Scorpion Down

By: Ed Offley

Narrated by: Richard Ferrone

Length: 15 hrs

Publisher's summary

One Navy admiral called it "one of the greatest unsolved sea mysteries of our era". To this day, the U.S. Navy officially describes it an inexplicable accident. For decades, the real story of the disaster has eluded journalists, historians, and the family members of the lost crew. But a small handful of Navy and government officials knew the truth from the very beginning: the sinking of the nuclear submarine U.S.S. Scorpion and its crew of 99 men, on May 22, 1968, was an act of war.

In this major work of historical reporting, Ed Offley reveals that the sinking of the Scorpion has never been a mystery, but rather a secret buried by the U.S. government in a frantic attempt to keep the Cold War from turning into a hot war. The Soviets had torpedoed the Scorpion in reprisal for the destruction of the Soviet missile sub K-129, which the Americans had sunk in the Pacific just 10 weeks earlier. But why does the U.S. Navy continue to hide the real story of what happened on that fateful day in 1968?

In Scorpion Down, military reporter Ed Offley tells the true story for the first time and dramatically recounts a little-known episode that nearly brought about World War III. And he conclusively demonstrates that the Navy's official account of the Scorpion incident, from the frantic open-ocean hunt for the wreckage to a court of inquiry's final conclusions, is nothing more than a carefully constructed series of lies.

©2007 Ed Offley (P)2007 HighBridge Company

False Narrative with absolutely no references.

This is a well weaved web of lies spun by someone who couldn't accept the US Navy could mess up. There are many unsubstantiated claims, but more striking are the times the author goes directly against the known facts. That's not simply offering an alternative theory, it's going against what is known to be true. Wouldn't waste the credit on it.

sub standard

This book purports to be the true story of the Scorpion but fails to give any true answers. Offley continues unsubstantiated conspiracy theories about the Scorpion, he provides multiple conflicting Scorpion conspiracy theories combined to create one grand conspiracy theory of the sinking(thankfully no aliens are involved). He makes innuendos based on suspicions and memories decades after the fact and reports them as unquestioned facts. He uses official Navy logs that don't support any of his theories as proof that his theories are based in fact. Offley argues that the ship was in great condition and that a mechanical malfunction onboard was improbable. This ignores overwhelming evidence that the Scorpion was in fact overdue for an overhaul and extensive repairs as well as the damning evidence of the sailors derisive nickname of the Scorpion the USS Scrapiron. He does not provide answers on the loss of the Scorpion but self aggrandizement and a bashing of the government in general and the Navy in particular without any documents to support his theories. Please listen if you want a good laugh on conspiracy theories but if you want a factual and unbiased account of the Scorpion go somewhere else. I regret buying this tripe.

Good book

Very intriguing and a good listen!