Answers to Submarine Q.O.T.W. from 14 NOV 2016

Related information, photo(s) and links for questions are found in the original posting.

Q & A: 

"In 1968, A US Nuclear Submarine Went On a Russia Super Secret Spy Mission (And It Never Came Back)" by Kyle Mizokami

1 - An unusually high number of submarines vanished in 1968, including three (3) non-U.S. subs. Identify 3 of the non-U.S. subs sunk in 1968 (by names and navies). ANS: The Israeli submarine Dakar (69 lost); The French submarine Minerve (52 dead); and, The Soviet submarine K-129 (98 lost).

2 - The U.S. sub which sank in 1968 "was in a very poor state of preservation", according to its commanding officer.
- a) Who was the commanding officer? ANS: Cdr. Francis Atwood Slattery  
- b) Some of its crew had derisively referred to the sub as (fill in blank) USS Scrap Iron.
- c) Name the vessel's major (most restrictive) known defect before its 1968 departure on a secret Russian spy mission. ANS:  Leaking valves caused the submarine to be restricted to  less than half its nominal test depth. It had “chronic problems” with its hydraulics, its emergency blow system didn’t work and emergency seawater shutoff valves had not yet been decentralized. source
 
3 -  The U.S. Navy’s report on the U.S. sub incident is inconclusive. Several malfunction theories—and at least one conspiracy have arisen to explain the loss of the ship and its ninety-nine crew, but all lack hard evidence. What is the leading conspiracy theory?  ANS: The leading conspiracy theory is that the Scorpion was somehow caught up in some kind of Cold War skirmish, and that the nearby Soviet flotilla had sunk the sub.
 
4 -  What major fact issue tends to confound the leading conspiracy theory? ANS: There is scant explanation for how a Soviet task force with only two combatants could manage to kill the relatively advanced USS Scorpion.  
 
5 -  Does it now appear at all likely that there would ever be a conclusive explanation for the loss of the U.S. sub in 1968? ANS: No. 
 
6 - What has been the convention (minimum average time) for submarine secrets to be divulged by various navies (in Vigilis's opinion)? ANS:  30 years.

7- How many years have already elapsed since May 1968? ANS: 48 years
 
8- BONUS QUESTION:  Where is the longest submarine memorial in the U.S. now located? ANS: The entire length of Route 9 in Saratoga County, NY (a fifty-four-mile stretch) has been named the U.S. Submarine Veterans Memorial Highway.  The county is home to the Naval Nuclear Power Training Unit where American sailors learn how to operate nuclear-powered submarines. The New York state submarine veterans memorial honors the fifty-four submarines lost during war and the Cold War. 

Submarines are always silent and strange.  

Russia Stretched Its Learning Curve for This Sub

Background
Molten Eagle had presented aspects of Russia's vaunted K-329 Severodvinsk submarine twice before, as recently as February and June in 2014.

PR Hype Hid the Obvious --- Until Now

Hype examples:

"Severodvinsk submarine already causes headache to Pentagon"  Hype source 1

"The submarine is the first in a fleet of eight new Yasen class submarines... The K-329 outstrips the technology of rival submarines used by the British and American navies, and has been compared with the high-tech submarine that was taken over by a rogue Russian captain in the 1990 film The Hunt for Red October, starring Sean Connery."  Hype source 2

Realistic threat can be found in M.E.'s discussion of K-329's supersonic Onyx missiles (see June link above).

Jewel of Russia'a Northern Sub Fleet or Latent Tragedy for Her Crew?

October 12, 2013 - Russian Navy *STILL* doesn’t want to accept delivery of the K-329 Severodvinsk

"The phrase “plagued with problems” doesn’t even begin to cover it. ...

BarentsObserver’s reporting about delivering of “Severodvinsk” is becoming a multiple- year row of headlines entitled “ready by year-end.” The submarine, of which the construction started 20 years ago, was originally scheduled for commissioning in 1998. Eleven years later, the plan was to deliver the sub in 2010. Rescheduled to 2011. Rescheduled to 2012. Rescheduled to 2013. And today, a new dispute between the builder and the navy about the sub’s readiness has emerged."

June 19, 2014 - Russia Just Finished Submarine It Has Spent 20 Years Building

Consider that the contract to build another lead ship of her class, USS Thresher (SSN-593), had been awarded to Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in January 1958, she was launched on 9 July 1960, and commissioned August 1961. The learning curve was retroactive to the Thresher tragedy.  M.E. wishes no tragedy on any Russian sub crew.  After 20 years of intervening design modifications, supplier shifts and transitions in responsible management, oversights and shortcuts must be expected as quality control headaches.  We hope that sea trials for K-329 Severodvinsk (not to be confused with the ill-fated K-129) have been thorough and totally successful!

Submarines are always silent and strange.

"Phantom" Review of Sub Flick from New Perspective

In early August 1968, the wreck of Soviet diesel-electric, strategic ballistic missile submarine K-129 was identified by a unit of the United States Navy northwest of Oahu in 16,000 feet of Pacific Ocean water.  For highly classified purposes the U.S. president authorized a clandestine effort to recover certain items of high military intelligence value.

The wreck of a United States Navy Skipjack class sub was located on the Atlantic Ocean's bottom beneath 9,800 ft of water at 32°54.9'N, 33°08.89'W. Her sinking marked the unexplained loss of 99 crewmen, sophisticated spy gear, possible nuclear torpedoes, and a mangled nuclear propulsion system. The best available evidence indicates she sank 22 May 1968 around 1844 (Zulu time) during Atlantic transit from Gibraltar to Norfolk, Virginia.

USS Scorpion (SSN-579) was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 30 June 1968. Vigilis received a classified photo briefing of wrecked USS Scorpion (SSN-579) during the height of the Cold War.  The briefing room contained a total of 5 submariners with appropriate clearances from SSNs then present at SubBase Groton. The briefing is mentioned only as a point of historical relevance in connection with review of the 2013 submarine movie "Phantom" by someone actually living through that Cold War period on an nuclear sub.

*****"P H A N T O M"  R E V I E W*****

The worst reviews typically come from submariners. Submariners insist on accuracy in not only the tiniest of details, but conformity with their often limited experiences, and most of all, with the approved dictates of   military authorities. Examples:

This popular submariner's review rated the flick at  ** out of ***** (40%) and claimed,  "The story itself was pretty poor. ... you have to suspend disbelief even more than normal for a Cold War tale."  

Yet another reviewer (Holgard at IMDB) claiming to be a retired Soviet submarine officer, rated the movie "a fake" giviing it a mere 3 stars of ten (30%).  His reasons, like his dialogue, appear highly superficial to say the least (excerpt): "1. We never rose our greatcoat collars, 2. In Russian (as well as in Soviet) army it is forbidden to give a salute without headress, 3. It is absolutely impossible if a Soviet officer get married in church. 

Netflix gives Phantom a more respectable 3 star (60%) rating, which for a sub flick means it probably captured some women audience with its emotionally theatrical ending. Netflix movies geared toward males alone usually garner only 45% (2-1/2 stars) or less. This can be easily proven to yourselves by selecting titles that appeal to males (military) versus those appealing to women (romance), and those appealing to both (comedy).

Vigilis rates Phantom (80%) overall:
100% for authenticity of Cold War feeling of US:Soviet submarine conflict,
80% for the historical accuracy of China's ballistical missile development and the Sino:Soviet rift,
70% for treatment of compromised US:Soviet submarine intelligence,
70% for character acting,
90% for script creativity (use of phantom device),
70% for brevity and theatrical license (98 minutes).

Submarines are always silent and strange.