The submarine had already successfully navigated 18 test missions, and the 59 men aboard saw no signs that the 19th would be any different. Squalus disappeared beneath the waves off the New Hampshire coast on the morning of May 23, 1939, all was going well. Squalus: The Greatest Submarine Rescue of All Time Navy Historical Center via Wikimedia Commons U.S.S. Squalus rescue, and a cutaway illustration of the space inside. Navy Historical Center images show a 1939 McCann rescue chamber similar to the one used in the U.S.S. In a 1984 TV event, the safe used by first-class passengers yielded not the multimillion-dollar haul of valuables that some had predicted, but rather a small cache of mostly paper currency. Since it settled to the ocean floor, the ship has claimed the lives of at least 16 divers. The Andrea Doria now sits in 240 feet of water and has become a popular, if perilous, diving destination. Just after 10 o’clock the next morning, the giant ship disappeared into the sea. Other ships in the vicinity responded quickly and were able to rescue all but 46 of the approximately 1,700 people on board (five people aboard the Stockholm were also killed). The impact left the Andrea Doria taking on water and listing so sharply to the side that half of its lifeboats were inaccessible. Launched in 1953, the ship had completed 100 transatlantic voyages by July 25, 1956, when human error set it on a collision course with the icebreaker bow of the Stockholm off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts. Decked out in luxurious furnishings and sporting an unprecedented three outdoor swimming pools (one for each passenger class), it was a premier luxury liner of its day. The 697-foot Andrea Doria was a superstar ship of the 1950s. Harry Trask/ Boston Traveler via Wikimedia Commons S.S. After a collision with the Swedish ship Stockholm, the Andrea Doria slowly sinks off the coast of Nantucket in July 1956.
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