Did you miss CDR Steve Frasher’s (Ret.) fascinating presentation on the USS Scorpion mystery? The Scorpion was a nuclear-powered submarine that was lost at sea during the Cold War. The cause of the Scorpion’s demise has never been officially acknowledged. Was it mechanical failure, faulty design, human error, or Soviet Union interference?
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On the USS Permit at the time the Scorpion was sunk. Any info on a fish fired at the Permit the previous day? I also had a friend on the Swordfish. The good life of a spook. 13 special ops and I would love just one more. Thanks for truth!
As the author of All Hands Down I have some knowledge of the Scorpion incident.
I found Commander Frasher’s input to be one of the better presentations on the loss of Scorpion. I would have enjoyed having a conversation with him prior to the video. I’m sure I could have provided him with a number of technical details that would have enhanced his project. One example is the question about the attack on Scorpion having been launched from another sub, or from a helicopter. In 1968, the Skipjack boats were among the fastest submarines in the world. More importantly, they were extremely quiet when compared to Soviet boats. In a totally blind environment, you can’t chase what you can’t hear. Even if a Soviet November could keep up with the Scorpion, it wouldn’t have had to stop at short intervals to make sure the Scorpion hadn’t turned, dove under a thermalcline. Or made a 360 degree turn, putting her on the Soviet’s tail. Worse case, it would have taken the Scorpion 20 minutes to shake a trailing sub. Since the Scorpion’s sonar was superior to any sonar employed by the Soviet boars. Scorpion could detect a Soviet boat at a greater range. Even if Scorpion transmitted her position in her daily transmission to headquarters, she would only done that if there were no Soviet assets in the vicinity. By the time another ship or sub got to her reported position, she would have been long gone.
Scorpion had the ability to travel much faster than Soviet boats and still have the ability to detect other vessels. Making it impossible for other boats to close on her without being detected.
During an interview with a Soviet Admiral, we received verification that the attack was carried out by an ASW helicopter. Additional verification came when we interviewed the captain of a US Navy P-3 Orion ASW aircraft whose crew recorded the attack on Scorpion. The Navy knew she had been lost just 14 hours after the attack ( the reason gor the secret search launched the next day). Verification of this undisclosed acoustical tape can be found in the Navy’s Board of Inquiry.
Even knowing Scorpions location once a day wasn’t enough to find and intercept her. The Scorpion had to be lured to a predetermined location. This was done by sending out a helicopter along her estimated route and pinging with active sonar. The Captain’s orders were to investigate anything abnormal, and a helicopter pinging in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean fit that category. After all, we weren’t at war, so there shouldn’t be any danger!
There are so many facts that get overlooked when these stories are being retold.
You can give my contact to Cmd. Frasher if he has any questions.
Kenneth,
Thank you for your comment. You can watch an updated version of CDR Steve Frasher’s talk on the FLVCS YouTube Channel from November 2022.
Mr. Sewell,
Thank you for your comments. This presentation was made before I became familiar with your book. I have completely revised the ending using this information and referencing Scorpion Down.
I am hoping to have the revised version online soon.
Steve
If you need more materials( photos, drawings, videos), just ask. Always happy to help.
Thank you again sir.
CDR Steve Frasher,
I enjoyed your presentation. I have a question if you don’t mind on the subject of submarine communication back then. Several books on the loss of Scorpion come close to addressing this issue, but I haven’t seen my question answered exactly. ELF was not used by the Navy until 1982. Is it true that the only way for a submarine to communicate in 1969 was to rise to or near the surface and extend an antenna? If Scorpion had a malfunction that caused flooding, a hot torpedo, battery problem, or was under attack, she would have been too busy addressing the issue to come to the surface to report on the situation. Yet, we knew she was lost within 14 hours? The only way I can see that we knew so quickly is that the Soviets told us. And if they knew, they must have been involved in the submarine’s demise. Perhaps this was in order to avoid WW3?
Thanks
An American P3 Orion was searching for a suspected boomer contact north of where the Scorpion went down.
I was able to find the pilot and get the story.
The recording was sent to headquarters and a secret search was underway 24 hours after her loss.
They knew approximately where she went down and why.
Additional proof can be found in the Navy’s “Finding of Facts”.