The Navy Was Never the Same After the USS Thresher Submarine Disaster

The Thresher incident remains one of the most tragic days in the Navy’s history as 129 sailors and crew perished.

The U.S. Navy arguably instills some of the more robust safety measures for its maritime fleets across the globe. When it comes to the service’s SUBSAFE program, the Navy’s submarines are led by clearly defined, non-negotiable safety requirements that work to minimize risk for sailors while underway. This culture of safety is present in all of the Navy’s warships but is particularly highlighted in submarine classes. It serves as perhaps a silver lining of past incidents and mishaps in the service. In fact, the loss of the USS Thresher submarine during the Cold War was the genesis for SUBSAFE. When this nuclear-powered submarine sank to the bottom of the ocean floor six decades ago, the U.S. Navy was changed forever. The legacy of Thresher lives on, however, in the critical safety protocols that continue to protect sailors while out at sea.

Introducing USS Thresher

When USS Thresher was commissioned back in 1961, it became the lead boat of its class of nuclear-powered attack submarines. The infamous vessel was designed to detect and take out the advanced Skipjack Soviet submarines. Able to launch the Navy’s then-new SUBROC anti-submarine missile, Thresher was considered to be one of the most lethal assets in the service upon commissioning. In addition to its killer ordnance power, Thresher also sported passive and active sonar capable of locating adversarial ships at long ranges. Equipped with a cigar-shaped hull and the BBQ-2 advanced sonar, Thresher was truly considered to be unparalleled by the Navy.

The Incident: What Happened?

The tragedy that would become the infamous USS Thresher incident began on April 30, 1961, when the submarine went underway to initiate sea trials from the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Maine. According to unclassified reports and statements surrounding the mishap, Thresher was carrying out deep-diving tests prior to its disappearance. The submarine rescue ship USS Skylark reportedly detected an implosion just after 9:00 am that day. According to the rescue ship, when Thresher reached a depth of approximately 1,300 feet, it sent out an alarming message: “ …Minor difficulties. Have positive up-angle. Attempting to blow…” Another unclear communique was received which included the number 900.

Other than this message and a low-frequency, high-energy noise detected, USS Thresher did not project any other information. The Navy deployed the Seawolf and the Balao-class submarine USS Sea Owl to the scene the next day to try and put together the pieces of what had occurred. A signal sent from a distress beacon, which needed to be manually activated in order to broadcast, was picked up by the Seawolf a few hours after the search had begun. As detailed by The War Zone, the Seawolf then noted that the Thresher’s beacons were being switched on and off upon request, another significant indicator that there were survivors. However, the Thresher’s remains were ultimately discovered by the Trieste II bathyscaphe later that day.

The cause of the Thresher incident remains controversial, but regardless it remains one of the most tragic days in the Navy’s history as 129 sailors and crew perished in the mishap.

About the Author: Maya Carlin

Maya Carlin, National Security Writer with The National Interest, is an analyst with the Center for Security Policy and a former Anna Sobol Levy Fellow at IDC Herzliya in Israel. She has by-lines in many publications, including The National Interest, Jerusalem Post, and Times of Israel. You can follow her on Twitter: @MayaCarlin. Carlin has over 1,000 articles published over the last several years on various defense issues.

Image: Wikimedia Commons.