On September 25, 1925, the S-51 tragically sank to the ocean floor, and Edward Ellsberg was the man whose courage and determination brought it back. The sinking of the submarine S-51 was one of the greatest tragedies in American naval history. Due to a miscommunication and subsequent collision between the sub and a passing steamship on a September night, the S-51, including thirty-three of its crew of thirty-six, sank to the ocean depths. The tragedy of the S-51 captivated the nation, and was a fixture in the pages of American newspapers. The story took on a whole new dimension when the navy decided to take over the salvage of the thousand-ton behemoth from a civilian company. Heading the crew tasked with this impossible feat was Edward Ellsberg, at the time a lieutenant commander. On the Bottom is Ellsberg's account of the successes and failures he and his men experienced as they attempted an astonishing feat of engineering and bravery: the first salvage of a submarine from the open ocean.
"A record of extraordinary fascination. For sheer vividness this battle with the treacherous waters has no equal in recent fiction or nonfiction. Literally at times the reader holds his breath."
New York Herald Tribune
"It would seem that America has produced a man of the spirit of Leonardo da Vinci. For besides being a competent sailor, Commander Ellsberg appears to be inventor, draftsman, and peerless writer. This is an epic of the sea told in epic style."
