Spy Sub: A Top Secret Mission to the Bottom of the Pacific

I was a "khaki" (an EOOW) on a 637-class boat in the Jimmy Carter years, with service that included two special operations, a Presidential Unit Citation and an 18-month nuclear refueling overhaul. I often still wake from uncomfortable "submarine dreams" even now, some twenty years after I left the service to go to graduate school. This is the book I will give my son to show him what it was like down there. Ignore the junk on the dust jacket: it has almost nothing to do with the book and its strengths. "Spy Sub" has much more in common with "The Cruel Sea" (Nicholas Monsarrat's classic story of WWII convoy duty) than it has in common with "The Hunt for Red October", and what it has in common with Monsarrat makes it far more authentic than the Clancy novels. If you're thinking about signing up for sub duty, then you need to read this book to see what you're heading into.If you're looking for a fast-paced, Hollywood-style "space opera of the undersea", however, this is definitely > the book for you. Read Clancy's "The Hunt for Red October" and "Red Storm Rising" instead, if that is the case. You'll be entertained a lot and even informed a little. I enjoyed them, too. Just keep in mind that Clancy is a fiction writer whose professional task is to focus on the glamorous and ignore the rest.<p>Of all the submarine books I've seen and read, "Spy Sub" captures the stone cold sober reality of service aboard a nuclear submarine the best. It shows what it;s really like aboard a nuc boat most of the time, even on a spec op: studying, qualifying, standing watch, performing mountains of required preventive maintenance, keeping your temper in tight spaces, standing watch some more, noticing patterns before they became problems, fixing things that broke, going back on watch yet again, studying to qualify for the next higher watchstation on your off time, and just generally tending to the part of the mission that is your job, so the ship can do its job. Most of it isn't at all glamorous, and almost all of it is very hard work. <p>I'm not at all surprised that Petty Officer Dunham went on to medical school and a successful career as a physician after he finished his tour of sub duty. The men in dungarees I served with stood head and shoulders above most of my university classmates, and I watched many of them go on to spectacular careers in civilian life. If you read this book carefully and think about it, you will understand why that was so. There is no other experience on this planet that rubs your nose in the details of physical (and psychological) reality quite as thoroughly as service on a nuc boat. The only other experience that might come close is service as an astronaut on an Apollo moon shot.<p>It's not for everybody. But it's an unbeatable education. Read this book to see why.

Served aboard HALIBUT 1964-1967. Had little clue of it's chief mission at the time of my service, so the book was revealing and insightful to me and to my family and friends who had been listening to my stories lo these many years. It was I who was overboard and reading a chapter about my own experience told by someone else, was chilling, and brought back memories of my own fears as well as the tenacity and expertise of the Captain and my shipmates, who refused to give up thier rescue efforts, until I was safely brought back aboard. I would recommend this book to other sub sailors and thier familys.

Coles Law is thinly sliced cabbage. I found Spy Sub very interesting. Even if the events weren't accurate, they certainly are beleivable. The characterization of the crew is a real description of what real life aboard would be. For example the man overboard event: Imagine probably a state 4 sea, no lights to show your position, dark for visual cover from sea or above, unable to use but minimal power to maneuver because of cavitation noise, cold, can't hear for the wind and OSCAR (the man over the side) can't even see the sub because of its paint job. The Captain must do some superior maneuvering to get that man back aboard. The bow thruster can't do any good on the surface, its above the waterline. He must do everything exactly right, and quickly because the water is cold and the chance of OSCAR and the ship drifting differently is problematic. The story has it that the Captain did retreive his man, proving his exceptional seamanship as is the trademark of most sub sailors. Anyone that could find this and the other stories in this book as boring either has no imagination or experience at sea. As far as details of ships operations, probably the best way to explain that is the standard reply that neither confirms or denies. "I've never been anyplace to speak of". I must consider it to be a must for anyone interested in submarine stories during any era.

I had the privilege of being one of the physicians on the Hughes Glomar Explorer. I've written the story, which is still unpublished for security reasons. My manuscript is titled "DOMP" for Deep Ocean Mining Project. The activity aboard the "Viperfish" was the filming of the Golf II Class submarine lost by the Soviets in 17,500 feet of water northwest of Hawaii. The HGE, as we called the recovery vessel was constructed in 22 months from the photos brought back by the Viperfish. To understand whole story of this remarkable victory of the intelligence community, you must read Spy Sub. And I expect my manuscript to be released by Washington in the near future.

For 20 years as a sub nuclear plant operator, I had tried unsuccessfully to give an accurate picture of what the submariner's lifestyle at sea is like to my friends and family. It is so different that few civilians can relate. In "Spy Sub", the author has masterfully brought to life the day-to-day routine of submariners during the cold war. Many reviewers here have commented on the lack of technical detail on the specific mission of the 'Viperfish' (aka 'Halibut'), but they have missed the purpose of the book. Dolphin wearer's currently defending us in the world's oceans will appreciate Dunham's sensitivity to the need for ongoing secrecy on highly classified missions. Don't read this book for that type of classified information, but rather for what I can attest to is a true understanding of the submariner's life at sea. Read Clancy if you want a great made-up thriller with a cool story line. Read Dunham if you want an insider's view of real life during the cold war for a tiny, but highly specialized, highly successful, and vital segment of our national defense.