Synopses & Reviews
In a collision with a steamship, City of Rome, on the night of September 25, 1925, the U.S. Navy Submarine S-51 sank in 132 feet of water, taking 33 sailors to the ocean floor. This is the story of the men charged with doing the impossible—raising the thousand ton sub from the bottom of the sea. Added to this modern classic of true adventure are a foreword and afterword giving specifics of the accident and the aftermath, additional photographs, a publisher’s preface, and appendices.
About the Author
Commander Edward Ellsberg graduated first in his class from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1914. In 1925, he led the effort to raise the S-51, for which he became the first sailor to earn the Distinguished Service Medal during peacetime, and was promoted to Commander by a special act of Congress. In the late 1920s, Ellsberg began his prolific career as a writer of Naval history and fiction.
Table of Contents
On the Bottom Publisher's Preface
Introduction
Chapter I: Collision
Chapter II. On the S-51
Chapter III. Rescue Efforts
Chapter IV: Vacillation
Chapter V: The Salvage Problem
Chapter VI: Diving
Chapter VII: The Divers
Chapter VIII: Off Block Island
Chapter IX: In the Engine Room
Chapter X: The First Snag
Chapter XI: The Control Room
Chapter XII: Another Struggle
Chapter XIII: The First Pontoon
Chapter XIV: Blowing the Ballast Tanks
Chapter XV: Outside the Control Room
Chapter XVI: A Lost Diver
Chapter XVII: The Motor Room
Chapter XVIII: Winter
Chapter XIX: A Diving School
Chapter XX: Lost, a Submarine
Chapter XXI: Pontoons Again
Chapter XXII: My First Dive
Chapter XXIII: Sealing Up Aft
Chapter XXIV: The Torch Solves a Problem
Chapter XXV: The First Tunnel
Chapter XXVI: The Cement Gun
Chapter XXVII: An Ocean Oil Well
Chapter XXVIII: The Engine Room Hatch
Chapter XXIX: More Pontoons
Chapter XXX: A Tug of War
Chapter XXXI: The Last Tunnel
Chapter XXXII: Lashing Up
Chapter XXXIII: June 22, 1926
Chapter XXXIV: Still More Pontoons
Chapter XXXV: July 5, 1926
Chapter XXXVI: The Tow
Chapter XXXVII: Man of War Rock
Chapter XXXVIII: The Bell
Chapter XXXIX: The End
Glossary
Publisher's Afterword
Appendix A: Final Sailing List
Appendix B: Additional Sources
Appendix C: S-51 Schematics
Index