What Was The Worst Nuclear Submarine Accident To Happen At Sea?
Story by Daniel Meagher • 13h
Submarines appeared on the global stage during World War I, when Germany unleashed a campaign of unrestricted submarine warfare in 1917 to sever supply lines between Great Britain and its allies. In response, an arms race in submarine and anti-submarine technology kicked off, as new devices like mines, sonar, magnetic radar detectors, and torpedoes became increasingly complex. When the world's first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus, entered service in 1954, the risks faced by submariners were daunting.
Nuclear submarines emerged after World War II, and the United States soon became the country with the biggest nuclear fleet. However, the only time a nuclear submarine even engaged in combat was during the Falklands War in 1982, when the Argentinian cruiser ship ARA General Belgrano was torpedoed and sunk by the British submarine HMS Conqueror. Still, submarine accidents pose a serious risk, and routine operations can quickly turn into catastrophe. The most devastating such accident was the sinking of the USS Thresher.
In 1963, the USS Thresher was conducting a test dive when its garbled communications suddenly went silent. The craft had imploded, taking with it the lives of all 129 crewmembers on board. It was the deadliest nuclear submarine accident to happen at sea -- or ever, for that matter. Other accidents have occurred, such as the 2000 Kursk disaster, when the Russian nuclear submarine experienced an accidental detonation of its munitions, and was sunk with the loss of 118 crew.
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