The two worst known nuclear submarine accidents both occurred to U.S. vessels: the sinking of the attack submarine Thresher in 1963 and the sinking of the submarine Scorpion in 1968.
-The Thresher went to the bottom April 10, 1963, while making a dive in the Atlantic some 220 miles off Cape Cod., Mass. with 129 men aboard, including 17 civilian technicians. A later Navy court of inquiry concluded the sinking was 'most likely' due to a piping system failure that flooded the engine room.
-The Scorpion, which mysteriously sank in the Atlantic in 1968 with 99 men aboard while returning to its home base at Norfolk, Va., after a three-month training exercise in the Mediterranean, carried at least one nuclear missile to the bottom, defense sources say. On Oct. 31, 1968, the Navy announced the submarine had been located by a Navy research ship 10,000 feet below the surface of the Atlantic some 400 miles southwest of the Azores.
Underwater photographs showed the 3,075-ton, 252-foot long vessel lying on its side with a split hull and part of its bow missing. The submarine, which had a maximum safe depth of 1,200 feet, was apparently caved in from the tremendous pressure two miles under water.
The two worst known nuclear submarine accidents both occurred to U.S. vessels: the sinking of the attack submarine Thresher in 1963 and the sinking of the submarine Scorpion in 1968.
-The Thresher went to the bottom April 10, 1963, while making a dive in the Atlantic some 220 miles off Cape Cod., Mass. with 129 men aboard, including 17 civilian technicians. A later Navy court of inquiry concluded the sinking was 'most likely' due to a piping system failure that flooded the engine room.
-The Scorpion, which mysteriously sank in the Atlantic in 1968 with 99 men aboard while returning to its home base at Norfolk, Va., after a three-month training exercise in the Mediterranean, carried at least one nuclear missile to the bottom, defense sources say. On Oct. 31, 1968, the Navy announced the submarine had been located by a Navy research ship 10,000 feet below the surface of the Atlantic some 400 miles southwest of the Azores.
Underwater photographs showed the 3,075-ton, 252-foot long vessel lying on its side with a split hull and part of its bow missing. The submarine, which had a maximum safe depth of 1,200 feet, was apparently caved in from the tremendous pressure two miles under water.
-A Soviet nuclear-powered attack submarine with apparent mechanical difficulties appeared Nov 2, 1983, on the surface of the Atlantic between Burmuda and South Carolina and was towed by a Soviet tugboat toward Cuba. The Victor-3-class submarine, capable of carrying nuclear weapons, appeared to be in distress but did not ask for the assistance, U.S. officials said.
