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All Hands Down  By  cover art

All Hands Down

By: Kenneth Sewell,Jerome Preisler
Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
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Publisher's summary

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.
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

Critic reviews

"[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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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

All Hands Down

The book was written in an entertaining way, my compliments to the authors. The research was weak and explanations conflicting.

I get the feeling the project was a rush job by the publishers/editors to get it on the street. The authors give conflicting accounts of the final movements of the Scorpion (you cannot have an explosion and implosion simultaneously). There were multiple minor errors, (describing a Bekins moving van as orange in color instead of white: Allied moving vans are orange). If you are not interested in sound research and just want to wallow in a supermarket tabloid style story then the book is for you.

I recommend looking up USS Scorpion and K-129, separately, on the internet and you will see the same references the authors use with more plausible explanations as to what happened to the two boats.

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18 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

If you like sub stories this is worth the read

Well paced, well written. Shocking... the way that in 1968 the Russians gave the US the deliberate combination of a sucker punch and a sniper's "head shot" to a fully crewed US NAVY nuclear sub that was simply going home after it's cruise. Perhaps that clear act of war was silenced because it might have caused the real thing to expand. Maybe the right decision, maybe not. You read and figure it out for yourself. A great read!

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17 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Pure conjecture!

Assumes the outcome, provides no proof and covers mostly unrelated information and conjecture. Ignores almost all the information presented in "Silent Steel" published a couple years before this. Waste of time.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

The Sad Truth About The Loss of The USS Scorpion

"The loss of 99 lives is not enough to end civilization..." A senior Naval US intelligence officer attempting to justify the cover-up of the truth relating to the loss of the USS Scorpion.

In this story, the authors make a compelling case as to why and how the Russians sank a US Nuclear Submarine. The personal stories of some of her crew and their families make the human cost of this act of war more compelling. The technical explanations of submarine workings and life aboard them added greatly to the story.

The year was 1968, President Johnson was deeply enmeshed in the fractious Vietnam War and its fallout. He had already failed to act with any type of decisive retaliation after the Soviet/North Korean seizure of the USS Pueblo. It sent a message to the Russians that he was weak willed... and they in turn, retaliated for what may have been a mistaken belief that we had intentionally previously sunk one of their nuclear submarines. They were right about Johnson.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

MEDAL OF HONOR

Every man on the Scorpian deserves the Medal Of Honor. Americans should be rightfully outraged.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Well done

well documented and told. I remember these events very well, and would never have imagined how they were all linked together. The Walker spy family may have been the worst thing every for our country, and leaves little doubt we would have been hard pressed had a shooting war with the soviets occured.

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  • Overall
    out of 5 stars

Well written, thought provoking

Well woven. Loved every minute!

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Very depressing for a Submarine Vet

I found the descriptions of Submarine life pretty accurate. However; there was quite a bit of speculation for a “ true” story. It was depressing but very realistic when it came to the how the families reacted. I did several patrols on a Polaris SBM boat and the families never knew that we were ok until we returned 3 months after saying goodbye. No communications and no information. It is a special life and those on the Scorpion and Thresher and their families paid the ultimate price.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A Cold War in more ways than you know.

It’s amazing how much history, we don’t learn about until way after the actual events. The loss of the USS Scorpion was even more tragic because our own government, covered up the fact that they were attacked by the Soviets during the height of the Cold War which left surviving family members in the dark on what actually happened to their loved ones.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Proof democrats in power drag the Us to war

Every war in the twentieth century causing Americans death can be laid at the feet of democrat inept leadership.

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