Thresher Disaster

[W1JS]

I was listening to the news today and was reminded of a historical event, which was significant to me. 

Forty three years ago today on April 10, 1963, the USS Thresher out of Portsmouth NH went down with all hands off Cape Cod. 

The sub was on sea trials out of the yard when it sank off Cape Cod on April 10, 1963, killing 129 crewmen and civilians

"We are experiencing minor difficulties, we have a positive up angle, and are attempting to blow. We will keep you informed," the doomed sub radioed to an escort ship on the surface.

They were among the last words heard from the crew before the sub sank some to the sea floor. Investigations led officials to believe the Thresher sunk because of a pipe leak, which lead to a loss of power, and the sub's inability to blow ballast tanks

That summer of 1963 while vacationing at my folk's cottage on Cape Cod, I was monitoring the search effort off the cape on the then 2 MC (yes, it was megacycles back then) Marine Band on my BC-348R.  That August I received my novice license.

Just one of those moments in history which one does not forget.

For more information:

http://www.americanheritage.com/events/articles/web/20060410-submarine-ultrasound-thresher-nautilus-navy-john-harvey-cold-war-hyman-rickover-trieste.shtml

[W1RKW]

The company I work for, Electric Boat Corp paid tribute to the Thresher today. 
http://www.gdeb.com

[Tom WA3KLR]

I worked with a guy who was in the sub service shortly after that.  If I recall this correctly, the Thresher was one of the first nuclear boats.  There was a lot of paranoia (understandibly) about reactor operation; shut it down if ANYTHING starts to go wrong rule. 

A negative bouyancy boat can power itself to the surface.  But the feeling is that they shut down the reactor according to rules, loosing the ability to power themselves to the surface with the reactor.  They may have survived if they hadn't shut down the reactor.

[W3SLK]

Tom said:

I worked with a guy who was in the sub service shortly after that.  If I recall this correctly, the Thresher was one of the first nuclear boats.  There was a lot of paranoia (understandibly) about reactor operation; shut it down if ANYTHING starts to go wrong rule.

The Nautilus was the first nuclear boat. The Thresher suffered from a soft patch in its outer hull. This, coupled with what an investigative committee found was a fault in the 'emergency blow' hardware hastened its demised. When the soft patch gave way, they attempted an emergency blow which should have brought them to the surface like a cork. What the investigation found was during this blow, ice formed around the valve preventing further air acumulation in the ballast tanks. I think they said the crew was pretty much incinerated from the pressure going into the inner crew spaces.

[W1UJR]

Interesting museum at Portsmouth, NH.
They have a tribute to the Thresher there as well.

http://www.ussalbacore.org/

[WA1GFZ]

I remember it going down the ramp in New London on the news then it was gone.
We were all so interested in space back then but this was just as risky.

[KA1ZGC]

Tom said:

I worked with a guy who was in the sub service shortly after that.  If I recall this correctly, the Thresher was one of the first nuclear boats.  There was a lot of paranoia (understandibly) about reactor operation; shut it down if ANYTHING starts to go wrong rule.

The Nautilus was the first nuclear boat. The Thresher suffered from a soft patch in its outer hull. This, coupled with what an investigative committee found was a fault in the 'emergency blow' hardware hastened its demised. When the soft patch gave way, they attempted an emergency blow which should have brought them to the surface like a cork. What the investigation found was during this blow, ice formed around the valve preventing further air acumulation in the ballast tanks. I think they said the crew was pretty much incinerated from the pressure going into the inner crew spaces.

I recall watching a documentary about the Thresher a few years back. History Channel, I think it was. What really took cajones was re-creating the dive with cameras near the valves, which is how they discovered the ice buildup.

Going where no man had gone before is brave all by itself, going where no man had returned from is one of those things that really separates the men from the boys.

The other thing the documentary mentioned was that the final demise of the crew was probably almost instantaneous. Poking a hole in a sub's hull under that kind of pressure has roughly the same effect as poking a hole in a balloon, only inverted. It wouldn't be a leak, it would be an implosion with enough force to blow right through the bulkheads and pretty much scramble everything inside the boat with one big bang, leaving just her empty hull with a hole in it.

If that's the case, they probably never knew what hit them, so the sea did have some mercy on the poor souls she took that day. A small consolation, perhaps, but I think I'd prefer that to tapping CW on the hull of a Russian sub for days before finally passing on.

It's also interesting to note that 40+ years later, the actual depth of that dive is still classified information. Half a lifetime later, there are still many things about the Thresher in general and her sinking is particular that Uncle Sam holds pretty close to the vest.

May we never forget the Thresher and her crew, and may God have mercy on their souls.

--Thom
Kilimanjaro Africa One Zulu Goat Cheese

[WA3VJB]

Thresher was a little before my time, but I sure remember the USS SCORPION disaster just five years later.
This coming month.

I grew up in the Tidewater area of Virginia where the ship was based, and in a Navy town, a disaster like this was that era's equivalent of the 911 attacks.

http://www.csp.navy.mil/othboats/589.htm

On 1 February 1967, SCORPION entered the Norfolk Naval Shipyard for another extended overhaul. In late October, she commenced refresher training and weapons system acceptance tests. Following type training out of Norfolk, she got underway on 15 February 1968 for a Mediterranean deployment. She operated with the 6th Fleet, into May, then headed west. On 21 May, she indicated her position to be about 50 miles south of the Azores. Six days later, she was reported overdue at Norfolk.

A search was initiated; but, on 2 June, SCORPION and all hands were declared, "presumed lost." Her name was struck from the Navy List on 30 June 1968.

The search continued, however and, at the end of October, the Navy's oceanographic research ship, Mizar, located sections of SCORPION's hull in more than 10,000 feet of water about 400 miles southwest of the Azores. Subsequently, the Court of Inquiry was reconvened and other vessels, including the submersible, Trieste, were dispatched to the scene, but, despite the myriad of data and pictures collected and studied, the cause of the loss remains a mystery.

[WA1GFZ]

I knew a Navy guy who loved to drop things on commie subs. They got into regular trouble for it. He was a crazy American Indian who loved a good time. Give him a couple beers and he was the life of a party.  I'm sure back then things went bump in the night.
Good wood cutting buddy and taught me how to tune a radar....

[W1RKW]

It's also interesting to note that 40+ years later, the actual depth of that dive is still classified information. Half a lifetime later, there are still many things about the Thresher in general and her sinking is particular that Uncle Sam holds pretty close to the vest.

--Thom
Kilimanjaro Africa One Zulu Goat Cheese

The USS Growler, a Regulus Missle boat although decommisioned and on display at the Intrepid Air and Space Museum  in NYC has its missle control room cordoned-off from public viewing.  The control room is still considered classified.

[W3SLK]

Paul said:

Thresher was a little before my time, but I sure remember the USS SCORPION disaster just five years later. This coming month.

I used to work with a guy who's father was COB on the Scorpion. The Navy released pictures of the wreck. He told me they were on a mission to plant listening devices in the Atalantic similar to that across the SOSUS line. He feels  they were mixing it up with a Russian sub they came across. The Russian skipper got an itchy trigger finger and fired a fish into the Scorpion. The Navy's official investigation said that it was an explosion in the foreward torpedo room. My co-worker said there is no way you would get metal to fold in (he said the picture clearly shows where a torpedo went in) when there was an interior explosion. That was the account I got from him who saw the actual photos.

[c. mac neill w8znx]

might want to read

Blind Mans Bluff
"The untold story of american submarine espionage"
have talked to some ex us navy sub crew
say this is one of the best books about
sub history during the cold war

writen by Sontag, Drew and Drew

lots of pb copies to be had on abebooks
for less than 2 bucks