Mac McDowell Missions

An aging nuclear submarine-A lockout saturation-diving system-A handful of daredevil heroes!"Over the past few decades, action-adventure stories about submarines and diving have become a popular genre. Tom Clancy and Clive Cussler come to mind as exemplars. But Robert Williscroft really raises the bar with this book. Not only is he an outstanding writer, but he is also a 'doer,' having participated in the events described in Operation Ivy Bells."-Captain Don Walsh USN, PhD, USN Submersible Pilot #1, Officer in Charge Bathyscaph Trieste, 1959-1962A super-secret, off-the-books spy organization; a security-clearance starting at Top Secret and going up from there; an attack by giant squid during a thousand-foot dive while breathing an exotic gas; a cat's whisker escape from death during a three-day decompression-and that's just the first two chapters of Operation Ivy Bells, before the action really gets underway.In a fast-paced, personal narrative, J.R. "Mac" MacDowell details a breathtaking series of events during a super-secret intelligence gathering operation at the height of the Cold War. Riding the nuclear submarine Halibut, Mac and his saturation diving team surreptitiously enter Soviet-controlled Sea of Okhotsk on a proof-of-concept mission. They install a tap on an underwater communications cable at 400 feet, and narrowly escape death when a storm snaps Halibut's anchor cables. They retrieve missile parts from a Soviet missile-test splash-zone, getting caught in a sonar-web set by the crafty skipper of an old Soviet diesel submarine. Mac's divers temporarily disable the sub, and Halibut escapes to Guam, dogged by the sub Skipper.Having proved the concept, they return in a Halibut, outfitted with skids so she can sit on the bottom, to attach a 12-thousand-pound pod to the cable for future retrieval. In the missile splash-zone, they lock in deadly underwater combat with Soviet divers. With the free world at stake, they capture one and kill the rest.Halibut's submariners and saturation divers finally return home without ever publicly revealing their crucial contribution to winning the Cold War, receiving an unpublicized Presidential Unit Citation. Dr. Robert G. Williscroft is a retired submarine officer, deep-sea and saturation diver, scientist, author, and a lifelong adventurer. He spent 22 months underwater, a year in the equatorial Pacific, three years in the Arctic ice pack, and a year at the Geographic South Pole. He holds degrees in Marine Physics and Meteorology and a doctorate for developing a system to protect SCUBA divers in contaminated water. A prolific author of both non-fiction, Cold War thrillers, and hard science fiction, he lives in Centennial, Colorado.Dr. Williscroft is a member of Colorado Author's League, Independent Association of Science Fiction & Fantasy Authors, Science Fiction Writers of America, Libertarian Futurist Society, Los Angeles Adventurers' Club, Mensa, Military Officers Association, U.S. Sub Vets, American Legion, and the NRA, and now spends most of his time writing his next book, speaking to various regional groups, and hanging out with the girl of his dreams, Jill, and her two cats.

A novel about the real thing and real events, not traditional Hollywood drama. "Secrecy and stealth are the watchwords as they must covertly lay acoustic arrays to close off the last remaining routes for Soviet submarines to reach open water away from NATO's prying ears."- George W. Jackson, Captain USN (Ret.)USS Teuthis Saturation Dive Team Officer-in-Charge Mac McDowell is leading his submarine team on a mission to lay acoustic arrays under the ice in the Arctic when they clash with a new Alfa-class highly automated Soviet submarine. Overwhelmed by mechanical problems, the Soviet crew abandons their sub near Pt. Barrow, Alaska. The Teuthis skipper launches DSRV-1 Mystic, so Mac and his crew can board the empty sub and gather intelligence. The arrival of an even more advanced Soviet sub leads to breathtaking underwater clashes with the specter of war looming. Will the Soviets sink Mac and his crew to their watery graves, or will Teuthis safely return to Alaska where Mac's new love, Kate, anxiously awaits his return? Dr. Robert G. Williscroft is a retired submarine officer, deep-sea and saturation diver, scientist, author, and a lifelong adventurer. He spent 22 months underwater, a year in the equatorial Pacific, three years in the Arctic ice pack, and a year at the Geographic South Pole. He holds degrees in Marine Physics and Meteorology and a doctorate for developing a system to protect SCUBA divers in contaminated water. A prolific author of both non-fiction, Cold War thrillers, and hard science fiction, he lives in Centennial, Colorado.Dr. Williscroft is a member of Colorado Author's League, Independent Association of Science Fiction & Fantasy Authors, Science Fiction Writers of America, Libertarian Futurist Society, Los Angeles Adventurers' Club, Mensa, Military Officers Association, U.S. Sub Vets, American Legion, and the NRA, and now spends most of his time writing his next book, speaking to various regional groups, and hanging out with the girl of his dreams, Jill, and her two cats.

Your mission: Stop the South African nuclear test!"The scuttlebutt is when you go to sea with Mac, you're in for a frigging great adventure!"- Professor John B. Rosenman (Ret.), Norfolk State UniversityIn early 1989, ten years following an actual 1979 joint Israeli/South African nuclear test near Prince Edward Islands, known as the Vela Incident, South Africa was negotiating the end of apartheid. The regime had built six nuclear bombs, but had announced to the World it was dismantling five. The regime was also working on a small suitcase nuke. Israeli Intelligence got word of a pending nuclear test on Prince Edward Island and informed the U.S. State department. Working through the Commanders of the U.S. Pacific Submarine Fleet and the U.S. Atlantic Submarine Fleet, the U.S. State Department assigned Mac McDowell, as the new skipper of USS Teuthis, to onload an Israeli Shayetet 13 commando unit in the Falkland Islands and head into the waters near the Prince Edward Islands to get the facts and, if possible, stop any nuclear weapons test. Dr. Robert G. Williscroft is a retired submarine officer, deep-sea and saturation diver, scientist, author, and a lifelong adventurer. He spent 22 months underwater, a year in the equatorial Pacific, three years in the Arctic ice pack, and a year at the Geographic South Pole. He holds degrees in Marine Physics and Meteorology and a doctorate for developing a system to protect SCUBA divers in contaminated water. A prolific author of both non-fiction, Cold War thrillers, and hard science fiction, he lives in Centennial, Colorado.Dr. Williscroft is a member of Colorado Author's League, Independent Association of Science Fiction & Fantasy Authors, Science Fiction Writers of America, Libertarian Futurist Society, Los Angeles Adventurers' Club, Mensa, Military Officers Association, U.S. Sub Vets, American Legion, and the NRA, and now spends most of his time writing his next book, speaking to various regional groups, and hanging out with the girl of his dreams, Jill, and her two cats.