What does ATOT think happened to the USS Scorpion? Cold War tit-for-tat?

[dug777]

Hot-running torpedo? According to wikipedia (always reliable!) USS Swordfish was hit by a torpedo that circled back, but it was an exercise one, so presumably that was just as possible in 1968, if not more so?

Payback for the whole K-129 incident?

And/or payback for the rather cheeky close in surveillance Scorpion and other boats had been conducting on the USSR?

Or just similar issues which lead to the loss of USS Thresher?

I have to admit that if the malfunctioning trash disposal unit theory was the correct one, it would be something of a disappointment...

Wiki link for those who wonder what I am babbling about

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Scorpion_(SSN-589)

As an aside, the picture of the stern with the crushed hydroplanes give a sobering aspect to the depth it's at...at least I presume they have been crushed by pressure and not collapse over the decades underwater.

 

[eldorado99]

hehe, tit

 

[911paramedic]

hehe, tat

(Are you doing a research paper or something?)

 

[LegendKiller]

I doubt it was the trash disposal or the pipe issue from the Thresher.

 

[FreshCrabLegs]

hehe, tit

hehe, tat

Hehe, boobs with tats!

 

[techs]

In Russia torpedo sink YOU.

 

[MotF Bane]

Internal torpedo explosion, as per Craven's theory.

Blind Man's Bluff.

 

[techs]

It was aliens.

 

[pcgeek11]

It could have been one or several failures. The hot running torpedo in the torpedo room or in the torpedo tube theory are as good as any and more plausable. I was an E6 Torpedomans Mate back in the day and one of the biggest dangers with the Mk 37 Torpedo was accidentally dumping the electrolyte into the dry battery causing a " Hot Run ". In the room the biggest danger was heat from the battery as the propellers had a propeller locking device which would prevent them from turning and hopefully the fussible link would blow and that would be the end of it before the battery overheated and caught on fire.

In the torpedo tube the prop lock would be off and the procedures would be to flood the tube with water, turn the ship >180 degrees to activate the anti circle run circuitry and last case eject the torpedo or open the muzzle door and unlock allowing it to " swim out " on its own from the tube. To avoid the torpedo from attacking its own ship the torpedo was set to run between a ceiling and floor limits. All the ship had to do was be above the ceiling limit or below the floor limit when they released the weapon.

The Mark 37 was a wire guided torpedo and it could be controlled ( driven ) by wire only for minor course changes. They did not have full control of the weapon through the single wire which was about 20 gauge solid insulated wire, which broke more often than not.

The TDU theory is full of holes unless the interlocks between the muzzle ball valve and the breach door were disabled intentionally which I don't think would happen.

I would say my last guess would the the Russians... Just based on my experiences on US Submarines during the cold war through the 70's...

 

[ProfJohn]

I wonder if the Russians would have admitted to it by now?

I think we have both been releasing a lot of our cold war secrets over the last decade or two. Although I guess sinking one of our ships might be a bad thing to admit too.

Then again it was 40 years ago, what are we going to do about it now?

 

[Godsend1]

I have heard the audio recording of the Scorpion when it was sinking. It sounded like a million cans being torn apart.