USS Thresher (SSN-593)

History

USS Thresher (SSN-593) was the lead boat of her class of nuclear-powered attack submarines in the United States Navy. She was the U.S. Navy's second submarine to be named after the thresher shark.

On 10 April 1963, Thresher sank during deep-diving tests about 350 km (220 mi) east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, killing all 129 crew and shipyard personnel aboard. Her loss was a watershed moment for the U.S. Navy, leading to the implementation of a rigorous submarine safety program known as SUBSAFE. The first nuclear submarine lost at sea, Thresher was also the third of four submarines lost with more than 100 people aboard, the others being the French Surcouf, sinking with 130 personnel in 1942, USS Argonaut, lost with 102 aboard in 1943, and Russian Kursk, which sank with 118 aboard in 2000.

Text from Wikipedia: USS Thresher (SSN-593), CC BY-SA 4.0, lightly trimmed.

Wars and campaigns

From Wikidata (CC0).

Key dates

1. 1961
   Thresher conducted lengthy sea trials in the western Atlantic and Caribbean Sea areas in 1961–1962.
2. 1961
   Thresher conducted further trials and fired test torpedoes before returning to Portsmouth on 29 November 1961.
3. 1963
   When Thresher was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 10 April 1963, the class name was changed to that of the second boat, Permit.
4. 1963
   On 9 April 1963, Thresher left Kittery, Maine, at 8 a.m. under command of Lieutenant Commander John Wesley Harvey.
5. 1963
   That program, launched in December 1963, was known as SUBSAFE. From 1915 to 1963, the U.S. Navy lost a total of 16 submarines to non-combat accidents.
6. 1982
   Ballard had approached the Navy in 1982 for funding to find Titanic with his new deep-diving robot submersible.
7. 2013
   A 129-foot (39 m) flagpole at Kittery Memorial Circle in the town of Kittery, Maine, was dedicated on 7 April 2013, the 50th anniversary of the loss of Thresher, to honor the 129 lost souls.
8. 2020
   On 22 May 2020, the Navy stated in a court-mandated status report that due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Navy's Undersea Warfare Division (OPNAV N97) had placed the records review on hold as N97 staff were limited to supporting mission-essential tasks supporting undersea forces and operations only.
9. 2021
   On 9 July 2021, the United States Navy declassified the narrative of the submarine Seawolf during the search for Thresher.

Dates and events quoted from the same Wikipedia article (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Records that place someone aboard this ship

A ship history doesn't name everyone who served. These records do:

• Navy muster rolls, 1939–1949 (National Archives guide)
• Deck logs: how to get them (Naval History and Heritage Command)
• Crew lists research guide (NHHC)
• Search the National Archives Catalog for “USS Thresher (SSN-593)”

More history

• Naval History and Heritage Command (DANFS)
• HyperWar (official histories)
• Wikipedia: USS Thresher (SSN-593)