On May 22, the USN’s underwater sound surveillance system (SOSUS) recorded at least two “acoustic events” that, coupled with the lack of communication from Scorpion, led the Admiralty to suspect the boat was destroyed. On May 27, the families of the crew gathered to welcome the ship home at Norfolk Naval Station. The ship never arrived. Later that evening the USN reported the ship was overdue and launched a public search.
On June 5, the USN declared the Scorpion and her crew of 99 hands were “presumed lost.” A court of inquiry convened to analyze the boat’s fate. The ongoing search discovered the remains of the Scorpion in late October when the USN’s oceanographic research ship, the Mizar, located the submarine’s wreckage under almost 10,000 feet of water.
This is where things get weird.
Theory #1: the Court of Inquiry Report
On January 31, 1969, the official inquiry concluded that “The certain cause of the loss of the Scorpion cannot be ascertained from evidence now available.” In 1984, however, the Norfolk Virginian Pilot and The Ledger-Star published classified documents that reported the disaster was likely caused by the detonation of a torpedo while the Scorpion‘s crew attempted to disarm it. This theory argued that stray voltage-activated the electrically propelled torpedo, which then armed and attacked its closest target: the Scorpion.
Theory #2: the Naval Ordnance Laboratory Report
This report rejected the acoustic analyses used in the Court of Inquiries findings. Robert Price, Ermine Christian and Peter Sherman of the Naval Ordnance Laboratory (NOL), expert physicists on undersea detonations, their acoustic signatures, and their destructive effects, argued that the death noises corresponded with a hull failure at a depth of 2,000 feet. Their report concluded that an explosive event was unlikely, pointed out failures in the original testing methods, and argued that the Scorpion likely suffered a power failure. Bereft of power, the boat’s weakened hull could have collapsed as it sank before the crew regained control.
Theory #3: Torpedo Room Fire
Dr. John Craven, Chief Scientist of the U.S. Navy’s Special Projects Division and primary author of the first theory, laid out a new argument in 1998. According to Craven, the Mark 46 torpedo used silver-zinc battery susceptible to overheating. This could have caused a fire capable of detonating the warhead, which might have opened the boat’s large torpedo-loading hatch and caused the Scorpion to flood and sink. Opponents point out that although the batteries had generated enough heat to blister torpedo casings, there is no other incident of explosion.
Conspiracy Theory #1: The Cold War Flashed Hot
Four submarines vanished/sank in 1968: the French Minerve, the Soviet K-129, the Israeli Dakar, and the USS Scorpion. Proponents of this theory argue that each of these boats sank while engaging an opposing navy when the Cold War briefly, and exceptionally quietly, turned into a shooting war. Soviet spies had cracked US naval encryption codes, and the Scorpion was destroyed by a Russian torpedo in retaliation for the USN’s sinking of the K-129 two months prior.
Conspiracy Theory #2: Nature Did It
An underwater seaquake generated a pressure wave that crushed the Scorpion due to the boat’s structural design flaws.
There are quite a few more conspiracy theories, but, whichever theory you choose to believe, we’re left with one hard truth about the Scorpion‘s fate. A final resting place underneath 9,800 feet of water means that it’s unlikely anyone will know the submarine’s true story anytime soon.
Sources For Further Reading:
History Collection – How the US Navy Helped Find Titanic and Other Sunken Ships
Wikipedia – Skipjack-Class Submarine
The National Interest – Why Russia and China Feared America’s Skipjack-Class Submarines
Daily Press – Scorpion’s Sunken Secrets Revealed
National Interest – What Really Happened to the Doomed Submarine USS Scorpion?
We are the Mighty – The Soviet Conspiracy That Almost Started World War III Will Blow Your Mind
Haaretz – How Did Israel’s Dakar Submarine Sink 45 Years Ago