USS Scorpion Sub Brief (Patreon)

SUBLOSS SUBSUNK The construction, design and loss of the United States Navy second nuclear submarine.  The USS Scorpion (SSN-589) was a United States Navy submarine that was lost at sea under mysterious circumstances in 1968. The submarine was a Skipjack-class fast attack submarine and was commissioned in 1960.  On May 22, 1968, the USS Scorpion was reported overdue while returning from a deployment to the Mediterranean Sea. The submarine was scheduled to arrive at its homeport in Norfolk, Virginia, but it never made it. A search and rescue operation was launched, involving surface ships, aircraft, and submarines, to locate the USS Scorpion and its crew.  On October 31, 1968, the wreckage of the USS Scorpion was discovered approximately 400 miles southwest of the Azores Islands in the Atlantic Ocean. The submarine was found at a depth of about 10,000 feet. The exact cause of the sinking remains officially undetermined, as there were no witnesses and the submarine's final moments were not captured. However, several theories have been proposed over the years.  The most widely accepted theory suggests that a catastrophic event occurred within the submarine, possibly related to a malfunctioning torpedo or a failure in the torpedo tube's outer door. This event could have led to the flooding of the submarine and its subsequent loss. Another theory suggests that the USS Scorpion may have been involved in a collision with a Soviet submarine, but this theory lacks conclusive evidence.