Red October (fictional submarine) prevailing opinion in Moscow seems to have been "Well done", though they put the Russian hierarchy in a political bind vis-a-vis cooperation with the United States at a critical point. In the story, "Red October" is the seventh Typhoon class hull built for the Soviet Navy; the real seventh boat, hull number TK-210, was laid down in the late 1980s, but canceled before it could have been commissioned and scrapped in 1990. None of the real Typhoon class submarines had 26 missile tubes or were considerably larger than the other Typhoon class SSBNs in the Russian Navy. Most Typhoon class
The Hunt for Red October Reagan had pronounced the book, which was given to him as a Christmas gift, as “the perfect yarn” and “unputdownable”; his endorsement eventually boosted the novel's sales and solidified Clancy's reputation as a bestselling author. Regarding the reception, Clancy remarked: “I was thunderstruck, dumbfounded, bowled over, amazed. But I wasn't surprised." In addition, the novel was a big hit in the White House. "The Hunt for Red October" was also popular among the military. On a 1985 visit to the , Clancy discovered 26 copies of the novel among the crew. "The Washington Post", in its original review, praised the