Sub Sinks to Ocean Floor With Crew Inside

when submarines were first developed they had an awful reputation and for good reason there had been many accidents and many sailers whose Graves were on the bottom of the ocean so much so that the submarine service had earned the nickname the coffin service in 1939 one of the worst of these incidents would add this reputation this is that horrifying story and as always viewer discretion is advised [Music] between the end of World War I and the first shots of World War II navies around the world were tirelessly developing and testing submarine technology to that point fighting a war under the sea was done by primitive means but the early 1920s marked a significant Leap Forward in submarine capabilities countries raced one another to build and deploy more advanced submarines capable of diving deeper faster and for longer than ever before like other countries the United States invested heavily in bolstering its Navy with top-of-the-line state-of-the-art subs and in 1938 it launched its class of sargo ships which were equipped with a new lead acid battery that was resistant to battle damage one of these was known as the USS squalis which was one of the first in its class and was capable of reaching depths of up to 250 ft surface speeds of up to 20 knots and distances of 11,000 Mi on a single tank of fuel even by the growing standards of Submarine technology the Wallace and its sister ship the USS sculpin were Advanced beyond their years they had been designed in the leadup to World War II for the task of cutting off Japanese trade and could Escape enemy planes by fully submerging in less than a minute while operating at full speed which was something that no other sub could do once the squalus was completed the Navy began a battery of test Dives to ensure that its design was safe and its parts were capable of withstanding all that was expected of it and this testing process was something that countries took incredibly seriously because a total of 825 from 18 Subs across multiple countries have been killed in sub accidents between 1921 and 1938 submarining as a result had earned the moniker the coffin service by the median public but the sargo class of ships aimed to undo that reputation and thankfully by then in its test runs the squalus was performing its functions and purpose to near Perfection on the morning of May 23rd 1939 the squalis left the mouth of the pataka river for another test dive with crew that included 53 officers and sailors also along for the ride were two civilian Navy engineers and a representative from General Motors who had designed the batteries then under the command of rear Admiral Oliver F nain the sub was put on a course toward the coast of New Hampshire just a few miles from the aisle of scholes the test for the day would include underwater Maneuvers and several Dives and resurfaces and it would be as routine a test as the ship had faced around 9:00 a.m. the horn sounded throughout the sub indicating a pending dive of command from the captain at this point the sub was on the surface and traveling at 16 kn and the Admiral stood behind a large board in the control room filled with lights that would illuminate red or green depending on the status of different parts and pieces of the ship the dive process relied heavily on the engine room crewmen and at the sound of the horn they would need to cut the diesel powerered engines quickly and then close the air vents before the ship submerged right before he gave the official dive order the Admiral ensured the entire panel was lit up green and then when everything appeared as it should he gave the final order and the squalus dip beneath the surface when it did though a fluttering of air pressure occurred in his years just before the intercom blared with a sailor shouting to take the ship back up to the surface despite what the board indicated one of the vents was still wide open and seawater was rushing into the engine rooms Admiral Oliver just stared in disbelief what was being reported by his crew was impossible based on what he was looking at but either way he then immediately ordered that the ballast tanks be blown to get the squals to the surface as quickly as possible horrifyingly though the sub took on water faster than it could surface and after an initial rise the squala slowed to a stop meanwhile in the engine room the crew was fighting a torrent of water just trying to survive as the ship tilted downward at a 45° angle and then began a rapid descent to the sea floor it was then that Oliver was faced with a decision no officer ever wants to make he knew that the survival of anyone on the ship relied on the closure of the watertight doors between the control room and the engine room compartments doing this however would trapped those who were still inside while they flooded completely but at the at the same time not locking off the compartments would ensure that everyone on board would die Admiral Oliver was known as a strict non-nonsense discipline leader and his tact had a very good reason behind it in submarines every single decision and action anyone on board can make can result in disaster there was just no room for error and at times like that unfortunately there was no room for Humanity Oliver then gave the order to seal off the control room compartment with the men inside as the man responsible for this order a man named Lloyd man started to put all his weight into closing the 200lb door he heard the screams of men begging him to wait but there was no time water was already rushing toward the bulkhead behind them so the compartment door had to be sealed immediately as he pulled the door closed several of those battling the water made it through to safety before it slamed shut he then cranked its wheel and ensured it was watertight ultimately sealing the fate of those leftly sub's four flooded compartments including Sherman Shirley who Lloyd's best friend tragically Sherman's wedding date was supposed to be the following Sunday and Lloyd was supposed to be his best man among the others were 17 crewmen who tried to seal themselves in the torpedo room and nine in the engine room in rear battery rooms one man even climbed a hatch letter and tried to push open the door to the ocean outside but the sea pressure was too strong in the door to push it the squalis then continued to fall toward the bottom as the batteries in the flood compartments were Fried by the water and as if the uncontrolled descent wasn't terrifying enough the lights flickered before going out completely plunging the crew into complete darkness this then then led to a new problem the chief electrician Lawrence Gainer then grabbed a flashlight and climbed into the crawl space where the batteries were stored since the batteries Lin the entire length of the ship's kill many of them were already submerged but the ones that weren't were wet and at risk of catching on fire Lawrence also noticed that they were losing voltage fast causing them to smolder and if the heat reached the battery cell there would be an explosion that would crack the hle wide open even by the time he reached the batteries they were already smoking and Well on their way to heating past the point of no return he then flipped one of the disconnects switches and the Flash of light completely blinded him so next without his sight he fter on the other remaining battery and managed to find the second switch to stop it from exploding narrowly averting a much more serious incident back in the control room they had no idea how far they were going to fall and the sub was only rid for a maximum depth of 250 ft or 76 M if the ocean floor was much further than that there was a possibility the sub would implode before touching down all they could do was wait in the silence and darkness as the sub groaned its way deeper and deeper the ocean then fortunately and with a heavy thud the squals impacted the bottom of the Atlantic at a depth of 240 ft or 73 M when it did it came to a rest sticking straight up completely perpendicular to the surface the 33 survivors were then trapped in the air pocket they had created by sealing off the rest of the sub however despite what should have been chaos they didn't even need a moment to take in the reality of their situation their training kicked in and being trapped at the bottom of the ocean was a scenario they simulated often so each of them knew their roles and began to execute the first task was for the sub to Signal its location by releasing a buoy that was attached to a cable the buoy would not only help Rescuers spot them but it would also provide communication between the sub and the surface through the cable Additionally the squalus was able to shoot off flares and smoke bombs to grab the attention of anyone on the surface as they went through these procedures the men couldn't help but wonder if anyone in the other compartments ended up Surviving so one of them grabbed a hammer and began tapping on the airlines that ran to the back of the hall if anyone was alive they'd respond by doing the same so after several Hammer Taps from the control room they held their breath so they could hear even the faintest tap in return but there was no reply it was a reality they didn't want to face but it was confirmed that nearly half of them had died back in the control room Oliver then ordered some of the men to grab the emergency Plies which included food flashlights oxygen stores carbon dioxide absorbent blankets and coats he knew they'd probably been for a weight and without power so it was about to get very cold very quickly with that being handled Oliver turned his attention to the next threat to survival which was their Air Supply taking into consideration the number of survivors he estimated there was probably 48 hours worth of air before everyone died of Suffocation that seems like plenty of time to be rescued and back on dry land in New Hampshire but The Prudent course of action was to conserve everything that could possibly stretch that time Oliver then split the men into two groups placing 10 of the healthiest and youngest in the colder torpedo room and keeping the 23 remaining in the warmer control room one of the men then started handing out devices called momson lungs which are a breathing apparatus that can be used from a reasonable depth to swim to the surface the crew of the squalet was 40 ft or 12 M deeper than the moms and lungs were rided for and it was uncertain if they didn't even work at that depth and even if they did work no one knew if they'd have enough air to reach the surface so these would have to be used as an absolute Last Resort then once those were handed out Oliver instructed the men to nap as much as they were able to prevent Panic breathing before long the temperature in the sub was 35 F or 2 C and the inner hle was beginning to form a layer of ice on it some of the were able to fall asleep but others weren't and to stay calm some of them took two whistling a tune they would just have to wait until rescue arrived or the air ran out whichever came first when the squalis failed to return to the shipyard when expected its sister ship the sculpin Was preparing to leave New Hampshire for Panama but upon hearing that the squals was in trouble the sculpin left port and raced the coordinates the Navy gave them when they reached them though the sculpin captain waren Wilkins was puzzled not to see the emergency buoy anywhere this was because somewhere in the rush to get the search of the walls underway the coordinates were written down incorrectly and the sculpin was in the wrong area if not for one of the ship's Lookouts who spotted a flare further out the squalus may have never been found luckily that wasn't the case and Warren then handed down orders to head in that direction and as they drew close they spotted the buoy and pulled up alongside it below the ocean in the squalus the cre actually heard the sound of a subon above them and morale inside skyrocketed just knowing that help had found them moments later Oliver's Voice Was Heard inside the sculpin he he said hello and one replied in kind but then a second later the phone went dead as the two captains were greeting one another an ocean swell snapped the buoy cable and the sculpin quickly lost track of the location of the squalet then for hours afterward the sculpin had to actually drag a hook along the bottom of the ocean hoping to run into the sub they would eventually find it again but this costus the rescue eff for precious time the sculpin then connected a new buoy and waited for reinforcements from other ships then instead of using a direct communication they used Morse code to communicate with one another and the squ communicate the number of survivors in the sub the sculpin then tap back code for the letters SRC Oliver immediately knew what that meant and he expected that he'd hear it at some point SRC stood for submarine rescue chamber and there was only one available anywhere on the east coast in a stroke of good luck it just so happened to be in Connecticut at the time of the sub syncing and a ship called the Falcon was already heading the direction of the squalus with it this 9-ton submarine rescue chamber resembles an upside down wine glass and as his name suggests it could trans transport survivors from disabled submarines back to the surface inside the chamber is controlled by two crewmen who guide it down and connect its bottom to one of the submarine hatches using a watertight rubber gasket and from there the hatch doors for both ships are opened and survivors simply climb the ladder into the chamber which takes them to the surface at the time however this wasn't a tried andrue method of rescuing crewmen from Subs the SRC had only ever been used in testing so this would be the very first true test of its function around 4:30 the next morning the falcon arrived of the sallows and not a moment too soon as survivors in the sub were approaching the 24-hour Mark Oliver began rationing oxygen periodically he order the release of stored emergency oxygen and let it run for a few moments before shutting it back down by doing this he helped to stretch the supply as far as it could but the impact on the survivors was also obvious as the Falcon prepared to launch the SRC the 33 survivors were suffering from headaches and nausea which are some of the earliest signs of hypercapnia or carbon dioxide poisoning if this went on long enough it could end up being fatal eventually a hypercapnia sufferer will simply drift into unconsciousness and not wake up again unfortunately putting himself and his men on the brink of hypercapnia was what Oliver knew was going to keep them all alive as long as possible by then as well the other major concern of the sub was hypothermia since some of the men had escaped the flooding compartments before they were sealed they remained soaked through and in temperatures close to freezing on the surface the Falcon lowered the SRC into the water and the capsule began its descent along with a support diver part of the procedure for safely securing the SRC to a sub was attaching a cable from the rescue chamber to the hatch door and as simple as it may sound it was one of the more dangerous jobs for divers in the 1930s the Navy experimental dive unit had just begun testing different mixes of helium and oxygen that divers could breathe Beyond 100 ft or 33 M these were supposed to lessen the onset of nitrogen Narcosis if you've watched the many cave diving videos on the channel you're probably all too familiar with this concept but when this rescue was taking place much of this was barely in its infancy for those who aren't familiar as a diver descends while breathing regular air the increasing water pressure causes nitrogen to become narcotic divers can then become disoriented and euphoric while losing motor skills and problem solving abilities that far underwater is obviously the last place you want to experience this but by breathing a gas with a lower concentration of nitrogen at depths Beyond 100 ft it can prevent or greatly reduce the impact of Narcosis on a diver unfortunately for the divers assisting in these squalus rescue these gas mixes weren't used universally so the longest they could stay at a depth like 240 ft which just 20 minutes either way the diver then descended ahead of the SRC and began to suffer from Narcosis symptoms before he reached the up this caused him to collide hard with the squalus despite this he managed to get his bearings and successfully attached the cable behind him the SRC was on its slow descent and once it reached the vicinity of the sub the two men controlling it inside maneuvered the chamber and settled it over the hatch once it was sealed tightly the water was pumped out and then when it was clear the men inside the sub began turning the wheel on the hatch door as it popped Open Water poured in for a second but thankfully that was just some of the residual from the connection point then a second later they saw the man inside the SRC standing there holding blankets and coffee these supplies were much needed for the men who were wet and cold and more importantly finally this seems like clear indication that they would be able to leave the bottom of the ocean alive once the SRC was attached and communication was established the men began to plan away to get everyone to the surface safely there was only enough room for eight crewmen at one time so oliv split the men into groups based on their condition the ones who were approaching severe hypothermia would go first and the ones in the best condition would go last once that was clear the hatch was unsealed and the SRC began returning to the surface now despite being so close to safety the period between the SRC departing and returning felt excruciatingly long and the rationing of air didn't make the weight any more bearable the men would reach a point where their heads were pounding so hard from hypercapnia they desperately waited for Oliver to switch the oxygen stores back on in addition one round trip for the SRC took about 3 and 1/2 hours 1 hour to descend about an hour to attach and load the chamber and then another hour and a half to the surface by then as well since the survivors had been trapped for more than 24 hours there was still a chance that the sub could run out of air before everyone was safe after three successful trips only 10 remained in the final group one of which was Admiral Oliver when the time came he and the others boarded the SRC and once the hatches were secured the chamber lifted off the squals and began a final trip to the surface on Ascent however one of these stabilizing cables jammed causing the chamber to stop abruptly around the 150 ft Mark at the same time this caused the cable that went from the winch on the Falcon to the top of the chamber to become frayed and during this all but two of these seven strands that were the lifeline to the crew had snapped one of the divers then had to re-enter the water and descend to assess the situation and it was realized that the stabilizing cable would need to be cut for the chamber to ascend the problem was that this cable was crucial for both guiding the chamber to and from the sub but also keeping it from swinging and spinning in the ocean however without any other options this cable was then cut and the Chamber began to spin uncontrollably in order to reset and figure out what to do next operators then lowered the SRC back down and set it on the ocean floor this meant that the last few survivors had been less than 200 ft from safety but once again they were stuck on the bottom of the Atlantic back on the Falcon there were concerns that the final cable might be at risk of snapping too so after a brief discussion Rescuers decide not to use the winch and instead they pulled the Bell up the full 240 ft by hand this was an excruciating process that took 4 hours but it worked and about 40 hours after plunging to the bottom of the ocean the Survivor crew of the squals was saved many of them would require medical attention and some even stayed in the hospital for some time but all of them survived the ordeal once the dust from the rescue had settled the next order of business for the Navy was to figure out how to salvage the squalet it was a brand new very expensive sub that was at a manageable depth so the Navy didn't want to leave it there but at the same time a salvage operation like it had never been attempted however over the course of 4 months the Navy W work almost around the clock to raise the sub in a series of trial and error attempts the first idea was to attach deflated pontoons together with long chains divers would then slip the chains underneath the squalus before inflating the pontoons on the first try though once the pontoons were filled with air the squalis began an uncontrolled ascent and when it broke the surface of the ocean with slightly more speed than expected it shot loose of the chains and began a second descent all the way back to the ocean floor in the end it took five different attempts using various methods of attaching those pontoons before the sub could be raced and towed back to the Navy shipyard when it was secured there the water was drained from the flooded compartments and 25 of 26 bodies were recovered during one of these Salvage attempts one of the hatches shot open and one body drifted out of the subit Into the Depths and it was never recovered once the squalus was finally examined to the relief of the sub's captain and crew the issue was a mechanical malfunction instead of a human error this malfunction then prevented some of the vents from closing properly which was not indicated by the trol board Oliver was then commanded for his outstanding leadership bravery and the handling of the disaster but he gave the credit to the crewman under his command in a report he wrote for the Navy Oliver explained that he had witnessed a true example of camaraderie and brotherly love and each of the crewmen believed himself accountable for the life of the men next to him and together they made it through by sharing blankets and huddling into groups to maintain body heat those who were better off sacrificed for those in much worse shape and even Oliver gave up his cat to one of the hypothermic crewmen Oliver also devoted space in his report to the self act performed by the electrician Lawrence in the captain's mind Lawrence's quick thinking and disabling the remaining batteries to prevent the explosion was what truly saved them and this came at a cost for Lawrence too when he disabled the first battery it completed a circuit that sent literal lightning bolts around the HT so bright that he lived the rest of his life with vision issues once all the investigations were finished although the damage to the squal was extensive it would ultimately be salvageable after its repairs it was recommissioned as the USS sailfish and three of the Squall survivors even came back to to serve as part of the crew among the others four died in action during World War II and Admiral Oliver never commanded another submarine again he instead opted to become an engineering officer on the USS California which happened to be a Target during Pearl Harbor but fortunately he was ashore when the attack began and survived 2 years later the sculpin was sunk by a Japanese destroyer and the sailfish returned the favor by sinking that Destroyer it then served admirably during World War II and was eventually decomissioned shortly after and more than 80 years later the rescue and recovery of the squalus and his crew is still one of the Navy's most challenging operations ever to this day the incredible effort of Oliver and the crew is part of the Navy's official handbook on submarine rescue if you may it this far thanks so much for watching and if you have a story suggestion feel free to submit it to the form found the description and hopefully I will see you in the next one

Channel: Scary Interesting

Views: 1,226,098

Keywords:

Id: KqBvgJG9nsw

Length: 20min 21sec (1221 seconds)

Published: Sat May 04 2024