Background
William Badders was born in Harrisburg, Illinois, on September 15, 1901.
William Badders was born in Harrisburg, Illinois, on September 15, 1901.
He enrolled in the United States. Naval Reserve in August 1918 and transferred to the regular Navy in December 1919. He was designated a Master Diver in April 1931 and received commendations for his diving work in salvaging United States Ship South-4 (Steamship-109) in 1928 and the Japanese steamship Kaku Maru in 1932, and for clearing the propeller of United States Ship Bittern (Department of Administration and Management-36) at sea in 1933. He transferred to the Fleet Reserve in March 1940.
William Badders died on November 23, 1986 and was buried in the San Francisco National Cemetery in San Francisco, California.
He was Senior Member of the rescue chamber crew and served as a diver during the salvage effort. During the rescue operations, Chief Machinist"s Mate Badders, as senior member of the rescue chamber crew, made the last extremely hazardous trip of the rescue chamber to attempt to rescue any possible survivors in the flooded after portion of the Squalus.