Programme Index

Discover 11,128,835 listings and 281,627 playable programmes from the BBC

Voyages of Discovery

Hanging by a Thread

Duration: 58 minutes

First broadcast: on BBC FourLatest broadcast: on BBC Four

Available for years

Explorer Paul Rose tells the story of the USS Squalus submarine which became stranded on the bottom of the Atlantic in 1939. No one had ever been saved from a stricken sub beneath the ocean before, but maverick designer Charles Momsen, who had been ignored by the navy top brass, was suddenly called into action to bring up the crew.

Rose meets the last living survivor from the sub and one of the men, now 103, who helped save him. The rescue kick-started a whole new era of technology, laying the foundation for modern deep-sea diving. Show less

Contributors

Presenter:
Paul Rose
Producer:
Sean Smith
Director:
Sean Smith
Series Producer:
Jeremy Philips

About this data

This data is drawn from the data stream that informs BBC's iPlayer and Sounds. The information shows what was scheduled to be broadcast, meaning it was/is subject to change and may not be accurate. More