USS Thresher: Board of Inquiry

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elcid RE:USS Thresher: Board of Inquiry - findings 7/12/2004 6:51:32 AM

You can find a useful discussion of the matter in US Submarines Since 1945 (USNI). There are also several books about it. The problem apparently involved freezing of critical lines. It was compounded by the fact that the residual energy in the boilers could not be utalized if the reactor scrammed, which it was forced to by safety protocols hard wired into the system. She was the lead ship of her class, and the class was redesigned, so all later boats are not really sisters. Submarines can now use the energy in their steam boilers even if the reactor scrams. And the cause of the freezing lines was addressed in a number of ways. There was a ship in attendence during the tests and the information about the time of the problem, and some other data, is pretty solid. Submarine accidents are uncommon but not really rare. The operating environment is pretty unforgiving, so a catistrophic failure often is fatal to the entire crew. There are more escape and rescue capabilities today, but they probably would not have saved Thresher, which was unable to maintain depth.

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eon RE:USS Thresher: Board of Inquiry - findings 7/22/2004 10:00:54 AM

I think it's interesting to note that since the Thresher disaaster, there has been only one fatal accident/loss of a U.S. SSN, the Scorpion in 1968. And she was a member of the Skipjack class, which predated the Thresher/Permit group. The BOI there concluded that a contributing cause of her loss was the fact that she lacked the improved safety features recommended by the Thresher BOI. The tragedy is, she was scheduled to get them at her MLUD drydocking- after the cruise on which she was lost..

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