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Rising Tide: The Untold Story of the Russian Submarines That Fought the Cold War

Average customer rating:

In Defense of a Decision
An impressive effort but...
Silent Reds
Interesting, inaccurate, can't spell
Flawed facts mar good story

Rising Tide: The Untold Story of the Russian Submarines That Fought the Cold War
Gary E. Weir , and Walter J. Boyne
Manufacturer: Basic Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0465091121
Release Date: 2003-10-14

Book Description

The epic, courageous, and disastrous untold stories of the submarine war between the U.S. and the Soviets, through the eyes of the Russian admirals who commanded the submarine fleet.

For devotees of submarine espionage such as Blind Man's Bluff, Rising Tide tells the Soviet/ Russian side of the most secretive operations of the Cold War. For the first time, seven Russian admirals with decades of experience on submarines or commanding fleets give us the inside stories as told to leading naval historian Dr. Gary Weir. They detail the undersea successes, such as the surveillance of U.S. submarines leaving Puget Sound, and the innovative techniques Russia developed to trail the U.S. Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean. They reveal the development of the first nuclear submarines, and the internecine battles among Soviet bureaucrats that led to the deaths of many Russian sailors. And they give firsthand accounts of deadly events, such as the sinking of the K-219 off Bermuda and the collision of the U.S.S. Tautog and the Soviet K-108, including unpublished photos of the incident's aftermath. Rising Tide also reveals the many catastrophes and the occasional heroic rescues in the Soviet submarine fleet, and answers many questions surrounding the sensational loss of the Kursk in August 2000.

Covering submarines from the first advanced diesel subs in the 1950s to the Kursk in 2000, with the authority only senior naval officials can deliver, Rising Tide is the complete story of the Soviet side of the gripping, secret life of the submariners in the Cold War.

Rising Tide tells the story of one of the most important technological contests in human history, and does so in a gripping, exciting narrative.

Customer Reviews:

In Defense of a Decision.......2007-03-25

Rummaging through the reviews, I see many criticisms that basically say the Russian first-person testimony should be diluted with a flood of other (mostly American) opinions to "round it out".

I would, however, argue that it was a good decision. For one thing, the book is very short and as other critics have mentioned, there wasn't enough space for everything as it is. He can only concentrate on something, and in this case he decided to go for what the front-line Captains had to say.

Another factor is that the testimony could not afford to be further double-crossed. The book's primary targets are people who have been indoctrinated by Tom Clancy (whose reach is worldwide) and American submariner community into believing American sub invulnerability. If he allows the undercut, he might as well not write the book because 99% of the readership will just believe the American version.

A very good example of why NOT undercut is in Nathan Alexander's review. This is how most of the readership was probably indoctrinated. No need to increase the indoctrination depth further, methinks.

Objectively, are the Americans the best sources? The book reveals (in the few undercuts it allowed in the endnotes) that Soviet Captains make computations assuming that American sonar is at LEAST equal to theirs, while American captains go from the assumption they have a vast superiority. The latter assumption will likely lead to a large number of false negatives in guessing whether the Soviets counterdetected them - interpretations which will be enshrined in reports (and later books) and become "fact", which enhance this assumption...cycle repeats. This whole problem is so severe even Tom Clancy decided to write about it obliquely in the Sum of All Fears (see my review of that too).

As for the spelling mistakes, must say they don't bother me much.

An impressive effort but..........2007-02-02

I really wanted to give this 3.5 stars but because I can't I've gone for four stars as anyone with an interest in submarines and/or the Cold War really should read this book. Based around the potted memoirs of several Russian submarine officers, the authors offer an alternative view to books such as the excellent Blind Man's Bluff. Considering what the Russian, sorry, Soviet submariners had to deal with in terms of politics within and beyond the Navy, shoddy, passing-the-buck workmanship (in constructing and repairing the boats) and a general technological lag behind their Western counterparts, what they achieved needs to be more widely known. This book goes some way toward doing this.

However, I have to admit that I did find myself questioning some of the claims made by the submariners. There was no major argument against their claims and they were largely taken as gospel. Fair enough, I suppose, considering this is a book revealing the Cold War exploits of the "evil empire". A major criticism I did have was that Appendix 2, detailing specifications of various Soviet and US submarines, neglected to list three of the classes that featured heavily throughout the book - the Soviet "Alfa" class and US "Los Angeles" and "Sturgeon" classes. I found these omissions surprising considering the types' role in the Cold War battles under the sea. Small potatoes really as these specifications can be readily found elsewhere. It just seemed odd not to see them there!

Appendix 1, however, is an excellent potted history of the Russian/Soviet Navy. So, although there's a few things that might get the reader thinking "Hang on, what about...", this book goes some of the way to filling the hole in learning about what the other side did during the Cold War. Brave men one and all those who sail beneath the ocean.

Silent Reds.......2006-02-21

Very good book giving the side of the Soviet "Silent Service" during the cold war. Obviously edited to some extent, but not so bad that you can't fill in the blanks if you have a cold war submarine background. Very interesting points of view on what the Red Sub's were trying to do to us as we were doing to them.

Interesting, inaccurate, can't spell.......2006-02-12

Interesting. Obviously the author became good friends with some Russian submariners, and of course, that is the inside story. So, for that reason, especially if you find it on the $3.33/copy bargain shelf (as I did), do buy it. There will probably never be another book published in the West, based on such interviews.
Inaccurate. Opinions of former Soviet submariners, no matter how "nice" or enthusiastic they are, should not be taken as a fact, especially when numerous other sources contradict them. So, as a source of "oral history", it is a great book ... but should be taken with a grain of salt. Other reviewers before me went into the details...
Can't spell... The mis-spellings are there on almost every page, whether related to a place name, a submarine type, or an acronym. Just a small example, so I don't waste the reader's time by the hundreds of errors: The so-called GIUK Gap is an important place in the history of Cold War submarine operations (and even today0. It refers to the Greenland-Iceland-United Kingdom gap (two relatively narrow sea passages), well guarded by Western anti-submarine forces. The abbreviation, as "GIUK" makes geographic sense, but "GUIK" does not. Yet, the authors have both on the same page, referring to the same place. Many of the mis-spellings may be low-cost type setting errors, but even so...some are definitely not.
Recommendation: buy it if you can find it on the bargain rack...

Flawed facts mar good story.......2006-02-04

The concept was great. The execution leaves a little to be desired. It is obvious that Mr. Weir is an apologists for the Soviet Navy and tends to view much of what the submarine force did as nothing short of god-like, while the American effort was lacking and far behind the Soviets. Mr. Weir's pronouncement that Soviet subs habitually tracked American Ohio Class SSBNs is so ludicrious that it is beyond flawed research. The Ohio class SSBN has never been successfully tracked by an foreign submarine force and probably never will be. Mr. Weir also states that Soviet ICBMs were more accurate that the American versions is also absurd. Data released after the Cold War ended, as well as data collected during tests of the Soviet missles conclusively proves that the Soviet missiles were very inaccurate as well as had the annoying tendency to explode when fueled prior to launch. It seems that Mr. Weir was far more gullible when it came to what the Soviet submarine commanders had to tell him. I guess he didn't bother to check his facts, assuming that the Soviets would never exaggerate. It's too bad, really. The stories told in the book concerning the more personal aspects of the numerous mishaps of Soviet nuclear boats and the drive to produce a vital, powerful submarine force is well worth reading. Just don't beliece everything you read.

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