LEWISTON – Area veterans organizations gathered on April 10 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the sinking of the nuclear submarine USS Thresher SSN 593 on April 10, 1963.
The Thresher was on shakedown trials from the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, N.H., when she went into a deep dive off the coast of Massachusetts and failed to surface. The escort vessels lost radio contact and the Thresher went down with all hands lost.
The group gathered on the Lewiston side of the James B. Longley Memorial Bridge where Tom Dow, who was stationed on the U.S. Navy search ships, read the names of the 129 officers, crew members and civilian technicians who were aboard the Thresher.
Jerry DerBoghosian, who worked on the Thresher from its beginning at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, gave a history of the submarine and crew. The group then marched to the center of the Longley Bridge.
The assembly sang the “Star Spangled Banner.” The Rev. Donald Miller, commander USN (ret.), U.S. Navy Chaplains, gave the invocation. The wreath was thrown into the Androscoggin River for “all hands lost at sea” with a moment of silence after. The service concluded with the assembly singing “God Bless America.”
Send questions/comments to the editors.
