The Dive: The Untold Story of the World's Deepest Submarine Rescue

Good story. Exciting. Seems remarkable the number of mistakes the rescuers made. But it must have been a crazy stressful time. Early days of the submersibles.

This new book arrived on time and was as advertised. Right from the start, this is a great read!

I purchased this book as I was on the one of the ships, USS Aeolus ARC-3, that responded to this emergency. The author did a great job in digging up the information and putting it all together.

Very good story. Especially interesting to me because a very good friend of mine was a member of the American team and at the controls of the CURV III.

Well written and told a terrific, tension filled true story. Highly recommended!

Wonderful story I knew nothing about. Well written.

The history of submarine rescue has its share of both triumphs and disasters. Among the latter are the sinkings of the American submarines S-4, S-28 and S-51, as well as the nuclear submarines Thresher and Scorpion, where surviving crew were unreachable because the vessels lacked an escape mechanism, or the depths involved caused catastrophic implosion and ruled out any survivability; and the Russian submarine Kursk, where those who survived in the stern compartment ran out of air before they could be saved. The former category includes the USS Squalus in 1939, where rescue was made possible by the development of the McCann Rescue Chamber by Charles B. Momsen and the inclusion of a compatible escape hatch in the sub’s design; and HMS Thetis, whose sinking took place only a week after that of the Squalus. In this case four men managed to escape through a hatch in the stern of the vessel, which was still above the surface; unfortunately 99 others ran out of air.This book is a day-by-day, minute-by-minute account of another rescue with a happy ending—that of Roger Mallinson and Roger Chapman, who spent a harrowing 76 hours in the 2-man submersible Pisces III, operated by Vickers Oceanics, 1500 feet down in the Atlantic off the Irish coast, in August 1973 following a dive to maintain a transatlantic cable.It is not a story for the claustrophobic. Though the details of the physical and emotional privations the men endured are quite graphic, it is hard to imagine the degree of spiritual agony they must have suffered, wondering if their oxygen would hold out, their carbon dioxide removal system would continue to function (a problem also faced by the astronauts of Apollo 13), and if the multinational team of rescuers assembled 1500 feet above them would be able to retrieve them from the crushing depths in time. Their families, kept abreast of all developments, shared their ordeal—as did the entire world due to the presence of a small fleet of fishing boats, manned by news correspondents—and made possible by orbiting communications satellites and, perhaps ironically, a network of undersea cables which prompted the dive of the Pisces III to begin with.A great deal of technical detail is included, which at times is a bit tedious and perhaps drags the narrative down a bit; nevertheless, it helps the reader to understand the many intricate steps, and expert skill, required to effect the salvation of the trapped men when the rescue teams were confronted by limited visibility, 20-foot storm waves, recalcitrant equipment, and a survivability deadline relentlessly and inexorably approaching. Also included as introductory material are chapters on the history of the submarine and the laying of the transatlantic cable; its initial completion in 1867 at once made the world considerably smaller.“Those who go down to the sea in ships”, as this narrative amply demonstrates, still face as many dangers today, though perhaps of a different nature, as those who first ventured out upon the open ocean thousands of years ago.**** review by Chuck Graham ****

THE DIVE is the true story of the race to save two men trapped in a broken submarine on the ocean floor. It's the kind of real-life adventure story that appeals to readers like my husband, whose favorite books are the ones where explorers have to eat their sled dogs or ships sink -- or both.Stephen McGinty is a British journalist and book author. THE DIVE is his first book published in America. It is the minute-by-minute account of the daring rescue mission to accomplish the deepest rescue in maritime history. It is a nail-biter of a story!

A gripping exciting read that will have you hooked. recommended book.

This is the real life story of the attempt to rescue of 2 men trapped 1200 ft below the sea in a mini-submarine in the early 1960s. Great for lovers of technology history. Amazing numbers of mistakes & foul-up threatened to lose their lives.

Interesting story about a real life rescue and using true characters, good read

A great read

Amazing to read about the early use of modern ROV's and early attempts at subsea construction!