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Summary: Book Review from "Sea Power"
Review: "Portions of this book are as exciting as early Tom Clancy novels: 'There was no way the officers and crew manning the diving planes could keep Halibut level... 'Outside, the divers watched as Halibut began to drift upward. The men were still linked to the submarine through their air hoses. They knew they would die if Halibut pulled them up before they could decompress. If they cut themselves loose, they would suffocate.'.... This work is highly recommended for everyone with an interest in submarines or intelligence." --Norman Polmar, Sea Power
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Summary: Book Review
Review: "Enthralling real-life stories of American submarine spying that read as if torn from the pages of The Hunt for Red October, full of high-tech high-jinks and human drama.With materials combed from newspaper reports, American and Soviet archives, and the testimonies of officers and servicemen that could come forward only with the end of the Cold War, Blind Man's Bluff looks at one of the hottest theaters of that era--the ocean depths, and how submarines have been used by both the navy and the CIA to gather intelligence and launch covert operations. Many of the actions described will be familiar to fans of military thrillers, but few readers will have heard these exploits described in such detail before. Included in the book are the stories of American tapping of Soviet communications cables in the Barents Sea, how the navy used a mathematical formula to find a lost warhead, and the tale of the legendary Glomar Explorer, a CIA-built excavation vessel. The authors, veteran investigative journalists (Drew is a reporter for the New York Times), have concentrated equally on the interdepartmental rivalry between the CIA and the navy. They paint an intriguing portrait of the internal struggles--for funding , materials, manpower, and the president's attnetion--that dictated how the Cold War was waged." --Kirkus Reviews
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Summary: The story of the subs that helped us win the Cold War
Review: It is hard to overstate the singularity and importance of this book. Blind Man's Bluff, as the subtitle says, truly is The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage. Before the research of writers Sherry Sontag and Christopher Drew (with Annette Lawrence Drew) culminated in the publishing of this book, the stories of hundreds of submariners, true heroes one and all, had been shrouded in the secrecy borne of the Cold War. Many men aged and died without ever telling their wives and children what they did during their tours of duty; many family members never knew exactly how and why their loved ones never came home; many survivors have only now learned, thanks to this book, the exact nature of the missions they took part in, having never been privy to that information during their service. According to the authors, many of these men and their families have thanked them in quite emotional terms for finally telling their stories. The submariners of the United States Navy helped win the Cold War, and they deserve the heroic recognition they dutifully earned in service to their country. This book basically takes the reader through the secret history of submarine intelligence missions over the course of the Cold War years and beyond. Many of these tales prove once again that truth is oftentimes stranger than fiction. Triumph and tragedy abound. The book also serves as a primer of sorts for the history of the Cold War; the interplay between different American administrations, naval chiefs and admirals, larger-than-life sub captains, and brilliant civilian naval administrators immerses you in the full scope of military planning, action, reaction, and sometimes overreaction. The biggest mistakes that were made all seem to fall in the lap of admirals and high-ranking naval officers and administrators, and these mistakes put many lives in danger and caused a number of unnecessary deaths. The dangerous obstinacy of government bureaucracy is a problem we continue to deal with today. Submarines fulfilled innumerable intelligence-gathering missions during the decades after World War II. Subs infiltrated Russian waters to glean data about Soviet hardware, missile technology, and military behavior patterns; they secretly tailed all manner of Soviet subs across the oceans in order to identify each type of craft by the slightest of sounds and to learn the practices and tendencies of Soviet sub commanders (helping to ensure that the Soviets would be hard pressed to ever launch a massive nuclear first- or second-strike via the sea); they searched for valuable military hardware (both American and Soviet) along the ocean floor; and they brought home some of the most critical intelligence findings imaginable. Among the more remarkable stories detailed here are the Navy's successful attempts to locate a lost Soviet nuclear sub (which the CIA later attempted - embarrassingly unsuccessfully - to salvage from the bottom of the ocean), the mysterious loss of the US sub Scorpion (along with new information that would seem to finally explain the cause of the tragedy), and the collision of an American sub with one of its Soviet counterparts (just one of a surprising number of such collisions). Perhaps the most fascinating account to be found in Blind Man's Bluff is America's secret tapping of Soviet military cables underneath the sea off Okhotsk and in the Barents Strait. Submarines made a number of undetected trips to the discovered cables, hiding in relatively shallow waters literally just beneath the Soviet navy's very nose for days at a time, to collect and replace recorded tapes that gave Naval Intelligence an unprecedented look at Soviet plans and capabilities as well as crucial insight into the Soviet military psyche itself. You will meet some incredible heroes and brilliant intellectuals in this book: men such as John Craven, Commander Whitey Mack, Admiral Bobby Inman, and Tommy Cox, a would-be country singer who immortalized the deeds of his fellow submariners (and memorialized those who didn't make it back home) in song. Then there are John A. Walker, Jr. and Ronald W. Pelton, two of the worst traitors in American history. Walker spent eighteen years building a spy ring that turned over an immense number of secrets to the Soviets for less than one million dollars, while Pelton informed the Soviets of the Okhotsk cable tap for a mere $35,000. These men put the lives of hundreds of brave submariners at risk, greatly compromising their nation's security in the process, and will stand forever among the most infamous of American traitors. If you want to know what peril under the sea can really mean, read the amazing accounts chronicled in Blind Man's Bluff. America's submariners played a crucial role in our nation's defense for decades, but only now are their stories being told. It is a secret history more thrilling than that borne of the imaginations of the best military science fiction writers.
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Summary: Brotherly Love Beneath The Waves
Review: My oldest brother, who is an avid reader, reviewer, and ex-Navy subber, sent me a copy of this searing book, with a brief note--"for REAL espionage, read more non-fiction!" So, I acquiesced to his well placed gauntlet. "Blind Man's Bluff" was riveting. Stories of secret missions by brave Naval men in diving tombs held me spellbound. One of my favorites was about "Operation Jennifer"--Billionaire Howard Hughes' involvement with Bradley, the CIA, and the digging beneath the waves for the Halibut. Another was the frightful fight for the sunken Scorpio, all hands lost. To this day Russian and American families ask themselves, was the secret submarine war worth the risks? Worth the costs? Authors Sherry Sontag and Christopher Drew's years of research has paid off. The indexing is superb for quick looks at certain areas or famous people. The note section is an added plus for chapter information. Included black and white photos put faces to this myriad of heroes and villains. Thank you to my brother, heartfelt salutes to the men and women who protect us. This is an intriguing account of submarine cat and mouse. I appreciate your interest & comments--CDS
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Summary: Readable and Informative
Review: This well-told story is both solid history and exciting spy tales, based on interviews, previously published government documents, and a thorough culling of news reports. The reader gets introduced to the technology of undersea cable tapping that was a great source of intelligence during the Cold War. A fine addition to the personal library of any spy buff or serious student of the subject.
Rodney Carlisle, author of Complete Idiot's Guide to Spies and Espionage.
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Summary: Makes you feel like a Cold War insider
Review: "Blind Man's Bluff" tells the story of submarine espionage between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. The anecdotes in the book are very well written which keeps you turning the pages and also gives you that fun sense that you are reading something that not everyone knows about. You get a flavor for how close, frequent and dangerous the contact between the US and USSR was despite the fact that we were never technically at war with one another.
A lot of fun to read if you like espionage or Navy stories. In addition you learn something about the history of the Cold War. Well worth the time.
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Summary: Cold War Danger Lurking Beneath the Seas
Review: Starting with the nascent Cold War in the late 1940s and closing with recently declassified post-Cold War releases, the book traces American submarine espionage episodes with energy and humor. American submarines were literally on the front lines of the Cold War, where more than a few were lost at sea. The authors follow the first disastrous exploits of American diesel submariners in 1949 as they eavesdrop just off the Soviet coasts for signs of Soviet nuclear testing. Though this first publicly-known incident ended in miserable and tragic failure, American submarine espionage would become a huge endeavor by the Cold War's end.
Starting where the Germans left off with snorkeling diesel subs, the American navy began rapidly rebuilding its submarine fleet using nuclear power under the highly controversial Admiral Rickover. Nuclear power largely relieved submarine crews of having to surface in hostile Soviet waters, which allowed them to avoid detection and 'push the envelope' ever further. The authors present most important personalities (such as John Craven, John Bradley, Bobby Inman, Waldo Lyon, and many of the top sub commanders) and their contributions during this critical time.
Among the most exciting episodes are the first ever multi-week trailing by Cdr Whitey Mack of the Yankee-class Soviet sub, tapping of undersea Soviet military phone cables, extended depth charging of the USS Gudgeon, and the CIA's misguided epic attempt of lifting an entire sunken Soviet attack sub to the surface from miles beneath the ocean. This book also explains how quickly disaster can strike at sea either between rival subs 'playing chicken' under the sea or how fishing trawlers can be instantly sucked under by subs roaming the deep. An excellent read that will opens our eyes to all we DIDN'T see during the Cold War.
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Summary: Read about men much braver than I!
Review: When my friend recommended this book to me, his comments left me with the impression that it was going to delve more into the history side of these operations, but the reality is that the history is presented more as a wrapper for the stories within. The individual stories make up the bulk of the book, but I feel like I came away with a better understanding of the overall progress of the struggle thanks to the author's added notes.
I've been an enthusiast of all things military for most of my life, but I have to admit I didn't know much of anything about the world of submarine esponage. Of course I'd read Clancy, and other sources about attack boats stalking one another and "boomers" sneaking away to a dark, deep spot in the sea for months at a time, but I no idea of all of the different missions the sub force had undertaken. From recovering fragments of missile parts, to physically tapping undersea cables, I was pretty impressed. The author did a fine job of presenting the sailors as flesh and blood people, and not bit parts in the bigger historical picture. Since the book is mainly about the stories themselves, this may seem obvious, but in the past I have not always found this to be the case. Sontag and Drew did a good job of being true to the spirit of the book and letting the story tell itself. I could really feel like what was written down on the page was passed onto them directly from the people who were actually there.
Like others, I was surprised that much of this information was avaliable to the authors at all. Some of these missions seem like the type of thing the get recorded and locked away forever in some vault. I applaude the authors for the groundwork they must have done to gather all of this information and succeed in presenting it in a well thought out format.
I found myself wishing there were a few more stories from the later year, maybe the 80's and 90's, but I'm sure that is probably still locked away somewhere. I would be interested in reading about how the sub espionage business is conducted in today's post 9-11 world, but I guess if someone where to tell me about it, they'd have to kill me. Or maybe I should go hang out at the Horse and Cow.
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Summary: Clear & convincing
Review: As others note here, this is a well-written and exhaustively researched account of the role of submarines in undercover operations during the Cold War. It contributes major understanding about that era. Inevitably, it asks whether the risks and expense were worth it; but it offers no answer. Here's one: Spying provided incontrovertable information to each side about the other's intentions, thus reducing threat of nuclear war. The effort was worth it, not for what it achieved,but for what it prevented. Everyone involved in these operations (even traitorous spies) helped prevent nuclear war. To those who did so from courage, their nation owes gratitude as surely as to those faced the perils of a shooting war.
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Summary: What went on during the cold war
Review: This was a very entertaining book. It was a true high seas adventure story. This is the information that you never hear about in history class but it happened. I have read several other books on Submarines the latest book on Rickover the Struggle for Excellence, and the Craven book the Silent War. Each told basically about the same time in history from different view points. I have to say I enjoyed the Rickover book more but this one was more of a page turner.
The book is chronological in order and tells the story of submarines and their clandestine operations. It gives you a feeling of what life was like aboard a submarine during the cold war and what they were trying to do.
It starts out with the first uses of the snorkel and some of the tragedies that they had at sea to emphasis how dangerous it was. Then it goes into a ship that was chased by the Soviets.
The middle of the book is mostly tails about attack subs and some of their secret missions and what they did mostly which was trailing Soviet subs.
The book tells what Craven thought was the cause of the Scorpion disaster and how he figures it out. Then it tells about the special uses of some of the submarines and their fish and the bat cave. You'll have to read to see what I mean.
The latter part of the book is about the cable tapping operations and what we found out.
Over all it is a very enjoyable read. People who will like this book are people who like adventure stories, stories about submarines and history buffs who want to know what really went on during the cold war.
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