History Headscratchers / TheHuntForRedOctober

* It's actually relatively common for naval ships to be deployed with special pre-release copies of upcoming movies. The navy has a department dedicated to this sort of thing (established in 1919). Film/ReturnOfTheJedi was released in May of 1983, the book took place the previous December, so it's still a bit early for them to have it, but not glaringly so.

[[WMG: Why did Ramius inform his superiors that he was defecting?]]
Yes, he explains that he’s metaphorically burning bridges so that his fellow defecting officers know that it’s success or face dire consequences. But they’re on a silent ship that cannot be tracked!!! He could’ve easily put the sub in silent drive, which wouldn’t have raised any flags since that was a stated part of the mission objective, and then made a beeline for the US Coast. It likely would’ve taken two or three days for the Soviets to figure out that something was odd, and at that likely would’ve figured it was an accident. (Remember that the Soviets were notorious for putting new technology to use before it was ready in an attempt to prove superiority.) Basically he could’ve followed the plan they had only they would’ve been much closer to America, could’ve been in much warmer water so the men could be safe after they got off the boat, and the Soviet Navy wouldn’t have been looking for them! (Even if the Soviets were looking for them they’d have had several days head start.)

* It's actually relatively common for naval ships to be deployed with special pre-release copies of upcoming movies. The navy has a department dedicated to this sort of thing (established in 1919). Film/ReturnOfTheJedi was released in May of 1983, the book took place the previous December, so it's still a bit early for them to have it, but not glaringly so.

As noted on the main wiki, the chapters' dates are consistent with 1982 and 1993. (December 3rd was a Friday in 1982, because of leap years it would only again be a Friday in 1993.) This book can't take place in 1982 since one of the movies the Dallas has on tape is Film/ReturnOfTheJedi, which came out in 1983. And I don't think this book is supposed to take place in 1993...

[[WMG:Why didn't Loginov (the mole)go straight for the missile tubes without drawing attention to himself?]]

* Yes, but on the other hand the Captain has just killed the political officer. The political officer being the most feared man onboard, and other senior officers are going along with it, so maybe a life-extending move is ''not'' to speak up right now. It's like that bit in ''Film/TheDarkKnight'' where the would-be blackmailer explains his plans to Morgan Freeman and is told [[http://youtu.be/1z6o1GIEsQE?t=50s good luck]] in that plan. The plans are disposed with leaving no evidence, and anyone with suspicions will have figured out enough of what is going on to not to act on those suspicions withou substantial backup which cannot come while at sea.

** If we assume the rest of them speak Russian, that brings in another headscratcher: Why do the other Russians understand him?

This question is worded confusingly. If you're talking about when Ramius replies "It is." to Jack's question: "It is wise to study the ways of ones adversary. Don't you think?" Jack is speaking Russian and Ramius replies in English. So *Ramius* speaks English, but there's no way of knowing which other Russians do.

[[WMG: Jack was able to hear Ramius speak English. Does that mean the Russians speak English in-universe and just keep their ability to speak English a secret from Americans?]]

My hunch is Ryan unknowingly violated protocol by bringing the cup of coffee into the mini sub. Mancuso doesn't seem prone to flippant remarks and Ryan really stares at Mancuso like he is thinking about what Mancuso said.

* In the book this is made far more clear: the planned move was that a specific piece of equipment (a depth gauge, if memory serves) was to be removed and dumped at the site they intend to be the "grave" of the Red October, and to be later found by search vessels. Second was even better, and completely unplanned: after dealing with the GRU mole the specific missile that was being tampered with was ejected (not launched) and let to sink to the floor of the ocean. When the search DSRV goes down they recover the depth gauge just as planned. But then a few moments later they come across the ejected missile. The Russian observer aboard makes a note of the missile's ID numbers, while the DSRV commander (who had been informed they were diving on an Alfa or something) suddenly realizes they're looking at a ballistic missile sub's wreckage instead which was ''not'' what he was supposed to be looking at, immediately drops the heavy counterweight keeping them so deep. The Russian observer reports back the missile's ID numbers, and with the serial number off the depth gauge those cross reference to be the Red October. Ruse successful.

* Officially, the Red October sank at that location. That's where the crew was rescued, and if anybody asked them, it was their sub that went down because that was the only sub they were aware of. With the Red October's crew in custody, it would be very difficult for the Soviet Navy to continue searching so close to US waters so they'd be forced to accept the official story and go home. The RO probably sailed the rest of the way to the US right underneath the US fleet. The fate of the Konovalov is the Soviet's problem to solve/explain. The US Navy would have denied knowing about a third sub in the area. The official story would have been "sunk rogue sub" or "reactor accident." Either way the only witnesses and evidence would have pointed to the RO being the one sunk there. Ryan picked that location precisely because there was no way to search for wreckage.

* Plausible deniability. They'll suspect what happened, but they'll never be able to prove it. Not to mention that they'll be looking for an explanation that saves diplomatic face after what was a diplomatic and military disaster. There is nothing to be gained in pursuing the issue after that, so lots of gritted teeth and a general moving onto the next project. That is what the cold war was all about really, win some-lose some.

[[WMG:Why didn't Loginov (the mole)go straight for the torpedoes without drawing attention to himself?]]

* It is specifically mentioned in-dialogue (in the book version, at least) that Soviet naval regulations are that if the political officer dies while under way, the captain keeps both keys. Ramius is only doing what The Book requires him to do in such a situation; why should anyone find this suspicious? It's only in the film that Dr. Petrov's objects. Either this is meant to only prove that Dr. Petrov doesn't know what he's talking about... which is not surprising, as he's a) a doctor, not a line officer and b) a politically-connected incompetent. Or the film just just takes artistic license with the military as it also implies that only two keys are required instead of five in the novel.

* It is specifically mentioned in-dialogue (in the book version, at least) that Soviet naval regulations are that if the political officer dies while under way, the captain keeps both keys. Ramius is only doing what The Book requires him to do in such a situation; why should anyone find this suspicious? Dr. Petrov's objections to this only prove that Dr. Petrov doesn't know what he's talking about... which is not surprising, as he's a) a doctor, not a line officer and b) a politically-connected incompetent.

* Know what else stinks on a submarine? Everything. Fresh paint, semi-refrigerated food, diesel fuel, lube oil, cigarette smoke[[note]] Especially the notoriously-godawful Soviet cigarettes[[/note]] (and Putin was smoking immediately prior to his death), and unwashed ass. Burnt paper's just a needle in a haystack.