Over a seaman’s grave, no flowers grow: USS Thresher to be remembered at Arlington

January 31, 2019

USS Thresher. Starboard bow view, July 24, 1961. (Official U.S. Navy Photograph)

More than a half-century after their loss, 129 brave submariners will be given a standing memorial at Arlington.

USS Thresher (SSN-593), commissioned in August 1961, was the lead ship of a new class of nuclear-powered, fast-attack submarines and was the most technically advanced ship in the world.

On April 10, 1963, she sank approximately 200 miles off the coast of Massachusetts. All souls aboard were lost that day; 129 U.S. Navy Sailors and civilian workers. Thresher was the first nuclear-powered submarine lost at sea, and the largest loss of life in the submarine force’s history.

As a result of this, the Navy immediately restricted all submarines in depth until the causes of this tragic loss could be fully understood, leading to SUBSAFE.

Loss of the Thresher by A. L. Karafylakis NH 86731-KN