Globemaster Down

Soviet Espionage and the Doomed American Attempt to Sneak Nukes into Europe

Tod Robberson

• Publisher: Citadel Press
• Year: 2026
• eBook ISBN:
  9780806544625
• Subtopic: Military & Maritime History

Just in time for the 75th anniversary, the first book-length investigation into one of the great unsolved mysteries from the early days of the Cold War, when an American cargo plane allegedly carrying an atomic bomb over the Atlantic Ocean disappeared, along with the US military and nuclear specialists on board.

Pulitzer-Prize winning war reporter Tod Robberson examines this shocking true story from the early days of the Cold War and the origins of the ongoing, icy relationship between the United States and Russia.

1951. The Cold War is heating up. With Soviet troops amassing across Eastern Europe, and the arrests of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg for spilling nuclear secrets, President Harry Truman assigned General Curtis LeMay the task of installing nuclear forces in Britain. On March 22, a massive C-124 Globemaster cargo plane—possibly carrying a “Fat Man” bomb—was dispatched to Britain with 53 passengers and crew including elite specialists in atomic warfare. Then tragedy struck . . .

The Globemaster never reached its destination. After radio communications ceased over the Atlantic, the plane took a sudden turn, flew hundreds of miles, and was ditched. Survivors disappeared before they could be rescued.

Was this the work of Soviet saboteurs? Was the mission compromised from the very start? And is a “broken arrow” bomb still lying on the bottom of the ocean? These are just a few of the questions Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Tod Robberson attempts to answer in the first-ever in-depth investigation into this yet-unsolved mystery.

Drawing from classified archives and personal accounts, Robberson reconstructs LeMay’s mission in riveting detail, exploring possible security leaks including a brigadier general whose bigamy may have compromised the top-secret mission. Meticulously researched and brilliantly told, Globemaster Down tells the fascinating story of two global superpowers in a reckless race toward the brink of nuclear disaster. A must-read for fans of military adventure, Cold War intrigue, and world-class espionage.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Cast of Characters
• Globemaster 49-244 Passengers and Crew
• Introduction
• 1. Heady Days
• 2. A General’s General
• 3. International Man of Mystery
• 4. Frantic Joe
• 5. The Fat Man
• 6. Atomic Crossroads
• 7. Atom Bomb Baby
• 8. Learning How to Lie
• 9. Birth of the Cold War
• 10. Mr. and Mrs. and Mrs. Cullen
• 11. Spies Everywhere
• 12. “Survival of the Free World Is at Stake”
• 13. “We Are Now in a State of War”
• 14. Fuel Tanks, or Fat Man Suitcases?
• 15. Actions and Consequences
• 16. Rushing to Get Somewhere Fast
• 17. Point of No Return
• 18. Ditched
• 19. The Search Begins
• 20. Questions of Sabotage
• 21. A Question of Self-Sabotage
• 22. She-Said, She-Said
• 23. Shooting the Messenger
• 24. Mourning Without Closure
• Epilogue
• Acknowledgments
• Bibliography
• Notes
• Index