Status
Available
Publication
New York : HarperCollins Publishers, 1999.
Description
On the eve of World War II, America's newest submarine plunged helplessly to the North Atlantic bottom during a test dive. Miraculously, thirty-three crew members still survived. While their wives and girlfriends waited in nearly unbearable tension on shore, their ultimate fate would depend on one man. In this thrilling true narrative of terror, heroism and courage in the depths of a malevolent ocean, prizewinning author Peter Maas brings us in vivid detail a blow-by-blow account of the disaster and its uncertain outcome. The sub was the Squalus. The man was a U.S. Navy officer, Charles "Swede" Momsen, an extraordinary combination of visionary, scientist and man of action. Until his advent, it was accepted that if a submarine went down, her crew was doomed. But Momsen, in the face of an indifferent, often sneering naval bureaucracy, battling red tape and disbelieving naysayers every step of the way, risked his own life again and again against the unknown in his efforts to invent and pioneer every escape and rescue device, every deep-sea diving technique, to save an entombed crew. With the crippled, partially flooded Squalus lost on the North Atlantic floor, Momsen faced his personal moment of truth: Could he actually pluck those men from a watery grave? Had all his work been in vain? The legacy of his death-defying probes into our inner space remains with us today, and in this depiction of the perseverance and triumph of the human spirit, Swede Momsen is given his rightful place in the pantheon of true American heroes.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member breic2
A good story about the rescue of the surviving crew of a submarine, the "Squalus," that sank during a training dive in 1939, and then its subsequent salvage. Also includes background on the development of diving, in particular the use of alternative breathing gases, and information on the
The book starts quite poorly, with the author just pasting together fragments of the stories of each and every survivor, but it gets much better past the first twenty pages.
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fascinating career of Momsen, who led the rescue effort. The book starts quite poorly, with the author just pasting together fragments of the stories of each and every survivor, but it gets much better past the first twenty pages.
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LibraryThing member setnahkt
The Terrible Hours, by Peter Maas, gets rave reviews from diverse sources, and the subject matter – the rescue of 33 crewmen from the sunken submarine USS Squalus in 1939 – is certainly riveting enough; unfortunately I couldn’t work up the degree of enthusiasm shown by other reviewers. The
The human interest stories are compelling, if predictable (it’s a given that the seaman scheduled to be married won’t make it, for example). The drawback to The Terrible Hours is the complete lack of technical graphics. The book has no illustrations – no map showing the location of the sinking, no diagram of the Squalus or the diving bell, no plan of how the crucial main induction valve worked, not even casual photographs of the rescue and salvage operation – even though all these are in the public domain. It’s pretty obvious what caused the Squalus to sink – the main induction valve, 31 inches in diameter, either was open at submergence or was opened after the submarine reached dive depth. All indications were that the valve was closed when Squalus dived – numerous witnesses in the control room testified that the “Christmas tree” of red and green lights showing the status of hull openings was all green, and the backup test – releasing compressed air into the boat to verify that it would hold pressure – also passed successfully. The “Christmas tree” remained green until power went out – obviously it was the first thing everybody in the control room looked at when the engine room reported flooding. The Navy never did decide what had happened, although the unspoken suggestion was that the valve operator had opened the main induction after the boat was submerged (this was Momsen’s conclusion); however, that would have required a simultaneous failure of the “Christmas tree” warning light system. In any event, the Navy put a shield between the main induction valve handle and other valves in the vicinity, and added a distinctive surface texture to the main induction valve handle on the salvaged Squalus and other boats in her class.
Don’t’ get me wrong; not a bad book for character studies and the life of “Swede” Momsen; just not for technical details of submarines. Ironically, in my pre-teen years I was fascinated by submarines and dimly recall a children’s book about submarine rescues; that book included a diagram of the rescue chamber and drawings of the Squalus.
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main problem is this is formula journalistic history; we get the life stories of the submarine crew, with vultures of doom circling over some of them; villains get identified (faceless USN bureaucrats who thwarted development of submarine rescue equipment); and heroes get a panegyric (here the hero is Charles “Swede” Momsen, who proposed the rescue chamber used to extract submarine crewmen from 240 feet down).The human interest stories are compelling, if predictable (it’s a given that the seaman scheduled to be married won’t make it, for example). The drawback to The Terrible Hours is the complete lack of technical graphics. The book has no illustrations – no map showing the location of the sinking, no diagram of the Squalus or the diving bell, no plan of how the crucial main induction valve worked, not even casual photographs of the rescue and salvage operation – even though all these are in the public domain. It’s pretty obvious what caused the Squalus to sink – the main induction valve, 31 inches in diameter, either was open at submergence or was opened after the submarine reached dive depth. All indications were that the valve was closed when Squalus dived – numerous witnesses in the control room testified that the “Christmas tree” of red and green lights showing the status of hull openings was all green, and the backup test – releasing compressed air into the boat to verify that it would hold pressure – also passed successfully. The “Christmas tree” remained green until power went out – obviously it was the first thing everybody in the control room looked at when the engine room reported flooding. The Navy never did decide what had happened, although the unspoken suggestion was that the valve operator had opened the main induction after the boat was submerged (this was Momsen’s conclusion); however, that would have required a simultaneous failure of the “Christmas tree” warning light system. In any event, the Navy put a shield between the main induction valve handle and other valves in the vicinity, and added a distinctive surface texture to the main induction valve handle on the salvaged Squalus and other boats in her class.
Don’t’ get me wrong; not a bad book for character studies and the life of “Swede” Momsen; just not for technical details of submarines. Ironically, in my pre-teen years I was fascinated by submarines and dimly recall a children’s book about submarine rescues; that book included a diagram of the rescue chamber and drawings of the Squalus.
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LibraryThing member LydiaHD
This is about a rescue from a submarine that took place in 1939 off the coast of Maine and New Hampshire. It is well-written; I stayed up past my bedtime reading it when I got to the the actual rescue. But there are no pictures, diagrams, or maps, and as a mechanically inept person, I would have
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appreciated some visual aids. Show Less
LibraryThing member lamour
Gripping account of the rescue of the submarine Squaliu off the coast of New England in 1939. Since much of the crew was rescued, we are led through the disaster from above the water and in the sub below the waves. Included is a history of the development of the rescue equipment especially by David
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Momsen, used to save this crew and others. Show Less
LibraryThing member enemyanniemae
This is the story of the USS Squalus, a submarine that sank to the bottom of the Atlantic in about 250 feet of water in 1939. 33 men survived and were rescued from the sub because of the work and dedication of one man, Charles "Swede" Momsen. Momsen designed and perfected the technology that would
Very tense. Very good.
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be what brought the survivors of the Squalus up from the depths and back to their families.Very tense. Very good.
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LibraryThing member starbuck5250
Partly a recitation of early submarine disasters, partly an homage to Swede Momsen and partly the story of the rescue of the survivors of the sinking of USS Squalus, this was an easy read.
LibraryThing member CapitalHackels
The Terrible Hours by Peter Maas (1999)
This book gives the true accounts of the first submarine rescue. When the USS Squalus accidentally plunges to 270 ft. in the North Atlantic, carrying 33 trapped souls with it, the Navy must either make every effort to free the sailors from a watery grave, or
This book was so gripping, I cut through it in only three days. With all the accuracy, heroism, and irony that only true history can dictate, Peter Maas recounts the frustrated career of Navy diver Charles Momsen, the tragic track record of prior submarine losses, the fateful events of the Squalus, and the latter’s challenging salvage. After reading this book, I now regard Momsen in the ranks of naval innovators such as Robert Fulton, John Erickson, John Holland, and Jacques Cousteau.
VERDICT: 8 (of 10)
(written February 2002)
This book gives the true accounts of the first submarine rescue. When the USS Squalus accidentally plunges to 270 ft. in the North Atlantic, carrying 33 trapped souls with it, the Navy must either make every effort to free the sailors from a watery grave, or
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turn a cold cheek on the fallen. There may never have been any Squalus survivors if it weren’t for the Navy’s secret trump card, inventor Charles “Swede” Momsen.This book was so gripping, I cut through it in only three days. With all the accuracy, heroism, and irony that only true history can dictate, Peter Maas recounts the frustrated career of Navy diver Charles Momsen, the tragic track record of prior submarine losses, the fateful events of the Squalus, and the latter’s challenging salvage. After reading this book, I now regard Momsen in the ranks of naval innovators such as Robert Fulton, John Erickson, John Holland, and Jacques Cousteau.
VERDICT: 8 (of 10)
(written February 2002)
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LibraryThing member FKarr
interesting, but not gripping, description of submarine rescue and the background of the development of deep-sea diving apparati, but lacked technical detail
LibraryThing member linsleo
Not only a heroic rescue story, but one that pays tribute to an extraordinary man, Charles Bowers 'Swede' Momsen, through which his knowledge and experience, along with his determination and extreme perseverance was instrumental in pioneering submarine rescue for the US Navy. The significance of
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this rescue attempt was history in the making and would forever change the forward momentum of research and development into submarine rescue. Show Less
LibraryThing member kenno82
One of those books you read and wonder how the story isn't better known around the world. An incredible rescue. Writing was okay.