Evening star., 1939-05-31
Navy Divers Gamble With Life
In SquoIus Search Revealed
Bodders, From D. c.
School, One Of Pair
Making Lost Check

ABOARD U. S. S. FALCON, May
81 N.AN.A).-On the decks of the
most inaccessible ship in the whole
United States Navy, an amazing
story of incredible risk of life was
revealed for the first time-hoW two
Navy divers gambled their lives and
all hope of rescue on the difference
of few ounces in the pressure
equalization between the after
torpedo compartment of the sub
marine Squalus and the now-famous
rescue chamber or bell.
Every man aboard this salvage
vessel, from the admiral down to the
last line tender and bear" agrees
that the story of the final attempt
at rescue, in the faint hope that
some of the 26 missing men in the
after compartments might still be
alive, is tale of underwater heroism
that will live as long as divers
breathe compressed air.
But until now no one away from
the Falcon knew how the two divers
inside the chamber risked their lives
on a delicate turn Of pressure
gauge handle, how they carried out
their assignment despite danger of
sudden Inconsistencies from car
bon dioXide gas.
The two men, William Badders,
38year-old master diver at the
Navy's Experimental Diving School
at Washington, and John MihaloW-
ski, 28-year-old Navy diver from
Worcester, Mass, took that perilous
adventure of last Thursday in their
stride. 1t was all in the days work.
Only Slim Hope.
That's what we're here fOr-to
dive when our turn comes up," re-
marked the 5l2 foot Mihalowski,
shortest of all the go divers aboard
the Falcon. Badders, holder of the
Navy Cross for his diving to the
wreck of the S5l and veteran of
the S-4 salvage job, just grinned
and turned away.
But the men who know the dam
gers of diving 24O feet, where the
pressure a square inch is 100 pounds
and the slightest mistake on bottom
or on deck means disaster for the
diver. were full of admiration for
Badders and MihaloWski.
Even though they felt there was
slim hope of finding any one alive
in the four flooded compartments,
the Navy officers could not. fail to
make every possible search inside
the submarine. Three of the after
compartments were known to be
flooded. But what about the after
torpedo compartment? Could any
of the missing 26 men have found
refuge there?
Gunner W. P. Baron, one of the
divers. called out the names as they
came on the list: Badders, MihaloW-
ski
Everybody was tense and silent as
the pair climbed over the Falcons
rail and edged through the small
top hatch of the pear-shaped rescue
chamber. All aboard this diving ship
knew that those men entering the
chamber had to open the torpedo
room hatch by building up inside
the chamber a pressure equal to the
bottom pressure. Too much pres
sure-and the chamber would have
blown upward from the hatch. Too
little pressure-and the whole ocean
would have poured up at them with
enough force to crush them to pulp.
Carbon Dioxide Danger.
There was also the danger of
carbon dioxide gas. To build up
pressure enough to open the sub
marine hatch, the chamber vents
had to be closed. In 5 minutes or
less, the men might suddenly topple
over.
Badders and MihaloWski eased
their lotion chamber down to the
after hatch, moving 40 feet min
ute with the aid of slight negative
buoyancy and the pull of a down
haul wire which earlier had been
attached to the hatch.
They felt the chamber touch the
deck. Then, as they and other
chamber divers had done in the
four rescue trips, they forced COM
pressed air into the open under
section or shirt of the chamber and
blew out the water that had been
caught there as the bell settled
down to its gasket. The pressure
then built up enough suction to hold
the chamber while they opened the
bottom hatch and climbed through
to fasten large hcok-bolts to the
deck.
The next move was to climb back
to the interior of the chamber and
! close the bottom hatch.
"That was whore tho rea1 dapuar