The Waterbury Democrat., 1939-05-24

init them to become accustomed to less pressure. It was expected that the entire maneuver would take sev- eral hours.
 It was reported from the rescue scene that the seven survivors brought up from the sunken subma- rine Squalus walked from the div ing bell, apparently in good condi- tion.
 News of the rescue chamber hav- 1 ing made a successful trip from the Squalus spread quickly and tele- phones tangled in the naval ad- ministration building as relatives and friends of the men on the ship called in the hope of getting the names of the rescued. Mrs. Carlton B. Powell, 20-year old wife of the Squalus' chief mach inist's mate, almost collapsed wheE, news thatt he bell had made its first trip to the surface was relayed ashore.
 She had been standing in the commandant's office for hours. She begged to know whether her husband was among the first seven rescued, but officials withheld the names.
 Rescue Work Starts Rapidly Rescue operations began in earn- est with her arrival through heavy mist.
 She edged into the center of a large circle of ships surrounding the Hateful spot and moored her self over it with four anchors.
 Her decks had been prepared fol action en route and the big diving bell was ready to be lowered over 1 the side.
 Divers, mobilized abroad the sub- marine Sculpin, which first located her sunken sister craft and had stood by ever since, swarmed abroad the salvage ship.
 The scene was marked by mile- wide splotch of oil, dumped by sur face craft to smooth the choppy waters.
 All except navy ships were order ed to keep at least 700 yards from the buoy marking the Squalus. The area teemed with small fishing boats put out by curious natives and newspapermen.
 Boats Patrol Scene
 The coast guard boats Naugatuck and Raritan patroled the scene to keep rescuers from being molested
 The diving bell was to be lowered after divers had inspected the sunken craft, reported its position on the blue mud bottom, and the location of its hatches. The bell weighs 10 tons and car ries two men who operate its hatch from the inside. It is made to fit snugly over the escape matches of the submarine. When it is in place, the submarine hatch and the diving bell hatch are opened and the men climb from their imprisoning sub- ] marine into the bell. Four men are hauled up at time. Hope of Rescue Grow It was hoped to have all 59 men abroad the Falcon by p. m. They were to be taken from the bell to recompression chambers on board the Falcon.
 All indications were that all 59 men were alive. Several compart- ments of the Squalus had been flooded when a 14-inch, high-speed induction value failed to close dur- ing a routine submerging, but it was believed that if any men were in the flooded chambers, they would have been able to close emergency valves and shut off the inrushing water before it reached higher than their knees.
 A few perfunctory messages from the trapped men mentioned no cas- ualities. The navy department in Washington had sent messages to relatives of each of the men an- nouncing that apparently all were safe.
 Hear From Crew | It was also announced by the navy department that communica- ton had been established with the Squalus by a secret, underwater sound method. It was apparently by this method that Lieutenant Commander O. F. Naquin, in com mand of the sunken submarine, re- ported to the Sculpin last night:
 Condition satisfactory but cold.
 That message was tapped out on the Squalus' sides and recorded on a delicate instrument abroad the vessel on the surface.
 The Squalus' position on the ocean floor was the first concern of the rescuers. If she were not on an even keel. particularly if the ort-starboard equilibrium were oil 1t would be difficult to attach the diving bell. The ocean bottom ir the vicinity is not particularly smooth.
 Has Four Matches
 The Squalus has four matches te which the bell could be attached but three of them opened into the flooded compartments. This Jeff only one exit for the trapped men
 Should the diving bell be found useless, the men had the alterna- tive of using their "Momsen lungs These devices. attached to the face enable men to abandon submarines