USS Scorpion lost near the Azores
The nuclear submarine USS Scorpion sank on 22 May 1968 about 740 km south-west of the Azores while returning to Norfolk, Virginia, with 99 crew.
1968 CE · 32.92, -33.15 · status: disputed
The account
The wreck was found in October 1968 at about 3,000 m. Suggested causes include a battery explosion, a malfunctioning torpedo and, in some books, a secret Soviet attack in revenge for K-129.
The sceptical view
The Navy court of inquiry could not determine the cause; no evidence of an attack has been produced.
The researched reading
A real nuclear submarine lost with all hands, recorded acoustically and found. An internal accident is most likely; a Soviet attack remains a minority theory without hard evidence.
| Explanation | Weight | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A known natural phenomenon | 50% | SOSUS hydrophones recorded the loss, and the wreck was found and photographed. The leading explanations are mechanical: a battery hydrogen explosion or overheating, or a Mark 37 torpedo battery fault, followed by sinking and hull implosion near 1,500 ft; the 1970 Structural Analysis Group found no sign of a large external explosion. |
| Undetermined | 22% | The share a generic explanation had beyond what has been shown for this case: it fits many cases like this one, but has not been demonstrated for this one. |
| Secret human technology | 15% | Ed Offley and others argue that a Soviet torpedo sank Scorpion in revenge for K-129; the Navy denies it, and the acoustic record and wreck do not clearly show an attack, but secrecy around the case keeps it possible. |
| Something known, misidentified | 4% | A torpedo that ran "hot" and turned back on the boat, mistaking it for a target, is one of the accident variants proposed. |
| A hoax or fabrication | 4% | Some popular accounts invent sensational details (sabotage plots, cover-up stories), but the loss itself is a documented fact. |
| A poorly understood natural phenomenon | 2% | No unusual natural cause is needed for a nuclear submarine accident. |
| Perception, memory or mind | 2% | There were no survivors; crew error under fatigue, if any, belongs to the accident explanation. |
| Genuinely anomalous | 1% | Nothing in the acoustic data or wreck calls for anything beyond known mechanisms. |
Official position: The Navy court of inquiry could not determine the cause; its declassified findings list torpedo-related accidents among the most probable.
Connections in the atlas
- The Soviet submarine K-129
- USS Thresher lost with all hands
- The loss of ARA San Juan
- Eurydice and the 'underwater object'