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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060
Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY SHIPS --
USS Thresher (SSN-593), 1961-1963.
USS Thresher, lead ship of a class of 3700-ton nuclear-powered
attack submarines, was built at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard,
Kittery, Maine. Commissioned in August 1961, she conducted lengthy
trials in the western Atlantic and Caribbean areas in 1961 and
1962, providing a thorough evaluation of her many new technological
features and weapons. After the completion of these test operations,
Thresher returned to her builders for overhaul.
On 10 April 1963, after the completion of this work, Thresher
began post-overhaul trials. Accompanied by the submarine rescue
ship Skylark (ASR-20),
she transited to an area some 220 miles east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts,
and started deep-diving tests. As these proceeded, garbled communications
were received by Skylark, indicating trouble aboard the
submarine. It gradually became apparent that she had sunk, taking
the lives of 129 officers, crewmen and civilian technicians.
After an extensive underwater search utilizing the bathyscaph
Trieste, oceanographic ship Mizar, and other ships, Thresher's
shattered remains were located on the sea floor, some 8400 feet
below the surface. Deep sea photography, recovered artifacts and
an evaluation of her design and operations permitted a Court of
Inquiry to determine that she had probably sunk due to a piping
failure, subsequent loss of power and inability to blow ballast
tanks rapidly enough to avoid sinking. Over the next several years,
a massive program was undertaken to correct design and construction
problems on the Navy's existing nuclear submarines, and on those
under construction and in planning. Following completion of this
"SubSafe" effort, the Navy has suffered no further losses
of the kind that so tragically ended Thresher's brief service
career.
This page features, or provides links to, all our views of
USS Thresher.
For additional pictorial coverage of USS Thresher,
see:
USS Thresher -- Miscellaneous
Views;
Loss of USS Thresher;
and
Wreck of USS Thresher.
For a more complete history of USS Thresher, see the "Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships" entry:
USS Thresher (SSN-593)
Click on the small photograph to prompt
a larger view of the same image.
Photo #: NH 97547
USS Thresher (SSN-593)
Port bow aerial view, taken while the submarine was underway
on 30 April 1961.
Photographed by J.L. Snell.
Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the
Naval Historical Center.
Online Image: 86KB; 740 x 615 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 97548
USS Thresher (SSN-593)
Starboard broadside view, taken while the submarine was underway
on 30 April 1961.
Photographed by J.L. Snell.
Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the
Naval Historical Center.
Online Image: 81KB; 740 x 605 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 97549
USS Thresher (SSN-593)
Port broadside view, taken while the submarine was underway on
30 April 1961.
Photographed by J.L. Snell.
Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the
Naval Historical Center.
Online Image: 91KB; 740 x 605 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 97550
USS Thresher (SSN-593)
Port broadside view, taken while the submarine was underway with
water surging over her bow, 30 April 1961.
Photographed by J.L. Snell.
Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the
Naval Historical Center.
Online Image: 83KB; 740 x 600 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 97551
USS Thresher (SSN-593)
Starboard quarter view, taken while the submarine was underway
on 30 April 1961.
Photographed by J.L. Snell.
Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the
Naval Historical Center.
Online Image: 88KB; 740 x 600 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 97544
USS Thresher (SSN-593)
Starboard bow view, taken at sea on 24 July 1961.
Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the
Naval Historical Center.
Online Image: 61KB; 740 x 590 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 97545
USS Thresher (SSN-593)
Bow-on view, taken at sea on 24 July 1961.
Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the
Naval Historical Center.
Online Image: 79KB; 595 x 765 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 97546
USS Thresher (SSN-593)
Stern-on view, taken at sea on 24 July 1961.
Note upper rudder in the foreground, with draft markings painted
on its side and navigation light at its top.
Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the
Naval Historical Center.
Online Image: 86KB; 585 x 765 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 82320
USS Thresher (SSN-593)
Underway on the surface, circa 1961-63.
Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the
Naval Historical Center.
Online Image: 140KB; 740 x 625 pixels |
 |
For additional pictorial coverage of USS Thresher,
see:
USS Thresher -- Miscellaneous
Views;
Loss of USS Thresher;
and
Wreck of USS Thresher.
Return to Naval
Historical Center home page.
Page made 30 March 2001
Link added 8 April 2001