Spy Ships
One Hundred Years of Intelligence Collection by Ships and Submarines
Norman Polmar author Lee J Mathers author
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Potomac Books Inc
Published:1st Jul '23
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Almost from the first days of seafaring, men have used ships for “spying” and intelligence collection. Since early in the twentieth century, with the technological advancements of radio and radar, the U.S. Navy and other government agencies and many other navies have used increasingly specialized ships and submarines to ferret out the secrets of other nations. The United States and the Soviet Union/Russia have been the leaders in those efforts, especially during the forty-five years of the Cold War. But, as Norman Polmar and Lee J. Mathers reveal, so has China, which has become a major maritime power in the twenty-first century, with special interests in the South China Sea and with increasing hostility toward the United States.
Through extensive, meticulous research and through the lens of such notorious spy ship events as the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty, the North Korean capture of the USS Pueblo, and the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency’s success in clandestinely salvaging part of a Soviet submarine with the Hughes Glomar Explorer, Spy Ships is a fascinating and valuable resource for understanding maritime intelligence collection and what we have learned from it.
"The release of this book creates high expectations. It is subject matter with a clear gap in the historical record and now a distinguished naval expert attempts to fill the void. . . . Readers will discover that the high expectations are well met."—D. Colt Denfeld, Journal of America's Military Past
"Norman Polmar and Lee Mathers' new book is the first comprehensive history of spy ships, and the authors should be lauded not only for closing a relevant desideratum in naval and maritime history, but also for collecting a trove of sources that allowed them to reconstruct the operational history of spy ships on both sides of the major conflicts of the 20th century—and, most important, during the Cold War."—Ingo Heidbrink, Proceedings
"An interesting and valuable addition to the intelligence officer's bookshelf."—Admiral Tom Brooks, ReadBook
“Spy Ships by Norman Polmar and Lee Mathers is another authoritative, comprehensive, and professional narrative that one expects from these authors. . . . Spy Ships fills a gap in our understanding of the importance of intelligence collection in naval operations. This book is a welcome edition in my reference library. BZ!”—Capt. John A. Rodgaard, U.S. Navy (Ret.), author of Tailships: Hunting Soviets with a Microphone
ISBN: 9781640124752
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
336 pages