Peter Anthony Huchthausen (September 25, 1939 – July 11, 2008 in Amfreville, Manche, France) was a

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

and the author of several maritime books.

Naval career

The son of the late Chaplain (Colonel) and Mrs. Walther A. Huchthausen, Peter graduated from

Valley Forge Military Academy Valley Forge Military Academy and College (VFMAC) is a private boarding school (grades 7–12) and military junior college in Wayne, Pennsylvania. It follows in the traditional Military academy, military school format with army traditions. T ...

in 1957 and from the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as United States Secre ...

in 1962. Huchthausen served as a line officer in the destroyer USS Blandy during the

Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis () in Cuba, or the Caribbean Crisis (), was a 13-day confrontation between the governments of the United States and the Soviet Union, when American deployments of Nuclear weapons d ...

, enforcing the naval blockade and verifying the removal of Soviet missiles from

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

. He then served two combat tours of duty during

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

, commanding a patrol boat and unit of ten river patrol boats in combat on the

Mekong River The Mekong or Mekong River ( , ) is a transboundary river in East Asia and Southeast Asia. It is the world's List of rivers by length, twelfth-longest river and List of longest rivers of Asia, the third-longest in Asia with an estimated l ...

with the United States Navy's Riverine Force in the

Mekong Delta The Mekong Delta ( or simply ), also known as the Western Region () or South-western region (), is the list of regions of Vietnam, region in southwestern Vietnam where the Mekong, Mekong River River delta, approaches and empties into the sea th ...

. He returned to

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

as Chief Engineer in the destroyer USS Orleck, which provided naval gunfire support to Army and Marine forces operations along the Vietnam coast. Transferring to

Naval Intelligence Military intelligence is a military discipline that uses information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to assist commanders in their decisions. This aim is achieved by providing an assessment of data from a ...

, he became a Soviet naval submarine analyst and served in anti-submarine warfare positions on the staffs of Commander, U.S. Naval Forces, Europe, the United States First Fleet, The

United States Third Fleet The United States Third Fleet is one of the numbered fleets in the United States Navy. Third Fleet's area of responsibility includes approximately fifty million square miles of the eastern and northern Pacific Ocean areas including the Bering ...

, and the Commander in Chief, Pacific Command. Later, he became the senior American

naval attaché A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations ...

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

and

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

. Afterward, he became the chief of attaché and human intelligence collection operations in

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...

for the

Defense Intelligence Agency The Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) is an intelligence agency and combat support agency of the United States Department of Defense (DoD) specializing in military intelligence. A component of the Department of Defense and the United States In ...

. Just before the dissolution of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, Huchthausen served for three years in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

as the senior U.S. Naval Attaché to the

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until it dissolved in 1991. During its existence, it was the largest country by are ...

Post-naval career

After retiring from active service from the

in 1990, Huchthausen returned to

and opened an office there for an American firm. At this point, he began his research and writing career. He wrote nine books. Two were made into movies: the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

movie, '' Hostile Waters'' and '' K-19: The Widowmaker''. Shortly before his death, he moved to

Normandy Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy. Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...

, where he opened a

bed and breakfast A bed and breakfast (typically shortened to B&B or BnB) is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast. In addition, a B&B sometimes has the hosts living in the house. ''Bed and breakfast'' is also used to ...

in Amfreville. He was survived by his daughter, Donna Davis (Colin); grandchildren Ewan and Blake of

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

; son Paul Huchthausen (Dana), grandchildren, Bailey Anne and Nicholas of Gum Spring, Virginia; as well as sisters Christa Mueller (Fritz) of Williamsburg, VA, Ann Ekman (Mike) of Waynesboro, VA; and former wife and friend, Kathleen Huchthausen of Kennebunk and Frye Island,

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

He was buried with full military honors at

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the United States National Cemetery System, one of two maintained by the United States Army. More than 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington County, Virginia. ...

on December 3, 2008, after a funeral at the

Fort Myer Fort Myer is the previous name used for a U.S. Army Military base, post next to Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, and across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. Founded during the American Civil War as Fort Cass and ...

Old Post Chapel.

Published books

* ''Echoes of the Mekong'', by Peter A. Huchthausen and Nguyen Thi Lung. (Baltimore: Nautical & Aviation Pub. Co. of America, 1996). * '' Hostile waters'', by Peter Huchthausen, Igor Kurdin, and R. Alan White (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1997), sold more than 200,000 copies worldwide and became an

movie of the same name. * '' Frye Island:

's newest town a history, 1748-1998'', by Peter A. Huchthausen; illustrated by Christa H. Mueller. (Bowie, Md.: Heritage Books, 1998) * ''

K-19 K19 may refer to: * K-19 (Kansas highway) * ''K-19: The Widowmaker'', an American historical drama film * K19 pipe, a diatreme in Northern Alberta, Canada * Albany Municipal Airport (Missouri) * Keratin 19, a human protein * , a Soviet submarine * S ...

: the widowmaker: the secret story of the Soviet nuclear submarine '', (Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Books, 2002), also became a movie by the same name starring

Harrison Ford Harrison Ford (born July 13, 1942) is an American actor. Regarded as a cinematic cultural icon, he has starred in Harrison Ford filmography, many notable films over seven decades, and is one of List of highest-grossing actors, the highest-gr ...

and

Liam Neeson William John Neeson (born 7 June 1952) is an actor from Northern Ireland. He has received List of awards and nominations received by Liam Neeson, several accolades, including nominations for an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, BAFT ...

. * ''October Fury''. (Hoboken, N.J.: J. Wiley & Sons, 2002, ) * ''America's splendid little wars : a short history of U.S. military engagements, 1975-2000''. (New York: Viking, 2003) * ''Shadow voyage: the extraordinary wartime escape of the legendary

Bremen Bremen (Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (, ), is the capital of the States of Germany, German state of the Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (), a two-city-state consisting of the c ...

''. (Hoboken, N.J.: J. Wiley & Sons, 2005), a story about the escape of the German passenger liner

during the early months of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. * ''Hide and seek: the untold story of

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

espionage at sea'', by Peter A. Huchthausen and Alexandre Sheldon-Duplaix. (Hoboken, NJ: J. Wiley & Sons, 2008). * ''Finding God in the shadows: stories from the battlefield of life'', by Marsha Hansen and Peter A. Huchthausen. (Minneapolis: Augsburg Books, 2008).

References

External links

*
The Maritime Network Article written by Peter Huchthausen

Naval Academy Alumni Association Obituary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Huchthausen, Peter 1939 births 2008 deaths 21st-century American novelists Historians of the United States American maritime historians American naval historians United States Navy officers Burials at Arlington National Cemetery United States Naval Academy alumni American expatriates in Russia American expatriates in the Soviet Union People of the Defense Intelligence Agency American male novelists 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers American male non-fiction writers Valley Forge Military Academy and College alumni United States naval attachés