What sank the USS Scorpion?

[PeriscopeDepth]

Originally Posted by SubSerpent

I don't support or believe any of the nonsense that something happened within the submarine. Crews are on watch 24/7 and always manning their compartments.

Please . Many, many brave and skilled crewmen (from several nations) on eternal patrol would beg to differ with you. That's like saying an attentive driver has never been in a car accident. **** happens. And it can be catastrophic as Subnuts mentioned, especially on one of (if not THE) most complex machines ever dreamed up by man.

PD

[Kapitan]

USS Scorpion probably victim to a circle running torpedo, manafacturers of the torpedo did release a warning and craven who investigated and found scorpion believes this a strong possibility.

At the time of scorpions dissapearence the russians only had a few submarines capible of sneaking up on an american submarine without being noticed, i doubt it would have been a russian submarine.

[UglyMowgli]

there is 'protection on mk37 to avoid circular run detonation
Craven theory was demolished by a lot of people (read silent steel)

[Kapitan]

There was saftey mesures in place to avoid on board explosions still sank the kursk though didnt it, it couldnt have been russian even though there was a russian fleet some hundred or so miles away i cannot believe for one moment a soviet submarine captain firing on an american.

Oh I don't know. Some of you all act like you know the exact answer and yet several different nations TOP leaders with more inside info still don't and never will find the exact answer. Perhaps something did happen within the submarine, but I still think that is extremely unlikely considering they had been out to sea for 97 days already and only had a few days to go to get home. It is proven now that the Russian's for some time did know our exact location, were able to intercept and decypher our incoming/outgoing communications. That and it only being two months after the Russians had lost one of their own subs, (and blaming the US for colliding with it), makes me think that it was an act of aggression that Russia did for what they believed to be payback for their lost submarine. I do believe that top US officials and top Russian officials "talked" and decided to keep the incident quiet to prevent hostile relations from escalating any higher than they already were. Let's think about this...99 men on a submarine perhish vs. a nuclear war between the Soviet Union and the US with millions of deaths. I think I would take the offer to stay hush hush on the matter and forget about the 99 sailors that died.

I'd also like to think that those 99 men didn't die without a great cause if the above theory is correct. If it is correct, I'd say those 99 men died saving the world from nuclear winter between our two nations. Their lives were the "BILL" that Russia wanted to keep from going to nuclear war. I think tensions in the Soviet Union were very high that THEY had lost a submarine and that everyone in the world believed that we (the US) were the cause of it. The Soviet government needed to act to prevent and show their own people that Russia would play this game as an eye for an eye scenerio.

[Kapitan]

I dont know the exact answer but could you even believe that a soviet submarine or warship fired on the US Submarine Scorpion and dont forget the scorpion is fully equiped to sink any vessel that threatens it, not to mention the possibility that she might be carrying nuclear weapons also.

this is the thing that stoped each side from opening the outer doors id hesitate to think a soviet commander fired at scorpion, simply because of the repocussions it would cause.

Originally Posted by Kapitan

I dont know the exact answer but could you even believe that a soviet submarine or warship fired on the US Submarine Scorpion and dont forget the scorpion is fully equiped to sink any vessel that threatens it, not to mention the possibility that she might be carrying nuclear weapons also.

this is the thing that stoped each side from opening the outer doors id hesitate to think a soviet commander fired at scorpion, simply because of the repocussions it would cause.

I think she was rammed not fired upon by a torpedo. That or I think she had a bomb placed on her hull or even within her hull just a few days prior in Rota, Spain.
If Russia knew the Scorpion was heading to that port (via intercepted) radio comms, then they could have sent a spy there with a bomb. Who Knows?

[Kapitan]

I could agree to the ramming theory, but we must take into consideration sabotage by the crew, as they had spent over 100 days at sea, and letters indicated that they were not happy people.

Failing that they did say also scorpion was suffering mechanical faults maybe it was a fault like the thresher again who knows.

[UglyMowgli]

with all problem that the submarine suffer, a russian torpedo wasn't nedded to sink it:
- highest oil consumption in the USN
- freon leak
- vibration @ 24 knots
- radio antenna problems
- electronics failure
- hot run
- ......

adding fatigue from the transit and all the fix & reparis, bad morale, torpedo group not a the top

Shake all of this facts and you may have a catastroph.

[UglyMowgli]

for the magnetic bomb on the hull, there is scan by diuvers in every stop of subs generally and since the Scorpion had a problem of vibration diving to inspect the hull occured more often that other sub in the fleet.

Maybe it was this....