Introduction

‘Nuclear Sharks’ explores the silent, stealthy symbol of the Cold War.

• A war waged outside public view.
• A war about strategy and world domination.
• A war of technological advancement, with lethal consequences.

• 

• 

• 

Outline

USS Scorpion (SSN-589) was one of a number of Skipjack-class nuclear submarines that entered service in the years between 1958 and 1961.

In May 1968, at the height of the Cold War, Scorpion disappears in the Atlantic Ocean.

The 99 men onboard were on their way home from a classified mission in the Mediterranean facing Soviet submarines.

Scorpion’s radioman informed the Communication Station that the submarine was homeward bound, approximately 250 miles southwest of Portugal’s Azores Islands, and that they expected to arrive at Naval Station Norfolk at 1300 hours on the 27th of May. This was the last message Scorpion would ever send.

Seven days later, when Scorpion failed to arrive at Norfolk, the US Navy declared the nuclear submarine “missing and presumed lost.” Searches, which eventually consisted of more than 50 ships and subs and dozens of aircraft, were conducted immediately.

The wreckage of Scorpion was discovered in October that year, along with the bodies of all ninety-nine servicemen on board – and to this day the cause of the sinking of the submarine has been shrouded in mystery and surrounded by controversy.

Nuclear Sharks: Cold War Submarine Adventures Series

You can find a full index of Nuclear Sharks: Cold War Submarine Adventures here.

Production & Filming Details

• Narrator(s): Kenneth Welsh.
• Director(s): Jane Armstrong.
• Producer(s): Jane Armstrong and David Lint.
• Production: FilmRise.
• Distributor(s): Discovery Channel.
• Release Date: 1998
• Running Time: 46-52 minutes.
• Country: US.
• Language: English.