[Pan_Yan]

There were three US submarines launched bow first; the USS Thresher, USS Scorpion and USS Albany. I’ll bet the crew of the Albany is jumpy to this day.

[Steely Tom]

I remember Thresher very clearly. It haunted me (as a third grader). I was interested in submarines and submarine warfare, having read several books on the subject by Robb White (obtained from the Scholastic Book Service, back when they published patriotic books).

I believe the Navy traced the problem to one or more bad silver-soldered joints in some seawater pipes; their thinking is that these had been weakened as a result of shock testing that had been done on Thresher shortly before her destruction with all hands.

I vividly remember the undersea image of one single plastic boot cover, which was - at the time - the only item from the boat that the Navy was able to find. Or so they said.

[US_MilitaryRules]

Has anyone found the sub with an underwater camera/rover yet?

[US Navy Vet]

More USS Thresher info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Thresher_(SSN-593)

[Terry Mross]

Ah, “journalists”....the kid “drew the boat on the ocean floor”. I had in my mind the kid sitting on the bottom of the ocean with a piece of paper and a crayon.

As for the Thresher, I became obsessed with this story as a kid. I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

[TheDon]

My dad served on the USS Thresher but was transferred off before it was lost. It is not the only close call he had during his service.

[Brytani]

THE SUBMARINER’S PRAYER

O Father, Hear our prayer to thee
For your humble servants
Beneath the sea

In the depths of oceans, as oft they stray
So far from night, so far from day
We would ask your guiding light to glow
To make their journey safe below

Please oft times grant them patient mind
Then ‘ere the darkness won’t them blind
They seek thy protection from the deep
Please grant them peace when ‘ere they sleep

Of their homes and loved ones far away
We ask you care for them each day
Until they surface once again
To drink the air and feel the rain

We ask your guiding hand to show
A safe progression sure and slow.
Dear Lord, please hear our prayer to thee,
For your humble servants
Beneath the sea.

Amen

[Cyman]

I remember delivering the Cleveland Press and the headline after they determined it was lost with all hands. I was 10 years old and my dad had just died and it frightened me terribly.

It was right up there with the JFK assassination and the 1966 Richard Speck murders of the Chicago nurses.