All Hands Down
The True Story of the Soviet Attack on the USS Scorpion
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4.3 • 25 Ratings
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- $15.99
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
A Cold War disaster that took ninety-nine lives, and was denied for forty years—what really happened to the USS Scorpion?
May 1968: An American submarine is sent to investigate suspicious Soviet ships gathered in the mid-Atlantic. No one aboard the USS Scorpion was aware of the trap they rode into—that the Soviets planned revenge for the mysterious sinking of a Russian sub two months before…or that a traitor has been supplying the KGB with the US Navy’s top-secret codes.
In this thrilling story that portray the human side of a naval tragedy that was officially denied for forty years, veteran submariner and bestselling author Kenneth Sewell chronicles the astounding true events behind the demise of the USS Scorpion.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Controversy has steadily shadowed the 1968 sinking of the U.S. nuclear submarine Scorpion. The navy's official version of accidental sinking on a routine mission was challenged by allegations that the Scorpion was in fact torpedoed while shadowing a Soviet task force. Further rumors indict the spy John Walker for providing confidential codes to the Soviets, enabling them to track the submarine. Yet another account purports that the Soviets destroyed the Scorpion in retaliation for the sinking of one of their own subs. The two navies eventually called a truce rather than risk further disrupting relations. Sewell, a submarine veteran, and Preisler, a writer of techno-thrillers, add little new evidence in their version of the story; their new data is unfailingly familiar and they never succeed in making a persuasive case for the conspiracy and cover-up they claim occurred. Instead, Sewell and Preisler devote more time to anecdotes about the Scorpion's crew and their families and little vignettes of the routines on board a nuclear sub. What is undeniably useful is the book's demonstration of the high numbers of accidents between ships and aircrafts that were accepted as routine during much of the Cold War. All Hands Down highlights a truth no less relevant today: international incidents are in good part constructions mutually agreed upon after the event.
Customer Reviews
Fantastic!!!
Fantastic!!
A factual account of a true historical event
The U.S. government will never reveal the truth about the loss of the USS Scorpion. This book tells the true story of what happened when the Soviet Union decided to exact revenge for the loss of one of their submarines in the Pacific Ocean, northwest of Hawaii.
Chilling story, one that should never be forgotten.
All Hands Down
While Red Star Rogue remains Sewell's best work, All Hands Down does justice to the ongoing competition of theories concerning the loss of the Scorpion. The book rises above the existing works that focus on inconsequential tidbits (battery explosions or the hot run torpedo factions) and explains the bigger Cold War dynamics that lead to the attack on the Scorpion. Sewell's sources from both sides of the conflict align perfectly to finally explain the real story of Scorpion's tragic loss in '68. I hope to find that All Hands Down helps to ease some of the lingering grief endured by the 99 families of Scorpion's crew.