Scorpion Down: Sunk by the Soviets, Buried by the Pentagon: The Untold Story of the USS Scorpion...

Scorpion Down: Sunk by the Soviets, Buried by the Pentagon: The Untold Story of the USS Scorpion | Ed Offley | Best Educated Estimates

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Scorpion Down: Sun...

	Scorpion Down: Sunk by the Soviets, Buried by the Pentagon: The Untold Story of the USS Scorpion Ed Offley Basic Books, 2007 - 480 pages average customer review:based on 45 reviews view larger image
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The truth - finally

I served twenty years in the United States Navy. I had the honor of working with submariners in the early 1980's. I was told this very same story by them back then. It was widely known by all in the submarine service.

Yes. It has hit a nerve. I expect to see more "slurs" here, disguised as "reviews".

The book is correct. Those with the most to lose will naturally whine the loudest over it.

Best Educated Estimates

By reading some of the other reviews, I can see that Ed Offley's well reserached account of the fate of the Scorpion must be hitting a nerve, here and there.

It's important to realize that neither the U.S. Navy or the Soviet Navy, or their respective governments, had any interest or advantage in helping Offley as he pursued the truth. And they still don't. The official account of this tragedy remains deeply classified and will remain so. You can be sure of that.

Absent that record, Ed Offley has put together the most logical, if somewhat dramatic, account of what likely happnened that day. Some of these reviewers, particularly the guy from Michigan, should talk to a submariner. Then he would know that submarine skippers were not on the short leash they find themselves attached to in today's submarine force. That means that anything was possible even the tense days in the middle of the Cold War. Again, anything was possible.

This is a hurculean effort and from one former submarine officer who always wondered what really happened, I want to thank Offley for presenting us with the closest account that has more than just the ring of truth.

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Smoke and Mirrors

The book "Scorpion Down" by Ed Offley at first glance seems to be another departure from fact for sale type book. I bought the book out of curiosity, mostly, as I have read quite a bit about Scorpion and nuclear Subs in general over the years. To dismiss the book as science fiction is not so easy, if one reads it with an open mind.
The book is mostly a collection of factual events that the author has blended with his own ideas of what really happened to the Scorpion. As you read the book and compare its contents to what has been published in other books, the material closely mirrors past reading. When the context of the times are taken to account, one can see it is possible that the events as depicted in this book, could have occurred. My biggest problem with the book was trying to figure out how an old Echo II could possibly have defeated the Scorpion. Thanks to the traitor Walker, I can see that there is the possiblity that Scorpion could have been tracked and intercepted because communications were compromised. Superior equipment does not neccessarily win battles, as the battle of Midway shows us.
There is no smoking gun truth or revelation in this book. The author and his conclusions could be wrong, but the possibility that he is right, should cause folks to dig deeper to find the truth.
As with most "conspiracy" theory books, it is the actions of those in charge that feed the flames the most. One has to wonder why so much is still classified from the battles of so long ago, with regard to Scorpion. The strongest points made by the book are the testimonies of people who dispute the "official" record, the strange statements made by Russian Officials and the inability to make all the facts of a 40 year old incident known. Maybe the real truth would scare us more than the contents of this book. As an example, Dr. Craven's book "The Silent War" offers a "unique" senario to the truth behind the sinking of a Soviet missle boat off Hawaii. The book "Red Star Rogue" also has its spin on this event. History more than shows the U.S. interest in this event, as depicted in the book "Spy Sub". The book "Blind Mans Bluff" tells some of the tales of the Cold war. Most of the NR-1 submarine history is a blank page or classified. The Glomar Explorer was built. To better understand what the author of "Scorpion Down" is suggesting, one needs to read these other books.The Cold War was hotter than most folks realize.

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