Submarines: Sargo Class

[Brian James]

Sargo Class Submarine USS Squalus pictured on launch day at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine on September 14th 1938...Squalus sank off the coast of New Hampshire during test dives on May 23rd 1939. The sinking drowned 26 crew members, but an ensuing rescue operation, using the McCann Rescue Chamber for the first time, saved the lives of the remaining 33 aboard. She was salvaged in late 1939 and decommissioned.
She was recommissioned as USS Sailfish in May 1940, and conducted numerous patrols in the Pacific War during WWII, earning nine battle stars. She was decommissioned in October 1945 and later scrapped; her conning tower remains on display at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.