The Loss of USS Thresher: Technological and Cultural Change and the Cold War U.S. Navy

On 10 April 1963, the U.S. nuclear-powered submarine Thresher sank with no survivors. The tragedy caused the Navy to implement the Submarine Safety program, as well as leading to changes in nuclear propulsion plant operation. Additionally, the culture of the Submarine Force, already evolving because of the advent of nuclear power, irrevocably turned towards Admiral Hyman G. Rickover’s standards of engineering training, discipline, and formality. Historian Mark Hagerott argues this cultural shift may have had broader implications, replacing the “generalist” model of U.S. naval officer development with a “technical specialist” model, with effects that extend into the twenty-first century.