The submarine that died and came back: USS Squalus’s terrifyingly true tale
Leave it to a malfunctioning valve and terrible timing to turn a naval test dive into a horror story. In this Scary Interesting installment, the saga of the USS Squalus unfolds like a mashup of Das Boot and The Poseidon Adventure, with a side of 1930s military engineering optimism.
What starts as a routine test dive off the New Hampshire coast for the Navy’s new pride and joy ends with half the crew dead, the rest waiting 240 feet beneath the surface, and a desperate race against time involving experimental rescue bells, frayed nerves, and the unforgiving Atlantic. Squalus was the Navy’s shiny new toy until it became a tomb. Then, somehow, an incredible comeback story. The video nails the tension, the tech, and the sheer madness of what happens when you’re trapped inside a giant metal tube at the bottom of the ocean.
And then there was the Thresher. Questionable manufacturing technique, everybody dead, scattered across the bottom of the ocean.