United States Navy Vice Admiral. He was one of the pioneers in the field of submarine rescues. He entered the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland in 1914, leaving during his freshmen year due to poor grades. He pursued and won another appointment to the Academy graduating in 1919. He served for a short time on the "USS Oklahoma" before transferring to the Submarine Service, which was dubbed at the time as the "Coffin Service" due to the numerous deaths it incurred. It was while serving as the commanding officer of the submarine "S-1" that his attention became riveted on the urgent need for a way to rescue downed Submariners. His invention of the Momsen Lung, an underwater escape device earned him a Distinguished Service Medal after he personally tested it at 200 feet. Traumatized by the sinking of the "S-51" and learning that the men had survived the wreck only to be trapped inside the submarine at the ocean's bottom, he thought of a way to rescue trapped submariners by inventing a diving bell. The diving bell proved successful when it was used to rescue all 33 survivors of the "USS Squalas", which sank in May 1939 in 243 feet of water off Muscle Shoals, New Hampshire. The "Squalas" rescue has since been the topic of the best seller "The Terrible Hours" by Peter Maas and the television movie "Submerged" with Sam Neill portraying Momsen. He went on to earn a Navy Cross and Legion of Merit as the commander of a submarine attack group in World War II. He served as Assistant CNO for Undersea Warfare from 1948 to 1951 and became Commander of the Submarine Force's Pacific Fleet. He died of cancer in 1967. The "Arleigh Burke"-class guided missle destroyer "USS Momsen" (DDG-92) was named in his honor and launched in 2003.
United States Navy Vice Admiral. He was one of the pioneers in the field of submarine rescues. He entered the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland in 1914, leaving during his freshmen year due to poor grades. He pursued and won another appointment to the Academy graduating in 1919. He served for a short time on the "USS Oklahoma" before transferring to the Submarine Service, which was dubbed at the time as the "Coffin Service" due to the numerous deaths it incurred. It was while serving as the commanding officer of the submarine "S-1" that his attention became riveted on the urgent need for a way to rescue downed Submariners. His invention of the Momsen Lung, an underwater escape device earned him a Distinguished Service Medal after he personally tested it at 200 feet. Traumatized by the sinking of the "S-51" and learning that the men had survived the wreck only to be trapped inside the submarine at the ocean's bottom, he thought of a way to rescue trapped submariners by inventing a diving bell. The diving bell proved successful when it was used to rescue all 33 survivors of the "USS Squalas", which sank in May 1939 in 243 feet of water off Muscle Shoals, New Hampshire. The "Squalas" rescue has since been the topic of the best seller "The Terrible Hours" by Peter Maas and the television movie "Submerged" with Sam Neill portraying Momsen. He went on to earn a Navy Cross and Legion of Merit as the commander of a submarine attack group in World War II. He served as Assistant CNO for Undersea Warfare from 1948 to 1951 and became Commander of the Submarine Force's Pacific Fleet. He died of cancer in 1967. The "Arleigh Burke"-class guided missle destroyer "USS Momsen" (DDG-92) was named in his honor and launched in 2003.
Bio by: Ralph Draper
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