Analysis Of Peter Maas 'The Terrible Hours'

Whether fortunately or unfortunately, the limits of innovation are often put to the test. In the case of a submarine launched to sea in 1938, the USS Squalus, bad luck proved disastrous. Within minutes of a test dive, twenty-six men drowned. Years later, Peter Maas compiled the known information about the tragedy into The Terrible Hours: The Greatest Submarine Rescue in History. Over the heartbreaking journey of hopelessness to hope, crisis to survival, and depths to ascension, Maas weaves the sad tale depicting the unknown dangers that technology possesses. In the beginning of the account, Maas introduces the crew of USS Squalus, which was at its time a cutting-edge submarine. With ample space on board (in submarine standards), Squalus sported a toilet and open kitchen space. The crew celebrated these luxuries,

Together they created a plan to lower a chamber down to Squalus, latch onto it, and transport sailors back to the surface. Temporary communications over an anchor took place: men inside Squalus took hammers to pound out Morse code through the water, which transmitted to ships above. Anxious families waited for news of loved ones, which did not arrive for several days. Within the submarine, concerns were rising as temperatures were rapidly dropping to arctic levels. Oxygen was running low. Divers were sent down to monitor the rescue chamber, which successfully brought three groups of men to safety, to the surface, and to great relief. However, the fourth and last trip of the rescue chamber was not nearly so successful. Steel cords snapped until one was left. The ten men aboard managed to slowly, over the course of four hours, travel upwards by carefully balancing internal air pressure with water pressure, air pressure with water pressure, until at last they reached the surface. Overjoyed families reunited with their loved ones, almost forty hours after the dive of