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■» PORTSMOUTH, .N.H. .(AP)*9%*The Navy disclosed Friday night additional debris has been foundocean near the spot iclear submarine Tlsank with 129 men on April 10.The Navy did not describe the nature of the debris found at the scene by search ships.A statement said. “It is expected additional debris found in the vicinity of the Thresher’s last dive will be introduced as evidence Saturday” before a naval court of inquiry.Already introduced before the court has been debris which included pieces of cork, plastic, insulation and rubber gloves, identified by chemists as made of the same material used in the Thresher.The court also said it will heartestimony in its probe of theThresher loss from Lt. Cmdr. William J. Cowhill, 34. of Mystic, Conn., former executive officer of the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, where the Thresher was built and overhauled.The court heard classified testimony behind guarded doors Fri-(' ly after open disclosures theThresher was plagued by mechanical problems up to the eve of her last trip.The court heard the following witnesses in Friday’s session: William H. Barnes III, U.S. engineering experimental station at Annapolis; Edwin G. Savasten of the Navy’s David Taylor model basin in Washington; Daniel P. Trefethen. a Portsmouth naval shipyard design engineer; and Navy Capt. Samuel P. Heller Jr., design superintendent at Portsmouth.i Three other witnesses were heard behind closed doors Thursday night. They were: Chief Petty Officer Frank DeStefano, 29. of Hartford. Conn.; Lt. R. Bruce Rule of the staff of the commander of the anti-submarine defense force at Norfolk. Va.; and Capt. Patrick Leahy of the Navy’s Bureau of Ships in Washington.The court said the witnesses heard in secret session gave information of a classified nature.DeStefano, one of two Thresher crewmen who did not sail on the final trip, said in open court Thursday that the crew was so busy correcting equipment “there wasn't much time for casualty and other drills.”He said many malfunctions had been corrected and the Thresher was “in excellent condition” when she sailed April 9 for a deep sea test dive.She sank with the loss of 129 lives the following day in 8.400 feet of water 22© miles off Boston.DeStefano was transferred from the Thresher to another assignment the day before she left.Lt. Raymond A. McCoole, 33, of Dover, N.H., who was on a two-day leave when the submarine sank, said more than a dozen malfunctions had to be corrected in the final two weeks.He said the Thresher experienced continuing trouble maintaining air pressure, operating the starboard main seawater inlet valve, adjusting the starboard torpedo tube shutters, and correcting the rudder and planes which controlled the sub’s diving angle.McCoole. however, said he felt the Thresher was “completely seaworthy” and its crew “the best in the U.S. Navy.I i
Newspaper Details
The Daily Review
Towanda, Pennsylvania, US
Sat, Apr 20, 1963
Page 1
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