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The Hunt for Red October

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This article is about the 1984 novel. For the film of the same name, see The Hunt for Red October (film). For other uses, see The Hunt for Red October (disambiguation).
The Hunt for Red October
First edition
AuthorTom Clancy
LanguageEnglish
SeriesJack Ryan universe
GenreTechno-thriller
PublisherNaval Institute Press
Publication date
1984 (1st edition)
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages387 p. (first, hardback edition)
ISBN0-87021-285-0 (first, hardback edition)
OCLC11044981
813/.54 19
LC ClassPS3553.L245 H8 1984
Preceded byRed Rabbit (chronologically) 
Followed byThe Cardinal of the Kremlin (chronologically) 

The Hunt for Red October was Tom Clancy's 1984 debut novel. The story follows a CIA analyst who leads a group of US Naval officers to take possession of a cutting-edge Soviet nuclear submarine from 26 defecting Soviet officers, and the intertwined adventures of Soviet submarine captain Marko Aleksandrovich Ramius and Jack Ryan, a Marine turned CIA analyst. It was loosely inspired by the mutiny on the Soviet frigate Storozhevoy in 1975.[1]

The novel was originally published by the U.S. Naval Institute Press—one of the first fictional works it ever published, and still its most successful.

Plot

Marko Alexandrovich Ramius, a Lithuanian submarine commander in the Soviet Navy, intends to defect to the United States with his officers on board the experimental nuclear submarine Red October, a Typhoon-class vessel equipped with a revolutionary stealth propulsion system that makes audio detection by sonar extremely difficult. The result is a strategic weapon platform that is capable of sneaking its way into American waters and launching nuclear missiles with little or no warning.

The strategic value of Red October was not lost upon Ramius, but other factors have spurred his decision to defect. His wife, Natalia, died at the hands of a doctor who was incompetent and intoxicated; however, the doctor escaped punishment due to his status as the son of a Politburo member. Natalia's untimely death, combined with Ramius' long-standing dissatisfaction with the callousness of Soviet rule and his fear of Red October's destabilizing effect on world affairs, exhausts his tolerance for the failings of the Soviet system.

As the ship leaves the shipyard at Polyarny, Ramius kills Ivan Putin, his political officer, to ensure that Putin will not interfere with the defection. Before sailing, Ramius had sent a letter to Admiral Yuri Padorin, Natalia's uncle, brazenly stating his intention to defect. The Soviet Northern Fleet therefore sails out to sink Red October under the pretext of a search and rescue mission. Meanwhile, Jack Ryan, a high-level CIA analyst and a former Marine, flies from London to Langley, Virginia, to deliver MI6's photographs of Red October to the Deputy Director of Intelligence. Ryan consults a friend at the U.S. Naval Academy, ex-submariner Skip Tyler, and finds out that Red October's new construction variations house its stealth drive.

Red October passes near USS Dallas, a Los Angeles class submarine under the command of Cdr. Bart Mancuso, which is patrolling the entrance of a route used by Soviet submarines in the Reykjanes Ridge off Iceland. Dallas hears the sound of the stealth drive but does not identify it as a submarine. Putting information about Ramius' letter together with the subsequent launch of the entire Northern Fleet, Ryan deduces Ramius' plans. The U.S. military reluctantly agrees, while planning for contingencies in case the Soviet Fleet has intentions other than those stated. As tensions rise between the U.S. and Soviet fleets, the crew of Dallas analyze sonar tapes of Red October and finally realize that it is the sound of a new propulsion system. Ryan must contact Ramius to prevent the loss of the submarine and her decisive technology. After it is revealed that Ramius has informed Moscow of his plan for him and his officers to defect, Ryan becomes responsible for shepherding Ramius and his vessel away from the pursuing Soviet fleet, and meets with an old Royal Navy acquaintance, Admiral White, commanding a task force from the aircraft carrier HMS Invincible.

In order to convince the Soviets that Red October has been destroyed, the U.S. Navy rescues her crew after Ramius fakes a reactor meltdown. Ramius and his officers stay behind, claiming they are about to scuttle the submarine to prevent it getting into the hands of the Americans. A decommissioned U.S. ballistic missile submarine, the USS Ethan Allen, is blown up underwater as a deception. A depth gauge taken from the main instrument panel of Red October (with the appropriate serial number) is made to appear as if it was salvaged from the wreckage. Meanwhile, Ryan, Captain Mancuso and some of his crew, and Owen Williams (a Russian-speaking British officer from Invincible) board Red October and meet Ramius face-to-face.

The deception efforts succeed in convincing Soviet observers that Red October has been lost. However, GRU intelligence officer Igor Loginov, masquerading as Red October's cook, is aware of what Ramius is doing and attempts to ignite a missile rocket motor inside a launch tube so as to destroy Red October. Loginov opens fire with his weapon, killing Captain Lieutenant Kamarov (the ship's navigator) and seriously wounding Ramius and Williams. Ryan attempts to persuade the fiercely patriotic Loginov to surrender rather than die in the explosion, but Loginov refuses. Ryan manages to kill Loginov in the submarine's missile compartment.

Captain Viktor Tupolov, a former student of Ramius and commander of the Soviet Alfa-class attack submarine V. K. Konovalov, has been trailing what he initially believes is an Template:Sclass- vessel. Based on acoustical signature information, Tupolev realizes that it is Red October, and proceeds to pursue and engage it. The two U.S. submarines escorting Red October are unable to fire due to rules of engagement, and Red October is damaged by a torpedo from the Alfa. After a tense standoff, Red October rams Konovalov broadside and sinks it.

The Americans escort Red October safely into dry dock in Norfolk, Virginia, where Ramius and his crew are taken to a CIA safehouse to begin their Americanization. Ryan is commended by his superiors and flies back to his posting in London.

Influence on later Clancy books

The Hunt for Red October was the start of a loosely connected series by Tom Clancy which shared a rough continuity. Many of the characters in the novel, particularly Jack Ryan, went on to be the central characters of many of Clancy's later novels. The ultimate fate of Red October is explained in the Clancy novel The Cardinal of the Kremlin, where it is revealed that the vessel was reverse engineered and stripped of all technology. Red October was then sunk in a deep ocean trench off Puerto Rico to avoid discovery. Both Ryan and Ramius are on hand to see the submarine off for the last time, and Ramius sentimentally comments, "He was a good ship."

Adaptations

Film

Main article: The Hunt for Red October (film)

The novel was made into a commercially successful movie in 1990, starring:

There were several differences between the novel and the film, including Red October traveling up the Penobscot River in Maine to dry dock, and the prominence of the Royal Navy, including light aircraft carrier HMS Invincible. The order of many events also has been changed. In the film version, the "caterpillar drive" is described as a magnetohydrodynamic system, essentially, "a jet engine for the water".

Games

Main articles: The Hunt for Red October (1987 video game), The Hunt for Red October (console game), and The Hunt for Red October (1990 computer game)

The novel also served as the basis for several computer and video games, as well as some board games.

The Hunt for Red October wargame, published in 1988 by TSR, Inc. became one of the bestselling wargames of all time.[2]

Reception

The Hunt for Red October sold very well and launched Clancy's successful career as a novelist. President Ronald Reagan helped to fuel the success of The Hunt for Red October when he announced that he enjoyed the book at a televised press conference, calling it "unputdown-able" and a "perfect yarn."[3][4]

Publication history

The hardback edition of The Hunt for Red October is the first novel published by the Naval Institute Press. Clancy had not been able to place the novel with any traditional publishers, but had a good relationship with the Press from writing articles in their Proceedings of the Naval Institute. To his surprise the Press accepted the manuscript and sent a small advance. After receiving unexpected praise from President Reagan, the book became a bestseller. Clancy's later books were published by Penguin Putnam.

The paperback edition was the first in a string of successful publications of technothrillers by Berkley Books.[5]

In 1988 it was published in French as Octobre Rouge, translated by Marianne Véron and with the collaboration of Jean Sabbagh.

See also

References

  1. ^ Hagberg, David; Gindin, Boris (2008). Mutiny: The True Events That Inspired The Hunt For Red October. New York: Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-7653-1350-8.
  2. ^ "The History of TSR". Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2008-10-04. Retrieved 2005-08-20.
  3. ^ Archived June 9, 2004, at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ "VIRTUOUS MEN AND PERFECT WEAPONS". nytimes.com. 27 July 1986.
  5. ^ McDowell, Edwin (May 13, 1988). "Book notes". New York Times. Retrieved February 18, 2011.
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