This evening (Fri., 9/21/07) our local PBS affiliate here in Philadelphia ran an episode of
History Detectives with a BBM connection.
One of the investigations included in the episode dealt with the sinking of the U.S. nuclear submarine
Thresher on April 10, 1963. The sinking was one of the topics Ennis and Jack discussed early in their time on Brokeback Mountain.
Apparently the U.S. Navy knows exactly where the submarine lies on the ocean floor off New England, and it is checked on from time to time to check whether radiation is leaking from the nuclear reactor.
History Detectives did not go into why, apparently, no effort was made to raise the vessel and recover the remains of her crew.
The spur for the investigation came from some guy who had come into possession of some papers that had belonged to his great uncle. It turned out that the uncle had been a civilian employee at the Portsmouth, N.H., Naval Shipyard and had worked on the construction of the
Thresher.Apparently the survivors and descendants of the crew have regular reunions.
