Following the Second World War, Dan Summitt cruised the China Sea in a destroyer. During the Cold War, he worked with Adm. Hyman Rickover and commanded two nuclear submarines. In Tales of a Cold War Submariner, Summitt tells the dramatic story of his military life on and under the sea, focusing on his experiences with nuclear submarines and Admiral Rickover, “the father of the nuclear navy.” His stories, anecdotes, and detailed descriptions bring this tense era to life for the reader. Summitt recounts his service as commander of the USS Seadragon on its secret mission to the North Pole, where he rendezvoused with the USS Skate to conduct experiments under the ice. Following a posting to Naval Reactors, Summit then took command of the USS Alexander Hamilton, one of forty-one Polaris submarines in the U.S. fleet. A submarine of this class was 425 feet long and carried sixteen Polaris missiles, each 35 feet high and weighing 35,000 pounds. Summitt takes the reader on a tour of the spacious vessel, describing everything from its living quarters to practice missile launches to the coveralls worn by the crew. He recounts Christmas at the Duke of Argyle’s castle, discusses the difficulties of steering with a single propeller, and describes how the Alexander Hamilton was almost lost because of a faulty needle piston in the snorkel head valve cylinder, a reminder that even the most sophisticated machine can be undone by a simple mechanical failure. In the best tradition of naval literature, Summitt’s memoir offers a first-person view of life in the navy during a crucial period in our history. Readers will enjoy weighing anchor with Captain Summitt, and scholars will find his memoir an important contribution to the literature on the U.S. Navy and the Cold War.
The part played in the Cold War by the Royal Navy's submarines still retains a great degree of mystery and, in the traditions of the 'Silent Service,' remains largely shrouded in secrecy. Cold War Command brings us as close as is possible to the realities of commanding nuclear hunter-killer submarines, routinely tasked to hunt out and covertly follow Soviet submarines in order to destroy them should there be any outbreak of hostilities. ??Dan Conley takes the reader through his early career in diesel submarines, prior to his transition to the complex and very demanding three-dimensional world of operating nuclear submarines; he describes the Royal Navy's shortcomings in ship and weapons procurement and delivers many insights into the procurement failures which led to the effective bankrupting of the Defence budget in the first decade of the 21st century. In command of the hunter killer submarines Courageous and Valient in the 1980s, he achieved exceptional success against Soviet submarines at the height of the Cold War. He was also involved in the initial deployment of the Trident nuclear weapon system, and divulges hitherto un-revealed facets of nuclear weapons strategy and policy during this period.??This gripping read takes you onboard a nuclear submarine and into the depths of the ocean, and relays the excitement and apprehensions experienced by British submariners confronted by a massive Soviet Navy.??As featured on White Horse News and in the Bath Chronicle.
This is the untold story of a covert submarine espionage operation against the Soviet Union during the Cold War as experienced by the commanding officer of an active submarine. b&w photo insert.
Submarines had a vital, if often unheralded, role in the superpower navies during the Cold War. Their crews carried out intelligence-collection operations, sought out and stood ready to destroy opposing submarines, and, from the early 1960s, threatened missile attacks on their adversary's homeland, providing in many respects the most survivable nuclear deterrent of the Cold War. For both East and West, the modern submarine originated in German U-boat designs obtained at the end of World War II. Although enjoying a similar technology base, by the 1990s the superpowers had created submarine fleets of radically different designs and capabilities. Written in collaboration with the former Soviet submarine design bureaus, Norman Polmar and K. J. Moore authoritatively demonstrate in this landmark study how differing submarine missions, antisubmarine priorities, levels of technical competence, and approaches to submarine design organizations and management caused the divergence.
A New York Times bestseller The secret history of America's submarine warfare is revealed for the first time in this "vividly told, impressively documented," (The New York Times) and fast-paced chronicle of adventure and intrigue during the Cold War. For decades, only a select and powerful few knew the truth about the submarines that silently roamed the ocean in danger and in stealth, seeking information and advantage. Based on six years of groundbreaking investigation into the “silent service,” Blind Man’s Bluff uncovers an epic story of adventure, courage, victory, and disaster beneath the surface. With an unforgettable array of characters from the Cold War to the twenty-first century, Sontag and Drew recount scenes of secrecy from Washington, DC, to the depths of the sea. A magnificent achievement in investigative reporting, Blind Man’s Bluff reads like a spy thriller with one important difference: everything is true.
"The Hunt for Red October" meets "Blind Man's Bluff" in this chilling, true story of a rogue Soviet submarine that sank while trying to provoke a war between the U.S. and China.
HUNTER KILLER: a submarine designed to pursue and attack enemy submarines and surface ships using torpedoes. HUNTER KILLERS will follow the careers of four daring British submarine captains who risked their lives to keep the rest of us safe, their exploits consigned to the shadows until now. Their experiences encompass the span of the Cold War, from voyages in WW2-era submarines under Arctic ice to nuclear-powered espionage missions in Soviet-dominated seas. There are dangerous encounters with Russian spy ships in UK waters and finally, as the communist facade begins to crack, they hold the line against the Kremlin's oceanic might, playing a leading role in bringing down the Berlin Wall. It is the first time they have spoken out about their covert lives in the submarine service. This is the dramatic untold story of Britain's most-secret service.
“Red November delivers the real life feel and fears of submariners who risked their lives to keep the peace.” —Steve Berry, author of The Paris Vendetta W. Craig Reed, a former navy diver and fast-attack submariner, provides a riveting portrayal of the secret underwater struggle between the US and the USSR in Red November. A spellbinding true-life adventure in the bestselling tradition of Blind Man’s Bluff, it reveals previously undisclosed details about the most dangerous, daring, and decorated missions of the Cold War, earning raves from New York Times bestselling authors David Morrell, who calls it, “palpably gripping,” and James Rollins, who says, “If Tom Clancy had turned The Hunt for Red October into a nonfiction thriller, Red November might be the result.”
Charles Hood and Frank Hood, the co-authors of the popular book Poopie Suits & Cowboy Boots, are pleased to announce the release of their follow-up volume, entitled Sub Tales: Stories That Seldom Surface. The new book presents a fascinating compendium of stand-alone stories drawn from the rich annals of American submarine history. Painstakingly researched and vetted, many of these stories are not widely known by even veteran submariners. Broken into sections based on content, Sub Tales explores a variety of topics ranging from the tragic sinking of the USS F-4 in 1915 to the inspiring survival story of George Rocek during World War II. Individuals highlighted in separate chapters include Admiral Chester Nimitz, Captain John Wesley Harvey, and four U.S. presidents, whose visits aboard submarines are described with proper historical context. Additional topics discussed include ordeals at sea, such as the improbable rescue of a Filipino sailor from the North Atlantic Ocean by the USS Scamp in 1987 and the daring landing of a stricken Navy helicopter aboard the USS Corporal in 1956. Lighter fare includes a discussion of the filming of the 1959 movie Operation Petticoat aboard a submarine painted pink, an explanation of submarine pay over the years, and the first baseball game played at the North Pole in 1960. Essays discussing the heavy-handed plot to steal the USS Trepang in the late 1970s, the novel delivery of U.S. mail using a submarine-launched missile in 1959, and the genesis of Dick O'Kane's lucky cribbage board are among the 35 original stories presented in Sub Tales. All stories have been thoroughly reviewed and edited by more than twenty submarine veterans from all boats, disciplines, and eras. The addition of these men to the editorial process helped immeasurably to assure both technical and historical accuracy as well as the proper use of naval terminology. In several stories, the gripping narratives are further enhanced by the inclusion of first-hand perspectives, provided by the very men who participated in these important slices of history. Capping off the book is an intriguing set of submarine "lists" gleaned from the vast readership of the authors' Facebook page ("Poopie Suits and Cowboy Boots"). These lists are compilations of responses to such weighty questions as "What one trait learned aboard the boats served you well after the service?" and "What is the one aspect of submarine duty that you struggle the most to explain to a civilian?"More than 130 photographs are included, fully captioned, to amplify the written material for each chapter. By popular demand, the essay "How to Spot a Brother of the 'Phin" is reprinted from the Hoods' first book, along with expanded versions of stories recounting the USS Squalus rescue of 1939, the experimental nature of the USS Albacore in the 1950s, and the refuge sought by the USS Narwhal at the bottom of the Cooper River during a hurricane in 1989. The Hoods have organized this book for opening randomly at any chapter and becoming absorbed by a new story. The stories are grouped by general topic but do not follow any sequence, making Sub Tales that perfect bedtime companion for a short story or two before sleeping. A great gift for the veteran submariner, Sub Tales is also engrossing reading for anyone who with an interest in the U.S. Submarine Force. As with the first book, all profits from the sale of Sub Tales are earmarked for the Scholarship Fund of the USSVI. This fund awards stipends to deserving family members of veteran submariners to help defray college tuition expenses. The response to Poopie Suits & Cowboy Boots has been overwhelmingly positive, and proceeds from book sales have resulted in the cumulative donation of more than $26,000 to this fund as of December 2019. Not only will you thoroughly enjoy reading Sub Tales but also you will be helping out a very worthy and appropriate philanthropic effort. Thank you for your support!
Would you like to know all about the inner workings of a U.S attack submarine? This nonfiction book, told through the eyes of the personal experiences of one of the authors, and greatly expanded now in its third edition with the input of dozens of other submarine veterans, explains how submarines are designed, built, manned, and operated. Key concepts such as buoyancy, navigation, periscope function, sonar and weapons are discussed in detail. You'll enjoy the format of this coming-of-age story of a young Navy man during the late 1960s and early 1970s, and along the way you'll learn about the intense training required for nuclear submarine service. Then you'll come aboard as the narrative turns to day-to-day details of life aboard a submarine--the missions, the routines, the psychological pressures, and the deprivations of living underwater for weeks at a time. The Silent Service, as this group is known, has a wonderful human story that has largely escaped the public domain, in part because of the classified nature of their missions. This book eschews the covert details and instead dwells on the human-interest side of submarine service. Filled with wonderful stories--some hilarious, others sad--and buttressed by 19 historical submarine essays, over 100 photos, and a detailed glossary of terminology, the book is a compelling read that will inform you and give you a newfound pride in the men and women who maintain our sea defenses 24/7. Also, all proceeds from the sale of the book benefit the Scholarship Fund of the USSVI. Makes a great gift for that Navy veteran in your life!
