[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 79 (Thursday, June 6, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E828]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    REMEMBERING THE USS ``SCORPION''

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. BOB GOODLATTE

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, June 6, 2013

  Mr. GOODLATTE. Mr. Speaker, The USS Scorpion went down May 22, 1968, 
killing 99 men and was consequently buried 11,220 feet underwater in 
the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. There are more questions than answers 
for those familiar with the Scorpion but today let the record show, we 
will never forget.
  The crisis exploded without warning across the sprawling U.S. Navy 
community in Norfolk, Virginia. A nuclear submarine and its crew had 
vanished in the Atlantic. The Scorpion and its 99-man crew had left 
Norfolk on February 15 for a three-month Mediterranean deployment. The 
crew participated in several naval exercises with the U.S. Sixth Fleet 
and NATO, and conducted ongoing reconnaissance of Soviet naval units, 
with stops in Italy and Sicily before reentering the Atlantic for the 
homeward voyage on May 17. Scorpion's skipper, Commander Francis A. 
Slattery, had radioed Atlantic Submarine Force headquarters early on 
May 22 that the sub would arrive in Norfolk at 1 p.m. the following 
Monday, Memorial Day. The 1 p.m. arrival time came and went with no 
sign of Scorpion.
  Later a Navy admiral involved in the Scorpion incident would describe 
it as ``one of the greatest unsolved sea mysteries of our era.'' The 
251-foot-long submarine and its crew had inexplicably disappeared 
somewhere in the trackless Atlantic Ocean.
  On June 5, 1968 the Scorpion was declared ``presumed lost.'' 
Yesterday, we marked the 45th Anniversary of the sub being presumed 
lost; and we honor the sacrifice of the USS Scorpion and its entire 
crew. The reason for this tragedy remains a mystery, but the honor and 
valor of the 99 men lost that day is no mystery. Our Nation owes them 
an unfaltering debt of gratitude for their service and commitment to 
freedom.
  Not only are we forever indebted to the crew of the USS Scorpion, but 
we are forever indebted to their families who have lived these 45 years 
with uncertainty and without closure.
  I applaud the mission, the memory, and the memorial of the USS 
Scorpion and its crew of 99.

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