Francis Slattery
Francis Atwod Slattery (September 15, 1931 – May 22, 1968) was a commander in the United States Navy and commanded the nuclear submarine USS Scorpion (SSN-589) when it mysteriously failed to resurface in the Atlantic Ocean.
Francis Slattery | |
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| Born | Francis Atwod Slattery September 15, 1931 West Paris, Maine, U.S. |
| Died | May 22, 1968 (aged 36) |
| Occupation | United States Navy commander |
Slattery was born in West Paris, Maine. He attended the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis and served in several submarines, including the USS Tunny (SS-282).[1]
He had spent time at the Nuclear Power School and, with his experience in other submersibles, he was appointed to command the Scorpion. He then became the youngest commander of a nuclear-powered submarine at the time.[2]
Disappearance of the Scorpion
Slattery was in command of the boat during its fateful voyage to the bottom of the ocean in 1968. In the book All Hands Down, authors Kenneth Sewell and Jerome Preisler claim that the Scorpion's disappearance was the result of an attack by Soviet forces using code materials supplied by turncoat seaman John Anthony Walker and American cryptographic equipment they seized from the USS Pueblo (AGER-2). The authors claim the Soviets' motive was revenge for the loss of K-129, a Soviet submarine that sank in the Pacific Ocean earlier that year - a loss that Russian military officials had blamed on the Americans.
References
- "Slattery, Francis A." Naval History and Heritage Command. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
- Sewell, Kenneth; Preisler, Jerome (15 April 2008). All Hands Down: The True Story of the Soviet Attack on the USS Scorpion. New York: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 1416564349.