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.

The Historians with Bob Cudmore 

July

Here’s the schedule (subject to change):

Friday, July 7, 2023-Episode 482-Eric Schnitzer and Nina Sankovitch, spoke at last month’s Revolutionary War conference sponsored by Fort Plain Museum.  Schnitzer wrote the text to artist Don Troiani’s Campaign to Saratoga 1777.  Sankovitch discusses how the Hancock, Adams, and Quincy families of Braintree, Massachusetts fanned the flames of America’s revolution.

Friday, July 14, 2023-Episode 483-WAMC public radio film commentator, historian and archivist Audrey Kupferberg discusses pre-Hollywood filmmaking in New York State and other topics.

Friday, July 21, 2023-Episode 484-Lorissa Rinehart has written a biography of groundbreaking female photojournalist and war correspondent Dickey Chapelle titled First to the Front.

Friday, July 28, 2023- Episode 485-On the road to our 500th episode.  Larry Gooley wrote the history of Adirondack serial killer Robert Garrow.  Gooley was interviewed in March 2015 on Episode 49 of The Historians Podcast.

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! 

Schenectady County Historical Society

YouTube

Colonial society was not free or equal. In this video we look at the people who are most often overlooked or forgotten when talking about New York States Past. We'll be talking about slavery at the Mabee Farm. We're always excited when school groups come to visit! But when they can't visit, we've made a series of videos to serve as a virtual tour. This video is designed to speak to the NYS 4th Grade Curriculum but all others are free to watch.

Episode 433-A history of the Mohawk River with Mary Zawacki, executive director of the Schenectady County Historical Society. When the last Ice Age began to melt 22,000 years ago, the Mohawk River flowed with more force than Niagara Falls.

Mohawk Valley 4th of July Weekend Weather, Sunday, July 2, 2023

66 degrees in The City of Amsterdam at 6:18AM

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