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I am not one for believing conspiracy theories; however, you can’t say the Soviets were not involved, because “they” only knew of 1 sub in the Caribbean and same subs in the Mediterranean. We have seen time and time again “they” (US Government) tends to lie as much as it tells the truth. I’m not saying this was the cause, by you can flippantly dismiss it.

My late father actually knew some of the men that died aboard the Scorpion. He really did not like talking about the incident. He did tell me that the sub went down due to bad plumbing.

Thanks for this Aaron, my Brother used to work for Westinghouse and I never knew what they did

Personally, I’ve never been convinced by the trash disposal theory because it just doesn’t seem fast enough. Even if an incursion of salt water caused a fire, I still think the boat would have enough time to surface or send some sort of communication. Is there something I’m not understanding? Also, some of the SOSUS data is pretty compelling. Perhaps again, there’s something I don’t understand.

Dose Navy have the PLA running procurement for them or something!

If you have a leaky garbage disposal unit, why wouldn't you discharge trash on the surface? To do it at depth seems unwise.

These were pretty small boats. I would not want to be stuck under water is such a small tin can for months. I toured the Nautilus at the Submarine museum and it was incredibly cramped. They must have had height restrictions for crew members.

The Chinas weren't partners, just suppliers of components; the hull being based on a Soviet design (the super structure is Indian), similarly the Brahmos cruise missiles are a localised Soviet 800 Onik design, as are the AK guns and anti submarine launchers, while the turbines are US, the diesel engines are German, the radars and BARAK air defense missiles are from a joint venture with Israel, the helicopters US, the 76mm cannon and the project management are Italian, while the concept, colour, ensigns, uniforms, doctrine, are derived from British patterns.

The Russian's sank her while she was on a recon mission on a Russian Flotilla exercise. The ex-Navy traitor John Walker secrets given to the Russians enabled them to detect the Scorpion & subsequently use an ASROC to sink her (partly in retaliation in the perceived sinking & U.S. recovery of the russian boomer K-129).

Cutting and welding steel before the Design and 3D Models are complete, for a proven off the shelf design; sounds a bit backwards, then again the FFG-62 label is rather backwards, unlike the UK/CAN/AUS/NOR/... TYPE-26, or the German F-126 programmes. Those NEW Designs have complete 3D models, and hulls, that are currently being fitted out, unlike the off the shelf, time and beer token saving, US programme. They may also be as, if not more capable.

I've heard of the MK-45 nuclear armed torpedoes, I had no idea their range was THAT limited in relation to the lethal bursting radius of the nuclear warhead......no doubt the crews were not sorry to see them withdrawn from service. No doubt there's nuclear armed MK-48's and especially MK-48 ADCAP torpedoes in service, but the U.S. Navy will neither confirm or deny their deployment at sea. As for the cause of Scorpion's loss, is it possible a battery explosion killed or incapacitated everyone in the forward compartments, leaving the boat to wander uncontrollably until it sank to collapse depth? If so, the Scorpion was lost for the same reason the Argentine submarine San Juan was lost. Hopefully, the U.S. Navy will declassify documents from its investigation so the families at least could get some closure.

Minor security point; you stated 'the boats I was on never had it [Mk 45]'. When asked if there were any onboard the ships I served, the only answer was: I can neither confirm nor deny the presence of nuclear material onboard, but it is nuclear capable. I know in other videos you have made, you stated various ships that you served on. I know - I'm nit-picking on this, but it was pounded into me (sometimes figuratively and sometimes actually) for 20+ years. Not something I forgot.

According to the book "All Hands Down", the author theorises the Russians used a helicopter dropped torpedo, and not submarine launched. The author relies on some apparent USSR officer that admitted to the deliberate incident as retaliation for some other event.

I believe Thresher was lost in 1963.

DBF!

the best place for a US sub.

Blind mans bluff is a good read that first showed some insight on what went on behind the scenes with the loss of the Scorpion. But "The Silent War" by John Pina Craven is a must read which supplements Blind Mans Bluff.

Thank you for a balanced, informative video on the USS Scorpion - no tinfoil hat stuff, just a solid presentation. Thank you for your service and thank you for your efforts in all of your videos.

There is no possible way you can prevent an accident. It is something not intended to happen, by definition.

I know you like to be precise on this forum so I’m just letting you know the USS Thresher sank April 10, 1963

Thames river is pronounced with the "TH". So it isnt pronounced like River Thames in UK where the "H" is silent

The mechanical to electronic converter for steering the sonar you called a compensator. Is that another name for a potentiameter or encoder. Or is it something different entirely?

Made a few patrols on an SSBN in the 70s. This presentation brought back a lot of memories...

Fellow Bubblehead here (SKC(SS), USN, Ret).... where did you get the info on the TDU? I never heard that before. During my career, the prevailing rumor was the Hot Run theory, and the BS about a Russian boat doing it was just that- BS. Good show, though- BZ! For what it's worth, I was on a 594 (the Haddock) and a 637 (the Pintado) in the late 70's- mid 80's and both boats had CO Standing Orders that the Chop had to be present for TDU Ops to ensure they were done correctly, so what you're saying may have something to do with that... hmmmmmm.....

I believe Tupolov did it in the trench with a spear gun

Do modern subs have battery backup on the propulsion system? Or are they dead in the water if the reactor shuts or is shut down?

Weren't the periscope and mast(s) in the raised position as shown on the wreck photos? Wouldn't this suggest they were at PD? If so, and a message could be flashed out very quickly, why no message? Also, I believe the wreck analysis indicated the batteries were damaged in a way consistent with their explosion. So, it does sound like a battery issue, but why no SOS message?

Ex Submarine sailor here, 1970 to 1976. We pray for their souls and sacrifice. Subsafe keep us safe and appreciate our Navy’s approach to new construction.

Cap'n's NSA Agent watching this like 👁👅👁

On Eternal Patrol Donald Terry Karmasek, Sr. Rank/Rate Torpedoman, Second Class Birth Date November 14, 1943 From Baltimore, Maryland

Ten inch pipe a hundred feet down, that's a lot of water.

It is not "they did nothing". Crew of USS Scorpion had an emergency that occupied them, such that they were unable to send off a report.

What about the torpedo *battery* fire/explosion theory? Was there more info released that debunked that?

Did they recover the MK45 torpedos?

Is there a memorial for this crew? I must have missed it in the brief but Wiki says: Complement was 8 officers, 75 enlisted

Great video, thank you!

Thanks for the content.

If the tugs were waiting to meet the Scorpion on the day it was due, then I imagine the families would also be waiting at the pier? If so, thinking about is quite a sad situation.

Great brief! Can you go into more detail about how wire guided submarines work?

on the sornar display slide , the BQR-21 is the one on the left, with the 3 dcrt displays and the one on the right is the BQR-7

It was problem with German accustic torpedo by the end of WWII, that it sometimes guided itself on submarine that launched it after losing guidance. Solution was simply stop sub at launch and hope escorts wont find you. Its like throwing bumerang into night. Torpedo could find any target at any time, so it had to be nerve wrecking.

Aaron, did the Navy publish any recommendations based on the accident? Any changes in practice? (at least ones you can talk about)

Like the German sub that was lost when the toilet malfunctioned.

Good comprehensive coverage Aaron

A couple of thoughts: The lead-acid battery (Guppy-1 Mod c) evolves hydrogen during normal discharge as well as during a charging evolution. That H2 is removed from the atmosphere via the CO/H2 burner, which converts CO into CO2 and converts H2 into H2O via a catalyst. The H2O (water) drains into the AMR (Aux. Machinery Room) bilge and is eventually pumped overboard. The CO2 is captured in the CO2 Scrubber and pumped overboard. Also, though the loss of the Scorpion occurred nearly 8 years after Thresher, SUBSAFE had not been fully implemented in the fleet and boats like the Scorpion, built before Thresher were not built to the SUBSAFE standard and had yet to be retrofitted in a major yard-period.

The USS Scorpion is one of my "favorite" Cold War mysteries.

My dad was a spook on the 592 SNOOK. ECM shack full of equipment still secret. Needless to say my bedtime stories were a little different than most kids.

Didnt the soviets bait the uss scorpion by using info supplied by the spy walker, the tech given over by north korea from pubelo. The game was lure the sub into spy on a war game, make a kill box with a echo2 sub and ka25 helix. Shoot a torpedo. Or we can all believe the go to line of sunk by its own idiot crew, and own torpedo or missile. Just like kursk or k129, not uss swordfish. Scropions last msg was may21, close to soviet sub, steady at 15kt, 350ft

This guy's clueless.

very good video and your right we don't know. but we do know is it had a lot problems with it