The Walker Spy Ring

Witness History

BBC

History, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.4 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 11 May 2018

⏱️ 10 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In 1985 several members of the same American family were arrested for selling Navy secrets to the USSR. The alleged ring leader, John Walker, had been spying for the Soviets for 20 years. But the FBI suspected that John's elder brother Arthur had been involved in spying even earlier. Dina Newman speaks to Arthur Walker's lawyer, Sam Meekings.

Photo: the alleged spy ring leader John Walker started his career in the Navy on board the USS Forrestal, a US aircraft carrier. Credit: Keystone/Getty Images.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know.
0:04.7	My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds.
0:08.5	As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices.
0:18.0	What you may not know is that the BBC makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars,
0:24.6	poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples.
0:29.7	If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC Sounds.
0:36.0	Hello, you're listening to the Witness Podcast from the BBC World Service with me,
0:41.0	Dina Neumann.
0:42.0	Today we go back to May 1985
0:46.0	when several members of one American family
0:49.0	were arrested for selling top-secret U.S. naval documents to the Soviets.
0:54.5	One of the most devastating military spy rings since the war
0:58.0	has just been smashed in the United States.
1:00.5	The damage is enormous. The ringleader has betrayed British and NATO secrets as well.
1:06.0	The alleged ringleader was a former Navy officer John Walker who specialized in top-secret naval communications work.
1:18.6	He had access to vitally important information regarding NATO's submarine warfare.
1:25.1	The US and NATO submarines have been compromised in the highly secret area of communication
1:29.8	systems.
1:31.2	They include some secret ciphers, intelligence gathering methods, and
1:35.3	anti-submarine warfare tactics. The technology of submarine design and information on
1:40.8	large, although not specific, submarine patrol areas.
1:44.0	By the time he was arrested, John Walker had been spying for the USSR for nearly 20 years,
	...

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