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).
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.
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.
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
My Dad worked for the Navy in R&D at the time he got a phone call, packed a bag and Mom took him to the airport. The next day the story broke. Dad didn’t come home for a couple of weeks and said he couldn’t talk about it. We knew better than to ask cause like many other things he wouldn’t talk about it.