Faith and Valor - Our Poet's May Poem

* On 22 May 1968 USS SCORPION (SSN-589), a Skipjack-class nuclear submarine, commanded by my classmate CDR Frank Slattery, with a crew of 99, while on a normal undersea mission off the Azores, experienced a catastrophic failure, which sank the boat with all hands aboard. The wreck was located by modern search methods, and photos were obtained, but despite a lengthy and painstaking investigation by the Navy, and much speculation by writers with a theory to promote, the cause of the disaster officially remains a mystery. This was the second sinking of a nuclear sub, the first being that of USS THRESHER (SSN-593) during sea trials off Cape Cod in April, 1963. All 129 aboard perished, the probable cause being a piping failure leading to loss of power and a plunge beyond its pressure limits.