The Hunt for Red October

Marko Ramius's plan to defect with the Red October succeeds, but not without violence and loss along the way. After the crew is evacuated via a rescue submarine following Ramius's faked reactor accident, it's revealed that a GRU officer, Igor Loginov, disguised as a cook, had secretly stayed aboard. Overhearing Ramius and his officers formally requesting asylum, Loginov shoots and kills Captain Lieutenant Kamarov and critically wounds the British officer Owen Williams before trying to sabotage one of the submarine's nuclear missiles. Jack Ryan and Ramius confront him; Ramius is wounded in the firefight, and Ryan kills Loginov. Unsure what booby traps might remain, the crew ejects the missile into the sea rather than risk defusing it.

With the ship secured, Commander Bart Mancuso and a few of his Dallas crew come aboard to help operate Red October. To fake the submarine's destruction, the Americans stage a cover story: the decommissioned USS Ethan Allen is blown up in its place, and a depth gauge stripped from Red October's control panel is planted in the wreckage for Soviet investigators to find. The Soviet ambassador is told Red October was destroyed in a reactor meltdown after most of the crew was rescued, and the Soviets, finding the planted evidence, believe it. The Soviet fleet stands down and heads home, though several Alfa-class submarines are left behind to spy on the Americans. Meanwhile, Soviet intelligence interrogates the rescued original crew, who all insist Ramius was a loyal patriot furious about sabotage to his ship, unwittingly reinforcing the deception.

As Dallas and another American submarine begin quietly escorting the damaged Red October toward Norfolk, Virginia, they are discovered by the Alfa-class submarine Konovalov, commanded by Ramius's former student Viktor Tupolev, who had been secretly left behind. Recognizing Red October's acoustic signature, Tupolev attacks and torpedoes it. Because of the rules of engagement, the American submarines cannot fire first, leaving Red October to defend itself despite having no torpedomen aboard. The crew dodges one torpedo by steering directly into it before it arms, then rams and destroys Konovalov, killing Tupolev and his entire crew.

Red October is brought safely into dry dock at Norfolk for analysis by US military intelligence. Ramius and his defecting officers are given new identities and begin new lives in America under CIA protection. Jack Ryan is commended for his role in the operation and returns to his post in London, the successful defection and acquisition of the Soviet's most advanced submarine complete, with the Soviet Union none the wiser about what truly happened to Red October.