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Photo # NH 97549:  USS Thresher underway, 30 April 1961

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY SHIPS --

USS Thresher (SSN-593), 1961-1963.

USS Thresher, lead ship of a class of 3700-ton nuclear-powered attack submarines, was built at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Kittery, Maine. Commissioned in August 1961, she conducted lengthy trials in the western Atlantic and Caribbean areas in 1961 and 1962, providing a thorough evaluation of her many new technological features and weapons. After the completion of these test operations, Thresher returned to her builders for overhaul.

On 10 April 1963, after the completion of this work, Thresher began post-overhaul trials. Accompanied by the submarine rescue ship Skylark (ASR-20), she transited to an area some 220 miles east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and started deep-diving tests. As these proceeded, garbled communications were received by Skylark, indicating trouble aboard the submarine. It gradually became apparent that she had sunk, taking the lives of 129 officers, crewmen and civilian technicians.

After an extensive underwater search utilizing the bathyscaph Trieste, oceanographic ship Mizar, and other ships, Thresher's shattered remains were located on the sea floor, some 8400 feet below the surface. Deep sea photography, recovered artifacts and an evaluation of her design and operations permitted a Court of Inquiry to determine that she had probably sunk due to a piping failure, subsequent loss of power and inability to blow ballast tanks rapidly enough to avoid sinking. Over the next several years, a massive program was undertaken to correct design and construction problems on the Navy's existing nuclear submarines, and on those under construction and in planning. Following completion of this "SubSafe" effort, the Navy has suffered no further losses of the kind that so tragically ended Thresher's brief service career.

This page features, or provides links to, all our views of USS Thresher.

For additional pictorial coverage of USS Thresher, see:

  • USS Thresher -- Miscellaneous Views;
  • Loss of USS Thresher; and
  • Wreck of USS Thresher.

    For a more complete history of USS Thresher, see the "Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships" entry:

  • USS Thresher (SSN-593)

    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."

    Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

    Photo #: NH 97547

    USS Thresher (SSN-593)


    Port bow aerial view, taken while the submarine was underway on 30 April 1961.
    Photographed by J.L. Snell.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

    Online Image: 86KB; 740 x 615 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 97548

    USS Thresher (SSN-593)


    Starboard broadside view, taken while the submarine was underway on 30 April 1961.
    Photographed by J.L. Snell.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

    Online Image: 81KB; 740 x 605 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 97549

    USS Thresher (SSN-593)


    Port broadside view, taken while the submarine was underway on 30 April 1961.
    Photographed by J.L. Snell.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

    Online Image: 91KB; 740 x 605 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 97550

    USS Thresher (SSN-593)


    Port broadside view, taken while the submarine was underway with water surging over her bow, 30 April 1961.
    Photographed by J.L. Snell.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

    Online Image: 83KB; 740 x 600 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 97551

    USS Thresher (SSN-593)


    Starboard quarter view, taken while the submarine was underway on 30 April 1961.
    Photographed by J.L. Snell.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

    Online Image: 88KB; 740 x 600 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 97544

    USS Thresher (SSN-593)


    Starboard bow view, taken at sea on 24 July 1961.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

    Online Image: 61KB; 740 x 590 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 97545

    USS Thresher (SSN-593)


    Bow-on view, taken at sea on 24 July 1961.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

    Online Image: 79KB; 595 x 765 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 97546

    USS Thresher (SSN-593)


    Stern-on view, taken at sea on 24 July 1961.
    Note upper rudder in the foreground, with draft markings painted on its side and navigation light at its top.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

    Online Image: 86KB; 585 x 765 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 82320

    USS Thresher (SSN-593)


    Underway on the surface, circa 1961-63.

    Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

    Online Image: 140KB; 740 x 625 pixels

     

    For additional pictorial coverage of USS Thresher, see:

  • USS Thresher -- Miscellaneous Views;
  • Loss of USS Thresher; and
  • Wreck of USS Thresher.


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


    Return to Naval Historical Center home page.

    Page made 30 March 2001
    Link added 8 April 2001