Red October (fictional submarine) subs were only about 175 meters long with about a 23-meter beam. "Red October" would also have been about 5,000 tons heavier than the normal Typhoon class sub. No Soviet submarines were officially named "Red October". Only the Japanese experimental civilian boat "Yamato 1" has managed to use this type of advanced propulsion system. In the film, "Red October" appears much like a standard Typhoon-class submarine though it has a number of significant differences. The aft section of the submarine contains two ducts for the caterpillar drive. The upper rudder carries a towed sonar array which typical Typhoon-class submarines do
The Hunt for Red October novel as "the most satisfactory novel of a sea chase since C.S. Forester perfected the form". Due to an extensive marketing campaign by the Naval Institute Press for their first published work of fiction, which was initially aimed on the military, the book sold 45,000 copies by March 1985. Clancy said in a 1991 interview: “I thought we’d sell maybe five thousand or ten thousand hardcovers and that would be the end of it. I never really thought about making money.” After Reagan's endorsement, "The Hunt for Red October" topped the national bestseller lists, particularly "The New York Times". It