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.  

Recent Revelations from Canada's and Israel's Navies are

Whether viewed with awe; shock, or simple disbelief, recent revelations by Canada and Israel are unusually disconcerting.

The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN)

AWE: No injuries connected with damage shown.   DISBELIEF: "Indefinite" absence of a seaworthy destroyer for Canada's West coastline (but 2 in the Atlantic).  more



Check out this RIMPAC YouTube (4:24 minutes) filmed on HMCS ALGONQUIN.  DISBELIEF: Did you hear piping from the bridge then the announcement "Wakey, Wakey! Hands to Breakfast..."  (7 seconds in)?  SHOCK: Do you see an image on targets fired upon with rifles and small arms (3:00 to 3:15)? HINT: full screen helps.

Israel Defense Forces (IDF)

A memorial service for the 69 sailors of the INS submarine Dakar was held to mark the 46 years since it sank into the Mediterranean. The submarine disappeared in 1968, while en route from Scotland to Israel. After a decades-long search, the wreckage was found between Cyprus and Crete in 1999. The submarine had sunk to a depth of 2900 meters, just 500 kilometers from the Israeli coast. 
DISBELIEF:
"An investigation indicated that the cause was technical failure - not an attack - but this has never been fully confirmed."  source

24 January 1968
On 25 April 1968, Vice Admiral Abraham Botzer, commander of the Israeli Navy, stated that the Dakar sank on 24 January 1968, two days before being reported missing, due to "technical or human malfunctioning" and ruled out "foul play".

Dakar was was one of two mysterious submarine disappearances in 1968; the other being the French submarine Minerve (S647). To this day no trace of the vessel has been found.

8 June 1967 During the Third Arab–Israeli War, the USS Liberty,  a United States Navy technical research ship in international waters, was attacked by combined elements of of IDF air and sea forces killing 34 crew members (naval officers, seamen, two Marines, and one civilian), wounding 171 crew members, and severely damaging the ship.

Israel apologized for the attack, saying that the USS Liberty had been mistaken for an Egyptian ship and attacked in error.  Israel later paid  $3,323,500 to families of the 34 men killed, and in March 1969, Israel paid   $3,566,457 in compensation for those who had been wounded.  In 1980  Israel agreed to a $6 million  settlement of $17,132,709  material damage to the Liberty.

Vigilis implies absolutely NO connection between the Israels' attack on the USS Liberty and the subsequent loss of the Dakar.  Just as in the continuing mystery of USS Scorpion's (SSN-589)  loss, etc. it has been naval policy of submarine nations not to offer the public full disclosure of related investigatory findings.  The 46th anniversary of the Dakar tragedy reminds our reader community of the longstanding and ubiquitous nature of submarine secrecy, which has been repeated as the Molten Eagle saying at the end of   every post.

Submarines are always silent and strange.