1 00:00:01,400 --> 00:00:03,560 An insurance agent writes a bestseller... 2 00:00:04,720 --> 00:00:06,640 ..filled with military secrets... 3 00:00:08,120 --> 00:00:11,480 ..that somehow becomes a star-studded film. 4 00:00:11,640 --> 00:00:14,240 MAN: There was so much talk right after Red October came out 5 00:00:14,400 --> 00:00:16,280 that people are leaking information to me. 6 00:00:16,440 --> 00:00:18,960 (GUNSHOTS) Why can't they just give me credit for being smart? 7 00:00:19,120 --> 00:00:20,680 But shocking revelations 8 00:00:20,840 --> 00:00:24,120 now link The Hunt for Red October we all think we know 9 00:00:24,280 --> 00:00:27,560 to the greatest CIA operation in history, 10 00:00:27,720 --> 00:00:29,840 to eccentric millionaire Howard Hughes 11 00:00:30,000 --> 00:00:32,640 and to the fall of Soviet Communism. 12 00:00:32,800 --> 00:00:35,960 I mean, the scale of it is just audacious and epic. 13 00:00:36,120 --> 00:00:37,880 It had a major impact on all of us 14 00:00:38,040 --> 00:00:40,040 and the average person has no clue. 15 00:00:40,200 --> 00:00:43,200 And more ominously, some now believe 16 00:00:43,360 --> 00:00:45,680 The Hunt for Red October connects to 17 00:00:45,840 --> 00:00:48,760 an apocalyptic mission to annihilate America, 18 00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:53,520 thwarted at the last second by a heroic submarine commander. 19 00:00:53,680 --> 00:00:57,440 MAN: He was the one key element that stopped a nuclear war. 20 00:00:57,600 --> 00:01:00,840 It's a hell of a story for a thriller. 21 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:03,800 It just changed the whole course of history. 22 00:01:21,480 --> 00:01:23,440 The Hunt for Red October, 23 00:01:23,600 --> 00:01:26,880 starring Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin, 24 00:01:27,040 --> 00:01:30,560 Sam Neill and Scott Glenn 25 00:01:30,720 --> 00:01:32,560 is acknowledged around the world 26 00:01:32,720 --> 00:01:35,160 as one of Hollywood's most exciting, 27 00:01:35,320 --> 00:01:37,800 tension-filled thrillers. 28 00:01:37,960 --> 00:01:39,680 Based on the book by Tom Clancy, 29 00:01:39,840 --> 00:01:42,080 it tells the seemingly fictional account 30 00:01:42,240 --> 00:01:44,520 of a rogue Soviet submarine captain, 31 00:01:44,680 --> 00:01:46,160 played by Connery, 32 00:01:46,320 --> 00:01:48,640 attempting to defect to the US, 33 00:01:48,800 --> 00:01:52,400 and CIA analyst Jack Ryan, played by Baldwin, 34 00:01:52,560 --> 00:01:54,800 who must convince the American Navy 35 00:01:54,960 --> 00:01:56,440 that Connery's character 36 00:01:56,600 --> 00:01:58,920 isn't planning on attacking the US. 37 00:02:00,720 --> 00:02:03,160 Together, the book and the movie 38 00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:05,320 catapult Clancy to fame. 39 00:02:07,880 --> 00:02:10,080 Maybe the best part of this whole experience coming out here, 40 00:02:10,240 --> 00:02:11,720 has been meeting Sean Connery. 41 00:02:11,880 --> 00:02:14,960 I've been watching his movies since I was in high school - he's one of my real heroes. 42 00:02:15,120 --> 00:02:19,360 I was in the navy. In fact, I joined when I was 16. 43 00:02:19,520 --> 00:02:22,320 And the idea that you have submarines 44 00:02:22,480 --> 00:02:24,680 as big as aircraft carriers from World War II 45 00:02:24,840 --> 00:02:26,320 in the drama, 46 00:02:26,480 --> 00:02:27,960 and the other Russian submarines, 47 00:02:28,120 --> 00:02:29,600 it's a whole world. 48 00:02:29,760 --> 00:02:33,560 That side of it is, uh, perfect cinema. 49 00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:34,800 (TYPES) 50 00:02:34,960 --> 00:02:38,160 And Hollywood is just as enamoured with Clancy, 51 00:02:38,320 --> 00:02:42,040 including Hunt for Red October director John McTiernan. 52 00:02:42,200 --> 00:02:44,160 JOHN McTIERNAN: Well, I wanted to make the movie 53 00:02:44,320 --> 00:02:46,040 'cause I loved the book. 54 00:02:46,200 --> 00:02:48,000 It really seemed to be an access 55 00:02:48,160 --> 00:02:51,520 into a world that one knows very little about. 56 00:02:51,680 --> 00:02:54,280 He had actually taken the time to learn something about it, 57 00:02:54,440 --> 00:02:58,280 and then managed to weave it into a good...good yarn. 58 00:02:58,440 --> 00:03:02,000 Even more remarkable, Clancy wasn't a professional novelist. 59 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:04,320 He was a Maryland insurance agent. 60 00:03:04,480 --> 00:03:06,240 I've been in the business a long time now, 61 00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:08,040 and it's really extraordinary 62 00:03:08,200 --> 00:03:10,160 that this insurance salesman sat down in his house 63 00:03:10,320 --> 00:03:11,840 and wrote that novel. 64 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:14,320 It...it is extraordinary. 65 00:03:14,480 --> 00:03:17,240 I could tell that there was definitely something there. 66 00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:19,400 I mean, he was so confident. 67 00:03:19,560 --> 00:03:23,040 It's a kind of assurance that goes with good storytelling. 68 00:03:23,200 --> 00:03:26,920 He had likeable characters, there was very witty dialogue. 69 00:03:27,080 --> 00:03:30,840 "'How does a friendly man become a CIA spy?' Borodin asked. 70 00:03:31,000 --> 00:03:34,480 "'I am not a spy sir', Ryan said again." 71 00:03:34,640 --> 00:03:36,680 "He couldn't blame them for not believing him." 72 00:03:36,840 --> 00:03:40,040 But when they send the manuscript out to be fact-checked... 73 00:03:40,200 --> 00:03:42,880 Where's he getting this? 74 00:03:43,040 --> 00:03:44,760 ..they have an unexpected shock. 75 00:03:44,920 --> 00:03:46,280 (PHONE RINGING TONE) Hello? 76 00:03:46,440 --> 00:03:47,760 Deb, it's Barry. 77 00:03:47,920 --> 00:03:51,200 He said, "Well, you can't publish it. It's got classified information in there." 78 00:03:51,360 --> 00:03:55,840 The book is filled with some of the Cold War's most guarded secrets 79 00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:58,360 and, yet, somehow, is still published. 80 00:03:58,520 --> 00:04:00,000 It sells 81 00:04:00,160 --> 00:04:03,080 a phenomenal 15 million copies 82 00:04:03,240 --> 00:04:05,920 and becomes the basis for the hit film. 83 00:04:06,080 --> 00:04:09,280 I'm reliably informed that there were revelations in this film 84 00:04:09,440 --> 00:04:11,960 about what submarines do. 85 00:04:12,120 --> 00:04:18,720 Um... And I wasn't aware that these things were secret before. (LAUGHS) 86 00:04:18,880 --> 00:04:21,360 I hope we didn't give away too many state secrets. 87 00:04:21,520 --> 00:04:23,920 Far from giving away secrets, however, 88 00:04:24,080 --> 00:04:26,720 some now believe The Hunt for Red October 89 00:04:26,880 --> 00:04:28,960 was part of a CIA plot 90 00:04:29,120 --> 00:04:33,800 to divert attention from an event that almost triggered a nuclear war. 91 00:04:33,960 --> 00:04:37,120 MAN: The film, Hunt for Red October, was the perfect story 92 00:04:37,280 --> 00:04:40,080 to maintain our way of life and protect us from our enemies. 93 00:04:40,240 --> 00:04:45,280 More than that, based on recently uncovered top-secret information, 94 00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:48,840 it can now be revealed for the first time 95 00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:52,680 that The Hunt For Red October actually plays a key role 96 00:04:52,840 --> 00:04:55,720 in the downfall of Soviet Communism. 97 00:04:58,960 --> 00:05:01,960 But what is the shocking secret story behind it? 98 00:05:02,120 --> 00:05:06,520 And why has it been kept from the public until now? 99 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:11,760 February 1968. 100 00:05:11,920 --> 00:05:17,760 The Cold War between the American and Soviet navies has ratcheted up. 101 00:05:17,920 --> 00:05:20,360 You have to understand, both politically and militarily, 102 00:05:20,520 --> 00:05:23,200 this was very intense time. 103 00:05:24,640 --> 00:05:26,480 TRANSLATION: There was a war in Vietnam 104 00:05:26,640 --> 00:05:30,440 and there was a constant increase in tensions. 105 00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:32,840 Everyone was operating on a hair-trigger. 106 00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:34,480 (SUBMARINE HORN BLARES) 107 00:05:36,360 --> 00:05:38,360 But with its smaller economy, 108 00:05:38,520 --> 00:05:40,440 the Soviet military struggles 109 00:05:40,600 --> 00:05:42,840 to keep up with the Americans. 110 00:05:45,680 --> 00:05:47,800 On the tip of the Kamchatka Peninsula, 111 00:05:47,960 --> 00:05:50,720 at the Soviet Rybachiy naval base, 112 00:05:50,880 --> 00:05:54,480 K-129, an old Soviet Golf II class 113 00:05:54,640 --> 00:05:57,200 nuclear-armed diesel submarine, 114 00:05:57,360 --> 00:05:59,720 is being rushed back out to sea. 115 00:05:59,880 --> 00:06:01,840 KENNETH SEWELL: They had just got back from a mission, 116 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:04,880 and within three weeks, they were ordered back to go out on another mission. 117 00:06:05,040 --> 00:06:08,440 This was highly unusual and also very hard on the crew. 118 00:06:08,600 --> 00:06:11,280 It was not sufficient time to recuperate 119 00:06:11,440 --> 00:06:14,720 or sufficient time, actually, for the submarine to be turned around. 120 00:06:17,120 --> 00:06:21,520 Like the captain played by Sean Connery in the Hunt for Red October, 121 00:06:21,680 --> 00:06:24,760 K-129's captain, Vladimir Kobzar, 122 00:06:24,920 --> 00:06:29,400 is an ace in the USSR's highly trained submarine elite. 123 00:06:29,560 --> 00:06:32,640 His First Officer, Sasha Zhuravin, 124 00:06:32,800 --> 00:06:34,960 is also an accomplished submariner. 125 00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:42,680 Well, Captain Kobzar and Zhuravin were true believers. 126 00:06:42,840 --> 00:06:44,920 They were patriots to the core, 127 00:06:45,080 --> 00:06:47,280 um, exceptional people. 128 00:06:47,440 --> 00:06:49,280 They were picked from the best 129 00:06:49,440 --> 00:06:51,200 that the Soviet Union had to offer. 130 00:06:55,040 --> 00:06:57,400 Then, just before departing, 131 00:06:57,560 --> 00:06:59,600 Kobzar and the crew discover 132 00:06:59,760 --> 00:07:03,040 they'll also be carrying a contingent of mystery passengers. 133 00:07:03,200 --> 00:07:06,360 KENNETH SEWELL: Sometimes one or two people would come on a submarine. 134 00:07:06,520 --> 00:07:09,640 They would normally be doing eavesdropping 135 00:07:09,800 --> 00:07:11,520 or intelligence work with radios. 136 00:07:11,680 --> 00:07:14,840 But to have people show up on a submarine with no purpose 137 00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:16,560 would cause great concern. 138 00:07:16,720 --> 00:07:18,200 You know, why are they there? 139 00:07:19,720 --> 00:07:22,400 For the experienced Kobzar and Zhuravin, 140 00:07:22,560 --> 00:07:25,280 it was an unprecedented situation. 141 00:07:25,440 --> 00:07:28,120 In spite of the Soviet navy having assigned them 142 00:07:28,280 --> 00:07:29,800 a seemingly routine mission, 143 00:07:29,960 --> 00:07:33,480 the presence of the mystery passengers and the quick turn-around 144 00:07:33,640 --> 00:07:36,840 suggest it's going to be anything but. 145 00:07:37,000 --> 00:07:38,680 KENNETH SEWELL: It distressed the Commander, 146 00:07:38,840 --> 00:07:41,280 and the First Officer, Zhuravin, especially. 147 00:07:43,640 --> 00:07:46,160 (NIKOLAI SERKASHIN SPEAKS RUSSIAN) 148 00:07:46,320 --> 00:07:48,040 TRANSLATION: Zhuravin told his wife 149 00:07:48,200 --> 00:07:50,520 that he had a bad feeling about this mission 150 00:07:50,680 --> 00:07:53,280 and he was leaving with a stone in his heart. 151 00:07:53,440 --> 00:07:55,960 He had a bad premonition. 152 00:07:56,120 --> 00:07:57,600 (WOMAN SPEAKS RUSSIAN) 153 00:07:57,760 --> 00:08:00,040 TRANSLATION: K-129 should not have gone out. 154 00:08:00,200 --> 00:08:02,560 It should have been another submarine 155 00:08:02,720 --> 00:08:05,680 but they told us the other one wasn't ready. 156 00:08:07,400 --> 00:08:11,040 KENNETH SEWELL: His wife, she had never seen him, you know, cry, ever. 157 00:08:11,200 --> 00:08:13,400 And he was standing there, and he had burst into tears. 158 00:08:13,560 --> 00:08:15,880 I think he knew he was never going to see her again. 159 00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:24,200 In spite of the worrying presence of the mysterious passengers... 160 00:08:25,600 --> 00:08:27,880 ..Captain Kobzar and his crew set sail 161 00:08:28,040 --> 00:08:30,440 to their officially assigned coordinates 162 00:08:30,600 --> 00:08:33,440 800 miles from the Hawaiian Islands. 163 00:08:35,320 --> 00:08:39,480 As with the Red October submarine sailed by Sean Connery, 164 00:08:39,640 --> 00:08:42,760 K-129 is armed with ballistic nuclear missiles 165 00:08:42,920 --> 00:08:46,040 capable of destroying entire cities. 166 00:08:46,200 --> 00:08:48,400 With this much firepower on board, 167 00:08:48,560 --> 00:08:51,080 Kobzar knows that the American's submarines 168 00:08:51,240 --> 00:08:53,280 will be trying to track them. 169 00:08:53,440 --> 00:08:57,320 It is a deadly game of cat and mouse. 170 00:08:57,480 --> 00:09:00,160 That's what submarines were doing during the Cold War on both sides. 171 00:09:00,320 --> 00:09:02,360 So, your ballistic missile submarines go out, 172 00:09:02,520 --> 00:09:04,640 try and stay hidden, 173 00:09:04,800 --> 00:09:07,560 be in position if war breaks out to launch their missiles. 174 00:09:07,720 --> 00:09:09,760 And then, of course, the other team's subs, 175 00:09:09,920 --> 00:09:11,400 in this case the United States subs, 176 00:09:11,560 --> 00:09:13,440 are constantly trying to track the Soviets subs, 177 00:09:13,600 --> 00:09:15,880 which means locate them, follow them, stay hidden, 178 00:09:16,040 --> 00:09:20,000 so that if war breaks out, you can destroy their ballistic missile submarines 179 00:09:20,160 --> 00:09:22,360 before they can launch their ballistic missiles. 180 00:09:25,880 --> 00:09:28,920 But unlike the high-tech nuclear-powered Red October 181 00:09:29,080 --> 00:09:32,120 that was the pride of the Soviet navy, 182 00:09:32,280 --> 00:09:36,880 K-129 is a diesel-electric, on the verge of being decommissioned. 183 00:09:38,280 --> 00:09:41,120 The K-129 was old technology. 184 00:09:41,280 --> 00:09:42,840 However, they had outfitted it with 185 00:09:43,000 --> 00:09:45,320 their latest communications equipment, 186 00:09:45,480 --> 00:09:46,960 the microburst transmitter. 187 00:09:47,120 --> 00:09:50,600 It also had nuclear weapons and nuclear torpedoes. 188 00:09:52,240 --> 00:09:55,760 Because K-129 is powered by electric motors, 189 00:09:55,920 --> 00:10:00,200 it must surface for 12 hours each day to recharge its batteries. 190 00:10:03,760 --> 00:10:08,240 This is also when the sub is able to send and receive coded messages 191 00:10:08,400 --> 00:10:10,320 to and from Moscow. 192 00:10:13,680 --> 00:10:15,280 It is at these moments when the sub 193 00:10:15,440 --> 00:10:18,720 is most vulnerable to detection by the Americans. 194 00:10:18,880 --> 00:10:22,480 DEAN: So, it's unusual for a submarine to communicate daily. 195 00:10:22,640 --> 00:10:24,720 That's how you get detected. 196 00:10:24,880 --> 00:10:27,080 So, they tend to stay silent for days at a time. 197 00:10:33,320 --> 00:10:38,560 Then, back in Vladivostok on the evening of March the 8th, 1968, 198 00:10:38,720 --> 00:10:43,080 the wife of K-129's First Officer, Sasha Zhuravin, 199 00:10:43,240 --> 00:10:46,080 is at an International Women's Day celebration, 200 00:10:46,240 --> 00:10:48,200 and has a premonition. 201 00:10:48,360 --> 00:10:51,960 (IRINA ZHURAVINA SPEAKS RUSSIAN) 202 00:10:52,120 --> 00:10:53,800 TRANSLATION: I was with our son 203 00:10:53,960 --> 00:10:55,520 and we were having a good time. 204 00:10:56,800 --> 00:10:58,560 But then, out of nowhere, 205 00:10:58,720 --> 00:11:01,320 I became hysterical, for no apparent reason. 206 00:11:02,600 --> 00:11:04,280 I felt sick. 207 00:11:05,800 --> 00:11:08,000 So, they took me home. 208 00:11:11,800 --> 00:11:14,080 I knew it was Sasha's submarine. 209 00:11:17,720 --> 00:11:20,000 The Russians required their submarines 210 00:11:20,160 --> 00:11:24,040 to phone home, so to speak, every week 211 00:11:24,200 --> 00:11:27,680 or when arriving at certain important points 212 00:11:27,840 --> 00:11:29,840 along their travel route. 213 00:11:30,000 --> 00:11:35,080 So, there was an expectation on the midnight on the 8th of March, '68, 214 00:11:35,240 --> 00:11:38,120 for that submarine to... to send a message. 215 00:11:38,280 --> 00:11:40,400 And that was exactly the same time 216 00:11:40,560 --> 00:11:43,640 as First Officer Zhuravin's wife, Irina, 217 00:11:43,800 --> 00:11:46,360 was experiencing her psychological breakdown. 218 00:11:46,520 --> 00:11:49,560 The submarine was supposed to surface for a routine signal, 219 00:11:49,720 --> 00:11:51,720 to say, "Hey, everything's going fine." 220 00:11:53,280 --> 00:11:55,000 And it didn't. 221 00:11:55,160 --> 00:11:56,880 It just vanished. 222 00:11:59,200 --> 00:12:03,000 In an eerie parallel with Clancy's The Hunt for Red October, 223 00:12:03,160 --> 00:12:07,520 the Soviet Navy doesn't know where K-129 is. 224 00:12:07,680 --> 00:12:10,280 Has it sunk? 225 00:12:10,440 --> 00:12:12,920 Has it suffered a malfunction? 226 00:12:16,080 --> 00:12:18,440 Or is it something more sinister? 227 00:12:18,600 --> 00:12:23,040 Has it, like the Red October, gone rogue? 228 00:12:24,400 --> 00:12:27,320 What few people realise is that K-129 229 00:12:27,480 --> 00:12:29,840 was on the verge of starting a nuclear war. 230 00:12:36,120 --> 00:12:40,680 1968, somewhere in the North Pacific. 231 00:12:40,840 --> 00:12:43,640 Soviet submarine K-129, 232 00:12:43,800 --> 00:12:46,800 a seven-million-pound Golf II submarine, 233 00:12:46,960 --> 00:12:48,880 armed with three nuclear missiles, 234 00:12:49,040 --> 00:12:51,040 and 98 souls aboard, 235 00:12:51,200 --> 00:12:55,040 simply disappears without a trace. 236 00:12:55,200 --> 00:12:57,840 It is only now, over 50 years later, 237 00:12:58,000 --> 00:13:01,480 that the shocking secrets behind it can finally be revealed. 238 00:13:01,640 --> 00:13:03,360 But if this is the case, 239 00:13:03,520 --> 00:13:06,040 how is it possible, as some now believe, 240 00:13:06,200 --> 00:13:11,640 that Tom Clancy's 1983 runaway bestseller The Hunt for Red October, 241 00:13:11,800 --> 00:13:13,520 and the film based on it, 242 00:13:13,680 --> 00:13:16,240 appear to be inspired by this secret material? 243 00:13:16,400 --> 00:13:17,880 And...action! 244 00:13:18,040 --> 00:13:19,880 REPORTER: Hollywood's newest sub drama is based on 245 00:13:20,040 --> 00:13:22,440 Clancy's best seller, The Hunt for Red October. 246 00:13:24,480 --> 00:13:26,200 Tom Clancy, insurance salesman, 247 00:13:26,360 --> 00:13:29,640 imagines this very detailed story about a submarine 248 00:13:29,800 --> 00:13:32,560 that's, you know, taken over by a rogue crew. 249 00:13:32,720 --> 00:13:34,440 (SHOUTING IN RUSSIAN) 250 00:13:34,600 --> 00:13:37,560 It does seem pretty unlikely that he would just come up with that, 251 00:13:37,720 --> 00:13:39,080 sitting around one night. 252 00:13:39,240 --> 00:13:42,680 The closer one looks at Red October's success, 253 00:13:42,840 --> 00:13:46,960 the more astonishing the rookie novelist's meteoric rise appears. 254 00:13:47,120 --> 00:13:50,840 The clues start the day the novel is released. 255 00:13:52,360 --> 00:13:54,000 SEWELL: Clancy's book was published 256 00:13:54,160 --> 00:13:55,720 by the Naval Institute Press. 257 00:13:55,880 --> 00:13:57,720 And it would be highly unlikely 258 00:13:57,880 --> 00:13:59,520 that an insurance agent from Maryland 259 00:13:59,680 --> 00:14:01,360 would have a book published. 260 00:14:01,520 --> 00:14:03,280 Not only was it published, I think they ran 261 00:14:03,440 --> 00:14:06,000 60,000 hardback copies in the first printing. 262 00:14:07,240 --> 00:14:10,320 That's a substantial financial commitment. 263 00:14:10,480 --> 00:14:13,560 Um, there was something there. We knew there was something there. 264 00:14:13,720 --> 00:14:16,160 Um, you know, somebody had to be behind that. 265 00:14:16,320 --> 00:14:18,440 LARRY KING: Did you ever think this would happen? 266 00:14:18,600 --> 00:14:20,360 Not in my wildest nightmares, Larry. 267 00:14:20,520 --> 00:14:22,760 I got real lucky. Lucky how? 268 00:14:22,920 --> 00:14:24,560 'Cause Ronald Reagan mentioned the book? 269 00:14:24,720 --> 00:14:27,480 That's what made me a national bestseller and got me noticed. 270 00:14:27,640 --> 00:14:32,240 The events Tom Clancy wrote about in the 1980s remain classified 271 00:14:32,400 --> 00:14:35,000 as some of the Cold War's most guarded secrets. 272 00:14:35,160 --> 00:14:38,640 So, where did he get his information? 273 00:14:38,800 --> 00:14:41,880 Was Tom Clancy who he said he was? 274 00:14:43,320 --> 00:14:45,280 An insurance agent who got lucky? 275 00:14:45,440 --> 00:14:47,680 (GUNFIRE) Or a secret agent? 276 00:14:47,840 --> 00:14:51,280 Someone with connections to people on the inside? 277 00:14:51,440 --> 00:14:56,400 At first glance, Clancy is an unlikely literary star. 278 00:14:56,560 --> 00:14:58,560 So, how did this insurance agent 279 00:14:58,720 --> 00:15:00,800 suddenly become a best-selling author? 280 00:15:02,720 --> 00:15:05,040 His only son, Tom Clancy III, 281 00:15:05,200 --> 00:15:07,640 offers some tantalising clues. 282 00:15:07,800 --> 00:15:10,920 This is the first interview he's ever given. 283 00:15:12,280 --> 00:15:14,320 TOM CLANCY III: This is where it all started, 284 00:15:14,480 --> 00:15:16,640 with three kids in this tiny house, 285 00:15:16,800 --> 00:15:19,280 writing Hunt for Red October there, on the kitchen table. 286 00:15:19,440 --> 00:15:21,040 And my mom would tell him 287 00:15:21,200 --> 00:15:22,960 that he should be selling insurance 288 00:15:23,120 --> 00:15:25,480 instead of writing the book. 289 00:15:25,640 --> 00:15:27,480 Nobody could have predicted that a copy of the book 290 00:15:27,640 --> 00:15:29,560 was going to end up on Air Force One. 291 00:15:29,720 --> 00:15:32,080 And nobody could have predicted that Reagan would have read it. 292 00:15:32,240 --> 00:15:35,560 With the unprecedented endorsement from the President, 293 00:15:35,720 --> 00:15:39,160 The Hunt for Red October story is so successful, 294 00:15:39,320 --> 00:15:42,520 it easily draws in major stars for the film version, 295 00:15:42,680 --> 00:15:44,640 and a massive budget. 296 00:15:44,800 --> 00:15:48,120 But from the beginning, there were suspicions. 297 00:15:48,280 --> 00:15:50,120 TOM CLANCY III: He wouldn't tell you anything. 298 00:15:50,280 --> 00:15:51,880 He was very secretive. 299 00:15:52,040 --> 00:15:54,240 Yeah, he loved being secretive. 300 00:15:54,400 --> 00:15:57,000 Even the FBI is concerned 301 00:15:57,160 --> 00:15:59,440 that Clancy has classified materials 302 00:15:59,600 --> 00:16:03,400 about American and Russian submarine tactics and equipment 303 00:16:03,560 --> 00:16:05,120 in his book. 304 00:16:08,680 --> 00:16:10,560 TOM CLANCY III: And, uh, back then, 305 00:16:10,720 --> 00:16:13,480 the FBI really had to worry about Soviet agents. 306 00:16:13,640 --> 00:16:17,320 And, you know, the FBI took a good, hard look at him. 307 00:16:17,480 --> 00:16:19,920 You, uh, wanted to see me. They asked a bunch of questions. 308 00:16:20,080 --> 00:16:23,320 Mr Clancy, where are you getting this information? 309 00:16:24,520 --> 00:16:29,520 But then, mysteriously, the FBI drops its investigation. 310 00:16:29,680 --> 00:16:31,280 And as his fame grows, 311 00:16:31,440 --> 00:16:34,680 so does his unexplained access to classified information. 312 00:16:35,840 --> 00:16:38,160 He was an insurance salesman even kind of after. 313 00:16:38,320 --> 00:16:40,440 I mean, he was actually actively selling it. 314 00:16:41,560 --> 00:16:43,120 God, it's weird. (LAUGHS) 315 00:16:43,280 --> 00:16:46,680 Why would a successful author continue to sell insurance 316 00:16:46,840 --> 00:16:49,560 after making millions publishing fiction? 317 00:16:49,720 --> 00:16:53,320 Some say the answer is to be found in his client base. 318 00:16:54,920 --> 00:16:56,400 The house where Clancy wrote 319 00:16:56,560 --> 00:16:58,040 The Hunt for Red October 320 00:16:58,200 --> 00:16:59,680 is only 27 miles from 321 00:16:59,840 --> 00:17:01,920 the Patuxent River Naval Air Station, 322 00:17:02,080 --> 00:17:05,080 and 38 miles from the Annapolis Naval Academy. 323 00:17:06,640 --> 00:17:09,720 MAN: Tom used to love to hang around the navy, 324 00:17:09,880 --> 00:17:14,480 and he particularly used to spend time in Annapolis 325 00:17:14,640 --> 00:17:17,200 and other naval sectors. 326 00:17:17,360 --> 00:17:19,680 And he'd listen and ask questions. 327 00:17:19,840 --> 00:17:23,200 And pretty soon, he was able to piece together 328 00:17:23,360 --> 00:17:29,680 a lot of the key realities of the undersea tactics and technology. 329 00:17:34,000 --> 00:17:37,240 Not everyone, however, subscribes to this view. 330 00:17:38,760 --> 00:17:41,320 Well, Clancy was a typical insurance salesman. 331 00:17:41,480 --> 00:17:45,160 He didn't really run in military circles, 332 00:17:45,320 --> 00:17:48,840 And people that had information about military technology 333 00:17:49,000 --> 00:17:51,600 don't have that conversation with their insurance agent. 334 00:17:51,760 --> 00:17:56,600 If this is the case, then how did Clancy get this information? 335 00:17:56,760 --> 00:17:58,640 And is The Hunt for Red October 336 00:17:58,800 --> 00:18:01,760 more than just a technically accurate submarine drama? 337 00:18:01,920 --> 00:18:04,280 Is it also, as some now believe, 338 00:18:04,440 --> 00:18:08,600 part of a secret history that has its roots in the K-129 mystery? 339 00:18:08,760 --> 00:18:10,720 Was it written both to disguise 340 00:18:10,880 --> 00:18:13,440 how close the world came to nuclear annihilation 341 00:18:13,600 --> 00:18:16,720 and, ultimately, to help America win the Cold War? 342 00:18:18,000 --> 00:18:19,920 The answers to these questions 343 00:18:20,080 --> 00:18:23,240 are tied up in the most basic question of all. 344 00:18:23,400 --> 00:18:27,640 Where is the Russian's missing nuclear missile submarine? 345 00:18:32,040 --> 00:18:34,800 The film Hunt For Red October was exciting. 346 00:18:34,960 --> 00:18:37,480 It was a great story. Had great actors. 347 00:18:37,640 --> 00:18:40,680 VOICEOVER: The Hunt for Red October stars Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin 348 00:18:40,840 --> 00:18:44,000 and Scott Glenn, and is directed by John McTiernan. 349 00:18:44,160 --> 00:18:46,920 But compared to the mission of K-129, 350 00:18:47,080 --> 00:18:49,840 it didn't have nearly the twists and turns 351 00:18:50,000 --> 00:18:54,440 and the subterfuge and devastating consequences for mankind. 352 00:18:54,600 --> 00:18:59,360 In the Red October film, much of the action is seen from inside the sub. 353 00:18:59,520 --> 00:19:01,240 But in the case of the real story, 354 00:19:01,400 --> 00:19:06,440 no-one knows where Soviet ballistic missile submarine K-129 is, 355 00:19:06,600 --> 00:19:08,680 whether the men on board are alive, 356 00:19:08,840 --> 00:19:11,560 and, if they are, who's in control. 357 00:19:14,640 --> 00:19:18,320 All that matters for certain is that it went missing in the North Pacific 358 00:19:18,480 --> 00:19:20,320 with 83 crewmen, 359 00:19:20,480 --> 00:19:23,200 a contingent of mystery passengers, 360 00:19:23,360 --> 00:19:25,680 and multiple nuclear weapons. 361 00:19:29,240 --> 00:19:30,720 If a submarine didn't report in, 362 00:19:30,880 --> 00:19:33,720 obviously it could be that it was being trailed by an American unit 363 00:19:33,880 --> 00:19:36,240 and it didn't want to give away its position. 364 00:19:36,400 --> 00:19:39,240 It could have, you know, equipment problems. 365 00:19:39,400 --> 00:19:43,680 Although when you get right down to it, the sub could've gone rogue. 366 00:19:43,840 --> 00:19:47,520 But that was kind of inconceivable because these were super patriots. 367 00:19:47,680 --> 00:19:49,760 These men would no more go, you know, defect 368 00:19:49,920 --> 00:19:52,160 than an American submarine captain would. 369 00:19:53,720 --> 00:19:56,680 In the heightened Cold War tension of 1968 370 00:19:56,840 --> 00:19:59,120 where the slightest misstep by a super power 371 00:19:59,280 --> 00:20:00,640 could trigger a nuclear war, 372 00:20:00,800 --> 00:20:04,160 it is a potentially disastrous situation 373 00:20:04,320 --> 00:20:06,280 Moscow must rush to address. 374 00:20:06,440 --> 00:20:08,760 When the sub failed to send its special signal 375 00:20:08,920 --> 00:20:10,600 that everything was OK, 376 00:20:10,760 --> 00:20:12,840 the Soviet high command became very alarmed. 377 00:20:16,800 --> 00:20:19,840 So, immediately they rushed to order a search for the sub 378 00:20:20,000 --> 00:20:21,840 along its assigned patrol route. 379 00:20:25,400 --> 00:20:27,680 The sub hadn't communicated in a few days, 380 00:20:27,840 --> 00:20:31,200 so the area of ocean that it could've covered is pretty vast. 381 00:20:31,360 --> 00:20:33,680 You're talking about hundreds of square miles. 382 00:20:35,480 --> 00:20:37,040 What are you looking for? 383 00:20:37,200 --> 00:20:39,520 You're looking for oil slicks, for pieces of metal, 384 00:20:39,680 --> 00:20:42,760 So, I think a desperate search that seems completely disorganised 385 00:20:42,920 --> 00:20:45,760 is probably a completely natural result. 386 00:20:46,880 --> 00:20:49,960 If K-129 has sunk, the Russians believe 387 00:20:50,120 --> 00:20:53,360 the chance of finding survivors is extremely unlikely. 388 00:20:53,520 --> 00:20:58,000 But retrieving the submarine with its code machines and nuclear weapons 389 00:20:58,160 --> 00:21:01,640 before their sworn enemies, the Americans, is vital. 390 00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:06,200 Their convoy of ships, however, 391 00:21:06,360 --> 00:21:09,040 soon draws the attention of the Americans. 392 00:21:11,440 --> 00:21:14,120 We saw the Russians out there searching in that area, 393 00:21:14,280 --> 00:21:18,240 which was a known patrol box for their ballistic missile submarines, 394 00:21:18,400 --> 00:21:21,360 it was logical to assume that they'd lost a sub. 395 00:21:21,520 --> 00:21:25,320 It's then that the Russians make an explosive accusation. 396 00:21:26,800 --> 00:21:30,680 The Soviet Navy command claimed the K-129 sank 397 00:21:30,840 --> 00:21:33,920 after being rammed by the American nuclear powered attack submarine, 398 00:21:34,080 --> 00:21:36,280 the USS Swordfish. 399 00:21:38,560 --> 00:21:40,880 SEWELL: The Russians were looking for the sub. 400 00:21:41,040 --> 00:21:42,680 And all of a sudden, the USS Swordfish 401 00:21:42,840 --> 00:21:46,920 comes into its home port and it's got a dent in the sail. 402 00:21:47,960 --> 00:21:50,280 What the Russians say is that it was overrun by the US sub, 403 00:21:50,440 --> 00:21:52,440 causing a breach in the hull. 404 00:21:52,600 --> 00:21:54,800 This is something that happened a lot back then. 405 00:21:54,960 --> 00:21:59,160 You're trying to stay in your opponent's blind spot constantly. 406 00:21:59,320 --> 00:22:01,080 So, you're in a pretty dangerous position 407 00:22:01,240 --> 00:22:04,240 if the submarine that you're tailing makes a sudden, and unexpected move. 408 00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:09,640 The American crews even have a classified name for this 409 00:22:09,800 --> 00:22:12,240 Russian sudden unexpected move. 410 00:22:12,400 --> 00:22:14,720 They call it the "Crazy Ivan". 411 00:22:18,600 --> 00:22:20,440 Clancy included it in his book, 412 00:22:20,600 --> 00:22:24,520 and it became one of the most dramatic scenes in the film. 413 00:22:24,680 --> 00:22:30,000 I had that sequence of the Crazy Ivan and the two submarines. 414 00:22:32,680 --> 00:22:35,480 And visually it was very interesting. 415 00:22:35,640 --> 00:22:38,000 But did it happen? 416 00:22:38,160 --> 00:22:41,440 To this day, the Americans continue to deny 417 00:22:41,600 --> 00:22:44,360 that the Swordfish collided with K-129. 418 00:22:44,520 --> 00:22:46,640 I am absolutely certain 419 00:22:46,800 --> 00:22:50,360 the USS Swordfish had nothing to do with K-129. 420 00:22:50,520 --> 00:22:55,400 They ran into some ice floes and pulled in for repairs. 421 00:22:55,560 --> 00:22:59,120 SEWELL: The K-129 was a deep diving submarine 422 00:22:59,280 --> 00:23:02,560 and it had about a two-inch-thick hull of high yield steel, 423 00:23:02,720 --> 00:23:04,080 and steel beams to reinforce it. 424 00:23:04,240 --> 00:23:07,320 The part of the Swordfish was damaged was the sail, 425 00:23:07,480 --> 00:23:08,920 which is a very thin metal, 426 00:23:09,080 --> 00:23:13,200 so there's no way it could have penetrated the hull of the K-129. 427 00:23:15,880 --> 00:23:19,560 But Russian suspicions about the Swordfish continue to this day 428 00:23:19,720 --> 00:23:21,840 because of the Americans' determination 429 00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:25,800 to keep everything concerning it classified. 430 00:23:28,960 --> 00:23:30,680 Something Clancy himself discovers 431 00:23:30,840 --> 00:23:35,040 when he yet again falls afoul of a navy censor. 432 00:23:35,200 --> 00:23:37,200 ..is classified. 433 00:23:38,560 --> 00:23:42,840 One of the officers told me the book should not be published 434 00:23:43,000 --> 00:23:44,680 for reasons of security. 435 00:23:46,480 --> 00:23:48,200 What he was really worked up about 436 00:23:48,360 --> 00:23:50,480 was something called the Crazy Ivan turn. 437 00:23:50,640 --> 00:23:52,120 He was annoyed that I knew what that was 438 00:23:52,280 --> 00:23:54,400 and I told him that one of my clients had told me 439 00:23:54,560 --> 00:23:57,320 what Crazy Ivan was and I just sort of filed it away and used it. 440 00:23:57,480 --> 00:23:59,640 I honestly couldn't even tell you which one told me this 441 00:23:59,800 --> 00:24:01,920 because I have insurance for maybe seven or eight of them. 442 00:24:02,080 --> 00:24:03,880 But in spite of this warning, 443 00:24:04,040 --> 00:24:08,000 somehow, Clancy again seems immune to the censor. 444 00:24:08,160 --> 00:24:12,280 The Crazy Ivan manoeuvre remains in both the book and movie. 445 00:24:14,440 --> 00:24:16,400 Back in the North Pacific, 446 00:24:16,560 --> 00:24:20,240 after weeks of searching unsuccessfully for their lost sub, 447 00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:22,960 the Soviets give it up for lost. 448 00:24:23,120 --> 00:24:27,800 I could probably, in 1968, point to an area of the Pacific 449 00:24:27,960 --> 00:24:29,320 and tell you your submarine is there 450 00:24:29,480 --> 00:24:31,160 and the Russians still couldn't have found it. 451 00:24:31,320 --> 00:24:33,200 They just literally did not have the capabilities 452 00:24:33,360 --> 00:24:36,160 to see that beyond a certain depth. 453 00:24:36,320 --> 00:24:38,280 They basically have to write it off. 454 00:24:38,440 --> 00:24:39,880 So as much as you might be panicking 455 00:24:40,040 --> 00:24:42,280 about the fact that you lost a nuclear missile, 456 00:24:42,440 --> 00:24:45,880 I think you're confident that your opponent has no means of retrieving it either. 457 00:24:47,200 --> 00:24:50,320 But the Russians' confidence is misplaced. 458 00:24:50,480 --> 00:24:53,880 In a twist to the Red October plot about a Soviet captain 459 00:24:54,040 --> 00:24:57,840 desperate to get his sub into the hands of the wary Americans, 460 00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:01,600 in the case of K-129 the Americans are determined 461 00:25:01,760 --> 00:25:05,320 to get their hands on a sub the Russians have abandoned. 462 00:25:05,480 --> 00:25:07,880 The intelligence it contains, they believe, 463 00:25:08,040 --> 00:25:11,160 could tip the Cold War in America's favour. 464 00:25:12,360 --> 00:25:14,720 So basically, the Soviets lost a submarine during this period. 465 00:25:14,880 --> 00:25:18,640 We know that because we observed a massive search that was abandoned. 466 00:25:18,800 --> 00:25:20,960 Could we find it? What do we do? 467 00:25:21,120 --> 00:25:22,960 I mean, it's beyond a needle in a haystack. 468 00:25:23,120 --> 00:25:25,040 It's like a needle in a thousand haystacks. 469 00:25:28,160 --> 00:25:31,720 Then, a University of Hawaii oceanographic research vessel, 470 00:25:31,880 --> 00:25:34,880 the Teritu, makes a startling discovery. 471 00:25:35,040 --> 00:25:38,840 SEWELL: 400 miles south of the K-129's patrol area, 472 00:25:39,000 --> 00:25:42,160 a University of Hawaii research vessel came across an oil slick. 473 00:25:42,320 --> 00:25:43,960 (CRACKLING) 474 00:25:45,960 --> 00:25:47,760 When they tested it for radioactivity... 475 00:25:47,920 --> 00:25:49,760 (CRACKLING) 476 00:25:49,920 --> 00:25:53,880 ..it had bomb-grade material mixed in it. 477 00:25:54,040 --> 00:25:57,440 Had the Soviet navy been mounting an attack on American forces 478 00:25:57,600 --> 00:25:59,520 in Pearl Harbor? 479 00:25:59,680 --> 00:26:02,240 And if they had, were other attacks imminent? 480 00:26:03,400 --> 00:26:05,760 It was something that we really needed to investigate. 481 00:26:11,200 --> 00:26:14,480 The 1990 smash-hit film, Hunt for Red October, 482 00:26:14,640 --> 00:26:16,840 tells the story of a Soviet submarine captain, 483 00:26:17,000 --> 00:26:19,320 played by Sean Connery, 484 00:26:19,480 --> 00:26:21,760 attempting to defect to the American Navy, 485 00:26:21,920 --> 00:26:23,960 and a CIA officer, played by Alec Baldwin, 486 00:26:24,120 --> 00:26:26,240 who must convince the Americans 487 00:26:26,400 --> 00:26:29,960 that Connery isn't secretly planning a double cross. 488 00:26:36,120 --> 00:26:38,200 This story, it can now be revealed, 489 00:26:38,360 --> 00:26:42,040 was inspired by one of the most closely guarded secrets 490 00:26:42,200 --> 00:26:44,640 of the Cold War, 491 00:26:44,800 --> 00:26:47,880 the events behind the missing Soviet submarine K-129. 492 00:26:53,240 --> 00:26:54,800 In late March 1968, 493 00:26:54,960 --> 00:26:59,960 after the Soviet Navy abandons its search for K-129, 494 00:27:00,120 --> 00:27:05,720 Dr John Craven, head of the US Navy's top-secret Special Projects division, 495 00:27:05,880 --> 00:27:08,160 is alerted to the radioactive oil slick 496 00:27:08,320 --> 00:27:12,240 320 miles from the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, 497 00:27:12,400 --> 00:27:16,520 and 400 miles south of where the Russians were searching. 498 00:27:17,960 --> 00:27:21,880 Dr John Craven is a legend in the submarine community. 499 00:27:22,040 --> 00:27:25,960 He was the chief scientist on the Polaris....program. 500 00:27:26,120 --> 00:27:28,640 Later on, he did special operations 501 00:27:28,800 --> 00:27:31,040 for mostly the intelligence agencies. 502 00:27:32,360 --> 00:27:33,720 I got to know him personally. 503 00:27:33,880 --> 00:27:36,760 He was a genius. He had several PhDs. 504 00:27:36,920 --> 00:27:39,440 He was a true Renaissance man. 505 00:27:39,600 --> 00:27:41,320 DR CRAVEN: In the 1960s, 506 00:27:41,480 --> 00:27:44,440 I was director of the Deep Submersion Assistance Project, 507 00:27:44,600 --> 00:27:50,160 and classified at the time a number of intelligence projects. 508 00:27:50,320 --> 00:27:52,640 Dr Craven was involved with trying to figure out 509 00:27:52,800 --> 00:27:56,840 why the Russians were up in the control box 510 00:27:57,000 --> 00:27:58,200 looking for the sub. 511 00:27:58,360 --> 00:28:01,880 And the fact that that oil slick had bomb-grade material mixed in it 512 00:28:02,040 --> 00:28:05,080 was something that he really needed to investigate. 513 00:28:06,920 --> 00:28:09,160 Craven turns to the top-secret SOSUS listening system 514 00:28:09,320 --> 00:28:12,880 the Americans have deployed in oceans around the world. 515 00:28:15,480 --> 00:28:18,120 DEAN: So, anchored to the seafloor you've got a series of hydrophones 516 00:28:18,280 --> 00:28:20,160 that listen to submarines. 517 00:28:20,320 --> 00:28:22,040 And submarines all have a unique signature. 518 00:28:22,200 --> 00:28:25,360 No two submarines sound the same. It's almost like a fingerprint. 519 00:28:25,520 --> 00:28:27,640 So, the way their screws turn in the engine, 520 00:28:27,800 --> 00:28:31,000 some combination of factors creates a sound that's unique. 521 00:28:32,200 --> 00:28:33,800 Plus, there's a second system. 522 00:28:33,960 --> 00:28:36,440 There are sensors mounted alongside the hydrophones 523 00:28:36,600 --> 00:28:39,760 that are listening for any ballistic missile tests in the oceans. 524 00:28:41,080 --> 00:28:44,800 There is no evidence of an imminent coordinated Soviet attack. 525 00:28:44,960 --> 00:28:47,720 But there is something else. 526 00:28:47,880 --> 00:28:51,320 Around the time of the K-129's disappearance, 527 00:28:51,480 --> 00:28:54,440 these sensors off of Hawaii 528 00:28:54,600 --> 00:28:57,720 picked up something that sounded different. 529 00:28:57,880 --> 00:29:00,600 And when the analysts go back and listen to the results... 530 00:29:03,320 --> 00:29:05,480 ..they're like, "That's weird. 531 00:29:05,640 --> 00:29:07,760 "That doesn't sound normal. 532 00:29:07,920 --> 00:29:11,080 "Did something happen to that submarine? 533 00:29:11,240 --> 00:29:13,000 "Like, did it blow up?" 534 00:29:13,160 --> 00:29:14,640 (EXPLOSION) 535 00:29:19,640 --> 00:29:23,520 Craven also checks the US satellites that orbit the earth 536 00:29:23,680 --> 00:29:25,400 looking for rocket launches. 537 00:29:27,720 --> 00:29:31,920 A rocket, when it launches, will give off a spectrum 538 00:29:32,080 --> 00:29:34,880 of radiation depending on the type of fuel being used. 539 00:29:35,040 --> 00:29:37,160 He found that they did have a flare. 540 00:29:37,320 --> 00:29:39,200 But since no missile appeared on radar, 541 00:29:39,360 --> 00:29:41,640 it was dismissed as an anomaly. 542 00:29:42,960 --> 00:29:44,200 By using this information 543 00:29:44,360 --> 00:29:47,960 and calculating the flow of the radioactive slick, 544 00:29:48,120 --> 00:29:51,080 Craven arrives at a probable search area. 545 00:29:51,240 --> 00:29:52,720 It is approximately 546 00:29:52,880 --> 00:29:55,440 370 miles from Pearl Harbor. 547 00:29:57,240 --> 00:30:00,200 Craven also realises something else. 548 00:30:00,360 --> 00:30:03,280 Even though he's still sworn to secrecy, 549 00:30:03,440 --> 00:30:04,920 he hints that K-129, 550 00:30:05,080 --> 00:30:09,200 in straying 400 miles from where the Soviet command had sent it, 551 00:30:09,360 --> 00:30:12,200 was most likely in violation of its orders. 552 00:30:12,360 --> 00:30:15,320 You have a serious question as to why that submarine 553 00:30:15,480 --> 00:30:19,760 was not where the deploying party thought it was. 554 00:30:19,920 --> 00:30:22,200 You know then that they have 555 00:30:22,360 --> 00:30:24,560 a serious problem of command and control. 556 00:30:24,720 --> 00:30:26,640 Command and control. 557 00:30:26,800 --> 00:30:29,840 While his language is careful, his meaning is clear. 558 00:30:30,000 --> 00:30:34,560 Whatever happened on K-129 was unauthorised, serious 559 00:30:34,720 --> 00:30:37,240 and consistent with having gone rogue. 560 00:30:37,400 --> 00:30:40,360 The K-129 was ordered to go to its patrol box. 561 00:30:40,520 --> 00:30:42,560 It actually went right through it, 562 00:30:42,720 --> 00:30:45,720 didn't even pause and went 370 miles from Pearl Harbor. 563 00:30:45,880 --> 00:30:47,440 It had disobeyed orders. 564 00:30:47,600 --> 00:30:52,200 It was a rogue submarine, just like the submarine in the film Hunt For Red October. 565 00:30:53,640 --> 00:30:56,880 For the Americans, finding K-129 566 00:30:57,040 --> 00:31:01,760 is potentially a treasure-trove of Soviet military intelligence. 567 00:31:01,920 --> 00:31:04,960 But while Craven now has a target area to look for it, 568 00:31:05,120 --> 00:31:09,600 he and his team face a seemingly impossible challenge. 569 00:31:09,760 --> 00:31:13,760 The waters in this area are over three miles deep, 570 00:31:13,920 --> 00:31:16,760 and if the Russians catch them searching, 571 00:31:16,920 --> 00:31:18,720 they'll consider it an act of war. 572 00:31:21,080 --> 00:31:23,600 In the blockbuster film, Hunt For Red October, 573 00:31:23,760 --> 00:31:27,360 the Soviet navy frantically searches for its rogue submarine 574 00:31:27,520 --> 00:31:30,600 captained by Sean Connery. 575 00:31:30,760 --> 00:31:35,240 But in the real-world case of the Soviets' missing K-129, 576 00:31:35,400 --> 00:31:37,600 it's the Americans determined to find it. 577 00:31:40,520 --> 00:31:43,360 DR CRAVEN: The naval submarine intelligence people 578 00:31:43,520 --> 00:31:49,440 called me in and asked me if I could modify existing submarines 579 00:31:49,600 --> 00:31:52,520 to find hardware on the deepest part of the ocean 580 00:31:52,680 --> 00:31:54,920 that was of great intelligence value. 581 00:31:56,160 --> 00:31:57,760 Craven devises a plan 582 00:31:57,920 --> 00:32:00,800 to equip a specialised submarine called Halibut 583 00:32:00,960 --> 00:32:03,000 with a mobile deep-sea camera. 584 00:32:04,440 --> 00:32:06,920 I chose Halibut because it had a large hangar 585 00:32:07,080 --> 00:32:09,640 in which we could put large amounts of equipment. 586 00:32:12,640 --> 00:32:14,600 Roger Dunham is a young submariner 587 00:32:14,760 --> 00:32:18,720 assigned to the secret submarine in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. 588 00:32:20,400 --> 00:32:22,160 When I got on the submarine 589 00:32:22,320 --> 00:32:25,000 nobody had any idea about what it was supposed to do 590 00:32:25,160 --> 00:32:28,240 except to search the bottom of the ocean floor. 591 00:32:28,400 --> 00:32:31,000 What we would be searching for we did not know. 592 00:32:32,440 --> 00:32:36,240 Civilians came aboard. They stayed pretty much among themselves. 593 00:32:36,400 --> 00:32:38,520 We did not know what their credentials were. 594 00:32:38,680 --> 00:32:40,680 They were very serious. They were studious. 595 00:32:40,840 --> 00:32:43,160 They were obviously very, very intelligent people 596 00:32:43,320 --> 00:32:47,040 who were closely involved in the operations. 597 00:32:47,200 --> 00:32:52,840 Halibut now completely disappears into the shadowy world of black ops. 598 00:32:53,000 --> 00:32:55,040 They never told us what they did 599 00:32:55,200 --> 00:32:57,120 but it wasn't something we needed to know 600 00:32:57,280 --> 00:33:01,200 to fulfil our activities and the operations of the submarine. 601 00:33:06,200 --> 00:33:08,320 To ready the submarine for its mission, 602 00:33:08,480 --> 00:33:13,360 Craven's team has cut bay doors that open and close in its bottom. 603 00:33:13,520 --> 00:33:16,040 Through this hole, a complex photography vehicle 604 00:33:16,200 --> 00:33:22,600 known simply as 'the Fish' can descend on a tether down 25,000 feet. 605 00:33:22,760 --> 00:33:27,440 To this day, that special project sub program is still top-secret. 606 00:33:27,600 --> 00:33:29,600 It has its own contingent of people on board 607 00:33:29,760 --> 00:33:32,200 who are not navy people, like, the "civilians", right? 608 00:33:32,360 --> 00:33:34,080 They work in their special room 609 00:33:34,240 --> 00:33:36,600 and they work for the NSA and the CIA. 610 00:33:36,760 --> 00:33:40,280 And they're down there to figure out secrets about the Soviet navy 611 00:33:40,440 --> 00:33:43,440 without the Soviet navy knowing that we're doing it. 612 00:33:44,880 --> 00:33:48,400 The only people that were aware of the mission was the captain 613 00:33:48,560 --> 00:33:51,880 and the executive officer, and an intelligence officer. 614 00:33:54,960 --> 00:33:59,400 The task of finding K-129 tests them to their limit. 615 00:34:02,120 --> 00:34:05,880 The secret search is deeper and more difficult than any ever conducted. 616 00:34:06,040 --> 00:34:10,880 The Fish must scour the ocean floor over three miles below, 617 00:34:11,040 --> 00:34:12,560 and it must do it blind. 618 00:34:15,200 --> 00:34:17,640 If you picture an airliner flying at 20,000 feet 619 00:34:17,800 --> 00:34:21,000 lowering a device on the end of a cable all the way down 620 00:34:21,160 --> 00:34:24,360 you'd get some concept of what the technological difficulties were. 621 00:34:24,520 --> 00:34:29,160 We're talking 1968. There were no computers, no GPS. 622 00:34:29,320 --> 00:34:30,800 You know, primitive systems. 623 00:34:30,960 --> 00:34:34,680 And yet, this submarine was able to take very clear photographs 624 00:34:34,840 --> 00:34:37,040 of 16,000 feet under the ocean. 625 00:34:38,440 --> 00:34:43,280 And as the weeks pass, the only thing outweighing their exacting task 626 00:34:43,440 --> 00:34:44,920 is the danger they face. 627 00:34:45,080 --> 00:34:47,000 DR DUNHAM: The mood was intense. 628 00:34:47,160 --> 00:34:50,040 We were running low on uranium, and things kept going wrong. 629 00:34:50,200 --> 00:34:52,040 Go! Go! Go! 630 00:34:52,200 --> 00:34:54,320 We lost a man and we lost the reactor, 631 00:34:54,480 --> 00:34:56,480 with an emergency shut-down. 632 00:35:01,520 --> 00:35:04,800 Because K-129 is in international waters, 633 00:35:04,960 --> 00:35:09,480 any search and retrieval operation must be completely clandestine. 634 00:35:09,640 --> 00:35:13,360 An American incursion risks a lethal Soviet response. 635 00:35:15,280 --> 00:35:17,680 Every day the Halibut goes back and forth 636 00:35:17,840 --> 00:35:21,800 increases the chance of being caught by Russian patrols. 637 00:35:24,600 --> 00:35:26,400 As in The Hunt For Red October, 638 00:35:26,560 --> 00:35:30,160 maintaining silence is a matter of life or death. 639 00:35:37,760 --> 00:35:41,360 In spite of the danger, Halibut must hold a stable depth 640 00:35:41,520 --> 00:35:43,240 300 feet beneath the surface 641 00:35:43,400 --> 00:35:46,720 with the Fish tethered a full three miles below. 642 00:35:46,880 --> 00:35:51,600 Just imagine a submarine running a grid pattern back and forth, 643 00:35:51,760 --> 00:35:54,200 back and forth, so that they don't miss any area 644 00:35:54,360 --> 00:35:56,880 for hundreds of square miles. 645 00:35:57,040 --> 00:36:00,040 For months at a time, dragging a cable with a camera on the end, 646 00:36:00,200 --> 00:36:01,920 taking thousands of pictures every day 647 00:36:02,080 --> 00:36:03,800 that then go into a darkroom 648 00:36:03,960 --> 00:36:06,960 and some poor guy has to go through them. 649 00:36:11,200 --> 00:36:14,040 And we know that that guy didn't really know what he was looking for. 650 00:36:14,200 --> 00:36:17,560 It's like, "Go and find something weird in the ocean and tell me when you've found it. 651 00:36:17,720 --> 00:36:19,440 "You're going to know it when you see it, 652 00:36:19,600 --> 00:36:22,160 "but I'm not going to tell you that you're looking for a submarine, 653 00:36:22,320 --> 00:36:24,360 "but trust me, you're going to know it when you see it." 654 00:36:24,520 --> 00:36:26,880 Then, in their position 300 feet below the surface, 655 00:36:27,040 --> 00:36:31,160 the Halibut is suddenly rocked by a series of shock waves. 656 00:36:33,240 --> 00:36:37,720 A Soviet ship above them is dropping charges into the water. 657 00:36:39,120 --> 00:36:43,760 At that point the Soviets were looking for us, 658 00:36:43,920 --> 00:36:45,800 there were many detonations going off in the water, 659 00:36:45,960 --> 00:36:49,360 where there should have been no noise at all. 660 00:36:49,520 --> 00:36:51,600 It's a desperate situation made worse 661 00:36:51,760 --> 00:36:54,000 because knowledge of the Halibut's mission 662 00:36:54,160 --> 00:36:55,920 is limited to the American president 663 00:36:56,080 --> 00:36:58,920 and only a handful of others. 664 00:36:59,080 --> 00:37:02,960 There will be no-one to save the crew if the Soviets detect the sub. 665 00:37:07,720 --> 00:37:10,120 In the hit film Hunt For Red October, 666 00:37:10,280 --> 00:37:13,320 the defecting Soviet captain, played by Sean Connery, 667 00:37:13,480 --> 00:37:18,440 must take evasive action to avoid being sunk by his own navy. 668 00:37:28,560 --> 00:37:31,000 Similarly, the American spy sub, Halibut, 669 00:37:31,160 --> 00:37:36,880 while searching for the missing Soviet submarine K-129, 670 00:37:37,040 --> 00:37:41,080 also finds itself under attack from the Russians... 671 00:37:43,000 --> 00:37:45,000 ..forcing the captain to take evasive action. 672 00:37:46,560 --> 00:37:50,800 He guides the sub into a pocket of cool water 673 00:37:50,960 --> 00:37:52,760 hundreds of feet below... 674 00:37:55,640 --> 00:37:57,120 ..and waits. 675 00:37:57,280 --> 00:37:58,760 (EXPLOSION) 676 00:38:03,000 --> 00:38:04,840 It is hoped the warmer water above it 677 00:38:05,000 --> 00:38:07,400 will help deflect the shock waves. 678 00:38:11,480 --> 00:38:13,080 We were very, very quiet. 679 00:38:14,800 --> 00:38:17,680 Fortunately for all of us we were able to remain there 680 00:38:17,840 --> 00:38:19,320 and remain undetected. 681 00:38:20,760 --> 00:38:23,880 Despite being constantly stalked by the Russians, 682 00:38:24,040 --> 00:38:25,640 the Halibut's Special Ops team 683 00:38:25,800 --> 00:38:28,880 continues to search for the K-129 wreck. 684 00:38:32,600 --> 00:38:35,880 Then, on August 20, 1968 685 00:38:36,040 --> 00:38:38,920 four and a half months after it goes missing, 686 00:38:39,080 --> 00:38:44,000 the photo technician finally sees something he recognises. 687 00:38:44,160 --> 00:38:47,480 And you know suddenly it's like, "Oh, my God, we've found it, 688 00:38:47,640 --> 00:38:48,920 "and it's in pretty good shape." 689 00:38:52,440 --> 00:38:54,560 You know, it doesn't look like a submarine sitting in port, 690 00:38:54,720 --> 00:38:57,480 but it also doesn't look like a submarine that's been crushed like a tin can. 691 00:38:57,640 --> 00:39:01,000 This is a submarine. 692 00:39:01,160 --> 00:39:03,120 And you're in a submarine. 693 00:39:04,760 --> 00:39:07,640 That can be you there except for the grace of God. 694 00:39:10,160 --> 00:39:12,840 Craven's team sets to work photographing the wreck 695 00:39:13,000 --> 00:39:15,160 from every possible angle. 696 00:39:15,320 --> 00:39:19,640 In total, 32,000 pictures are taken on the mission. 697 00:39:19,800 --> 00:39:23,680 To this day, not one of them has been de-classified, 698 00:39:23,840 --> 00:39:26,040 but a few have leaked. 699 00:39:26,200 --> 00:39:28,760 I've seen the images. They are remarkably clear. 700 00:39:28,920 --> 00:39:33,920 They are taken at three miles under the ocean in 1968. Very clear. 701 00:39:35,520 --> 00:39:38,720 Even at first glance, they offer tantalising evidence 702 00:39:38,880 --> 00:39:41,800 about what sunk K-129. 703 00:39:41,960 --> 00:39:45,680 The submarine has sustained massive structural damage 704 00:39:45,840 --> 00:39:47,360 to its mid-section. 705 00:39:51,320 --> 00:39:56,120 After three weeks, taking detailed photographs of the K-129 wreck, 706 00:39:56,280 --> 00:39:58,760 Halibut returns to Pearl Harbor. 707 00:40:06,440 --> 00:40:08,960 The commanding officer came up out of the submarine 708 00:40:09,120 --> 00:40:12,080 with a briefcase filled with photographs. 709 00:40:16,400 --> 00:40:18,720 It was deemed of sufficiently high intelligence 710 00:40:18,880 --> 00:40:21,880 that it did not go through the normal intelligence review channels 711 00:40:22,040 --> 00:40:23,840 but went directly to the top. 712 00:40:28,920 --> 00:40:30,680 Here you are, sir. 713 00:40:30,840 --> 00:40:36,320 President Lyndon Johnson is one of the very few to see the photographs. 714 00:40:36,480 --> 00:40:40,440 He honours the crew with the Presidential Unit Citation, 715 00:40:40,600 --> 00:40:43,880 the highest award a submariner can receive. 716 00:40:44,040 --> 00:40:48,960 The irony is not one of the men knows why he has been decorated. 717 00:40:56,280 --> 00:41:01,560 However, for Craven, the photos identifying K-129's location 718 00:41:01,720 --> 00:41:03,960 400 miles south of its patrol area 719 00:41:04,120 --> 00:41:10,000 confirms his suspicions - K-129 had been rogue. 720 00:41:11,200 --> 00:41:14,200 They also reveal something even more sinister. 721 00:41:15,440 --> 00:41:19,560 The photographs of the submarine that I saw laying on the bottom 722 00:41:19,720 --> 00:41:22,400 showed the damage to tube number one, 723 00:41:22,560 --> 00:41:24,880 with a wrecked missile kinda hanging out the top. 724 00:41:25,040 --> 00:41:28,040 The photos suggest the very real possibility 725 00:41:28,200 --> 00:41:32,800 that K-129 was in the process of firing a nuclear missile 726 00:41:32,960 --> 00:41:34,400 when it sank. 727 00:41:35,680 --> 00:41:40,920 And if it was, what was its intended target, and why did it fail? 728 00:41:43,640 --> 00:41:46,640 After seeing the photos, one thing becomes paramount 729 00:41:46,800 --> 00:41:49,400 to the newly sworn in president. 730 00:41:51,080 --> 00:41:54,680 Nixon wants to get his hands on K-129. 731 00:41:54,840 --> 00:41:59,240 He believes it offers him the one thing he's always wanted - 732 00:41:59,400 --> 00:42:01,600 to break the Soviets. 733 00:42:01,760 --> 00:42:05,200 He demands his forces raise the stricken sub 734 00:42:05,360 --> 00:42:07,240 and do it in secret.