Crush Depth: The Nightmarish Loss of USS Thresher

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I'm a machinist in Cornwall, PA. We make all of the water pumps for the Virginia and Columbus class subs. Also the new Ford class carriers. Our CEO had us all assemble yesterday, and we had a moment of silence at 9:14am. He had us stare at our hands for 60 seconds. He then told us the story and reminded us that a weld failed on a Main Seawater Casing. We make those. In those 60 seconds, the whole sub flooded and everyone died. It really made us all think that we better do our job right.

My uncle was a civilian contractor on the Thresher. Been out on it several times. Fortunately, not on the final time. He told us he thought the fittings were substandard, and he was not shocked at the outcome. I'll never forgot what he said. He went to pick up some tools he left shortly after the sinking, and he saw tow trucks towing all the cars out of the parking lot.

I already have a strong fear of deep waters, but the thought of being trapped in a box sinking deeper and deeper just waiting for it to collapse is incomprehensibly terrifying

My father didn't die because his supervisor scratched his name off the list and went in his place. His supervisor had 4 children. My Dad had 4 children. I was only 13. I can't imagine how my life would have changed that day if my Dad had died on the Thresher.

Although the real figure is classified, I have heard from a credible source that a modern U.S. nuclear powered sub can stay submerged until the crew runs out of coffee.

My grandpa's best friend was lost in the Thresher accident. His name was Pat Garner. I believe he was a Lieutenant Commander. It's sad that none of the bodies were never recovered and now still with the submarine and the crew time has forgot. My grandpa and him were childhood friends and it bothered my grandpa for decades that he was gone. But they have been reunited in heaven or another world.

My father was COB on the USS Nautilus. We lived in Groton in Navy housing and I'll never forget the look on the neighbor's face when he came to the door late in the evening and told my dad that they had to go to the base immediately. I was only seven years old, but I knew something was bad. "We lost a boat." he said, and I watched the color drain from my dad's face. And five years later, we lost the Scorpion. There were kids in my school who didn't have fathers anymore. My father used to give tours of the Nautilus to various groups like the Cub Scouts and I'd tag along. And someone would always ask the question, "How deep can this sub go?" Which is classified. And my dad would look at them and say, "All the way to the bottom."

I was only 11years old and exploring the rocky coast of Maine with my new transister radio. A news bulletin came on telling about the Thresher being in trouble, and rescue efforts beginning. Perhaps because I was wading in the same water as the Thresher was in. It had a profound affect on my 11year old mind. I still remember listening to that radio, transfixed by what I was hearing. Somehow it made the event personal to me. Still seems like yesterday. Now 71. Thanx for an exceptional video.

60 years tomorrow of the sinking of the USS Thresher, may all 129 souls rest in peace

I was a little shocked by the lack of higher standards regarding joined seams and joints -- by the 1960s, there had been over a century of evidence of the importance of joint and seam integrity in military ship design! There is some solace that the Navy immediately sought to implement change from this horrific incident, but the question remains why the military structure chose construction speed over its human capital first during a time of relative peace.

I served aboard the USS Gato (SSN 615) during an overhaul in the late '70s. It was scheduled to be an 18 month overhaul. 14 months into the overhaul, it was discovered that some of the fasteners used in many SUBSAFE systems were not SUBSAFE certified. The identification, removal and replacement of these fasteners turned an 18 month overhaul into a 41 month overhaul. The Navy takes the SUBSAFE program very seriously.

As a submariner of 20years a lot of our safety systems have come from the unfortunate loss of the Thresher.

There was no suffering for the crew as they were killed instantly the second the pressure hull failed. However, those last minutes before crush depth was reached must have been absolutely terrifying.

The most accepted theory of the loss is that a silver brazed joint in a pipe larger than 2" failed. The water likely shorted out an electrical load center causing the reactor to SCRAM. The weight of water weighed down the back of the sub, causing it to begin sliding backward into deeper water. With no propulsion to counter the subs sliding back into deep water, the Conning Officer would have ordered an emergency blow. Later testing demonstrated that this was likely caused by the supercooled air leaving the flasks in the ballast tank, caused ice to form on the screens over the discharges stopping the blow. (this was corrected on later subs). With no propulsion, the inability to blow their tanks, and the sub sinking ever deeper, every sailor on that submarine knew full well that, eventually, a hull collapse was inevitable. Fortunately, the collapse would have killed every man instantly and there would have been no suffering.

My dad was a photographer in the Navy when the Thresher incident happened. He was stationed in Washington DC at the time, and received a Navy commendation for all his work developing and processing the film footage that the other submarines took while trying to locate the wreckage. I asked him if it was ever found? He said the only thing he saw on the film was debris, scattered on the ocean floor. Very sad.

I am a longtime military and airline pilot and have done safety work in both the aviation and chemical processing industries. I have been interested in the losses of Thresher and Scorpion for years, and must congratulate you on this outstanding analysis and summary. I very much look forward to the second part.

Tragic loss. Lots of kids and wives left wondering for decades exactly what was up. It’s an honor to learn about these sailors. Thank Immortar.

I work as a Machinist and make parts for the U.S Navy. We mainly make parts for our submarines. I can tell you first hand. When we make parts for subs. Every tolerance has to be met. Parts are tracked. All materials are U.S sourced. All parts have their own SN#. That has to be kept with the parts. We take this stuff real serious.

The loss of the Thresher is one of the worst naval disasters in history. To make the sub more presentable, facades were built to hide pipes. When Thesher began experiencing problems, the ballast (at room temperature) began blowing very cold (like a can of compressed air) Thus, it froze the water in the pipes. This kept the ballast from working as it should have, and the crew was not able to gain access to the pipes because of the facades. When the reactor scrambled, the propulsion switched to batteries, but that speed could not sustain the sub's depth and it began its descent past test depth and then crush depth. The deeper it went, the more difficult it became to ascend. And those aboard Thresher knew exactly the state they were in.