Posted on 04/10/2017 6:07:46 AM PDT by Bull Snipe
USS Thresher SSN-593 sinks in 8400 feet of water while conducting sea trials after a yard period at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard. All 16 officers, 113 sailors and 17 yard civilians are lost.
A failure in engineering.
The Thresher — Phil Ochs
In Portsmouth town
On the eastern shore
Where many a fine ship was born
The Thresher was built
And the Thresher was launched
And the crew of the Thresher was sworn
She was shaped like a tear
She was built like a shark
She was made to run fast and free
And the builders shook their hands
And the builders shared their wine
Thought that they had mastered the sea
Yes, she’ll always run silent
And she’ll always run deep
Though the ocean has no pity
Though the waves will never weep
They’ll never weep
And they marveled at her speed
And they marveled at her depth
And they marveled at her deadly design
And they sailed to every land
And they sailed to every port
Just to see what faults they could find
Then they put her on the land
For nine months to stand
And they worked on her from stem to stern
But they could never see
It was their coffin to be
For the sea was waiting for their return
Yes, she’ll always run silent
And she’ll always run deep
Though the ocean has no pity
Though the waves will never weep
They’ll never weep
On a cold Wednesday morn
They put her out to sea
When the waves they were nine feet high
And they dove beneath the waves
And they dove to their graves
And they never said a last goodbye
And it’s deeper and deeper
And deeper they dove
Just to see what their ship could stand
But the hull gave a moan
And the hull gave a groan
And they plunged to the deepest darkest sand
Now she lies in the depths
Of the darkened ocean floor
Covered by the waters cold and still
Oh, can’t you see the wrong?
She was a death ship all along
Died before she had a chance to kill
And she’ll never run silent
And she’ll never run deep
For the ocean had no pity
And the waves they never weep
They never weep
I worked at the Naval Underwater Systems Center with a civilian who was bumped by a VIP from Thresher’s last dive.
In a dockside simulation of flooding in the engine room, held before Thresher sailed, it took the watch in charge 20 minutes to isolate a simulated leak in the auxiliary seawater system. At test depth, taking on water, and with the reactor shut down, Thresher would not have had 20 minutes to recover. Even after isolating a short-circuit in the reactor controls, it would have taken nearly 10 minutes to restart the plant.
Thresher likely imploded at a depth of 1,300–2,000 ft (400–610 m).
Wow! The twists of fate.
My dad served on the Thresher but transferred off when he decided submarine life was not for him.
This is why you never get into a boat that is designed to sink.
I’ve heard there were union troubles building the Thresher, and rumors that parts were deliberately damaged.
“A failure in engineering.”
My understanding is that a welder brazed a critical joint, rather than welded, which failed under pressure.
As I recall, Phil Ochs was from the Ochs family which owned the NY Times, then still a respectable newspaper. I believe Ochs used the title "All the News That's Fit To Print" (the slogan used by the NY Times), or some takeoff on that, for the title of one of his albums.
All the News That’s Fit To Sing
There is a memorial to the Thresher at the USS Albacore, a submarine museum and park in Portsmouth
From the depths I have cried out to you, O Lord;
Lord, hear my voice. Let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my supplication.
Many years ago I met one of the principal investigators of this accident. According to him, the initial failure was a braised joint near to a hull penetration, which allowed seawater into an electrical control room. The failure caused a cascade of events which the crew could not handle.
In those days, there was no reliable way to test a braised joint; as a result of this accident, there is now a procedure which ultrasonically verifies the quality of the joint.
Silver brazing failure in seawater piping was the expected cause. After Thresher, the Navy eliminated the process on all subs.
Naval architects report blowing all ballast would not be enough offset a flooded engine room.
They expect the crew sealed off the engine room and many survived for a time in the forward compartment. When the reactor was lost. The main battery in the forward compartment they suspect was used to run propulsion to try and offset the negative buoyancy - when the battery life waned it was over.
At least some souls had another chance to repent and accept Jesus as their savior.
My father was the disposal office at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and had a friend who keep inviting him to take a submarine ride. He was all set to take that ride but at the last minute a guy from D.C. showed up for a surprise inspection and my dad had to postpone. That was April 10, 1963 and the submarine was the USS Thresher...
Helluva thing.
The SubSafe program came into being because of this tragedy.
Another tragedy was narrowly avoided with the USS Chopper in 1969. The account of the episode will give you the chills. A cook on my sub was on board when all hell broke lose.
http://jalopnik.com/inside-the-absolutely-wild-ride-of-the-uss-chopper-1587554224
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