Why the USS Scorpion (SSN 589) Was Lost: The Death of a Submarine in the North Atlantic By Bruce Rule

Why the USS Scorpion (SSN 589) Was Lost: The Death of a Submarine in the North Atlantic

By Bruce Rule

9781608881208 2011 Self-Published

This book is not a traditional historical text, but instead a compilation of materials related to the tragic loss of USS Scorpion in 1968.

The book contains a number of tables, correspondence and graphs that largely debunks, via information in the public domain, that Scorpion had been sunk by the Soviet Navy. Mr Rule has come to the same conclusion as many historians – Scorpion was sunk by one of her own MK37 torpedoes that somehow managed to start itself while in the tube. Although not mentioned in this work, the torpedo is widely believed to have been fitted with a nuclear warhead, a regular occurrence in Cold War ASW operations. Luckily it appears the warhead never exploded.

Such a detailed work, a labor of love by the author, will likely only be of interest to serious students of submarine operations and naval history. We certainly commend Mr Rule for his efforts to bring the Scorpion story to life again; a difficult undertaking as most official records are still classified.