Description
Conveys in dramatic detail the high-risk and covert operations of a nuclear attack submarine during the zenith of the Cold War
Captain Alfred Scott McLaren served as Commander of the USS Queenfish (SSN 651) from September 1969 to May 1973-the very height of the Cold War. As commander, McLaren led at least six major clandestine operations, including the first-ever exploration of the entire Siberian Continental Shelf, a perilous voyage detailed in his previous book Unknown Waters.
Emergency Deep: Cold War Missions of a Submarine Commander conveys the entire spectrum of Captain McLaren's experiences commanding the USS Queenfish mainly in waters of the Russian Far East and also off Vietnam. This book is a riveting and deeply human story that illuminates the intensity and pressures of commanding a nuclear attack submarine in some of the most challenging circumstances imaginable.
McLaren focuses on operational matters, both great and small. Based on his own notes and records as well as discussions with former officers and shipmates, McLaren recounts his unique perspectives on attack-submarine tactics and exploratory techniques in high-risk or uncharted areas, matters of leadership and team-building and the morale of his crews, and the innumerable and often unforeseen ways his philosophy of command played out on a day-to-day basis, with consequences that ran the gamut from the mundane to the dire and life-threatening.
Readers are also treated to significant new information and insight on submarine strategy, tactics, and culture-details that illuminate and bring to life, with both great humor and gravitas, the intensity and pressures on those engaged in covert missions on nuclear attack submarines.
About the Author
Alfred Scott McLaren, Ph.D. and retired US Navy Captain, is recipient of the Distinguished Service Medal and two Legions of Merit, president emeritus of The Explorers Club, former senior pilot of the SAS Super Aviator submersible, and president emeritus of The American Polar Society. He is author of Unknown Waters: A First-Hand Account of the Historic Under-ice Survey of the Siberian Continental Shelf by USS Queenfish (SSN-651) and Silent and Unseen: On Patrol in Three Cold War Attack Submarines.
Reviews
Emergency Deep is authored by a highly-rated, successful commander of a combat submarine in a conflict that while 'cold' could have gone 'hot' at any time. The human side-the personalities, the honest discussions of human behavior, including tension, humor, and occasional terror are handled very well. The volume does an exceptional job of being relatable to anyone who might never get a chance to be in a virtual pressure cooker like a nuclear submarine." - James P. Delgado, author of War at Sea: A Shipwrecked History from Antiquity to the Twentieth Century and Silent Killers: Submarines and Underwater Warfare
"A superb portrayal of a senior command officer conducting some of the most daring, pioneering, exploratory, and military missions it is possible to conceive. It is the description, in part, of primary original geographic, oceanographic, and bathymetric research in some of the most challenging environments the planet has to offer and the human technology, endurance, intelligence, and creativity to match those almost unbelievable and unexplored places, all while maintaining absolute military secrecy and stealth." - Peter J. Capelotti, author of Adventures in Archaeology: The Wreck of the Orca II and Other Explorations
Book Information
ISBN 9780817320928
Author Alfred Scott McLaren
Format Hardback
Page Count 272
Imprint The University of Alabama Press
Publisher The University of Alabama Press
Weight(grams) 590g
Captain Alfred Scott McLaren served as Commander of the USS Queenfish (SSN 651) from September 1969 to May 1973-the very height of the Cold War. As commander, McLaren led at least six major clandestine operations, including the first-ever exploration of the entire Siberian Continental Shelf, a perilous voyage detailed in his previous book Unknown Waters.
Emergency Deep: Cold War Missions of a Submarine Commander conveys the entire spectrum of Captain McLaren's experiences commanding the USS Queenfish mainly in waters of the Russian Far East and also off Vietnam. This book is a riveting and deeply human story that illuminates the intensity and pressures of commanding a nuclear attack submarine in some of the most challenging circumstances imaginable.
McLaren focuses on operational matters, both great and small. Based on his own notes and records as well as discussions with former officers and shipmates, McLaren recounts his unique perspectives on attack-submarine tactics and exploratory techniques in high-risk or uncharted areas, matters of leadership and team-building and the morale of his crews, and the innumerable and often unforeseen ways his philosophy of command played out on a day-to-day basis, with consequences that ran the gamut from the mundane to the dire and life-threatening.
Readers are also treated to significant new information and insight on submarine strategy, tactics, and culture-details that illuminate and bring to life, with both great humor and gravitas, the intensity and pressures on those engaged in covert missions on nuclear attack submarines.
About the Author
Alfred Scott McLaren, Ph.D. and retired US Navy Captain, is recipient of the Distinguished Service Medal and two Legions of Merit, president emeritus of The Explorers Club, former senior pilot of the SAS Super Aviator submersible, and president emeritus of The American Polar Society. He is author of Unknown Waters: A First-Hand Account of the Historic Under-ice Survey of the Siberian Continental Shelf by USS Queenfish (SSN-651) and Silent and Unseen: On Patrol in Three Cold War Attack Submarines.
Reviews
Emergency Deep is authored by a highly-rated, successful commander of a combat submarine in a conflict that while 'cold' could have gone 'hot' at any time. The human side-the personalities, the honest discussions of human behavior, including tension, humor, and occasional terror are handled very well. The volume does an exceptional job of being relatable to anyone who might never get a chance to be in a virtual pressure cooker like a nuclear submarine." - James P. Delgado, author of War at Sea: A Shipwrecked History from Antiquity to the Twentieth Century and Silent Killers: Submarines and Underwater Warfare
"A superb portrayal of a senior command officer conducting some of the most daring, pioneering, exploratory, and military missions it is possible to conceive. It is the description, in part, of primary original geographic, oceanographic, and bathymetric research in some of the most challenging environments the planet has to offer and the human technology, endurance, intelligence, and creativity to match those almost unbelievable and unexplored places, all while maintaining absolute military secrecy and stealth." - Peter J. Capelotti, author of Adventures in Archaeology: The Wreck of the Orca II and Other Explorations
Book Information
ISBN 9780817320928
Author Alfred Scott McLaren
Format Hardback
Page Count 272
Imprint The University of Alabama Press
Publisher The University of Alabama Press
Weight(grams) 590g
