October Fury - Hardcover

by Peter A. Huchthausen (Author)

Huchthausen knows the hidden history of the Cuban missile crisis . . . October Fury contains startling revelations.
-- TOM CLANCY

Front Jacket

Not even the president knew the real danger. When U.S. spy planes revealed the presence of Soviet missiles in Cuba in 1962, President

John F. Kennedy responded with a naval "quarantine" to send a clear signal to Khrushchev. The Cuban missile crisis had begun. In a tense encounter, U.S. Navy ships and aircraft intercepted a group of Soviet submarines in the midst of the blockade ringing Cuba. The encounters that followed proved far more perilous than the participants knew at the time. One wrong move could have made them the first casualties in an all-out nuclear war.

In October Fury, a U.S. Navy officer who served on one of the ships involved reveals the startling truth behind the single most harrowing moment of the Cold War: Each of the four Soviet submarines was armed with a nuclear-tipped torpedo-and their commanders had authority to fire these weapons.

Drawing on his own experiences as well as the personal accounts and observations of U.S. and Soviet officers and sailors, Peter Huchthausen transports you to the deadly center of this showdown at sea. In a vividly detailed narrative worthy of Tom Clancy, Huchthausen takes you on board the U.S. destroyers and Soviet submarines, re-creating the all-too-real events that brought the two superpowers to the very brink of mutual annihilation.

You'll meet all of the key players in the face-off, including Commander Edward G. Kelley, the crusty but extremely capable commanding officer of the USS Blandy, and Nikolai Shumkov, the muscular captain of the Soviet submarine B-130 who opposed Kelley in a nerve-racking round of hide-and-seek. You'll also meet the sinister officer who came aboard Shumkov's vessel to take personal charge of the "special weapon" that had been loaded on board and who actually slept in a bunk suspended above the odd-looking torpedo with the purple nose.

Bristling with action, fraught with suspense, and filled with fascinating details on the technology and tactics of antisubmarine warfare, October Fury also features sensational photos of Soviet submarines never before seen in the West. Thrilling, unsettling, and ultimately inspiring, this extraordinary expose tells an unforgettable story of skill, heroism, and dedication to duty.

Back Jacket

Huchthausen knows the hidden history of the Cuban missile crisis . . . October Fury contains startling revelations.
-- TOM CLANCY

Drama on the high seas as the world holds its breath

It was the most spectacular display of brinkmanship in the Cold War era. In October 1962, President Kennedy risked inciting a nuclear war to prevent the Soviet Union from establishing missile bases in Cuba. The risk, however, was far greater than Kennedy realized.

October Fury uncovers startling new information about the Cuban missile crisis and the potentially calamitous confrontation between U.S. Navy destroyers and Soviet submarines in the Atlantic. Peter Huchthausen, who served as a junior ensign aboard one of the destroyers, reveals that a single shot fired by any U.S. warship could have led to an immediate nuclear response from the Soviet submarines.

This riveting account re-creates those desperate days of confrontation from both the American and Russian points of view and discloses detailed information about Soviet operational plans and the secret orders given to submarine commanders. It provides an engrossing, behind-the-scenes look at the technical and tactical functions of two great navies along with stunning portraits of the officers and sailors on both sides who were determined to do their duty even in the most extreme circumstances.

As absorbing and detailed as a Tom Clancy novel, this real-life suspense thriller is destined to become a classic of naval literature.

Author Biography

CAPTAIN PETER A. HUCHTHAUSEN, U.S. Navy (Retired), served as Electronics Materials Officer and a watch officer aboard the USS Blandy when it took part in the blockade of Cuba in 1962, mere months after his graduation from the U.S. Naval Academy. In a distinguished career, Captain Huchthausen served as a Soviet naval analyst and as a naval attache in Yugoslavia, Romania, and Moscow, where he met Russian submariners who had been involved in the Cuban encounter at sea. He is now a consultant and writer living in Maine.