The reason FOR sending the letter was twofold, as already mentioned...
1) it burned their bridges behind them in case any of the officers changed their minds about defecting.
2) Ramius wanted the Soviet government to KNOW that he did this to them. He wanted to HURT them as they had hurt him with the senseless death of his wife.
As far as the rest of your post... much of it is much greater explained in the Novel (and it really was a quite elaborate ruse) And a lot of the confusion is because the Film has been altered from the novel
The Soviets concluded that Red October, along with Ramius and most of the Officers were lost and were considered Heroes of the Soviet Union. the Letter was deemed a fake, not sent by Ramius but by those perpetrating an elaborate hoax.
1) They had most all of the crew back and were able to interrogate them to their satisfaction. To a Man, not one of the crew knew of the defection plot and at all times they believed Captain Ramius acted to defend the ship and prevent her capture, And there were the faked orders saying they were to travel to Cuba.
2) The Soviets rode down as an observer in a Deep research sub where they saw debris from an exploded Sub, and recovered a depth gauge with serial numbers matching the Red October, and an SS-N-20 Seahawk Nuclear Missile. The Missile was ejected from Red October and was the missile that the Cook was trying to sabotage. The Depth gauge was was taken from the Red October and planted in the wreckage to be "found".
The CIA... though they already knew the truth... started asking questions all around Europe and other contacts, trying to investigate what happened with Red October. This got other intelligence agencies like Mossad, etc... to start asking their own questions as to what was going on. of course this gets back to KGB. Of course an agency is not going to investigate and ask questions of their own operation... so KGB concluded that the CIA had no part and was as in the dark as everyone else.
When you take everything in total... KGB and the Soviets concluded that Red October and the Soviet government were the victims of a massive prank. The Letter to Padorin, and the Orders to Red October were fakes. That Ramius acted in the face of sabotage to keep his Sub out of American hands by scuttling the sub with him and his officers aboard, after insuring the crew got off.
You really ought to read the Novel... there is SO MUCH MORE to it than the film could ever get into.
Another way the Film differs from the Novel...
I mean the Soviets naturally started to assume The Red October wasn't actually destroyed despite what the Americans told the Soviet ambassador, and so the Soviets started to look for it right? Which is why at the end of the movie the Americans hid it in a river.
That actually takes place BEFORE the encounter with the Alfa Sub, Konovolov. Not after.. Not at the end of the story.
They get the crew off, blew up a decommissioned American Sub in Red October's place (The Russian crew did not see the Konovolov explode, but the US Sub. Had the fight with the Cook and ejected the missile.
Then Red October, accompanied by TWO American Subs.. Dallas, and Pogy.... took shelter in Ocrakoke Inlet, Pamlico Sound. flooded down and sat on the bottom for a few days while the Soviet fleet went home after determining the Red October was destroyed.
THIS is when Cdr Mancuso, Jonesy, and several other members of Dallas' crew came aboard. After they reached shelter, not with the DSRV's in the ocean when getting the crew off. Only Ryan and a British Officer (Ryan staged from HMS Invincible and never flew out to Dallas) came aboard during the crew removal.
Soviet satellites detected the heated water variance of three nuclear Subs sitting on the bottom of a shallow bay and concluded that an American Ohio class and two Los Angeles class escorts were sitting out in safety while the Soviets were off the American coast. When the Soviets withdrew, one Alfa class, The Konovolov was tasked to remain behind for the rare opportunity to try and track the American Ohio.
When he encountered them... Captain Tupolev realized that the "Ohio" was in fact Red October and attacked.
Konovolov was sunk by the Red October ramming him... not by their own torpedo.
I joined the Navy to see the world, only to discover the world is 2/3 water!
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realkillerthing
9 years ago
Thanks for that answer, the book truly seems to be a bit of a masterpiece, it sounded very much like a typical John Grisham novel with its twists and turns and games of confusion.
But this I just dont think it makes sense (from the movie point of view). Ramius had no idea how everything was going to turn out in the end, so to me, the letter was still a massive unnecessary risk.
The end results were going to be the same regardless of the ruse.
The Americans would hide the sub and the Soviets would use satellites and spies to look for it at every American port, regardless if it had disappeared during its mission, or was claimed to be "destroyed" during the hunt.
I dont know much about the marine, but to me it sounds like Red October would have gotten far enough before the Russian navy would decide to send everything to find it, it sounded like the very reason the soviet sent everything they had to find it was because they knew what Ramius was planning.
Had the submarine simply missed its intended rendezvous point, and instead kept going for the American coast, they would have gotten close enough before the Soviets could truly try to stop it. As said in the movie, the coast was only a day away.
But yeah as a matter of principle it made sense, to avenge his wife, and for the officers to be fully committed... but I seriously doubt that their options of turning back looked any better with or without the letter. They were handpicked by the captain! that means they were in it from the start and would likely have been lined up against the wall and shot even if they had second thoughts.
Like you said, the novel might explain the ruse better, but in the movie, it just felt like the situation didn't call for it (from a tactical perspective). The soviets were not just going to accept the information given to them. The red october would be continuously hunted even after it had reached American soil, regardless if it had went missing at sea, or destroyed during an attempt to defect. The outcome would have been the same.
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CGSailor
9 years ago
But this I just dont think it makes sense (from the movie point of view).
There is a lot that doesn't make sense from a film point of view. in fact a great many cases of alterations and/or omissions beteewn novel and film do more than just leave one confused... but actually create goofs where none existed in the novel.
The DSRVs for one. In the novel Ramius was directed by morse code blinker to proceed to a set of coordinates. There they met with a small surface task group while still being shadowed by Dallas.
Two DSRVs were used, both Avalon and Mystic, not just one, and they were launched from USNS Pigeon... the DSRVs support ship, which brought them to the scene and met up with the British task group. Ryan was never aboard Dallas. He transferred from Invincible to Pigeon by Helo. Then he boarded Red October along with a British Officer who spoke Russian.
The film vesion creates a goof as Dallas had no time to go back home to port, enter drydock, get fitted with the DSRV and return to the scene.
Another alteration that creates a goof was switching from blowing a decommed American boat to simulate Red October's destruction, to dropping a torpedo from a helo then self destructing it before it hit.
A Wireguided torpedo can be command detonated... but there are no wireguided air dropped torpedoes. the wire would break upon entering the water. Air dropped torpedoes on on their own with no ability to alter their targeting, or prematurely detonate them after launch. Even Sub launched wire guided torpedoes required restricted manuevering on the part of the firing sub, and even then there is a decent chance of wire breakage.
I joined the Navy to see the world, only to discover the world is 2/3 water!
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