Red November: Inside the Secret U.S.-Soviet Submarine War

by W. Craig Reed

“Red November delivers the real life feel and fears of submariners who risked their lives to keep the peace.” —Steve Berry, author of The Paris Vendetta





W. Craig Reed, a former navy diver and fast-attack submariner, provides a riveting portrayal of the secret underwater struggle between the US and the USSR in Red November. A spellbinding  true-life adventure in the bestselling tradition of Blind Man’s Bluff, it reveals previously undisclosed details about the most dangerous, daring, and decorated missions of the Cold War, earning raves from New York Times bestselling authors David Morrell, who calls it, “palpably gripping,” and James Rollins, who says, “If Tom Clancy had turned The Hunt for Red October into a nonfiction thriller, Red November might be the result.”

Genres: History, Military Fiction, Nonfiction, Military History, Audiobook, War, Espionage

420 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 1, 2010

About the author

Born into a Navy family on the island of Guam, W. Craig Reed served as a U.S. Navy diver, submarine weapons technician, and special operations photographer deployed on nuclear fast-attack submarines. He lives in Silicon Valley, California.

Reviews

[David Rubenstein · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the story of underwater warfare during the Cold War. The author, Craig Reed, was a Navy diver and submariner. He has a set of riveting tales of the silent battle fought beneath the waves, between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R.

Most of the stories were probably classified as secret (or top secret) during the Cold War. In fact, I am amazed that some of the stories were ever declassified. The story of the pack of four Soviet diesel submarines sent to the Caribbean during the Cuban Missile Crisis is unbelievable. Each of the submarines carried a nuclear-tipped torpedo. And each of the submarines, independently and for different reasons, were within minutes of launching their nuclear torpedoes!

Reed tells stories of what it feels like, as a submariner, to be hounded by adversarial forces using ASW (Anti-Submarine Warfare) weapons. He tells some of these stories in the first person; he was a diver on board submarines performing some super-secret missions. Also Reed tells the story of how his father, an electrical engineer, developed radio interception techniques that were helpful in localizing Soviet submarines.

While the stories are spellbinding, the writing is very poor. While I am sure that the essentials of the stories are true, many of the dialogs are probably invented. And, they come off sounding stilted and amateurish. So, read this book for the incredible stories, but don't expect good literature.

[Lori Krause · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was intense to say the very least. I kept transporting myself into the movie because it was easily played out in my head. Then I again, I love submarines so you can't go wrong there. It was probably due to being raised just miles away from Kings Bay naval base Kingsland, Georgia. The narrative covers several years at sea. Between the espionage, secret missions and intensity, I felt I needed top clearance just to read the book. I even loved that it included the search for the Thresher and long missions held to seek the truth of what happened to it. It covered so much that it was four stories in one, maybe even five. All I know is if you are intrigued by historical naval warfare, you are in for a huge treat with, 'Red November.'

[Jeffrey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I won this book in a First Reads giveaway

In this alternately frustrating and captivating work, W. Crag Reed, selects some events from this history of Cold War submarine history to fill out the page count on a memoir of his and his father's lives.

First, the strengths. When Reed is not talking about his own family's history, he does a solid, if frequently formulaic job of discussing many events during the period he covers. Best of these are the stories of four Soviet Foxtrot submarine captains during the Cuban Missile Crisis, which provides a gripping and enlightening portrait of the harrowing experience through the enemy's eyes.

Sections on the Ivy Bells, tapping Soviet communications cables,were almost as good, but suffer from a case of superfluous information, repetition, and blunt foreshadowing.

The weakest portion is the author's own family memoirs. Containing too much background, tangential notes, and strained associations with greater events, these portions, told from a first person perspective, drag out interesting contributions to dominate and diminish the overall work.

I have no doubt both the author and his father served honorably, but the memoir style conflicts with the straight history told in other portions. The author is right in that an authoritative work on Cold War submarine warfare would be a welcome addition. Sadly, this is not it.

[Brian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting sea stories mixed with contrived dialogue. It felt like the author read other books about cold war submarine events then wrote historical fiction when describing events that took place between individuals. He was a submariner himself for a while but his personal stories were not that eventful. The writing is a bit too dramatic and pretentious for my tastes. Some things the author clearly did not know what he was talking about. I listened to the audio version and the narrator did not know how to pronounce common words which annoyed me. Most troubling of all was that the author justifies, at the beginning of the book, his disclosure of classified information for the sake of history. That is not OK; if anything he wrote was actually true rather than created in his own mind, then he should be in jail.

[Peter Tillman · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one sounded like my kind of book -- I served onboard a submarine tender in the Vietnam era. Unfortunately, the writing was *terrible*, and the stories (as far as I got) weren't all that interesting. Abandoned after reading maybe 1/4, and skimming another quarter. Not for me! 1.5 stars, courtesy roundup. Read the 1 and 2-star reviews before you read this one!

[Patrick Tomlinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an excellent look into the human stories behind some of the biggest events of the later half of the 20th Century. Well researched, and imminently fair to the men who fought beneath the waves for both sides of the Iron Curtain.

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book. A little slow in the beginning, but one of the better Cold War sub books non-fiction I have read. Also has great photos appendix!

[Al · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding, very informative. Got a lot of clear understanding of incidents that didn't make sense at the time they occurred but after reading this book do now. Terrific read.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall, I loved this book. However, there were a few problems I had with it. The beginning of the book talks about the author’s father and his role in a program called boresight. His father discovered a way to modify the aging HFDF(High Frequency Direction Finding) stations to detect the Soviet’s new burst transmission and find a line of bearing to the source of the signal. I actually found this part to be quite interesting, it just wasn't what I was expecting. In addition, many of the names and acronyms for people and programs got a little bit confusing at times. Overall, I thought that the book was very interesting to read. There were numerous moments of suspense in the book, and I was shocked when I remembered that they actually occurred and were not made up. I was also amazed at some of the technology that was written about in the book. There were some very creative and advanced methods used to solve some very difficult problems.
I would recommend this book, but only to a very select group of people. I would only recommend it to people who I know love military history and similar topics. At times, books like this can get boring, and having a love of history or military history can provide the drive and motivation to push through the boring parts. If someone doesn’t enjoy the subject matter, they will absolutely hate this book. In addition, having an interest in technology is very important in order to read this book. Large portions of it are devoted to project boresight and the improvement of the ability of the United States to detect Soviet submarines. Without at least a moderate interest in technology, a reader will get bored and give up, especially in the beginning of the book. However, if a reader does have an interest in both military history and technology, they will love this book. It is full of many suspenseful moments and there are places where it is very hard to put down. There is very little combat in the book, but it is a nonfiction book and there was very little submarine combat during the Cold War. The later portions of the book are mostly events and experiences that the author obtained during his time on a submarine, and I personally have always enjoyed stories like those. Overall, I thought it was a very good book, and I think quite a few people would enjoy reading it.

[Michael Burnam-Fink · Rating 4 out of 5]

Red November has the verve of a good Tom Clancy novel, but it's all true. Based on the author's experience as a submariner and navy diver, along with interviews of submarine veterans on both sides of the Cold War, Red November reveals the heroism of life under the waves, and how close we came to nuclear war.

The author's father helped develop a key technology called Boresight, which triangulated burst transmissions from Soviet submarines. During the Cuban Missile crisis, four Soviet attacks carrying nuclear torpedoes represented the biggest threat to the American quarantine. Boresight vectored anti-sub warfare groups. For tense days, the fate of the world rested in the hands of four Soviet captains and political officers: men sweltering and covered in heat-rashes, passing out from CO2 levels, frightened of their failing equipment and bombardment by 'signalling depth charges'. These men had a button which would make the Americans go away, and also precipitate an all-out war. We're here because they declined to the end the world.

Even in the submarine Cold War wasn't a shooting war, it was plenty dangerous. American captain sailed extremely aggressively, passing within a handful of meters of their Soviet counterparts to collect intelligence and be in a position to destroy enemy boomers before they could launch their missiles. This resulted in several collisions, including one between USS Drum and K-324 that the author was present for.

And of the course the crown jewel of the secret war was Operation Ivy Bells, where US submarines penetrated into the Vladivostok harbor to tap a submarine cable, at least until a disgruntled NSA employee blew the entire program.

Red November is a thrilling, slice-of-life history, of a secret war!

[Jessica (booneybear) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am still trying to work my way through this. It might take me a longer length of time to read this book than the cold war actually lasted.

Finally finished. It took me a good 6 months to work my way through this book. Not that it wasn't interesting but for some reason, I just couldn't read more than a couple of pages at each sitting. I am glad that I am not in the Navy because all the abbreviations for everything would have me so confused I would probably end up pushing a wrong button and nuking the entire planet.

[Bradley L Butler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Been in his shoes

This is a well written and researched book.
Having served on both diesel and nuclear boats during my career in the 60' and 70's, I know this guy can walk the walk and talk the talk.
One of the first and only books to tell the Truth about the sinking of the Scorpion.
Our boat was sent from Rota, Spain as soon as she missed a report in.
A crazy friggin Soviet Sub tried to ram us near the Azores and nearly cut us in half.
Thanks for a well written book on the best service in the world US Submarines!

[Rob Saunders · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exceptionally interesting "real-life thriller" about U.S. Navy and Soviet operations during the Cold War era. A good third of the book is about the Cuban Missile crisis. Highly recommended reading.

[Trevor · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was one pretty good book mashed together within three kind of boring, meandering books. Just read Blind Man's Bluff instead and let do.

[Lewis Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book read more like a biography of the authors father, than just the facts of Cold War US and Soviet submarine activities.

[Mark Walker · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a military tech thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat throughout—with real life anecdotes. Composed of material recently released from if-I-tell-you-I'll-have-to-kill-you status, these stories are as sobering as they are entertaining. Reed superbly knits interviews into coherent narratives that bring out the full humanity of all of the players. Although the mid-20th Century technology described may appear primitive and crude by today's standards, it was ahead of its time and is a testimony to the lengths adversarial nation states will go in developing their abilities to destroy one another.

The inside accounts of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis bring out through the experiences of those on the front lines how terrifyingly close the world came to nuclear annihilation—we are still just a bad decision away from it actually happening in our own time. In some respects, the addition today of advanced automation, drones, robots, cyber measures, and AI only add further factors complicating the environment for everyone, including decision makers, executing practitioners, and non-participants alike. There is much in these not-so-old stories that remain true now—as long as humans are still human.

There is more to take away from these exciting and suspense filled accounts than just the thrill of reading what is an enthralling novel written by real life events and people. Our current time needs people in all parts of society who are committed to technical excellence and also equally committed to empathy with every human being from any walk of life they come into contact with—let's be that society.

[David W. Long · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nerve wracking and sometimes horrifying read, particularly at the time of the "Cuban Missile Crises." I was not aware of all of the contingencies that our submarine fleet had to wisely deal with, and the USSR submarine fleet had to deal with, until reading this book. Had not wiser and courageous submariners on both sides reacted any differently, World War III would have erupted and this review would never be written!

I found the author's writing substance and style gripping and the many factual issues he raised corroborated by the various indices at the back of the book. In my mind, it did not come even close to "historical fiction."

I'm a Marine but never saw combat (1958 until last active duty 1962) but I am in awe of the courage of the submariners and divers depicted in this book. They reminded me of a mentor of mine, the late Hon. Jerome H. Berenson, who once told that he didn't believe in good luck.... All good luck is, said Judge Berenson, "Is opportunity meeting at the crossroad of preparation."

A sobering read and meriting more than 5-stars!

David W. Long
Judge of the Superior Court (Ret,.)

[Donald Kratt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book through a Goodreads online giveaway.

In short, this book is a collection of genuinely interesting and enlightening stories about cold war submarine history. They are assembled, in mostly chronological order, from a variety of sources which included direct interviews with participants in the various events that are outlined.

Because of the high amount of jargon (HAOJ) and military acronym overload (MAO) I found myself referencing the index often to try to recall the meaning of previously decribed equipment and programs. Therefore I would consider this more of a military-geek read, definitely not for everyone.

However, I do enjoy history from the perspective of the "man on the ground" rather than from newspaper headlines and presidential transcripts.

Some sections of the book, perhaps strung together as they were to keep chronological continuity, were thinner than other sections, including the last chapter. And the author's personal investment in some of the stories tended to lend more importance to matters experienced by him and his family.

However, in general it was an entertaining read.

[Matilda · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read Blind Man’s Bluff last year and really wanted to read something similar. This was recommended to me, but it was nothing like Blind Man’s Bluff.

This is a memoir, but with added embellishment and probably made up conversations (how did the author know verbatim what Soviet commanders and captains said during confrontations?) That being said, there are some interesting facts, but they are few and far between. Mostly this reada like historical fiction, just not very interesting historical fiction.

If historical fiction meets memoir is what you want, with some added submarines, then this is probably a book for you. If you want Cold War submarine action and actual facts, go read Blind Man’s Bluff. Trust me.

[Neil Hunt · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very personal account, by an officer who participated in several of the events. Covers several episodes of submarine based cold-war espionage, starting with the role of HFDF direction finding in the Cuban missile crisis, and moving on through cable tapping in Okhotsk Sea, and into the cat-and-mouse tailing of soviet subs by US, and vice versa, along with some of the accidents and losses. Some new speculation (provocative, although it seems a stretch) that the recovery of the K119 by the Glomar Explorer was more successful than previously reported - that perhaps the bulk of the soviet submarine was recovered, and not lost in the lift.

[Robert A Keene · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are a submarine buff, a spy guy (spook) or like me an ex submariner this book is a must read. It is the real deal starting with the first missions spying on the Russians during the Cold war in WWII diesel boats then early fast attack nukes like Seawolf. The part about the Cuban Missile Crisis is amazing that we survived. Excitement in every chapter, all the top secret missions and equipment is brought to life in this book. Craig Reed put together a great book, I'm amazed he's not in jail

[RJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not what I was expecting. I thought the novel would be tension-filled, sweat-inducing action aboard a submarine during WWII. What I got was the technology race and political war between the United States and the Soviet Union of the 60s; the Cold War. Now, some of this history is interesting, even to me, I just don’t want to listen to twelve hours of it. I’m sure it’s a fine book for those who do. I stopped after a little over two hours of it. Did I stop too soon? I don’t know.

[AD LAND · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are some very interesting cold war stories here, stories I hadn't heard before. That's the good news. The bad news is this book apparently had no editor. It is probably 100 pages too long, crammed with too much jargon, waaay too many acronyms, and unnecessary boring details that did not move the story forward. Given all the made-up dialog, I'm not sure how much is fiction vs. fact.

[Jay D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved it. All I read is History, Biographies, Memoirs and Current Affairs. This was my first dive into Submarine warfare history and I loved every page of it. I am already looking for more submariner books to read. I highly recommend this book if you love Cold War history and Naval history in general.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enlightening story of an important time!

A well written tale of s story that many Americans never knew existed. From personal experience and the stories of many others who served with in the same or similar fashion Mr. Reed uncovers the integral part the Navy's secret service played during the Cold War. Well worth the read.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an excellent book! The first third (roughly) of the book centered on the Cuban Missile Crisis. The author obviously did an amazing amount of research, but his writing read like a Tom Clancy novel. Having lived through the Cold War, I’m astounded at what went on underwater, and have a higher respect for submariners and divers.

[Pete · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting account of the Cold War from a naval perspective. The author focused a bit too much on technical aspects of burst transmissions and the Boresight/Bullseye programs while giving the K-129 and Scorpion events less attention. Enjoyed the events related to the Cuban Missile Crisis and Ivy Bell operations.

[Bobby Daugherty · Rating 3 out of 5]

An overview of some of the more interesting activity of submarine warfare during the cold war between America and the Soviet Union. The K-129 incident is covered here as well as the implication that it sank as a result of having been rammed by a U.S. ship. The USS SCORPION incident is covered as well. Some other details about cryptology and underwater photography.

[Doug · Rating 4 out of 5]

SIGINT has always been an interest of mine. This book covers a very generous part of naval SIGINT over the 50s and 60s. It also offered up so details about the Cuban Missle crisis I had no heard before. The stories it covered were a little all over the place so as a reference it isn't perfect. But it was informative.

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, but I’m not sure I picked up on the overarching argument, if there was one. It felt like a collection of stories in some places and like it was going to transition into a larger point in others, and I think it could’ve been framed/advertised as more of the former since I came into it expecting more of a directional/sequential overview of the action