Plot
During the Cold War, Soviet Navy submarine commander Marko Ramius plans to defect to the United States with the Typhoon-class ballistic missile submarine Red October. It is equipped with a "caterpillar drive", a cutting-edge silent propulsion system that makes audio detection by passive sonar difficult and enables the submarine to sneak its way into American territorial waters and launch nuclear missiles with little to no warning. As the sub leaves the shipyard at Polyarny, Ramius kills his political officer to ensure that he will not interfere. Ramius was ordered to conduct military exercises with Soviet Alfa-class attack submarine V. K. Konovalov , commanded by his former student Viktor Tupolev, to test the effectiveness of the caterpillar drive. Instead, he plots a course for the North American coast, falsely informing the crew that they will be proceeding undetected to Cuba. Before sailing, Ramius sends a letter to Admiral Yuri Padorin stating his intention to defect to the United States and to give them the Red October; the Soviet Northern Fleet then sails out to sink Red October under the pretext of a search and rescue mission.
Red October passes near USS Dallas, a Los Angeles-class submarine under the command of Bart Mancuso, which is patrolling the entrance of a route used by Soviet submarines in the Reykjanes Ridge off Iceland. Dallas's sonar operator hears the sound of the stealth drive, and, though he does not initially identify it as a submarine, works to realizes that it is the sound of a new propulsion system. After losing the Red October in the underwater route, the Dallas heads to the end of the route in hopes of reacquiring the ship when it emerges.
At the same time, Jack Ryan, an analyst with the Central Intelligence Agency working in London as the CIA's liaison with the British Secret Intelligence Service, returns to the United States to deliver secret photos of the new submarine. After conferring with submarine expert Skip Tyler, Ryan determines that the submarine's new construction variations house a stealth drive. Soon thereafter, the CIA's leadership receives word from highly-placed Soviet agent CARDINAL informing them of Ramius' letter to Padorin and his intention to hand the Red October over to the US. Due to having a limited number of aircraft carriers in the northern Atlantic Ocean at that time, the United States enlists the aid of the Royal Navy in the search for the Red October, and Ryan is sent to the carrier HMS Invincible to coordinate their efforts.
With the Soviet fleet stretched out along with the American coast searching for the Red October, tensions between the US/UK and USSR fleets begins to mount. An Alfa-class submarine is lost when it sinks following a reactor meltdown while racing to the American coast, while two US F-14 Tomcats' attempt to scare a squadron of Soviet fighter jets with sonic booms results in the Soviets accidentally firing missiles at the American aircraft. Onboard the Red October, tension also begins to mount with the crew after evidence is found of a saboteur damaging the reactor and vital safety equipment. Remius and his senior officers blame the sabotage on American spies who must have boarded the ship when it was in port. In Washington, D.C., the Soviet ambassador makes repeated trips to the White House to consult with the president of the United States about his fleet's search for their "missing" submarine, while one of the deputy directors of the CIA meets with a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, who is inquiring about the Soviet presence. The deputy director falsely tells the senator the CIA has received classified information from Israel that states covert Polish intelligence agents operating at the Polyarny shipyards replaced the original orders onboard the ship, and faked the letter to Padorin to make it appear that Ramius was defecting. The senator repeats the story to his aid, an undercover Soviet mole who is arrested shortly after relaying the information to his handler.
Meanwhile, Skip Tyler works with the Pentagon to develop a plan that would allow the United States to keep the Red October without the Soviet Union knowing they have it. The Dallas and Invincible locate the Red October, and, after making contact, the three ships head to a designated spot to rendezvous with the decommissioned US ballistic missile submarine USS Ethan Allen. A helicopter carrying Russian-speaking US military officers is dispatched to meet with Remius and carry out the covert plan, but crashes into the ocean killing all onboard. As a result, Ryan, along with Owen Williams, a Russian-speaking British Lieutenant, is ordered by the president to board the Red October and execute the plan instead.
After Ramius fakes a reactor accident, Ryan and the US Navy evacuates Red October's crew using a DSRV rescue submarine. Ramius and his officers stay behind, claiming that they plan to scuttle the submarine to prevent it getting into the hands of the Americans. With the crew removed, Remius and his officers formally request to defect, which Igor Loginov, an undercover GRU officer disguised as a cook who has secretly remained onboard, overhears. As the Red October covertly moves out of the area and the Ethan Allen is blown up in its place, Loginov fatally shoots Soviet Captain Lieutenant Kamarov and critically wounds Williams before attempting to rig one of the ship's missiles to explode. Ryan and Ramius attempt to stop him, resulting in a firefight, with Ramius being wounded and Ryan killing Loginov. Not knowing what boobytraps Loginov has set on the missile, the area is cleared and the missile is ejected into the sea.
With the ship secure, Mancuso and a handful of Dallas crewmembers are brought onboard the Red October, while a doctor is flown in to treat Williams and Ramius. Mancuso has a depth gage from the control panel removed from the ship, and the Red October is escorted by Dallas and another submarine to hide in Pamlico Sound off North Carolina. The Soviet ambassador is informed by the White House that the Red October had been found and most of the crew removed before it was unfortunately destroyed in a reactor meltdown. A Soviet agent is dispatched to board a US salvage craft to inspect the wreckage, where it "finds" the removed depth gage as well as the ejected missile. Convinced the Red October has been destroyed, the majority of the Soviet fleet is ordered home, with several Alfa-class submarines ordered to secretly remain behind to gather intelligence by spying on the American fleet.
In the Soviet Union, the Politburo is informed that their American spy had learned the letter sent to Padorin was fake and the orders onboard the ship were changed without his knowledge, and the KGB is tasked to investigate whether Marko Ramius was a true defector or a loyal patriot. Several agents are sent on the flight to retrieve the rescued crew members, all of whom report when questioned that Ramius was a loyal Soviet captain who was outraged by the sabotage done to their ship and adamant he would not let the Americans have the Red October.
After waiting two days for the Soviet fleet to clear the area, Dallas and the other American submarine begin escorting the Red October to Norfolk, Virginia. The Konovalov, having been ordered to remain behind, happens upon them and begins to monitor them, initially believing it to be an American Ohio-class. Based on its acoustic signature, Tupolev realizes that it is the Red October, and orders to attack it, damaging it with a successful torpedo strike. The rules of engagement prevent the American submarines from firing on the Soviets unless they are fired upon first, leaving the Red October to fight off the enemy submarine on its own despite having no torpedomen onboard. After blocking another torpedo attack by deliberately running into the torpedo before it had time to arm, the Red October sinks the Kanovalov by ramming into it, killing Tupolev and his crew.
The Americans escort Red October into dry dock in Norfolk, Virginia, where it is analyzed by US military intelligence. Ramius and his crew are taken to a CIA safehouse and are given new identities, beginning their settlement into American lives. Ryan is commended and debriefed by his superiors and returns to his posting in London.
Themes
The Hunt for Red October introduced Tom Clancy's writing style, which included technical details about weaponry, submarines, espionage, and the military. The accurate nature of Clancy's writing was well known among the American military such that Clancy remarked in a 1986 interview: "When I met Navy Secretary John Lehman last year, the first thing he asked me about the book was, 'Who the hell cleared it?'" [3]
The novel shares elements with James Clavell's works, particularly Shōgun (1975) and Noble House (1981), where political power is used instead of physical confrontation with an enemy. Clancy portrays the Soviets, especially Captain Ramius, sympathetically, and most characters are understandable in their actions and fears, while at the same time comparing and contrasting their philosophies and values against their American counterparts, who in turn are shown as more competent in their profession, this being explained by the US Navy being better equipped and trained than the Soviet sailors who are mostly conscripts.
In the novel, the US and its service personnel are unmistakably the "good guys". The central theme of the US being flawed, but ultimately a force for good and hope in the world is something the author would explore more in his later novels. However, unlike The Hunt For Red October, these later novels often include negative American characters, motivated by power or greed.
In addition, The Hunt for Red October is considered a coming-of-age story regarding the main character Jack Ryan. However, instead of running away from responsibilities, a theme common in contemporary American literature, Clancy subverts the convention by having Ryan rushing toward the burdens of the adult world. Moreover, the book introduced Jack Ryan as a new archetype of the American hero – an everyman who uses his prior knowledge instead of physical power in solving a particular crisis. [4]
Development
From a young age, Clancy was an avid reader of naval history and sea exploration but was later rejected from serving in the military because of his poor eyesight. Since graduating from high school and eventually earning an English major, he had always wanted to write a novel. He eventually worked as an insurance agent for a small business owned by his then-wife's family. [5]
In his spare time, Clancy started working on The Hunt for Red October on November 11, 1982, and finished it four months later on February 23, 1983. [6] Contrary to popular belief that Clancy had access to top-secret intelligence in researching for the novel, he consulted technical manuals, discussions with former submariners and books like Norman Polmar's Guide to the Soviet Navy and Combat Fleets of the World in order to maintain accuracy in describing Soviet submarines. [7]
He then submitted the first draft of the novel to the Naval Institute Press, where he previously wrote an article on the MX missile for their magazine Proceedings of the U.S. Naval Institute. [8] Three weeks later, the publication company returned his manuscript, along with a request to cut about a hundred pages' worth of numerous technical details. After fixing his work, Clancy then sold The Hunt for Red October to the Naval Institute Press for a modest sum of $5,000. [9]
Having recently decided to publish fiction, the publication company made Clancy's work their first published novel. Editor Deborah Grosvenor later recalled convincing the publishers: "I think we have a potential best-seller here, and if we don't grab this thing, somebody else would." She believed Clancy had an "innate storytelling ability, and his characters had this very witty dialogue". [10]
