SALVAGING OF SQUALUS DESCRIBED BY MOMSEN

A crowd of over 250 people in Pierce Hall last night heard the dramatic story of the salvaging of the squalus from the man who directed it: Commander Charles B. Momsen of the U. S. Navy.

Commander Momsen was at his experimental station in Washington when first news of the disaster was telephoned in from the navy yard at Portsmouth, New Hampshire, "Squalus is down off the Isle of Shoals, depth between 200 and 400 feet; have your divers and equipment ready to leave immediately."

Since the loss of the submarine S-4 in 1927, Commander Momsen had been devoting his energies to experiment in undersea rescue work; during this time he had developed his famous "Momsen lung," a last-chance device which would have been used in rescuing the crew of the Squalus one at a time, had the rescue chamber failed.

It was easy to get a cable under the bow, Commander Momsen explained, because it was tilted upward, off the bed of the ocean. The stern, however, was sunk deep in solid blue clay.

Finally, on June 21, pontoons, cables, and all were in readiness, and the Squalus was lifted. But again there was disaster: "The bow came up like a mad tornado, out of control. Pontoons were smashed, hoses cut, and, I might add, hearts were broken."