1939, \"USS SQUALUS SUBMARINE\" SALVAGE UNIT AWARD, VERY RARE FIND (READ LISTING) For Sale

1939, \"USS SQUALUS SUBMARINE\" SALVAGE UNIT AWARD
THIS IS AN EXTREMELY RARE FIND, AND WAS AWARDED TO ONLY A HANDFUL OF MEN WHO HELPED RESCUE SAILORS AND RETREVE THE SUBMARINE SQUALUS FROM THE OCEN FLOOR IN 1939 AFTER A MALFUNTION AND SUBSEQUENT SINKING.
I AQUIRED THIS MANY YEARS AGO FROM THE GRANDCHILD OF ONE THE ACTUAL NAVY DIVERS WHO TOOK PART IN THE SALVAGE RECOVERY. IT HAD SOME HANDWRITTEN DOCUMENTATION WITH IT THAT SAID IT WAS (1 OF 23) AND SPECIALLY PRESENTED TO THE NAVY DIVERS AND SALVAGE CREW WHO SAVED 33 SAILORS FROM THE OCEAN FLOOR. THIS QUITE A RARE FEAT IN 1939, AND ONE I\'M SURE ALL INVOLVED NEVER FORGOT.
IT\'S MADE OF SOME TYPE OF STAINLESS METAL, AND IS IN VERY GOOD CONDITION, HAS A LITTLE AGE WEAR. IT HAD BEEN STORED AWAY FOR 60 PLUS YEARS WHEN I AQUIRED IT.
THIS IS A VERY RARE PIECE OF NAVEL, AND MARITIME HISTORY. IYT\'S DOUBTFUL YOU\'LL EVER SEE ANOTHER COME UP FOR sale CONSIDERING IT\'S OVER 80 YEARS OLD AND WITH ONLY 23 BEING PRESENTED.
AN EXCELLENT ADDITION FOR ANY NAVEY, MILITARY OR MARITIME COLLECTOR.
BELOW IS A BREIF OVERVIEW OF THE USS SQUALUS
USS Squalus (SS-192), a diesel-electric submarine built at the Portsmouth Navy Yard, Portsmouth, New Hampshire and commissioned there on 1 March 1939, suffered a catastrophic valve failure during a test dive off the Isle of Shoals at 0740 on 23 May. Partially flooded, the submarine sank to the bottom and came to rest keel down in 40 fathoms (240 feet) of water. Navy divers and salvage ships responded quickly, and the following day began operations to rescue the surviving 32 crew members and one civilian from the forward sections of the boat. At 1130 on 24 May, USS Falcon (ASR-2) lowered the newly developed McCann rescue chamber--a revised version of a diving bell invented by Commander Charles B. Momsen--and, over the next 13 hours, all 33 survivors were rescued from the stricken submarine. On 13 September, after long and difficult salvage operations, Squalus was raised and towed into the Portsmouth Navy Yard. The boat was formally decommissioned on 15 November, renamed Sailfish on 9 February 1940, and recommissioned on 15 May 1940.

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