Word: squalus
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Dates: during 1939-1939
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Luckily for Oliver Naquin, the Navy already knew that: 1) sea water pouring through an open air-intake valve flooded the submarine's rear compartments, and 2) signal lights indicated that this valve was properly closed when the Squalus' last dive began...
...seconds after the first diving signal was given, officers at key posts throughout the boat reported all rigged for diving. The Squalus was 50 feet under the surface before "a hazy voice" from the engine room telephoned: "Take her up. The induction [main air valve] is open," and seconds later: "The engine room is flooded...
Weeks before the Squalus went down, the guilty valve failed to open properly but had never failed to close. It was disassembled, supposedly put in perfect order. On the Squalus and her sister boats, this valve is outside the hull, near the conning tower and invisible to those inside, who must depend on signal lights to know whether it is open or closed. The electrical signal system could have lied "if the mechanism was out of order...
Last week Captain William R. Munroe of the Squalus board asked Witness Naquin what would have happened if such a device had been in use. Slowly and damningly, Oliver Naquin replied: "I believe such a device could have prevented this tragedy...
...tell the whole truth, and promised to defend himself when and as necessary, Oliver Naquin in the witness chair produced a hero whom the press had overlooked: Chief Electrician's Mate Lawrence James Gainor of Honolulu. Forty-year-old Lawrence Gainor was on duty near one of the Squalus' two battery compartments. While the after compartments were flooding, Lawrence Gainor braved a fiery arc, crawled between the melting, short-circuited cables, disconnected the switches, and so prevented fire which undoubtedly would have cut off more of the Squalus' crew from rescue. His performance, said his commander...