Was the scorpion a nuclear submarine?

Answer 1

USS Scorpion (SSN-589) was a Skipjack-class nuclear powered Fast-Attack submarine, based out of Norfolk, VA. She was one of only 2 nuclear powered boats the U.S. has lost, the other being USS Thresher (SSN-593).

Scorpion was lost while on her way home from deployment near the Azores in 1969. While many theories have been presented, the word in the submarine community, as well as post-accident procedure changes, indicated she was sunk by a hot-running Mk-37 torpedo that started up during electrical tests in the torpedo room. It's believed the boat failed to execute a 180° maneuver to initiate shutdown (fail-safe device) prior to weapon arming and detonation. While we in the submarine community knew about this years ago, the information wasn't publicly declassified until the 90's that gave the public the first indications that the event was a result of a torpedo accident.

Post accident procedures changed the way torpedoes are now electrically checked; they must be inside a torpedo tube in case of a hot-run event, so they can be ejected if necessary. To date, no Mk-48 series torpedo has ever had a hot-run event or accident since the changes.