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Interim Awards Congressional Medal of Honor Recipient
Lieutenant Orson L. Crandall, USN
Orson Leon Crandall was born on February 2, 1903 at St. Joseph, Missouri. He enlisted in the Navy in June 1922, serving in several ships over the next decade. Trained as a diver in 1932-33 and designated a Master Diver in March 1939, he was serving in USS Falcon (ASR-2) when she supported the rescue and salvage effort on the sunken submarine Squalus (SS-192) in May-September 1939. Chief Boatswain's Mate Crandall was awarded the Medal of Honor for heroism as Master Diver during that operation.
During World War II, Crandall became a commissioned officer and served in a variety of salvage and diving-related positions. He transferred to the Fleet Reserve in June 1946 and retired in December 1952. Lieutenant Orson L. Crandall died in May 1960.
USS Crandall (YHLC-2), 1967-1993, was named in honor of Lieutenant Crandall.
USS Squalus (SS-192) -- Rescue of Survivors, 23-25 May 1939
At 8:40 AM on 23 May 1939, USS Squalus was just beginning a test dive in the Atlantic, not far from Portsmouth, New Hampshire. All indications were that everything was ready for a safe dive. However, just after she submerged, the engine rooms began to flood -- somehow the main induction valve, a large opening that brought air to the engines while on the surface, had opened. Quickly, the submarine's after compartments filled with water, drowning 26 men there, and Squalus settled to the bottom, 243 feet deep. In the forward compartments, sealed by watertight doors, 33 men remained alive. Their Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Oliver F. Naquin, began survival planning. Since the water depth and temperature made ascent with the self-contained "Momsen Lung" very dangerous, he elected to wait for rescue from above.
Within a few hours, other ships were searching for the missing Squalus, unfortunately in the wrong place. However, in the early afternoon a distant signal rocket was seen from a sister submarine, USS Sculpin (SS-191). Communication via the sunken sub's rescue bouy was soon established, and as soon broken when the bouy's connecting line snapped. The tug Penacook (YT-6) spent the afternoon and evening dragging a grapnel around the sinking site, finally hooking what all hands hoped was Squalus. Meanwhile, a team of divers from Washington, DC, their leader, Lieutenant Commander Charles B. Momsen, and the submarine rescue ship Falcon (ASR-2) were hurrying northward toward Portsmouth. Falcon carried more divers and a McCann Rescue Chamber, a large diving bell specially designed for just such an emergency.
Falcon moored over the Penacook's contact on the morning of 24 May. Divers soon confirmed that the contact was indeed the Squalus. During the afternoon and early evening, the rescue chamber made three relatively smooth round trips to the sunken submarine, bringing up 25 men. Only one more trip would finish the rescue of all those known to be alive. Shortly before 8PM, crewed by Chief Torpedoman's Mate John Mihalowski and Chief Metalsmith James H. McDonald , the rescue chamber picked up the last eight Squalus survivors, including Lieutenant Naquin, and began its ascent. While still 160 feet deep, its guiding cable jammed and the chamber had to return to the Squalus.
Over the next four hours, as problem followed problem, and divers labored heroically to effect repairs, the chamber was in imminent danger of disaster, risking the lives of its ten occupants. However, with careful handling it surfaced safely shortly after midnight on 25 May. During that day, divers and the rescue chamber crew made more difficult trips down to the Squalus, determining that no more crewmen remained alive on board her. The historic rescue mission, the first such undertaking in World history, and one conducted at a time in which the technologies of underwater object location, communications and deep-water diving were in their infancies, was a success.
CITATION:
Rank and organization: Chief Boatswain's Mate, U.S. Navy. Place and date: At sea following sinking of U.S.S. Squalus, 13 May 1939. Born: 2 February 1903, St. Joseph, Mo. Entered service at: Connecticut. Citation: For extraordinary heroism in the line of his profession as a master diver throughout the rescue and salvage operations following the sinking of the U.S.S. Squalus on 23 May 1939. His leadership and devotion to duty in directing diving operations and in making important and difficult dives under the most hazardous conditions characterize conduct far above and beyond the ordinary call of duty.
Salvage of USS Squalus (SS-192), 1939
Squalus' bow comes to the surface as personnel based on USS Falcon (ASR-2) struggle to refloat the sunken submarine, off the New Hampshire coast during the Summer of 1939. This appears to be the 13 July 1939 lift, in which Squalus' bow rose uncontrollably to the surface and then sank. If that is the case, the salvage pontoons nearby would include both bow line pontoons, plus the two upper pontoons on the stern lifting line. The ship's hull number ("192") is painted on her bow.
USS Squalus (SS-192) Rescue and Salvage Operations, 1939
Secretary of the Navy Charles Edison presents Medals of Honor to four men for heroism during rescue and salvage operations following the accidental sinking of Squalus on May 23, 1939. The ceremonies took place at the Navy Department on 19 January 1940. The men are (from left to right): Chief Machinist's Mate William Badders ; Chief Torpedoman John Mihalowski ; Chief Boatswain's Mate Orson L. Crandall ; and Chief Metalsmith James Harper McDonald . All were qualified as Divers. The Diver's distinguishing mark is visible on the Mihalowski's and Crandall's jacket sleeves.
Courtesy of Find A Grave
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