The Silent War: The Cold War Battle Beneath the Sea

(Paperback)

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

The cold war was the first major conflict between superpowers in which victory and defeat were unambiguously determined without the firing of a shot. Without the shield of a strong, silent deterrent or the intellectual sword of espionage beneath the sea, that war could not have been won. John Pina Craven was a key figure in the cold war beneath the sea. As chief scientist of the US Navy's Special Projects Office, which supervized the Polaris missile system, then later as head of the Deep Submergence Systems Project (DSSP) and the Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle programme (DSRV), both of which engaged in a variety of clandestine undersea projects, he was intimately involved with planning and executing America's submarine-based nuclear deterrence and submarine-based espionage activities during the height of the cold war. Craven was considered so important by the Soviets that they assigned a full-time KGB agent to spy on him. Craven takes the reader inside the highly secret DSSP and DSRV programmes, both of which offered crucial cover for sophisticated intelligence operations. He weaves a tale of intrigue, both within the US government and between the US and Soviet navies, providing an insider's account of how the submarine service kept the peace during the dangerous days of the cold war.

Reviews

Harry Eager The Maui News A fine mix of derring-do, good old American know-how, and personal strife and achievement.
Norman M. Brown Chicago Tribune Compelling.
Theodore L. Gaillard, Jr. Proceedings of the U.S. Naval Institute A must-read for those interested in the technology, management, and intelligence-gathering challenges triggered by tense Cold War competition beneath the seas...Remarkable.

Author Bio

John Pia Craven was the chief scientist of the Navy's Special Projects Office from 1958 to 1970 and won two Distinguished Civilian Service Awards. He later worked as director of the Law of the Sea Institute and is currently president of the Common Heritage Corporation. He lives in Honolulu, Hawaii.