A Tragic Anniversary: The Loss of USS Scorpion (SSN 589)

By Zach Smyers and Mark Freeman
HRNM Staff

In May 1968, the nuclear attack submarine USS Scorpion (SSN 589) was 350 feet below the surface of the Mediterranean Sea traveling at a speed of 15 knots. Commander Francis A. Slattery, commanding officer of Scorpion, sent a message to COMSUBLANT (Commander, Submarine Force Atlantic). In the message, Slattery said that Scorpion was closing in on a Soviet submarine and research group “to begin surveillance of the Soviets.” This would be the last message ever sent by Scorpion.

Commander Francis Slattery, CO of the Scorpion (NHHC)

Ten years earlier, in August 1958, the keel was laid for Scorpion, which was built at the Electric Boat Division, General Dynamics Corporation, Groton, Connecticut. Scorpion was the second submarine to be built as part of the U.S. Navy’s Skipjack-class. The Skipjacks had the latest in technology in terms of armament, sonar, and nuclear propulsion. Capable of speeds in excess of 30 knots while submerged, Scorpion would be ideal for covert observations of Soviet naval activity during the busy years of the Cold War.

Launching of the Scorpion (Navsource.org)

Commissioned on July 29, 1960, USS Scorpion (SSN 589) would be the sixth U.S. Navy vessel of that name. The previous USS Scorpion (SS 278) was a Gato-class diesel submarine that served during World War II and was lost with all hands in 1944. First assigned to Submarine Squadron 6, Division 62 out of New London, Connecticut, Scorpion’s first deployment was participating in exercises in Europe working with units from the U.S. Navy’s Sixth Fleet and other NATO allies. In September 1961, it changed homeports, moving to Norfolk, Virginia, where Scorpion operated for the rest of its short career.

Sailors disembark from USS Scorpion in Norfolk (NavSource.org)

In February 1967, Scorpion went to Norfolk Naval Shipyard for a scheduled overhaul. At the time, the Navy required a 36-month overhaul period to determine that the submarine maintained all safety standards, including watertight integrity of the hull. However, during Scorpion’s time at Norfolk Naval Shipyard, the 36-month period was reduced to one year, and Scorpion received only emergency repairs in order to return to sea faster.

On February 15, 1968, Scorpion left Norfolk for what would be its final deployment. Working with the Sixth Fleet, Scorpion headed west, making the return trip for home in May. However, on May 20, 1968, Vice Admiral Arnold Schade issued orders for Scorpion to make its way toward the Canary Islands.[i] Scorpion’s tasking was to observe and track Soviet warships operating in the area, which included an Echo II Class submarine, a submarine, rescue vessel, and two hydrographic survey ships. A Soviet guided-missile destroyer and an oiler joined the group three days later. On May 21, 1968, Scorpion was 250 miles south of the Azores, and was making its way back to Norfolk with an estimated time of arrival of 1pm on May 27. That day, Scorpion was reported as overdue for returning to Norfolk. Scorpion had failed to respond to a series of classified message traffic. The Navy made multiple attempts to communicate with Scorpion, but the crew never responded. Scorpion was declared missing, and the U.S. Navy began searching for the lost sub using aircraft, ships, submarines, and aircraft from the Coast Guard and U.S. Air Force. The size of the search area was 2,100 miles, which is almost equivalent to all seven cities that make up the region referred to as Hampton Roads.

On June 5, 1968, the U.S. Navy officially declared Scorpion lost and the crew dead. The Navy established a formal Court of Inquiry regarding the loss of Scorpion. The court convened from June 1968 through most of July 1968. During this time, the court learned that in December 1967, Scorpion did have an unarmed MK-37 training torpedo start up accidentally while still inside the tube. During this particular incident, the crew was able to jettison the torpedo. The court considered that the activation of the torpedo’s battery while the torpedo was still in the tube could have sunk the Scorpion. On July 25, 1968, the court reached the conclusion that there was no proof of the exact cause of the boat’s loss.

The last known picture of Scorpion (NHHC)

In October 1968, the oceanographic research ship Mizar (T AGOR 11) located Scorpion. Sections of its hull were found 400 miles southwest of the Azores in water deeper than 10,000 feet. Pictures and data were collected from the wreck site, but the question remained: what caused the submarine to sink? In 1969, the deep surveillance vessel Trieste II made nine dives surveying the wreckage of Scorpion. These dives confirmed that the Scorpion had broken into three separate sections.

Map showing location of USS Scorpion's wreck (Wikimedia)

While we may never know the precise reason Scorpion sank, there are several theories about this event. In the 1998 issue of Proceedings, author Mark A. Bradley concluded that Scorpion sank due to lack of necessary safety improvements. In the 1998 book Blind Man’s Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage, the authors conclude that the battery used to power the MK-37 torpedo aboard Scorpion could have caught on fire, which in turn would cause the torpedo’s warhead section to explode and sink the submarine. Another popular theory is that Scorpion was attacked and sunk by the Russian navy. While this theory may seem far-fetched, there is some evidence to support it in a letter Scorpion crewmember MMC Robert Bryan wrote to his son, Samual Bryan, about the Scorpion’s final mission. Bryan wrote, “Russians followed us with guns down the entire time.” Regardless of the cause, Scorpion went down with all of its crew and will forever remain on eternal patrol.

This year marks the 56th anniversary of the loss of USS Scorpion (SSN 589). To this day, any submarine entering Naval Station Norfolk will pause to render honors to Scorpion and the boat’s fallen Sailors. Current submariners do this by sounding the ship’s whistle as submarines pull into port from a long deployment. It is a somber yet respectful way to keep the memory of that crew alive. Along with the tribute from current active submarine Sailors, there are several monuments throughout the country commemorating the loss of USS Scorpion, one of which is pictured below. We may never know with total certainty why Scorpion sank. We should, however, stop to remember the crew’s sacrifice over fifty years later.

USS Scorpion monument in Newport News, VA (hmdb.org)

[i] The Admiral’s orders for Scorpion remain classified to this day.

USS Scorpion: On Patrol, 49 Years and Counting

HRNM Photo by Diana Gordon.

By Julius Lacano
Hampton Roads Naval Museum Educator

Among the many artifacts at the Hampton Roads Naval Museum, there are several that are seldom noticed. These artifacts, located in the Cold War Gallery, concern the USS Scorpion (SSN 589), a Skipjack-class nuclear attack submarine that was considered revolutionary in her day. Pieces include a commissioning plaque for the submarine and her Navy Unit Commendation pennant. Also included are two items more personal in nature, a uniform name plate and a set of Scorpion-crested his and hers cigarette lighters. These personal effects were donated by Navy Capt. Mary Etta Nolan, the daughter of Chief Torpedoman’s Mate Walter W. Bishop, Scorpion’s Chief of the Boat (COB). These artifacts seem commonplace and ordinary, but the story of the submarine they are representative of is anything but.

LEFT: At Naval Station Norfolk, Captain Mary Etta Nolan appears at a memorial ceremony held in 2013 honoring the 99 submariners who perished aboard USS Scorpion (SSN 589) in 1967, one of whom was her father (RIGHT), Chief Torpedoman's Mate Walter Bishop. While still a first class petty officer, Bishop was selected in July 1962 as Scorpion’s Chief of the Boat. This uncommon step was taken in recognition of Bishop’s outstanding and superb leadership characteristics. In 1999, Building 560 at Naval Submarine Base New London (SUBASE) was named and dedicated in his honor.  (Commander, Submarine Force Atlantic Facebook page/ Hampton Roads Naval Museum archive.)   

On May 27, 1968, Scorpion was expected to pull into Naval Station Norfolk at the conclusion of a successful Mediterranean deployment. As was customary, families were there to greet them on the pier. Wives, some with children by their sides, waited with anticipation for their loved ones to return home to them. As Capt. Nolan told The Virginian-Pilot in 2008, she and her two brothers were not with their mother on the pier; instead they were at a friend’s house waiting for their father to return. Time went on and families continued to anxiously wait. By that afternoon, though, it became clear that something was amiss. While it was normal for submarines to cross the Atlantic under orders of electronic and communication silence, upon proximity to shore they would transmit messages requesting berthing assignment and tug assistance from their respective superiors, in the case of Scorpion, Commander Submarine Squadron Six (COMSUBRONSIX). At 12:40 pm, COMSUBRONSIX sent a message to Commander Submarine Forces Atlantic (COMSUBLANT) that they had yet to receive any messages from Scorpion and that she was overdue. Mrs. Bishop returned home without her husband and picked up her children, who assumed that their father was hiding in the house waiting to be found, as was their family custom. While their mother maintained her strength, the children had no idea how serious the situation actually was. To them the sub would be found and everything would be ok. To eight-year-old Mary Etta Bishop, the situation was no different than the show Gilligan’s Island.

During builder's trials, USS Scorpion (SSN-589) steams off New London, Connecticut on June 27, 1960. Vice Admiral Hyman G. Rickover, father of the Navy's nuclear program, is standing on her sailplanes with another officer. (Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval History and Heritage Command)

While the families of the Sailors onboard attempted to cope with the unknown, COMSUBLANT tried to re-establish communications with the submarine. At 3:15 that afternoon, after hours of attempts with no success, COMSUBLANT declared her missing and initiated an exhaustive air, sea, and subsurface search along her prearranged westerly track from 73⁰ West (directly south of New York City) to the Azores. This search proved fruitless and on June 5, 1968, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Thomas Moorer declared Scorpion lost with all hands. At the end of October 1968, the oceanographic research ship USNS Mizar (T-AGOR-11) located Scorpion’s shattered hull 9800 feet below the surface and about 460 miles southwest of the Azores.

View of the sunken submarine's sail, probably taken when Scorpion was located by USNS Mizar (T-AGOR-11) in October 1968, on the Atlantic Ocean floor 10,000 feet deep, some 400 miles southwest of the Azores. This image shows the starboard side of the sail, with its after end at top left, and the starboard access door in lower left. Debris is on the ocean bottom nearby. The device in top center is part of the equipment used in locating and photographing the wreckage. The original photograph bears the date January 30, 1969. (Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval History and Heritage Command)

The loss of the Scorpion and the 99 members of her crew remain one of the biggest unsolved mysteries in the history of the United States Navy. Various theories and conspiracies have emerged concerning her sinking, some more plausible than others, but these are little comfort to the family and friends of those who remain “still on patrol."

Detail of USS Scorpion commissioning plaque in the Hampton Roads Naval Museum's Cold War Gallery. (HRNM Photo by Diana Gordon)