On the eve of World War II, the Squalus, America's prized submarine, plunged to the bottom of the North Atlantic. Thirty-three members survived, largely because of the efforts of U.S. Navy officer Charles Swede Momsen. In this thrilling true account, Maas vividly recreates the adventure, which will be aired as an NBC-TV movie in April 2001.

On the eve of World War II, the Squalus, America's newest submarine, plunged into the North Atlantic. Miraculously, thirty-three crew members still survived. While their loved ones waited in unbearable tension on shore, their ultimate fate would depend upon one man, U.S. Navy officer Charles "Swede" Momsen -- an extraordinary combination of visionary, scientist, and man of action. In this thrilling true narrative, prize-winning author Peter Maas brings us in the vivid detail a moment-by-moment account of the disaster and the man at its center. Could he actually pluck those men from a watery grave? Or had all his pioneering work been in vain?