Blind Man's Bluff: The Untold Story of Cold War Submarine Espionage

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Blind Man's Bluff: The Untold Story of Cold War Submarine Espionage

Editorial Review

Stretching from the years immediately after World War II to the spy operations of the Clinton administration, the authors present extraordinary revelations about undersea conflict between the US and British submarines and the Soviet fleet in an unseen intelligence war. The authors reveal stories of adventure, ingenuity, courage and disaster beneath the sea. They show how the American Navy sent submarines wired with self-destruct charges into the heart of Soviet seas to tap crucial underwater telephone cables. They unveil evidence that the Navy's own negligence might have been responsible for the loss of the USS Scorpion, a submarine that disappeared, all hands lost, in the 1970s. They disclose details of the bitter war between the CIA and the Navy and how it threatened to sabotage one of America's most important undersea missions. The tell the story of the audacious attempt to steal a Soviet submarine with the help of eccentric billionnaire Howard Hughes, and how it was doomed from the start. The authors also reveal how the Navy used the comforting notion of deep-sea rescue vehicles to hide operations that were more James Bond than Jacques Cousteau.

Little is known--and less has been published--about American submarine espionage during the Cold War. These submerged sentinels silently monitored the Soviet Union's harbors, shadowed its subs, watched its missile tests, eavesdropped on its conversations, and even retrieved top-secret debris from the bottom of the sea. In an engaging mix of first-rate journalism and historical narrative, Sherry Sontag, Christopher Drew, and Annette Lawrence Drew describe what went on.

"Most of the stories in Blind Man's Bluff have never been told publicly," they write, "and none have ever been told in this level of detail." Among their revelations is the most complete accounting to date of the 1968 disappearance of the U.S.S. Scorpion; the story of how the Navy located a live hydrogen bomb lost by the Air Force; and a plot by the CIA and Howard Hughes to steal a Soviet sub. The most interesting chapter reveals how an American sub secretly tapped Soviet communications cables beneath the waves. Blind Man's Bluff is a compelling book about the courage, ingenuity, and patriotism of America's underwater spies. --John J. Miller

Customer Reviews:

• Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
• Excellent Reading!
  This book is a real eye opener. If you are interested in military books, particularly NAVY material, this is a must read. I have family in the NAVY and they'll tell you, this is the real deal. Blind Man's Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage
• An Excellent Account
  Having participated in the submarine service during the Cold War in the 1960's, I found this to be an accurate and excellent accounting of many of the things we experienced. This is a well researched and book of experiences that I didn't think I would ever see published in my lifetime.
• Hmmm . . . how does this relate to my little booklet, Treasures?
  Through some weird twist of fate, these reviews are appearing as though they relate to a 16-page booklet that I wrote in 1991 entitled "Treasures: Splendid Survivors of the Golden Gate International Exposition," which has as its subject the fate of a group of sculptures and a terra cotta fountain which are the sole free-standing remainders of the art on Treasure Island from the world's fair held there in 1939-1940.
  Hmmm . . . I really ought to re-publish it and see if anyone would buy it from Amazon.
• Anecdotal history of US submarine epionage
  This "history" of US submarine espionage since World War II reads more like a string of anecdotes and episodes. The stories are fascinating and a few of them are even historically important, but I'm not sure this is an "important" book as the New York Times Book Review is quoted on a cover blurb.
  Yet it is fun to read, holds your interest, and does present some new material not publicly documented elsewhere. For example, a central portion of the book is about the undersea cable tapping of Russian... more info

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