Marko Ramius

"I miss the peace of fishing like when I was a boy. Forty years I've been at sea. A war at sea. A war with no battles, no monuments... only casualties. I widowed her the day I married her. My wife died while I was at sea, you know."

- Marko Ramius

Captain Marko Ramius was a protagonist of the novel The Hunt For Red October and the film based on the novel.

In the film he was portrayed by Sean Connery, who was the first man to play James Bond.

Born in Lithuania, Ramius was raised by his paternal grandfather, who was a fisherman. Knowing the ways of the sea from an early age, he embarked upon a career in the Soviet navy which spanned over 40 years. He had married but lost his wife to ovarian cancer, a condition that was exacerbated by the state of the Soviet health care system. One of the top submarine officers, he commanded the lead boat in every submarine class for over a decade.

Having no other family in the Soviet Union, Ramius decided to defect after seeing the plans for Red October and realizing it could upset the balance of power between the US and the USSR. He was able to recruit a number of officers to his side who also wanted to defect, and had them assigned to the Red October.

Leaving the USSR Ramius was able to make contact with a US submarine, the USS Dallas. Despite the efforts of GRU agent Igor Loginov and fellow submarine Captain Viktor Tupolov Ramius and the other defecting officers were able to successfully deliver the Red October to the US in a way where the Soviets believed Ramius and his officers had died.

After delivering the sub Ramius was hopeful that the political fallout from the entire affair would cause some long overdue change in the Soviet Union. Under the name Mark Ramsey he moved to Florida and worked with the navy on classified Soviet technology.