10-24-1944 - The Rescue Operation Begins

 At 0245 hours, the men cheered as their sister sub Dace was in sight and she was closing to within 50 yards. McClintock warned the Dace to keep her distance; there were many submerged rocks and parts of the reef were hidden. Undaunted, the Dace kept moving and closed enough to throw a line over. He had known the Darter was unaware she was on a reef until she grounded, so the safest way to approach her was from the stern. When they were close enough, the Dace crew tossed over a mooring rope. Claggett ordered reverse full engines to fight the current that was drawing them closer to the reef.

It should be noted here that US submarines had orders from the Admiral to leave their mooring ropes in port. Both Skippers had disobeyed those orders and kept them aboard, for emergencies. This was a classic example of ship captains using their better judgment in spite of orders for the sake of their crew. So these thick, sturdy and illegal ropes were brought topside and it made the rescue operation much easier. The entire operation might have failed if these ropes were not in their possession.

Once this line was secure, about fifteen minutes later the Dace's rubber raft was inflated and put over the side, and the crew transfer began. It was very slow work, as a rubber dinghy could only hold two men. But it helped that they could use Darter's as well, so men were able to get off the sub in half the amount of time. The crew gathered at the very back of the boat called the turtleback, where the stern tapered off between the propellers. By now the high tide was long gone; it was about a 20-foot drop from the stern to the water and the life rafts were bobbing up and down with the swells, as the sea was rough. A rope was knotted and lowered down to five or six feet from the highest swell. The men took turns clambering down this rope and waiting for the raft to rise up to a level they could let go.

 

 It was a harrowing experience and even with both the Dace's and Darter's rubber rafts, the crew transfer took more than two hours.