March 1968: three miles below the stormy surface of the North Pacific; a Soviet submarine lay silent as a tomb-its crew dead; its payload of nuclear missiles; once directed toward strategic targets in Hawaii; inoperable. No longer a real threat; the sub still presented an alluring target and it was not long before the CIA answered its siren call—even at the risk of igniting World War III. Project AZORIAN—the monumentally audacious six-year mission to recover the sub and learn its secrets—has been celebrated within the CIA as its greatest covert operation and hailed by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers as the twentieth century's greatest marine engineering feat. While previous accounts have offered beguiling glimpses; none have had significant access to CIA personnel or documents. Now David Sharp; the mission's Director of Recovery Systems; draws upon his own recollections and personal records; ship's logs; declassified documents; and conversations with team members to shine a bright light on this remarkable but still little understood enterprise. Sharp reveals how the CIA conceived; organized; and conducted AZORIAN; including recruiting the legendary Howard Hughes to provide the "ocean mining" cover story. He takes readers onto and beneath the high seas to show the problems faced by the crew during the operation; including potential Soviet intervention and tense moments when the recovery ship itself was in danger of breaking up. He also puts a human face on key players like Carl Duckett; the head of the CIA's Science and Technology Directorate; John Parangosky; AZORIAN's program manager; John Graham; designer of the Hughes Glomar Explorer; Curtis Crooke of Global Marine Development; co-creator of the "grunt lift" recovery concept; and Oscar "Ott" Schick; manager of the Lockheed-built capture vehicle and submersible barge.A mammoth undertaking worthy of the most dramatic and spell-binding espionage fiction; Project AZORIAN harnessed American imagination and ingenuity at their highest levels. Featuring dozens of previously classified photos; Sharp's chronicle of that amazing operation plunges readers deep into the darkest shadows of the Cold War to produce the definitive account of an amazing mission.
#289052 in Books University Press of Kansas 2007-10-22Ingredients: Example IngredientsOriginal language:EnglishPDF # 1 1.35 x 6.42 x 9.12l; 1.75 #File Name: 0700615318448 pages
Review
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful. Simply OutstandingBy MilitarybooksI am going to be short and sweet. The editorial review offered by the publisher is accurate. If you want to read about 1942 in the East and in North Africa from a fresh well-written (and very easy to read) book; buy this. I know a lot about WWII in general and the East in particular; but this book really explained a LOT I never quite grasped or understood (like Operation Blue; for example). 1942 really did mark the end of "a very old and traditional pattern of war-making;" with the classic 'German way of war'--which Citino explains brilliantly--unable to continue as it once had. Who could have known the effect of the radio on The German way of war?A couple other reviews complained about repetition or typos. On the former; the author is simply reinforcing key points like any good writer; teacher; professor; etc. would and should do. On the latter; so what? I ran across a dozen or more typos or missed words. But I frankly don't care because they never detract from the substance. And by the way; the end notes--deep; long; rich; and detailed--are worth the price of the book alone. The only very minor complaint is that the maps; while satisfactory; were not as plentiful as they should have been.Buy it. Enjoy it. Put it on your bookshelf. And be proud you own it.tps2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Death of the Wehrmacht is a microhistorical operatiional account of the Nazi War Machine'By C. M MillsFive stars with an *! Death of the Wehrmacht is an extremely detail account of the battles waged by the German Army in the pivotal year of 1942. The Germans had already captured most of Europe crushing British and French forces. Most of Western Europe was occupied. The Nazis seemed invinsible as their legions (over 3 million troops) invaded Stalin's Soviet Union; continued to advance in North Africa and quickly conquered Yuogslavia; Greece and the Balkans. What happened to crush this behometh of Nazi might? That is the theme of Robert M. Cimino's outstanding book. It is short but well written containing good battle maps; detailed footnotes and an extensive biblography. The Germans started off the year in fine fettle. Quick victories were won over large and ineptly led Soviet armies. The Germans won big battles at Kerch and Kharkov. Sevastopol and the Crimea fell to their legions. In North Africa they were successful against the British 8th Army at Gazala and Tobruk. The house of cards then began to tumble. The Germans were encircled at Stalingrad as General Von Paulus and his 6th Army were encircled and defeated. General Viscount Bernard Law Montgomery defeated Rommell and the Arika Corp at El Alemein. The Germans were on the run. Defeat became inevitable as the ability of the Allies to produce weapons and equipment defeated the Third Reich. Robert M. Citino the author of "Death of the Wehrmacht" is an expert on Prussian-German military history from the days of Frederick the Great to the snows and sands of World War II. The Germans believed in strikely quickly and encircling the enemy by flank attacks in an overwhelming initial attack. They favored the "kessel" maneuver in which the enemy army was surrounded and crushed. Strategy was influenced by the works of Germany military theorists such as Clausewitz. The strategy unravelled as the war continued. Hitler took over strategic decisions and the independence of military commanders on the ground was hampered as a result. Overwhelming forces in men and material defeated the Germans in Russia and in North Africa. The industrial might of the United States arsenal of democracy was decisive in Nazi defeat. The book contains a number of quotable quotes including:"Overall it is clearer and clearer that we have underestimated the Russian colossus; which has prepared itself for war with an utter lack of restraint..."p. 40 (quotation by German General Franz Halder.")"The Crimean campaign was one of the most interesting and unusual in the history of modern war."-p. 53"There are few lessons to be learned from the attack on Sevastopol "Operation Strofang" other than the obvious one: concentrating the firepower of an entire modern air force and artillery park against a relatively small target like Sevastopol."-pp. 78-79."At El Alamein the German way of war found itself trapped in the grip of the Machine."-p. 288"German defeat...looked far less like an art than an exercise in an industrial shop class; helpless raw materials being torn to shred in a drill press."-p.304 This kind of book will appeal to military history buffs and military professionals. It can be hard going as the author details troop movements but for those who enjoy this kind of detailed study it is an excellent resource.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Well Written WII Key German Battle History When The War TurnedBy Douglas CameronInteresting. Informative history of WII key year from German viewpoint. Removes rosy glasses from description of many key generals that have previously received only the gentle treatment from most books. Good explanation of German logic and viewpoint on several key points. Description of battles is good with mostly strategic view with some on the ground stories mixed in. I have added this to my library and will read it again.
