Kenneth Sewell > Quotes

“The center of the search was located in the North Pacific, the first location where K-129 had missed its position report—latitude 40° N by longitude 180°, on the International Date Line. This location, which was approximately seventeen hundred miles northwest of Pearl Harbor, came to be known as K-Point. It would be a site of major confusion and disinformation in the K-129 incident for years to come.”
― Kenneth Sewell, Red Star Rogue: The Untold Story of a Soviet Submarine's Nuclear Strike Attempt on the U.S.

“The Pacific SOSUS system had been equipped with a modification that allowed it to filter out “nonsubmarine” noises, and conventional explosions at sea were not among the normal sounds made by submarines. In fact, the Pacific was a very noisy place, and the sounds of conventional explosions—legal and illegal—were quite common. Thus, this event went undetected at the time it happened. The Navy’s hydroacoustical equipment could not identify the source of the noise as a malfunction in a nuclear missile launch. There certainly was no way, with the limited amount of information the SOSUS provided, to tell that, only seconds before, a one-megaton warhead had been electronically targeted to launch.”
― Kenneth Sewell, Red Star Rogue: The Untold Story of a Soviet Submarine's Nuclear Strike Attempt on the U.S.

“The missing crew manifest is evidence that a major and well-designed plot involving this submarine was underway. Communist bureaucrats were efficient to a fault when it came to keeping lists of names. Even if technical equipment and other systems were prone to break down, certain procedures did not. Soviet submarine commanders were particularly careful about filing this document before sailing. Thus, no other conclusion can be drawn than that someone with extraordinary power had deliberately circumvented important personnel procedures that were sacrosanct to the Soviet submarine service.”
― Kenneth Sewell, Red Star Rogue: The Untold Story of a Soviet Submarine's Nuclear Strike Attempt on the U.S.

“The absence of regular radio contacts indicated operations on the submarine were not normal; otherwise, the routine radio reports at designated points in the journey would have been sent. Investigators at both Soviet fleet headquarters and Pearl Harbor could therefore determine a starting point of trouble, based on the first missed communication when the submarine crossed the 180th meridian.”
― Kenneth Sewell, Red Star Rogue: The Untold Story of a Soviet Submarine's Nuclear Strike Attempt on the U.S.

“Thus, the launch crew must have had some confidence that it already possessed the proper disarming codes to override the fail-safe device. Unlocking the fail-safe mechanism was an essential first step for a missile launch. If the perfect balance required to trigger a nuclear warhead were interrupted by a partial detonation anywhere around the outer sphere, the force would blow outward. Within a millisecond, the plastic explosives would ignite, spreading out from the original point of detonation to create a directional blast that would destroy the warhead. Apparently, this is what happened on board K-129.”
― Kenneth Sewell, Red Star Rogue: The Untold Story of a Soviet Submarine's Nuclear Strike Attempt on the U.S.

“While there has been no official confirmation that a spy satellite was used in locating K-129, there have been a number of clues in recent publications that a final location was determined by the glow on a satellite photograph. Satellite imagery, along with SOSUS data, and the site of the oil slick discovered by the University of Hawaii research vessel Teritu, provided Dr. Craven’s team with enough information to make an educated estimate about the location of the Soviet submarine when it started its death journey to the bottom of the sea.”
― Kenneth Sewell, Red Star Rogue: The Untold Story of a Soviet Submarine's Nuclear Strike Attempt on the U.S.

“So if there was no military intelligence value to the project that could not have been gained cheaper and faster by picking the wreck apart with existing technology, and the most important foreign affairs official in the Nixon team did not support it for geopolitical reasons, what esoteric purpose would raising the K-129 serve?”
― Kenneth Sewell, Red Star Rogue: The Untold Story of a Soviet Submarine's Nuclear Strike Attempt on the U.S.

“Witnesses to the preparations for sailing recalled that the regular K-129 crewmen had another complaint about these extra sailors—beyond the fact that they would consume precious resources. From the time they boarded, the unneeded newcomers kept to themselves and were oddly uncommunicative with the rest of the crew. Their aloofness was considered strange for submariners, normally known for their open embrace of other crew members who would be sharing their rations, cramped space, and often perilous life aboard a Soviet sub. On the other hand, their interaction with each other suggested there was a bond among them, an established order of command that transcended their official rank and duties.”
― Kenneth Sewell, Red Star Rogue: The Untold Story of a Soviet Submarine's Nuclear Strike Attempt on the U.S.

“The best way to keep the awful facts buried was to opt for scenarios from the probability analysis that were less dramatic. Thus was born what was to become a massive disinformation campaign by the major agencies of the U.S. government’s intelligence community.”
― Kenneth Sewell, Red Star Rogue: The Untold Story of a Soviet Submarine's Nuclear Strike Attempt on the U.S.

“Under the regular protocol, had an actual preemptive or retaliatory strike been ordered, the supreme Soviet military command would have radioed the codes necessary to disengage the safety system before initiating the launch sequence. Later PAL systems used on American nuclear weapons were designed to lock up the electronic arming system of the warhead, thus freezing the mechanism and rendering the weapon useless.”
― Kenneth Sewell, Red Star Rogue: The Untold Story of a Soviet Submarine's Nuclear Strike Attempt on the U.S.

“Had the conning tower of a submerged submarine come in forceful contact with the hull of a Soviet Golf-type submarine, both boats would have suffered severe damage. When 12.5 million pounds of steel—the approximate combined weight of the two submerged submarines—crashed together in the high-pressure environment of the sea, the damage would have been catastrophic to both boats.”
― Kenneth Sewell, Red Star Rogue: The Untold Story of a Soviet Submarine's Nuclear Strike Attempt on the U.S.

“The next critical step in the launch procedure required close coordination among the three ranking members of the submarine crew—the submarine commander, the deputy commander, and the zampolit. This step was to be taken only after each of these officers independently verified that the General Staff transmission was authentic and produced an individual key to the launch console. On that night, this carefully designed procedure was not followed. But how could this have occurred when the stakes were so high? Had the first captain and second captain been overpowered, or were they obeying forged orders? Could lower-level regular officers assigned to the boat have been induced to participate in some mad scheme?”
― Kenneth Sewell, Red Star Rogue: The Untold Story of a Soviet Submarine's Nuclear Strike Attempt on the U.S.

“Captain Kobzar, who had every reason to expect a leisurely refitting of the K-129, was also surprised by the abruptness of the orders. The order to embark on a new mission six months before schedule was completely out of keeping with the Soviet navy’s deployment routine for the missile boats. The sub had been in port only six weeks. What new mission could be so urgent that the normal home port call had to be drastically curtailed? Could replacements be found for the key crew members spread throughout Mother Russia on leave—most of them thousands of miles and many days’ travel away? Even if the furloughed crewmen could be contacted, most would never have time to arrange travel and return for sailing on such short notice.”
― Kenneth Sewell, Red Star Rogue: The Untold Story of a Soviet Submarine's Nuclear Strike Attempt on the U.S.

“When the true location of the sinking is linked to the real cause of the K-129’s destruction, there can be little doubt about what happened. A rogue submarine from the Soviet Union attempted an attack against the United States on March 7, 1968. Instead of succeeding, the submarine blew up in the process.”
― Kenneth Sewell, Red Star Rogue: The Untold Story of a Soviet Submarine's Nuclear Strike Attempt on the U.S.

“Both GRU spetsnaz and KBG osnaz teams disguised themselves as enlisted men and mingled on special assignments with regular military units, including submariners. The special operations units were broken into teams of eight to ten men with an officer, warrant officer, or senior petty officer in charge. This unit description corresponds to the odd group of sailors who boarded K-129 at the last minute. That group numbered ten men and a leader wearing the insignia of a senior petty officer. It was later reported that, while a number of crew replacements came from other submarines in the Kamchatka Flotilla, the origin of this last group of eleven men has never been determined—or at least never been reported by Russians authorities writing about the K-129 incident.”
― Kenneth Sewell, Red Star Rogue: The Untold Story of a Soviet Submarine's Nuclear Strike Attempt on the U.S.

“At first, the image did not raise concerns at NORAD, because the fireballs had quickly disappeared without the follow-on trail of a missile in flight. U.S. Navy intelligence had already concluded that the Soviets had lost a submarine, because of the massive sea search. After the satellite images provided by NORAD revealed a more specific location for the accident, the American intelligence operators realized that the Soviet search was centered hundred of miles from the actual site.”
― Kenneth Sewell, Red Star Rogue: The Untold Story of a Soviet Submarine's Nuclear Strike Attempt on the U.S.

“One thing is clear, however. In the tightly controlled hierarchy of Soviet ballistic submarine forces, no deviation from standard procedures happened in a vacuum. A missile submarine would never have been assigned an extended mission except by very high authority. The orders that arrived at Rybachiy Naval Base to dispatch the submarine under such unusual circumstances could only have originated in Moscow. The inexplicable order to rush K-129 back to sea was only one of several mysterious events that occurred before the boat’s departure. The order to sail early was so odious that some of the sub’s officers and sailors risked stern disciplinary action to make their opinions known. In the Soviet navy, with political officers throughout the ranks, there was usually far less open complaining than in most of the world’s military establishments.”
― Kenneth Sewell, Red Star Rogue: The Untold Story of a Soviet Submarine's Nuclear Strike Attempt on the U.S.

“The fact that K-129 sank several hundred miles closer to Hawaii than the regular Soviet patrol area was considered especially significant and bolstered the case that the boat was operating in an aggressive mode. The submarine was approximately 350 miles northwest of Hawaii, much closer than it needed to be for its missiles to reach Pearl Harbor. The U.S. Navy knew the Golf II’s missile range was between 700 and 800 miles.”
― Kenneth Sewell, Red Star Rogue: The Untold Story of a Soviet Submarine's Nuclear Strike Attempt on the U.S.

“submarine surfaced and sank at an exact intersection of longitude and latitude, which would indicate that it was necessary to be at such a precise position for a programmed launch to home in on a target. The U.S. Navy had limited information of Soviet computer technology, but at the time, analysts believed that K-129 would have to travel to an exact, predetermined location to launch its missiles. In all the vast ocean, the likelihood that a submarine would arrive and sink at an exact intersection of longitude and latitude by chance alone was slim to none.”
― Kenneth Sewell, Red Star Rogue: The Untold Story of a Soviet Submarine's Nuclear Strike Attempt on the U.S.

“The sudden order for K-129 to undertake this new mission was apparently as much a surprise to the commanders at headquarters in Vladivostok as it was to the submarine’s officers. Later, no one seemed to know why the K-129 had been dispatched on such short notice.”
― Kenneth Sewell, Red Star Rogue: The Untold Story of a Soviet Submarine's Nuclear Strike Attempt on the U.S.

“The Soviets, whether because of less-advanced technical expertise or a darker paranoia, most likely installed devices that detected any attempt to hot-wire around the PAL system. Such a device would trigger a small explosion, which would permanently damage the weapon itself. Unless properly disarmed, the PAL-type system quite simply would cause a nonnuclear explosion to destroy the warhead before the missile was launched. Certainly this added safeguard was not meant to be powerful enough to destroy the aircraft or submarine carrying the weapons. But Soviet technology, particularly electronics, was notoriously flawed, and the device designed to disable the weapons could have ended up destroying both the weapon and its carrier.”
― Kenneth Sewell, Red Star Rogue: The Untold Story of a Soviet Submarine's Nuclear Strike Attempt on the U.S.

“An antenna was raised to receive radio-navigational signals. The submarine’s destination had been carefully chosen. It was located along the most direct route from a Chinese navy base to Pearl Harbor and deliberately positioned at a precise intersection of longitude and latitude.”
― Kenneth Sewell, Red Star Rogue: The Untold Story of a Soviet Submarine's Nuclear Strike Attempt on the U.S.

“More startling was the fact that the search area was centered hundreds of miles from where the American intelligence placed the explosion. This suggested the Soviets had no idea where their lost submarine was or had been.”
― Kenneth Sewell, Red Star Rogue: The Untold Story of a Soviet Submarine's Nuclear Strike Attempt on the U.S.

“On or about March 21 the Soviets launched a huge flotilla to search for their lost boat. Submarines were sent from the northern bases, and surface vessels and naval aircraft were dispatched from Vladivostok. Sailors of the American attack submarine USS Barb, patrolling off Vladivostok, were startled when this armada of warships and submarines suddenly streamed from Soviet ports with their radios broadcasting in the clear.”
― Kenneth Sewell, Red Star Rogue: The Untold Story of a Soviet Submarine's Nuclear Strike Attempt on the U.S.

“With manpower shortages always plaguing the navy, K-129’s commander and first officer were undoubtedly pleased that a replacement crew was found so quickly. Fourteen replacements were ordered aboard the K-129 to fill the jobs of the regular crewmen on furlough. This brought the roster to eighty-seven, which was four more than the normal complement.”
― Kenneth Sewell, Red Star Rogue: The Untold Story of a Soviet Submarine's Nuclear Strike Attempt on the U.S.

“What finally grabbed the attention of the Soviet intelligence agents about the Swordfish report was the timing: The American submarine had entered port only a few days after K-129 went missing. Soviet naval intelligence quickly seized on this tidbit to make the erroneous assumption that the Americans were complicit in the loss of their submarine. This fallacious interpretation of human intelligence became one of the enduring myths of the K-129 incident and may have led to a horrific act by the Soviet navy—the revenge sinking of an American submarine two months later, in another part of the world.”
― Kenneth Sewell, Red Star Rogue: The Untold Story of a Soviet Submarine's Nuclear Strike Attempt on the U.S.

“At first, the secrecy surrounding the sinking of the Soviet submarine was strictly in response to the practical need for maintaining national security at the height of the Cold War. The Americans did not want the Soviets to know how advanced their satellite and deep-ocean surveillance capabilities had become. And the U.S. Navy did not want to reveal that spy subs such as the Halibut even existed.”
― Kenneth Sewell, Red Star Rogue: The Untold Story of a Soviet Submarine's Nuclear Strike Attempt on the U.S.

“On the count of zero, the forty-two-foot-long missile with a one-megaton nuclear warhead should have stirred awake. The men in the control center had braced for the huge jolt of compressed air they expected would hurl the missile out of its tube before its liquid fuel ignited for a short, powerful run to the target. The target was easily within range of the Serb-type missile ready in tube number one.”
― Kenneth Sewell, Red Star Rogue: The Untold Story of a Soviet Submarine's Nuclear Strike Attempt on the U.S.

“The first surveillance system K-129 encountered was called SOSUS by the Americans, an acronym for Sound Surveillance System. This system was a vast array of passive hydroacoustical listening devices called hydrophones, placed strategically around the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It consisted of cable-connected, underwater phones planted along the bottom of the oceans to collect sounds generated from any source. These sounds were transmitted to shore stations where they were recorded in lines on continuous rolls of graph paper. Acoustic experts were able to read these sound patterns to distinguish between natural ocean sounds, ships, and submarines. The hydrophones were so sensitive that even aircraft noise from planes flying above the ocean and the sound of falling rain could be monitored.”
― Kenneth Sewell, Red Star Rogue: The Untold Story of a Soviet Submarine's Nuclear Strike Attempt on the U.S.

“They knew the Americans listened to their radio transmissions, but did not know the Americans were able to pinpoint the exact location of their submarines every time they communicated with headquarters.”
― Kenneth Sewell, Red Star Rogue: The Untold Story of a Soviet Submarine's Nuclear Strike Attempt on the U.S.