"Johnson exhaustively explores everything known about the vessel's final year-and-a-half of operation. An engrossing documentation of haunting, grisly what-ifs." (Kirkus Reviews)

Johnson painstakingly details the last 18 months of the Cold War–era fast-attack nuclear submarine U.S.S. Scorpion, which disappeared with all hands on May 22, 1968, in the mid-Atlantic. Commissioned in 1960, the Scorpion tested nuclear sub warfare tactics in exercises around the world until its final voyage following four months of duty with the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean. When the ship didn't emerge at its homeport of Norfolk, Va., on its scheduled arrival date of May 27, 1968, the navy launched its largest search in U.S. naval history and reported the ship and its 99 crewmen officially dead on June 5. Four months later, the navy located pieces of the ship's hull in more than 10,000 feet of water. Further investigations came to no definitive conclusion about what caused the demise of the Scorpion. Was it a Soviet attack? Did one of the Scorpion's torpedoes accidentally detonate? Did its hull crack due to poor maintenance? Did its main storage battery explode? Mining navy documents and first-person testimony, Johnson's deeply researched effort explores these and other possible explanations, but concludes that the ship's end will remain an enigma. (Jan.) (Publishers Weekly, October 31, 2005)

"The magnitude of the tragedy of the USS Scorpion is matched only by the depth of the mystery surrounding her loss. Stephen Johnson has done a remarkable job of shining new light on this dark moment in U.S. submarine history."
—Sherry Sontag, co-author, Blind Man's Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage

"Stephen Johnson has crafted a forensic masterpiece that leads the reader back through time to unravel the gnawing enigma of the tragic 1968 loss of the nuclear attack submarine USS Scorpion. Sifting through a maze of conflicting theories, he meticulously lays out a tale of undersea detectives searching for conclusive evidence to one of the most baffling mysteries of the cruel sea."
—Rear Admiral Thomas Evans, author, analyst specializing in submarine history and operations, and former officer on the Scorpion

"The manuscript arrived with yesterday's afternoon mail. I finished reading it by nightfall. It's that good! Thoroughly researched, impeccably documented, with an appealing and literate style, Silent Steel should become essential reading for submarine enthusiasts and for anyone else who enjoys an engaging and informative yarn."
—A.J. Hill, author of Under Pressure:The Final Voyage Of Submarine S-Five

"What happened to the USS Scorpion" The question has vexed submariners for almost four decades. Now, with meticulous research and incredible attention to detail, Stephen Paul Johnson examines and dissects one of the most tragic and mysterious submarine accidents in U.S. Navy history."
—Douglas Waller, author of Big Red: Inside the Secret World of a Trident Nuclear Submarine

"Silent Steel captures the intense mystery and trauma of the Scorpion sinking and explains the background leading to her loss in the words of many of her former crew and their families. The thoroughly researched story is a must read for all serious history buffs."
—Peter Huchthausen, author of October Fury, America's Splendid Little Wars, Shadow Voyage,and co-author of Hostile Waters