Submarine Rescue: The Race to Save Squalus | Into the Deep | 1

Against The Odds

Wondery

Cassie De Pecol, History, Society & Culture, Dolby, Mike Corey, Dolby Atmos, Atmos

4.7 • 7.2K Ratings

🗓️ 8 November 2022

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On the morning of May 23, 1939, a state-of-the-art U.S. Navy’s submarine, the USS Squalus, was doing a routine test dive when something went terribly wrong. The sub began flooding, and plunged 240 feet down to the bottom of the ocean, trapping the dozens of sailors aboard. The ship’s captain knew he had to act fast if he had any hope of saving his crew from a horrible death.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, Prime members, you can listen to against the odds at free on Amazon music. Download the app today.
0:07.0	Join Wondery Plus in Apple podcasts or the Wondery app to listen to against the odds early and at free.
0:14.0	It's 8.40 in the morning off the coast of New Hampshire inside a submarine named the USS Squalis.
0:31.0	The ship's captain, Oliver Naquin, strides into the control room, the nerve center of the sub.
0:37.0	He gazes around at the flurry of activity, crew members throwing levers and turning valves. He barks out several orders.
0:47.0	Naquin is a tall, thin man who doesn't speak much, but his men jump when he does. He glances at a stopwatch in his hand.
0:56.0	We're at 15 seconds, men.
0:58.0	Naquin's crew is conducting a training exercise. They're most demanding test yet. It's a simulation emergency dive.
1:07.0	The year is 1939. An American military leaders know that a war in Europe and the Pacific is coming. A war the US will almost certainly get dragged into.
1:19.0	Submarines like the Squalis will be a key part of the Allied war effort, but a sub on the surface is vulnerable to attacks from enemy planes.
1:30.0	Emergency dives like this one test the sub's ability to escape bombardment and survive to fight another day.
1:37.0	The Navy demands that the Squalis get 50 feet underwater in just 60 seconds. Fail the test and the sub won't get to join the Pacific fleet on active duty.
1:51.0	Naquin checks his stopwatch and grimaces. It's now 20 seconds since he gave the order to dive. They should be farther along at this point.
2:00.0	He glances at an Ensign who holds a lever that controls the main induction valve. This valve allows air to flow into the Squalis' diesel engines when the sub is on the surface.
2:13.0	It has to be closed before a dive begins or water will flood the sub.
2:19.0	Naquin nods at the Ensign.
2:22.0	Shut the main induction valve. The Ensign throws the lever.
2:25.0	Naquin waits for confirmation from his second in command that the sub is airtight.
2:31.0	Pressure in the boat. Naquin calls out the next step. Flood the ballast tanks.
2:37.0	Naquin hears a gurgling sound to fill the room. In a compartment one level below him, tanks are filling with water to make the subheavier and allow her to dive.
2:47.0	The descent begins at 31 seconds, still behind schedule but only by a hair.
2:53.0	Naquin feels the sub tilts forward. His eyes lock on the depth gauge. They're at 20 feet, then 30, almost there.
	...

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