The rescue divers could hear the crew tapping out a message in Morse code: Is there any hope? After being accidentally rammed by the Coast Guard USS Paulding on December 17, 1927, the USS S-4 submarine sank to the ocean floor off Cape Cod with all 40 crew members aboard.

Joseph A. Williams, author of Seventeen Fathoms Deep: The Saga of the Submarine S-4 Disaster (Chicago Review Press, September 2015), was digging through the archives of SUNY Maritime College (the United States oldest merchant marine academy) on an unrelated research project when he came across a set of four musty boxes labeled The S-4 Incident. The boxes had been bequeathed to the library by John Baylis, the commander of the Paulding, and contained a trove of Navy hearing transcripts, correspondence, clippings, photographs and even the glass of the periscope of the S-4a completely unique collection regarding this little-known, but highly dramatic, incident in American history.

Baylis collected documents (The S-4 Incident) form the heart of Seventeen Fathoms Deep; discovering them allowed Williams to write a character-driven, action-filled narrativean incredible story that transcends the standard writing of much naval historical nonfiction. Williams also consulted a number of rare memoirs from the rescue team members, historical newspapers, as well as other archival materials, such as the Library of Congress papers of Fleet Admiral Ernest King, who oversaw the salvage of S-4. With insight from descendants of the lost submariners and rescue team as well Navy personnel who are some of the worlds only experts of S-class submarines, Seventeen Fathoms Deep is a valuable addition to maritime history, exploring incredible acts of bravery, sacrifice, tragedy and ultimate redemption.

Williams, presentation will feature PowerPoint talk followed by Q&A and coincides with the anniversary service for those lost in the incident at St. Mary of the Harbor on November 14.

The author will be available to sign books for those who bring them.