Submerged

As my wife is the great grand daughter of Adml. Momsen this movie teaches the historical fact as to the type of person he was. I will get a copy of it. The acting was great as they showed all the emotion involved in a tragic event in the US Navy history.

"The greatest American hero".

Not my words, but the words of Peter Maas.

My wife is a grand-niece of Charles Bowers Momsen.

The show was a bit padded here and there, but the tension was sustained.

Submarine down ... men trapped .. dramatic rescue ... very promising elements .. but fails to deliver. The best ingredients are a waste on a poor chef, and that is what happened here. A pretty marketable story, by a good author, but too many corners cut in this made for TV snoozer. The story line was poorly paced to build any tension, the young lovers subplot was underdeveloped and all of the acting was generally weak. If you need to kill some time - fine; if you are a real naval fanatic - fine; but if there are other choices, they will probably be better.

Momsen never went on the first dive of the McCann Rescue chamber. He hadn't on any of the four trips. He was actually cited as scrutinizing the higher number of the rescued in the chamber, yet, told them to keep it up. The names of the operators cited in the movie were inaccurate as well. The following is a quote from a true account taken from the 1939 Newspapers:

Sibitsky made contact with the Squalus, and the 33 survivors cheered when they heard his lead boots clang outside. He did his job in the pitch dark without a hitch and safely returned to the surface. Some of the survivors' previous Morse Code messages requested food, so at 11:30 AM, while Torpedoman's Mate John Mihalowski and Gunner's Mate Walter Harman entered the dive bell, they brought a surprise. Inside the 10-foot high by 7-foot wide, 21,600-pound chamber, the pair brought hot pea soup, sandwiches, milk, and extra blankets and flashlights.

As they leveled the dive bell's buoyancy, they slowly slid down the line to the escape hatch, bolted down the chamber, and sealed it to the Squalus. When Mihalowski opened the hatch, he was greeted with the faces of the crew and quickly exchanged supplies. One of the survivors slurped his hot soup and jokingly remarked, "Where in the hell are the napkins?"

I do not know if Momsen actually knew the Captain of the S-51 as claimed in the movie. I do know that Walter E Harman was a S-51 crew member (listed in the original casualty list) later assigned to the USS Falcon. Some may say that it's a movie and that poetic license is often taken. The problem I have here is that it down plays the historic significance and bravery of those who risked their lives during the operation - almost like erasing them from history.

The one positive thing that struck me about this film effort was that it was not overly sentimental or melodramatic even though what we ARE dealing with here is the most basic emotions of pain and suffering for loved ones, whether spouses or peers.

Sam Neill does a fine turn here with his well-known understated treatment. The very capable ensemble of supporting actors also brought respect to this noble and deserving tale.

I am not a Navy man so if there were inconsistencies or inaccuracies, I was not the wiser. In any case, I never felt as if I were being manipulated or deceived. The telling was sober and respectful.

Just honest storytelling of a long unduly forgotten act of collective heroism. We need to see more stories like this.