EPISODE · Aug 23, 2026 · 1H 10M
The USS Scorpion Disaster
from A Popular History of Unpopular Things · host Kelli Beard
Join Kelli as she goes over what happened to the USS Scorpion, a skipjack-class nuclear-powered attack submarine that disappeared in May of 1967. It was found five months later, 2 miles down on the Atlantic seabed, broken into pieces. It's entire crew of 99 men sank with it.Was it an attack? Did it implode? What caused her to sink?Though tons of theories have been crafted, because we don't *actually* know what happened, we'll use our favorite philosophical tool (Occam's Razor) to determine which of the many theories is the most likely.Sources to Read:Stephen Johnson, Silent Steel: The Mysterious Death of the Nuclear Attack Sub USS Scorpion. John Wiley & Sons: Hoboken, NJ. 2006.US Navy FOIA Reading Room, specifically the Scorpion Case Files https://www.secnav.navy.mil/foia/readingroom/SitePages/Home.aspx?RootFolder=%2Ffoia%2Freadingroom%2FCaseFiles%2FScorpion%20Submarine&FolderCTID=0x012000CD3AEB341204C14DB4C7B99C57E99B26&View=%7B988EEA5C%2DDFDB%2D4A5D%2D8414%2DB7A63DACECE2%7DSupport the showIntro and Outro music credit: Nedric | Yello KakeFollow me on Instagram for episode updates! @beardhistoryIf you want to support the show, donate to the cause at Buy Me a Coffee
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Join Kelli as she goes over what happened to the USS Scorpion, a skipjack-class nuclear-powered attack submarine that disappeared in May of 1967. It was found five months later, 2 miles down on the Atlantic seabed, broken into pieces. It's entire crew of 99 men sank with it. Was it an attack? Did it implode? What caused her to sink? Though tons of theories have been crafted, because we don't *actually* know what happened, we'll use our favorite philosophical tool (Occam's Razor) to determine ...
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The USS Scorpion Disaster
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