CMM Badders served as senior member of the rescue chamber crew during the rescue operations of the USS Squalus sinking on May 13, 1939. Badders voluntarily made the last trip into the flooded chambers to retrieve survivors. For making the most important and difficult dives successfully, Badders received the Medal of Honor.

*The preceding content is not intended as a comprehensive biography, but it highlights their significance as a result of military or civilian distinction, lasting achievements, or association with impactful national events.

San Francisco National Cemetery

As taken from the Congressional Medal of Honor Society webpage.


CMM William Badders Medal of Honor 'Additional Details'

For extraordinary heroism in the line of his profession as a Diver with the Submarine and Rescue Salvage Unit, U.S.S. Falcon, during the rescue and salvage operations following the sinking of the U.S.S. Squalus on 1939-05-13. During the rescue operations, Chief Machinist's Mate William Badders, as senior member of the rescue chamber crew, made the last extremely hazardous trip of the rescue chamber to attempt to rescue any possible survivors in the flooded after portion of the Squalus. He was fully aware of the great danger involved in that if he and his assistant became incapacitated, there was no way in which either could be rescued. During the salvage operations, Chief Machinist's Mate William Badders made important and difficult dives under the most hazardous conditions. His outstanding performance of duty contributed much to the success of the operations and characterizes conduct far above and beyond the ordinary call of duty.

CMM William Badders Medal of Honor Citation

Golden Gate National Cemetery

USS Squalus (SS-192): The Sinking, Rescue of Survivors, and Subsequent Salvage, 1939

Related Resources:

 

Diving in the US Navy: A Brief History
The Sinking and Recovery of the USS Squalus (produced by the Office of Naval Research for students and teachers)

 

USS Squalus (SS-192), a diesel-electric submarine built at the Portsmouth Navy Yard, Portsmouth, New Hampshire and commissioned there on 1 March 1939, suffered a catastrophic valve failure during a test dive off the Isle of Shoals at 0740 on 23 May. Partially flooded, the submarine sank to the bottom and came to rest keel down in 40 fathoms (240 feet) of water. Navy divers and salvage ships responded quickly, and the following day began operations to rescue the surviving 32 crew members and one civilian from the forward sections of the boat. At 1130 on 24 May, USS Falcon (ASR-2) lowered the newly developed McCann rescue chamber--a revised version of a diving bell invented by Commander Charles B. Momsen--and, over the next 13 hours, all 33 survivors were rescued from the stricken submarine. On 13 September, after long and difficult salvage operations, Squalus was raised and towed into the Portsmouth Navy Yard. The boat was formally decommissioned on 15 November, renamed Sailfish on 9 February 1940, and recommissioned on 15 May 1940.

WILLIAM BADDERS

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