Cry from the Deep: The Submarine Disaster That Riveted the World and Put the New Russia to the Ultimate Test
Ramsey Flynn. New York: HarperCollins, 2004. 304 pp. Photos. Notes. Bib. Index. $25.95.
Reviewed by Captain Robert Brannon, U.S. Navy
Ramsey Flynn set out to write the definitive account of the Russian submarine Kursk disaster shortly after the incident took place. Since then, he has worked tirelessly to achieve that goal. Every aspect of research in his new book is well documented and, where possible, cited clearly. In a few areas where uncertainty remains, Flynn is forthcoming about why this is so and what he thinks probably happened, based on reasoned insights and countless conversations with sources. I was one of the sources for this book. As the U.S. naval attache in Russia from 1998 to 2001, I was on duty at the U.S. embassy in Moscow when the Kursk went down. In my view, Flynn gets it right in Cry from the Deep.
This book takes an already riveting story and makes it much more readable by spinning what is known (and that is considerable) into a narrative sea story both accurate and interesting. The story reads like fiction, but it is all the more chilling to know it is not. Flynn holds his readers' attention right from the start, beginning with the personal background of Dmitry Kolesnikov, the young captain lieutenant whose marriage became the stuff of naval legend when his body was recovered and his note detailing the accident was discovered. Although the story of how the Kursk sank now is widely known and has been reported in numerous accounts, this fresh and unique narrative is informed by factual research and a wide range of detail.
A faulty torpedo, one that sailors suspected might create problems at sea, caused the accident. Unlike other accounts of the Kursk's sinking, Flynn's describes how the Rus-sian Navy could have placed such a high-value submarine in harm's way. Senior officers were taking chances because they wanted to cash in on President Vladimir Putin's goodwill, based on his demonstrated affinity for the naval service. Admirals believed they might get a better share of the country's meager defense budget if they could show how the Russian Navy still was strong and highly capable. This book lays bare some of the darker aspects of civil-military relations in post-communist Russia in a way that is stark and often harsh.
Cry from the Deep exposes for the first time some of the tragic details that have been revealed only reluctantly, long after the initial investigation reports were released. For example, Russian submariners have been known to weld emergency rescue buoys to the hull to avoid the embarrassment of inadvertent release. In the case of the Kursk, however, evidence shows the straps used to ship the buoy securely from the factory never were removed, rendering it incapable of deploying. Ironically, none of the sailors responsible for testing this buoy ever did so; if they had, the shipping straps surely would have been noticed.
The most telling insights, the parts that held me in rapt attention, had to do with the failed rescue saga. In Moscow, I knew the frustration of trying to convince the Russian Navy to accept U.S. assistance, but I did not know the extent to which our own National Security Council already was involved. The Kursk went down on Saturday, 12 August, at midday. At the U.S. embassy in Moscow we were not aware of the incident until Monday morning. In Washington, National Security Council staffer Mark Medish and his team knew something had happened within a few hours of the accident. No one in Russia, including President Putin, knew what was happening until many hours after the fact. The Russian Navy's delays, deceptions, and outright lies made it exceedingly difficult to understand the nature of the disaster, and even more difficult to plan a response. Flynn writes that one of the challenging aspects of his research for this book was that the "facts" seemed to be a "constantly moving target."
For anyone who has a keen interest in how submarines live and die, especially in how sea service disasters like this one are handled (or mishandled), this book is must reading. The Russian Navy is a proud force with honorable traditions, but this chapter in its history is not proud at all. It is full of dark suspicions and corners where the full light of truth may never penetrate. Ramsey Flynn has gone the extra mile in shedding light on what has become one of the most telling, and enduring, of Russia's mysteries. Well written and authoritative, Cry from the Deep is an important book about a great story. I enjoyed reading it and highly recommend it.
Captain Brannon is a professor in the Department of National Security Strategy at the National War College in Washington, D.C.
State of Grace: A Memoir of Twilight Time
Robert Timberg. New York: Free Press, 2004. 303 pp. $26.00.
Reviewed by Rear Admiral Thomas C. Lynch, U.S. Navy (Retired)
If you remember peashooters, S&H GreenStamps, and the advent of Rock and Roll, you will particularly enjoy State of Grace, Robert Timberg's look back at the events that shaped his life and provided him with his guiding principles. Following high school graduation, he found himself drifting along with no real purpose until he joined the Lynvets, a sandlot football team with a coach who exuded leadership and teammates who gave of themselves for the greater good. Senator John McCain once wrote, "If you do the thing you think you cannot do, you'll feel your resistance, your hope, your dignity, and your courage grow stronger. You will someday face harder choices that very well might require more courage." The lessons learned and the character traits developed on the ball field became Timberg's strength, courage, and intestinal fiber whenever challenged during his subsequent matriculation at the U.S. Naval Academy, his duty in Vietnam, and in the everyday travails of his later life.
The current Academy Superintendent, Vice Admiral Rodney Rempt, has stated repeatedly that athletic development is critical to the overall development of combat leaders. Timberg's reflections on his own development on the athletic field support Admiral Rempt's contention, because it was on the ball field where Timberg learned the meaning and need for sacrifice, discipline, and toughness, and it was there he found the drive to excel and succeed in all he did. There were additional benefits derived from his sandlot experience, such as team bonding and sharing the joy of victory and pain of defeat. Despite the fact that real-life outcomes often were less black and white than accomplishments in sports, and that his coaches and players led somewhat dysfunctional lives, on the field they came together as a unit and their greatest fear was of letting down a teammate.
Coach Larry Kelly may have been a failure in life, but with a whistle on the football field he became Lombardi-like, a person to be feared, revered, and emulated. A disciplinarian, he was in total control as the Lynvet's coach, and if you were late or missed practice you did not play, regardless of the circumstances of the situation, the personal issues involved, or the league standing. He earned the respect of his players, who were mostly Irish, Italian, and Catholic, and he demanded of each a simple code: we will always do our best as a Lynvet and never let the team down.
They would work hard, always play to win, and never fail in their individual responsibilities. The Lynvets, argues Timberg, reflected the United States of the 1950s. The author hints at the analogy that much the same as the nation, the Lynvets represented a toehold by providing all of them with a sense of belonging to a team with similar values and aspirations during a turbulent time in their lives as they grew from adolescence to manhood.
All of us can recall some person in our lives who cared for us as individuals and provided that spark to succeed. For some it may be a parent, coach, or teacher. For Timberg, it was the Lynvets. Through them he transformed himself from a drifter to a person with a purpose. Through them he defined the core principles he carried throughout his life, and through them he sought and found stability in an otherwise unbalanced and imperfect world. As he transformed into a mature adult, so did America, and both are better today because of the core values, principles, and character developed during the twilight time.
Admiral Lynch is a member of the U.S. Naval Academy's Class of 1964. He was Superintendent of the Academy from 1991 to 1994.
Becoming a Leader the Annapolis Way: 12 Combat Lessons from the Navy's Leadership Laboratory
W. Brad Johnson and Greg P. Harper. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2004. 271 pp. Notes Index. $24.95.
Reviewed by Captain Robert Harward, U.S. Navy
The United States has been waging a war against terrorism since the tragic events of 11 September 2001. This campaign of direct and continuous action has required our armed forces to undertake a diverse range of operations in distinctly different battlefield environments: a special operations forces-focused campaign in Operation Enduring Freedom; a conventional force-on-force engagement in Operation Iraqi Freedom; and the ongoing, complex counterinsurgency campaign in Iraq. The U.S. military has demonstrated incredible operational agility and a concomitant ability to sustain it.
As our highly adaptive adversaries continue to evolve, seeking to combine operational and technological innovation and surprise with wanton destruction, we will have to be equally innovative on the battlefield. The common thread that will determine our success, regardless of the particular campaign or environment, is leadership. Strong leadership always has been the force multiplier of our armed forces, and it will be even more critical to our national security in the years to come. We will need military leaders who can take the initiative, prevail in uncertainty, triumph over adversity, and excel in the unforgiving environment of sustained combat operations.
Brad Johnson and Gregory Harper have written an excellent book that emphasizes the importance of battlefield leadership and provides a road map to develop the combat leaders required to meet the distinctive and varied national security challenges of the 21st century. The 12 skills outlined in the book, the authors argue, have broad application to "those who want to build leaders in any organization." The book's real value, however, lies in its focus on military leadership and preparing today's younger leaders to fight and win the wars of tomorrow.
As reflected in the chapter titles, the book provides a range of relevant tools to help develop leaders. These tools are founded on enduring principles covered elsewhere in past literature on leadership and management. The historical after-action reports that chronicle the courage of many great naval warriors are the real "gouge." For me, it was particularly moving to read of the tribulations and hard lessons learned by acknowledged leaders such as Admiral James Stockdale and Senator John McCain-not only while they were prisoners of war, but also during their years at the Naval Academy. The leadership stories of lesser known but equally heroic warriors, such as Draper L. Kauffman (class of 1933), Marine Captain Eric Kapitulik (class of 1995), Ensign Paul Richmond (one of the Navy's first black commissioned officers), and many more, provide poignant benchmarks that can be visualized and emulated by Academy graduates and anyone else aspiring to lead in combat. The guidance and wisdom of current leaders and warriors such as Marine lieutenant General Jim Mattis (probably our nation's most experienced combat leader, having led the Marine effort in Afghanistan and the 1st Marine Division for more than a year in Iraq) and Marine Brigadier General John Alien provide invaluable insight all naval leaders would be wise to remember.
Johnson and Harper also do a tremendous job of encapsulating the Naval Academy experience and its value as a leadership laboratory, both in and out of the classroom. The significant nuances of plebe indoctrination, plebe summer, Reef Points, the climb up Herndon, and a host of other traditions and formative Academy experiences help define the Academy graduate and lhe leadership lessons she or he brings to the fleet.
As a career naval special warfare officer, I could not have conceived of a better mission statement for my community lhan the current slogan the authors have articulated for the Academy: "At Navy our mission is to prepare warriors who can do it all." This sentiment was echoed by President and naval hero John F. Kennedy, who said in 1960, "Any man who may be asked in this century what he did to make his life worthwhile, I think can respond with a good deal of pride and satisfaction: I served in the United States Navy." In this century there can be no greater professional achievement or personal accomplishment than to serve when our country's need is greatest for young men and women of courage to go in harm's way. This book so aptly proves it should be required reading for anyone who aspires to lead in combat.
Captain Harward has served as a SEAL officer for more than 21 years, with operational assignments with various units worldwide.