SSN-593, USS Thresher...

[NE450No2]

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...

 

[Cyrano]

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.

 

[Beemerguy53]

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

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhPHCpeuLOg[/ame]

 

[STCM(SW)]

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.

 

[olcop]

USS Thresher

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

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

 

[Gamecock]

What caused this Sub to sink ?

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.

 

[nicky4968]

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.

 

[Salty RI]

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.

 

[Calaveras Slim]

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?

 

[Brian41]

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.

 

[Gamecock]

My father was a B-24 pilot. 8th Air Force, 2nd Air Division, 467th Bombardment Group (Heavy), RAF Rackheath.

Two stories.

He stayed in the Air Corp/Air Force after the war. In 1946, at a base in Texas, he and his crew were in base ops filing their flight plan. A colonel pulled rank on him, and took his plane. When the plane took off, it exploded in a fireball, killing all on board. My father went directly to his CO's office, and resigned his commission. He remained a very religious man throughout his life.

Having left the corp, he want to graduate school at UK. He had a math professor who was German. Indeed, my father had bombed the town the professor was from. He went to the professor to apologize, not for doing his duty, but sorry for the situation that forced him to do it.

With a heavy accent, the professor said, "My town was never bombed."

So somewhere in Germany, there are graves in a town for people who died because of an Air Corp error. And the people of the professor's town never knew that they were slated for destruction, that they lived on due to an error.

 

[loknload]

Debris from both the USS Thresher and the USS Scorpion were found by Robert Ballard under the guise of searching for the Titanic.
While the Thresher sank due to its own problems it was suspected and proven the Russians sank the Scorpion. The Russian Admiral involved actually wanted to sink the Nautilus!
I have always been fascinated with Submarines and the Submariners who serve on them.
I believe I have been on every Sub that is open to the public including the U-505 in Chicago.

 

[the ringo kid]

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

Thanks for the link. I never knew this much about the tragedy.

Rest in Peace gents.

 

[the ringo kid]

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

Ordy here wason the big O. I dont remember what years he said he was on? Anyway,when I was still volunteering research time with our local CC Museum of Sci and History--the big O--was only about one hundred or so yards away and you could see the workers gutting her so she could be used as an artificial reef. Anyway,while the O was being gutted--she was only about half a mile or soaway from where the USS Lexington is permanently moored.

 

[Stephanie B]

The SubSafe quality assurance program was created because of the loss of the Thresher. An old EB engineer told me once that, due to noncombat causes, the navy lost over a dozen diesel boats between the First World War and the loss of the Thresher.

No boat built under the SubSafe program has been lost (the Scorpion was built before the Thresher).

 

[sub-moa]

First and foremost:
To the crew of the USS Thresher SSN-593 on Eternal Patrol; Fair Winds and Following Seas Shipmates.....


As far as:

.....it was suspected and proven the Russians sank the Scorpion.

WADR, proven? Hardly. There are several legitimate on their face competing theories/findings…old and new, official and otherwise, as to why exactly the Scorpion sank…none of them have been "proven". Personally…though I don’t dismiss any of the possibilities out of hand, I do look upon new revelations contained in books with caution. I do wish the Navy had convened a new Board of Inquiry…as the families requested just a few years ago, though I don’t know where that would have brought us.

FWIW, I've visited a few subs myself ...but more to the point, months after the Scorpion sank I enlisted in the USN @ 17. Following Boot Camp, BP&E, MM"A" and Submarine Schools I was assigned to the USS Skipjack SSN-585...yes, the First in Class...and Sister Boat, to the USS Scorpion SSN-589. We, in the Submarine Service, more particularly SUBRON 6 and even more so the Skipjack Class boats, were VERY aware of the reports, allegations and rumors involving loss of the Scorpion. We certainly speculated ourselves...but only among ourselves. The subject was…after all, important to us as Scorpion's overall mission profile had been the same as what ours was then. And yes, when operating against the Soviet Navy...especially their submarines, we DID treat them as hostile...just in case . Hey, it was a "rough" game.

While I don't pretend to possess any current double super-secret NSA classified information, riding the near twin of the Scorpion...with the same operational "issues" , conducting the same kind of classified missions against the same Soviet...mostly, submarines, in the same geographic locations...to say nothing of the same specific Type Training and OPFOR duties into 1973 provided...at very least, "perspective". I've paid attention since as well BTW, hoping for closure for the families of the Scorpion crew. Perhaps someday.....

 

[loknload]

Sub-moa, Read the book All Hands Down, I think the idea of the Russians sinking the Scorpion is no longer an idea. The evidence from the Ballard mission and actual statements from former Russian Naval officers and several of ours verify,,,,They did it!. The Scorpion was sunk in retaliation for the disappearance of Soviet Sub K-129.

 

[Chuck24]

Growing up in the Norfolk area I remember when the Scorpion was lost and how sad it was to see the photos of the families standing in a lite rain waiting for their sailors and the boat that was never going to return.

 

[sub-moa]

Sub-moa, Read the book All Hands Down, I think the idea of the Russians sinking the Scorpion is no longer an idea. The evidence from the Ballard mission and actual statements from former Russian Naval officers and several of ours verify,,,,They did it!. The Scorpion was sunk in retaliation for the disappearance of Soviet Sub K-129.

You mean this All Hands Down?



I did say "I've paid attention since as well"...I have . This...and other similar books, do not "prove"...they propose. We obviously embrace different definitions of the word "prove" my friend. Believe what you will...allow me to do the same .....

 

[loknload]

sub-moa, For some reason your original post showed up white and a bit hard to read.
That's the book! Very well written.
I missed your statement in regards,no offense meant
Thank you for your service with the Submarines!