The Cold War had officially ended, but the deep, frigid waters of the Barents Sea still played host to a silent and deadly chess match between American and Russian submarines. It was March 1993, and while Boris Yeltsin and Bill Clinton were preparing for their first presidential summit, the military forces of their respective nations were still adjusting to a new geopolitical reality. The Soviet Union had collapsed barely a year earlier, and Russia was struggling to maintain control over its vast nuclear arsenal, a situation that deeply concerned the United States. The old habits of submarine espionage did not die with the Soviet flag, and American attack submarines continued their missions near Russian bases, shadowing ballistic missile submarines, or “boomers,” that carried enough nuclear firepower to reshape the world in an instant. Continue reading “The Last Cold War Collision” →