Evening star., 1939-06-20
SquoIus
Continued From First Page.)

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w. Smith, jr. signalman, second
class. La Porte, Tex, and Arthur
l.. Booth, radioman, first class, of
Milford, Conn"
Man Who Pulled the Switch.
Asked if he had any specific COM
mendations of others of the crew
he mentioned the name of Lawrence
Gainor, electricians mate from
Honolulu He was the man who
pulled switch in the forward bat
terry room, an act which 1t. Naquin
said required heroism beyond that
of normal duty.
"Unmindful of the danger of en-
tering the forward battery tank"
the commander said, 'he did ac-
tually enter that tank and pull and
diSconnect the switches. this un-
doubtedly saved a serious battery
fire"
1t. Naquin said Gainor acted on
his own initiative.
A Message From the Dead.
Earlier he had brought to the court
today a message from the dead-a
report from the one officer who
perished that his part of the ship
was "rigged' or ready for the final,
fatal dive May %.
The officer was Ensign Joseph w
Patterson of Oklahoma City, in
charge of the after compartments
which subsequently were flooded,
trapping him and Is others at their
posts as the Squalus plunged to the
bottom in 240 feet of water.
In measured sentences, 1t. Naquin
detailed the preparations for the
final dive. 1t. j. C. Nichols of
Chicago was in charge of the for
ward part of the ship, and 1t.
William T. Doyle of Baltimore, Sec
ond in command to It. Naquin, was
the diving officer.
compartments Ready" They Said.
Il did not personally witness re-
ports to the diving officers" 1t.
Naquin told the court, but I am
told both 1t. Nichols and Ensign
Patterson reported to 1t. Doyle that
their compartments were ready for
rigging =.
I'VE got down to so feet and I
had time to comment that the dive
was better than earlier dives and
then walked over to the periscope,
and it was not until then that any
pressure was felt in our ears, and
reports were received of trouble aft. :"
Newsmen leaned forward as 1t.
Naquin came to the point of describ-
ing the dramatic moments that fol-
lowed-what happened during the
l90-foot descent to the ocean floor
and the long hours that followed
before help arrived-but suddenly
he stopped. He explained this part
of his story had been told to the
court yesterday, before reporters
were admitted to the hearing
Induction Valve Called Good.
Soon afterward the spectators be-
came tense once more as 1t. Naquin
said adjustments had been neces-
sary on the main industion valve,
the surface air intake to which has
been attributed by some high Off
GERS the cause of the tragedy.
But here again the Squalus COM
mander added that the equipment
in question had been completely dis
mantled and reassembled, and that
10 dives had been made after this,
without trouble of any kind.
There has been informal talk" !"
he said, about an unfavorable his
tory of the main engine induction
valve. To the best of my knowledge
and belief there never has been any
technical difficulty in connection
with the closing of this valve.
"On the other hand, on compile
ton of our builders trials certain
work was done on the induction
valve. This work was requested by
myself because of the failure of this
latch to hold open the valve. This
work was done. On our return to the
yard the gear was completely disas-
sembled and inspected by the yard
personnel and myself"
Crew Declared Exceptional.
In response to questions, 1t. Ma
quin said he believed he had an
exceptional crew" and that his Of
f1cers were "all well and qualified
for their duties" on the day of the
final dive.
Earlier, he testified that the Squa-
lus had performed flawlessly dur
ing more than a dozen dives prior
to the tragedy on May %. Refer
ring to slow speed run on May
l8 1t. Naquin said:
Il can truthfully say have never
seen submarine so well trimmed
and handled at that slow speed"
1t. Naquin had begun his testi-