4 Theories of the USS SCORPION

[@charlesfaure1189]

The fact that the Navy promptly dropped the maintenance halfassery despite it being considered vital enough to implement in the first place makes me suspect they know pretty well what happened out there.

[@burtonporter8437]

😅 they were like maybe 20 mil ain’t so bad after all

[@Supern00bmaster]

The battery cover is pretty damning evidence on its own, even if we don't know the exact conditions or procedures the crew followed when it happened. I'm not surprised the military doesn't want to straight up admit anything, militaries tend to be like that. Especially during the cold war I'm sure they didn't want to cast any shred of doubt on themselves either. Not just because of bad PR, but also because any information they release the enemy might try to use against them in ways they possibly haven't thought of.

[@94nomad]

They were being cheap. They lost the crew and the boat because they were being cheap, and they know it.

[@nomagic-t1l]

Same disease in any bureaucratic system: Poseurs who have never been there, or done that, issuing policy on both. Honest folks pay the price for it.

[@JZsBFF]

As my late dad used to say: "Steep climbers, deep divers and skaters on ice aren't very wise." - Add to that authority of a couple of four star Scrooge McDucks and you know that people will die needlessly. I'm sure that they did very little to quell those conspiracy theories.

[@DeAlpineBro]

We were on patrol in the North Atlantic near the end of our 70 days underwater. I entered birthing of SSBN 628 and a NUC electrician asked me if I heard anything unusual. I hadn't but it usually took a while after Machinery II Lower-Level watch for my ears to recover due to the noise of the main feed pump motor noise. (Those pumps took water from a vacuum to 900psi. They were engineering marvels.) Anyway, my fellow NUC had saved the ship because he noticed that a ventilation fan for the battery had jammed. He should have received a "Saved the Ship" award from the Captain but our captain at the time had no appreciation for enlisted sailors.

[@robertwood9984]

Ditto

[@benchapple1583]

One jammed fan can kill the submarine. Is that correct?

[@lesigh1749]

@@benchapple1583 If its job is to keep the battery banks from overheating, potentially yes.

[@benchapple1583]

@@lesigh1749 I don't doubt you, but for God sake is there no redundancy in a 8 billion dollar submarine? Aircraft normally have triple redundancy for critical systems (defined as failure can kill the plane). Your car's brake system has double redundancy by law. Well, thanks for the response- you learn something new every day.

[@lesigh1749]

@@benchapple1583 There likely are redundancies, but whether they are working or not is another matter. Even the worlds biggest navies are often running on a "make do and mend" basis. you have to remember these vessels are always manufactured by the lowest bidder.

[@keananpaul8494]

Hey my guy thank you for finally releasing this episode. I've done a lot of research on the USS SCORPION, I think you have done the story and mystery justice. Hard to accept "we don't know" as an answer to what happened. I'm personally convinced they know a lot more about what happened to the Scorpion, and are hiding the truth even 56 years later. Now you have to do a story on K129 and its deep-sea recovery. You didn't mention the detail in the video, but they knew the Scorpion was missing for at least 3 days, prior to its return to port, and they still let the families of those sailors show up and wait around for their planned arrival for hours before sending them home.

[@waterlinestories]

I have K129? On a list but not got anywhere close to it yet. 👍🏻

[@sjb3460]

The cruelty of the military to their dependants has no limits.

[@clayz1]

@@sjb3460 Not much choice on the Navy's part. Had to maintain secrecy. That doesn't explain nowadays though.

[@sjb3460]

@@clayz1 Good observation, the secrecy and confidential nature of sub-warfare would take precedence over family matters.

[@WeeJasperVetClinic]

UFO mission for sure. Paul turner from pine gap had that intel it was UFO’s based on the night he said he heard the calls from the sub

[@lesigh1749]

Imagine being one of the two men who got off that sub just a couple of days before it imploded. There would be no point in them playing the Lotto again, they used up their lifetime supply of good luck right there.

[@fidelcatsro6948]

They were 2 lucky ducky cats!

[@charleswest6372]

Angels were guiding them.

[@Trebelsi]

Oh wow ur so insightful

[@lesigh1749]

@@Trebelsi Um, thanks I guess.

[@derbyct864]

I wonder if they have mixed feelings about that. A little bit of regret Not being there with their ship and mates and also feeling lucky they weren't.

[@andrewdewit4711]

Excellent summary. Good to know the U.S. Navy learned from the tragedy, unlike the sordid blame-game tactic it tried after the 1989 explosion in U.S. Iowa turret 2.

[@SoloRenegade]

and the blame game it tried with USS Bonhomme Richard

[@sonny1597]

When the Scorpion was in the shipyards I went aboard her on a request from their sonar department. They needed help making sure the active sonar was working properly .. and we had a similar system on board my ship the USS Stormes DD780 and we also had variable depth sonar. Their active sonar was only used when coming into port or the like. I was under the impression that they were in the yards because they had a collision with a Russian sub .. they played games with the Russians and one of the chiefs I knew said that when the Scorpion went down it was probably from another collision. Another theory I guess.

[@waterlinestories]

Thanks for sharing. Interesting to hear. 👌🏻

[@HM2SGT]

Kittery Maine\Portsmouth Naval shipyard?

[@2nicnag2]

I love channels like this where people actually experienced things and can share their stories too. I have listened to the first few minutes of this video 4 times as I know nothing about sonar and it’s extremely interesting, had no idea being claustrophobic and almost drowning as a child while living in the most land locked state in the US that I’d find subs, ships and cave diving interesting. Maybe it’s because I don’t have to go on them/dive. A friend from schools husband was high up in the sub world in the navy and was amazed at her strength when he was gone and she had no idea where or what he was doing deep down in the ocean.

[@jamesweldon9726]

I think Craven's theory might be close to correct. To Craven, the most compelling evidence was what the Scorpion did immediately before the explosions: a U-turn. At the time this is what submarine skippers did to disarm a hot running torpedo. A fail-safe device in the torpedo disarmed the warhead, so that they could get rid of the torpedo without fear of it turning around and striking the sub that launched it. The SOSUS arrays that caught the accident show that Scorpion made a sharp 180 degree turn 90 seconds before the explosions. The Naval Underwater Warfare Center in Keyport, WA had found that the batteries of the Mk-37 could overheat and catch fire in vibration testing. The Scorpion suffered from unexplained severe vibrations, part of the reason she was to be overhauled. She also had some torpedoes with batteries from the batch that failed the vibration testing. There's no way to accurately predict how a warhead that was cooked off from a fire will explode. That's not how they are designed to detonate. Perhaps the torpedo didn't detonate the way it was designed -- instead of a high order detonation, it was somewhat of a dud. That would explain why the torpedo room hatch was blown open, but not obliterated.

[@gregstephens7920]

Might be? The sub was located quickly because of it.

[@richardkudrna7503]

What you write makes a lot of sense. Heating a warhead will first melt and try to squirt out the liquid if there is any orifice, but once the heat reaches the initiator these do tend to detonate. If the main charge had left the area and lost intimacy with the initiator/ detonator, a poor explosion would be expected. Or, if the main charge began to burn, a later weak detonation might happen once pressure increased enough. But, the battery top cover is in conflict. Is it possible the battery was exposed to ignition while still dry after the torpedo weakly exploded? I wonder if a torpedo roast can be modelled? Or even tested? Could a tube simulation with runaway battery and live warhead test be done?

[@DuffyF56]

SOSUS showed no such 180 Degree turn. Google "Bruce Rule Commentaries" and read "Why the Scorpion was lost 50 years ago"

[@cyphi474]

Could be just precaution after intial explosion, could be result of fire in Control room. You cant draw entire picture from simple turn.

[@DuffyF56]

@@cyphi474 The turn postulated by Craven was beyond the propulsion capability of the submarine. They could not turn and accelerate to 18 knots in 111 seconds.

[@adamfrazer5150]

Many thanks for covering this incident - certainly one of the saddest yet intruiging.

[@waterlinestories]

Yes there's a lot that's not known. Three mystery makes it even more intriguing

[@jonah4580]

love the whole atmosphere you provide. even the music is balanced with the tone of your voice which really makes for easy listening.

[@waterlinestories]

☺️ thanks for watching

[@dougkrk1]

USN sailors pronounce "Rota, Spain" as "Row-ta".

[@giggiddy]

Amen. His voice is loud, clear, and not drowned out by other things. Very well researched as well. Definitely one of my favorites😊

[@HM2SGT]

Agreed. I concur that this does not suffer from the all two common overdubbed music drowning out the narrator issue.

[@mhoppy6639]

Got to say the versatility of “waterline stories” is mightily impressive. Beautifully filmed, brilliant research and most of all real integrity. No smoke or sunshine just cold hard facts mixed with appropriate empathy. I’ve just watched three films- the one of the cave diver ones, the TT HoFE (zeebrugge) and now this and just two words. Thank you. 🙏

[@waterlinestories]

Thanks, I appreciate that. This is the aim but certainly some mistakes along the way. Thanks again

[@christopherchilders1049]

Again, you have done an excellent job explaining this to were a regular Construction worker, like myself can understand! You put out really entertaining and thought, provoking content. Thank you for your time and effort. It really shows.

[@waterlinestories]

Thanks, it's great to get that kind of feedback👌🏻

[@KnawedOne]

I vividly recall the search for Thresher & Scorpion as broadcast on TV/radio. It was harrowing as we were south of Whidby and surrounded by Air Force, Army, Naval and Boeing plants. Thank you for this thoughtful look at the sub.

[@The_ZeroLine]

16:45 Small Issue: the USN Mizar did not look anything like that at the time of the search. That picture was taken in 1988, two years before it was scrapped. NBD. Just noted in case anyone was wondering why the USN would have a ship in that condition.

[@kmacksb]

The late Phil Ochs wrote an incredibly haunting song about this, called "The Scorpion Departs But Never Returns." The refrain goes, "The Captain will not say how long we must remain, The phantom ship forever sails the seas. It's all the same." Very much worth checking out.

[@johnw3379]

I believe that your battery theory is the correct one. It make the most sense of the information given. Amazing video!

[@waterlinestories]

Seems like it to me. Although not my theory. I'm not clever enough to come up with that. 😀

[@donraptor6156]

Except that that battery was not in its torpedoes.

[@crow578]

It was later discovered they knew about the battery issue. They also tried to keep the Scorpion from being discovered. Coverup all the way.

[@thesquirrel914]

I find it interesting that the Scorpions name was struck from the naval registry, but the Thresher was not....

[@wildestthornberry3349]

The Thresher was the first of her class. After she went down, they renamed the entire class from the Thresher to the Permit class.

[@ald1144]

I cannot imagine the anguish of the families who were waiting at the dock expecting to see their loved ones again. I deeply respect submariners and I'm fascinated by the technology, but it's something I could never do.

[@fidelcatsro6948]

Yes we are better off sticking to Uber eats driver jobs, agreedo amigo! 👍

[@loobielou6965]

Yas, literally just sat down with a cuppa, and the notification came through.

[@waterlinestories]

☕️ enjoy

[@fidelcatsro6948]

Coffee or Tea???

[@762Super]

Yay! We are always stoked to see a new WS!

[@waterlinestories]

😀 thanks. Great too see you back here

[@robinwells8879]

My understanding is that the forward compartment is not imploded indicating that it was open to sea pressure at the time of sinking. This is the main evidence pointing at a torpedo battery fire and low order cook-off detonation of the warhead. The, admittedly low quality video footage of the wreckage taken at later contamination sampling missions tends to support the theory of an open and flooded forward section. Interesting to hear the other theories. A mystery wrapped in an enigma.

[@waterlinestories]

Who doesn't love a good mystery👌🏻

[@geronimo5537]

if a proper dive drone could be sent down to look at the wreck with modern cameras. then a lot of answers could be made I imagine. who knows what was redacted from the original footage.

[@btomas225]

I recall a couple years ago that a theory that's missing here in this presentation is that given the propeller shaft was located away from the main wreckage and that Scorpion just recently had some work regarding the shaft done in one of its port of calls, that possibly the loss of the shaft and the resultant flooding would have dragged Scorpion to its final demise.

[@Klyis]

I suppose it's possible but I don't think the condition of the wreck is consistent with that theory. Remember that the stern section has part the adjacent compartment telescoped into it. This would indicate that the stern was full of air and water pressure pushed the other compartment backwards into the stern. If the propeller shaft failed then the stern would have flooded first and water would have been pushing the adjacent compartment forwards and away from the stern.

[@wesshirlaw8716]

Best scorpion doc I’ve seen, well done 👌

[@waterlinestories]

Thanks

[@zalandarr]

They likely just dismissed the Battery theory which is like the primary danger for any submarine likely due to its operator error with poor safety practices and Navy brass don't like any responsibility.

[@MarBl66]

There seems to be an error in the calculation of the explosive equivalence to the implosion. 6.6 kilotons TNT would be twice as much as the displacement of the vessel and comparable to a small nuke. 6,600 kilograms = 6.6 tons would be more plausible.

[@billynomates920]

i thought it sounded a lot too!

[@Vincent_Sullivan]

@@billynomates920 Same... 6.6KT would be quite an explosion! By comparison, the Hiroshima bomb was about 15KT. I don't think the implosion of the Scorpion would yield anything close to half the explosive force of the Hiroshima bomb.

[@fidelcatsro6948]

Maybe it was the force of the vast natural sea pressure crumpling the manmade soda can

[@oleg53g]

Yes. 6.6kt is impossible. But it is easy to make this mistake. Kiloton is a pretty overused term when talking about explosions and like. Anyway great video.

[@JaredKlatt]

You’re absolutely correct. This is from the actual report. Over the following 21m, 50s, SCORPION sank vertically at an average of 0.36 m/s (0.7 knots) to collapse (implode) at 18:42:34 GMT at a depth of 466m (1530-feet) in 37milliseconds (ms), 1/27th of a second, with an energy release equal to the explosion of 6000 kg (13,200 lbs) of TNT created by the essentially instantaneous conversion of potential energy ((sea pressure of 46.3 bars (680 psi)) to kinetic energy, the motion of the water-ram which entered the SCORPION pressure-hull with an estimated average velocity of about 900 m/s (2000 mph). It was this compressive force that “telescoped” after sections of the pressure-hull, moving frame 90 forward to frame 67 ((a distance of 17.27m (56.66 feet)) at an average velocity of 467 m/s (1044 mph). The Engineering Spaces telescoped into the Auxilliary Machinery Space (AMS) and Reactor Compartment because of the failed transition joints in the AMS. This action produced an average applied force 643 times normal gravity (643g). (The estimated final velocity was 915m/s (3,000f/s / 2045mph). The estimated final g-force was 2,500g. This calculation by a consulting engineer is consistent with the conclusion that the still-articulated human body sighted in the debris field was neither within the pressure-hull nor the after escape trunk when SCORPION collapsed.

[@-Hardstyle-]

This is really well presented. Thanks for your great work.

[@waterlinestories]

Thanks, that's great to hear

[@pvp1976]

Thank you for the excellent production quality and presentation.

[@waterlinestories]

👌🏻

[@dabootvv]

all the videos are like this absolutely awesome channel!

[@waterlinestories]

@dabootvv 👌🏻

[@jeffreyzaleski412]

THANK YOU FOR SUCH AN IN-DEPTH INFORMATION ABOUT THE OVERALL THE SUBMARINE ACTIONS.

[@OmooOmoo]

Great channel thank you for this content. I love the format no fat all meat

[@waterlinestories]

🍖🍗🥩

[@rocket8351]

Thankyou for the thorough explanation. Ive been looking for details of how the sub is broken apart in other documentaries but they seem to not want to bother with that. Excelent and informative. Thanks.

[@stevehill4615]

Good video, always wondered what the theories surrounding the loss of the Scorpion was this video pulled most of the theories together nicely.

[@waterlinestories]

👍

[@dabootvv]

keep them coming! great job as always, so glad I found your channel

[@markbilsborough4150]

On one of the boomers i was on, we had an exercise mk37 go out and try and come back in. It hit us twice in the missile deck and once in the rudder. Then it went and shut down. This was in the 80's. So it does happen. MMC/SS AGANG USN RET.

[@DavidKoppana-iq8jr]

A hydrogen gas explosion from a battery is plausible. Thank you so very much for your excellent analysis of a complex and devastating marine loss.

[@jameshorn7830]

Loved the many pictures of the US Navy's WW 2 or pre WW 2 battleships, even though they were inappropriate in this discussion. Interesting video.

[@NigelDeForrest-Pearce-cv6ek]

Brilliant Episode!!! I Am Glad That New Light is being Shed on thLoss of Scorpion and Her Crew!!!

[@waterlinestories]

👍🏻

[@richardkeilig4062]

May God bless this crew. They are on Eternal patrol.

[@beverlyreiner-baillargeon6205]

Another fascinating video pal. Love the hair cut 😉👍

[@waterlinestories]

🤣 every few months👱‍♂️

[@beverlyreiner-baillargeon6205]

@@waterlinestories Well it looks handsome on ya 👍👍

[@stanislavczebinski994]

When a submarine at depth gets hit by a torpedo - it doesn't start to leak first and sink later. The hull instantly implodes.

[@kboone122]

My favorite Channel Great narrator

[@waterlinestories]

Amazing. 👌🏻 Thanks

[@TimothyWiley-r2b]

I've always wanted to put my two bits in on Scorpion, she was lost when I was 14 and navy bound in just a few years, I already knew the navy and it's history pretty well for my age, anyway I always believed it was something mechanical from lack of proper maintenance, and cousin served on the lead boat Skipjack, but had just got out of the navy when Scorpion was lost, I'm old enough to remember when we lost Thresher, I was in on the over reaction in the aftermath, I served on Oriskany in '75 right before I got out and they put millions, 70s millions into refitting her, as a boiler tech I can say that I have been at the keel of an aircraft carrier and at the base of the hurricane bow, it's oppressive but the hard work kept it from being claustrophobic, which I am, but we re-bricked and re-tubed our boiler and it all went out in garbage cans which two men, bent over, dragged out from under the ship to pallets and a crane that takes them to the docks, it only took long enough for a smoke break and they were coming back down then we each took two empty cans and send them up by chain hoist one at a time a few decks to the deck of our fire 20 ft above and we did it again, I told that story to say this, the mighty "O" was, let's just say, past her prime, good old boat, but even with all of that investment in Oriskany, she continued to break down and have mechanical issues, the boilers were like night and day with before, but not every thing was upgraded as much and as it is with aging ships something else breaks down, even in '75 she was almost 30 years old and built during the war, the Essex class won the war, but they were built quickly and couldn't keep up with the bigger ships with the growing size and weight of newer fighters she was just to small, my longer service time on the Coral Sea, including the last combat of Vietnam in 72-73, she was larger and served until the early 90s when she was scrapped to small as well, her sister Midway served til the first Gulf war and is a museum in San Diego, sorry to ramble but that's how it was when we came home in '73, I served on Oriskany😂 in the spring and summer of '75, a hot and humid long beach summer in drydock doing what I mentioned, but a lot of million were available after...Scorpion, because it was poor in '68 and she needed a long refit but got only a half assed shortened one cost 99 sailors, who are still aboard...on eternal patrol they say, RIP Scorpion, sorry, getting through the weekend with just my phone for entertainment and passing the time, thanks for your patience, love the content, her and Thresher, 129 still aboard her need to be remembered, thank you for keeping her memory alive...

[@giggiddy]

Thank you for taking the time to continue to consistently produce longer videos. For the others that make them just long enough to monetize and not a second longer, AI will put them out of business...

[@waterlinestories]

👍🏻 thanks. Good feedback to get

[@TailGunner1978]

Great vid as usual mate!

[@waterlinestories]

👌🏻 thanks for your support.

[@edgyjorgensen3286]

A little room acoustic treatment will go a long way. A rug or even some paneling on the ceiling so it stays out of frame. The room has quite the echo making it hard for the hearing impaired. Keep up the good work.

[@gordonagent7037]

I’m really enjoying your videos, very well explained

[@susanbengston3208]

The Scorpion’s Disaster Traumatized All of Us, We the American People, just reliving it thru your excellent review broke my heart again. We will never forget. 😢

[@kayjay135]

Unrelated, but I yearn for another video covering a drilling incident. I really miss hearing you say 'mud'. 😅 I'm sorry, but it's so charming XD

[@waterlinestories]

😂 I'll have to find a muddy story for you.

[@luisromero3443]

Awesome video as always 👏

[@waterlinestories]

👌🏻 thanks

[@misarthim6538]

Firstly, I want to appreciate that you focused on the facts and didn't give any space to baseless conspiracy theories. I didn't know about the battery explosion theory and it indeed sounds very plausible and matches the observable data, unlike all the other craziness. That's why it's such a shame there are these mistakes, like 6kt of TNT (should be 6t of TNT, probably) or that Skipjack was the first class that combined 'nuclear propulsion with advanced hull design of diesel powered submarine'. I suspect that what you wanted to say is that it featured for first time a teardrop hull, which was previously tested on experimental diesel electric USS Albacore and which was a radical departure from previous operational diesel electric submarines, but honestly, it makes no sense like this. Ultimately, it doesn't detract that much, it's just a shame.

[@helenhenliwomack8262]

Great video super interesting and packed with information! You should host a Q & A I’d love to understand your investigation writing process it’s SO GOOD! big admiration many questions I wanna ask ya about diving and your videos! Thanks for the dope video!

[@waterlinestories]

😂 thanks. Maybe one day. I try to focus on the stories.

[@dirkbonesteel]

Correct answer. I was on USS Skipjack SSN-585 for a year in the mid 80s, so follow the story closely. All the Skipjacks were stationed in Groton CT. at the time, all retired by about 1990. Most of us believed the torpedo theory but more recent battery theory is pretty conclusive. The only water tight sections on the ship were Torpedo room and the reactor tunnel. Crews racks were lower level and aft but still same compartment as Control. The battery compartment was under crew birthing /beds. Getting battery chunks in Control would take a explosion, and there is no torpedo damage. There are active Facebook groups for Skipjack and probably the other 4, people there can probably answer questions better then I can. Fun Fact - Titanic was discovered using left over time after finding Scorpion for the Navy

[@theq4602]

after finding thresher you mean, scorpion is nowhere near the titanic

[@dirkbonesteel]

@@theq4602 Think Thresher is closer to home. Scorpion is on the standard route home from a Mediterranean cruise. It's within a day travel by the search ship from Titanic if I remember right. Ballard had the Titanic in mind from the start if he had enough time left on the ship rental

[@ExcavationNation]

My favorite channel ❤️

[@waterlinestories]

😀 thanks mate.

[@JaredKlatt]

The fact that emergency requests for problem welds are my suspicion. The issue with HY80 steel is its difficulty in welding. Same as HY100. HY130 is considered non-weldable. So possibly a weld gave away in the battery room causing a short and eventually an explosion in the battery. Causing the over pressure and killing of crew and the leak causes sinking and then the hull crushing at depth making the loudest sound picked up. When I heard HY80 and emergency weld repair request, that was my guess the entire time.

[@posmoo9790]

'6.6 kiloton explosion' 14:50 yeah, that's not correct - that's the size of a nuclear detonation

[@reneberthold334]

ask ocean gate about implosions, there is a lot of energy involved.

[@bwtv147]

So the Russians didn’t sink the Scorpion. Bean counters in Washington D.C. sank the Scorpion.

[@jjofarrell8646]

Good content man

[@waterlinestories]

Thanks 👍🏻

[@cjespers]

Fwiw, had a lot of problems with GNB batteries used in large UPS systems in the 1990's. 😮 Thanks for the video.

[@nox6438]

I've noticed it throughout your videos, and I can't quite put my finger on it. I'm thinking it must be related to how you're rendering the video on export. But the actual visual quality of the videos themselves looks off. As if it's been downscaled then upscaled again, or slightly compressed. Could also be bitrate related. It's a shot in the dark, but I'd try rendering your final cut in VP9 or AV1 video codec, rather than H. 264 Love the videos! Just trying to help out! 😄

[@TicTac824]

Keep pumping out those vids Mate’ I’m almost through them all 😅 👍🏻

[@adamfrazer5150]

19:54 Halderman : Hey Chuck, you want to you know....stop plotting and help solve this thing here ?

[@ctradio4416]

1:52 was this the same system that figured out what happened to the titanic submarine thing?

[@waterlinestories]

Yep

[@2nicnag2]

‘Outside the break water’ I learn so many new things in each video and when I heard this I assumed I knew what it meant but still looked it up. Water life is not for me but still find it interesting

[@tomdaley9154]

Both subs that have been named scorpion, have sunk with all hands aboard. I hope we never name one that name again

[@ald1144]

Not likely since the Navy doesn't name their subs that way anymore. I liked it better when they did, but I agree with you. Not that I'm superstitious of course; it's bad luck to be superstitious.

[@samholdsworth420]

Subs are named after cities

[@tomdaley9154]

@samholdsworth420 they are? What about boomers and Virginia class and seawolf class? And i guess they'll never change the naming criteria ever again huh?

[@fidelcatsro6948]

They were 2 scorpion contraptions?

[@tomdaley9154]

@fidelcatsro6948 yes. Well, 2 submarines and one schooner in the 1800's. Sadly, both submarines were lost with all hands. The Skipjack class nuclear boat in i believe 1968, and the Gato class boat in 1944. The Gato class Scorpion was presumed to have been mined in the yellow sea, so likely not an accident like they believe the Skipjack boat was.

[@timmotel5804]

Good Day. "Naturally!"... RIP Crew & As Always; Shame on the Navy. Thank You & Best Regards.

[@Salmon_Rush_Die]

Nice work, Robert MacNamara. That guy should have been convicted of treason many times over. He was probably one of the ones pushing hard for cost-cutting in the DoD.

[@Will-dn9dq]

What a trip down down creaking cracking

[@LichaelMewis]

3:11 Is that Stockton Rush building a mini Titan sub?

[@vandarkholme4745]

Rather than the sub disappearing into Soviet water mystery it's more like the answer will get someone fired mystery. Plenty of these if you've done government contracts.

[@totensiebush]

6.6kt TNT? we're talking half the power of the two combat uses of nuclear weapons? I could potentially 6.6t of non nuclear energy but 6.6kt sounds incredibly high.

[@yellowrose0910]

Found one source, admittedly on Quora: dude claims to be Retired USN CDR, sub-qualified and says "When the [T]hresher imploded the bubble pulse expend [sic] the energy of about 25,000 pounds of TNT". So about 12.5 tons. So kT sounds a little large.

[@totensiebush]

@@yellowrose0910 I absolutely won't claim to know how to calculate the energy, just thought it sounded like it was orders of magnitude off given what an underwater nuclear detonation looks like.

[@gregschinn6943]

Must be a mistake. 6.6 tons of TNT (still a lot!) sounds more reasonable.

[@stevewalsh8271]

This is very accurate. Personnel in the engineering spaces likely survived the blast in the Op's compartment, but probably with some triage cases. Uninjured personnel likely went to control to attempt to blow its MBT's to surface the ship, as propulsion was likely out due to a reactor scram, and no main battery left to allow a restart of the reactor. There is no real damage to the bow and the fairing covers over the torpedo tubes to justify Craven's torpedo battery explosion and resulting warhead explosion. The bow compartment upper hatch covers blew off due to the pressure wave running through the ship when it imploded. The upper escape trunk hatch on the aft escape trunk in the engineroom is also open, only its hinge retaining fasteners did not fail, so it is still on the ship where it was installed. The escape trunk under it was sheared away when the construction butt joint in the forward end of the enginerooml's pressure hull failed when it telescoped into the auxiliary machine room.

[@kunaldeepsingh8732]

Next up USS Thresher

[@wickets]

He already did.

[@kunaldeepsingh8732]

@@wickets Ya I forgot. I have seen that one before 😅

[@fidelcatsro6948]

Imagine how much sealife got radioactive damage from these manmade pollutants

[@mommy2libras]

​@@fidelcatsro6948 next to nothing when compared with the radioactive leftovers at Bikini. Took many decades before it was even safe to visit. At least this was an accident.

[@harlech2]

The fact that there is SO MUCH secrecy around the death of the Scorpion and it's crew shows the that the Navy early on realized something was amiss. Also, to the best of my knowledge, while select photos have been released detailing some of the damage, no 3-D models, photo mosaics, or other detailed overview techniques have EVER been published. The thing is, when the Navy fucks up there is usually several thousand feet of water to cover up their mistakes.

[@LostAncients]

Thank you for always converting metric into units of hamburgerment for those of us who speak the improved English 2.0. We're great with fixing words and stuff, but our measurey numbers are way weirder than y'all's.

[@peregrinemccauley5010]

Oh Magoo, you've done it again!

[@stevengill1736]

My dad was the pilot of the first San Francisco bay ferryboat back in the 70s. It was a dual diesel that had a pretty good sized battery bank in the engine room. Once when he was preparing for the next day's schedule, the battery bank exploded during routine charging. Luckily he wasn't in the engine room at the time, because it spattered sulfuric acid all over. Those old lead/acid batteries can be dangerous... They also use giant NiCad arrays and some lithium phosphate as well, but more rarely I believe.....

[@interstingfacts587]

Great video!!!!!!!

[@fidelcatsro6948]

-Leave window open and ventilated when charging battery -Use only original manufacturer provided charger for charging -Do not use aftermarket batteries not produced by manufacturer -Do not leave charging overnight unattended

[@juliocampos1745]

here we have a case of mechanical fault: explosive gas being created and ignited, which should have been a simple case, right? no , all crew is dead. navy knew about shortcuts on the maintenance and the problems on the sub, but send it out anyway, now, obviously the navy did not want to point fingers, so they manufactured the " we do not know what was the cause of the sinking" to avoid blaming themselves for the sinking, which was the batteries but that could extend to the rest of the problems of the ship and cause major problem for the ones involved in the command. so they gave way for conspiracies and Russian torpedo that could have been ideal to spare blame. no mystery there . but it is a case that they wanted to remain close. now you know.

[@williammoreno2378]

Years ago, a work collegue, a retired chief enlisted nuclear engineer and one of the early nuke program trainees shared with me an interesting story about Scorpion. During a conversation I casually mentioned what happened to the Scorpion. He did share with me that it had a not so good reputation, not from said lack of maintenence but for being hyper-aggressive on deployments, known thruout the sub force. His words, "you stayed away from Scorpion". As for how she sank, without any hesitation, he said it was sunk my a ussr destroyer it was playing cat-and-mouse with and the russian got tired of its bs and sunk it. It has been 35 years since he shared this story, and I pretty much remember vividly what he said because it was so fascinating. Unfortunately, I heard my collegued passed away in the late 90's and if he didn't then, he may have later. Coyld he have been telling me a sea story? Maybe, but other sub sailors say pretty much the same thing, the only different is the torpedo was launched by a helicopter.

[@DwaneLudy]

In 1989 I was in Seattle Seafair we got to go to chip hanauers shop, he was the driver of the speedboat circus circus and the Miss Budweiser speed boat. The bow wint underwaterand the boat flexed that little wrinkle turned into a platter sized divot, that's when I learned the power of water. When things go bad underwater, they go horribly wrong. It is amazing what water can do almost as amazing, as those men that jump into those tin cans to protect us.

[@HandyMan657]

Whoa, we're on the other side of the office today, threw me there. As always, thank you for the fine work and presentation. Take care, fair winds.

[@waterlinestories]

😂 👍🏻

[@WeeJasperVetClinic]

Yet they can here a few pounds of TNT across the other side of the planet exploding in the ocean, yet don’t hear a jet MH370 hitting the ocean at 200 miles an hour?

[@fidelcatsro6948]

Thats another big cover up i guess..even my cat couldve heard an aircraft crashing inyo sea

[@mortyrosenstein4211]

Many variables. Sensors are located in strategic locations. The bigger variable is the acoustics. Sound does not travel in a straight line in water. It bends and curves violently. There is usually a layer in between surface and 200-300 feet. A plane hitting the surface will have its sound trapped in this layer. It will travel far less than something occurring deep in the water. It’s called a convergence zone. Sounds created under the layer in deep water tend to propagate endlessly. Sound is lazy. It wants to travel with least resistance. The sound wave will travel by bending up and then down over and over and over. From the side it looks like a series of peaks and troughs as the sound hunts for that sweet spot in the middle. This repeats endlessly and allows it to travel without losing much energy. In essence, something exploding under the layer in deep water is going to have a much easier time propagating across entire oceans than something hitting the surface above the layer. I was a sonar tech on subs for 20 years. I did a shore tour monitoring a sensor array. This stuff is my little weird niche of useless knowledge.

[@lewis7315]

hy80 steel is very difficult to weld properly. incorrect welding causes cracks in the welds which could have had fatal consequences. However, failure to correct defects is the most likely cause of loss.

[@williammoreno2378]

The pre-heat and post-heat during welding of HY-80 I was told was very important. I worked on the ffg-7 frigates, and that is the steel used during construction.

[@anja2716]

Gosh. Great research. Great details.

[@waterlinestories]

Thanks 👌🏻

[@StephenCole1916]

It would be interesting to know what additional information was found in the 1985 & 1986 investigations that were performed by Dr Robert Ballard. His search for the Titanic was used as a cover for these Navy investigations.

[@videomaniac108]

I can see the Navy wanting to attribute the sinking to a malfunction in the torpedo, rather than a problem in the design, construction or condition of the boat itself. It would be cheaper and easier to fix defective torpedoes to reinstill operational confidence in the subs than to have to fix major systems on the boat itself.

[@samstewart4807]

lol@19 min- pre war U.S battleships were not involved in this search- other than that a very good video

[@MrUbiquitousTech]

16:44 well, they were mizerly with the paint for sure

[@27degreesdescending29]

This article didn’t touch upon the USS Scorpion’s propeller shaft had been changed-out before crossing the Atlantic as a means to alter their signature identity. Had anyone entertained the theory of the propeller shaft disengaging from its reduction gearbox as a result of a mechanical failure or from a inadvertent contact from another vessel?

[@jonnycomfort9271]

More likely, if that had been the case, the shaft would have ended up quite further away from the rest of the wreckage on the sea floor. Remember, the shaft and screw are rotating at that time. Plus, the damage to the aft section actually matches up with the shaft being shot out like that. One thing I find interesting that I dont see being discussed very much anywhere is the obvious damage to the lower aft section of the sail. It's like a huge bite was taken out of it. This is not the location of the battery--it is lower in the hull and if I recall right, further aft. This damage is huge, and it cannot be explained by a battery explosion or a torpedo issue in the forward torpedo room--neither of which are located where this damage occurred. The USN report noted that the #2 periscope and two antennas were in the raised position at the top of the sail. This could indicate that the sub was at periscope depth at the time of whatever event took place.

[@yellowrose0910]

That sub looks mighty small to be nuclear. What were the ambient radiation levels in that thing?!

[@fidelcatsro6948]

Small?? Are you kidding..99 crews

[@yellowrose0910]

​@@fidelcatsro6948 A quick search reveals most modern subs have ~120-~150 crew. And just look at the sub: while yes it's not a midget submarine it's *tiny*.

[@Reedthecatmaster]

My grampa took part in the search for the scorpion when he was in the navy. He served on another submarine for 12 years

[@Reedthecatmaster]

His name was William dotson

[@jasonhammond4640]

My father in law was in the Navy on one of the ships that searched for Scorpion.

[@BruceChamberlin-y4r]

I read where the crew called the boat the “USS Scrap Iron”

[@TeethToothman]

Are you saying there's a nuclear powered submarine.....that's missing?

[@zlm001]

Thanks

[@natebartels1444]

Isn’t it interesting that there are more photos of the USS Thresher wreck than the USS Scorpion wreck? Kind of makes you wonder if there is stuff the USN is hiding.

[@johnteets2921]

What's with the stock photos of pre WW II battleships ?

[@LichaelMewis]

Great documentary on what happened to this sub. Tragic.

[@Blackmagik66]

I build a 1/72 scale model of this boat. Mobius models makes and excellent kit. It is LARGE.

[@christhesmith]

Wouldn't it be possible to triangulate with two hydrophones, the submarine being the 3rd node of the triangle??? That's why we don't have 3 eyes??

[@fidelcatsro6948]

Sure we can, but you need to revover the 3rd node sub first to gather data😂😂

[@mattwilliams3456]

14:53 kilotons sounds like a bit of a mistake.