by Joe Buff
Note from the Author
World events of the last century or more have proven one thing repeatedly: It is very difficult to predict the nature of the next big war to embroil America and our Allies. But from World War I to World War II to the Cold War and beyond, the tremendous importance of submarines has always been clear.
Since their inception, in every era, submarines rank among the most advanced weapons systems, and the most advanced benchmarks of technology and engineering achieved by the human race. Stunning feats of courage by their crews, of sacrifice and endurance, loom large on the pages of history.
The tools and techniques of undersea warfare are constantly evolving. Development will continue, rendered more urgent by the Anti-Terrorist War. With the U.S. Navy’s Seawolf class, new sonar systems, called wide-aperture arrays, have revolutionized target searching and fire control. Advanced SEAL Delivery System minisubs, to covertly deploy Special Warfare commandos in the forward battle area, are operational. Remote controlled Unmanned Undersea Vehicles and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, operated from parent nuclear subs, form an essential part of the Pentagon’s acquisition plans.
Equipment for scuba diving in very deep water, for combat and salvage and espionage, is always pushing the envelope. Actual capabilities are closely guarded by the military, but it is known that people have walked on the bottom at three thousand feet.
Ever improved quieting, and highly secret ways to reduce a submarine’s nonacoustic signature (thermal and chemical traces, wake turbulence, etc.), transform the meaning of stealth. All these forces of change drastically reshape how undersea warfare will be fought—and whoever controls the ocean’s depths controls its surface, and thus controls much of the world.
Studies are underway on using exotic hull materials to increase submarine operating depth. Alumina casing, a ceramic composite much stronger than steel, was declassified by the Navy after the Cold War. Someday, when the need grows compelling enough, vast areas of the ocean’s floor will become a high-tech battleground for front-line manned fast attack subs and boomers, and for their smaller robotic proxies.
To some questions about the future of national defense, obtaining correct answers will be crucial to the fate of democracy and freedom: Which gaps in our security posture could be exploited in years to come, by some shrewd, aggressive new Evil Empire or Axis? From what quarter might the next surprise attack fall? What sacrifices and feats of courage will America need, to prevail in the Next Big War? Perhaps the only certain thing is that submarines, and their heroic crews, will play a vital part.
Joe Buff
February 14, 2002
Dutchess County, New York
About the Author
JOE BUFF is a member of the U.S. Naval Institute and a Life Member of the Naval Submarine League, the Navy League of the United States, and the Fellows of the Naval War College. Highly regarded for his technical knowledge, he is considered an expert in the field of submarines, and two of his nonfiction articles about future submarine technology have won Annual Literary Awards from the Naval Submarine League. In addition to Crush Depth and his newest novel of submarine warfare, Tidal Rip, he is the author of the highly regarded adventure novels Thunder in the Deep and Deep Sound Channel. Mr. Buff lives with his wife in Dutchess County, New York. Visit his website at www.joebuff.com.
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Enthusiastic praise for the novels of
JOE BUFF
“A SUPERB high-water mark in naval fiction.”
Michael DiMercurio, author of Threat Vector
“BREATHLESSLY PACED…satisfying action for battle lovers…[Buff’s] meticulous attention to details of life aboard the Challenger and the obstacles it faces help heighten the drama.”
Publishers Weekly
“LOTS OF ACTION, LOTS OF GRIT.”
Dick Couch, Capt., USN (ret.), author of
The Warrior Elite: The Forging of SEAL Class 228
“NONSTOP AND EXHILARATING…chilling and fascinating. Joe Buff takes the reader on a frightening ride in harm’s way.”
Eric L. Harry, author of Arc Light
“A WILD, HAIR-RAISING rocket sled of a ride!”
Baton Rouge Advocate
“[BUFF] WILL KEEP TECHNOTHRILLER FANS AT SEA MOST OF THE NIGHT.”
Booklist
Also by Joe Buff
THUNDER IN THE DEEP
DEEP SOUND CHANNEL
Copyright
Illustrations excluded from e-book edition.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
CRUSH DEPTH. Copyright © 2002 by Joe Buff. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
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