Navy releases long-lost Thresher photos

Navy releases long-lost Thresher photos

USS Thresher, built at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, was lost during sea trials off the coast of Cape Cod on April 10, 1963. All 129 men aboard the submarine were lost. Courtesy photo
USS Thresher, built at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, was lost during sea trials off the coast of Cape Cod on April 10, 1963. All 129 men aboard the submarine were lost. Courtesy photo

By D. Allan Kerr
news@seacoastonline.com

Some long-lost photos have reconnected Portsmouth Naval Shipyard with one of the more haunting chapters of its storied history.

And just in time for Memorial Day, they serve as a reminder of the Cold War casualties lost in the world’s worst submarine disaster half a century ago.

The pictures are interior shots of the nuclear attack submarine USS Thresher (SSN 593), which was the first in a revolutionary new class of warship built at the local Navy yard to hunt and destroy Soviet submarines. According to the shipyard’s public affairs office, this may be the first time the photos have ever been published.

They are dated from 1961, the year the Thresher was commissioned during a grand ceremony at the shipyard.

to read this full story, click here to visit the Portsmouth Herald.