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reformed_colonial t1_j9995cl wrote

Bob Ballard made a deal with the US Navy - they asked him to study the wrecks of USS Thresher and Scorpion, which he agreed to so long as he could use some of the technology/funding to find Titanic as well.

https://www.ctinsider.com/connecticutmagazine/news-people/article/Two-Fallen-Nuclear-Submarines-and-Their-17044586.php

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amehatrekkie t1_j99mbw0 wrote

I thought the Titanic search was an afterthought.

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CrasVox t1_j9a6rqi wrote

I think it was more of a cover story.

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eljefino t1_j9b3e9d wrote

We know the Thresher and Scorpion are gone. It would be nice to occasionally monitor their resting sites, making sure the reactors are intact, etc.

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Accujack t1_j9bpz6t wrote

They've been monitored continuously since they sank by the US Navy.

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reformed_colonial t1_j9cs3nm wrote

They are checked periodically for radiation leaks, and to be sure other countries aren't sniffing around. These days, the threat of someone making off with a rusty old Mk 45 nuclear torpedo aren't really a concern, but back during the Cold War it was.

I would imagine that Scorpion/Thresher survey visits are good training for current generation crews on Seawolf-class et al. to brush up their skills.

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nondescriptzombie t1_j9afq5w wrote

Like Hughes "oil exploration" trip where they tried to raise the K-129?

Was so depressing when the Glomar Explorer was scrapped.

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eljefino t1_j9b39ak wrote

Glomar was supposedly "mining manganese nodules."

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panzerkrau t1_j9bk92h wrote

is there any more info or footage about this wreck?

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reformed_colonial t1_j9crmgw wrote

The wreck of Scorpion? Tons of information about it, but a lot still classified as she carried two Mk 45 nuclear torpedoes.

Really fascinating to read about how the search area was determined and conducted, and then the investigations in to why it sank. Long story short, Bayesian search functions let them find a very small needle in a very large haystack quite quickly; the same method used after the B-52 crash at Palomares.

"Blind Mans Bluff" is a good starting point.

https://interestingengineering.com/innovation/uss-thresher-and-scorpion-the-uss-lost-nuclear-submarines

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Accujack t1_j9bq2q2 wrote

More like they told him "Look over about here at coordinates XYZ and you'll see something very interesting".

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