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Revision as of 16:51, 19 April 2003 by 24.107.41.148 (talk)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)Two submarines of the United States Navy have been named USS Thresher, for a type of shark that is harmless to man and easily recognizable because its tail is longer than the combined length of body and head.
The first USS Thresher (SS-200), was a Tambor-class submarine that served in World War II.
The second USS Thresher (SSN-593), was the lead ship of her class of nuclear-powered attack submarines and was lost by accident on April 10th, 1963 during depth trials, taking the lives of 129 men.
It is believed that failure in a crucial weld caused water to leak into an engineering compartment, which caused the electrical systems aboard to fail. Without power, the nuclear reactor shut down, and the sub was unable to surface by emergency means.