1 00:00:02,320 --> 00:00:06,080 Speaker 1: Hey, everybody happy Saturday. I hope it's going grandly Today. 2 00:00:06,080 --> 00:00:09,440 Speaker 1: We are going back to our November episode on the 3 00:00:09,480 --> 00:00:12,680 Speaker 1: sinking of the submarine known as S five, which happened 4 00:00:12,720 --> 00:00:15,960 Speaker 1: during the vessel's first mission and involves some very dramatic 5 00:00:16,040 --> 00:00:18,880 Speaker 1: and heroic efforts by the crew to keep themselves alive 6 00:00:19,280 --> 00:00:22,400 Speaker 1: while they awaited rescue. If you're thinking on hearing this 7 00:00:22,440 --> 00:00:24,560 Speaker 1: episode of sending us a note to let us know 8 00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:28,160 Speaker 1: that traditionally submarines are called boats instead of ships, We've 9 00:00:28,160 --> 00:00:35,559 Speaker 1: got it. There, you go, enjoy. Welcome to Stuff You 10 00:00:35,560 --> 00:00:38,559 Speaker 1: Missed in History Class, a production of I Heart Radios 11 00:00:38,600 --> 00:00:46,040 Speaker 1: How Stuff Works. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm 12 00:00:46,040 --> 00:00:49,040 Speaker 1: Tracy V. Wilson. Him, I'm Holly Fry And you know, uh, 13 00:00:49,240 --> 00:00:52,560 Speaker 1: people sending it seemed to love the stories about shipwrecks. Yeah, 14 00:00:52,560 --> 00:00:54,800 Speaker 1: we have a lot of maritime history fans. Yes, that 15 00:00:55,080 --> 00:00:57,680 Speaker 1: lots of people who love the shipwreck stories and who 16 00:00:58,120 --> 00:01:01,720 Speaker 1: want to hear more shipwreck stories, and we haven't really 17 00:01:01,760 --> 00:01:05,920 Speaker 1: talked a lot of about submarine disasters. After looking through 18 00:01:05,959 --> 00:01:09,960 Speaker 1: our archive and also polling on Facebook and Twitter, I 19 00:01:09,959 --> 00:01:13,120 Speaker 1: think the only submarine disaster that has been on the 20 00:01:13,160 --> 00:01:16,600 Speaker 1: podcast ever in its history is a brief part about 21 00:01:16,720 --> 00:01:20,520 Speaker 1: the Huntley, which was a Civil War submarine from an 22 00:01:20,560 --> 00:01:25,120 Speaker 1: episode on five Battleship Shipwrecks. So, uh, we're gonna talk 23 00:01:25,160 --> 00:01:29,880 Speaker 1: about a submarine disaster today, and there been bigger submarine 24 00:01:29,880 --> 00:01:34,600 Speaker 1: disasters in history than this one. Also maybe even actually 25 00:01:34,640 --> 00:01:36,840 Speaker 1: I've put this in my notes before I got to 26 00:01:36,840 --> 00:01:38,800 Speaker 1: the end of doing my research. It says, maybe some 27 00:01:38,880 --> 00:01:43,760 Speaker 1: more dramatic submarine rescues, but this one's actually pretty dramatic. Uh. 28 00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:46,520 Speaker 1: The reason that I wanted to start with this one, 29 00:01:46,880 --> 00:01:50,200 Speaker 1: Number one, it's a listener request from listener Stephen. Number two, 30 00:01:50,960 --> 00:01:53,640 Speaker 1: I personally find the idea of being trapped in a 31 00:01:53,680 --> 00:01:57,120 Speaker 1: submarine at the bottom of the ocean. The second most 32 00:01:57,240 --> 00:02:01,840 Speaker 1: terrifying thing in the world surrounding is my big death fear. Yeah, 33 00:02:02,160 --> 00:02:05,640 Speaker 1: the first most terrifying thing is floating into outer space 34 00:02:05,680 --> 00:02:09,079 Speaker 1: with no hope of rescue. The second most terrifying thing 35 00:02:09,120 --> 00:02:10,799 Speaker 1: is being trapped in a submarine on the bottom of 36 00:02:10,800 --> 00:02:14,280 Speaker 1: the ocean. Um. So the reason we're doing this one 37 00:02:14,520 --> 00:02:18,160 Speaker 1: is spoiler alert, everyone gets out okay, which is I 38 00:02:18,200 --> 00:02:19,920 Speaker 1: think the only way that I would be able to 39 00:02:19,800 --> 00:02:25,680 Speaker 1: tolerate recording this episode of being trapped in a submarine. Uh, 40 00:02:25,720 --> 00:02:29,520 Speaker 1: this is the submarine S five And as we said earlier, 41 00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:33,520 Speaker 1: it is a listener request from Stephen. So today, when 42 00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:37,160 Speaker 1: something goes wrong aboard a submarine, most developed countries navies 43 00:02:37,200 --> 00:02:39,520 Speaker 1: have these tools on hand to try to rescue the crew. 44 00:02:40,440 --> 00:02:43,040 Speaker 1: And relatively shallow water, it could be a matter of 45 00:02:43,080 --> 00:02:45,440 Speaker 1: the crew just putting on a suit that will let 46 00:02:45,440 --> 00:02:48,200 Speaker 1: them breathe and keep warm while they ascend, and in 47 00:02:48,240 --> 00:02:50,919 Speaker 1: deeper water, a rescue vessel can descend down to the 48 00:02:50,960 --> 00:02:54,720 Speaker 1: submarine and then carry the survivors back up to the surface. 49 00:02:55,120 --> 00:02:58,720 Speaker 1: And during peacetime, rescuing a sunken submarine crew is usually 50 00:02:58,760 --> 00:03:02,320 Speaker 1: an international effort, So whoever's closest and has the technology 51 00:03:02,360 --> 00:03:05,200 Speaker 1: to handle the situation is who goes. This is not 52 00:03:05,320 --> 00:03:09,640 Speaker 1: a case in at that point the United States Submarine 53 00:03:09,840 --> 00:03:14,400 Speaker 1: Force had only been officially established for about twenty years, 54 00:03:14,440 --> 00:03:18,160 Speaker 1: and even the submarines themselves had really limited means of 55 00:03:18,360 --> 00:03:21,000 Speaker 1: escape if they were in any depth of water because 56 00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:24,000 Speaker 1: the pressure of the water would hold all of the 57 00:03:24,040 --> 00:03:28,920 Speaker 1: hatches closed. So if your submarine sank, really the only 58 00:03:28,919 --> 00:03:32,120 Speaker 1: way to get out was through the torpedo tubes, and 59 00:03:32,200 --> 00:03:35,760 Speaker 1: that was a maybe maybe the torpedo tubes could be 60 00:03:35,840 --> 00:03:40,200 Speaker 1: used as an emergency exhibit. Maybe not. But even if 61 00:03:40,200 --> 00:03:43,800 Speaker 1: you could get out the torpedo tubes and most depths, 62 00:03:45,520 --> 00:03:48,080 Speaker 1: it would be impossible to swim to the surface before 63 00:03:48,080 --> 00:03:51,240 Speaker 1: you either succumbed to the bends or drowned. Your odds 64 00:03:51,240 --> 00:03:55,360 Speaker 1: are survival were they were extremely low, almost zero. But 65 00:03:55,440 --> 00:03:58,120 Speaker 1: even so, by the time this story takes place, the U. S. 66 00:03:58,120 --> 00:04:00,920 Speaker 1: Submarine Force had a relatively good track record as far 67 00:04:00,920 --> 00:04:03,720 Speaker 1: as crew safety, and prior to that year, the United 68 00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:06,400 Speaker 1: States had only seen two major accidents. One of them 69 00:04:06,480 --> 00:04:08,320 Speaker 1: was in nineteen fifteen and the other one was in 70 00:04:08,440 --> 00:04:10,960 Speaker 1: nineteen seventeen. And to be clear, this is that was 71 00:04:11,200 --> 00:04:15,000 Speaker 1: those numbers for once the Submarine Force was officially established, 72 00:04:15,680 --> 00:04:18,800 Speaker 1: because there were some other submarine issues before that and 73 00:04:19,000 --> 00:04:22,080 Speaker 1: the extremely limited limited tinkering with submarines that went on 74 00:04:22,200 --> 00:04:25,560 Speaker 1: before that point. So the ship from today's episode was 75 00:04:25,640 --> 00:04:27,840 Speaker 1: part of the S class, and these were U. S. 76 00:04:27,920 --> 00:04:31,400 Speaker 1: Navy submarines from World War One. The S five was 77 00:04:31,560 --> 00:04:34,440 Speaker 1: just like its name suggests, the fifth and its class, 78 00:04:34,520 --> 00:04:37,680 Speaker 1: and it was launched in November nineteen nineteen and commissioned 79 00:04:37,720 --> 00:04:42,400 Speaker 1: the following March. On Monday August nineteen twenty, the S 80 00:04:42,480 --> 00:04:45,160 Speaker 1: five left the Boston Navy Yard on its first mission 81 00:04:45,560 --> 00:04:48,080 Speaker 1: with the crew of thirty six officers and enlisted men. 82 00:04:48,720 --> 00:04:52,400 Speaker 1: The vessel was expected to reach Baltimore, Maryland, on September three. 83 00:04:52,640 --> 00:04:55,440 Speaker 1: The ship and crew had by then spent six months 84 00:04:55,480 --> 00:04:58,760 Speaker 1: in testing and training. This mission was part of a 85 00:04:58,920 --> 00:05:02,600 Speaker 1: longer voyage to the southeastern United States, and they were 86 00:05:02,600 --> 00:05:04,679 Speaker 1: going to be making stops at all these Navy ports 87 00:05:04,720 --> 00:05:08,240 Speaker 1: along the way with the hope of recruiting X servicemen 88 00:05:08,360 --> 00:05:10,960 Speaker 1: to be part of the submarine fleet. This was really 89 00:05:10,960 --> 00:05:15,320 Speaker 1: a pretty posh assignment, and Lieutenant Commander Charles M. Cook Jr. 90 00:05:15,560 --> 00:05:18,200 Speaker 1: Also known as Savvy, who was in command of the 91 00:05:18,360 --> 00:05:21,840 Speaker 1: S five, was extremely pleased with both the skill and 92 00:05:21,880 --> 00:05:24,359 Speaker 1: the demeanor of his crew. They all worked really hard, 93 00:05:24,720 --> 00:05:26,720 Speaker 1: they could learn to do their jobs really well, and 94 00:05:26,760 --> 00:05:28,839 Speaker 1: for the most part, they all got along and we're 95 00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:31,760 Speaker 1: my skies to be around. And in addition to these 96 00:05:31,760 --> 00:05:34,640 Speaker 1: recruitment stops, the S five was also to undergo a 97 00:05:34,720 --> 00:05:37,240 Speaker 1: number of speed and endurance trials as part of a 98 00:05:37,279 --> 00:05:41,400 Speaker 1: performance evaluation. After all these months of training and tests, 99 00:05:41,440 --> 00:05:44,279 Speaker 1: the performance evaluation was, for the most part kind of 100 00:05:44,279 --> 00:05:47,400 Speaker 1: a cake walk. As Tracy just said, this crew was 101 00:05:47,480 --> 00:05:49,520 Speaker 1: they worked well together, they all worked hard, they knew 102 00:05:49,560 --> 00:05:51,880 Speaker 1: their stuff, they had just been through six months of 103 00:05:51,880 --> 00:05:54,640 Speaker 1: intensive training. It was just sort of a happy coincidence 104 00:05:54,640 --> 00:05:58,440 Speaker 1: that their performance evaluation immediately followed all that. But the 105 00:05:58,480 --> 00:06:02,960 Speaker 1: big exception was the crash dive. So other than during 106 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:06,880 Speaker 1: trainings and this evaluation, crash dives normally took place only 107 00:06:06,960 --> 00:06:10,640 Speaker 1: during wartime and when done perfectly. They took a submarine 108 00:06:10,680 --> 00:06:13,479 Speaker 1: from the surface of the ocean to periscope depth, which 109 00:06:13,480 --> 00:06:16,839 Speaker 1: is about forty ft and under a minute, and the 110 00:06:16,880 --> 00:06:18,960 Speaker 1: first time the crew of the S five tried it, 111 00:06:19,040 --> 00:06:20,920 Speaker 1: so this is when they were learning how to all 112 00:06:20,960 --> 00:06:23,760 Speaker 1: do it. It had taken them more than four minutes, 113 00:06:23,960 --> 00:06:27,919 Speaker 1: and they had steadily reduced that time during training. And 114 00:06:27,960 --> 00:06:30,880 Speaker 1: the reason that this particular maneuver was the outlier and 115 00:06:30,880 --> 00:06:35,279 Speaker 1: their performance evaluation wasn't just the level of difficulty involved. 116 00:06:35,320 --> 00:06:38,839 Speaker 1: These evaluations were scored and used as a competition among 117 00:06:38,880 --> 00:06:42,679 Speaker 1: the submarines in the fleet. Every extra second would incur 118 00:06:42,760 --> 00:06:45,919 Speaker 1: a penalty in the overall scores, and they all wanted 119 00:06:45,920 --> 00:06:48,360 Speaker 1: to break that one minute record, during which time they 120 00:06:48,360 --> 00:06:51,440 Speaker 1: had a highly orchestrated series of jobs to do in 121 00:06:51,560 --> 00:06:54,839 Speaker 1: order to make the vessel watertight and then dive very rapidly. 122 00:06:55,400 --> 00:06:58,360 Speaker 1: So before we get to the crash dive and how 123 00:06:58,400 --> 00:07:01,920 Speaker 1: it went wrong, a brief about submarines for those who 124 00:07:01,960 --> 00:07:05,159 Speaker 1: may not know. A submarine rises and falls through the 125 00:07:05,200 --> 00:07:08,239 Speaker 1: water depending in part on how much ballast it has 126 00:07:08,279 --> 00:07:11,040 Speaker 1: in its tanks, and the ballast mostly comes in the 127 00:07:11,080 --> 00:07:14,960 Speaker 1: form of sea water, and as class submarines, the ballast level, 128 00:07:15,200 --> 00:07:18,040 Speaker 1: so how much water was in the ballast tanks, was 129 00:07:18,160 --> 00:07:22,480 Speaker 1: regulated by valves called Kingston valves. Uh. These valves were 130 00:07:22,480 --> 00:07:25,720 Speaker 1: controlled using waste high levels which connected directly to the 131 00:07:25,800 --> 00:07:29,040 Speaker 1: valves through a system of rods which opened and closed 132 00:07:29,080 --> 00:07:32,600 Speaker 1: the ballast tanks, and they were incredibly difficult to move. 133 00:07:32,720 --> 00:07:35,200 Speaker 1: It took multiple men to open and close each of 134 00:07:35,240 --> 00:07:39,640 Speaker 1: them because the Kingston valves were so temperamental. When preparing 135 00:07:39,640 --> 00:07:42,040 Speaker 1: for a crash dive, what the crew would do would 136 00:07:42,080 --> 00:07:44,840 Speaker 1: be to seal off all the events that let air 137 00:07:45,040 --> 00:07:48,000 Speaker 1: in and out of the compartments, and then they would 138 00:07:48,000 --> 00:07:52,080 Speaker 1: open the Kingston valves. So because the air couldn't get out, 139 00:07:52,120 --> 00:07:55,680 Speaker 1: the water couldn't get in, and that meant that the 140 00:07:55,800 --> 00:07:57,760 Speaker 1: level of ballast in the tanks to stay the same, 141 00:07:57,840 --> 00:08:00,440 Speaker 1: so the air vants were just a lot easier to 142 00:08:00,520 --> 00:08:03,080 Speaker 1: deal with, and that meant that they could deal with 143 00:08:03,120 --> 00:08:06,120 Speaker 1: the easier job when it was time to dive. Opening 144 00:08:06,160 --> 00:08:08,400 Speaker 1: the vents was faster than opening the valves, so they 145 00:08:08,400 --> 00:08:10,600 Speaker 1: were basically getting a little ahead of the game, and 146 00:08:10,600 --> 00:08:13,000 Speaker 1: when it was time to dive, they'd open those vents 147 00:08:13,040 --> 00:08:15,600 Speaker 1: and the air would flow out and the water would 148 00:08:15,600 --> 00:08:19,160 Speaker 1: flow in from the already opened Kingston valves. So when 149 00:08:19,160 --> 00:08:22,160 Speaker 1: it came time to do their crash dive test on 150 00:08:22,200 --> 00:08:25,680 Speaker 1: September one, this didn't go as planned. The crew closed 151 00:08:25,760 --> 00:08:28,679 Speaker 1: all of the air vents and they opened the Kingston valves, 152 00:08:28,880 --> 00:08:31,720 Speaker 1: and it turned out that one of the air valves 153 00:08:31,760 --> 00:08:35,720 Speaker 1: hadn't sealed properly, so water started seeping into one of 154 00:08:35,720 --> 00:08:39,240 Speaker 1: the ballast tanks, and that meant that the submarine almost 155 00:08:39,280 --> 00:08:43,040 Speaker 1: immediately started to list to the starboard, which means to 156 00:08:43,080 --> 00:08:47,520 Speaker 1: the right for non maritime people. Uh. This was something 157 00:08:47,559 --> 00:08:50,439 Speaker 1: that could cause some pretty serious problems if it wasn't corrected, 158 00:08:50,520 --> 00:08:53,160 Speaker 1: so the crew immediately got to work opening and closing 159 00:08:53,559 --> 00:08:56,400 Speaker 1: other Kingston valves to get things back on an even keel. 160 00:08:57,120 --> 00:08:59,400 Speaker 1: One of the people who helped out was Percy Fox, 161 00:08:59,520 --> 00:09:01,880 Speaker 1: the gunner mate and the senior most man on the 162 00:09:01,920 --> 00:09:05,760 Speaker 1: ship except for the lieutenant commander. They probably could not 163 00:09:05,960 --> 00:09:09,560 Speaker 1: have gotten the Kingston valves taken care of without Fox's help. 164 00:09:09,640 --> 00:09:12,320 Speaker 1: It was. There was a lot of opening and closing 165 00:09:12,400 --> 00:09:15,280 Speaker 1: that had to be done to level things out, but 166 00:09:15,520 --> 00:09:17,360 Speaker 1: Fox had his own job to do when it was 167 00:09:17,400 --> 00:09:22,520 Speaker 1: really critical. Both he and Lieutenant Commander Cook had major 168 00:09:22,720 --> 00:09:25,679 Speaker 1: sources of ventilation to the submarine that they personally had 169 00:09:25,720 --> 00:09:29,040 Speaker 1: to close before diving. Cook had to close the hatch 170 00:09:29,080 --> 00:09:31,559 Speaker 1: at the top of the conning tower and Fox had 171 00:09:31,559 --> 00:09:34,480 Speaker 1: to close the main induction valve, which was the valve 172 00:09:34,520 --> 00:09:36,360 Speaker 1: that diverted air to all the parts of the ship 173 00:09:36,400 --> 00:09:39,280 Speaker 1: from the outside. So these two men had these two 174 00:09:39,400 --> 00:09:42,360 Speaker 1: jobs because they were the two most senior men on 175 00:09:42,440 --> 00:09:45,720 Speaker 1: the ship, and these jobs were the two most important 176 00:09:45,720 --> 00:09:48,880 Speaker 1: when it came to making the ship uh watertight so 177 00:09:48,920 --> 00:09:51,440 Speaker 1: that it could dive, plus when it came to the 178 00:09:51,440 --> 00:09:53,680 Speaker 1: induction valve itself. It had proved to be a little 179 00:09:53,720 --> 00:09:56,480 Speaker 1: temperamental on the S five as well as on her 180 00:09:56,520 --> 00:10:00,319 Speaker 1: sister ships. Cook had some trouble getting the conning tower 181 00:10:00,600 --> 00:10:04,240 Speaker 1: hatch to close. It was caught on something but Fox 182 00:10:04,400 --> 00:10:07,440 Speaker 1: overlooked his task entirely because he was trying to handle 183 00:10:07,440 --> 00:10:10,160 Speaker 1: this other stuff that was going awry. Right, So, when 184 00:10:10,200 --> 00:10:13,440 Speaker 1: it was time to dive, Cook sounded the diving Clackson 185 00:10:14,160 --> 00:10:16,079 Speaker 1: and the crew did all their tasks to get the 186 00:10:16,080 --> 00:10:19,920 Speaker 1: ship to dive, and because Fox had overlooked his part 187 00:10:20,080 --> 00:10:24,960 Speaker 1: while wrangling with another crisis, water started pouring into the submarine. 188 00:10:25,960 --> 00:10:27,720 Speaker 1: I know how this ends, and I'm even kind of 189 00:10:27,720 --> 00:10:30,040 Speaker 1: scared already, So let's take a brief moment for a 190 00:10:30,040 --> 00:10:42,240 Speaker 1: word from a sponsor that sounds grand. With water pouring 191 00:10:42,440 --> 00:10:46,080 Speaker 1: into the submarine from outside, Fox immediately realized his mistake 192 00:10:46,120 --> 00:10:49,000 Speaker 1: and started trying to close the main induction valve, while 193 00:10:49,040 --> 00:10:51,280 Speaker 1: Cook gave the order to blow the ballast tanks to 194 00:10:51,320 --> 00:10:52,959 Speaker 1: try to clear them of the water that they were 195 00:10:52,960 --> 00:10:56,360 Speaker 1: taking in. But Fox couldn't get the main induction valve 196 00:10:56,400 --> 00:10:59,440 Speaker 1: to move, so the rest of the crew started manually 197 00:10:59,480 --> 00:11:02,280 Speaker 1: closing all of the smaller events that led to the outside, 198 00:11:02,520 --> 00:11:06,360 Speaker 1: while sea water was literally pummeling them in the face 199 00:11:06,440 --> 00:11:09,400 Speaker 1: as they did. The torpedo room, which had been the 200 00:11:09,440 --> 00:11:11,959 Speaker 1: first compartment of the ship to part to start taking 201 00:11:11,960 --> 00:11:14,360 Speaker 1: on water, was really too far gone for them to 202 00:11:14,360 --> 00:11:17,160 Speaker 1: try to save. So they evacuated it and then sealed 203 00:11:17,160 --> 00:11:20,120 Speaker 1: it behind a watertight door. I can't imagine trying to 204 00:11:20,240 --> 00:11:22,200 Speaker 1: I mean, I can't change the temperature in the shower 205 00:11:22,240 --> 00:11:23,800 Speaker 1: if it's hitting me in the face, like I can't 206 00:11:23,800 --> 00:11:29,839 Speaker 1: imagine a much higher pressure situation and the stress situation, Yes, 207 00:11:30,040 --> 00:11:33,439 Speaker 1: it would be intense. So with the torpedo room essentially 208 00:11:33,480 --> 00:11:35,720 Speaker 1: open to the sea at that point, it filled with 209 00:11:35,760 --> 00:11:38,439 Speaker 1: water and the S five sank to the sea floor. 210 00:11:38,640 --> 00:11:41,800 Speaker 1: Knows first. When it came to rest four minutes later, 211 00:11:41,880 --> 00:11:44,079 Speaker 1: it was under about a hundred and eighty feet of water, 212 00:11:44,600 --> 00:11:48,840 Speaker 1: more or less upright. So a running theme and then 213 00:11:48,840 --> 00:11:51,240 Speaker 1: this whole story is that they keep having some good 214 00:11:51,280 --> 00:11:53,960 Speaker 1: news and some bad news. So the good news was 215 00:11:54,120 --> 00:11:57,840 Speaker 1: everyone had survived this initial sinking of the ship. The 216 00:11:57,880 --> 00:12:01,640 Speaker 1: only injuries at this point we're pretty minor. The hull 217 00:12:01,720 --> 00:12:05,800 Speaker 1: was still intact, they still had emergency power provided by batteries, 218 00:12:06,120 --> 00:12:08,800 Speaker 1: and they still had about half of their supply of 219 00:12:08,840 --> 00:12:13,040 Speaker 1: compressed air. The bad news was the torpedo room was 220 00:12:13,120 --> 00:12:16,240 Speaker 1: about two thirds full of water, and the bilges also 221 00:12:16,320 --> 00:12:19,080 Speaker 1: had water in them. All in all, the submarine had 222 00:12:19,120 --> 00:12:22,480 Speaker 1: about seventy five tons of extra ballast thanks to all 223 00:12:22,520 --> 00:12:25,760 Speaker 1: the water, which meant that unless they figured out a solution, 224 00:12:25,920 --> 00:12:28,960 Speaker 1: they were basically completely stuck. There was no way for 225 00:12:29,000 --> 00:12:30,520 Speaker 1: them to get out of the sub and even if 226 00:12:30,520 --> 00:12:32,920 Speaker 1: they could, it would have been virtually impossible for any 227 00:12:32,920 --> 00:12:35,000 Speaker 1: of them to survive a swim to the surface from 228 00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:39,360 Speaker 1: that depth. So Cook blew the red the residual ballast 229 00:12:39,440 --> 00:12:41,400 Speaker 1: out of the tanks, hoping that he would be able 230 00:12:41,440 --> 00:12:43,640 Speaker 1: to bring the ship back up to the surface, but 231 00:12:43,720 --> 00:12:47,760 Speaker 1: it didn't work, and his efforts were also hampered because 232 00:12:47,800 --> 00:12:50,200 Speaker 1: one of the drive motors had been damaged when all 233 00:12:50,240 --> 00:12:53,920 Speaker 1: the water started pouring in. The other drive motor also 234 00:12:54,000 --> 00:12:56,200 Speaker 1: burned out while they were trying to maneuver out of 235 00:12:56,240 --> 00:12:58,679 Speaker 1: the mud at the bottom of the ocean, which left 236 00:12:58,720 --> 00:13:01,720 Speaker 1: them with no way to maneuver the ship, and because 237 00:13:01,760 --> 00:13:04,640 Speaker 1: of where they had sunk, they weren't really in the 238 00:13:05,240 --> 00:13:09,559 Speaker 1: like path of any ships that might be passing um. 239 00:13:09,600 --> 00:13:11,880 Speaker 1: It was really unlikely that they were going to be 240 00:13:11,920 --> 00:13:15,000 Speaker 1: able to get the attention of another ship, and their 241 00:13:15,000 --> 00:13:17,839 Speaker 1: presence in Baltimore was not going to be missed for 242 00:13:17,880 --> 00:13:21,679 Speaker 1: several days. So for the next couple of hours, Cook 243 00:13:21,760 --> 00:13:24,880 Speaker 1: tried to force water out of the torpedo room using 244 00:13:24,920 --> 00:13:27,080 Speaker 1: a number of pumps, and he was not making a 245 00:13:27,080 --> 00:13:29,559 Speaker 1: lot of headway. So he decided to try to use 246 00:13:29,600 --> 00:13:33,040 Speaker 1: some of their compressed air to try to pressurize the room. 247 00:13:33,080 --> 00:13:36,080 Speaker 1: And while this did help, it quickly became obvious that 248 00:13:36,120 --> 00:13:38,440 Speaker 1: there was not enough air to do this job. Yeah, 249 00:13:38,559 --> 00:13:40,520 Speaker 1: the idea was that if they were able to pressurize 250 00:13:40,559 --> 00:13:42,360 Speaker 1: the room, it would force the water out and they 251 00:13:42,400 --> 00:13:46,439 Speaker 1: would rise back to the service. Different accounts kind of 252 00:13:46,559 --> 00:13:49,520 Speaker 1: vary in their explanations of why Cook tried the next 253 00:13:49,600 --> 00:13:51,679 Speaker 1: thing that he tried, which was to use what was 254 00:13:51,840 --> 00:13:54,600 Speaker 1: left of the compressed air to clear out the aft 255 00:13:54,720 --> 00:13:58,200 Speaker 1: ballast tanks, and this actually worked. It meant that the 256 00:13:58,240 --> 00:14:00,640 Speaker 1: stern of the sub now was a lot more buoyant 257 00:14:00,640 --> 00:14:03,880 Speaker 1: than the bow, so it rose up, lifting the submarine 258 00:14:03,920 --> 00:14:08,600 Speaker 1: off of the sea floor. Uh, but also re orienting 259 00:14:08,640 --> 00:14:11,679 Speaker 1: it so that it was more or less vertical. So 260 00:14:11,840 --> 00:14:15,280 Speaker 1: just imagine for a moment a submarine which is a confined, 261 00:14:15,320 --> 00:14:17,120 Speaker 1: cramped space on a good day. If you have ever 262 00:14:17,160 --> 00:14:21,200 Speaker 1: done like a tour of a military submarine, you probably 263 00:14:21,200 --> 00:14:23,360 Speaker 1: have that moment of holy smokes, this is really tight 264 00:14:23,400 --> 00:14:26,800 Speaker 1: space live down here. So then to think about all 265 00:14:26,840 --> 00:14:30,960 Speaker 1: of these people in this tiny space. Uh, it's it 266 00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:32,880 Speaker 1: will give you a moment of pause, at least it 267 00:14:32,920 --> 00:14:36,520 Speaker 1: does me. So everything is wet aboard at this point. 268 00:14:36,760 --> 00:14:39,320 Speaker 1: There is a lot of broken stuff, and now it's 269 00:14:39,360 --> 00:14:42,680 Speaker 1: about sixty degrees from horizontal, so not quite straight up 270 00:14:42,680 --> 00:14:46,520 Speaker 1: and down, but really close to vertical. So I just 271 00:14:46,600 --> 00:14:48,680 Speaker 1: imagine people stacking on top of each other as they 272 00:14:48,680 --> 00:14:52,120 Speaker 1: try to get footing. Yeah, for another round of good 273 00:14:52,120 --> 00:14:54,200 Speaker 1: news bad news. The good news was they weren't stuck 274 00:14:54,280 --> 00:14:56,760 Speaker 1: on the floor of the ocean anymore. They were tracking 275 00:14:56,760 --> 00:15:00,840 Speaker 1: their depth and the vessel was very slow, really inching 276 00:15:01,080 --> 00:15:05,200 Speaker 1: upward towards the surface. But there was bad news, which 277 00:15:05,200 --> 00:15:07,040 Speaker 1: is that now the lowest point of the ship was 278 00:15:07,120 --> 00:15:10,120 Speaker 1: the battery room, which had filled with water. The water 279 00:15:10,160 --> 00:15:13,600 Speaker 1: started interacting with the sulfuric acid in the batteries, producing 280 00:15:14,120 --> 00:15:18,720 Speaker 1: chlorine gas. In such a confined space, no vent delician. Remember, 281 00:15:18,960 --> 00:15:22,120 Speaker 1: the chlorine gas had the potential to become deadly. So 282 00:15:22,360 --> 00:15:24,680 Speaker 1: the crew started evacuating the parts of the ship that 283 00:15:24,680 --> 00:15:28,200 Speaker 1: we're filling up with chlorine gas by basically hauling themselves 284 00:15:28,400 --> 00:15:33,200 Speaker 1: over one another, climbing the previously horizontal surfaces of the ship. 285 00:15:33,520 --> 00:15:36,120 Speaker 1: Which were now vertical, until they were all out of 286 00:15:36,160 --> 00:15:39,320 Speaker 1: the battery room, and then they sealed that off behind them. 287 00:15:39,440 --> 00:15:42,200 Speaker 1: They also started trying to funnel some of their air 288 00:15:42,280 --> 00:15:44,800 Speaker 1: into the torpedo room to try to keep it from 289 00:15:44,920 --> 00:15:49,360 Speaker 1: refilling back with water. And at this point, uh, this 290 00:15:49,440 --> 00:15:53,040 Speaker 1: had all been going on for about five hours. We're 291 00:15:53,040 --> 00:15:57,280 Speaker 1: gonna take another brief break before we resumed their efforts 292 00:15:57,320 --> 00:16:09,200 Speaker 1: to rescue themselves. So five hours after sinking to the 293 00:16:09,200 --> 00:16:11,720 Speaker 1: sea floor, the men aboard the S five were not 294 00:16:11,800 --> 00:16:14,000 Speaker 1: in good shape. Everything as we said before, it was 295 00:16:14,040 --> 00:16:17,800 Speaker 1: wet and slippery. There was debris everywhere thanks to the 296 00:16:17,840 --> 00:16:21,400 Speaker 1: combination of stirred up bilge, water and fuel and exhaust, 297 00:16:21,480 --> 00:16:24,440 Speaker 1: and the lack of a functioning toilet. It smelled awful, 298 00:16:25,240 --> 00:16:28,320 Speaker 1: and Cook had come to the conclusion that his effort 299 00:16:28,360 --> 00:16:32,120 Speaker 1: to use compressed air to clear water out so that 300 00:16:32,160 --> 00:16:36,640 Speaker 1: they could rise faster was not working. He was preparing 301 00:16:36,760 --> 00:16:39,120 Speaker 1: to tell the men that hope was lost and that 302 00:16:39,160 --> 00:16:43,080 Speaker 1: they were going to die. Not long after that, some 303 00:16:43,120 --> 00:16:45,720 Speaker 1: men who were sheltering in the submarine's motor room, which 304 00:16:45,720 --> 00:16:47,920 Speaker 1: at that point was the highest point in the submarine, 305 00:16:48,440 --> 00:16:51,160 Speaker 1: reported that they could hear waves breaking against the side 306 00:16:51,160 --> 00:16:54,160 Speaker 1: of the vessel. So that sounds awesome, right, like we 307 00:16:54,240 --> 00:16:57,240 Speaker 1: have cleared the water. Uh. Since they weren't oriented in 308 00:16:57,280 --> 00:17:01,080 Speaker 1: the correct direction, they used math plus the ship's inclinometer 309 00:17:01,440 --> 00:17:03,920 Speaker 1: to figure out just how far up they were. When 310 00:17:03,920 --> 00:17:06,520 Speaker 1: the good news was now about twenty ft of the 311 00:17:06,520 --> 00:17:10,800 Speaker 1: ship were above the water line. That's all, But there's 312 00:17:10,800 --> 00:17:14,760 Speaker 1: also bad news. The actual escape hatch, though, was still 313 00:17:14,800 --> 00:17:17,800 Speaker 1: submerged by a good thirty feet, and even if they'd 314 00:17:17,840 --> 00:17:20,240 Speaker 1: been able to shift their angle from sixty degrees to 315 00:17:20,440 --> 00:17:24,359 Speaker 1: ninety degrees from horizontal, the hatch still would have been underwater, 316 00:17:24,520 --> 00:17:27,159 Speaker 1: and that shift would not have been enough to clear 317 00:17:27,160 --> 00:17:32,199 Speaker 1: it of the waterline. But now having part of the 318 00:17:32,280 --> 00:17:36,119 Speaker 1: vessel above the waterline gave everyone a tiny glimmer of hope, 319 00:17:36,160 --> 00:17:38,360 Speaker 1: and they came up with a plan to cut their 320 00:17:38,440 --> 00:17:43,480 Speaker 1: way out of the ship. So it's a tiny glimmer 321 00:17:43,520 --> 00:17:46,720 Speaker 1: of hope because they're planning to cut their way through 322 00:17:47,160 --> 00:17:52,119 Speaker 1: three quarter inch thick steel that was made specifically to 323 00:17:52,320 --> 00:17:54,879 Speaker 1: keep the ocean out of the submarine to not be 324 00:17:54,960 --> 00:18:00,040 Speaker 1: easy to break. Correct. Uh, that sounds like just a 325 00:18:00,080 --> 00:18:03,239 Speaker 1: sprit plan, but it is what they decided to do, 326 00:18:03,520 --> 00:18:06,360 Speaker 1: and they did it. Cook climbed up to the tiller room, 327 00:18:06,400 --> 00:18:08,960 Speaker 1: which was a small compartment off the motor room, and 328 00:18:09,040 --> 00:18:11,520 Speaker 1: he and several men took turns, starting with an electric 329 00:18:11,600 --> 00:18:14,400 Speaker 1: drill until it's motor burned out, and then they turned 330 00:18:14,400 --> 00:18:17,280 Speaker 1: to a manual drill. And that's what blows my mind. Like, 331 00:18:19,720 --> 00:18:21,760 Speaker 1: but I guess if you feel like life of both 332 00:18:21,760 --> 00:18:24,119 Speaker 1: yourself and a lot of men that you are, you know, 333 00:18:25,680 --> 00:18:28,520 Speaker 1: close with at that point they've worked together really closely, 334 00:18:29,880 --> 00:18:32,160 Speaker 1: I'll do it. You have the choice of we can 335 00:18:32,160 --> 00:18:34,439 Speaker 1: try to drill through three quarter and still with a 336 00:18:34,440 --> 00:18:37,679 Speaker 1: manual drill, or we can die. Yeah. Uh so slowly 337 00:18:37,720 --> 00:18:39,919 Speaker 1: but surely. They drilled a quarter inch hole through the 338 00:18:39,960 --> 00:18:43,560 Speaker 1: side of the sub and that took twenty minutes, Sarah, 339 00:18:43,680 --> 00:18:46,359 Speaker 1: quarter inch hole. So it's not like any anybody's getting 340 00:18:46,359 --> 00:18:49,960 Speaker 1: out of that. No, and unfortunately that also doesn't mean 341 00:18:49,960 --> 00:18:53,760 Speaker 1: that fresh air is coming in. Yeah. Um, so they 342 00:18:53,840 --> 00:18:56,199 Speaker 1: were finding you know, they were successful. Yeah, they had 343 00:18:56,200 --> 00:18:58,760 Speaker 1: managed to make a hole. They decided that what they 344 00:18:58,760 --> 00:19:01,600 Speaker 1: would do was to drill holes close enough together that 345 00:19:01,640 --> 00:19:04,159 Speaker 1: they could then knock out the spaces between them with 346 00:19:04,200 --> 00:19:07,280 Speaker 1: a hammer and a chisel, hoping to create a hole 347 00:19:07,480 --> 00:19:10,600 Speaker 1: large enough for the men to escape through. But based 348 00:19:10,600 --> 00:19:12,320 Speaker 1: on the fact that it took them twenty minutes to 349 00:19:12,359 --> 00:19:15,280 Speaker 1: make the first hole, they all expected that this effort 350 00:19:15,359 --> 00:19:17,159 Speaker 1: was just going to take more time than they have, 351 00:19:17,600 --> 00:19:22,640 Speaker 1: but they persisted anyway. By morning they had a space 352 00:19:22,960 --> 00:19:25,800 Speaker 1: large enough to scan the horizon for ships, and they 353 00:19:25,800 --> 00:19:29,199 Speaker 1: were actually seeing some, but those ships were too far 354 00:19:29,240 --> 00:19:31,600 Speaker 1: away for them to get their attention. And since they 355 00:19:31,640 --> 00:19:33,560 Speaker 1: had opened a hole in the ship, it was no 356 00:19:33,640 --> 00:19:36,240 Speaker 1: longer as pressurized as it had been, so there was 357 00:19:36,320 --> 00:19:39,280 Speaker 1: more water seeping in as air was escaping out of 358 00:19:39,280 --> 00:19:41,919 Speaker 1: this hole that they had punched. And even though in 359 00:19:42,040 --> 00:19:44,080 Speaker 1: theory they had a source of fresh air, now it 360 00:19:44,200 --> 00:19:46,399 Speaker 1: was not enough to keep the air in the ship clean. 361 00:19:47,040 --> 00:19:50,600 Speaker 1: The air was in fact increasingly disgusting, and the oxygen 362 00:19:50,680 --> 00:19:53,280 Speaker 1: levels were low enough that the men couldn't keep at 363 00:19:53,320 --> 00:19:57,199 Speaker 1: their drilling task for long. Having this source of of 364 00:19:57,960 --> 00:20:01,120 Speaker 1: you know, air from the outside, like fresh air from 365 00:20:01,119 --> 00:20:05,520 Speaker 1: outside wasn't coming in. Gross air from in the ship 366 00:20:05,680 --> 00:20:09,760 Speaker 1: was going out and being replaced from up underneath by water, 367 00:20:10,080 --> 00:20:14,560 Speaker 1: right is what was happening. So basically, now they were 368 00:20:14,600 --> 00:20:16,960 Speaker 1: in this process of trying to make the whole big 369 00:20:17,080 --> 00:20:20,119 Speaker 1: enough to escape from before the size of the hole, 370 00:20:20,280 --> 00:20:26,120 Speaker 1: let enough air out, the submarine sank back below the waves. 371 00:20:26,240 --> 00:20:30,000 Speaker 1: I'm just gonna let that set for a minute, like 372 00:20:30,840 --> 00:20:33,919 Speaker 1: it's a race against time to try to make the 373 00:20:33,920 --> 00:20:37,520 Speaker 1: whole bigger before the ship sinks again. I keep saying ship, 374 00:20:37,560 --> 00:20:39,280 Speaker 1: and I think somebody might write in and say, we 375 00:20:39,280 --> 00:20:41,240 Speaker 1: should have said sub the whole time. So if if 376 00:20:41,280 --> 00:20:45,760 Speaker 1: that's a nautical faux pa, I'm very sorry. Twenty four 377 00:20:45,800 --> 00:20:50,600 Speaker 1: hours after the initial incident, so a full day they 378 00:20:50,600 --> 00:20:54,159 Speaker 1: have been in peril. They had a hole in the 379 00:20:54,200 --> 00:20:56,360 Speaker 1: side of the ship that was about six inches by 380 00:20:56,400 --> 00:21:00,359 Speaker 1: eight inches. But basically everyone was unable to work at 381 00:21:00,400 --> 00:21:02,679 Speaker 1: that point to make it any bigger because there was 382 00:21:02,720 --> 00:21:05,399 Speaker 1: just a lack of oxygen. Uh, and many of the 383 00:21:05,400 --> 00:21:08,560 Speaker 1: men had lost consciousness, so it wasn't And when you're 384 00:21:08,560 --> 00:21:11,200 Speaker 1: doing something like drilling a hole, and with the manual drill, 385 00:21:11,280 --> 00:21:13,840 Speaker 1: it's really hard, it's really difficult, and you consume a 386 00:21:13,880 --> 00:21:17,040 Speaker 1: lot of oxygen. So when there's not much there, well, 387 00:21:17,119 --> 00:21:19,360 Speaker 1: and all of the oxygen, not all, but a lot 388 00:21:19,359 --> 00:21:21,840 Speaker 1: of the oxygen at this point had been replaced by 389 00:21:21,840 --> 00:21:24,640 Speaker 1: carbon dioxide and breathing that is not good for you 390 00:21:24,760 --> 00:21:27,600 Speaker 1: and can lead you to all kinds of other health 391 00:21:27,640 --> 00:21:30,240 Speaker 1: effects by your body not being able to clear that 392 00:21:30,320 --> 00:21:34,120 Speaker 1: out as waste um. Plus some of the guys who 393 00:21:34,119 --> 00:21:37,399 Speaker 1: had already as the whole situation with chlorine gas started, 394 00:21:37,480 --> 00:21:40,040 Speaker 1: some of them had started to have other breathing problems 395 00:21:40,080 --> 00:21:42,440 Speaker 1: because of the toxic gases that were inside the ship. 396 00:21:42,840 --> 00:21:47,840 Speaker 1: It was a really bad situation. But just then a 397 00:21:47,920 --> 00:21:51,200 Speaker 1: ship came by, and Cook, who was still conscious, roused 398 00:21:51,240 --> 00:21:53,240 Speaker 1: some men to try to find a way to signal it. 399 00:21:53,280 --> 00:21:56,240 Speaker 1: And what they wind up doing was tying a sailor's 400 00:21:56,320 --> 00:21:59,439 Speaker 1: shirt to a ten ft long length of copper pipe 401 00:21:59,720 --> 00:22:02,159 Speaker 1: and sticking out, sticking that out the hole that they 402 00:22:02,160 --> 00:22:05,439 Speaker 1: had made, and waving it around. So the ship in 403 00:22:05,520 --> 00:22:08,640 Speaker 1: question was a merchant ship, the s S. Atlantis, which 404 00:22:08,680 --> 00:22:12,520 Speaker 1: was actually headed away from them, but good fortune, someone 405 00:22:12,560 --> 00:22:15,399 Speaker 1: on deck turned back and actually saw their signal, and 406 00:22:15,480 --> 00:22:17,680 Speaker 1: so they came about to see what was going on. 407 00:22:18,119 --> 00:22:20,080 Speaker 1: I'm just trying to imagine the mind of the man 408 00:22:20,160 --> 00:22:22,639 Speaker 1: who sees like a piece of pipe sticking out of 409 00:22:22,640 --> 00:22:27,200 Speaker 1: a hole, of something sticking out of the ocean, Yeah, going, 410 00:22:27,320 --> 00:22:30,560 Speaker 1: what the heck is that? Yeah? The Atlanti, says Captain 411 00:22:30,720 --> 00:22:33,520 Speaker 1: Ernest A. Johnson, maneuvered close to the S five and 412 00:22:33,560 --> 00:22:35,879 Speaker 1: then he rode the rest of the way himself in 413 00:22:35,960 --> 00:22:39,040 Speaker 1: a dinghy or a little skiff or something, and he 414 00:22:39,080 --> 00:22:41,560 Speaker 1: had the following conversation with Cook through the hole in 415 00:22:41,600 --> 00:22:44,040 Speaker 1: the sub which is just fantastic. And I will do 416 00:22:44,080 --> 00:22:45,919 Speaker 1: one part in Holly can do the other part. What 417 00:22:46,040 --> 00:22:50,640 Speaker 1: ship are you? Submarine? S five? What nationality? United States? 418 00:22:50,680 --> 00:22:55,080 Speaker 1: Where are you bound to hell by compass? I love? 419 00:22:55,720 --> 00:22:58,959 Speaker 1: Why is this not a film? I feel like it 420 00:22:58,960 --> 00:23:01,040 Speaker 1: has to be And I should have thought IMDb before 421 00:23:01,040 --> 00:23:04,160 Speaker 1: we came in here. Um. And then just like we laughed, 422 00:23:04,720 --> 00:23:08,920 Speaker 1: the men who were still conscious on the submarine laughed. Um. 423 00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:12,440 Speaker 1: And after you know, his confusion kind of cleared up. 424 00:23:12,720 --> 00:23:16,439 Speaker 1: Johnson realized that this was a crisis like this was 425 00:23:16,520 --> 00:23:19,520 Speaker 1: an emergency that he needed to help with right now, 426 00:23:19,840 --> 00:23:22,280 Speaker 1: and so he tied the S five to his ship 427 00:23:22,359 --> 00:23:25,560 Speaker 1: with chains and cables to keep it from sinking, and 428 00:23:25,560 --> 00:23:28,080 Speaker 1: then he ordered his men to build an improvised wooden 429 00:23:28,119 --> 00:23:30,320 Speaker 1: platform so that they could have better access to try 430 00:23:30,359 --> 00:23:33,000 Speaker 1: to work on the ship. And then they also made 431 00:23:33,040 --> 00:23:35,520 Speaker 1: an improvised air pump to try to get some fresh 432 00:23:35,560 --> 00:23:38,399 Speaker 1: air into the ship or into the submarine for the men. 433 00:23:38,600 --> 00:23:40,800 Speaker 1: I also just loved the cook in the most dire 434 00:23:40,880 --> 00:23:43,280 Speaker 1: circumstances is finding a way to correct chips like he 435 00:23:43,320 --> 00:23:46,080 Speaker 1: gets my unending respect and admiration for Yeah. Well, and 436 00:23:46,200 --> 00:23:50,560 Speaker 1: the one of the there are two primary sources for 437 00:23:50,560 --> 00:23:52,080 Speaker 1: for this episode, and one of them is a book 438 00:23:52,160 --> 00:23:54,880 Speaker 1: called Under Pressure, The Final Voyage of Submarine S five, 439 00:23:55,280 --> 00:23:57,639 Speaker 1: And one of the remarks that comes up was that 440 00:23:58,480 --> 00:24:01,760 Speaker 1: the situation like it's really difficult to live on a 441 00:24:01,800 --> 00:24:05,000 Speaker 1: submarine and people tend to have really dark senses of 442 00:24:05,080 --> 00:24:08,480 Speaker 1: humor and to be able to make a joke about anything. Um, 443 00:24:08,520 --> 00:24:12,160 Speaker 1: but the jokes had ceased for quite some time before 444 00:24:12,200 --> 00:24:15,720 Speaker 1: he said to hell by compass, and like that was 445 00:24:15,760 --> 00:24:18,399 Speaker 1: one of the things where he realized, like how di 446 00:24:18,560 --> 00:24:20,879 Speaker 1: are the men's mental situation was that no one was 447 00:24:20,960 --> 00:24:25,040 Speaker 1: laughing about anything anymore. Uh So the Atlantis Is radio 448 00:24:25,119 --> 00:24:28,520 Speaker 1: operator unfortunately was not on board. Also not on board 449 00:24:28,600 --> 00:24:30,919 Speaker 1: or any sorts of tools or equipment that would have 450 00:24:30,960 --> 00:24:33,440 Speaker 1: made it easier to drill through the side of the submarine. 451 00:24:34,480 --> 00:24:37,560 Speaker 1: So the exhausted and at this point delirious crew of 452 00:24:37,600 --> 00:24:40,159 Speaker 1: the S five passed the gear that they had been 453 00:24:40,240 --> 00:24:42,919 Speaker 1: using out of the hole to the crew of the Atlantis, 454 00:24:42,960 --> 00:24:46,639 Speaker 1: who then could resume drilling from the outside, and then, 455 00:24:46,840 --> 00:24:50,320 Speaker 1: quite fortunately, another ship appeared. This one was the s 456 00:24:50,320 --> 00:24:54,639 Speaker 1: S General George W. Girtles and Johnson ran up an 457 00:24:54,640 --> 00:24:57,760 Speaker 1: emergency flag on the Atlantis to get the other ship's attention, 458 00:24:57,920 --> 00:25:02,560 Speaker 1: and that ship's master, Captain EO. Swinson, uh moved his 459 00:25:02,560 --> 00:25:05,439 Speaker 1: ship over and anchored nearby. Being a much bigger and 460 00:25:05,480 --> 00:25:08,520 Speaker 1: more equipped ship and having a radio operator on board, 461 00:25:08,760 --> 00:25:11,760 Speaker 1: the George W. Gettels was able to radio the Navy 462 00:25:11,840 --> 00:25:14,199 Speaker 1: and let them know what was up with the submarine, 463 00:25:14,800 --> 00:25:16,480 Speaker 1: but it was going to take at least until the 464 00:25:16,520 --> 00:25:19,800 Speaker 1: next morning for a Navy vessel to arrive, so Captain 465 00:25:19,880 --> 00:25:22,560 Speaker 1: Swinson and Johnson decided that they would keep on working 466 00:25:22,560 --> 00:25:24,960 Speaker 1: to try to free the crew of the S five. 467 00:25:25,560 --> 00:25:30,440 Speaker 1: Swinson's chief engineer, William Grace and his first assistant, Richard McWilliams, 468 00:25:30,440 --> 00:25:33,920 Speaker 1: headed up the task, working with another manual drill, and 469 00:25:33,960 --> 00:25:35,720 Speaker 1: this one was kind of a ratcheting one that seemed 470 00:25:35,720 --> 00:25:38,439 Speaker 1: to work a little better, as well as chisels and 471 00:25:38,480 --> 00:25:41,680 Speaker 1: a sledgehammer. They finally managed to make a hole big 472 00:25:41,800 --> 00:25:46,160 Speaker 1: enough for the crew to crawl through thirty six hours 473 00:25:46,200 --> 00:25:50,600 Speaker 1: after the original incidents. Ugh uh. They were taken aboard 474 00:25:50,720 --> 00:25:53,400 Speaker 1: the Atlantis, where a makeshift sick bay had been put 475 00:25:53,440 --> 00:25:56,119 Speaker 1: together so that they could receive them. And at this point, 476 00:25:56,480 --> 00:25:59,119 Speaker 1: as you would imagine, the men were in really bad shape. 477 00:25:59,600 --> 00:26:02,200 Speaker 1: Two actors from the George W. Gettles were on hand 478 00:26:02,200 --> 00:26:04,080 Speaker 1: to look after the men, and they agreed that the 479 00:26:04,119 --> 00:26:06,479 Speaker 1: rescue had really been in the nick of time. It 480 00:26:06,480 --> 00:26:09,320 Speaker 1: took so long to evacuate everyone just because they were 481 00:26:09,320 --> 00:26:12,080 Speaker 1: so exhausted and they were basically having to climb up 482 00:26:12,160 --> 00:26:16,160 Speaker 1: the interior of a vertical submarine. They weren't done getting 483 00:26:16,160 --> 00:26:18,639 Speaker 1: all the men off of the S five until about 484 00:26:18,640 --> 00:26:21,440 Speaker 1: the same time as the Navy ships arrived, and Cook 485 00:26:21,520 --> 00:26:23,639 Speaker 1: was the last man to leave the S five and 486 00:26:23,640 --> 00:26:25,800 Speaker 1: at that point he had been awake for two days. 487 00:26:27,600 --> 00:26:31,359 Speaker 1: He he gets the captain goes down with his ship. Award. Yeah, 488 00:26:31,400 --> 00:26:35,280 Speaker 1: for sure. The Navy tried to salvage the submarine, but 489 00:26:35,320 --> 00:26:37,840 Speaker 1: eventually gave up. Two different ships were not up to 490 00:26:37,880 --> 00:26:39,679 Speaker 1: the task of trying to haul it back to the 491 00:26:39,720 --> 00:26:42,879 Speaker 1: surface and just they decided it was just gonna it 492 00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:45,359 Speaker 1: was more trouble than it was worth. Basically, as of 493 00:26:45,440 --> 00:26:47,320 Speaker 1: two thousand two, which is when the book that I 494 00:26:47,359 --> 00:26:50,359 Speaker 1: referenced earlier was published it was still on the bottom 495 00:26:50,359 --> 00:26:53,959 Speaker 1: of the ocean. The Navy investigated, and they found that 496 00:26:54,000 --> 00:26:56,879 Speaker 1: Fox's failure to close the intake valves was probably the 497 00:26:56,960 --> 00:27:00,160 Speaker 1: cause of the sinking, But they also chalked up all 498 00:27:00,160 --> 00:27:05,640 Speaker 1: those extenuating circumstances, including that the valves themselves were apparently defective. Uh, 499 00:27:05,640 --> 00:27:08,480 Speaker 1: and that you know, those valves that were extremely hard 500 00:27:08,520 --> 00:27:11,080 Speaker 1: to wrangle, were really what had caused Fox to leave 501 00:27:11,080 --> 00:27:13,680 Speaker 1: his post in the first place. And Fox had also 502 00:27:13,720 --> 00:27:16,480 Speaker 1: gone way above and beyond during the whole survival effort. 503 00:27:16,680 --> 00:27:19,159 Speaker 1: Pretty much any time they needed a volunteer, he was it. 504 00:27:19,359 --> 00:27:21,479 Speaker 1: I have to wonder personally if that was motivated by 505 00:27:21,480 --> 00:27:24,200 Speaker 1: guilt over it was the whole thing going on. Uh. 506 00:27:24,280 --> 00:27:26,359 Speaker 1: Cook also took some of the blame for having not 507 00:27:26,520 --> 00:27:29,120 Speaker 1: ensured that the ship was clear before giving the order 508 00:27:29,160 --> 00:27:34,080 Speaker 1: to submerge. Yeah, so there's a there's a lot that 509 00:27:34,240 --> 00:27:37,440 Speaker 1: went on, like specific things that went on and all 510 00:27:37,440 --> 00:27:39,560 Speaker 1: of their efforts to save themselves that we didn't go into. 511 00:27:39,680 --> 00:27:43,000 Speaker 1: One of them is that before the motor burned out 512 00:27:43,040 --> 00:27:47,120 Speaker 1: in their drill um, they needed to go get more batteries, 513 00:27:47,280 --> 00:27:48,880 Speaker 1: and so somebody was going to try to go into 514 00:27:48,880 --> 00:27:51,280 Speaker 1: the battery compartment, which was filled with chlorine gas, and 515 00:27:51,320 --> 00:27:56,480 Speaker 1: foxes like, I'll go like he was the volunteer time. Um. 516 00:27:56,520 --> 00:28:01,240 Speaker 1: There's also a note in the book that that Cook, Uh, 517 00:28:01,560 --> 00:28:03,760 Speaker 1: at one of these points when Fox volunteered to go 518 00:28:03,840 --> 00:28:08,080 Speaker 1: do something dangerous to try to help them, realized that 519 00:28:08,160 --> 00:28:10,720 Speaker 1: at no point had he heard any of the men 520 00:28:11,640 --> 00:28:13,880 Speaker 1: criticize him for having messed up in the first place, 521 00:28:13,880 --> 00:28:16,359 Speaker 1: which is kind of incredible to me, Like, like, I 522 00:28:16,359 --> 00:28:19,600 Speaker 1: can see how a person's impulse might be, like Fox, 523 00:28:19,640 --> 00:28:22,919 Speaker 1: You've had one job, like what is the matter with you? 524 00:28:22,960 --> 00:28:26,800 Speaker 1: But instead, like all the men are really focused hard 525 00:28:27,000 --> 00:28:30,600 Speaker 1: on not laying blame on anybody and not arguing about it, 526 00:28:30,600 --> 00:28:32,560 Speaker 1: but on doing whatever they needed to do to keep 527 00:28:32,600 --> 00:28:37,240 Speaker 1: themselves alive. Uh. The Navy also recognized Captain's Swinson and 528 00:28:37,320 --> 00:28:41,800 Speaker 1: Johnson and their cruise for how their lengths they had 529 00:28:41,800 --> 00:28:44,800 Speaker 1: gone to to try to rescue the crew once they 530 00:28:44,840 --> 00:28:48,560 Speaker 1: found the submarine sticking partly out of the water, and 531 00:28:48,600 --> 00:28:51,800 Speaker 1: they also put more safety measures into place so that 532 00:28:51,880 --> 00:28:54,680 Speaker 1: the same thing would not happen again. Cook was also 533 00:28:54,720 --> 00:28:57,920 Speaker 1: a career Navy man, and he eventually retired as a 534 00:28:57,920 --> 00:29:03,520 Speaker 1: full admiral in for more than thirty years of service. Apparently, 535 00:29:03,560 --> 00:29:07,080 Speaker 1: after the S five was sunk, most of the crew 536 00:29:07,920 --> 00:29:11,760 Speaker 1: really petitioned to be placed under him again, which is 537 00:29:12,080 --> 00:29:14,520 Speaker 1: not surprising to me at all. I feel like this 538 00:29:14,600 --> 00:29:17,920 Speaker 1: story could be used in corporate leadership manuals. Yeah, his 539 00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:20,680 Speaker 1: nickname was savvy. He had been nicknamed that long before 540 00:29:21,120 --> 00:29:22,920 Speaker 1: and to this just because that was his demeanor. He 541 00:29:22,960 --> 00:29:25,320 Speaker 1: was a savvy guy. He knew how to how to 542 00:29:25,360 --> 00:29:30,120 Speaker 1: handle things. So yes, so happy and the happy and 543 00:29:30,320 --> 00:29:33,400 Speaker 1: the harrowing story, but a happy end name it is harrowing. 544 00:29:33,600 --> 00:29:37,120 Speaker 1: I I do wish that I had made sure that 545 00:29:37,160 --> 00:29:39,320 Speaker 1: there's not a movie of this at i amdb, because 546 00:29:39,360 --> 00:29:47,960 Speaker 1: their absolutely should be. If there is not, Thank you 547 00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:50,520 Speaker 1: so much for joining us on this Saturday. If you 548 00:29:50,640 --> 00:29:53,280 Speaker 1: have heard an email address or a Facebook you are 549 00:29:53,360 --> 00:29:56,040 Speaker 1: l or something similar over the course of today's episode, 550 00:29:56,160 --> 00:29:58,320 Speaker 1: since it is from the archive that might be out 551 00:29:58,360 --> 00:30:01,680 Speaker 1: of date now, you can email us at History podcast 552 00:30:01,800 --> 00:30:03,880 Speaker 1: at how stuff Works dot com, and you can find 553 00:30:03,960 --> 00:30:07,040 Speaker 1: us all over social media at missed in History. And 554 00:30:07,120 --> 00:30:10,920 Speaker 1: you can subscribe to our show on Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, 555 00:30:11,000 --> 00:30:13,560 Speaker 1: the I Heart radio app, and wherever else you listen 556 00:30:13,600 --> 00:30:19,960 Speaker 1: to podcasts. Stuff You Missed in History Class is a 557 00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:22,880 Speaker 1: production of I heart Radios How Stuff Works. 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