Dark Waters

An Insider's Account of the NR-1, the Cold War's Undercover Nuclear Sub

By: Lee Vyborny, Don Davis

Narrated by: Braden Wright

Operating alone and unarmed on the bottom of the sea, the U.S. Navy's smallest nuclear-powered submarine is one of its biggest weapons. Tied up at a pier, the boat with the bright orange sail looks absolutely minuscule, innocent and out of place beside its big brothers, the fleet's huge missile-carrying and attack submarines, but it can dive deeper, stay down for a month, and accomplish missions far beyond the capabilities of any of them. The ship has been cloaked in mystery. It wasn't commissioned or given a name, and even today it is hardly known beyond a select fraternity of sailors and scientists. They simply call it the NR-1.

The little submarine was born in controversy, served in secrecy, survived potential catastrophe on numerous occasions, and is still in operation almost forty years after being conceived. It was and remains the only one of its kind ever built.

The story of the NR-1 is told against the tense background of the Cold War and peopled with such rich characters as the acerbic Admiral Hyman Rickover, ocean scientist Robert Ballard (who found the Titanic), the designers and builders who faced almost impossible tasks to give life to the ship, the unique officers and sailors who took the little boat down into depths on covert missions, and the families who waited for them on shore, unaware that there would be no escape if the boat ran into trouble.

Dark Waters: An Insider's Account of the NR-1, the Cold War's Undercover Nuclear Sub is a thrill-a-minute book of submarine adventure, imminent danger, personal bravery, technological wonder and historic discovery. It will be a proud addition for listeners who love stories of the sea, history and intrigue.

©2003 Lee Vyborny and Don Davis. (P)2018 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Interesting story, style of pros odd to me.

I played this book at 0.8 speed as I kept missing elements. Th8s is the only book this happened to me on.
very interested in subject matter.

Great historical account

I very much appreciated the in depth historical account of the NR-1. It is a fascinating story and gives an accurate description of the times. Bravo!!

Great Book

Fascinating story about an amazing boat that helped defeat the USSR that nobody knew existed!

A great untold story.

NR-1 has always been an enigma to most who even know that it exists in the first place. Great insider story to one of the most secret ships in the navy.

Fantastic submarine tale and its true!

I don’t usually go to the effort of writing a review for a book I’ve read. But Dark Waters really impressed me. It’s well narrated and well written. It’s historical yet really entertains while simultaneously creating a real sense of what these American heroes endured. I bought a hard copy for my father who served as chief engineer on the Gudgeon and Grayback - diesel electric subs during the sixties. One of my father’s proudest moments is when he discusses Admiral Rickover and being interviewed by him, and that Admiral Rickover knew him well enough to call him Wayne. I really enjoyed the authors ability to describe Rickover and his many accomplishments. He is, in my opinion, one of the greatest American heroes of the 20th century and the men that served on the NR-1 are right up there with him.

Interesting not enthralling

Not a lot of there there, but interesting nonetheless. Several times I thought some cool catastrophe was about to happen, just never did. No torpedoes, no Enigma, no meltdown, no collisions. Drove-around and got stuck in the mud; I laughed, I cried.

One of the best books on the subject. Simply put.

This is a book that I've already restarted twice and I'm on my third run-through. I don't really want to spoil it too much but this was an amazing account of the NR-1, Admiral Rickover's brilliant tactics and bureaucratic supremacy (and arrogance and tendency to be a mean bully!). I couldn't get enough of the tales of sneaking around in the Mediterranean, observing objects of interest on the sea floor and running salvage missions from the depths. Amazing narrator too, who did an amazing job expressing the intent of the authors. Thank you lee Vyborny, Don Davis and Braden Wright for this awesome partnership. Thanks for your Naval service and professionalism in putting this book + audio book together. I freaking loved this one. I've read all of then, Red November., Blind Man's Bluff, Scorpion Down, and probably 10 others in this non-fiction space. This is a stand out. So good.

Fascinating topic

I greatly enjoyed the subject and the presentation. A real tribute to the men that crewed the vessel.

Great story, narrator mispronounced some things.

I loved the story. great mix of autobiography and history all in one that I don't think I've encountered before. The only gripe that I have is some glaring mis pronunciations by the narrator that while infrequent were jarring. Like pronouncing Grumman, the manufacturer of the F14 Tomcat as grooman instead of gruhmen. only reason to downgrade from 5 stars all around.

great story. tough men.

very informative on a great submarine. you dont realize how hard their tasks were.
would recommend it.