Noting Integrity

The second USS Thresher, (SSN-593), was the lead ship of her class (later known as the 'Permit' SSN-594 class) of nuclear-powered attack submarines. Thresher was lost in 1963, in what every U.S. submariner knows was the triggering event for the Navy's SUBSAFE program.


Thresher had been commissioned 3 August 1961, Commander Dean L. Axene in command. We have traced CDR Axene's and USS Thresher's whereabouts on Sept. 16, 1961, below. More importantly, however, we can easily trace his whereabouts for the thirty years from June 1944, when he graduated from the USNA, until July 1974, when he retired from the Navy.



Rear Admiral Dean Lane Axene, 85, of Azalea Trace, Pensacola, FL, passed away on Friday, Dec. 19, 2008. Eric Ryle's Decks Awash! has Rear Admiral Axene's obit here. U.S. Naval Academy ('44). Retired thirty years later. This is how it used to be --- candidates actually dedicated to military careers attended service academies and taxpayers received the full worth of such costly educations.

Too few midshipman have been like Axene these days. We certainly mourn the loss and maintain our gratitude and respect for those like Axene and his successor (USNA '46).