From the very beginning the U.S. Navy played a central role in what turned out to be a forty-five-year confrontation between East and West known as the Cold War. The Navy was a key player in the Cold War because of its ability to project U.S. presence and power to the far corners of the globe. This detailed new reference work provides for the first time a useful chronological outline of Cold War developments and events as they relate to U.S. and Soviet naval forces and their allies.
 The book covers naval presence and combat operations from Korea, the Suez campaign, and the Vietnam War to the Iran-Iraq conflict, the Falklands War, and the Gulf War. Smaller-scale confrontations also are included. Naval technological and personnel developments are recorded, such as the unveiling of new ship types, advances in missile technology, introduction of new aircraft, and changes in naval leadership. Context is guaranteed by the inclusion of major Cold War events whether related to the sea or not, but the main emphasis is to show how the Cold War evolved in the maritime environment. Readers will find information about the Cuban missile crisis, the massive Soviet naval expansion, the largest peacetime U.S. naval buildup in history during the 1980s, and hundreds of other crucial Cold War events at sea.
 A glossary defines military acronyms and terms. Appendixes list individuals who held the highest military offices in the USSR and the United States between 1945 and 1991. With new information made available through the opening of Russian archives, this book serves as a walk through history as well as an indispensable reference for all naval history buffs and students of the Cold War.

Chronology of the Cold War at Sea, 1945-1991

History

Watson, Bruce

Polmar, Norman C

Bahjat, Andrew

Wertheim, Eric M

Military

Naval_Institute_Press

This taut thriller provides the behind-the-scenes reality of the national security system at work --the CIA, the Oval Office, the Pentagon, and the National Security Council -- and is must-reading for fans of Tom Clancy and W.E.B. Griffin. 
In 1945, the U.S. submarine Tigerfish mistakenly torpedoed and sunk a Japanese merchant ship. Reportedly carrying supplies to allied POWs, the ship had been given safe passage, but was actually a cunning ruse devised by a powerful secret society to transport tons of gold out of Japan under the very eyes of the enemy. Some thirty years later, the captain of the Tigerfish is murdered in Washington. As the CIA launches its investigation into his death, a race to raise the ship and recover its treasure begins, which mounts to an international incident involving the U.S., China, the Soviet Union and Japan.

Ship of Gold: A Novel

Literature & Fiction

ALLEN, Thomas B.

United States

In early August 1974, despite incredible risks and after six years of secret preparations, the CIA attempted to salvage the sunken Soviet ballistic missile submarine K-129 from the depths of the North Pacific Ocean. The audacious effort was undertaken with the cover of an undersea mining operation sponsored by eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes. 
"Azorian"--incorrectly identified as Project Jennifer by the press--was the most ambitious ocean engineering endeavor attempted by man. Following the accidental sinking of a Soviet missile submarine in March 1968, U.S. intelligence agencies were able to determine the precise location and to develop a means of raising the submarine from a depth of 16,400 feet. The remarkable salvage effort of the K-129, which contained nuclear-armed torpedoes and one nuclear tipped missile as well as crypto equipment, was conducted with Soviet naval ships a few hundred yards from the lift ship, the Hughes Glomar Explorer. 
The book is based, in part, on the research for Michael White' documentary film Azorian: The Raising of the K-129, released in late 2009. The research for the book and the documentary forced the CIA to issue a brief report on Project Azorian in early 2010, with one-third of the document redacted.

Project Azorian: The CIA and the Raising of the K-129

WHITE,MICHAEL

Americas

This updated, 19th edition of The Naval Institute Guide to the Ships and Aircraft of the U.S. Fleet meets the high expectations and exacting standards of those who rely on this volume to stay informed and to make related policy, force level, technological and weapons decisions related to the U.S. Navy. 
Packed with comprehensive information, up-to-date photographs, line drawings, and useful appendixes, this timely volume describes the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard during a period of intensive transformation while engaged in combat operations. 
In describing the Navy's "ships and aircraft," extensive coverage is given to the new littoral combat ships (LCS), joint high-speed vessels (JHSV), Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carriers, and other new ships as well as developments in shipboard ballistic missile defense. At the same time, the convoluted path in surface combatant construction is "deciphered," while the belated decision to cancel the Marine expeditionary fighting vehicle (EFV) is explained. Also addressed in detail is the new F-35 series Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) and other aviation programs. Similarly addressed are Navy personnel, Marine Corps issues, Coast Guard forces, marine mammals, unmanned underwater and aerial vehicles, and other aspects of U.S. naval forces. 
Continuing the longstanding tradition as the most complete resource of its kind, this updated 19th edition meets the high expectations and exacting standards of those who rely on this volume to stay informed in the field.

The Naval Institute Guide to Ships and Aircraft of U.S (Naval Institute Guide to the Ships and Aircraft of the US Fleet)

Hunters and Killers is the first comprehensive history of all aspects of anti-submarine warfare (ASW) from its beginnings in the 18th century through the important role of present anti-submarine systems and operations. Published in two volumes, the work discusses anti-submarine warfare operations in World War I, World War II, the Cold War, and today. In addition to tactical and strategic narratives of major ASW campaigns, the work covers the evolution of ASW sensors, weapons, platforms, and tactics. This first volume looks at the often ignored reaction to the earliest submersible attack on British warships in 1776 to the first, primitive ASW actions of World War I. World War I saw the Germans use U-boats to devastate British shipping, nearly driving the country out of the war. Here the authors look at the development of the innovative, but rudimentary sensors and weapons that the Allies used to counter the U-boat threats in the Atlantic and Mediterranean theaters. 
Still, the U-boats were never completely defeated in the Great War, and the ensuing chapters about the two decades between the world wars narrate the development of sonar, radar, and ASW ships, as well as changing political attitudes toward undersea warfare. 
The remainder of the first volume covers the first half of World War II's Battle of the Atlantic, from September 1939 to the U-boat crisis in the spring of 1943. This section discusses the influence of intelligence, gained mainly through cryptography, on the Battle of the Atlantic. 
Polmar and Whitman have created a thorough, well-researched reference for anyone interested in the development of ASW.

Hunters and Killers: Volume 1: Anti-Submarine Warfare from 1776 to 1943

Whitman, Estate of Edward C.

Hunters and Killers is a comprehensive two-volume history of all aspects of Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW), covering its beginnings in the late 18th Century through the important role of present anti-submarine systems and operations. The first volume discusses ASW operations up to World War II, ending in early 1943, and this second volume continues from 1943 to the present. In addition to tactical and strategic narratives of major ASW campaigns, this work covers the evolution of ASW sensors, weapons, platforms, and tactics. The second volume of Hunters and Killers begins at the turning point of the Battle of the Atlantic, when Allied efforts forced the U-boats to withdraw from the North Atlantic. With cryptologic breakthroughs, growing numbers of escort and long-range patrol aircraft, and new weapons, the Allied anti-submarine advantage mounted quickly. In the Pacific theater, Polmar and Whitman consider the often-overlooked ASW advances that the Japanese made during World War II. 
Turning to the Cold War, the authors examine the ASW developments this confrontation inspired in both the West and the Soviet Union. Both the West and the Soviet Union developed submarines armed with nuclear weapons, and each created techniques to counter the intensified submarine threats. Polmar and Whitman discuss the extensive anti-submarine aspects of the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Falklands Conflict, and consider ASW developments into the early 21st Century. 
The second volume of Hunters and Killers completes the most in-depth history of ASW ever published. Written by two of the most knowledgeable scholars on the subject, it is a must own for anyone interested in naval history.

Hunters and Killers: Volume 2: Anti-Submarine Warfare from 1943

Admiral of the Fleet of the Soviet Union Sergei G. Gorshkov was the product of a tradition unlike those of his Western contemporaries. He had a unique background of revolution, civil war, world wars, and the forceful implementation of an all-controlling communist dictatorship. Out of this background of violence and overwhelming transformation came a man with a clear understanding of the value of navies, but with his own unique ideas about the kind of navy that the Soviet Union required, and the role that navy should play in Soviet military and national strategy. Western naval observers have often attempted to define Admiral Gorshkov in Western naval terms. Many of these observers have been baffled when they find that the man and his actions simply did not fit conventional narratives. This book lays out the tradition, background, experiences, and thinking of the man as they relate to the development of the Soviet Navy that Gorshkov commanded for almost three decades and that was able to directly challenge the maritime dominance of the United States--a traditional sea power. His influence persists to this day, as the Russian Navy that is at sea in the twenty-first century is, to a significant degree, based on the fleet that Admiral Gorshkov built.

Admiral Gorshkov: The Man Who Challenged the U.S. Navy (Blue & Gold)

Biographies & Memoirs

Brooks, Thomas A.

Historical

The cruise missile--also referred to as a guided missile--is a widely employed tactical and strategic weapon, capable of striking ground or ship targets with conventional or nuclear warheads. Before the development of ballistic missiles for attacking an enemy's territory, the U.S. and Soviet strategic arsenals had land-attack cruise missiles to deliver nuclear warheads. Subsequently, the U.S. and Soviet Navies, as well as other fleets, developed tactical anti-ship and anti-submarine cruise missiles. Strike from the Sea addresses the U.S. Navy's Regulus missile program--the world's first submarine weapon for attacking an enemy homeland with a nuclear warhead--and the similar Soviet Navy's cruise missile efforts. Prior to Regulus a few of the world's submarines had deck guns that were employed for assaulting coastal targets; indeed, the British built a class of "submarine monitors" with large-caliber guns for attacking coastal targets. The U.S. Navy's rapid and successful development of the Polaris Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM) and budgetary constraints caused the cancellation of advanced submarine-launched cruise missiles--the Regulus II as well as the follow-on Rigel and Triton. Submarines armed with the Regulus I missile continued on patrols in the North Pacific until mid-1964, when they were replaced on the "deterrent" role by Polaris missile submarines. The Soviet Navy continued the development and deployment of anti-ship cruise missiles, which retained some land-attack capabilities.

Strike from the Sea: The Development and Deployment of Strategic Cruise Missiles since 1934

O'Connell, John

"We were certainly pioneers as the Trieste was one of only two such vehicles in the world--the French Navy's bathyscaphe FNRS-3 was the other. It meant that we had to 'write the book' about deep submergence operations in terms of technique and technologies. We learned by doing and by failures, although very few of the latter were serious. For example, if we needed a piece of equipment we would have to design it and make it. There were no commercial vendors who catered to deep submergence technology requirements. The market was far too small." --From the foreword by Capt. Don Walsh, USN (Ret.), PhD, U.S. Navy Submersible Pilot No. 1 Developed by French physicist Auguste Piccard and his son Jacques, the bathyscaph Trieste was a scientific marvel that allowed unprecedented scientific, technical, and military feats in the ocean depths. France and the United States both acquired and subsequently developed variants of the original bathyscaph. While both France and the United States employed the bathyscaph as a tool for scientific investigation of the deepest ocean depths, the U.S. Navy developed and employed the Trieste for military missions as well. From its earliest years, participants in the Trieste program realized that they were making history, blazing a trail into previously unexplored and unexploited depths, developing new capabilities and opening a new frontier. Comparisons with developments in space and the space-race between the United States and the Soviet Union often were made concerning the Trieste program and contemporary developments in undersea technologies and capabilities. The Trieste opened the entire oceans to exploration, exploitation, and operations. The bathyscaph was a first-generation system, a "Model-T" that spawned an entirely new industry and encouraged new concepts for deep-ocean naval operations. Advances in deep-sea technologies lacked the "gee-whiz" factor of the concurrent space race, but were highly significant in the development of new technology, new knowledge, and new military capabilities. Opening the Great Depths is the story of the three Trieste deep-ocean vehicles, their officers and enlisted men, and the civilians, often told in their own words, documenting for the first time the earliest years of humanity's probing into Earth's final frontier.

Opening the Great Depths: The Bathyscaph Trieste and Pioneers of Undersea Exploration

Mathers, Lee J.

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Books by Polmar, Norman C