save (noun) — sense 4

As 1942 began, work was now continuing apace on getting the ships back afloat and into dock. The first good news in this regard was West Virginia. Thanks to a combination of Tennessees unintentional save' and the crew's own efforts, she'd settled upright, and so divers estimated that, if the various holes could be patched and pumping done in a sensible order from the top down, she should just rise back up to the surface on an even keel, which, in turn, meant that a lot of the initial work on removing her main battery could now be stopped.