I also don't know what to think of this. Some things just don't add up, but truth be told, none of us can really say what happened other than the Sub and Crew were lost and are American Heros.

I have heard many different theories of what might have happened. Everything from the Soviet Torpedo,ASW Helicopter,Accidental Sinking,to the idea that the Scorpion was captured and scuttled by her crew to keep her out of Soviet hands. The fact of the matter is no one really knows and if they do they are not talking.

Maybe one day the truth will come out, but until that day lets just Salute the Crew,Remember the Boat and Respect the Family and Friends of the Fallen.

USS SCORPION :salute:

Thank you!! Here's one for common sense. It was an accident, probably one of her own torpedoes, or a fire & explosion. This sort of book is the result of self-publishing, which is dead easy these days.

Self publishing in and of itself is a good thing; but it demands that the reader be a lot more discerning about cross-checking the facts. Just the other day I found a book being sold online that claimed that the ancient Parthians were one of the lost tribes of Israel.:shifty::rotfl2::rotfl2:After checking on who the Publisher was, I found that it was an Evangelical Christian publisher. Not the most reliable sort when it comes to facts and historical truths.

Read with caution, friends.

Hello,

interesting subject, but certainly speculation since the reports are still classified. For what i have read years ago the main theory was that it was a hot run, because of some faulty film in the batteries that made the two reagents erroneously react. Seems a little push or erratic movement, along with ageing, could have caused exactly this (a crack or fissure, in the thin films) - but then the Navy obviously has been made aware of that some time before.
It would not shed a favourable light on the Navy or Rickover, to let a boat in bad shape get on a patrol. Not that we will ever know, maybe the cold war situation was close to hot, as it happened several times, not enough subs and the patrol was thought as absolutely imperative ?

They did not find the "Scorpion" at first because she had indeed made a 180 degrees turn from its original course - the appropriate manoeuver to disarm a torpedo running hot (the internal gyros were set to disarm the torpedo when it was going back at the sub for whatever reason, 180 degrees to its course fired - a safety precaution).
Even if this worked, and the warhead did not explode itself, there might have been an explosion of the torpedo's batteries due to fire of those chemical reactions. Maybe the forward torpedo room could not be brought under control - it's all speculation. But what a gruesome end for the crew..

And the nuclear reactor is lying on the bottom of the ocean, like hundreds of others - not a nice vision, along with maybe also some Mark 45 ASTOR fishes ..

Greetings,
Catfish

So to be devils advocate, I will bring this thread back again. So I just finished reading the book Silent Steel about the loss of the Scorpion. This seemed to have much less of the conspiracy idea in it and a lot more fact. So I now have a new idea.

First of all, there were some problems that had developed with the ship at the beginning of the year before she went on her final patrol. There had been something wrong with the drive train when she first came out of dry dock. It was such a problem that it knocked almost 2 knots off the full speed of the ship. The commander was concerned enough about it that he had the ship checked. They couldn't find anything wrong. There was also a sound that developed along the drive train that some people had described as a trash can rattling around. After having the hull checked 5 times in six months, and nothing wrong found they wrote off the speed problem to the ship needing to be fully repainted. But the sound never seemed to go away.

Next when viewing the pictures of the ship on the bottom, several of the masts that would be raised for comms when near the surface were raised. I understand that there would be great pressure at the depth the ship was sitting at but it seemed odd that some were still down when others were up.

Bringing everything together, there were reports from the original group that found the ship they had found a body on the bottom in the debris field. The sailor was wearing the gear they would have been wearing had they been on the surface in rough weather. He also was wearing a life preserver and some sort of harness. I having not been in the navy assume in rough weather if you had to be on deck for something wouldn't you have to wear a harness of some kind to keep you hooked on?

So here is my new idea. If she was on the surface, with the masts up, and if there had been people on deck could it be possible they had finally found the source of the noise problem? They had problems with the shaft seal at one point, and if the noise had been a problem with the shaft and some part had broke could flooding over come the ship? In the acoustic records, there was a recording that was very loud that happened 22 minutes before the breaking up sounds occurred. Could the shaft have snapped? They made it to the surface but were over come by flooding, then we know the rest? By looking at the pictures of the front of the ship there is no damage that would indicate the faulty torpedo theory, (detonation of a torpedo do to hot run) the acoustic evidence didn't indicate that there was a bubble pulse that would normally be associated with a torpedo detonation.

Just some more thoughts I had after reading something that had a lot more in the way of fact.

scorpion
 

go to the Real Submarine and technology Q&A sticky above for DaveyJ's opinion on the loss of the boat Battery Explosion.:o

Uss Scorpion
 

I agree with many that the soviets sank the scorpion. After reading all three books on the subject and some things from John Craven I'm left with more questions than answers! I disagree that that Mr Sewells and Mr Offleys books are a waste of time! I thought they were all good books!.and I learned much! Mr Johnsons book was good but he did not prove his case to my satisfaction. All three theorys (and they are theorys)
ARE PLAUSABLE! i think a bit too much was made of the John Walker connection in the Sewell/ Offley books but but there attack theorys Are quite possible with the helicopter theory being the most plausable!
The evidence (which the navy will allow us to see) suggests whatever happened --it happened at or near the surface-- raised periscopes ECT
But you know what destroys the navys case? Lack of photographs! if you look at the New pictures 1980 something they are the same lame pictures
just colorized and not many of them. The Navy is hiding this secret at the bottom of the ocean! They dont Know!! REALLY thats a bunch of BS!
If they REALLY didn't know they would have brought it up! they (The Navy ) said it was a grave yard and not to be disturbed it didn't seem to bother them that the Soviet sub they brought up was also a graveyard
If they brought the Scorpion up way too many people could see what really happened and the cat would leave the bag! However with it at the bottom only a handful of people could know the truth and the navy controls these people! In the book Silent War Dr John Craven said in order for a cover story to work at least some of it had to be true! Well the scorpion sank that is true! everything else is nonsense! Craven also says if you keep repeating the story enough people will buy into it! Look its been nearly 45 years The Ussr is gone nobody cares anymore! But the Navy will NEVER tell the truth! Because then people will question what else they are lying about! Or have lied about and this would open a Pandoras Box of problems for the Navy Of anyone Dr Craven probably knows more of the truth than anyone else alive and he's not talking or ever will! Hes a man of honor and took an oath of secracy Anyway the accident theory doesn't hold any more water than any other! Keep a open mind!

walker
 

Just one more rant here John Walker is a Traitor of the highest order he was wearing the uniform when he commited treason and he should have been lined up on a wall and shot! To spend the rest of his life in prison was to good for this guy! he sold this country down the river and left us at risk for years! 20 yrs eariler he would have been executed for a crime like this! this is the unbeleaveable part for me!

You joined a forum and resurrected a two-year-old thread just to rant about your pet conspiracy theory?

Well, welcome aboard anyway. :sunny: