Lost Boats - May
It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died...rather we should thank God that such men lived...
~ George S. Patton
On 23 MAY 1939, USS SQUALUS suffered a catastrophic valve failure during a test dive off the Isle of Shoals. Partially flooded, the submarine sank to the bottom and came to rest keel down in 240 feet of water.
Commander Charles Momsen and Navy divers on USS FALCON (ASR 2) rescued thirty-three survivors use the diving bell he invented. Twenty-six men drowned in the after compartments.
Later USS SQUALUS was raised and recommissioned as USS SAILFISH. In an ironic turn of fate, USS SAILFISH sank the Japanese aircraft carrier carrying surviving crew members from USS SCULPIN, which had located USS SQUALUS after sinking in 1939.
USS SAILFISH was sold for scrapping to Luria Brothers of Philadelphia, PA.
Her conning tower stands as a memorial to the lost crew of USS SQUALUS at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Kittery, ME.
Lost on or after 04 MAY 1945 with the loss of 86 officers and men near the Gulf of Siam on her second war patrol.
USS BAYA tried to contact USS LAGARTO and she made no reply. Japanese records state that during the night of 3-4 May, mine layer HATSUTAKA attacked a U.S. submarine in that location. It is presumed that USS LAGARTO perished with all hands in this battle.
The Japanese minelayer HATSUTAKA was sunk by the USS HAWKBILL (SS 366) two weeks later.
Lost on 30 MAY 1958 with no loss of life, sinking off Hawaii while under tow after collision with USS SILVERSTEIN (DE 534).
USS STICKLEBACK's pressure hull was holed In her port side. The crew was removed and efforts were made to save the boat. Compartments flooded, but even with lines tied around her, USS STICKLEBACK sank in 1800 fathoms of water.
The entire crew was taken off prior to sinking.
USS SCORPION (SSN 589) was returning to Norfolk, VA. from a Mediterranean deployment. On 22 MAY 1968, shortly after midnight, she reported her position to be about 50 miles south of the Azores. Her last transmission ended at 0302.
USS SCORPION was never heard from again.
Later information has determined the time of the hull collapse as 1842 UDT on 22 MAY 1968 at a depth of 1525 feet, taking with her ninety-nine officers and men.
The exact cause of her loss has never been determined.