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All Hands

April 10, 2013

On April 10, 1963, the nuclear-powered attack submarine USS Thresher was undergoing sea trials 200 miles east of Cape Cod when it sent a message indicating that it was experiencing difficulties and was attempting to surface. When it did not reappear, the Navy launched a massive search operation that included a call to WHOI scientists on the research vessel Atlantis II, which was nearby at the time. For the next several months, WHOI assisted in the search, bringing to bear instruments like the precision graphic recorder, a modern echosounder developed by Sydney “Bud” Knott (pictured) and Warren “Whitey” Witzell. Today, WHOI remembers those lost on the Thresher. (Photo courtesy of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Archives)