PRINTER'S NO. 1125
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA
SENATE BILL
No.
929
Session of
2015
INTRODUCED BY YAW, JUNE 26, 2015
REFERRED TO TRANSPORTATION, JUNE 26, 2015
AN ACT
Designating a portion of State Route 2014 in Lycoming County as
the Petty Officer Thomas Johnson Memorial Highway.
The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
hereby enacts as follows:
Section 1. Petty Officer Thomas Johnson Memorial Highway.
(a) Findings.--The General Assembly finds and declares as
follows:
(1) On the morning of April 10, 1963, the USS Thresher
began a deep diving test about 200 miles to the east of Cape
Cod, Massachusetts, with the submarine rescue ship USS
Skylark standing by overhead.
(2) The USS Thresher was less than two years old and was
the lead boat in a new class of nuclear powered, fast attack
submarines designed to be a weapon of deterrence at the
height of the Cold War and was considered the most advanced
naval vessel of its time.
(3) At 9:03 a.m., the USS Skylark received a garbled
transmission over the underwater telephone reporting that the
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USS Thresher was experiencing minor difficulties.
(4) The USS Thresher and the 129 men it carried,
including 17 civilians, never returned to the surface.
(5) The loss of the USS Thresher is one of the worst
submarine disasters the world has ever known.
(6) After the tragedy, the Navy created SUBSAFE, a
safety program that has ensured that no submarine passing
through this process ever suffers a similar fate.
(7) Petty Officer Thomas Johnson was aboard the USS
Thresher that day and sacrificed his life in service to his
country.
(b) Designation.--The section of State Route 2014 in
Lycoming County from Foresman Street in the city of Williamsport
to State Route 220 in Woodward Township, is hereby designated
the Petty Officer Thomas Johnson Memorial Highway.
(c) Signs.--The Department of Transportation shall erect and
maintain appropriate signs displaying the name of the highway to
traffic in both directions on the highway.
Section 2. Effective date.
This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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