Soviet submarine Red October
Encyclopedia
Red October is a fictitious modified Typhoon class submarine
Typhoon class submarine
The Project 941 or Akula, Russian "Акула" class submarine is a type of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine deployed by the Soviet Navy in the 1980s...
in the Tom Clancy
Tom Clancy
Thomas Leo "Tom" Clancy, Jr. is an American author, best known for his technically detailed espionage, military science, and techno thriller storylines set during and in the aftermath of the Cold War, along with video games on which he did not work, but which bear his name for licensing and...
novel The Hunt for Red October
The Hunt for Red October
The Hunt for Red October is a 1984 novel by Tom Clancy. The story follows the intertwined adventures of Soviet submarine captain Marko Aleksandrovich Ramius and CIA analyst Jack Ryan.The novel was originally published by the U.S...
and the film
The Hunt for Red October (film)
The Hunt for Red October is a 1990 thriller film based on the novel of the same name by Tom Clancy. It was directed by John McTiernan and stars Sean Connery as Captain Marko Ramius and Alec Baldwin as Jack Ryan...
which followed. She was built with a revolutionary stealth
Stealth technology
Stealth technology also termed LO technology is a sub-discipline of military tactics and passive electronic countermeasures, which cover a range of techniques used with personnel, aircraft, ships, submarines, and missiles, to make them less visible to radar, infrared, sonar and other detection...
propulsion system called a "caterpillar drive", which is described as a hydrojet
Pump-jet
A pump-jet, hydrojet, or water jet, is a marine system that creates a jet of water for propulsion. The mechanical arrangement may be a ducted propeller with nozzle, or a centrifugal pump and nozzle...
system in the book. In the film however, it is shown as being a magnetohydrodynamic drive
Magnetohydrodynamic drive
A magnetohydrodynamic drive or MHD propulsor is a method for propelling seagoing vessels using only electric and magnetic fields with no moving parts, using magnetohydrodynamics. The working principle involves electrification of the propellant which can then be directed by a magnetic field,...
.
The story
The drama of the story partially centers around the dual capabilities of this submarine. As a submarine of the Typhoon class, it carries many ballistic missiles armed with nuclear warheads. With a stealthy propulsion unit, it can no longer be detected by NATO naval vessels. As described in both the book and the film, these capabilities combine to create a horrific weapon, whereby the submarine could easily reach the coastal waters of a city, like Washington DC, fire its missiles, and destroy key targets before any government or military leaders could order a counterattack.One interpretation, as offered in the film and book, is that this submarine's existence is for one purpose: not as a deterrent to an American attack on the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, but solely as a weapon of first strike
First strike
In nuclear strategy, a first strike is a preemptive surprise attack employing overwhelming force. First strike capability is a country's ability to defeat another nuclear power by destroying its arsenal to the point where the attacking country can survive the weakened retaliation while the opposing...
. It thus becomes critical for the U.S. government to see this submarine either destroyed or captured.
Captain First Rank Marko Aleksandrovich Ramius was the first and last commanding officer of Red October. According to the story The Hunt for Red October, in late 1984 (According to the dates mentioned in the book, the year could not have been 1984, but is consistent with the year 1982) Ramius and his command crew took the Red October out on exercises. Once at sea Ramius murdered the political officer and then turned the boat towards the United States. Despite efforts by the Soviet Navy
Soviet Navy
The Soviet Navy was the naval arm of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy would have played an instrumental role in a Warsaw Pact war with NATO, where it would have attempted to prevent naval convoys from bringing reinforcements across the Atlantic Ocean...
, Red October was able to reach USS Dallas
USS Dallas (SSN-700)
USS Dallas is a Los Angeles-class nuclear-powered attack submarine of the United States Navy. It is the Navy's second ship of that name, and the first to be named for the city of Dallas, Texas, although another two ships were scheduled but never completed.-Career:The contract to build Dallas was...
and the United States was able to engage in a complicated rescue plan.
Along for the ride on the Dallas, and later on the Red October, is a part-time CIA analyst named Jack Ryan
Jack Ryan (Tom Clancy)
John Patrick "Jack" Ryan, Sr. is a fictional character created by Tom Clancy who appears in many of his novels.-Backstory:Born in 1950, Ryan's background is established in Patriot Games and Red Rabbit. His father was Emmet William Ryan , a police homicide lieutenant in Baltimore, and World War II...
, who read Ramius' intent and suggested setting up the rendezvous. The rescue plan resulted in the Russian Navy believing the boat had been destroyed. The Soviet Alfa-class attack submarine Konovalov discovered Red October's survival, but was destroyed before it could report back that Red October's sinking had been staged.
Most of the officers defected with Ramius but the commander of the Dallas concealed the defection from the rest of the crew, who were repatriated in due course. The sub was gutted by the U.S. Navy to discern its secrets. Sometime between a year and eighteen months later the remains of the boat were sunk in a deep ocean trench. The technology then seems to disappear, although there are later references in some other books, including The Sum of All Fears.
In reality, a variant of the magnetohydrodynamic drive stated in the film has been tested, but proved too inefficient and cumbersome to be used as an effective means of a propulsion system on a submarine. This type of propulsion system also would not be enclosed in a duct/pipe (as depicted in the film). A pump jet would be more efficient, but not enough for a submarine of that size.
In the series of books to come by Tom Clancy, the Red October adventure proved useful to Ryan's career. In later books, Ryan is able to use his heroism in obtaining the submarine as a lever with which to force a threatening KGB Secretary to defect to the US against his will (in the novel The Cardinal of the Kremlin
The Cardinal of the Kremlin
The Cardinal of the Kremlin is a novel by Tom Clancy, featuring his character Jack Ryan. It is a sequel to The Hunt for Red October, based on the development of the Strategic Defense Initiative and its Soviet equivalent, covering themes including intelligence gathering and counterintelligence,...
), ending the possibility of a Kremlin coup against a politically centrist Soviet government.
Years later the truth of these events came to light when political opponents of then President Jack Ryan revealed his part in the affair. By this time the Soviet Union had collapsed and the prevailing opinion in Moscow seems to have been "Well Done", though they put the Russian hierarchy in a political bind vis-a-vis cooperation with the United States at a critical point.
In the story, Red October is the seventh Typhoon class hull built for the Soviet Navy
Soviet Navy
The Soviet Navy was the naval arm of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy would have played an instrumental role in a Warsaw Pact war with NATO, where it would have attempted to prevent naval convoys from bringing reinforcements across the Atlantic Ocean...
; the real seventh boat, hull number TK-210, was laid down in the late 1980s, canceled before it could have been commissioned and scrapped in 1990. None of the real Typhoon class submarines had 26 missile tubes or were considerably larger than the other Typhoon class SSBNs in the Russian Navy. Most Typhoon class subs were only about 175 meters long with about a 23 meter beam. The Red October would also have been about 5,000 tons heavier than the normal Typhoon class sub. No Soviet submarines were officially named Red October. There are no submarines in existence that have used a form of magnetohydrodynamic propulsion.