The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1939-05-26

Weary, cold, hungry and haunted
by a 40-hour ordeal. these eight
men finally were hoisted onto the
Falcon at s:3s p. m (PSTl We'd
nesday night and placed in de-
compression chambers.
FORCES DOOR SHUT
On each of the earlier trips
1t. Naquin had selected the weak
est men to go ahead.
There was heroism during those
40 hours after the Squalus went
down Tuesday that will never be
told, but, out of the first confusion
Of the rescues. came the story of
Maness' feat to which each res
cued man credited his life.
The story was told by 1t. r. n.
Robertson, third in command of
the Squalls. He said the ship was
going down fast and seemed al
most to be standing on end, with
water gushing down upon the mid
die and forward compartments.
when Maness, the only one within
reach of the tremendous steel door
seized it and heayed 1t upwards
Had his strength failed before he
got the door locked, every man
on the Squalus would have been
drowned within a few minutes.
BELL NEEDS REPAIRS
Capt. w. F. Amsden appeared
this morning on the front steps
of the administration building at
Portsmouth navy yard, gathering
place for relatives of the Squalls
men during the anxious hours, and
notified the last three women wait
ing there that all hope had been
abandoned for their loved ones.
They received the news calmly.
They were the wives of John p.
Hathaway and Elvin l.. Deal, en-
listed men aboard, and Miss Ruth
Desautel, 20. of Dover. N H., who
was to have been married Saturday
to Seaman Sherman l.. Shirley, an
other of the victims.
1t was expected several hours
would be needed to repair the
diving bell, an ingenious lotion
device brought into use for the
first time in a submarine disaster,
and which proved its worth by
bringing up SO men from a greater
depth than men ever before had
been taken from a sunken sub
marine.
INSPIRED BY So
The United States developed the
bell and supplied charts of 1t to
all or most foreign governments,
but none had ever used it. There
had been no occasion for the Unit
ed States navy to use it. 1t was
inspired by the S-4 disaster off
ProNncetown, Mass, in 1927.
The bell was lowered from the
Falcons side and Unanswered by
cables. one of which diver had
attached to the sunken Squalus.
1t has water ballast and air press
ure systems for aiding its own
descent and ascent. 1t is made to
fit snugly over the hatch of any
submarine.
Two operators, who went down
on the first trip of the Squalls,
had to open the submarines hatch
without knowing whether they
were entering flooded compart-
ment. or the Squalus' four escape
matches. three led to flooded COM
partments.
NEVER IN DOUBT
The first rs rescued men were
taken to the Portsmouth navy
yard. but the last eight, including
the skipper 1t. Naquin, We're kept
in the Falcons decomposition
chambers all night. They were in
worse condition than the others
because Of their four-hour confine-
ment in the diving bell.
To answer the questions OF what
the trapped men did, how they be-
haved awaiting rescue and what
conditions were like wallowing in
half-flooded undersea fighter
240 feet below the surface Of the
Atlantic. with almost half the crew
dead behind partitions a few feet
away. the navy assigned Judson
T. Bland, husky electricians
mate.
Bland stressed that the men had
been calm. They never let them
selves doubt for a moment that
they would be saved They spent
most of their time discussing
quietly when and by what means
rescue would come.
Four of the men spent most Of
the time hammering out Morse
code messages on the squalus
sides. They knew the Seulpin was
above. They had identified her