Sixty years ago today, #submarine USS Thresher (SSN 593) sank in 8,400 fsw, killing all 129 aboard.#WeRemember the service and sacrifice of the 16 officers, 96 crew members, and 17 civilians lost that tragic morning.#OnEternalPatrol #USSThresher pic.twitter.com/RWs31pADNo
— U.S. Naval Undersea Museum (@underseaNavy) April 10, 2023
Hattip to LQC. It takes a special kind of courage to be a submariner. I am sure that courage did not desert the crew of the Thresher as they met their moral end. Godspeed them on their eternal patrol.
Thank you, Donald! In March of 1982 my submarine, the USS Jacksonville SSN-699 collided with a Turkish freighter, the General Z. Dogan, some 50 miles off the coast of Norfolk, VA.
https://www.upi.com/Archives/1982/03/24/The-commander-of-the-nuclear-powered-submarine-USS-Jacksonville-was/4336385794000/
The collision dented the starboard reactor compartment and engineroom upper level hulls, and knicked the screw. The engineroom impact was right where the scram breaker panel was installed. We all should have followed the Thresher and the Scorpion (which sank in May of 68 due to either a battery explosion or a torpedo accident) to the bottom, and be dead. The Thresher’s loss caused the Navy to create the “Sub Safe” program (the Navy has never learned anything unless lives were lost; I am sure the same is true with the Army, Marines and Air Force).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SUBSAFE
May God rest the souls of the 129 men who lost their lives, both sailors and shipyard workers (who were aboard for sea trials). Bad engineering caused this, and God does NOT repeal the laws of physics when you do bad engineering. I am sure the YouTube videos explain things better than I can.
One of the young sailors had lived up the street from our family home. He delivered our newspaper.
I remember it. At home in the evening when the bulletin came on the TV. Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord.
Fascinating,..in a chilling sort of way.