The Mystery of The USS ''Scorpion''

By Crusader1307

The US Navy has (to date) only lost two Nuclear Powered and equipped Submarines, since they were introduced in the 1950s. The first, The USS ''Thresher'' has been explained to a relative certainty. The loss of the second Ship, The USS ''Scorpion'',  is not so easily done (nor will ever be). Scorpion was a ''Skipjack'' -Class Attack Submarine designed to counter it's Soviet equivalents. Built in 1958 and deployed in 1960, She was 78-feet long and 10-feet in height (Beam). Considered small The ''Scorpion'' carried (6) standard 21-inch Torpedoes and (2) Nuclear Mark 45 Nuclear Torpedoes. ''Scorpion'' had a record of minor problems at Sea, but nothing catastrophic. In fact, she (as other US Submarines), had put into place many new fail safes learned from the loss of The USS  ''Thresher'' in 1963. That was until May 20, 1968. Having Communication issues, ''Scorpion'' had to relay her Radio traffic through Surface Vessels, to her Command. She was 7-days out from her US Port, off The Azores Islands. After midnight on the 21st, ''Scorpion'' went silent. As easy protocols, she was not declared Missing for 6-days.

99 Crewmen went down with ''Scorpion'' . The Navy stated an unknown catastrophe caused her to sink past her rated operational depth and thus imploded. However in 1969, a piece of evidence came forward. A Listening Post designed for monitoring Soviet Submarines, picked up what it hailed as a recording of the possible death of The ''Scorpion'' . What was odd, was that the explosion was not mechanical but a massive bubble . The Navy back tracked and stated it was the sound of a Soviet Torpedo striking ''Scorpion'' . Of course, many years later Russia stated it was not them . The recording in fact does not sound like a Torpedo explosion. Several Government funded Expeditions to the wreck of The ''Scorpion'' . The wreck, 8,000 feet deep does not bear any signs of this either. While any malfunction or combination thereof, could have sunk ''Scorpion'' , one must look at the many reports of strange Underwater Lights reported in and around the Area where ''Scorpion'' went down. These reports come from both Military and Civilian account . Added to the Area being within the infamous Region called The Bermuda Triangle , causes one to wonder. The ''Scorpion'' has been used in many Cold War Conspiracy Theories as well. From her loss attributed to Russia or some super secret weapons technology that went wrong , one of the best Fictions , may actually be true. The 1989 Sci-Fi Film The Abyss , deals with an American Nuclear Submarine on Patrol in The South Atlantic. She us buzzed by an Underwater Alien Probe, that creates a massive electrical malfunction on board. Unable to control the damage, The Submarine slowly descends out of control, to her ultimate implosion.