McKenna Rescue Camera

At the beginning of the 20th century, the US Navy was faced with the problem of rescuing employees from sunken submarines. The latest tragedies that prompted the development of life-saving appliances were the crash of USS S-51 (SS-162) on September 25, 1925 and USS S-4 (SS-109) on December 17, 1927. In the S-4 boat, the submariners managed to reach the unfilled compartments, but soon died, only six submariners in the torpedo compartment survived. Despite the efforts of divers, rescue operations were discontinued on December 24 due to a severe storm. The entire crew of the boat died.

After the first tragedy, Charles Momsen began to develop a technical device for saving the crew. Soon, he proposed the use of a diving bell , which was supposed to be connected to the emergency hatch of the submarine ^[1] . He sent his drafts to the submarine division for the creation and repair of submarines ^[2] . But his idea was found to be ineffective ^[3] . But after the tragedy with the S-4 submarine, the fleet management allowed Momsen to conduct tests.

At the beginning of 1928, the S-4 was raised to the surface and brought to the dock for repair, after which it was used for rescue and ship lifting tests, including with the participation of Charles Momsen. Tests conducted on the S-4 helped to improve the equipment and methods for rescue submarine crews, which were the salvation for 33 people with the sunken USS Sailfish (SS-192) .

The first working version of the rescue chamber was developed by the submarine division for the creation and repair of submarines in 1928. The diving bell passed a series of tests in waters near Key West, after which the device was put into operation as a rescue chamber ^[1] . The success of this device was the impetus for the continuation of work to improve the technology. But Momsen was transferred to the development of breathing apparatus and eventually created a device called Momsen's lungs ^{[4] [1]} .

Lieutenant Captain Allan Rockwell McKenn was appointed to continue work to improve the rescue chamber. From July 1929 to July 1931, McKenn worked on this task. At the end of 1930, an improved version of the diving bell, called the McKenna Rescue Chamber, was released. By the end of 1931, a more advanced model was released, capable of withstanding pressure at a depth of about 91 meters.

The USS Sailfish (SS-192) , better known as the Squolus, sank in May 1939 at a depth of 74 meters in the waters of the Shoals Islands off the coast of New Hampshire . The captain of the boat, Oliver Nakvin, launched a signal buoy with a telephone to the surface, but when the captain of the Skalpin submarine who came to the rescue tried to contact Nakvin by phone, the incoming wave threw the Skalpin to the side and the telephone cable broke ^[5] .

Momsen and McKenn arrived at the crash site a bit later aboard the USS Falcon (AM-28) minesweeper . By order of Momsen, a diver Martin Sibitsky was sent to the sunken boat. He was able to establish communication with the crew of the submarine, which was able to report by knocking on the hull that the captain of the boat decided not to use Momsen's individual devices, since the crew was not familiar with them, and wait for help ^[5] .

The next morning, the diver Sibitsky attached a cable to the hatch to dock with the McKenna rescue chamber. By the efforts of two divers, Badders and Michalowski, the rescue chamber was mounted on the manhole cover, pulled up and fixed. The crew of the submarine was rescued gradually, a total of four approaches were made, in which all 33 crew members who had survived by that time were saved ^[5] .

This chamber was about 9 tons in weight and resembled an inverted pear about 3 m high and from 1.5 m in diameter at the base to 2.4 m at the widest part. The bottom of the camera was made in accordance with the dimensions of the rescue hatch of the submarine, and also equipped with a rubber gasket for waterproof connection with the submarine. Inside the cell was a winch with a cable that connected to the manhole cover. With the help of this winch, the camera overcame positive buoyancy and was pulled to the hatch. After joining the hatch, water was pumped out from the bottom of the chamber, after which the hatch was opened and the submariners could go into the rescue chamber. After people got out of the submarine into the camera, the hatch was closed, and the camera was lifted to the surface, releasing the cable. Thanks to the cable, the operation could be repeated several times, fixing the rescue chamber exactly above the hatch ^[5] .

• Maas, Peter. The Rescuer . London: Collins, 1968
• Maas, Peter. The Terrible Hours: The Man Behind the Greatest Submarine Rescue in History. - New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1999 .-- ISBN 9780060194802 .
• USS Squalus , Ship Source Files, Ships History Branch, Naval Historical Center
• Barrows, Nathaniel A. Blow All Ballast! The Story of the Squalus. New York: Dodd, Mead & Co, 1940.
• Department's Report on "Squalus" Disaster . Washington: USGPO, 1939.
• Gray, Edwyn. Disasters of the Deep: A Comprehensive Survey of Submarine Accidents and Disasters. Annapolis, Md: Naval Institute Press, 2003.
• Naval Historical Center (US). USS Squalus (SS-192) The Sinking, Rescue of Survivors, and Subsequent Salvage, 1939 . Washington, DC: Naval Historical Center, 1998.
• LaVO, Carl. Back from the Deep: The Strange Story of the Sister Subs Squalus and Sculpin. Annapolis, Md: Naval Institute Press, 1994.
• Mariners' Museum (Newport News, Va.). Salvage of the Squalus: Clippings from Newspapers, May 25, 1939-January 20, 1941 . Newport News, Va: Mariners' Museum, 1942.
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• Falcon (Salvage ship), and Albert R. Behnke . Log of Diving During Rescue and Salvage Operations of the USS Squalus: Diving Log of USS Falcon , 24 May 1939-12 September 1939. Kensington, Maryland: Reprinted by Undersea & Hyperbaric Medical Society, 2001

• Keach, James. Submerged [Film]. New York: NBC . ( Television movie . The film does not acknowledge any design flaw and claims the cause is unknown.)
• This article contains text from the public domain of the American Warships Dictionary . The entry can be found here .
• NavSource Online: Submarine Photo Archive: Submarine Rescue Chamber
• Diving in the US Navy a brief history .
• New Rescue Chamber Laughs At The Sea, September 1931, Popular Mechanics