Forty-nine years ago today, on April 10, 1963, the nuclear-powered attack submarine USS Thresher, SSN-593, sank while conducting deep diving tests 220 miles east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts. One hundred twenty-nine men were killed, including both US Navy personnel and civilian engineers and technicians.

My late father, a chemical engineer for the Navy, was supposed to be on the Thresher that day. His travel orders were changed, however, and another civilian engineer took his place. I was ten years old that day, and I will never forget the look on Dad's face when the news bulletin that evening announcing the loss of the Thresher was broadcast: He turned white, and walked out of the room, and we didn't see him the rest of the night. For years, he said very little about that incident, and it was only later in life that I learned how close we had come to losing him that day.

Until the day he died, Dad kept a large framed photo of the Thresher on the wall of his home. I have it now, and every April 10, I raise a glass in front of that photo, and say a prayer for those brave men. Please join me today in remembering them, and thanking them for their service to our country.

I do understand your feelings. Many, many years ago, My father was involved in the construction of the first testing of Ballistic missile silos,and the "holes" for the antennas to control them after launch.

He was about to get onto a "gondola" and be lowered into the "missile hole", for an inspection, when some "Govt. Official" wanted to talk to him. So his assistant got into the "gondola" with 3 or 4 others and down they went.

Well something went wrong and the gondola went into free fall, killing every body in it.
All in the Gondola were personal friends of my father, I even knew one of them...

In the Annals of US History, there have been a lot of people, that in "Peace Time", have given their lives, for the Safety of the Country.

Thanks for sharing this. Yes, you do understand how I feel...

My father and his colleagues were involved in the design and testing of some of the most sensitive components on those early nuclear submarines. When we were children he was away, a week or two at a time, for about six months out of any given year. It was very demanding and top-secret work.

When we think about the defense of our nation, we think, quite rightly, about our military personnel in uniform and all they do for us. But there are many, many civilians who have helped make our country safe as well, and yes, not everything they do is recognized...but their contributions too are vital...

The 49th USS Thresher Memorial Service this Saturday. A very somber, annual service.

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Bob

God rest the souls of those brave men. I cannot fathom the terror they must have experienced. I am not claustrophobic, until you say the word "submarine".

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Wayne
Torn & Frayed

Eternal Father, strong to save,
Whose arm hath bound the restless wave,
Who bidd'st the mighty ocean deep
Its own appointed limits keep;
Oh, hear us when we cry to Thee,
For those in peril on the sea!

Lord God, our power evermore
Whose arm doth reach the ocean floor
Dive with our men beneath the sea
Traverse the depths protectively
O hear us when we pray, and keep
them safe from peril in the deep!

CW

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μολὼν λαβέ

RIP Sailors!

I did the last few years of my active duty time on submarines. This one is the Daniel Webster SSBN-626 built in the early 60s



The Submariner

Only a submariner realizes to what great extent an entire ship depends on him as an individual. To a landsman this is not understandable, and sometimes it is even difficult for us to comprehend, but it is so!

A submarine at sea is a different world in herself, and in consideration of the protracted and distant operations of submarines, the Navy must place responsibility and trust in the hands of those who take such ships to sea.

In each submarine there are men who, in the hour of emergency or peril at sea, can turn to each other.

These men are ultimately responsible to themselves and each to the other for all aspects of the operation of their submarine. They are the crew. They are the ship.

This is perhaps the most difficult and demanding assignment in the Navy. There is not an instant during his tour as a submariner that he can escape the grasp of responsibility.

His privileges in view of his obligations are almost ludicrously small, nevertheless, it is the spur which has given the Navy its greatest mariners – the men of the Submarine Service.

It is a duty, which most richly deserves the proud and time honored title of – Submariner.

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Shoot fast & live long
Warren

I remember the Thresher sinking well. RIP you sailors. And God Bless.

I was onboard the USS Enterprise on January 14, 1969 when a series of events took place in a few short moments resulted in the loss of 28 men, 343 injured, and what is not common knowledge, how close we came to sinking. If any of you ever access pictures of the Big E after the fire, look at the back end of the ship, port side, just above the waterline. You'll see a hole where a bomb crashed through the hull without exploding. That bomb could have broken the spine of the ship had it gone straight and detonated.
BTW, Roundgunner, I really wanted to go subs, but the Nuclear Power Program won't accept submariners unless you have better than 20/200 vision. Your first sentence above is the reason.

Interesting footnote:
Bob Ballard used the cover of searching for the Titanic in 1984/5 to locate, identify, and inspect both the Thresher and Scorpion sites.
Searching for the USS Thresher and USS Scorpion with the Titanic as Cover | Old Salt Blog – a virtual port of call for all those who love the sea

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Hold my beer and watch this!

Beemerguy53,

Here is to those that served with honor. Consider a glass of wine hoisted for them and their families.

May they Rest In Peace.

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I am a sheep dog!
1601 (ret)

My father retired in early 1984, after a 37 year career with the Navy. He passed away five years ago, and I have many various mementoes, souvenirs, and photos from his career.

In addition to the large framed photo of the Thresher that I mentioned in my first post, I have a photo of Dad wearing a life jacket, and standing on the missile hatches of a Polaris submarine. I don't know which particular boat that was -- he sailed on many of the early Polaris subs -- but the unique shape of the Polaris missile hatch is unmistakable.

I also have a photo of the USS Nautilus, dated 1962, inscribed to Dad and signed by her then-Captain, CDR L.W. Zech, Jr. (who went on to become a Vice-Admiral). On his photo of the USS Plunger, SSN-595 (a sister ship of the Thresher) Dad noted that he sailed underwater from Pearl Harbor to San Diego in February 1963.

I also have Dad's trusty, banged up Zippo, with its dolphins and "Submarine Base New London" engraved on it. He carried that lighter for at least 20 years...

He was a Depression-era kid who grew up dirt poor. At 14, he was supporting his disabled parents and his little sister, driving an ice truck illegally after school to make ends meet. He ended up working his way through Johns Hopkins University, and became a Chemical Engineer, with three patents awarded to him. During his career, he turned down several job offers from private industry so he could continue working for his country and for the US Navy, which he loved so much.

Thanks to all of your for your thoughtful and informative posts on this thread. :-)

My grandfather was a marine electrician and worked for the Navy during World War 2. One of his many assignments found him working on the USS Lafayette aka Normandie the day it caught fire and was later half sunk by the New York City Fire Department. The only man killed that day was his neighbor and close friend. He was later requested by the FBI to be a guide and expert as they searched the ship for evidence.

The popular theory was that Lucky Luciano ordered the ship sabatoged so he could strong arm the Navy and FBI into working with him. My grandfather went to his grave swearing by the welding torch story. I think I'll believe the guy who was there and helped the feds with the investigation.

And that's my personal connection to a famous maritime tragedy.

I know how your Dad felt. When I was in submarine school I requested orders to a diesel boat. The last set of orders for a diesel boat went to a kid who graduated a week prior to me. He went to the USS BONEFISH. While I was underway on my first ship, USS BREMERTON out of Pearl Harbor) we received a message that BONEFISH had a fire and had to surface to evacuate the crew. One of the 3 or 4 people who died in the fire was the kid who got the orders before me. He was working in the ships office and apparently thought the alarm was a drill and didn't respond - by the time he figured out it was real it was too late. Still sends a little chill down my spine when I think of it. Throughout the rest of my career lots of people thought I took "drills" a little too seriously (to the point of kicking a guy in front of me in the kiester for moving too slow) until I told them my story. I can only wish fair winds and following seas to my departed shipmates in their voyage to the hereafter.

Dale
YNC(SS), USN (Ret)

Although I was in the Army, I was living in the CINCLANTFLEET BOQ when the Thresher was lost. I remember walking back to the BOQ about 11 the night after, and a sedan was coming from the Submarine Fleet HQ. They were working late, and I don't think there were many smiles.

The following article was written by DR. JOYCE BROTHERS in 1963, shortly after the loss of the THRESHER.

SUB SERVICE, WHY THEY ARE THE WAY THEY ARE AND WHY THEY BEHAVE THAT WAY RISK IS AN INSPIRATION IN THE SUBMARINE SERVICE The tragic loss of the submarine THRESHER and 129 men had a special kind of impact on the nation, a special kind of sadness, mixed with universal admiration for the men who choose this type of work.

One could not mention the THRESHER without observing, in the same breath, how utterly final and alone the end is when a ship dies at the bottom of the sea, and what a remarkable specimen of a man it must be to accept such a risk.

Most of us might be moved to conclude, too, that a tragedy of this kind would have a damaging effect on the moral of the other men in the submarine service and tend to discourage future enlistments. Actually, there is no evidence that this is so.

What is it, then, that lures men to careers in which they spend so much of their time in cramped quarters, under great psychological stress, with danger lurking all about them?

BOND AMONG THEM Togetherness is an overworked term, but in no other branch of our military service is it given such full meaning as in the so-called "SILENT SERVICE."

In an undersea craft, each man is totally dependent upon the skill of every other man in the crew, not only for top performance but for actual survival. Each knows that his very life depends on the others and because this is so, there is a bond among them that both challenges and comforts them. All of this gives the submariner a special feeling of pride, because he is indeed a member an elite corp. The risks, then, are an inspiration, rather than a deterrent.

The challenge of masculinity is another factor which attracts men to serve on submarines. It certainly is a test of man's prowess and power to know he can qualify for this highly selective service. However, it should be emphasized that this desire to prove masculinity is not pathological, as it might be in certain daredevil pursuits, such as driving a motorcycle through a flaming hoop.

EMOTIONALLY HEALTHY

There is nothing dare devilish about the motivations of the man who decides to dedicate his life to the SUBMARINE SERVICE. He does, indeed, take pride in demonstrating that he is quite a man, but he does not do so to practice a form of foolhardy brinksmanship, to see how close he can get to failure and still snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. On the contrary, the aim in the SUBMARINE SERVICE is to battle the danger, to minimize the risk, to take every measure to make certain that safety rather than danger, is maintained at all times. Are the men in SUBMARINES braver than those in other pursuits where the possibility of sudden tragedy is not constant? The glib answer would be that they are. It is much more accurate, from a psychological point of view, to say they are not necessarily braver, but that they are men who have a little more insight into themselves and their capabilities. They know themselves a little better than the next man. This has to be so with men who have a healthy reason to volunteer for a risk. They are generally a cut healthier emotionally than others of similar age and background because of their willingness to push themselves a little bit farther and not settle for an easier kind of existence. We all have tremendous capabilities but are rarely straining at the upper level of what we can do: these men are.

The country can be proud and grateful that so many of its sound, young, eager men care enough about their own status in life -- and the welfare of their country -- to pool their skills and match them collectively against the power of the sea.

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Shoot fast & live long
Warren

I was six years old in the Boston area when the Thresher sank.
I had not thought about it again till today when I read this post.
R.I.P., brave Submariners.

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Buy American
Vote Responsibly

I remember the incident. God Bless your father.
My father had a similiar incident during WWll being a radio man in the PBY Catalinas on sub patrol in the Pacific.
Dad switched missions with another guy so the other fellow could
do something. The sailor went out on my dad's mission and the plane was lost. That really bothered my father his whole life.

I served aboard SSN-571, USS Nautilus, the first atomic submarine. The loss of Thresher helped the Navy develop the sub-safe program which greatly improved the safety record of our subs. GOD, please bless the crew of Thresher.

My only connection with the Submarine Service was my civilian career. I worked for the same international pump company as my Father and Grandfather.

Dad used to tell me how he was involved in the assembly of many of the large pumps that were installed on the Nautilus.

I also built dozens of pumps for many different classes of subs. It was a job we didn't take lightly.

To all those lost at sea in service to their country, Rest in Peace.

Ltc

Link to pictures Aircraft Carrier Photo Index: USS ENTERPRISE (CVAN-65)

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Dennis
SWCA #2409, SWHF #353

To the OP, I do join you in your thoughts for these brave individuals.

Dennis,
Nice link.

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Shoot fast & live long
Warren

I also grew up near Boston (Lawrence) and recall the loss of the Thresher, too. Part of that memory is the story of a Navy civilian whose place on the last voyage was taken by someone else. I seem to recall seeing him in person or something like that; maybe lived near me? Beemer, was that your dad?

I worked with a retired Naval officer who was an ensign on the USS Chopper when it was nearly lost in an uncontrolled dive. He never said much about it, and only I asked him about the picture of the boat he had on his desk. Scary stuff...

Back to the top for this thread on this, the 51st anniversary of the loss of the Thresher...may the brave men who crewed her rest in peace.

Takes a special kind of man to pull submarine duty.

What caused this Sub to sink ?

Everytime someone brings up one of these events I'm transported to the day/morning/evening of where I was at the time. I was just a kid back then but every morning I used to cross Avenue U in Brooklyn to grab the Daily News from Moe's Luncheonette for my father who had just gotten home from third shift at the Post Office. Other than learning how to professionally jaywalk, I suppose it planted the seeds of being kind of a news hound early on. I remember reading about that incident as it happened, as well as the Cuban missile crisis, the JFK assassination, the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs, the War and on and on. Thanks for the reminder and glad your dad sat it out onshore. Bless the lost souls aboard.

They came and took a girl out of my third grade class to tell her the news. Her father had been on the Thresher. That was a dark time for our country and all of the families involved.

The whole sad story is in this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Thresher_(SSN-593)

I remember the big "E" and was on the big "O" (Oriskany CVA34) in 1965 when she had a massive fire and nearly lost her to the deep. I was only 18 at the time when off the coast of Nam. I will never forget being one of the lucky ones but still to this day shed a tear when thinking how fragile life can be. RMCS retired

While I respect all military branches and their respective MOAS's, I think it's a special breed that become Sub Mariners.

I raise my glass to the crew of the Thresher.

Has it been so long?
I was 8 years old, and living on Otis AFB. My father flew missions in the search for her.

Yeah, '63 was a tough year for the USA. I was 16 years old and my mind was almost totally filled with thoughts of girls and cars. But I remember the loss of the Thresher like it was yesterday. I remember the shiver in my spine thinking of those aboard and their own thoughts in the last few seconds. I still feel that shiver whenever I'm reminded of her loss.
RIP brave crew of the Thresher.

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Regards, Ron
USASA 1965/69

It's funny how your memory works...I am 61 now, and like many of us, I have a mild case of CRS Syndrome. But the events of April 10, 1963, are crystal clear.

My father spent his entire career with the Navy at the David Taylor Naval Ship Research and Development Center, which is across the Severn River from the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. As a chemical engineer, he helped to design, install, and test the CO2 air scrubbers that enable nuclear submarines to stay submerged for extended periods. When I was little, he was constantly at sea, sailing out of New London, Norfolk, San Diego, or Pearl Harbor. Collectively, he spent about six months each year sailing on those early nuclear submarines...

My little brother was born on April 11, 1955. On the evening before his 8th birthday, April 10, 1963, my parents and I went out to shop for a gift for him. My grandmother was babysitting my brothers. (The youngest was just 2 years old.)

When we got home, my grandmother asked if we had heard the news. We had not. She told us that a US Navy submarine had sunk. The television show 'Going My Way' was on, and we watched it until an updated bulletin came on. When they announced that the submarine was the USS Thresher, Dad's face turned white, and he turned around, walked quickly out of the living room and up the stairs to the second floor of our home. We didn't see him the rest of the evening.

When he was in his 70s, we talked about the Thresher a bit. In addition to the ship's complement, there were other US Navy personnel on board (from the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard), and 17 civilian engineers. Dad knew a lot of them, having sailed with them at various times, and he told me that it was an engineer from Sperry Gyroscope in Brooklyn who went in his place that day.

There were two Sperry engineers on board the Thresher when she sank, and I've often wondered which of them was not supposed to be there...

There are several websites dedicated to the memory of the Thresher. This one has biographies for each crew member: USS Thresher 593

Thanks very much for your service!

In 2007, I took a motorcycle trip to Canada and New England which included a visit to the Submarine Museum at New London and the USS Nautilus. It was wonderful to be able to walk through the Nautilus, knowing that my dad had also been there...

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Me too...'70-71..
JIM.............

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SWCA # L-1911

Sailors rest your oars.....
Here's an interesting link I just got today... It's old news, but it sure makes me happy I wasn't there..

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/18/na...nted=all&_r=1&

JIM....................

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SWCA # L-1911

Background:
Many, many years ago I was a serious SCUBA diver. I was an assistant instructor and took commercial diving classes. I am not afraid of the water...

Also many years ago I was able to go into a WWII submarine.
It was a great treat for me as I am a big Submarine movie fan.
Also I consider submarines to be the Snipers of the deep. Especially back in WWII days.

I was able to tour the whole boat. I was impressed with all the dials, pipes, instruments, motors, the machine shop area, galley, torpedo rooms, etc.

While I have a deep respect for the bravery of all US soldiers, the men of the Submarine Fleet deserve special recgonition, IMHO.

And that includes the Current Nuclear Sub Fleet, that stays under water for months at a time...

Last fall I was at Fall River MA, where the USS Massachusetts is berthed. They also have a WWII submarine there. I went down the hatch, but was a good deal too thick to get through the doors (hatches?) into the interior of the sub. I don't think I'd like to have been on board, even in shape to navigate the hatches, in a combat sitguation.

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Bump to the top for the USS Thresher on this 52nd anniversary of her loss. Please say a prayer for her crew today... :-(

There was a general recall in Newport, RI of all DD's when the Thresher was lost.
I was on DD 734 @ the time. Spent several days trying to find it with our sonar.
RIP sailors.

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Only difference Fool/Mule-ears

You need to watch this, Straight shooter, this type of post makes my computer screen blurry.
olcop

What I am about to tell you is hearsay. It was told to me decades ago by nuclear industry insiders, who I believe. But I can't certify its accuracy.

Thresher was undergoing testing. That day's mission was to test against maximum depth requirements. As the ship approached max depth, there was a reactor alarm. The system was setup such that the alarm caused a reactor lockout. The lockout was set up to time out after 7 minutes. 7 minutes being totally arbitrary.

The crew lost motive power of the ship, and it continued to descend. The crew couldn't do a damn thing but wait. They reached crush depth as they waited.

It was later determined that the alarm condition was not serious. A perfectly good reactor was locked out by software.

Decades later, Airbus continues the tradition.

My uncle was involved in ASW at the time. He was supposed to be on the Thresher, also. Got bumped, and I forget the reason. (His rank was Captain.)
He said he had thoughts about the cause of the loss. He didn't expound on that. Didn't talk much about his ASW work, either.

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and what his trumpet saith

I remember it very well, I was a senior in HS at the time, a lot of people in this area worked at EB, it was after the Thresher that EB started to X ray the welds.

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Don

I was stationed at Ft. Devens, in MA. in 63 when the Thresher went down. I almost enlisted in the Navy and if I had, I was scheduled to attend Sub school in Conn. Several friends had been with me and gone to the Navy recruiter and heard about me going Sub. duty and couldn't believe I turned it down along with the commission.

I went Army and never looked back. We were at Devens and heard about the Thresher and they just looked at me and shook their heads.


I am kind curious, did they ever find any debris from the Thresher?

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Slim, U.S. Army, Ret.

I read a book on her sinking once but don't recall the name of it now. Quite the tragic story and a reminder how dangerous a submariner job is.
I can't imagine going down in one myself but did work with a guy that was a submariner. Derrick spent a lot of time telling me about his experiences on one and quite interesting.
Some of my favorite books have been about subs in WWII as I find it facinating what some of them went through back then.
I did say a prayer in rememberance of the Thresher crew and thanks for bringing back the tread on the annversary.