SCORPION SSN 589

Ship Name and Designation History

This section lists the names and designations that the ship had during its lifetime. The list is in chronological order.

Skipjack Class Attack Submarine Keel Laid 20 August 1958 - Launched 19 December 1959 USS SCORPION SSN-589 Commissioned 29 July 1960 - Last reported position 27 May 1968 Crew declared "presumed lost," 5 June 1968 Struck form the Naval Register 30 June 1968 (+ STILL ON ETERNAL PATROL +)

Naval Covers

This section lists active links to the pages displaying covers associated with the ship. There should be a separate set of pages for each incarnation of the ship (ie, for each entry in the "Ship Name and Designation History" section). Covers should be presented in chronological order (or as best as can be determined).

Since a ship may have many covers, they may be split among many pages so it doesn't take forever for the pages to load. Each page link should be accompanied by a date range for covers on that page.

1. USS Scorpion SSN-589 Covers Page 1    (1961-2018)
2. USS Scorpion SSN-589 Covers Page 2    (1968 Search Covers)

 

Postmarks

This section lists examples of the postmarks used by the ship. There should be a separate set of postmarks for each incarnation of the ship (ie, for each entry in the "Ship Name and Designation History" section). Within each set, the postmarks should be listed in order of their classification type. If more than one postmark has the same classification, then they should be further sorted by date of earliest known usage.

A postmark should not be included unless accompanied by a close-up image and/or an image of a cover showing that postmark. Date ranges MUST be based ONLY ON COVERS IN THE MUSEUM and are expected to change as more covers are added.
 
>>> If you have a better example for any of the postmarks, please feel free to replace the existing example.

 

Postmark Type --- Killer Bar Text	Postmark Date	Thumbnail Link To Close-Up Image	Thumbnail Link To Full Cover Image

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USPS Pictorial Postmarks

 

USPS Pictorial Postmark "USS SCORPION SSN-589 / Memorial Station" Norfolk, VA

2003-05-22

Cachet by Stephen Decatur Chapter No. 4, USCS

 

USPS Pictorial Postmark "USS SCORPION SSN-589 / Memorial Station" Norfolk, VA

2008-05-22

40th Anniversary of Loss. Cachet by Dan Goodwin

 

USPS Pictorial Postmark "USS SCORPION / (SSN-589) Sta." Philadelphia PA

2008-05-22

40th Anniversary of Loss. Cachet by Wolfgang Hechler

 

USPS Pictorial Postmark "Memoriam Station" Norfolk VA

2013-05-22

Cachet by Rich Hall

 

USPS Pictorial Postmark "Still On Patrol Sta." Norfolk VA

2018-05-22

50th Anniversary of Loss. Postmark designed by Wolfgang Hechler, cachet by Michael Brock

 

USPS Pictorial Postmark "Forever On Patrol" Waterford CT

2018-10-21

THAMESPEX Station. Cachet by Dennis W. Gill

 

Other Information

USS SCORPION's final disposition. In October 1968, USNS Mizar T-AGOR-11, located sections of Scorpion's hull in more than 10,000 feet of water about 400 miles southwest of the Azores. Subsequently, the Court of Inquiry was reconvened but, despite the myriad of data and pictures collected and studied, the cause of the loss remains a mystery.

NAMESAKE - An order of arachnids having an elongated body and a narrow segmented tail bearing a venomous stinger at the tip.

The ships sponsor is Mrs. Elizabeth S. Morrison, the daughter of the last commander of the World War II-era USS Scorpion, Commander Maximilian G. Schmidt, USN. (which was also lost with all hands, in 1944).

There has been six ships of the US Navy named SCORPION - USS Scorpion (Block Sloop 1812), USS Scorpion (Schooner 1813); USS Scorpion ( Bark-Rigged Steamer 1847);
USS Scorpion PY-3, USS Scorpion SS-278 and USS Scorpion SSN-589.

 

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If you have images or information to add to this page, then either contact the Curator or edit this page yourself and add it. See Editing Ship Pages for detailed information on editing this page.

 

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