Loss of the Nuclear Submarine

USS Scorpion (SSN-589)

USS SCORPION (SSN-589) was laid down on 20 August 1958 by the Electric Boat Division, General Dynamics Corp., Groton, Conn.; launched on 19 December 1959; sponsored by Mrs. Elizabeth S. Morrison; and commissioned on 29 July 1960, Comdr. Norman B. Bessac in command. Assigned to Submarine Squadron 6, Division 62, SCORPION departed New London, Conn., on 24 August for a two-month deployment in European waters. During that period, she participated in exercises with units of the 6th Fleet and of other NATO [North Atlantic Treaty Organization] navies. After returning to New England in late October, she trained along the eastern seaboard until May 1961, then crossed the Atlantic again for operations which took her into the summer. On 9 August, she returned to New London and, a month later, shifted to Norfolk, Va.

With Norfolk her home port for the remainder of her career, SCORPION specialized in the development of nuclear submarine warfare tactics. Varying her role from hunter to hunted, she participated in exercises which ranged along the Atlantic coast and in the Bermuda and Puerto Rican operating areas; then, from June 1963 to May 1964, she interrupted her operations for an overhaul at Charleston, S.C. Resuming duty off the eastern seaboard in late spring, she again interrupted that duty from 4 August to 8 October to make a transatlantic patrol. In the spring of 1965, she conducted a similar patrol in European waters. During the late winter and early spring of 1966, and again in the fall, she was deployed for special operations. Following the completion of those assignments, her commanding officer received the Navy Commendation Medal for outstanding leadership, foresight, and professional skill. Other SCORPION officers and men were cited for meritorious achievement.

On 1 February 1967, SCORPION entered the Norfolk Naval Shipyard for another extended overhaul. In late October, she commenced refresher training and weapons system acceptance tests. Following type training out of Norfolk, she got underway on 15 February 1968 for a Mediterranean deployment. She operated with the 6th Fleet, into May, and then headed west for home. On 21 May, she indicated her position to be about 50 miles south of the Azores. Six days later, she was reported overdue at Norfolk.  A search was initiated, but, on 5 June, SCORPION and her crew were declared "presumed lost." Her name was struck from the Navy list on 30 June. 

The search continued, however; and, at the end of October, the Navy's oceanographic research ship, MIZAR (T-AGOR-11) located sections of SCORPION's hull in more than 10,000 feet of water about 400 miles southwest of the Azores. Subsequently, the Court of Inquiry was reconvened and other vessels, including the submersible Trieste were dispatched to the scene and collected a myriad of pictures and other data.

Although the cause of her loss is still not ascertainable, the most probable event was the inadvertent activation of the battery of a Mark 37 torpedo during a torpedo inspection. The torpedo, in a fully ready condition and without a propeller guard, then began a live "hot run" within the tube. Released from the tube, the torpedo became fully armed and successfully engaged its nearest target, SCORPION. Alternatively, the torpedo may have exploded in the tube owing to an uncontrollable fire in the torpedo room. The explosion--recorded elsewhere as a very loud acoustic event--broke the boat into two major pieces, with the forward hull section, including the torpedo room and most of the operations compartment, creating one impact trench while the aft section, including the reactor compartment and engine room, created a second impact trench. The sail is detached and lies nearby in a large debris field.  Owing to the pressurized-water nuclear reactor in the engine room, deep ocean radiological monitoring operations were conducted in August and September 1986. The site had been previously monitored in 1968 and 1979 and none of the samples obtained showed any evidence of release of radioactivity.

Submariners Lost on USS Scorpion (SSN-589)

Allen, Keith Alexander Martin, FTG3(SS), USNR

Amtower, Thomas Edward, IC2(SU), USN

Annable, George Gile, MM2(SU), USN

Bailey, Michael Jon, RM2(SS), USN

Barr, Joseph Anthony, Jr., FN(SS), USN

Bishop, Walter William, TMC(SS), USN

Blake, Michael Reid, IC3(SU), USN

Blocker, Robert Harold, MM1(SS), USN

Brocker, Kenneth Ray, MM2(SS), USN

Brueggexan, James Kenneth, MM1(SS), USN

Bryan, Robert Eugene, MMC(SS), USN

Burke, John Patrick, LT, USN

Burns, Daniel Paul, Jr., RMSN(SG), USNR

Byers, Ronald Lee, IC2(SS), USN

Campbell, Duglas Leroy, MM2(SS), USN

Cardullo, Samuel "J.", MM3(SS), USN

Carey, Francis King, MM2(SS), USN

Carpenter, Gary James, SN(SU), USN

Chandler, Robert Lee, MM1(SS), USN

Christiansen Mark Helton, MM1(SS), USN

Constantino, Romeo, SD1(SS), USN

Cowan, Robert James, MM1(SS), USN

Cross, Joseph, SD1(SS), USN

Denney, Garlin Ray, RMC(SS), USN

Dunn, Michael Edward, FA(SU), USN

Engelhart, Richard Philip, ETR2(SU), USN

Farrin, George Patrick, LT, USN

Fenick, William Ralph, FTGSN(SU), USN

Flesch, Robert Walter, LT, USN

Foli, Vernon Mark, IC3(SS), USN

Forrester, James Walter, Jr., LTJC, USN

Frank, Ronald Anthony, SN(SU), USN

Gibson, Michael David, CSSN(SS), USN

Gleason, Steven Dean, IC2(SU), USN

Harwi, William Clarke, LT, USN

Henry Michael Edward, STS2(SS), USN

Hess, Larry Leroy, SK1(SS), USN

Hogeland, Richard Curtis, ETR1(SS), USN

Houge, John Richard, MM1(SS), USN

Huber, Ralph Robert, EM2(SU), USN

Huckelberry, Harry David, TM2(SS), USN

Johnson, John Frank, EM3(SU), USN

Johnson, Robert, RMCS(SS), USN

Johnson, Steven Leroy, IC3(SS), USN

Johnston, Julius Iii, QM2(SS), USN

Kahanek, Patrick Charles, FN(SU), USN

Karmasek, Donald Terry, TM2(SS), USN

Kerntke, Richard Allen, MMCS(SS), USN

Kipp, Rodney Joseph, ETR3(SS), USN

Knapp, Dennis Charles, MM3(SU), USN

Lamberth, Charles Lee, LT, USN

Lanier, Max Franklin, MM1(SS), USN

Livingston, John Weichert, ET1(SS), USN

Lloyd, David Bennett, LCDR, USN

Martin, Kenneth Robert, ETN2(SU), USN

Mazzuchi, Frank Patsy, QMCS(SS), USN

McGuire Michael Lee, ET1(SS), USN

Miksad, Steven Charles, TMSN(SU), USN

Miller, Joseph Francis, Jr., TMSN(SU), USN

Mobley, Cecil Frederick, MM2(SS), USN

Morrison, Raymond Dale, QM1(SS), USN

Odening, Michael Anthony, LTJG, USN

Petersen, Daniel Christopher, EMC(SS), USN

Pferrer, Dennis Paul, QM3(SS), USN

Pospisil, Gerald Stanley, EM1(SS), USN

Powell, Donald Richard, IC3(SU), USN

Ray, Earl Lester, Jr., MM2(SU), USN

Santana, Jorge Luis, CS1(SS), USN

Saville, Lynn Thompson, HMC(SS), USN

Schaffer, Richard George, ETN2(SS), USN

Schoonover, William Newman, SN(SU), USN

Seifert, Phillip Allan, SN(SU), USN

Slattery, Francis Atwood, CDR, USN (Commanding Officer of Scorpion)

Smith, George Elmer, Jr., ETC(SS), USN

Smith, Laughton Douglas, LTJG, USN

Smith, Robert Bernard, MM2(SS), USN

Snapp, Harold Robert, Jr., ST1(SS), USN

Stephens, Daniel Peter, LCDR, USN

Stephens, Joel Candler, ETM2(SS), USN

Stone, David Burton, MM2(SS), USN

Sturgill, John Phillip, EM2(SU), USN

Summers, Richard Norman, YN3(SU), USNR

Sweeney, John Driscoll, Jr., TMSN(SG), USNR

Sweet, John Charles, LTJG, USN

Tindol, James Frank, III, ETM2(SS), USN

Veerhusen, Johnny Gerald, CSSN(SU), USN

Violetti, Robert Paul, TM3(SU), USN

Voss, Ronald James, ST3(SU), USN

Wallace, John Michael, FTG1(SS), USN

Watkins, Joel Kurt, MM1(SS), USN

Watson, Robert Westley, MMFN(SU), USN

Webb, James Edwin, MM2(SU), USN

Weinbeck, Leo William, YNCS(SS), USN

Wells, James Mitchell, MMC(SS), USN

Williams, Ronald Richard, SN(SU), USN

Willis, Robert Alan, MM3(SU), USN

Wright, Virgil Alexander III, IC1(SS), USN

Yarbrough, Donald Howard, TM1(SS), USN

Young, Clarence Otto, Jr., ETR2(SS), USN

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