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USS Scorpion
The Virginian-Pilot ^ | May 18, 2008 | Kate Wiltrout

Posted on 05/18/2008 4:10:54 AM PDT by Merrittk

The Navy’s official inquiry reached no conclusion about what sank the ship. Much of the Navy’s Scorpion file remains classified. Two recent books accuse the Soviet Union of sinking the Scorpion, supposedly in retaliation for the loss of one of its own subs in the Pacific.

(Excerpt) Read more at hamptonroads.com ...


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1 posted on 05/18/2008 4:10:54 AM PDT by Merrittk
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To: Merrittk
I always thought the USS Scorpion sank after one of the torpedos detonated while they were disarming it ... at least that's what they said in the museum ...
2 posted on 05/18/2008 4:15:43 AM PDT by Ken522
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bump


3 posted on 05/18/2008 4:16:39 AM PDT by Non-Sequitur
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To: Ken522

that’s what it says in Blind Man’s Bluff too. OTOH, I clearly remember Jean Dixon saying at the time that she saw a vision of an “underwater missile” heading toward the Scorpion. Not that I put any stock in it—she was wrong more often than she was right. Just passing it along fwiw.


4 posted on 05/18/2008 4:19:47 AM PDT by kms61
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To: Merrittk
[USS Scorpion]

USS Scorpion (SSN-589)

Comes alongside USS Tallahatchie County (AVB-2) outside Claywall Harbor, Naples, Italy, 10 April 1968.

5 posted on 05/18/2008 4:27:05 AM PDT by Pontiac (Your message here.)
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To: Merrittk

Whatever the reason, men of the sea go back to the sea. God bless them all. Rest in peace.


6 posted on 05/18/2008 4:31:00 AM PDT by Bulldawg Fan (Victory is the last thing Murtha and his fellow Defeatists want.)
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To: Merrittk
Photos of wreck of the Scorpion can be viewed at link

Wreck of USS Scorpion (SSN-589)

7 posted on 05/18/2008 4:39:51 AM PDT by Pontiac (Your message here.)
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To: Merrittk

Thank you Robert Walker


8 posted on 05/18/2008 4:40:34 AM PDT by P8riot (I carry a gun because I can't carry a cop.)
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To: P8riot
Thank you Robert Walker

Oops! Thank you John Anthony Walker Jr. Traitor extraordinaire

9 posted on 05/18/2008 4:42:46 AM PDT by P8riot (I carry a gun because I can't carry a cop.)
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To: Pontiac

“Official U.S. Navy Photograph”

Ya think the Navy would release a photo the proves the Soviets sunk Scorpion? I don’t think so.


10 posted on 05/18/2008 4:45:05 AM PDT by PurpleMan
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To: PurpleMan

What would be photographic evidence that the Soviets sank the Scorpion? She imploded and scattered pieces all over the seabed.


11 posted on 05/18/2008 4:55:36 AM PDT by Non-Sequitur
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To: Merrittk

These claims are a crock.

You can sell books if you claim the Soviets sank it, you don’t sell any books if you claim it was an accident.


12 posted on 05/18/2008 5:01:48 AM PDT by Strategerist
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To: Strategerist
I agree with your conclusion but not with your reasoning for getting there. I'm sure a book on the Scorpion would sell, whether the sinking were accidental like the Thresher's or deliberate.

Blind Man's Bluff sold plenty of copies, including mine.

The Soviet story was scuttlebutt for a few years in the Navy. People pointed speculatively to the foundering of a "November"-class Type I Soviet nuclear submarine in the eastern Atlantic the next year. Tit for tat, the scuttlebutt sailors said. I thought they were right for a long time, but then like most people I had very little real information about the incident. The authors of Blind Man's Bluff dug up more, and published it.

13 posted on 05/18/2008 5:09:02 AM PDT by lentulusgracchus ("Whatever." -- sinkspur)
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To: lentulusgracchus

There is a book about the Scorpion. Titled “Scorpion Down”. I received it as a gift from my brother. Check Amazon/Barnes and Noble. I’m sure there is a paperback by now. I’ll sum it up. Sunk by the Soviets, denied/covered up by our military, all thanks to the above mentioned traitor.


14 posted on 05/18/2008 5:35:44 AM PDT by Fire137 (If this is not a war I don't know what one is)
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To: Non-Sequitur
She imploded and scattered pieces all over the seabed.

And crumpled when she hit the ocean floor. With that kind of damage it makes determining what was the initiating event rather hard to determine. After nearly twenty years. any chemical evidence of a explosive is long gone.

The real evidence is the recordings from the hydrophones. Those are more than likely still classified.

15 posted on 05/18/2008 5:37:36 AM PDT by Pontiac (Your message here.)
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To: Merrittk

well, at the very least, the article was a great read. The reporter is a good writer.


16 posted on 05/18/2008 6:06:05 AM PDT by gusopol3
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To: P8riot
Thank you Robert Walker

Arrogant bastard. Now that we finally have all the info that we can get on what he gave the Russians, I wish he would have a terrible accident in the prison shower room that will send him to hell.

17 posted on 05/18/2008 7:12:44 AM PDT by submarinerswife ("If I win I can't 't be stopped! If I lose I shall be dead." - George S. Patton)
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To: Pontiac
The real evidence is the recordings from the hydrophones. Those are more than likely still classified.

Even if we had proof or reasonable doubt as to the Russians, do you think that we would ever know, officially? I don't. But would like to hear other opinions.

18 posted on 05/18/2008 7:15:10 AM PDT by submarinerswife ("If I win I can't 't be stopped! If I lose I shall be dead." - George S. Patton)
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To: Ken522

“I always thought the USS Scorpion sank after one of the torpedos detonated while they were disarming it ... at least that’s what they said in the museum ...”

Having worked for several years on the type of torpedos the Scorpion carried, I find that explanation almost impossible to believe.

Nearly impossible to detonate one of these by accident. A hot run in the tube is more likely, but that shouldn’t sink the boat.


19 posted on 05/18/2008 11:13:56 AM PDT by EEDUDE
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To: submarinerswife
Even if we had proof or reasonable doubt as to the Russians, do you think that we would ever know, officially? I don't. But would like to hear other opinions.

This happened during the Viet Nam war on Johnson’s watch also the Cold War was in full bloom. Given those facts I can see how the sinking of a submarine by the Russians would be swept under the table.

At this particular time the CIA was making a real mess of espionage and counter espionage. They were vastly overestimating Soviet military and economic strength.

Johnson was willing to forgive a great deal to avoid war with the USSR.

20 posted on 05/18/2008 12:24:52 PM PDT by Pontiac (Your message here.)
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