U.S. Senate Honors Sinking of Thresher
By Daniel Remin
WASHINGTON — Forty years after the nuclear submarine U.S.S. Thresher sank to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, New Hampshire’s two senators supported legislation commemorating the event.
Sen. John E. Sununu, R-N.H., introduced the bill Tuesday, and later that day it unanimously passed the Senate. Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H. and Sens. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and Susan Collins, R-Maine, were co-sponsors.
The submarine sank on April 10, 1963, about 220 miles east of Boston, as it conducted deep-diving exercises. All aboard – 16 officers, 96 enlisted men and 17 civilians – died in the tragedy.
“This legislation honors their brave service, and the service of all submariners who are ‘on eternal patrol,’” Sununu said in a press release. “The loss of the Thresher was an enormous tragedy for the U.S. submarine service, for the Navy and the nation.”
Gregg expressed similar feelings.
“The brave sailors and civilians aboard the U.S.S. Thresher made the ultimate sacrifice in support of our nation,” he said in a press release. “This measure we introduced recognizes the courage and bravery these men demonstrated in risking their lives in the development of the United States Navy’s submarine program, a program which has proven invaluable to the American military.”
The Thresher, built at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Maine, was commissioned in 1961 and underwent weapons tests, including on its torpedoes.
After the sub sank, the Navy investigated and determined that the most probable cause of the accident was a leak in its engine room because of corrosions in its pipes. This, in turn, could have caused electrical problems on the sub.
After the accident, the Navy established additional safety procedures, including the SUBSAFE program, which requires each submarine to pass a series of safety tests.
According to the press release, Sununu, Gregg and Maine’s two senators will introduce legislation asking Army Secretary Thomas E. White to create a memorial at Arlington National Cemetery honoring those who lost their lives on the Thresher as well as on all other nuclear subs that were lost at sea.
(Daniel Remin is an intern with the Boston University Washington News Service.)
Published in The Manchester Union Leader, in New Hampshire.
