Titanic search was cover for secret Cold War subs mission

Times Online ^ | 5/24/08 | Lewis Smith

[Dawnsblood]

The man who located the wreck of the Titanic has revealed that the discovery was a cover story to camouflage the real mission of inspecting the wrecks of two Cold War nuclear submarines.

When Bob Ballard led a team that pinpointed the wreckage of the liner in 1985 he had already completed his main task of finding out what happened to USS Thresher and USS Scorpion.

Both of the United States Navy vessels sank during the 1960s, killing more than 200 men and giving rise to fears that at least one of them, Scorpion, had been sunk by the USSR.

Dr Ballard, an oceanographer, has admitted that he located and inspected the wrecks for the US Navy in top secret missions before he was allowed to search for the Titanic.

Only once he had used his new underwater robot craft to map the submarine wreck sites was he able to use it to crisscross the North Atlantic seabed to pinpoint the last resting place of the luxury liner. It meant he had only 12 days to find the Titanic.

“I couldn’t tell anybody,” he said. “There was a lot of pressure on me. It was a secret mission. I felt it was a fair exchange for getting a chance to look for the Titanic.

“We handed the data to the experts. They never told us what they concluded – our job was to collect the data. I can only talk about it now because it has been declassified.”

[John123]

giving rise to fears that at least one of them, Scorpion, had been sunk by the USSR.

And?

[al baby]

must read reply s later

[cripplecreek]

The Titanic truth movement tells the REAL truth.

http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=af07

[fkabuckeyesrule]

....and they never found Jack Dawson.

[KoRn]

They left this part out of the movie. It would have certainly added some excitement. lol

[NonValueAdded]

"Dr Ballard’s visual examination of the [Scorpion] wreck site showed that the most likely cause of its destruction was being hit by a rogue torpedo that it had fired itself."

Acquired by its own torpedo but how did that torpedo also arm itself?

[Diogenesis]

USS Scorpion (SSN-589)

[Walkingfeather]

That guy is a tool....

This caught my eye though....

“Dr Ballard’s visual examination of the wreck site showed that the most likely cause of its destruction was being hit by a rogue torpedo that it had fired itself.”

One problem.... why was it firing a torpedo? This vessel was on the way home when it got re tasked to check out some soviet ship movements. An article I read last week said Walker the spy had compromised the comm codes and set a trap for her.

[BallyBill]

I heard this on TV one night in bed and thought I must be dreaming. It was a sort of throw away comment about funding for the search. I forgot all about it till now.

[null and void]

...and how can he be so sure it was the Scorpion’s own torpedo?

[mad_as_he$$]

1. I call BS.

2. Ballard is a notorious gas bag within the research community.

3. Scorpion sunk near the Azores a long way from the Titanic.

4. Thresher did sink off New England and one could argue it is on the way to Titanic. But....

[Bender2]

Re: The Titanic truth movement tells the REAL truth.
http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=af07

From there: This site is dedicated to exposing the truth about the government's involvement in the sinking of the Titanic. Specifically, that they did it (and by "they" I mean Jews).

Gadzooks, crip, do you really buy this horse hockey?

[cripplecreek]

Gadzooks, crip, do you really buy this horse hockey?

Nope but you should take another close look and watch the movie.;~)

[Dawnsblood]

That site and the videos there are parodies meant to point fun at the “Loose Change” kooks ie the 9/11 troofers.

[75thOVI]

This is one of the most poorly kept secrets around. I heard Ballard talk at the Mystic Marinelife Aquarium when I was living in New London and he mentioned the stop by the Scorpion at the time. It's not mentioned in his book, but it's never really been a secret.

[JimRed]

Dr Ballard, an oceanographer, has admitted that he located and inspected the wrecks for the US Navy in top secret missions before he was allowed to search for the Titanic.

Makes it sound like he needed permission to search for something in international waters. Pay for it yourself and you don't even have to tell anyone what you're up to. But when you take their funding you play by their rules.

[Bender2]

I did watch it and if done as a joke, it is not funny. But it does remind me of that famous quote from another unfunny person: “I do believe that it’s the first time in history that fire has ever melted steel.”

[Pontiac]

Related post

New evidence suggests Soviets may have sunk the sub Scorpion 40 years ago

[Portcall24]

If you read a book called Blind Mans Bluff they describe how a tiny piece of membrane in the batteries broke down and created a hot running torpedo. A great read by the way. I had always heard a valve was incorrectly installed in the Thresher.