Tennessee Submarine Memorial Association

HELP US BUILD A MEMORIAL TO SUBMARINERS IN TENNESSEE May 30, 2022 Hello Friends. The Tennessee Submarine Memorial Association joins our fellow citizens today in commemorating the Americans who have made the supreme sacrifice for the United States. Among them were 87 men from Tennessee who were lost in war and peace serving in U.S. submarines and related duties. We invite you to visit the TSMA’s web site (Link) and contribute to that effort. Today, we would like to share…

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Today we remember our 99 Submariner brothers who were lost onboard USS Scorpion (SSN589) in the Atlantic Ocean on May 22, 1968 and their families. The exact cause of Scorpion’s sinking about 400 miles southwest of the Azore islands, in 10,000 feet of water, is unknown. There are numerous theories based on extensive analysis of the wreckage and acoustic recordings and some conspiracy theories that seek to explain the loss. We will leave those conversations to others. Virgil Alexander Wright,…

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  Today we remember our 129 Submariner brothers and shipyard personnel who were lost onboard USS Thresher (SSN593) during testing in the Atlantic Ocean in the morning hours of April 10, 1963 and their families. There are numerous, excellent resources that discuss the Thresher, lead ship of a revolutionary class of nuclear powered attack submarines; about the disaster; and about the men who braved the depths of the oceans to serve aboard her. Many of them are provided below. At…

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LCDR Pat Mehaffy Garner of Memphis Tennessee was Executive Officer aboard USS Thresher (SSN593) when she was lost on April 10, 1963. Lieutenant Commander Pat Mehaffy Garner, US Navy Pat Mehaffy Garner was born September 26, 1931, in Memphis, Tennesee. He majored in psychology at Vanderbilt University after attending various local schools in Memphis. While at Vanderbilt, he was active in the Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps, and a member of the Phi Theta Fraternity. He was graduated and commissioned…

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TOLLING OF THE BOATS Every year the Tolling of the Boats Ceremony commemorates those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country while serving aboard U.S. Navy submarines. The U.S. Submariners fo the Volunteer Base of USSVI in association with the Tennessee Submarine Memorial Association hold a tolling every October at the Middle Tennessee State Veteran’s Cemetery. Keynote remarks were presented by Ambassador Charles R. Bowers, U.S. Foreign Service (Retired). You can read the Ambassador’s introduction following the remarks here….

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