier designs. She was built for attack missions, capable of carrying torpedoes and engaging enemy vessels in coastal waters. On that fateful day in 1939, the Squalus was conducting routine exercises off the coast of Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
Everything seemed normal as the submarine made its descent. But something went horribly wrong.
The Deadly Dive
During the dive, an unexpected mechanical failure occurred with the submarine’s main ballast tank, which caused the Squalus to take on water. The crew struggled to regain control of the vessel, but the situation quickly escalated. Within minutes, the submarine began to sink uncontrollably, spiraling deeper into the cold waters of the Atlantic. Soon, the Squalus was at a depth of over 200 feet, far beyond the safe operating limits of the vessel.
In the chaos that followed, 26 crew members tragically lost their lives. The submarine’s forward compartments were flooded, and the crew in the back sections were left trapped in a vessel slowly sinking to the ocean floor. The surviving crew members were faced with impossible odds. The submariners, locked in their steel coffin, had to hold on to the hope that a rescue would come before the submarine’s oxygen supply ran out.
But what made the situation even worse was the condition of the vessel itself.
The 18-Foot Bend
As if the situation wasn’t dire enough, once the submarine finally settled on the ocean floor, it was discovered that the Squalus had been bent 18 feet to the left. The impact of the submarine sinking, combined with the pressure of the deep ocean, caused the hull to deform in a way that no one had ever imagined. The steel hull of the submarine had actually been warped—distorting its shape—and this created a terrifying new set of problems.
The twist in the submarine’s structure was so severe that it created a series of obstacles that made rescue efforts far more complicated than they already were. The submarine’s hatch doors were warped, and the internal structure was no longer uniform, which meant that getting access to trapped crew members inside would require not just precision, but ingenuity.
Yet, in the face of this seemingly impossible scenario, the Navy launched one of the most daring and heroic rescue operations in history.
The Daring Rescue
When the submarine became trapped on the ocean floor, a rescue operation was immediately initiated. Led by Lieutenant Commander Charles “Swede” Momsen, the Navy was determined to rescue the remaining crew members, even though the conditions seemed nearly impossible.
The key to the rescue came in the form of the Momsen lung, a diving apparatus that allowed rescuers to breathe underwater. Using this device, rescuers descended to the wrecked submarine to search for survivors. The submarine’s twisted frame, bent 18 feet to the left, complicated the operation, but it also offered an advantage: it helped create pockets of air where some of the surviving crew members had managed to shelter.
Over the course of the next several days, a series of delicate and high-risk dives were conducted. One by one, the trapped crew members were brought to the surface, each of them rescued by the determined efforts of the Navy’s diving teams. Remarkably, despite the severe damage to the vessel and the challenging circumstances, 33 of the 59 crew members aboard the Squalus survived the ordeal.
The rescue of the Squalus is considered one of the most successful and miraculous submarine rescues in history. The severe bend of the submarine, which initially seemed like an insurmountable obstacle, had actually provided survivors with crucial air pockets that helped them stay alive. The operation would go down in history as a testament to the ingenuity, determination, and courage of those who never gave up on their mission to save lives.
The Aftermath
After the rescue, the Squalus was salvaged from the ocean floor, and though she was severely damaged, she was eventually brought back to port. The shipyard workers who repaired the submarine were astounded by the degree to which the vessel had been bent out of shape. The 18-foot leftward bend had left its mark on the submarine’s structure, but with extensive repairs, the Squalus was returned to service in 1940, re-entering the fleet under the new name USS Sailfish (SS-192).
Though the Squalus’s story ended with a second chance at life, the saga of its wreckage, the unbelievable 18-foot bend, and the heroic rescue mission became legendary. The Squalus saga not only illustrated the dangers of submarine warfare but also showed the unbreakable resolve of those who fought to save their comrades under the most impossible of circumstances.
To this day, the wreck of the USS Squalus serves as both a memorial to those who perished during the incident and a symbol of human perseverance in the face of overwhelming adversity. The submarine’s story remains one of the most dramatic and miraculous chapters in the history of the U.S. Navy.