USS Thresher (SSN-593)

USS Thresher (SSN-593) under way, 30 April 1961
History
United States
Name	Thresher
Namesake	Thresher shark
Ordered	15 January 1958
Builder	Portsmouth Naval Shipyard
Laid down	28 May 1958
Launched	9 July 1960
Commissioned	3 August 1961
Stricken	10 April 1963[1]
Motto	Vis Tacita (Silent Strength)
Fate	Lost with all hands during deep diving tests, 10 April 1963; 129 died
General characteristics
Class and type	Permit-class submarine
Displacement	3,540 short tons (3,210 t) light, 3,770 short tons (3,420 t) submerged
Length	279 ft (85 m)
Beam	32 ft (9.8 m)
Draft	26 ft (7.9 m)
Propulsion	1 Westinghouse S5W PWR, Westinghouse Geared Turbines 15,000 shp (11 MW)
Speed	33 knots (61 km/h; 38 mph)
Complement	16 officers, 96 enlisted
Armament	4 × 21 in (530 mm) torpedo tubes amidships

USS Thresher (SSN-593) was the lead boat of her class of nuclear-powered attack submarines in the United States Navy. She was the U.S. Navy's second submarine to be named after the thresher shark.

On 10 April 1963, Thresher sank during deep-diving tests about 350 km (220 mi) east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, killing all 129 crew and shipyard personnel aboard. Her loss was a watershed for the U.S. Navy, leading to the implementation of a rigorous submarine safety program known as SUBSAFE. The first nuclear submarine lost at sea, Thresher was also the third of four submarines lost with more than 100 people aboard, the others being the French Surcouf, sinking with 130 personnel in 1942, USS Argonaut, lost with 102 aboard in 1943, and Russian Kursk, which sank with 118 aboard in 2000.^[2][3]