SSN-593, USS Thresher...

[LTC]

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

 

[bullmack]

USS Enterprise

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.

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

 

[monet61]

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

 

[roundgunner]

Dennis,
Nice link.

 

[GerSan69]

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?

 

[ChuckS1]

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...

 

[Beemerguy53]

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.

 

[Donn]

Takes a special kind of man to pull submarine duty.

 

[jimmyj]

What caused this Sub to sink ?

 

[moe smith]

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.

 

[rwsmith]

I first heard the news

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.

 

[Beemerguy53]

What caused this Sub to sink ?

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

 

[Murphy's Law]

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

 

[badge]

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

 

[boatme99]

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.

 

[RonJ]

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.

 

[Beemerguy53]

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

 

[Beemerguy53]

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.

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...

 

[snake803]

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.

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

 

[snake803]

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/national/18crash.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1&

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