History of the USS Squalus (SS-192)

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K. Kellogg-Smith/sandbox
 
USS Scorpion, 22 August 1960, off New London, Connecticut
History
 United States
NameUSS Scorpion
Ordered31 January 1957
BuilderGeneral Dynamics Electric Boat
Laid down20 August 1958[1]
Launched29 December 1959[1]
Commissioned29 July 1960[1]
Stricken30 June 1968[1]
FateLost with a crew of 99 on 22 May 1968; cause of sinking unknown.
StatusLocated on the seabed of the Atlantic Ocean, 32°55′N 33°09′W / 32.917°N 33.150°W / 32.917; -33.150,[2] in 3,000 m (9,800 ft) of water, 740 km (400 nmi) southwest of the Azores
Badge 
General characteristics
Class and typeSkipjack-class submarine
Displacement
  • 2,880 long tons (2,930 t) light
  • 3,075 long tons (3,124 t) full
  • 195 long tons (198 t) deadweight
Length76.8 m (252 ft 0 in)
Beam9.7 m (31 ft 10 in)
Draft9.1 m (29 ft 10 in)
PropulsionS5W reactor
Complement8 officers, 75 men
Armament

Prolog (brief history)

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 •  Body of this article covers complete history of U.S. Navy submarine S-192 (Squalus), from conception, design, contracting, construction (L-boat), commissioning, sea trials, recovery, salvage, renawming, recommissioning.
 •  History begins with end of WWI, reparations, Germany's Pacific colonies assigned to Japan, U.S. vs. German submarines, 1921 agreement on warships.  
 •  History continues with date and details of BuShips approval of the  class, type, and hull number [192] of a proposed new submarine.
 •  Bidding on build contract, BuShips acceptance of a builder.
 •  Proposed designer, builder, shipyard, type of design and other details of the proposed contract briefly described.  list BuShips requirement re: build location and other details.
 •  Lists the officers and men of Navy hull number S11/S-192 who were assigned to the Squalus; date of arrival and stage of construction, arrivals/replacements after its commissioning, during its construction, and its builder's sea trials; ancillary duties of crewmembers during construction of S11/S-192.
 •  Lists crewmember's  rank or rating at the time of sinking, and other personnel involved in the sinking and recovery of hull 192; list "last ship/last station" of arriving crewmwmbers.
 •  Crewmember meals and housing during construction; 'liberty' [def.] hours and other off-duty activities, and etc.
 •  Detailed process of early history of hull [192] and the Sargo class submarines, class design and date of BuShips approval, hull 192 launched, commissioned, decomissioned,
 •  Hull 192 salvaged, restored, then recommissioned and unofficially renamed by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt [former Secretary of the Navy] as the Squalus. 
 •  From that date onward the history of hull 192 as Squalus ends.
 •  Appendices: Tables listing builders sea trials, the names of the officers and men who were lost, those who survived, and the name of their last ship or duty station.

Department of the Navy Requests for Funding

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refs: Federal Register (~~1934-35??). Naval Archives and History. And others as applicable.

    Funding Request(s) [by Navy Department ??] and Congressional approval for Sargo class submarines.
    Congressional approval.
    U.S. Navy orders placed for Sargoclass submarines.
    Design details, construction contract placed by BuShips with USNS Portsmouth. ['placed' or 'assigned to' --??]

Construction

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   Plans provided by [Navy or who??]
   Construction approved for U.S. Navy hull number 192, named Squalus
   Construction commences
   Keel laid

Construction features topside

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    Conning tower
    Deck cannon
    Torpedo loading hatches
    Escape hatches
    Diesel engines air induction valves

Construction features below

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    Forward torpedo room, crew bunks
    Galley, crew bunks
    Mess hall
    Officers quarters
         Captain
         Executive officer/navigator
         (others)
    Control room
    Engine room, crew bunks
    Battery compartment, crew bunks
    Aft torpedo room, crew bunks

Launching and Commissioning

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   List of Officers (rank (class), assignment, experience)
   List of crewembers (rate, assignment, experience)
   List of supernumaries [two builder's reps aboard on Dive 18]

Sea Trials

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Date Sea trial Time Location Purpose Notes
January 1 01 0800 - 1700 Off Isle of Shoals Operational tests No failures
January 2 02 0800 - 1700 Off Isle of Shoals Operational tests No failures
January 3 03 0800 - 1700 Off Isle of Shoals Operational tests No failures
January 4 04 0800 - 1700 Off Isle of Shoals Operational tests No failures
January 5 05 0800 - 1700 Off Isle of Shoals Operational tests No failures
January 6 06 0800 - 1700 Off Isle of Shoals Operational tests No failures
January 7 07 0800 - 1700 Off Isle of Shoals Operational tests No failures
January 8 08 0800 - 1700 Off Isle of Shoals Operational tests No failures
January 9 09 0800 - 1700 Off Isle of Shoals Operational tests No failures
January 10 10 0800 - 1700 Off Isle of Shoals Operational tests Casualty
January 11 11 0800 - 1700 Off Isle of Shoals Operational tests No failures
January 12 12 0800 - 1700 Off Isle of Shoals Operational tests No failures
January 13 13 0800 - 1700 Off Isle of Shoals Operational tests No failures
January 14 14 0800 - 1700 Off Isle of Shoals Operational tests No failures
January 15 15 0800 - 1700 Off Isle of Shoals Operational tests No failures
January 16 16 0800 - 1700 Off Isle of Shoals Operational tests No failures
January 17 17 0800 - 1700 Off Isle of Shoals Operational tests No failures
January 18 18 0800 - 1700 Off Isle of Shoals Operational tests No failures
January 19 19 0800 - 1700 Off Isle of Shoals Operational tests Casualty
 •  Sea Trial 18  [includes failed "crash dive" test].
 •  Sea Trial 19  [includes successful "crash dive" test and then flooding of aft torpedo and engine rooms].
 •  [fn.] Report from two similar Squalus-type submarines (S1 and S2):
 •  S1: reported main induction valve failure to completely close.  Submarine was able to surface immediately when flooding observed.
 •  S2: reported main induction valve failed to close on the surface while preparing to submerge, returned to shipyard for repair.
 •  Squalus main induction valve complete rebuild in shipyard just before  test [number?] in builder's trials.
 •  Reported "all green" [all openings to the sea closed].
 •  Unexpected flooding in aft torpedo room and engine room, including battery compartment.  [fn. cause and previous like incidents].
 •  Lt. Naquin's immediate maneuvering commands, timing between commands, 192's response timing, and the effect of the response [show time table??].

On the Bottom

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Lt. Naquin's orders to crew when Squalus settled on ocean floor.

    Release of Squalus' emergency telephone bouy on hearing engine noise of a ship close by; contact established between Squalus and [S-191].
    Release and effect of flare and smoke rockets.
    Command to limit movement and breathing, doubling up in blankets to keep warm.
    Two Signalmen assigned to forward torpedo room to alternate tapping Morse code boat's hull to help rescue ships discover Squalus' location on the bottom. 
    Squalus reported overdue; S-191 and other ships alerted; S-191 proceeds to the Squalus' last reported position.
    Assignment of two Signalman to the the forward buoyancy tank to hammer directly on the hull.
    Evaluation and dismissal by Lt. Naquinn of crew using the "Momsen Lung" to escape the ship; 36 degree sea water, 240 ft ascent by seamen inexperienced with assent from that level.

USS Sculpin (S-191) locates Squalus

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    Fruitless search of last reported location of 192, Captain's decision to return to Portsmouth.
    As 191 turns around and starts to leave search area, Officer facing aft looking for a last look towards the search area sees and reports a red smoke flare on the horizon.
    191's Commanding Officer in the freewater (conning tower) orders an about face and return to search area and bright yellow floating buoy with emergency telephone line connect to 192.
    Very brief connection to 192 before cleated telephone line parts when rising seas cause cleated telephone line to part from emergency buoy.
    191 begins grappling to 192.  After several attempts, 191's grapple catches on something.
    Falcon arrives.  Helmeted diver in waterproof canvas diving suit from Falcon follows grapple line, finds that the grapple has caught on one of 192's railings.
    Diving bell hauling cable dropped down to diver, who makes cable "fast" to connector on 192.
    Rescue of survivors commences.

Arrival of submarine rescue ship USS Falcon (ASR-9)

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    The McCann submarine rescue device
    Construction
    Performance specifications; pros and cons
    Deployment and rescue

Rescue of Squalus survivors

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Salvage and return of Squalus to Portsmouth

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In drydock

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    Formal decommissioning of Squalus
    Striking from list of U.S. submarines
    Removal of remains of crewmember's who did not survive the sinking
    Inspection of damages to Squalus hull and interior spaces
    Collection of crew's effects; crewmembers assigned to salvage and restoration of Hull 192     
    Decision to repair and restore Hull 192 to service:
         War with Japan inevitable, immediate need for submarines; time advantage in rebuilding/restoring Hull 192
    Decision on whether or not to rename Hull 192 or retain the name Squalusa; decision to rename Hull 192 as Sailfish

Commissioning of renamed Hull 192 to Sailfish (S-192)

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 •  New name suggested by President Roosevelt's remark that during Squalus salvage submarine's behavior resembled a hooked "sailfish".

Aftermath

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    U.S. Navy Board of Inquiry investigation
    Squalus Memorials
         Squalus Museum, U.S. Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, New Hampshire

Appendix A: Officers and crew

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Lost

Name-- Rank or Rate -- Last Duty Station -- Assignment in Squalus

J.H. Patterson Ensign (USNA '35)

Bascom Slemp Scyphers Electricians Mate First Class

John James Batick Electricians Mate First Class

Huie King McAfee Electricians Mate Second Class

Robert Lyle Coffey Electricians Mate Second Class

Lionel Hugh Fletcher Electricians Mate Third Class

James Andrew Aitken Firecontrolman Third Class

Joshua Casey Fireman First Class

John Plesent Hathaway Fireman

Robert Ross Weld Firemans Apprentice

John Allan Chesnutt Chief Machinist Mate

Elvin Leo Deal Machinist Mate Second Class

Kenneth Ross Garrison Chief Machinist Mate

Eugene Arthur Hoffman Machinists Mate First Class

Frank Henry Schulte Machinists Mate First Class

Jack John Strong Machinists Mate First Class

John Laurise Thomala Machinists Mate First Class

Marion Lawrence Ward Radioman Third Class

Alexander Biggs Leegam Signalman

John Joseph Marino Special Artificer [note: pre-1948]

Robert Preson Thompson Ships Cook Third Class

Robert Franklin Gibbs Torpedoman First Class

Alfred Charles Priester Torpedoman Second Class

Sherman Luther Shirley Torpedoman First Class

Donald Smith Civilian, Builder's Representative (General Motors)

Charles M. Wood Civilian, Builder's representative ( )

Survived (table)

    Name                             Rank or Rate                Last Submarine                           Assignment in Squalus

Warren Wiley Smith, Junior Signalman Second Class S-37, Cavite P.I Reported to Squalus in Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. While on the bottom posted to conning tower to hammer on hull to help locate Squalus, then to communicate with Sculpin and Falcon with Morse-encoded hammer strikes.

Appendix B: YouTube videos frame by frame descriptions

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Appendix C: Glossary of Naval Terms

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Bureau of Ships (BuShips)

boat

fairwater (aka conning tower)

conning tower (see 'fairwater')

control room

torpedo room

oscillator

spaces

bow

stern

aft, abaft, after

fore, forward

topside

below decks, down below, below

overhead, the overhead

sculpin (fish)

squalus (fish)

sailfish (fish)

emergency dive, crash dive

shear

ways (construction)

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "USS Scorpion (SSN 589) May 27, 1968 – 99 Men Lost". United States Navy. 2007. Archived from the original on 12 March 2008. Retrieved 9 April 2008.
  2. ^ CINCLANTFLEET History Log June 1968 to July 1969, page 104 at 4. a.
    Footnotes:
    Photo credits:
         Submarine Force Library and Museum, Groton, Connecticut
         U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command, Washington, D.C.
         U.S. Naval Shipyard, Squalus Museum, Portland, New Hampshire
         U.S. Naval Submarine Base, New London, Connecticut
         
    Bibliography:
         Back From The Deep (c) 1994 Carl LaVo, U.S. Naval Institute Press, ISBN 1-55750-507-1  (bound edition)
         Back From The Deep (c) 1994 Carl Lavo, U.S. Naval Institute Press, ISBN 978-1-61251-170-2 (Kindle edition)
         On The Bottom  Rear Admiral Edward Ellsberg, Open Road, Integrated Media (Kindle edition)
         Men Under the Sea (c) 1939, Rear Admiral Edward Ellsberg, Open Road, Integrated Media (Kindle edition)
         The Terrible Hours (c) 1999, Peter Maas, 49 East 33rd Street, New York, N.Y. 10016
         Twenty-Fifth Annual Navy Say Observance (1946). Booklet. United States Submarine Service, United States Naval Submarine Base,
         New London, Connecticut.
         U.S. Subs in action (c) 1983, Robert C. Stern, Squadron/Signal publications
    External links:
         YouTube, search term "USS Squalus", see:
            "The Squalus Story"
            "Charles Momsen and Submarine Escape 4: The Loss and Escape of the USS Tang"
            "Submarine Squalus Raised Again (1939)", British Pathe
            "USS Squalus bow seen during recovery attempts. HD Stock Footage" 
            "McCann, Momsen, the Squalus Rescue", (Jeff Scism)
            "USS Squalus Tribute", (Brass Rose)
            "USS Sailfish 1979 West Pac Video" (Thomasbechi18)"
         "Pigboats ...."  
         Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, https://www.navsea.navy.mil/Home/Shipyards/Portsmouth/
         Submarine Force Library and Museum, https://ussnautilus.org          
         U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command, https://history.navy.mil
         Membership Departmewnt, U.S. Naval Institute, 118 Maryland Avenue, Annapolis, Maryland 21402-5035. Tel: (800) 233-8764  Fax: (410 269-7940.  Website: www.usni.org