MOH

Medal of Honor: John Mihalowski - USS Squalus Rescue - May 1939

With a crippled submarine on the ocean floor, Navy rescuers descended into darkness where one mistake could doom them all. One sailor entered the rescue chamber for the final descent into the flooded wreck — knowing he might never return.

May 26, 2026

Name: John Mihalowski
Rank: Torpedoman First Class
Branch: U.S. Navy
Event: USS Squalus Rescue and Salvage Operations
Date of Action: May 23, 1939
Location: Atlantic Ocean near the sinking site of USS Squalus

Summary of Action

On 23 May 1939, Torpedoman First Class John Mihalowski displayed extraordinary heroism during the rescue and salvage operations following the sinking of the USS Squalus.

The submarine had sunk during a test dive off the New England coast, trapping crewmen deep beneath the Atlantic Ocean.

As rescue teams raced against time, Navy divers and sailors carried out repeated hazardous descents using a rescue chamber designed to reach the disabled submarine.

Mihalowski served as a member of the rescue chamber crew during one of the most dangerous phases of the operation.

He volunteered for the final descent into the flooded after section of the Squalus to determine whether any survivors remained alive inside the wreck.

The mission carried enormous risk.

If the rescue chamber malfunctioned or if the crew became trapped or incapacitated during the descent, there was effectively no way to rescue them.

Fully aware of the danger, Mihalowski nevertheless proceeded with the mission.

Throughout the broader salvage effort, he also participated in difficult underwater dives conducted under extreme and hazardous conditions.

His courage, professionalism, and unwavering devotion to duty helped make possible one of the most famous submarine rescue operations in naval history.

Medal of Honor Citation

MIHALOWSKI, JOHN

Rank and organization: Torpedoman First Class, U.S. Navy.
Place and date: Area at sea of the sinking of the U.S.S. Squalus, 23 May 1939.
Entered service at: Massachusetts.
Born: 12 August 1910, Worcester, Mass.

Citation:
For extraordinary heroism in the line of his profession during the rescue and salvage operations following the sinking of the U.S.S. Squalus on 23 May 1939. Mihalowski, as a member of the rescue chamber crew, made the last extremely hazardous trip of the rescue chamber to attempt the rescue of 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 the other member of the crew became incapacitated, there was no way in which either could be rescued. During the salvage operations Mihalowski 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.