Charles Bowers Momsen (June 21, 1896 – May 25, 1967),

nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

d "Swede", was born in

Flushing Flushing may refer to: Places * Flushing, Cornwall, a village in the United Kingdom * Flushing, Queens, New York City ** Flushing Bay, a bay off the north shore of Queens ** Flushing Chinatown (法拉盛華埠), a community in Queens ** Flushin ...

, New York. He was an American pioneer in submarine rescue for the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

, and he invented the underwater escape device later called the "

Momsen lung The Momsen lung was a primitive underwater rebreather used before and during World War II by American submariners as emergency escape gear. It was invented by Charles Momsen (nicknamed "Swede"). Submariners trained with this apparatus in an dee ...

", for which he received the Navy Distinguished Service Medal in 1929. In May 1939, Momsen directed the rescue of the crew of ''Squalus'' (SS-192).

Early years in the Navy

Momsen entered the U.S. Naval Academy in 1914, but he was dismissed after a widespread cheating scandal during the spring of his first year there. However, Momsen pursued another appointment to the Academy, received it, repeated his plebe year, and graduated in 1919 — one year early, due to the involvement of the United States in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. From 1919 to 1921, Momsen served on the battleship ''Oklahoma'' (BB-37). In 1921, he entered the

Naval Submarine School A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It includ ...

New London, Connecticut New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, Connecticut. It was one of the world's three busiest whaling ports for several decade ...

, graduating in January 1922. 18 months later, he took command of the submarine ''O-15'' (SS-76). A few years later, he was given command of ''S-1'' (SS-105), one of the newest US Navy designed submarines of that time.

Diving and rescue

Early interest

It was aboard ''S-1'' Momsen's attention became drawn to the urgent need for a way to rescue trapped submariners. On September 25, 1925, ''S-1''s sister ship, ''S-51'' (SS-162), collided with freighter ''City of Rome'' in the vicinity of Block Island and sank in of water. Momsen was ordered to take ''S-1'' to search for the crippled submarine. ''S-1'' found the oil slick marking the spot where ''S-51'' had sunk, but without any

sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect objects on o ...

, there was no way for his crew to locate her on the bottom, nor was there a way for trapped crewmen to escape. Momsen began to look for ways to rescue submariners. He conceived a diving bell, which could be lowered to a submarine in distress, mated to an escape hatch, and opened to allow trapped submariners to climb in. A watertight seal to the submarine could be achieved by placing a rubber gasket around the diving bell's bottom and reducing the air pressure once the bell was over the escape hatch. Then, the hatch could be opened, and the trapped submariners could climb aboard. Momsen diagrammed his idea and sent it up the chain of command. He waited more than a year for a response, heard nothing, and concluded there must have been something technically wrong with the concept. Momsen's next tour of duty took him to the Submarine Division of the

Bureau of Construction and Repair The Bureau of Construction and Repair (BuC&R) was the part of the United States Navy which from 1862 to 1940 was responsible for supervising the design, construction, conversion, procurement, maintenance, and repair of ships and other craft for the ...

. Shortly after he reported aboard, he came across his diving bell drawings. They had been disapproved as impractical. He stated his case again, but to no avail. Shortly thereafter, in December 1927, another submarine, the ''S-4'' (SS-109), sank off

Cape Cod Cape Cod is a peninsula extending into the Atlantic Ocean from the southeastern corner of mainland Massachusetts, in the northeastern United States. Its historic, maritime character and ample beaches attract heavy tourism during the summer mont ...

. All forty of her crew died. Six sailors survived three days in the forward torpedo room, but had no way to escape.

The Momsen lung

After the ''S-4'' incident, Momsen began working on a device to help trapped submariners escape safely to the surface. Officially called the Submarine Escape Lung, it consisted of an oblong rubber bag that recycled exhaled air. The press enthusiastically received the device and they dubbed it the "Momsen lung", a name that stuck. The Momsen lung contains a canister of

soda lime Soda lime is a mixture of NaOH and CaO chemicals, used in granular form in closed breathing environments, such as general anaesthesia, submarines, rebreathers and recompression chambers, to remove carbon dioxide from breathing gases to prevent ...

, which removes poisonous

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide ( chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is trans ...

from the exhaled air and then replenishes the air with

oxygen Oxygen is the chemical element with the symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group in the periodic table, a highly reactive nonmetal, and an oxidizing agent that readily forms oxides with most elements as ...

. Two tubes lead from the bag to a mouthpiece: one with which to inhale air and the other to with which to exhale spent air. The device hangs around the wearer's neck and is strapped around the waist. Besides providing oxygen for the ascent, it also allows a submariner to rise slowly to the surface, thus avoiding embolisms. Between June 1929 and September 1932, Lieutenant Momsen developed the lung along with Chief Gunner's Mate Clarence L. Tibbals and Frank M. Hobson, a civilian employee of the

(later the Bureau of Ships). In 1929, Momsen received the Navy Distinguished Service Medal for personally testing the device at a depth of . The Momsen lung saved its first lives in October 1944, when eight submariners used it to reach the surface after ''Tang'' (SS-306) sank in of water in the East China Sea. The Momsen lung was eventually supplemented by the Steinke hood and free-ascent techniques.

The diving bell

Momsen returned to his

diving bell A diving bell is a rigid chamber used to transport divers from the surface to depth and back in open water, usually for the purpose of performing underwater work. The most common types are the open-bottomed wet bell and the closed bell, which c ...

idea in 1930. He built a prototype, constructed from a water-tight aircraft hangar pirated from ''S-1'' and tested it off Key West, Florida. Momsen stated the bell was unstable, tipped, and leaked, and had several changes in mind for the diving bell, but was sent to the Bureau of Construction and Repair to teach submariners how to use the Momsen lung before he could make the changes. He charged Lieutenant Commander Al McCann to make the changes he wanted and McCann was put in charge of the final revisions on the Momsen / McCann diving bell. When the redesigned diving bell was completed in late 1930, it was introduced as the McCann Submarine Rescue Chamber. The final bell, with the revisions and changes that Momsen authorized, included a floor bulkhead, pneumatic winch and a pressure seal allowing direct transfer of survivors to the diving bell in a dry environment.

Gas mixtures

From 1937 to 1939, Momsen led an experimental deep-sea diving unit at the

Washington Navy Yard The Washington Navy Yard (WNY) is the former shipyard and Weapon, ordnance plant of the United States Navy in Southeast, Washington, D.C., Southeast Washington, D.C. It is the oldest shore establishment of the U.S. Navy. The Yard currently serv ...

which achieved a major breakthrough in the physiology of the human lung's gas mixtures under high pressure. At depths greater than , on pure oxygen, and , on air, the

turns

toxic Toxicity is the degree to which a chemical substance or a particular mixture of substances can damage an organism. Toxicity can refer to the effect on a whole organism, such as an animal, bacterium, or plant, as well as the effect on a subs ...

. Underwater, breathing air,

nitrogen Nitrogen is the chemical element with the symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a nonmetal and the lightest member of group 15 of the periodic table, often called the pnictogens. It is a common element in the universe, estimated at se ...

enters the blood, then tissues, and below may cause euphoria commonly called "

nitrogen narcosis Narcosis while diving (also known as nitrogen narcosis, inert gas narcosis, raptures of the deep, Martini effect) is a reversible alteration in consciousness that occurs while diving at depth. It is caused by the anesthetic effect of certain g ...

". Also, divers who ascend too rapidly can get

decompression sickness Decompression sickness (abbreviated DCS; also called divers' disease, the bends, aerobullosis, and caisson disease) is a medical condition caused by dissolved gases emerging from solution as bubbles inside the body tissues during decompressio ...

, commonly known as "the bends," which happens when nitrogen in the blood forms bubbles. These bubbles can block blood flow and cause intense pain, even death. In experiments often performed by Momsen himself, the team replaced the

with nontoxic

helium Helium (from el, ἥλιος, helios, lit=sun) is a chemical element with the symbol He and atomic number 2. It is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic, inert, monatomic gas and the first in the noble gas group in the periodic table. ...

and mixed it with varying levels of

depending on the depth. Today's divers use the knowledge to operate safely deeper than .

The ''Squalus'' rescue

Momsen, already famous for the invention of his Momsen lung, achieved even more fame for directing the rescue and recovery of the 33 crewmen of the submarine ''Squalus'', which sank in May 1939 in of water off the

Isles of Shoals The Isles of Shoals are a group of small islands and tidal ledges situated approximately off the east coast of the United States, straddling the border of the states of Maine and New Hampshire. They have been occupied for more than 400 years, fi ...

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...

. Working from the submarine rescue ship USS ''Falcon'' (ASR-2), Momsen instructed the team of deep-sea divers as they dived to the submarine and attached cables to the rescue chamber. He also supervised rescue chamber operators as it made four dives to bring the submariners to the surface and a fifth to check the flooded aft section for survivors. The fourth dive was marred by a cable jam, and the chamber had to be hauled to the surface by hand over hand pulling by all on board. All 33 surviving crewmen were rescued. 26 men had perished. Momsen led the diving operations in the effort to salvage the ''Squalus'', which took 113 days. She was taken to the

drydock A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...

at the

Portsmouth Navy Yard The Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, often called the Portsmouth Navy Yard, is a United States Navy shipyard in Kittery on the southern boundary of Maine near the city of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Founded in 1800, PNS is U.S. Navy's oldest continuo ...

. Along with Commander McCann, Momsen received a letter of commendation from President

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

for the successful rescue of the crewmen from the ''Squalus'' and the subsequent salvage of the submarine. After her repairs, the ''Squalus'' was renamed the USS ''Sailfish'', and the name ''Squalus'' was never used by the U.S. Navy again.

World War II

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, Momsen served as Commander,

Submarine Squadron 2 Submarine Squadron Two (SUBRON 2) was a United States Navy submarine squadron based at Groton, Connecticut. History Submarine Squadron 2 started World War II at Mariveles Naval Section Base in the Philippines as part of the United States Asiatic F ...

(ComSubRon 2) and Commander, Submarine Squadron 4 (ComSubRon 4). While Momsen was ComSubRon 2 in the

U.S. Pacific Fleet The United States Pacific Fleet (USPACFLT) is a theater-level component command of the United States Navy, located in the Pacific Ocean. It provides naval forces to the Indo-Pacific Command. Fleet headquarters is at Joint Base Pearl Harbor� ...

, captains under his command reported their

Mark 14 torpedo The Mark 14 torpedo was the United States Navy's standard submarine-launched anti-ship torpedo of World War II. This weapon was plagued with many problems which crippled its performance early in the war. It was supplemented by the Mark 18 elec ...

es were not functioning properly. When fired from the preferred perpendicular angle of impact, the

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, s ...

es did not always explode. However, when fired to hit at acute angles, the torpedoes usually exploded. When officers of Momsen's own squadron complained, he decided to find out why. He took torpedoes to the shallow waters and sheer cliffs of the

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

an Island of

Kahoolawe Kahoolawe (Hawaiian: ), anglicized as Kahoolawe (), is the smallest of the eight main volcanic islands in the Hawaiian Islands. Kahoolawe is located about southwest of Maui and also southeast of Lānaʻi, and it is long by wide, with a total l ...

and fired until he got a dud. Then, risking his own life, he dove into the water to find the unexploded torpedo. With help, he recovered the dangerous live torpedo and brought it on board. A small problem with the firing pin inside the primer cap of the warhead was causing the duds: it was becoming crushed, rather than firing the warhead. In Fall 1943,

ComSubPac Commander, Submarine Force, U.S. Pacific Fleet (COMSUBPAC) is the principal advisor to the Commander, United States Pacific Fleet ( COMPACFLT) for submarine matters. The Pacific Submarine Force (SUBPAC) includes attack, ballistic missile and au ...

initiated the Navy's first wolfpack.Blair, Clay, Jr. ''Silent Victory'' (New York: Bantam, 1976), p.541. Momsen drilled his captains and their executive officers in tactics, planning to have three boats act in company, one boat making the first attack on a

convoy A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...

then acting as "trailer", while the other two attacked alternatively on either flank afterward.Blair, p.542. He also developed a simple code for communications on the short range VHF radio system used for Talk Between Ships (TBS). The pack consisted of Edgar McGregor's ''Shad'', experienced skipper Dave White's new ''Cero'', and ''Grayback'', fresh from refit in

Mare Island Mare Island ( Spanish: ''Isla de la Yegua'') is a peninsula in the United States in the city of Vallejo, California, about northeast of San Francisco. The Napa River forms its eastern side as it enters the Carquinez Strait juncture with the ...

(and with one of the Submarine Force's first deck gun), under newcomer John Moore. Momsen, without any combat experience, flew his flag in ''Cero''. The pack arrived in the East China Sea in October 1943. It proved unable to solve the problems of communication and risk of fratricide, and made only one joint attack on a single convoy, but was credited at the time with sinking five Japanese ships for 88,000 tons and damaging eight others for 63,000 tons between them. (This was reduced to three sunk for 23,500 tons by JANAC postwar.) Momsen also received the Legion of Merit for work on the Navy's wolfpacks from February 1943 to June 1944. Momsen earned a

Navy Cross The Navy Cross is the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps' second-highest military decoration awarded for sailors and marines who distinguish themselves for extraordinary heroism in combat with an armed enemy force. The medal is eq ...

for his efforts. Momsen commanded the battleship ''South Dakota'' from December 1944 through August 1945. For his distinguished service in command, Momsen was awarded a Gold Star (with Combat "V"), in lieu of a third award of the Legion of Merit.

Military decorations

In addition to the

once and the Legion of Merit with two Gold Stars (to show repeat awards) and "V" device, Momsen earned the Navy Distinguished Service Medal, Army Distinguished Service Medal,

Navy Commendation Medal The Commendation Medal is a mid-level United States military decoration presented for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service. Each branch of the United States Armed Forces issues its own version of the Commendation Medal, with a fifth ...

with "V" device, World War I Victory Medal with escort clasp,

American Defense Service Medal The American Defense Service Medal was a military award of the United States Armed Forces, established by , by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, on June 28, 1941. The medal was intended to recognize those military service members who had served ...

with Fleet Clasp,

American Campaign Medal The American Campaign Medal is a military award of the United States Armed Forces which was first created on November 6, 1942, by issued by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. The medal was intended to recognize those military members who had perfo ...

, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with four service stars,

World War II Victory Medal The World War II Victory Medal is a service medal of the United States military which was established by an Act of Congress on 6 July 1945 (Public Law 135, 79th Congress) and promulgated by Section V, War Department Bulletin 12, 1945. The Wo ...

Navy Occupation Service Medal The Navy Occupation Service Medal is a military award of the United States Navy which was "Awarded to commemorate the services of Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard personnel in the occupation of certain territories of the enemies of the U.S. durin ...

National Defense Service Medal The National Defense Service Medal (NDSM) is a service award of the United States Armed Forces established by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1953. It is awarded to every member of the US Armed Forces who has served during any one of four ...

Philippine Liberation Medal The Philippine Liberation Medal is a military award of the Republic of the Philippines which was created by an order of Commonwealth Army of the Philippines Headquarters on 20 December 1944, and was issued as the Philippine Liberation Ribbon. The d ...

with one bronze star and the Submarine Warfare insignia.

Later years

In November 1945, he directed a fleet of nearly 200 surplus Army and Navy ships, manned by Japanese crews, that evacuated the first of nearly six million Japanese from

Manchuria Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endo demonym " Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East (Outer M ...

, Formosa, and islands in the Pacific. Momsen served on the

Navy General Board The General Board of the United States Navy was an advisory body of the United States Navy, somewhat akin to a naval general staff and somewhat not. The General Board was established by general order 544, issued on March 13, 1900 by Secretary ...

from June 1947 until May 1948. He served as Assistant Chief of Naval Operations for Undersea Warfare from 1948 to 1951, then became Commander of the Submarine Force's Pacific Fleet. Momsen also took part in developing the streamlined Albacore submarine. To avoid Navy interference, Admiral Momsen directed Bureau of Ships to design an unarmed submarine for speed, and told the Navy that the submarine would be a practice target for anti-submarine aircraft from aircraft carriers. Vice Admiral Momsen died of cancer on May 25, 1967. He was buried at

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...

Namesake

The 42nd

guided missile destroyer A guided-missile destroyer (DDG) is a destroyer whose primary armament is guided missiles so they can provide anti-aircraft warfare screening for the fleet. The NATO standard designation for these vessels is DDG, while destroyers who have a prim ...

, is named in his honor. Momsen Hall, the 75-man Bachelor Officer Quarters at the

Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center The United States Navy's Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center (AUTEC) is a laboratory that performs integrated three-dimensional hydrospace/aerospace trajectory measurements covering the entire spectrum of undersea simulated warfare ...

(AUTEC),

Andros Island Andros Island is an archipelago within the Bahamas, the largest of the Bahamian Islands. Politically considered a single island, Andros in total has an area greater than all the other 700 Bahamian islands combined. The land area of Andros consis ...

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to 88% of the ar ...

, was named in his honor in 1969. On November 10, 2009, the U.S. Navy's newest trainer, the Submarine Escape Trainer, was named in honor of Admiral Momsen in ceremonies at the

New London Submarine Base Naval Submarine Base New London is the primary United States Navy East Coast submarine base, also known as the "Home of the Submarine Force." It is located in Groton, Connecticut directly across the Thames River from its namesake city of New Lo ...

References

Additional references

* (

Television movie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

.) *
Momsen.org
points to a biographical page on his granddaughter's otherwise unrelated website
Hart Enterprises: Professional Embroidery

{{DEFAULTSORT:Momsen, Charles 1896 births 1967 deaths People from Flushing, Queens Military personnel from New York City United States Navy admirals United States Naval Academy alumni Submarine pioneers United States submarine commanders United States Navy personnel of World War I United States Navy World War II admirals Recipients of the Navy Cross (United States) Recipients of the Navy Distinguished Service Medal Recipients of the Legion of Merit American people of Swedish descent Burials at Arlington National Cemetery