Charles Bowers Momsen

Charles Bowers Momsen (June 21, 1896 – May 25, 1967), nicknamed "Swede", was born in Flushing, New York. He was an American pioneer in submarine rescue for the United States Navy, and he invented the underwater escape device later called the "Momsen lung", for which he received the Navy Distinguished Service Medal in 1929. The local press enthusiastically received the "new" device and they dubbed it the "Momsen lung", a name that stuck in the US.

The Momsen lung contains a canister of soda lime, which removes poisonous carbon dioxide from the exhaled air and then replenishes the air with oxygen. Two tubes lead from the bag to a mouthpiece: one with which to inhale air and the other with which to exhale spent air. The device hangs around the wearer's neck and is strapped around the waist. Besides providing oxygen for the ascent, it also allows a submariner to rise slowly to the surface, thus avoiding embolisms.

Between June 1929 and September 1932, Lieutenant Momsen developed the lung along with Chief Gunner's Mate Clarence L. Tibbals and Frank M. Hobson, a civilian employee of the Bureau of Construction and Repair (later the Bureau of Ships). In 1929, Momsen received the Navy Distinguished Service Medal for personally testing the device at a depth of .

The Momsen lung saved its first lives in October 1944, when eight submariners used it to reach the surface after sank in of water in the East China Sea.

The Momsen lung was eventually supplemented by the Steinke hood and free-ascent techniques.

The diving bell Momsen returned to his diving bell idea in 1930. He built a prototype, constructed from a water-tight aircraft hangar pirated from S-1 and tested it off Key West, Florida. Today's divers use the knowledge to operate safely deeper than .

The Squalus rescue

Acting Secretary of the Navy Charles Edison (left) reads a letter of commendation from President Franklin D. Roosevelt to several members of the USS Squalus salvage unit in his Navy Department offices, September 16, 1939. Commander Momsen is second from left.

Momsen, already famous for the invention of his Momsen lung, achieved even more fame for directing the rescue and recovery of the 33 crewmen of the submarine Squalus, Momsen drilled his captains and their executive officers in tactics, planning to have three boats act in company, one boat making the first attack on a convoy then acting as "trailer", while the other two attacked alternatively on either flank afterward. He also developed a simple code for communications on the short range VHF radio system used for Talk Between Ships (TBS). Momsen also received the Legion of Merit for work on the Navy's wolfpacks from February 1943 to June 1944. Momsen earned a Navy Cross for his efforts.

Momsen died of cancer on May 25, 1967. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery.