[.ca] The Silent War: The Cold War Battle Beneath the Sea (ISBN 0684872137)

From Amazon.com:
In October 1962, the United States government demanded that the Soviet Union remove long-range tactical missiles that it had positioned in Cuba, a short flight from targets like Washington and New York. After nearly a week's wait, during which the world braced for nuclear war, the Soviet government finally relented. It did so, in part, because its capitalist foe had one weapon that it then did not: 10 dozen submarine-mounted nuclear missiles that could be fired from beneath the waves and reach targets inside the Soviet Union within a matter of minutes. In The Silent War, John Craven, an architect of the Polaris missile program, writes that the episode offered unambiguous proof of the value of "a strong silent deterrent" and of the importance of a superb submarine force in preserving the balance of power. In this memoir, he recounts the evolution of the Polaris weapons system during the cold war. Along the way, he reveals little-known incidents of espionage and saber rattling that will give readers pause to wonder how war was avoided for all those years. A bonus for Tom Clancy fans (who are likely to enjoy his book in any event) is Craven's sketchy but fascinating tale of a real hunt for a lost Soviet submarine that took place during his tenure as well as his accessible but nonetheless detailed account of the advanced military technology he helped bring into being. --Gregory McNamee

Was the Cold War Silent?:
This is not a work of documented history; the events described were drawn from undocumented personal recollection. It was written as a rebuff to BLIND MAN'S BLUFF written two years earlier which had exposed his activities working with the Polaris missile project. Thus, he endeavors to present the facts by one who was involved from the very beginning on a four-decade program of undersea intelligence which must remain secret. Our government is releasing highly classified information via the Internet, not just in Washington, but in Huntsville, AL where the Redstone Arsenal (full of missiles) is located. I discovered this a few years ago from the secretary of one of the high offices. Her job was to enter this information so that anyone anywhere in the world could have access to this important research which should have remained secret. This book does not expound upon some of the projects, but now it is available to the public and to foreigners. Just because the Soviet Union has fallen apart, that does not mean there are not other foes who can use this intelligence against us. John Craven lives in Hawaii and has met with a group of the former submariners for a breakfast gathering the past twenty three years to recall things which are better left unsaid. To wish it had not received the notoriety will be too late to protect this nation's safety. The index helps to find the references he makes to the action taking place under the oceans. It would have been better if he had used the history of this program as a basis of a fictional account. That way, no one would know what is true and what not.

Through a Glass Darkly:
I found the book to be far more tease than substance, perhaps necessarily so. The essense of the book is "I spend a lot of years doing a lot of really cool, interesting, super-secret stuff, but most of it is still secret so I can't tell you much about it." To be sure, the general topics are fascinating -- early and potentially fatal flaws in the design of the hull of the Nautilus, developing the Polaris submarine missile program, deep (we're talking really deep, like maybe 20,000 feet or more) submergence vehicles, and human divers operating at several thousand feet or more beheath the surface. But there is very little detail about the technologies themselves, and not much more about how they were employed. Craven is, admittedly, limited in what he can say since the facts that are of most interest are still highly classified. To the extent he offers much real meat, he does so by referring to other works, while at the same time discounting their accuracy. This raised my interest in the other works, more so than Craven's, even if there's some doubt about their total veracity. It's always more fun to think you know a lot, than to be certain that you don't. His chapter suggesting that a rogue Russion missle submarine sank in 1968 while attempting to launch a nuclear strike on Hawaii contains the most interesting revelations, if only because it provides some fair amount of detail. Unfortunately, in his scrupulous efforts to avoid revealing still classified information, his manner of presenting the story seems too coy, too confusing, and a little tortured. For example, he first identifies the sub as "probably a diesel powered Golf class ballistic missile boat", and says he saw photographs with its hull number clearly visible, but then expresses surprise (thus implying disbelief) when public interviews of the crew's survivors (on 60 Minutes) revealed it to be K129, a Golf class submarine. Later, he again refers to it as a Golf, this time with no qualification. It would have been far less confusing for him to simply say, "public sources identify it as a Golf class submarine with hull humber K129, but I can neither confirm nor deny that information," instead of taking us through some obscure references that leave us wondering, is it, or isn't it (an issue that is of interest only because he makes it so). And the symmetry of the location of the sinking, 180 degrees longitude and 40 degrees latitude, is of obvious significance, if only because he keeps repeating it, but he gives not the slightest hint why (or, if he does, it's too obscure for me to appreciate). The book is more satisfying as Craven's unclassified memoirs of his career, and it does have some interesting information about how projects were organized, how a public project served as cover for a covert one that, in turn, served as cover for an even more covert one, and his interaction with some key individuals, primarily Hyman Rickover and Edward Teller. But with all due respect to Dr. Craven, who I'm sure is a brilliant scientist and fascinating personality, he is not of particular interest because of who he is but because of what he did. In the final analysis, my expectations were too high and too unrealistic about what I was going to learn in this book. Those who start it with more realistic expectations will be more satisfied than I was.

Interesting view from the top:
I have read several stories about the cold war but I never seemed to get the big picture that I got from this book. I thought this was going to be a book mostly about submarine warfare. I was surprised at all of the other missions that were connected to special operations. It starts out and tries to explain the reasons for deterances and how to utilize them against an enemy. He seems to tell us in this part that we had to have enough to make the enemy take notice but not too much where they felt they had no choice but to make a first strike. The methods that he tells about next where, first the Polaris missile system the problems with the original missile and the benefits and problems of the fuels that they used. After the missile was successful Dr. Craven told about how the Polaris originally had one mega ton warhead and later they figured out how to use MIRVs for a greater deterrence. At this point he tells some personal information about how he got to be head of the program. The story then went into the loss of the Thresher and the possible causes but at this point the story changes and leaves submarines for deep submergence projects. First you learn about the deep submergence rescue vehicle but it is vague on what it does. If you saw the movie the Hunt for Red October you would have a better idea. Next you learn about Sealab I & II and all the problems they had there. I would not have thought that these were so clandestine if I had not read this book. At this point you learn about saturation diving and the problems and benefits of the programs. The next part is more interesting where you learn more about the submarines Seawolf, Whale and Halibut. The only problem is that I have learned more on the history channel than I have in this book because it does not talk about any specific missions. When it talks about the Trieste bathyscaphe the book only references it to talk about how they were going to use the Trieste II as a spy weapon. The fisherman's friend was an interesting story about the lost nuclear bomb and what the fisherman tried to get for that find. The book mention's what they had to do to recover it and what lessons they learned to increase their capabilities under the sea. This knowledge leads to the NR-1. This book does not talk much about the NR-1 if you want to read a good book on it read Lee Vyborny's account in Dark Waters: An Insider's account of the NR-1, the cold war's undercover nuclear sub. At this point he tells about how he had to deal with Rickover and the type of man that Craven thought he was. Craven follows this with the story of the two missing submarines and how they had to go and find them. I was surprise that they were able to pin point both of these subs with some acoustic recording from back in the early 70s. This was the most interesting part of the book when Dr. Craven thinks that the reason for the missing Soviet sub is that it was a rogue that was firing a missile at Hawaii but the fail safes caused an explosion and sunk the sub. I had never heard that story before. The remainder of the book describes the debacle of the Glomar Explorer, how this Soviet spy was after him for years and the ending of the cold war. I can recommend this book if you are looking of an overview of the political strategy used in our military during the cold war. If you are looking for an adventure novel telling you about one of the exciting projects in detail then I think you would be disappointed. As you can tell I enjoyed the book but there were many unanswered questions that left me wanting more.

A real sleeper!:
I have to admit, I didn't buy this book. My girlfriend got it for me. I normally don't read about subs as I am interested in Nuclear Weapons and Hazardous Device Disposal. What a pleasant surprise to find that the book is written by one who was involved with one of the biggest EOD Nuclear evolutions in the published literature - the Palomares incident. This book is the true definition of a sleeper. The first couple of chapters did little to entice me. In fact his "I-me-I-did-this" attitude and lack of refined writing skills put me off a little bit. By the end of the book, I was completely hooked, and hoping he writes another book before he passes away. You see, his involvement with submersible operations put him squarely in (under? lol) the center of many notable Cold War events. His take on things, bolstered by the fact he was an actual participant in many, put several operations in a totally different light for me. One such event was the true story behind Clancy's 'Hunt' book. Up until I read Craven's book, I thought the retellings of the operation were, too, well, Hollywood. Craven's explanation makes perfect, although chilling, sense, and has the ring of clarity and truth. Another topic was the Hughes / CIA Glomar Explorer.Many things about that operation made NO sense to me, until I read this book. While Craven is reticent to divulge many details, his explanations are like a knowledgeable individual peering over your shoulder as you watch and read other treatises on events. I recommend this book, with the caveat not to concentrate on the author as much as the events. In this light, this is an excellent and worthy next acquisition.

A Cold War Memoir:
Whenever discussions of secret projects or submarines come up, John Craven's name is among the names. This book is his part of the story of the undersea missions during the Cold War. For those looking for revealed secrets, you will disappointed because Craven understands the oaths he has taken so only mentions names when the person has already passed away. He doesn't even approve or acknowledge other stories in print. This text reads more as an autobiography than a telling of a good sea story. He explains his role as the chief scientist and the roles others have had in helping to shape his career. Not only does he discuss his work with special projects, but he also discusses his time as a professor in New England and Hawaii. The telling is not so much a chronological exposition, but more of a man sitting back at the fireside telling us his stories from the past over coffee. Each part of the story will interconnect with other chapters, but it will require a little work from the reader to remember. Although no big secrets are revealed, this is an interesting read. For instance, he discusses how the first space shuttle disaster could have been prevented from lessons that his team learned about materials and optimum temperatures decades before the disaster. If science, engineering, and submarines are not your cup of tea, then I would recommend giving this one a skip.