Customer Reviews

Silent Steel: The Mysterious Death of the Nuclear Attack Sub USS Scorpion

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

USS Scorpion's sinking remains a controversial topic more than 35 years later. But the focus has always been on the ship and not on the crew, all of whom perished aboard the submarine.

Stephen Johnson deftly weaves the personal stories of crew members with that of the ship itself. Scorpion was a cranky, failure-prone submarine and her crew had to work doubly hard to keep her in service. The never-ending failures and breakdowns caused at least one crew member to transfer off the ship, though his guilt haunted him for the rest of his life.

Along the way we see that the Navy hadn't learned its lesson from the sinking of the Thresher just five years earlier. Though Scorpion had been back-fitted with several "SUBSAFE" modifications, her emergency-blow system remained inoperable due to design defects for the rest of her brief life. The Navy seemed more interested in holding repair costs down, rather than the safety of a nuclear warship and her crew.

Johnson's style is subtle and understated, and is thus more effective at conveying the human tragedy of the sinking than the semi-hype of Sherry Sontag/Christopher Drew ("Blind Man's Buff") or John Craven ("The Silent War").

Those looking for a definitive explaination of the sinking may be disappointed -- as with many technical failures, there are far more questions than answers.

Intriguing, sobering, ultimately very sad, and very worthy. A tribute to those who died beneath the restless sea. Highly recommended.

I agree with most other reviewers that this is the most comprehensive unclassified discussion of the SCORPION sinking. But it is not a balanced analysis.

The author treats all theories equally -- except those of Dr. John Craven. He goes out of his way to denigrate Craven and everything he said or wrote about this incident. Inflammatory wording and tortured logic abound in these sections of the book.

It's true that Craven's original idea of a circular torpedo run is untenable. But the modified theory he described in his memoir THE SILENT WAR is the only one that fits the observed condition of the wreckage:

-- The torpedo room is the only part of the wreck without implosion damage, so it must have been already flooded and open to sea pressure when SCORPION sank below crush depth.

-- The torpedo room deck hatches are missing and since they open outward they must have been blown off by high internal pressure.

-- The logical source of overpressure in that compartment is a low-order detonation of an overheated torpedo warhead. Such "cook-off" detonations actually occured on SARGO in 1960.

Given SCORPION's decaying internal systems, the fire might not have been caused by the controversial batteries in the Mk-37 torpedo, but rather leaking hydraulic oil or oxygen. In that case the warhead cook-off might not have been in one of the Mk-37s but rather in an old Mk-14 -- or even one of the two nuclear Mk-45 ASTORs.

I found it curious that these torpedos and their W34 nuclear warheads are hardly mentioned in this book, or any other account of this sinking. After all, this is the only time a US warship has sunk with nukes on board and their status and possible role in the sinking must have been the top priority of the investigation. But a little thought convinced me that these invisible torpedos make Craven's model even more credible.

Modern nuclear bombs use insensitive high explosive triggers but the W34 was designed in the mind-50s before this safety feature was introduced. Several Air Force bombs of this vintage cooked-off in fuel fires. The amount of HE in a mini-nuke is a lot smaller than that in a conventional warhead and would make a smaller bang, less likely to chain-detonate the other torpedos and more consistent with the light damage and weak sound signature observed. In fact by substituting a Mk-45 torpedo for the Mk-37, one overcomes almost all of the objections to an internal torpedo explosion.

I have been talking to Steve for over the last 3 years about this book, so it didn't come as a big surprise; but I was very happy about the depth of research and background material that was shown in the book.
I didn't expect any definate answers as to what happened to my shipmates and the boat to go down and there weren't any. What I was glad to see, was documentation on some of the issues that have been speculated about. Hopefully this will stop some of the speculation that has gone on about possible causes of the accident.
I use the word accident on purpose, because I spent two and one half years on the Scorpion from 64-67 and I know there is no way someone on the boat would have done anything to cause what ever sunk it. Having been on two other nuke subs and having been very active the last 5 years with almost 12,000 other subvets in USSVI, I feel now, just I did the day I walked off the Scorpion, that the crew on that boat was really special. They were extremely competent and dedicated to what we were asked to do. Steve talks about them having to fix things when the shipyard and other resources weren't available. This was routine, the whole time I was on it. Thanks in large part to our COB, Wally Bishop, we had no nuc/nonnuc attitudes and were all close friends. It is true that you are closer to some of your shipmates than to those in your family.
Whatever caused the ship to sink, it was not negligence by the crew. There will be another book coming out soon that purports to tell what really happened to it. If you read that book, I would suggest you come back to this book and look at the listed research and Steve's very erudite explanation of it(and that is by no means all the research that Steve did on the book) and then look at what backs up whatever supposed proof that others feel make their viewpoint valid.
I think one of the most important things this books shows is the background of what was going on during the 60s on subs. I can remember twice going out and doing ops because another boat couldn't. I can also remember working on equipment underway because we were not allowed to stay in port to fix things that didn't work.
Cdr. Lewis, as described in Steve's book, was a master skipper. I think anyone in the crew would have done whatever he asked with full confidence that he would get us back safe and alive.
I could tell a lot of stories about Admiral Fountain, but I also learned a lot about him later and came to realize why he was the way he was. He may not have been the most personable officer, but he was very good at his job and helped us be the best we could at what we did.Being the XO, is not going to win you awards for most liked officer anyway. Someone else, while not mentioned in the Book, but responsible for the high standards set by the officers, was LCDR Apple, the engineer when I was on the Scorpion. He set up expectations for the engineering department, that I am sure were carried on until the end.
Wally Bishop was a hero to all of us while we served with him. He of course will be a hero always now. My best friend ever, Bob Chandler, went down with the boat as did most of the people I served with. I think they all deserve the respect they are entitled to and was glad to see that Steve recogized this and treated them with such respect.
I am glad that Steve took the time and effort to detail everything that was known about the Scorpion and to not engage in worthless guessing of what happened.
I can't say this is a happy book, but to anyone interested in what is actually known and what was done to find out as much as possible, this book answers those questions.The book also shows what it was like to be on a nuc fast attack in those days. This book is the best that has been written about that subject. We were engaged in a war that no one understood; we on fast attacks had a specific job to do which we did extremly well and to this day, most don't know what it entailed. That is fine. We didn't expect or want people to understand. I just found out the other day that I don't qualify to belong to the VFW because no one handed out any medals to us. I am glad; that is the way it should be.
Read Steve's book and try and understand that we were dedicated and glad to take on the tasks that we were given. I know my buddies never gave up hope and were doing their job in a professional manner until the last second. We also understood every second that we were out there, that something like what happened to the Scorpion could happen.It certainly wasn't the first or second time that some emergency came up that could have turned out bad. We also thought it was worth it for the information that our country gained from our operations. Hopefully the Navy learned things from this experience that caused other lives to be saved.
Thanks Steve, you did a great job with a very difficult subject to write about.
Bill Lee

With "Silent Steel", Stephen Johnson has written the most well-researched and comprehensive book on the Scorpion disaster to date. His exceptional human insight and unwavering devotion to the facts set this book apart from similar books on the subject. There is no smoking gun in this book; no government conspiracy, and no UFOs. Instead there is a comprehensive report on the brave men who took Scorpion on her final dive.

Sadly, other new books on the Scorpion disaster have glamorized the conspiracy theory, using this incident to sell books. When reading Stephen Johnson's book, you may find yourself thinking "Okay, come on, you've obviously done a ton of research on this...let's hear your theory about the Soviet Echo-II that sank the Scorpion". Fortunately, he doesn't go there. I think that's because he's done the research and knows better.

I just retired from the US Navy after 23 years. Half of that time was spent in the Integrated Undersea Surveillance System, tracking submarines around the world, and the other half was spent as a Submarine Sonar Technician, on submarines around the world. There is no conspiracy.

Stephen Johnson did justice to USS Scorpion and the families of the crew. He didn't follow hare-brained theories or threads of circumstance; he merely reported what happened in a riveting book. This is a book for anyone...average citizens, military historians, or scientists. Read this book before or after you read any of the other current books on USS Scorpion; this will set you straight.

Brett Beedles

In July 2003, I'm president of the USS Robert E. Lee (SSBN-601) Association and was contacted by Stephen Johnson, the author of this book about a possible connection to the loss of the USS SCORPION (SSN-589) and an event that occurred on the Lee, involving a MK-37 torpedo. I won't ruin the suspense, because this book is a "page turner" that you won't be able to put down. It's a gripping & true story about 99 men who died and no one knows why. Mr. Johnson does a marvelous job illuminating several theories behind her loss. But, I was most moved by how he told the story of the men who perished. They aren't just nameless faces. Mr. Johnson brings them to life, using letters sent home. Just one example, his recanting the Torpedo Room Polka party when 20 women were brought on board helps us remember our own shipmate, Frank Mazzuchi (RE Lee Commissioning Gold Crew from 1960-62). Frank is brought to life over several pages. Any one who earned Dolphins will experience a range of emotions - from chuckling, anger and even shedding a silent tear. A must read for any brother of the Dolphin.

Nearly four decades after the tragic and mysterious loss of the nuclear fast-attack Scorpion, it seems her 99-man crew is finally getting its due. At the time of the Scorpion's disappearance, the story was lost in the tumultuous 1968, with the assassinations of both Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King, and a media entranced with a rising Viet Nam body count, the Scorpion quickly fell from the front page. Of the two recent books illuminating the events, much from previously classified Navy documents, one, "Scorpion Down", by Ed Offley, chooses to sensationalize Scorpion in Cold War intrigue and Pentagon conspiracy. "Silent Steel", by Stephen Johnson, is the other, and for my money, the better. Rather than trying to grab headlines of his own, Johnson's documentary paints an accurate and surprisingly lively portrait not only of what is know about the last days of the Scorpion, but also of life aboard a US Navy nuke during the Cold War.

Painstakingly researched but told in the vernacular, Johnson steps through the various theories of the Scorpion's demise: was it the accidental detonation of one of its own torpedoes, failure of a weld in the pressure hull, an explosion in the main battery compartment, or the highly unlikely attack by a hostile Soviet sub? Johnson is at all time is respectful of the sacrifices of the submarine service, and, in treatment reminiscent of Robert Kurson's "Shadow Divers", places the dignity and sanctity of the crew's eternal resting place above all else. While recounting the evidence as cited in a string of official investigations, Johnson also weaves in a strong and poignant dose of personal interest, bringing to life the officers and crew so long forgotten by so many. Ultimately, while the author offers no final solutions, he does the US Navy a great favor by shedding light on the clandestine operations of "the silent service". In short, a quick, intelligent, and educational read that is long overdue. Highly recommended.

Yes, I know, you read John Craven's book and "Blind Man's Bluff", and the Scorpion was lost because she had a Mk37 torpedo battery meltdown problem. You may very well revise your ideas after reading Stephen Johnson's "Silent Steel". Johnson, a journalist, has been researching the Scorpion loss for over 15 years. He carefully sifts through the available public evidence, including speaking with Inquiry Board members, former crew members and one crewman who was transferred (due to his infant son's death) off of Scorpion just days before she was lost.

Johnson carefully unravels the problems that Scorpion was having; from almost continuous equipment breakdown problems, potential morale problems, to a decision to use Scorpion in a program to drastically shorten nuclear submarine overhaul times. This overhaul, dubbed "Planned Availability Concept", was a reactor refueling & much reduced minimalist repair plan, and was the last overhaul just prior to the loss. At the time of her loss, Scorpion had still not received SubSafe modifications, and although she had received an Emergency Blow System in 1964, four years before her loss, it was "tagged out" from 1964 installation on, and never worked successfully in any tests from the day of installation!

Johnson wisely presents all the evidence he has found, but does not attempt to draw any firm conclusions on causality. The Craven torpedo theory is pretty well discounted however, and Scorpion's ultimate loss appears, from many lines of evidence he discusses, to likely have been due to sinking well below test depth and imploding. Unlike Thresher's shattering implosion, the design of the Scorpion (Skipjack class "Body of Revolution" hull) created a hull weakness which collapsed the stern of the submarine forward into the engineering spaces. The resulting "water hammer" effect shattered the operations compartment and blew the forward torpedo room compartment at the bow off. Why the submarine sunk to extreme depth (estimated to be 1400 ft + when she imploded) is still a mystery. Sternplane failure? Uncontrolled flooding? No firm answers are forthcoming. BTW, although not a "smoking gun", the bow and hull pieces are all facing toward the East, as if the submarine was heading for the US, and no evidence is found of turning the boat to inactivate a hot running Mk37.

This is a carefully crafted, well written book, with an excellent bibliography and sourcing section. Although not replete with photographs, there are several scattered throughout, including new photos to me such as a photo of Scorpion's J-type propeller with several of its 7 blades sticking up from the ocean bottom. You will come away with a better understanding of the extreme frustration on the part of the Board of Inquiry and the many naval scientists and personnel in attempting to explain how and why the Scorpion was lost. I highly recommend this book!

As someone has already stated, this is a nice comprehensive overview of the loss of the USS Scorpion. I think the author did a very credible job of looking at all the theories of why this boat sank. As the author states, we probably may never know for sure. I don't think he means to throw away Craven's views. It is just hard to argue Craven's viewpoint when the scant evidence is against it.

The USS Scorpion was in bad shape. Many things were just falling apart, but yet the Navy sent it to the Med to conduct exercises. The armed forces really haven't changed much-especially with non-armored Humvees being used in Iraq today. A stronger captain would have told the brass to fix the submarine. These mechanical shortcomings may have caused the intial event which resulted in the loss of the boat. Ninety nine personnel died because of a poor refit.

This is a very interesting account of the loss of the USS Scorpion. For those interested in naval affairs, this is a nice book to have. I thought a diagram of the purposed structural theories that led to the loss of the submarine might have added clarity to the book. It would have taken a couple of pages to put in, and describe what the authoriities thought happened to the sub. Other than that, a well written book.

Stephen Johnson's "Silent Steel: The Mysterious Death of the Nuclear Attack Sub USS Scorpion" is a highly detailed account of the last months of the US Navy nuclear submarine, lost in the Atlantic off the Azores on May 22, 1968, and of the various official investigations aimed at uncovering the reasons for that loss. Johnson follows the official chronology established by the Navy (in contrast to Ed Offley in "Scorpion Down: Sunk by the Soviets, Buried by the Pentagon, The Untold Story of the USS Scorpion") but reaches a different conclusion as to the underlying cause of the disaster (the Navy inquiries in general favored a torpedo accident of some kind, but Johnson believes some other equipment failure - perhaps a battery explosion or maybe merely a trash disposal unit that failed to seal properly - that led to an uncontrolled descent to a depth where the great pressure crushed the hull). The evidence for and against each proposed cause is examined in detail. All in all, an engrossing and well-written book.

Not one to normally review books, I felt compelled to review Silent Steel today, the 38th anniversary of the USS Scorpion’s demise. It was 38 years ago, families and friends had watched her depart from Norfolk’s pier 22 on February 15th, and I later, in March, watched from the pier at Rota, Spain as the USS Scorpion left on her way to her deployment in the Mediterranean. After the Scorpion had retrieved her last mooring line, and had backed away from the pier, I remember listening to the muted voices of the Maneuvering Watch coming from inside the tall slender fairwater, but little did I know that 3 months later I would hear of the loss of the ninety-nine men, the Navy’s finest, along with the loss of their boat. It was beneath a cover of darkness, at Rota that this “Silent Warrior” began making her way, gliding effortlessly toward the opening in breakwater, ultimately leaving the safety of the harbor. With the vivid memory of Scorpion and her crew members along side of the Rota pier, where I was stationed onboard a Fleet Ballistic Missile submarine moored next to the submarine tender USS Canopus, it was hard to believe what had happened to this impressive submarine, and her heroic crew.

Stephen Johnson’s book is a lasting tribute to the ninety-nine Scorpion crewmen and their families, and truly “places a human face” on the Scorpion tragedy. With the countless interviews with the crew’s family members, ex-crew members, and friends, he has put together a historic account of events leading up to, and surrounding the Scorpion tragedy. Various crewmember photos haunt various pages intimately connecting the reader with the crew, their escapades in the Mediterranean, and their relentless need of equipment maintenance onboard their doomed submarine. The book’s Bibliography is impressive by shear volume alone. Although the book does not provide the exact cause, the author provides many scenarios, any of which, singularly, or chained, could have spelled disaster for the submarine. I strongly recommend Silent Steel to everyone! It is almost guaranteed that the reader will have trouble putting this book down!