Jonas Pleškys
Encyclopedia
Jonas Plaskus or Jonas Pleškys (10 March 1935 – 14 April 1993) was a Soviet Navy
submarine tender
captain born in Lithuania
. He died in California
, United States
.
In 1961 he sailed his vessel from Klaipėda
to Gotland
in Sweden
, not the planned destination of Tallinn
. The Soviet authorities sentenced him in his absence to death by firing squad, but the CIA hid him, first in Guatemala
and later in the United States. The tender, essentially a barge, was returned to Soviet custody.
It is believed that this incident was one of two that inspired Tom Clancy
in his writing of The Hunt for Red October
. The other was the mutiny aboard the Soviet frigate Storozhevoy
.
Plaskus was relocated to Seattle, WA where he attended the University of Washington and initially lived with an American family to improve his English. Later he worked as a programmer/analyst in Silicon Valley in the 1970s. In 1979 he accepted a job in Caracas
. He revisited Lithuania briefly in 1992.
Soviet Navy
The Soviet Navy was the naval arm of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy would have played an instrumental role in a Warsaw Pact war with NATO, where it would have attempted to prevent naval convoys from bringing reinforcements across the Atlantic Ocean...
submarine tender
Submarine tender
A submarine tender is a type of ship that supplies and supports submarines.Submarines are small compared to most oceangoing vessels, and generally do not have the ability to carry large amounts of food, fuel, torpedoes, and other supplies, nor to carry a full array of maintenance equipment and...
captain born in Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
. He died in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
In 1961 he sailed his vessel from Klaipėda
Klaipeda
Klaipėda is a city in Lithuania situated at the mouth of the Nemunas River where it flows into the Baltic Sea. It is the third largest city in Lithuania and the capital of Klaipėda County....
to Gotland
Gotland
Gotland is a county, province, municipality and diocese of Sweden; it is Sweden's largest island and the largest island in the Baltic Sea. At 3,140 square kilometers in area, the region makes up less than one percent of Sweden's total land area...
in Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, not the planned destination of Tallinn
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital and largest city of Estonia. It occupies an area of with a population of 414,940. It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the banks of the Gulf of Finland, south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is in the list...
. The Soviet authorities sentenced him in his absence to death by firing squad, but the CIA hid him, first in Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
and later in the United States. The tender, essentially a barge, was returned to Soviet custody.
It is believed that this incident was one of two that inspired Tom Clancy
Tom Clancy
Thomas Leo "Tom" Clancy, Jr. is an American author, best known for his technically detailed espionage, military science, and techno thriller storylines set during and in the aftermath of the Cold War, along with video games on which he did not work, but which bear his name for licensing and...
in his writing of The Hunt for Red October
The Hunt for Red October
The Hunt for Red October is a 1984 novel by Tom Clancy. The story follows the intertwined adventures of Soviet submarine captain Marko Aleksandrovich Ramius and CIA analyst Jack Ryan.The novel was originally published by the U.S...
. The other was the mutiny aboard the Soviet frigate Storozhevoy
Soviet frigate Storozhevoy
Storozhevoy was a Soviet Navy 1135 Burevestnik-class anti-submarine frigate . The ship was attached to the Soviet Baltic Fleet and based in Riga...
.
Plaskus was relocated to Seattle, WA where he attended the University of Washington and initially lived with an American family to improve his English. Later he worked as a programmer/analyst in Silicon Valley in the 1970s. In 1979 he accepted a job in Caracas
Caracas
Caracas , officially Santiago de León de Caracas, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela; natives or residents are known as Caraquenians in English . It is located in the northern part of the country, following the contours of the narrow Caracas Valley on the Venezuelan coastal mountain range...
. He revisited Lithuania briefly in 1992.