McCann Rescue Chamber
The ''Squalus'' rescue
The *Squalus* rescue
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In 1939, the McCann Rescue Chamber made its debut when it was used to successfully rescue thirty\-three survivors from [*Squalus*](/wiki/USS_Sailfish_%28SS-192%29%23Sinking_of_Squalus_and_recommissioning_as_Sailfish "USS Sailfish (SS-192)#Sinking of Squalus and recommissioning as Sailfish"), At the time of *Squalus* accident, Lieutenant Commander Momsen was serving as head of the [Experimental Diving Unit](/wiki/United_States_Navy_Experimental_Diving_Unit "United States Navy Experimental Diving Unit") at the [Washington Navy Yard](/wiki/Washington_Navy_Yard "Washington Navy Yard"). The [submarine rescue ship](/wiki/Submarine_rescue_ship "Submarine rescue ship") [USS *Falcon*](/wiki/USS_Falcon_%28AM-28%29 "USS Falcon (AM-28)") (ASR\-2\), commanded by [Lieutenant](/wiki/Lieutenant "Lieutenant") George A. Sharp, was on site within twenty\-four hours. It lowered the Rescue Chamber — a revised version of a diving bell invented by Momsen — and, in four dives over the next 13 hours, recovered all 33 survivors in the first deep submarine rescue ever. McCann was in charge of Chamber operations, with Momsen commanding the divers. Although there was no reason to believe anyone was alive in the aft part of the ship, a fifth dive was made to the aft torpedo room hatch on May 25\. This run confirmed the flooding of the entire aft portion of the ship.


Was the Squalus rescue a significant event in naval history?