The Death of the USS Thresher: The Story Behind History's Deadliest Submarine Disaster

This book could use an update. In a talk he gave on April 10th, 2013 [50th anniversary of the sinking] Norman Polmar explained that navy SOSUS data revealed that the reactor coolant pumps shut down [due to some sort of electrical instability] during the deep dive, this was likely the “minor difficulty” that was reported to the Skylark on the Gertrude underwater telephone. This loss of propulsion, coupled with an out of trim submarine [for reasons u known] and an inability to execute an “emergency blow” near test depth resulted in a boat which sank below collapse depth. These dat were known to the USN in 1963 and why they insist that the cause of the sinking was due to rupture of a sea water pipe remains a mystery.Norman Polmar’s talk is available on YouTube and is certainly worth watching but what he says should be incorporated into the book.

The USS Thresher was lost when I was a boy. They named our community swimming pool USS Thresher Memorial Pool. I never knew what took her and the book proved to be very enlightening and I found to be a page turner. I couldn't put it down.

While serving onboard the USS Bluefish I would never think of a submarine disaster and certainly not read about one. I’m glad I have read this book. I can relate to it in many ways.The information is well presented in a factual, straightforward, respectful, and well written way. I highly recommend it to all interested or curious about the Thresher and it’s shocking demise.

this book is about the loss of the u.s.s thresher a nuclear submarine that was lost with all hands april 63. the book also tells the history of several submarine accidents including the squalus , scorpion, and several Russian submarines including the kursk. overall a good book!

I was a young teenager when the USS Thresher went to the bottom. It was a captivating story, not only for me, but for the all the WWII sailors who my father knew, and the stories they told. One of the sailors went on to be an engineer for the large company who designed and supplied the valves for nuclear subs. The stories were chilling.

I am a former crew member of the Albacore AGSS569. Many times we would follow Thresher out of Portsmouth. The book is very factual and interesting.Several of the crew members on Thresher were friends of mine.

What a read! One of the best historical and best researched accounts of what actually happened to the Thresher. A must read!

The boat went down when I was a kid and I remember the event vividly. Of course, I never knew what had happened. Polmar's account makes for very absorbing and, ultimately, sobering reading. I am astounded that there was a hint of sabotage in the case that seems to have never been pursued. At the height (it seemed) of the Cold War. This is an excellent, gripping history, and if you don't know the Thresher's story, you will get it in a highly professional manner here.

The USS Thresher was the most advanced attack nuclear submarine then built. This sinking was the biggest submarine disaster in US military history. She went down with 129 men.The disaster is described very clearly. Technical detail is good. There are some useful photographs. The book briefly covers other submarine losses - both American and Russian.The reasons for the loss of the Thresher were never fully identified, so the book weighs up the evidence. What surprised me was the apparent sloppiness of the yard where the Thresher was built: this is important because a possible cause of the sinking was a failure of soldering in pipe-work. (Research in 2013 has looked at failings in electrical systems as a primary cause).This is an excellent read for those with an interest in submarine design. It shows how new technologies can bring new problems.

A detailed account, with some necessary hypothesizing, of how and why the Thresher sank. The story makes you wonder about the psychology of submarine volunteers. Is it brute courage or a technical rather than pictorial imagination which makes people choose this form of naval service? Necessarily, this account must reconstruct elements of what happened, whether in the original shipyards or on the fateful day Thresher sank. Since Thresher was an early nuclear submarine, perhaps lessons were learned from its fate about the construction of later models. But questions must remain about the wisdom of littering the seabed of our planet with the decaying wrecks of nuclear energy plants.

This is the best book by far on the Thresher disaster. I would expect nothing less from this brilliant author with such close links to the United States Naval Institute of which I am ex ex-member. He has had not-so-good books - such as "Ship of Gold" - but redeems himself completely with his factual naval books. His Thresher book gives more than a hint of what really caused this tragedy......dockyard laziness perhaps ?

A very well documented, though sad account of the loss of USS Thresher (N593) in 1963; along with the compliment of 123 souls on board,it describes in detail the search for the vessel along with a detailed insight of the board of inquiry that followed, couldn't put this book down. if you like nautical modern history, then this one is for you.

An excellent and accessible review of the known facts with an interesting conclusion as to the likely cause. Typical concise Polmar writing