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All Hands Down

The True Story of the Soviet Attack on the USS Scorpion

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About this listen

 Forty years ago, in May 1968, the submarine USS Scorpion sank in mysterious circumstances with a loss of 99 lives. The tragedy occurred during the height of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. Now, drawing on hours of exclusive interviews as well as recently declassified United States and Soviet intelligence files, Kenneth Sewell and Jerome Preisler explain what really happened to Scorpion.

When a Soviet sub mysteriously sank near Hawaii, hundreds of miles from its normal station, Soviet naval leaders mistakenly believed that a U.S. submarine was to blame. Using a cryptographic unit acquired from the North Koreans to decipher classified Navy communications, they set a trap for revenge. All Hands Down explains how the plan was executed and why the truth of the attack has been officially denied for 40 years.

©2008 Kenneth Sewell and Jerome Priesler (P)2008 Blackstone Audio, Inc. Armed Forces Military Military Science Russia Soviet Union Imperial Japan Submarine Cold War

What the critics say

"[A] convincing argument....few will be able to resist the juicy details offered about this half-forgotten disaster and its aftermath....A satisfying historical whodunit, redolent with Cold War paranoia and tragedy." ( Kirkus Reviews)
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The official conclusion from the Navy for why the USS Scorpion sank in 1968 remains "undetermined". Most theories conclude something catastrophic involving torpedoes, batteries, or other onboard systems. Kenneth Sewell and Jerome Preisler conclude otherwise - suggesting an intentional warshot by the Soviets in the atmosphere of North Korea's capture of the USS Pueblo, the Tet Offensive in Vietnam, and the loss of their own missile sub K-129. The authors point to mysterious time inconsistencies and continued refusals to release "classified" mission orders from the time of the incident to suggest an attack was contrived and the US Navy accepted the loss of 99 men & covered it up.
It's an interesting theory, worth consideration - but presented in a fairly confusing "scattergun" manner. The authors present all of the necessary data but do a relatively poor job weaving it together (If you're genuinely interested in the premise, Ed Offley's 'Scorpion Down' does a better job describing a Soviet tit-for-tat trade-off theory). Regardless, it's an interesting read - with slightly subpar execution.

The narration from Malcolm Hillgartner is similarly solidly "adequate" The production values are acceptable and Hillgartner's diction, cadence, timbre, and tone are professional - but neither are anything special. The recording neither adds nor detracts from the overall quality of the book.

Taken altogether, 'All Hands Down' rates 7.5 stars out of 10. It is appropriately offered as part of the 'Plus' initiative: worth a listen if you can get it as part of your subscription.. but not worth a Credit.

[NOTE: The second-by-second description of the hypothetical death of the submarine in the final chapter is *Incredible* - coming close to making the book worth a download on it's own]

Captivating (but Unspectacular) Cold-War Drama

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