The Hunt for Red October characters

Appears from the start

The veteran Soviet submarine captain chosen to command Red October, a new ballistic-missile submarine equipped with an unusually quiet propulsion system. A Lithuanian by birth and the son of a fisherman, he is respected as a demanding teacher of other captains and has selected senior officers he trusts for the boat's first voyage.

Appears from the start

Red October's political officer, responsible for representing Party authority aboard the submarine. His presence gives him power outside the normal naval chain of command and makes him the officer most able to challenge Ramius's control of the voyage.

Appears from the start

The executive officer of Red October and Ramius's closest professional confidant aboard the submarine. He helps manage the crew and shares the captain's confidence concerning the officers' private purpose for the voyage.

Appears from the start

The medical officer aboard Red October. He is outside Ramius's small circle of co-conspirators and must judge the captain's explanations from the evidence available to an ordinary member of the crew.

First appears in chapter 2

A former Marine officer, historian, and occasional CIA analyst working in Britain. He has an unusual ability to connect military detail with personal motive, and his access to intelligence about Soviet naval officers draws him into the international response to Red October's disappearance.

First appears in chapter 2

The CIA's deputy director for intelligence and Ryan's senior sponsor. Greer values Ryan's independent judgment and brings him into the urgent effort to understand why the Soviet fleet has suddenly put to sea.

First appears in chapter 2

The commanding officer of the American attack submarine USS Dallas. Patient and tactically alert, he gives his sonar team room to pursue an uncertain contact that standard equipment initially fails to classify.

Also known as Jonesy

First appears in chapter 2

A sonar operator aboard USS Dallas with an exceptional ear for patterns hidden in underwater noise. He treats acoustic analysis as a practical science and suspects that a faint, rhythmic disturbance dismissed by the computer may be a submarine using unfamiliar machinery.

First appears in chapter 3

The United States national security adviser, coordinating the White House response to the Soviet naval emergency. He must weigh Ryan's interpretation against the danger that Red October could be approaching the American coast as a first-strike weapon.

First appears in chapter 4

A skilled Soviet attack-submarine captain who once trained under Ramius. Commanding the fast Alfa-class V. K. Konovalov, he joins the broad search for Red October and knows enough of his former teacher's habits to be a particularly dangerous pursuer.

First appears in chapter 4

A naval systems expert at the United States Naval Academy and an old colleague of Ryan's. His analysis of reconnaissance photographs helps explain the scale and military purpose of Red October's novel propulsion arrangement.

Appears from the start

Red October's chief engineer, responsible for the nuclear plant and the new caterpillar propulsion system. His technical knowledge is essential to keeping the submarine operational during a voyage whose true demands are known only to its officers.