In 1968, U.S. and Soviet forces are engaging in
brinkmanship across the seas. As submarines play a dangerous cat-and-mouse game,
To Kill the Potemkin tells the story of a confrontation between these vessels - one being a new and advanced class of submarine whose existence must remain a secret. Jack Sorensen, one of the Navy's best sonar operators, is sonar chief of USS
Barracuda, a nuclear-powered
Skipjack-class submarine. He has demons - drink and drugs - but it's tolerated because he is an expert technician. Sorensen can find and identify submarines as few others can. Fogerty, a promising but inexperienced sonar analyst newly assigned to
Barracuda, is determined to learn from Sorensen. The novel begins as the
Barracuda departs its east coast base for the
Mediterranean. Once there,
Barracuda engages in
anti-submarine warfare exercises with other Western submarines. Its mission is to "hunt" the U.S. Navy's 6th Fleet and the flagship, the aircraft carrier. The
Barracuda "sinks" several of the American submarines playing the Soviet Navy vessels. But the drill is interrupted by the appearance of a submarine that Fogarty correctly identifies as a Soviet sub, using masking technology to appear as an American vessel. The first of its kind,
Potemkin is equipped with experimental stereo/sonar systems, designed to reproduce signatures of American, British, and other submarines, to fool the sonar nets stationed in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. As the
Potemkin inserts itself into the Western navies' exercise, the
political officer takes command of the vessel and places the captain under arrest for his repeated insults against the political officer and what he deems "un-Soviet remarks". Unfortunately, his incompetence leads to a collision with
Barracuda, damaging the Barracuda's bow. Sorenson records the Soviet vessel being crushed by the water pressure as it sinks. To his amazement, he hears what he thinks is torpedo being fired from the sinking vessel before it plunges to the ocean floor. Sorenson's recording is sealed under orders from the submarine's captain, and the damaged American vessel makes its way back to port and dry-dock for repairs. While
Barracuda survives, and reports the accident to higher authorities, it is revealed that the Soviet ship was damaged by the collision, but did not sink. It was able to duplicate the sound of an actual submarine breaking up and playing it through the sophisticated stereo system. Sorenson soon comes to suspect that the mystery sub did not really sink. Unbeknownst to the superior officers of the ship, he made a separate recording of the collision and the sinking, and after listening to it, suspects something is wrong - the sound mistaken for the torpedo firing was actually the Soviet's electric motors driving the submarine away. When titanium fragments are found on a repaired portion of the bow that came contact with the other submarine during the collision, the crew realize that there is a revolutionary class of submarine. The new class is designated an
Alfa class submarine. The American vessel is assigned the top-secret mission of tracking down the
Potemkin. With the Soviet sub's political officer under arrest for negligence, and the captain back in command, the
Potemkin sails for the
Atlantic Ocean, and a rendezvous with Soviet vessels in
Cuba. The environmental system was damaged, leading to a build-up of
carbon dioxide. Once in the Atlantic Ocean, the Soviet ship reaches full speed, and outpaces
Barracuda. The
Potemkin reaches Cuba, and makes a rendezvous with the secret submarine stationed off the coast. This was supposed to be a top-secret meeting because of the
Cuban Missile Crisis. Just as the two vessels are about to make contact,
Barracuda arrives on the scene. Crew members on all three vessels realize the disastrous consequences of the
Barracudas arrival at that exact time. The Soviets realize that the American sub must be sunk before reporting the presence of Soviet vessels in Cuban waters.
Potemkin fires first, but the torpedo misses. The Soviet vessel is too deep to shoot with the standard American torpedo, so Sorenson orders the firing of a nuclear
Mk 45 ASTOR torpedo. The explosion from the nuclear torpedo destroys the
Potemkin. Sorenson and Fogarty retire to Sorenson's bunk. The torpedo that was fired earlier by the Russian sub malfunctions and goes to "active seeking" mode and homes in on the noise made by
Barracuda's reactor pumps. ==Historical basis==