In September 1920, the entire crew of the submarine S-5 was rescued from their submerged coffin off the coast of New Jersey with her commander, Charles M. Cook, being the last man to crawl through the small hole cut in the stern to freedom. As a Navy board of inquiry was being organized into the sinking, an attempt was made to raise the submarine. Salvage expert Capt. C.A. Bartholomew wrote the Navy’s version of the attempt.

“S-5 was an excellent candidate for salvage; she was a new submarine of the latest type, and hull damage was limited to…