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Monday, July 3, 2023-Story behind the story- Amsterdam man among those rescued from a sunken submarine.
Please contribute to the 2023 Historians Podcast fund drive The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Thank you!
Tuesday, July 4, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Fourth of July through the years.
Horses owned by carpet maker Stephen Sanford of Amsterdam became fixtures at the nearby Saratoga racetrack in the late 1800s.
From 1903 through 1907, the Sanfords invited the people of Amsterdam to the Matinee Races at the family’s Hurricana Farm on the Sunday closest to Fourth of July.
Wednesday, July 5, 2023-From the Archives- Friday, October 25, 2019-Episode 289-Kimberly Collins focuses on women’s involvement in the 1912 Appalachian Coal Mine Wars in her native West Virginia in her historical novel “Blood Creek.”
Thursday, July 6, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Memories of the class of 1949
Friday, July 7, 2023-Episode 482-American Revolution Stories. Eric Schnitzer and Nina Sankovich, spoke at last month’s Revolutionary War conference sponsored by Fort Plain Museum. Schnitzer has written the text to artist Don Troiani’s Campaign to Saratoga 1777. Sankovich discusses how the Hancock, Adams, and Quincy families of Braintree, Massachusetts fanned the flames of America’s revolution.
Hands too chilled to grasp the ladder’s rungs
By Bob Cudmore
Donato “Danny” Persico entered the submarine’s escape hatch, crawling up a steel ladder as his hands were too chilled to grasp the ladder’s rungs.
Persico, who lived on Broad Street on Amsterdam’s South Side, was one of the survivors from the submarine U.S.S. Squalus, which sank May 23, 1939 in the Atlantic Ocean off the Isles of Shoals, New Hampshire.
Valves malfunctioned during a test dive on the new submarine. The after compartments filled with water, drowning 26 men. Squalus settled on the ocean floor in 243 feet of water. Persico was almost crushed by a torpedo.
"This happened so fast, there was no chance for an alarm," Persico told Daily Gazette. "We lost power and lost lights.”
In forward compartments, sealed by watertight doors, 33 men were still alive.
"I had goose bumps. I was scared,” Persico said. At 20, he was the youngest man on board. Survivors donned woolen coats and stayed still, using as little air as possible.
Persico was among the last to be rescued on the fourth trip of a diving bell deployed from the rescue ship Falcon. Rescuers used the McCann Submarine Rescue Chamber, a diving bell that could withstand depths beyond lethal limits.
The first three trips went perfectly. Captain Oliver Naquin, Persico and six other sailors were in the diving bell for the last rescue. About halfway up, there were problems with the lifting cables.
Rescuers dropped the diving bell back to the bottom and pulled it in by hand with only one frayed strand of cable. The final rescue took many hours using that frayed cable.
Persico’s father had died in 1929. The family, including Persico’s mother Carmela Pinto, were kept informed as the rescue unfolded by Amsterdam Police who stopped at the family home with updates
The family received two telegrams. The first said Persico was alive. The second said he had been rescued.
When his mother visited Persico at a hospital after the rescue, he told her he would continue in the submarine service, adding his shipmates felt the same.
The Navy was able to raise the Squalus. It was repaired and recommissioned as the Sailfish and was awarded nine battle stars in World War II.
Persico served aboard two other submarines. One of them, U.S.S. Batfish, sank three Japanese subs. He earned a Bronze Star. A stone marking his Navy service is at Fifth Ward Veterans Park.
His nephew Anthony Signoracci said Persico, “Always had a sly smile on his face. I think it was because he cheated certain death.”
Persico retired from the Navy in 1956 as a chief torpedo man and recruiter and then had a career as a heavy equipment salesman in the Capital Region for L.B. Smith Company.
Amsterdam historian Hugh Donlon wrote the Recorder story in 1961 when Persico visited Portsmouth Naval Shipyard for the first time since 1939. He was there for the launch of the nuclear submarine Tinosa.
On hand for a picture were Persico, Congressman Sam Stratton and John Donlon, Hugh’s son. John was executive officer of Tinosa and later commanded nuclear submarines.
Persico married Felicia Puglia of Amsterdam in 1973. They met at the bar of the former Peter Stuyvesant Hotel in Amsterdam. They married years later when Persico returned to Amsterdam after his mother died. They had no children. “He was my hero,” Felicia said.
In 2000 Persico was one of the Squalus survivors at a ceremony naming a destroyer for the man who organized their rescue, Charles “Swede” Momsen.
Persico died in 2001. The intersection of Florida Avenue and Bridge Street was named Persico Square that year.
Amsterdam History from YouTube
Posted by rgoing
REMAINS OF THE DAY: Walter Elwood Museum
On September 17, 2011, numerous volunteers helped empty the rooms of the Walter Elwood Museum in Amsterdam, NY which were destroyed by the flood in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Irene. The river literally ran through the museum, the Colonial Era homestead of Guy Johnson. Here's what came out from the mud.
....and the well known train went by, and Thanks rgoing for the history
Mohawk Valley Weather, Monday, July 3, 2023
69 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:09AM
A chance of showers, with thunderstorms also possible after noon. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 82. Light and variable wind. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Tonight
A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 65. Light and variable wind. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Independence Day
Scattered showers, with thunderstorms also possible after noon. Partly sunny, with a high near 84. Light and variable wind. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Monday, July 3, 2023
Daily Gazette
Support Local Journalism
To subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/
Paper-Paper, On-line and e-edition
When Credibility Matters
Northville annual Doins Festival Parade — Images (27 photos, 1 video)
NORTHVILLE — The village of Northville hosted its annual Doins Festival to celebrate the Fourth of July on Friday and…
https://dailygazette.com/
RecorderNews
Amsterdam residents’ concerns mounting over proposed West End development
AMSTERDAM — Results of a shadow study for a pair of four-story buildings proposed in Amsterdam’s...
https://www.recordernews.com/
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
https://www.leaderherald.com/
View all episodes
By Bob CudmoreMonday, July 3, 2023-Story behind the story- Amsterdam man among those rescued from a sunken submarine.
Please contribute to the 2023 Historians Podcast fund drive The Historians Podcast, organized by Bob Cudmore or send a check made out to Bob Cudmore to 125 Horstman Drive, Scotia, NY 12302. Thank you!
Tuesday, July 4, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Fourth of July through the years.
Horses owned by carpet maker Stephen Sanford of Amsterdam became fixtures at the nearby Saratoga racetrack in the late 1800s.
From 1903 through 1907, the Sanfords invited the people of Amsterdam to the Matinee Races at the family’s Hurricana Farm on the Sunday closest to Fourth of July.
Wednesday, July 5, 2023-From the Archives- Friday, October 25, 2019-Episode 289-Kimberly Collins focuses on women’s involvement in the 1912 Appalachian Coal Mine Wars in her native West Virginia in her historical novel “Blood Creek.”
Thursday, July 6, 2023-From the Archives of Focus on History from the Daily Gazette-Memories of the class of 1949
Friday, July 7, 2023-Episode 482-American Revolution Stories. Eric Schnitzer and Nina Sankovich, spoke at last month’s Revolutionary War conference sponsored by Fort Plain Museum. Schnitzer has written the text to artist Don Troiani’s Campaign to Saratoga 1777. Sankovich discusses how the Hancock, Adams, and Quincy families of Braintree, Massachusetts fanned the flames of America’s revolution.
Hands too chilled to grasp the ladder’s rungs
By Bob Cudmore
Donato “Danny” Persico entered the submarine’s escape hatch, crawling up a steel ladder as his hands were too chilled to grasp the ladder’s rungs.
Persico, who lived on Broad Street on Amsterdam’s South Side, was one of the survivors from the submarine U.S.S. Squalus, which sank May 23, 1939 in the Atlantic Ocean off the Isles of Shoals, New Hampshire.
Valves malfunctioned during a test dive on the new submarine. The after compartments filled with water, drowning 26 men. Squalus settled on the ocean floor in 243 feet of water. Persico was almost crushed by a torpedo.
"This happened so fast, there was no chance for an alarm," Persico told Daily Gazette. "We lost power and lost lights.”
In forward compartments, sealed by watertight doors, 33 men were still alive.
"I had goose bumps. I was scared,” Persico said. At 20, he was the youngest man on board. Survivors donned woolen coats and stayed still, using as little air as possible.
Persico was among the last to be rescued on the fourth trip of a diving bell deployed from the rescue ship Falcon. Rescuers used the McCann Submarine Rescue Chamber, a diving bell that could withstand depths beyond lethal limits.
The first three trips went perfectly. Captain Oliver Naquin, Persico and six other sailors were in the diving bell for the last rescue. About halfway up, there were problems with the lifting cables.
Rescuers dropped the diving bell back to the bottom and pulled it in by hand with only one frayed strand of cable. The final rescue took many hours using that frayed cable.
Persico’s father had died in 1929. The family, including Persico’s mother Carmela Pinto, were kept informed as the rescue unfolded by Amsterdam Police who stopped at the family home with updates
The family received two telegrams. The first said Persico was alive. The second said he had been rescued.
When his mother visited Persico at a hospital after the rescue, he told her he would continue in the submarine service, adding his shipmates felt the same.
The Navy was able to raise the Squalus. It was repaired and recommissioned as the Sailfish and was awarded nine battle stars in World War II.
Persico served aboard two other submarines. One of them, U.S.S. Batfish, sank three Japanese subs. He earned a Bronze Star. A stone marking his Navy service is at Fifth Ward Veterans Park.
His nephew Anthony Signoracci said Persico, “Always had a sly smile on his face. I think it was because he cheated certain death.”
Persico retired from the Navy in 1956 as a chief torpedo man and recruiter and then had a career as a heavy equipment salesman in the Capital Region for L.B. Smith Company.
Amsterdam historian Hugh Donlon wrote the Recorder story in 1961 when Persico visited Portsmouth Naval Shipyard for the first time since 1939. He was there for the launch of the nuclear submarine Tinosa.
On hand for a picture were Persico, Congressman Sam Stratton and John Donlon, Hugh’s son. John was executive officer of Tinosa and later commanded nuclear submarines.
Persico married Felicia Puglia of Amsterdam in 1973. They met at the bar of the former Peter Stuyvesant Hotel in Amsterdam. They married years later when Persico returned to Amsterdam after his mother died. They had no children. “He was my hero,” Felicia said.
In 2000 Persico was one of the Squalus survivors at a ceremony naming a destroyer for the man who organized their rescue, Charles “Swede” Momsen.
Persico died in 2001. The intersection of Florida Avenue and Bridge Street was named Persico Square that year.
Amsterdam History from YouTube
Posted by rgoing
REMAINS OF THE DAY: Walter Elwood Museum
On September 17, 2011, numerous volunteers helped empty the rooms of the Walter Elwood Museum in Amsterdam, NY which were destroyed by the flood in the aftermath of Tropical Storm Irene. The river literally ran through the museum, the Colonial Era homestead of Guy Johnson. Here's what came out from the mud.
....and the well known train went by, and Thanks rgoing for the history
Mohawk Valley Weather, Monday, July 3, 2023
69 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:09AM
A chance of showers, with thunderstorms also possible after noon. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 82. Light and variable wind. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Tonight
A chance of showers and thunderstorms. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 65. Light and variable wind. Chance of precipitation is 40%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Independence Day
Scattered showers, with thunderstorms also possible after noon. Partly sunny, with a high near 84. Light and variable wind. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.
Mohawk Valley News Headlines, Monday, July 3, 2023
Daily Gazette
Support Local Journalism
To subscribe https://dailygazette.com/subscribe/
Paper-Paper, On-line and e-edition
When Credibility Matters
Northville annual Doins Festival Parade — Images (27 photos, 1 video)
NORTHVILLE — The village of Northville hosted its annual Doins Festival to celebrate the Fourth of July on Friday and…
https://dailygazette.com/
RecorderNews
Amsterdam residents’ concerns mounting over proposed West End development
AMSTERDAM — Results of a shadow study for a pair of four-story buildings proposed in Amsterdam’s...
https://www.recordernews.com/
Leader Herald Make Us A Part Of Your Day
https://www.leaderherald.com/