The Hunt for Red October, published October 1, 1984, is the first novel written by Tom Clancy and the first to feature CIA analyst Jack Ryan. It was also the first novel published by The Naval Institute Press, based at the U.S. Naval Academy.

Ryan, a CIA analyst, is brought in to assist in locating Red October, a state-of-the-art ballistic missile submarine. Ryan becomes convinced that the submarine’s captain, Marko Ramius, is attempting to defect to the US. He works with the British Navy and the U.S. Navy to help secure Ramius, his officers, and Red October.

Jack Ryan novels have been published regularly since 1984. Following Clancy’s 2013 death, when the LA Times estimated 100 million copies of his books had sold, other authors have published Clancy-branded books to continue the series.

The Hunt for Red October was made into a movie in 1990 starring Sean Connery as Ramius and Alec Baldwin as Ryan. This is the first in a series of movies, video games, and television shows that feature the Ryan character. Amazon began airing the four-season series Jack Ryan in 2018.

This guide is based on the Kindle e-book edition published by Berkley on January 21, 2009.

Plot Summary

Jack Ryan, a CIA analyst based in London, flies to Washington, DC, to meet with Deputy Director of Intelligence James Greer. Ryan has photographs of a new, state-of-the-art Soviet ballistic missile submarine, Red October. Ryan points out small doors on the sides of the submarine that are unusual and gets permission to speak to a friend at Annapolis, Skip Tyler, to get an idea as to what they might be. This friend identifies them as a silent drive system, referred to as a tunnel system, that the US attempted to develop some years before but decided was too inefficient to put into use. Ryan asks him to run a computer simulation that will tell them how well the system on Red October might function. Before Tyler can provide the information, the CIA receives intelligence from a Soviet spy that the Red October is at sea and possibly missing. Ryan reviews the information and suggests the Red October’s captain, Marko Ramius, might be attempting to defect. In a meeting with the president and Joint Chiefs, Ryan explains his theory. The men present are excited by the idea of obtaining the submarine, but the president warns that the prospect of keeping the Red October if Ramius arrives on American shores safely is slim, because it is unlikely that all the crew members wish to defect. If those who do not wish to stay returned and told the Soviets that the Americans kept their property, it could cause conflict between the two countries.

The Soviets activate most of their naval fleet, sending them in search of Red October with instructions to sink it. The Soviet ambassador, Arbatov, tells the American president that their Navy was dispatched because one of their submarines is missing. The president insists that the U.S. Navy help with the search. Thus, the USS Kennedy, an aircraft carrier, is dispatched to the area, and Ryan flies out to inform the captain of what the CIA believes is happening. The Americans ask the British ship Invincible to join the search. Ryan, who is friends with the captain, Admiral White, is sent to the Invincible to inform him as well.

Tyler finishes his computer assessment of the drive system. In the process of dropping it off to Greer, he tells him he suspects Ramius is attempting to defect, and he has an idea of how to get the crewmembers of the Red October who do not wish to defect off the boat. Greer listens to his idea and takes it to the Joint Chiefs. Four men are chosen to put the plan into action, but as their helicopter approaches the Invincible, it crashes, leaving only one survivor, who is too injured to continue with the plan. Ryan reads the instructions for the plan and decides to take a Russian-speaking officer from the Invincible and follow through himself, with permission from his superiors.

Ryan and Lieutenant Williams board the Red October via a deep-sea rescue vehicle under the pretense of rescuing the crew of Red October due to a reactor failure. The enlisted men are taken from Red October, along with the few officers who are not part of Ramius’s plan. Ramius tells Ryan that he and his officers want to defect and are gifting Red October to the US in exchange for asylum. The USS Ethan Allen, an American submarine, is scuttled to make it appear to the rescued crew and Soviet officials that Red October succumbed to its reactor failure. Unbeknownst to Ryan and Ramius, however, a GRU—Soviet Chief Intelligence Directorate—agent who is working undercover onboard Red October as a cook snuck into the missile room to attempt to cause one of the missiles to explode, hoping to set off a catastrophic explosion inside the Red October. He does this as part of his orders to keep the submarine and her crew from falling into American hands. Ryan and Ramius stop the GRU agent and jettison the missile to prevent any possible damage.

The Red October is met by two American submarines, Pogy and Dallas, to escort the submarine to Norfolk, Virginia. They take on several crew members to help run the boat. However, they run into a Soviet submarine, the VK Konovalov, which has orders to sink the Red October. The American submarines cannot fire on the Soviet submarine unless they are fired on first because of treaties between the two countries. Therefore, there is little they can do to protect Red October except to play decoy. The Red October engages her tunnel drive, but they are unable to escape the Konovalov. The Konovalov fires on the Red October and causes damage to its outer hull. In a courageous maneuver, Ramius turns the Red October onto a direct course toward the Konovalov and rams it. The Konovalov sinks while the Red October, damaged but mostly intact, successfully arrives in Norfolk, allowing the US to keep the submarine and the Soviet officers to receive asylum.