THRESHER IS LOST AT SEA.

129 MEN LOST LIVES.

NAVY ADMITS SUB HAS MET TRAGIC END.

The prayers of thousands of Portsmouth area residents went out today for 129 men who have died in history's worst peacetime submarine disaster.
In a salty grave 8,400 feet deep in the Atlantic, 220 miles east of Portsmouth, lies the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard's pride and joy -- the U.S.S. THRESHER -- and the men who sailed out of here on her two days ago.
The hopes of many area residents for a miracle to bring the sub and the men aboard her back to Portsmouth were dashed early this afternoon in Washington.
That's when Adm. George W. Anderson, chief of naval operations, "reluctantly came to the conclusion that the THRESHER has indeed been lost."
His statement also crushed the optimism which for hours buoyed the saddened spirits of parents, wives, families, friends and neighbors of the THRESHER men.
Navy officials here weren't saying so officially, but the looks on their faces -- after 24 hours of worrisome, watchful waiting -- told the story, one now confirmed by the Navy at the Pentagon.
The end of a sub rated as the fastest and deepest diving ever in the Navy's service puts a most sorrowful form of tragedy on the doorstep of 40 Portsmouth area homes.
Here live the wives and families of 30 Navy men, 3 shipyard officers and 7 shipyard employes.
Six other shipyard workers from communities farther away in New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts were on the THRESHER when she left here Tuesday morning at 8 o'clock.
Also on the sub -- when it submerged at 9:17 yesterday morning and disappeared without a trace -- were 79 other Navy men and 4 employes of firms which supplied electronic equipment aboard the THRESHER.
In many Portsmouth area homes this morning, mothers somehow found words with which to tell their children "Daddy" might not come home again.
This was the greatest problem many of these women pondered during the long hours of last night.
Shipyard Chaplain ASA W. JONES, who called on many such families during the night, told newsmen early today mothers repeatedly asked him: "How can I tell the children their father isn't coming home?"
Chaplain JONES and the shipyard's two other chaplains made their rounds most of the night and again today doing, in Chaplain JONES' words "all we can to comfort them."
A number of wives went to the shipyard last night, to a dependents' center set up at the submarine barracks. But they didn't stay long, because home was where they wanted to grieve and pray.
At many of their homes, other Navy wives came to stay the night and carry on where the chaplains left off.
Rear Adm. CHARLES J. PALMER, the shipyard commander, summed up the situation shortly after 3 this morning.
In a brief statement read for him by another Navy man, he said: "This has certainly been a terrible shock to all of us. We are attempting to do everything that is humanly possible in rendering aid and comfort to the next of kin."
Adm. PALMER, who hurriedly returned to Portsmouth yesterday from a Polaris sub conference in Annapolis, Md., added, however, that search operations were "continuing."
The search at noon today was being pursued by no less than 12 Navy ships with the deputy commander of the Atlantic Fleet submarine force, Rear Adm. LAWSON P. RAMAGE, aboard one of them in command of the entire operation.
Navy officials were pinning their hopes on sonar equipment to locate the THRESHER. High winds which churned up a rough sea ruled out the possibility that bits of wreckage from the sub could be spotted on the surface.
An oil slick reported in the area last night, was seen again today and the Navy finally used it as a determinant that THRESHER was gone.
In her last reported position, the extreme pressure under more than 8,000 feet of water will have mashed THRESHER'S hull.
When the THRESHER went into her deep test dive yesterday morning, the procedure usually followed in such operations called for her to maintain communication with an accompanying rescue ship, the USS SKYLARK.
Her dive to a depth much greater than 400 feet was to have lasted six hours, the Navy said, after which the sub was to have ascended to periscope depth and return to Portsmouth.
But communication was lost between the two ships -- and the rest goes down in history as the worst peacetime submarine disaster to date.
Several THRESHER crew members, however, have escaped the fate of their shipmates. Among them is Lt. RAYMOND A. McCOOLE of 11 Pearson Road, Dover, who was on leave when the sub sailed because of an eye ailment bothering his wife.
McCOOLE, the THRESHER'S 33-year-old electrical officer, is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Richard O'Brien of 27 Gales St., Portsmouth.
The father of five sons between the ages of 9 years and 8 months, he never got to go to sea on his ship. McCOOLE, who attended Portsmouth High School, joined the ship's crew last fall when the THRESHER was at the shipyard for further work after her initial sea trials.
He first heard of the tragedy sometime after 8 o'clock last night, and when interviewed by newsmen early this morning still found it "difficult to believe" that his ship was missing.
Among many Navy officers on last night's long watch was Cmdr. DEAN L. AXENE of 14 Mendum Ave., skipper of the THRESHER until Jan. 13 this year.
AXENE, now commander of the new POLARIS sub USS JOHN C. CALHOUN, was home on leave when he heard about the THRESHER disaster.
He also found it difficult to believe that misfortune had befallen his former ship.
But it has, and the tragedy is much worse than Portsmouth's last sub disaster nearly 24 years ago when the USS SQUALUS sank off the coast here.

OFFICERS AND CIVILIANS LOST ON THE USS THRESHER (SNN-593)
Officers:
HARVEY, JOHN W. -- Commanding Officer.
GARNER, PAT M. -- Executive Officer.
DI NOLA, MICHAEL J. -- Lieutenant Commander.
LYMAN, JR., JOHN S. -- Lieutenant Commander.
COLLIER, MERRILL F. -- Lieutenant.
SMARZ, JR., JOHN -- Lieutenant.
BABCOCK, RONALD C. -- Lieutenant (Junior Grade).
GRAFTON, JOHN G. -- Lieutenant (Junior Grade).
HENRY, JR., JAMES J. -- Lieutenant (Junior Grade).
MALINSKI, FRANK J. -- Lieutenant (Junior Grade).
PARSONS, JR., GUY C. -- Lieutenant (Junior Grade).
WILEY, JOHN J. -- Lieutenant (Junior Grade).
Enlisted Men:
ARSENAULT, TILMON J., ENCA
BAIN, RONALD E., EN2.
BELL, JOHN E., MM1.
BOBBITT, EDGAR S., EM2.
BOSTER, GERALD C., EM3.
BRACEY, GEORGE, SD3.
BRANN, RICHARD P., EN2.
CARKOSKI, RICHARD J., EN2.
CAYEY, STEVEN G., TM2.
CHRISTIANSEN, EDWARD, SN.
CLAUSSEN, LARRY W., EM2.
CLEMENTS, THOMAS E., ETR3.
CUMMINGS, FRANCIS M., SOS2.
CARMODY, PATRICK W., SK2.
DABRUZZI, SAMUEL J., ETN2.
DAVISON, CLYDE E., III, ETR3.
DAY, DONALD C., EN3.
DENNY, JR., ROY O., EM1.
DIBELLA, PETER J., SN.
DUNDAS, DON R., ETN2.
DYER, TROY E., ET1.
FORNI, ELLWOOD H., SOCA.
FOTI, RAYMOND P., ET1
FREEMAN, LARRY W., FTM2.
FUSCO, GREGORY J., EM2.
GALLANT, JR., ANDREW J., HMC.
GARCIA, NAPOLEON T., SD1.
GARNER, JOHN E., YNSN.
GAYNOR, ROBERT W., EN2.
GOSNELL, ROBERT H., SA
GRAHAM, WILLIAM E., SOC.
GUNTER, AARON J., QM1.
HALL, RICHARD C., ETR2.
HAYES, NORMAN T., EM1
HEISER, LAIRD G., MM1
HELSIUS, MARVIN T., MM2.
HEWITT, LEONARD H., EMCA.
HOAGUE, JOSEPH H., TM2.
HODGE, JAMES P., EM2
HUDSON, JOHN F., EN2.
INGLIS, JOHN F., FN.
JOHNSON, BREWNER G., FTG1
JOHNSON, EDWARD A., ENCA.
JOHNSON, RICHARD L., RMSA.
JOHNSON, ROBERT E., TMC.
JOHNSON, THOMAS B., ET1
JONES, RICHARD W., EM2.
KALUZA, JR., EDMUND J., SOS2.
KANTZ, THOMAS C., ETR2.
KEARNEY, ROBERT D., MM3.
KEILER, RONALD D., IC2.
KIESECKER, GEORGE J., MM2.
KLIER, BILLY M., EN1.
KRONER, GEORGE R., CS3.
LANOUETTE, NORMAN G., QM1.
LAVOIE, WAYNE W., YN1.
SIMMONS, CHRISTOPHER, C., MM2.
MABRY, JR., TEMPLEMAN, N., EN2.
MANN, JR., RICHARD H., IC2.
MARULLO, JR., JULIUS F., QM1.
McCLELLAND, DOUGLAS R., EM2.
McCORD, DONALD J., MM1.
McDONOUGH, KARL P., TM3.
MIDDLETON, SIDNEY L., MM1.
MUISE, RONALD A., CS2.
MUSSELWHITE, JAMES A., ETN2.
NAULT, DONALD E., CS1.
NOONIS, WALTER J., RMC.
NORRIS, JOHN D., ET1.
OETTING, CHESLEY C., EM2.
PENNINGTON, ROSCOE C., EMCA.
PETERS, JAMES G., EMCS.
PHILLIPPI, JAMES F., SOS2.
PHILPUT, DAN A., EN2.
PODWELL, RICHARD, MM2.
REGAN, JOHN S., MM1.
RITCHIE, JAMES P., RM2.
ROBISON, JR., PERVIS, SN.
ROUNTREE, GLENN A., QM2.
RUSHETSKI, ANTHONY A., ETN2.
SCHIEWE, JAMES M., EM1.
SHAFER, BENJAMIN N., EMCM.
SHAFER, JOHN D., EMCS.
SHIMKO, JOSEPH T., MM1.
SHOTWELL, BURNETT, M., ETRSN.
SINNETT, ALAN D., FTG2.
SMITH, JR., WILLIAM H., BT1.
SOLOMON, RONALD H., EM1.
STEINEL, ROBERT E., SO1.
SNIDER, JAMES L., MM1.
VAN PELT, RODGER E., IC1.
WASEL, DAVID A., RMSN.
WALSKI, JOSEPH A., RM1.
WIGGINS, CHARLES L., FTG1.
WISE, DONALD E., MMCA.
WOLF, RONALD E., QMSN.
ZWEIFEL, JAY H., EM2.
Naval Observers:
KRAG, ROBERT L., Lieutenant Commander.
ALLEN, PHILLIP H., Lieutenant Commander.
BILLINGS, JOHN H., Lieutenant Commander.
BIEDERMAN, ROBERT D., Lieutenant.
Civilian Engineers and Technicians:
KUESTER, DONALD W., Naval Ordnance Laboratory.
ABRAMS, FRED P., Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.
BEAL, JR., DANIEL W., Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.
CHARRON, ROBERT E., Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.
CRITCHLEY, KENNETH J., Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.
CURRIER, PAUL C., Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.
DesJARDINS, RICHARD R., Porstmouth Naval Shipyard.
DINEEN, GEORGE J., Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.
FISHER, RICHARD R., Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.
GUERETTE, PAUL A., Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.
MOREAU, HENRY C., Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.
PALMER, FRANKLIN J., Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.
PRESCOTT, ROBERT D., Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.
WHITTEN, LAURENCE E., Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.
JAQUAY, MAURICE F., Raytheon Corporation.
CORCORAN, KENNETH R., Sperry Corporation.
STADEMULLER, DONALD T., Sperry Corporation.

The Portsmouth Herald New Hampshire 1963-04-11
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Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!