49 pages • 1 hour read
Tom ClancyThe Hunt for Red October
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1984A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 5-7Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 5 Summary, “The Fifth Day – Tuesday, 7 December”
In Moscow, Admiral Yuri Ilych Padorin finds a letter from Ramius waiting for him when he arrives at his desk. Its contents upset him to the point he calls Admiral Gorshkov and demands to see him immediately. At the same time, the USS Dallas, a “688-class attack submarine” (105), is tracking new Soviet submarines that appear to have improved sonar and navigation equipment. On this day, their radio man, Sonarman Second Class Ronald Jones, picks up what he believes is the sound of water going through a pipe. He plays it for Lieutenant Thompson. Thompson doesn’t hear anything, so Jones puts it into the new signal algorithmic processing system (SAPS) that was just added to their equipment. The SAPS says the sound is magma displacement. The submarine commander, Commander Bart Mancuso, joins them, and Lieutenant Thompson explains the situation. Jones says he doesn’t think the SAPS is correct. They listen again, but they pick up a bunch of other Soviet submarines, making them wonder if something is going on. While tracking—but trying to stay out of the radar of the Soviet submarines—Dallas sends a message to the commander of the submarine force in the Atlantic advising of this collection of submarines.
Ryan is pulled out of bed before dawn and taken to Greer’s office. They’ve gotten word that the majority of the Soviet Navy, minus the ballistic missile submarines, is heading out to sea with their oiler ships, implying they are planning on being out for a long period of time or crossing a long distance. There is no information on a planned exercise or any other planned operation. Ryan also wonders why Red October is not among the missile submarines returning to port.
Chapter 6 Summary, “The Sixth Day – Wednesday, 8 December”
Ryan reads a report from Cardinal, a deep undercover agent in Russia, that the Soviet Navy is searching for and has orders to destroy Red October. The Director of Central Intelligence, Arthur Moore, tells Ryan to prepare a briefing for the president and the Joint Chiefs. As Red October approaches a deep canyon near Iceland’s coast, Ryan conducts his briefing, telling them that he believes the captain of Red October is attempting to defect to the US. The president decides to send several ships to look for Red October but tells his Joint Chiefs that he does not believe the US can keep it, even if Ramius defects and hands it over, because some of the crew will likely want to return home. Then, the Soviet government will know the US has Red October. The president tells Ryan that he wants him to fly to the aircraft carrier, Kennedy, to inform the captain in person in order to keep the information from spreading until they have confirmation that it’s true. He also instructs him to fly to the English aircraft carrier, Invincible, to inform her captain, should Britain agree to allow them to join the search. Moore takes Ryan back to his office, where he arranges for him to be fitted for a naval commander’s uniform as part of his cover.
Chapter 7 Summary, “The Seventh Day – Thursday, 9 December”
Ryan flies to the Kennedy with Admiral Davenport. They tell Admiral Josh Painter about Red October, but when he asks what the plan is, Ryan admits there isn’t one yet. At the same time, Jones goes to Commander Mancuso to tell him he’s been tracking the odd sound he heard a few days before and believes it is a Soviet submarine using a new, quiet drive system. He recorded the sound, tracked it, and believes it is moving at 10 knots and traveling toward the US. He’s lost it but believes if they speed up, they will likely find it again. Mancuso agrees and requests permission to search for the submarine from Atlantic Fleet Communications headquarters. Permission is granted.
Captain Tupolev on the Konovalov received orders to head southwest and search for Red October. He is angry about Ramius’s attempt at defecting and worried what will happen to him as the man’s student. so he is determined to find Ramius and sink him. That same day, Ryan arrives on Invincible and tells Vice Admiral John White about Red October and the situation. On Red October, the doctor tests the radiation badges and finds indications of radiation exposure. The reactor is tested, but nothing is found.
Chapters 5-7 Analysis
On the fifth day that Red October is at sea, the Soviets become aware of Ramius’s intentions through a letter he mailed before leaving port. This sets off a set of actions that alert the US that something is going on. The Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union makes the movement of nearly the entire Soviet Naval Fleet toward American shores an event that causes deep concern. Since the 1940s, there has been tension between these two world powers, and this move could spark a war. Both countries need to tread carefully, as tensions can build quickly. However, Ryan reviews the information given to the CIA through a spy the organization placed in a high position in the Soviet Union and guesses that Ramius is attempting to defect. There is no proof of this, but because Ryan is a trusted CIA analyst, the president listens to his theory and considers it. This slows the American response to Soviet actions, allowing political wrangling to begin taking place.
The main conflict within the plot is not necessarily the movements of Red October but the response of the Soviet Naval Fleet to Ramius’s letter. At this point in the novel, the US has no idea where Red October is, and she is not close enough to the American shoreline to be of concern. However, movement of an entire naval fleet toward the US is a vital issue. Even apart from the Cold War context, this action would be deeply concerning, but the Cold War involves tensions that began decades prior to this action and make this movement even more concerning. The fact that Jones on the Dallas hears the caterpillar drive on Red October and is capable of following her is not universally known at this point. Not even Jones or the crew on Dallas understands what they hear. However, Jones’s talents and Mancuso’s decision to request permission to follow this unknown submarine foreshadow the moment the people in charge realize that they are following Red October and use this information to their benefit.
A new conflict enters the plot when the US President explains that international law will not allow the US to keep Red October if they should recover it because the crewmen on board will likely request to return to the Soviet Union and will reveal that the US has the submarine. They might be able to delay returning it by pushing the issue through the courts, but they will eventually have to return it intact, meaning their engineers will not be able to take it apart to figure out how the technology on the boat works. The president’s announcement foreshadows attempts to find a way to make the Soviets believe Red October was destroyed and there is nothing to return to the Soviet Union. Likewise, the Red October radiation badges test positive for radiation exposure, a ploy that Ramius is using to manipulate his crew so he can feign a reactor failure at some point during their cruise. This shows that Ramius is strategizing to get around the same international laws that the president mentioned.
Ryan is pushed into going out into the field. He expresses that he feels like an imposter, someone playing at spy games, since he works a desk job as an analyst. However, this decision to place him on a ship at sea positions him to enact whatever plan the CIA, the Joint Chiefs, and the president come up with to deal with Red October. At the same time, Tupolev, one of Ramius’s former students, receives orders to destroy the Red October, foreshadowing a moment later in the novel when Tupolev and Ramius will come face to face again. The student desperately wants to best the teacher, adding tension to the plot as the showdown slowly approaches. At the same time, Dallas continues to follow an unknown Soviet submarine that readers know is Red October. Placing Dallas in this position again foreshadows a moment when the Americans will realize that their prey is Red October and take advantage of this fact.
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By Tom Clancy
