Sculpin

Sculpin (SS-189) was a U.S. Navy submarine. Sister ship to the ill-fated Squalus, Sculpin was instrumental in its rescue.

Fiction

On the 23rd of May, 1939, Squalus were being tested off the coast of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Sculpin, which was also at sea, was first to discover Squalus' distress buoy. On hearing this news, Vice-Admiral Cole embarked on Penacook to join in the rescue operation. Another boat, Falcon, got caught in a storm on its journey, but a crewman knew they were on course when he spotted the lights of Sculpin and Penacook. Falcon's Commander McCann and his diving bell saved all 33 crew members aboard Squalus. Trapped Beneath the Waves!

Crew

During the Second World War, twenty sailors who had previously manned Sculpin during the rescue operation were captured and transported on a Japanese cargo boat. In a cruel irony, the boat was sank by Sailfish, the ship that had previously been designated Squalus, killing some of its one-time rescuers. Trapped Beneath the Waves!

Notes

• The real Sculpin was SS-191.
• According to Clay Blair Jr.'s 1975 book "Silent Victory: The U.S. Submarine War Against Japan" (or at least Wikipedia's citation of it), the men killed aboard the Japanese cargo boat were indeed Sculpin crewmembers, but none of them were part of the crew that helped rescue Squalus.