PING)))) May a month of Remembrance in the Submarine World

May 2012

Issue No. Sixteen

USS SCORPION (SSN 589)

"Her Crew Remembered"

Allen, Keith Alexander Martin, FTG3(SS), USNR

Amtower, Thomas Edward, IC2(SU), USN

Annable, George Gile, MM2(SU), USN

Bailey, Michael Jon, RM2(SS), USN

Barr, Joseph Anthony, Jr., FN(SS), USN

Bishop, Walter William, TMC(SS), USN

Blake, Michael Reid, IC3(SU), USN

Blocker, Robert Harold, MM1(SS), USN

Brocker, Kenneth Ray, MM2(SS), USN

Brueggexan, James Kenneth, MM1(SS), USN

Bryan, Robert Eugene, MMC(SS), USN

Burke, John Patrick, LT, USN

Burns, Daniel Paul, Jr., RMSN(SG), USNR

Byers, Ronald Lee, IC2(SS), USN

Campbell, Duglas Leroy, MM2(SS), USN

Cardullo, Samuel "J.", MM3(SS), USN

Carey, Francis King, MM2(SS), USN

Carpenter, Gary James, SN(SU), USN

Chandler, Robert Lee, MM1(SS), USN

Christiansen Mark Helton, MM1(SS), USN

Constantino, Romeo, SD1(SS), USN

Cowan, Robert James, MM1(SS), USN

Cross, Joseph, SD1(SS), USN

Denney, Garlin Ray, RMC(SS), USN

Dunn, Michael Edward, FA(SU), USN

Engelhart, Richard Philip, ETR2(SU), USN

Farrin, George Patrick, LT, USN

Fenick, William Ralph, FTGSN(SU), USN

Flesch, Robert Walter, LT, USN

Foli, Vernon Mark, IC3(SS), USN

Forrester, James Walter, Jr., LTJC, USN

Frank, Ronald Anthony, SN(SU), USN

Gibson, Michael David, CSSN(SS), USN

Gleason, Steven Dean, IC2(SU), USN

Harwi, William Clarke, LT, USN

Henry Michael Edward, STS2(SS), USN

Hess, Larry Leroy, SK1(SS), USN

Hogeland, Richard Curtis, ETR1(SS), USN

Houge, John Richard, MM1(SS), USN

Huber, Ralph Robert, EM2(SU), USN

Huckelberry, Harry David, TM2(SS), USN

Johnson, John Frank, EM3(SU), USN

Johnson, Robert, RMCS(SS), USN

Johnson, Steven Leroy, IC3(SS), USN

Johnston, Julius Iii, QM2(SS), USN

Kahanek, Patrick Charles, FN(SU), USN

Karmasek, Donald Terry, TM2(SS), USN

Kerntke, Richard Allen, MMCS(SS), USN

Kipp, Rodney Joseph, ETR3(SS), USN

Knapp, Dennis Charles, MM3(SU), USN

Lamberth, Charles Lee, LT, USN

Lanier, Max Franklin, MM1(SS), USN

Livingston, John Weichert, ET1(SS), USN

Lloyd, David Bennett, LCDR, USN

Martin, Kenneth Robert, ETN2(SU), USN

Mazzuchi, Frank Patsy, QMCS(SS), USN

McGuire Michael Lee, ET1(SS), USN

Miksad, Steven Charles, TMSN(SU), USN

Miller, Joseph Francis, Jr., TMSN(SU), USN

Mobley, Cecil Frederick, MM2(SS), USN

Morrison, Raymond Dale, QM1(SS), USN

Odening, Michael Anthony, LTJG, USN

Petersen, Daniel Christopher, EMC(SS), USN

Pferrer, Dennis Paul, QM3(SS), USN

Pospisil, Gerald Stanley, EM1(SS), USN

Powell, Donald Richard, IC3(SU), USN

Ray, Earl Lester, Jr., MM2(SU), USN

Santana, Jorge Luis, CS1(SS), USN

Saville, Lynn Thompson, HMC(SS), USN

Schaffer, Richard George, ETN2(SS), USN

Schoonover, William Newman, SN(SU), USN

Seifert, Phillip Allan, SN(SU), USN

Slattery, Francis Atwood, CDR, USN (Commanding Officer of Scorpion)

Smith, George Elmer, Jr., ETC(SS), USN

Smith, Laughton Douglas, LTJG, USN

Smith, Robert Bernard, MM2(SS), USN

Snapp, Harold Robert, Jr., ST1(SS), USN

Stephens, Daniel Peter, LCDR, USN

Stephens, Joel Candler, ETM2(SS), USN

Stone, David Burton, MM2(SS), USN

Sturgill, John Phillip, EM2(SU), USN

Summers, Richard Norman, YN3(SU), USNR

Sweeney, John Driscoll, Jr., TMSN(SG), USNR

Sweet, John Charles, LTJG, USN

Tindol, James Frank, III, ETM2(SS), USN

Veerhusen, Johnny Gerald, CSSN(SU), USN

Violetti, Robert Paul, TM3(SU), USN

Voss, Ronald James, ST3(SU), USN

Wallace, John Michael, FTG1(SS), USN

Watkins, Joel Kurt, MM1(SS), USN

Watson, Robert Westley, MMFN(SU), USN

Webb, James Edwin, MM2(SU), USN

Weinbeck, Leo William, YNCS(SS), USN

Wells, James Mitchell, MMC(SS), USN

Williams, Ronald Richard, SN(SU), USN

Willis, Robert Alan, MM3(SU), USN

Wright, Virgil Alexander III, IC1(SS), USN

Yarbrough, Donald Howard, TM1(SS), USN

Young, Clarence Otto, Jr., ETR2(SS), USN

Submarine Reunions

USS Sunfish SSN649 and SS281

June 27 - July 1, 2012

New London Plaza Hotel

35 Governor Winthrop Boulevard

New London, CT 06320

Phone: (860) 443-7000

Contact:

Joe Martin

828-284-0057

828-284-4262

josephmartin649@gmail.com

sunfish649@gmail.com

USS Casimir Pulaski

(SSBN-633)

www.usscasimirpulaski.com

July 26-28, 2012

Location: Eugene, Oregon

Contact: Don Murphy

Phone: (321) 727-7981

Email: jdm4791@juno.com

USS Halfbeak (SS 352)

August 6-August 16, 2012,

Groton CT

Contact: William Oswald

Phone: 727-368-2920

Email:woswald@tampabay.rr.com

USS Nautilus (SSN 571)

September 2-October 1, 2012

Groton, CT

Contact: Robert Childs

Phone: 864-384-6105

Email: robertdchilds@gmail.com

Ahoy Shipmate!

As all submariners know, May is the month when we all sadly remember the loss of USS SCORPION (SSN 589). SCORPION and her entire crew of 99 were lost on May 22, 1968 en route return to home port in Norfolk Virginia from a Mediterranean Deployment. Of course, due to radio silence, the loss was not known for several days and then even though suspected was not officially acknowledged for several more days. As our archivist stated "The SCORPION story has to be one of the saddest stories in our archives. The thought of all those families standing on the pier, in the rain, their hearts bursting with pride, love, and excitement for that first glimpse of their husbands, fathers, and sons, who sadly would never return, brings tears to my eyes every time I think of it."

There are numerous theories, some credible, many unbelievable about exactly how the SCORPION loss occurred. We have even published some of those theories in previous editions of PING and the KLAXON. Of course, the facts are that no one yet knows for sure; and all evidence gathered to date, while it may point to some very credible possibilities, is insufficient to pinpoint the exact cause.

So, in this issue of PING we will not speculate on how SCORPION was lost but rather, through an assortment of news clippings, documents, photographs and memorabilia from the archives, attempt to honor the memory of the 99 brave crew who lost their lives on 22 May 1968. Sailors rest your oar.

On a happier note, The Submarine Force Library & Museum Association held its annual meeting on May 18. At our annual meetings each year, we also recognize all our docent volunteers and all in attendance at the annual meeting enjoy a wonderful reception following the meeting.

We will be sending out an announcement very soon providing opportunities for interested individuals to purchase commemorative brick pavers. The pavers will be engraved in honor of or in memory of submariners and will be permanently installed for all to see as part of the museum entrance walkway. These pavers will provide a lasting memory for your favorite submariner; more information to follow. Look for it in your mailbox and in the next issue of PING and the KLAXON.

Spring is here, everything is green, temperatures are warm, please come visit the Submarine Force Library & Museum.

Sincerely,

Mike Riegel

Executive Director

Submarine Force Library and Museum Association

Remembering USS SCORPION (SSN 589)

Lost, May 1968

USS SCORPION (SSN 589), a 3500-ton Skipjack class nuclear-powered attack submarine built at Groton, Connecticut, was commissioned in July 1960. Assigned to the Atlantic Fleet, she took part in the development of contemporary submarine warfare tactics and made periodic deployments to the Mediterranean Sea and other areas where the presence of a fast and stealthy submarine would be beneficial.

SCORPION began another Mediterranean cruise in February 1968. She operated with the 6th Fleet into May, and then headed west for home. On May 21, SCORPION's crew indicated their position to be about 50 miles south of the Azores. Six days later she was reported overdue at Norfolk. A search was initiated, but on June 5, SCORPION and all hands were declared "presumed lost." Her name was struck from the Naval Register on June 30, 1968. In late October 1968, her remains were found on the sea floor over 10,000 feet below the surface by a towed deep-submergence vehicle deployed from USNS MIZAR (T-AGOR-11). Photographs, taken then and later, showed that her hull had suffered fatal damage while she was running submerged, and that even more severe damage occurred as she sank. The cause of the initial damage continues to generate controversy decades later.

To see additional images and articles relating to the

USS Scorpion SSN 589

click here

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