What do you think?
Rate this book
Spies of the Deep: The Untold Truth About the Most Terrifying Incident in Submarine Naval History and How Putin Used The Tragedy To Ignite a New Cold War
Readers’ Favorite Bronze Medal Winner for Best Military Non-Fiction Book of the Year
Twenty years after the most terrifying submarine disaster in naval history, the untold story about why the Russians buried the truth and how Vladimir Putin used the incident to ignite a new Cold War finally comes to light.
A decade after the Cold War and just a few months after Vladimir Putin came to power, a violent explosion sent the Russian submarine Kursk to the bottom of the Barents Sea. The Russians claimed an outdated torpedo caused the incident and refused help from the West while twenty-three survivors died before they could be rescued. When Russian naval officers revealed evidence of a collision with a U.S. spy sub, Putin squelched the allegations and fired the officers. In Spies of the Deep , the New York Times bestselling author of Red November shatters the lies told by both Russian and U.S. officials and exposes several shocking truths. Included are never-before-revealed facts and firsthand accounts from deep sea rescue divers, U.S. submariners, government officials, Russian naval officers, and expert witnesses. Not to mention unveiled evidence of a secret deal between Putin and U.S. President Bill Clinton to avert a nuclear war. Discover how the Kursk propelled Putin to power and how he used its demise to muzzle oligarchs, wrest control of energy firms, rebuild Russia’s military, and dominate Arctic resources and sea routes.
Spies of the Deep explores how the Kursk incident will be remembered as a pivotal historical event that propelled the world’s superpowers into another, far more dangerous Cold War, sparked conflicts in the Arctic, and fueled a resource war that could create an economic nightmare not seen since the Great Depression. Are U.S. and NATO navies already too far behind to deal with new threats from Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran, and if so, how might that impact each of us?
Twenty years after the most terrifying submarine disaster in naval history, the untold story about why the Russians buried the truth and how Vladimir Putin used the incident to ignite a new Cold War finally comes to light.
A decade after the Cold War and just a few months after Vladimir Putin came to power, a violent explosion sent the Russian submarine Kursk to the bottom of the Barents Sea. The Russians claimed an outdated torpedo caused the incident and refused help from the West while twenty-three survivors died before they could be rescued. When Russian naval officers revealed evidence of a collision with a U.S. spy sub, Putin squelched the allegations and fired the officers. In Spies of the Deep , the New York Times bestselling author of Red November shatters the lies told by both Russian and U.S. officials and exposes several shocking truths. Included are never-before-revealed facts and firsthand accounts from deep sea rescue divers, U.S. submariners, government officials, Russian naval officers, and expert witnesses. Not to mention unveiled evidence of a secret deal between Putin and U.S. President Bill Clinton to avert a nuclear war. Discover how the Kursk propelled Putin to power and how he used its demise to muzzle oligarchs, wrest control of energy firms, rebuild Russia’s military, and dominate Arctic resources and sea routes.
Spies of the Deep explores how the Kursk incident will be remembered as a pivotal historical event that propelled the world’s superpowers into another, far more dangerous Cold War, sparked conflicts in the Arctic, and fueled a resource war that could create an economic nightmare not seen since the Great Depression. Are U.S. and NATO navies already too far behind to deal with new threats from Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran, and if so, how might that impact each of us?
- GenresNonfictionHistory
240 pages, Hardcover
Published July 14, 2020
34 people are currently reading
60 people want to read
About the author
W. Craig Reed
14 books31 followersBorn 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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
January 30, 2022
I love submarines and stories about submarines. The blurb promised to tie the Kursk disaster to the rise of Putin in Russia. What I found is a bunch of unsubstantiated claims & speculation as to why the Kursk went down. The book tries to be focused on the Kursk event, then expand the scope to be geopolitics in general. I felt it didn’t work.
First, let’s take the Kursk & the events around its demise. Two US submarines are observing the Russian Navy exercise. There is a mention of the NR-1 in addition to the 688-class boats. But then no follow up. Having the NR-1 around would be a big deal. Of the two 688 boats, one returns to port with damage. The speculation is it collided with the Kursk while it was readying to fire off a missle. To lend a bit of weight, the author learns the crew of the boat in question did not have Arctic under ice experience. But nothing else.
The author does present the decision making process within the Russian Navy that led to a lack of response. No one wanted to tell their superior of bad news, so nothing was pushed up. It was also the only time Putin was in a new conference that wasn’t tightly controlled or scripted. In a documentary I watched on the incident, he was unnerved by the wives and mothers demanding he provide answers.
There is a sad realization that the Russian Navy wouldn’t have been able to get the men off of the Kursk without significant outside help. They were incapable of rescue with their poorly maintained equipment.
But the tying to modern Russian doctrine is really thin. Yes, it is seen throughout history that wars and defining the boogie-man as foreigners helps distract the populace from the rampant internal problems faced daily. We see this with Russia threatening to invade Ukraine over contrived incidents. I believe even if the Kursk didn’t sink that day, it would have been clear to Putin that his Navy needed significant help. The investment in capability would have happened in order for him to bully others, it may have simply taken longer. But if it wasn’t the Kursk that day, it may have been another Russian submarine that would have sunk due to poor maintenance or badly designed weapon systems.
First, let’s take the Kursk & the events around its demise. Two US submarines are observing the Russian Navy exercise. There is a mention of the NR-1 in addition to the 688-class boats. But then no follow up. Having the NR-1 around would be a big deal. Of the two 688 boats, one returns to port with damage. The speculation is it collided with the Kursk while it was readying to fire off a missle. To lend a bit of weight, the author learns the crew of the boat in question did not have Arctic under ice experience. But nothing else.
The author does present the decision making process within the Russian Navy that led to a lack of response. No one wanted to tell their superior of bad news, so nothing was pushed up. It was also the only time Putin was in a new conference that wasn’t tightly controlled or scripted. In a documentary I watched on the incident, he was unnerved by the wives and mothers demanding he provide answers.
There is a sad realization that the Russian Navy wouldn’t have been able to get the men off of the Kursk without significant outside help. They were incapable of rescue with their poorly maintained equipment.
But the tying to modern Russian doctrine is really thin. Yes, it is seen throughout history that wars and defining the boogie-man as foreigners helps distract the populace from the rampant internal problems faced daily. We see this with Russia threatening to invade Ukraine over contrived incidents. I believe even if the Kursk didn’t sink that day, it would have been clear to Putin that his Navy needed significant help. The investment in capability would have happened in order for him to bully others, it may have simply taken longer. But if it wasn’t the Kursk that day, it may have been another Russian submarine that would have sunk due to poor maintenance or badly designed weapon systems.
February 15, 2023
Wow -
Some parts of this are a pretty good summary of what happened to the _Kursk_. Most of the rest of this is speculative, conspiracy-theory-level bullshit, combined with a pitch for his (acknowledged) fiction.
Skip it. I wish I had.
The theory that the Toledo had anything to do with this is belied by many facts that he just ignores 1. they stuck around for like 2 days after the incident. If they had collided with the Kursk with the force necessary to damage their torpedo tube outer doors, they would have left immediately.
2. Oscar class torpedo tubes on the front of a very wide bow above the centerline ( https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buz... ) . 688 Bow planes are relatively far back from the bow. For Toledo's bow planes to do anything to the outer doors of the Kursk, it would be nearly impossible for it to not have collided more substantially ( https://thatravenmagic.com/jeff.html ).
3. He notes that the other submarines in the area - Toledo and Memphis - heard the outer doors open. In addition, in an exercise, you open the outer door WAY early. Why wait until the last second, ignore the fact that you didn't get the proper indication and then fire the torpedo anyway???
Occam's Razor applies - it's most likely the only lie in the Russian account of the accident is the fact that it was a Shkval, not a "Fat Girl" torpedo.
Some parts of this are a pretty good summary of what happened to the _Kursk_. Most of the rest of this is speculative, conspiracy-theory-level bullshit, combined with a pitch for his (acknowledged) fiction.
Skip it. I wish I had.
The theory that the Toledo had anything to do with this is belied by many facts that he just ignores 1. they stuck around for like 2 days after the incident. If they had collided with the Kursk with the force necessary to damage their torpedo tube outer doors, they would have left immediately.
2. Oscar class torpedo tubes on the front of a very wide bow above the centerline ( https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buz... ) . 688 Bow planes are relatively far back from the bow. For Toledo's bow planes to do anything to the outer doors of the Kursk, it would be nearly impossible for it to not have collided more substantially ( https://thatravenmagic.com/jeff.html ).
3. He notes that the other submarines in the area - Toledo and Memphis - heard the outer doors open. In addition, in an exercise, you open the outer door WAY early. Why wait until the last second, ignore the fact that you didn't get the proper indication and then fire the torpedo anyway???
Occam's Razor applies - it's most likely the only lie in the Russian account of the accident is the fact that it was a Shkval, not a "Fat Girl" torpedo.
December 11, 2024
Overall it’s a good book covering the Kursk K-141 submarine disaster. The author covers the rescue attempts by the Russian Navy, the work of the saturation divers, etc. However, the theories presented on how the Kursk sank were speculations and I don’t feel much evidence was provided. I’ve read other books on the Kursk and it seems the HTP (High-Test Peroxide) the torpedo used is the most believable reason for the disaster, to me at least. The author did mention the Shkval torpedo as a theory of the sinking as well. I don’t want to give away a spoiler but the author does a theory that makes you think it could have been that. The last couple of chapters of the book didn’t seem to fit the overall flow of the book either.
July 14, 2024
Conflicted about this one. On the one hand this is an excellent study of a true naval disaster, full of detail and smart speculation that would easily warrant a five star rating. On the other hand there is a lot of speculation about possible conflicts and geopolitical gamesmanship that would have been better left in another, far inferior book. This book also seems dated even though it isn't very old because it was published on the eve of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and basically made obsolete whole chapters on how smart Putin is and how he is pulling the wool over the Wests' eyes.
September 16, 2022
The book starts with a lot of "copy/paste" out of the other books by W. Craig Reed, then moves into the (potential) events leading to the sinking of the Kursk mainly based on speculations.
The last part is about how Putin has been using the sinking into his advantage. But again, based on what? A lot of assumptions, speculations and the like whitout any subtantial proof, not even in a second and third line.
Interesting reading but nothing more than that.
The last part is about how Putin has been using the sinking into his advantage. But again, based on what? A lot of assumptions, speculations and the like whitout any subtantial proof, not even in a second and third line.
Interesting reading but nothing more than that.
January 16, 2022
Explains in somewhat non-technical terms a technical subject
Well written, not so technical of what could be a highly technical subject. Also written with feelings and emotion for the sailors of Mural and their families.
Well written, not so technical of what could be a highly technical subject. Also written with feelings and emotion for the sailors of Mural and their families.
October 14, 2023
I like the writing style of the author. However, the insistance on a collision between the Kursk and a US submarine despite being unable to provide even a shred of evidence for this makes me doubt the author's further analysis of world events.
August 28, 2025
some parts of this book are interesting history, some parts are conspiracy theory thoughts, and some parts are some future possibility prediction. Parts of the book are OK, but as a whole, definitely not a great book
November 20, 2025
In terms of telling the how and why story behind the Kursk disaster, the author does a good job. But the last quarter of the book meanders into submarine and navy geopolitics, which was interesting but only loosely linked to the 2000 incident
October 3, 2021
The last 3 chapters are, indeed, terrifying!
January 12, 2022
Well written and an entertaining way for me to learn some new things about super fast torpedoes and the bizarre underwater world of war.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews