The Death of the USS Thresher

The Story Behind History's Deadliest Submarine Disaster

By: Norman Polmar

Narrated by: Sean Crisden

When she first went to sea in April of 1961, the US nuclear submarine Thresher was the most advanced submarine at sea, built specifically to hunt and kill Soviet submarines. In The Death of the USS Thresher, renowned naval and intelligence consultant Norman Polmar recounts the dramatic circumstances surrounding her implosion, which killed all 129 men onboard in history's first loss of a nuclear submarine.

This revised edition of Polmar's 1964 classic is based on interviews with the Thresher's first command officer, other submarine officers, and the designers of the submarine. Polmar provides recently declassified information about the submarine and relates the loss to subsequent US and Soviet nuclear submarine sinkings as well as to the escape and rescue systems developed by the navy in the aftermath of the disaster.

The Death of the USS Thresher is a must-listen for the legions of fans who enjoyed the late Peter Maas' New York Times best seller The Terrible Hours.

©2004 Norman Polmar (P)2017 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Submarines and underwater navigation have long interested people, even some of the most dyed-in-the-wool landlubbers. One worthy 'new' book about submarines is The Death of the U.S.S. Thresher. It was written in 1964. This new edition has been updated by its author, Norman Polmar, to incorporate information that has been declassified since the book was first published." (AP Newswires)

I REMEMBER THESE HEROES

As a US Navy Machinist Mate, I thought I knew all I needed to know about the Thresher, but this book opened up my mind to much more, but before critiquing the book, I send out my condolences to the family members still alive, that still are alive and still feel that void in their hearts.
I could not believe the Navy had a depth test off the continental shelf itself, as I think it has no common sense behind it, and it's not good science or physics in this case. What's the difference if you stay on the shelf and find a spot that's 900 foot, rather than thousands of feet off the shelf, and on a shake down cruise? There is no rational reason to carry this out, and you owe the crew to have the bottom of the sea under them and at a depth under the crush depth of the boat. If the Navy is still sending boats boats at 900 to 1200 feet below sea level under normal operations, there is no wartime reason for that. Another matter that caught my attention was tying the sub to the pier at the stern and then going to full power, did someone ever think that you needed forward momentum to protect the wedges of the thrust bearing.
Hopefully they have quit going that deep right out of drydock, but these men did not have to die, as it is enough to know about the crush depth, but you don't have to go to the razors edge in testing a manned submarine. I think the cause was the WW11 mentally at that time, as I experienced that myself on occasion back then. One more thing that bothered me was I thought all our boats came out of Electric Boat in CT?
These boats are like Swiss watches, and you have the responsibility to get them built their alone. If you are an Engineer, it won't take long to find out that Admiral Rickenbacker was a self centered individual and narcissist and he was wrong more that correct in running the nuclear Navy in 50s and 60s.
He forgot at times that men made the boat, not a simple nuclear reactor. My goodness this book pissed me off, as this was no instant death, but experiencing terror, and sounds from hell, as this boat sank to its demise. I think it might only have been 15 seconds, but everyone on that boat knew they were going to die, and if they had the shelf below them, these men might have survived.

God Bless those Sailors

No doubt a sad story. However the technology and procedures that followed were needed.
Great narrator and the story moves quickly. Highly recommended.

loved it

very informative to me as a submariner who sailed on the sister ship SSN-621 USS Hafdock

Very Sad Story

The details of this tragedy almost brought me to tears. Tough sorry to hear.

“Electric board yard”?

Clearly the narrator did a terrible job reading. Decent book and good story but painful to listen to. Clearly the narrator knows little about the subject matter. Mispronounced a ton of boat names and called EB “Electric Board Yard”. Really takes away from the story. Buy the physical copy on this one.

High level of detail

This was a fact-filled recounting of a tragedy of the greater tragedy of the Cold War.

Excellent

Excellent book. Includes technical information without becoming overly complicated. Very well narrated. Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys non-fiction.

Enjoyable and Comprehensive

A sad story told well, but could be updated after declassifications in 2021 showing that some crew may have survived the immediate accident.

Riveting account with no fluff.

Excellent details, no filler. I listened to this in one, uninterrupted shot. I've read Blind Man's Bluff (highly recommend) and a few other sub related books because my Dad served the Navy in the Silent Service for 20 years. I see submarines daily because of where I settled. I learned a lot about submarines by listening to this book.

Sidenote/spoiler: In discussing the new DSRV service, I was surprised that the nuclear-powered DSRV NR-1 and her support vessel, The Carolyn Chouest, were not mentioned. The NR-1 ended up assisting in the salvage of The Challenger, and finding The Titanic.

Excellent

Like another reviewer, I consider this the best book on this subject that I’ve read, but would have loved that it contained updates on the subject. I also liked the narrator, where otherwise excellent books I have listened to were nearly ruined by bad narration. As the daughter of a Navy submarine officer, I remember the places and happenings described well, and appreciate the seeming accuracy.