In the month of April 10, 1963 the SSN-593 Thresher Nuclear submarine was on a routine series of dives while also rendezvousing with a rescue ship at several different points. She had been commissioned in 1961, but had been undergoing a number of sea trials as the new design and previously unutilized technology made for more careful evaluation. She was being serviced out of the Portsmouth Shipyard and the first hint of any trouble was that the crew felt that the contractors performing maintenance were a bit slow and inefficient while tending not to clean up after themselves. None the less, relations between the crew and Portsmouth shipyard were considered good. The Thresher was a expanded “Skipjack” Class design that for the first time would enter service as not only an attack sub but a hunter killer with the most silent running streamlined hull yet.

The design of the proposed “Thresher” class submarine was so new and innovative that one admiral characterized the SSN-593 more different than any sub in the US Naval inventory.  In other words there was nothing like her at sea in the world. However, there were problems. Analysis of the routine inspection of silver brazed welding showed that of 400 joints within the sub at least 40 were considered substandard. Yet, these hazards were not considered enough of a problem to require repair. She would end up sinking in 8,400 feet of water. Remember that at 1,000 feet of water lead pipe collapses. These are the incredible forces that these submarines must endure.

Even with other nuclear submarines, destroyers, and rescue ships circling the area of the tragedy no camera or sonar location could be achieved. The eerie part of the search results was that even though 2 sonic events or explosions were registered not identified as caused by an implosion while a third audible recording made that would seem to indicate destruction of the Thresher was detected.

However, that while operating as a unit of the search force, the U.S.S. Seawolf (SSN575) recorded possible electronic emissions and underwater noises. None of the signals which SEAWOLF received equated with anything that could have been originated by human beings.

Question: Who or what was making those sounds if the Thresher had already imploded for some time?

Question: With the US Navy dragging their feet for decades before finally being ordered to release data on the cause of the sinking to the year 2020 what else were they hiding?

Question: Could a USO have been present in the area at the time of Thresher’s disaster?

Ivan T. Sanderson, former WWII intelligence agent and later oceanographic expert had been wise to the US Navy’s interest in tracking USO’s, some travelling at very high speeds near the bottom of the sea floor. Long before anyone had paid attention to USO’s Ivana T. Sanderson, had written books on the subject, also a close friend of Author, John Keel, had Ivan had been hot on the trail of that mystery.

Remember, that findings differed within US Naval ranks over the cause of the disaster, either it was a salt water pipe breakage that flooded the engine room and caused the reactor to scram (Shut down), the pumps that circulated water, or the electrical bus that failed, or a number of electrical control panels that shorted out due to flooding, moisture in the compressed air pipes for blowing the ballasts had been had frozen blocking the ability to attain buoyancy, all considered to be possible causes.

I remember a 1965 World Book Encyclopedia story covering the Thresher disaster and it read “Lost Found and Lost Again” and it showed an overhead photo of the submarine conning tower.

Skylark, the rescue vessel reported that she had received communication that the SSN-593 was within 3,450 yards of her but with a 3,700 yard range she was not able to verify Thresher’s location!

Little did anyone know that Bob Ballard, the man responsible for finding the wreck of the Titanic had been assigned to the secret search for not only the Thresher but also the sunken Scorpion prior to the funding he received from the US Navy to pursue the location of the Titanic wreckage. All these strange entangled mysteries seem to point to a cause that may be very different than the official findings of the US Navy.   

129 men died aboard the Thresher. Sailors, officers, and civilian contractors made up the crew on that fatal day.

After the loss of the Thresher, the lead ship in a proposed new "Thresher Class" nuclear sub unit the name was changed to the "Permit" class submarines that performed without loss for the 30 years they served before being decommissioned. This would be the leading class of subs the world over for years to come.