John P. Craven, Scientist Who Shaped Cold War Spying at Sea, Dies at 90

John P. Craven, a former Navy scientist whose innovations in ocean technology and exploration led to some of the nation’s most celebrated feats of espionage, died on Feb. 12 in Hawaii. He was 90.

The cause was complications of Parkinson’s disease, his family said.

From 1959 to 1969, as chief scientist of the Special Projects Office, Dr. Craven led the Navy’s drive to expand its presence into the crushing depths of the sea. Among other things, he turned submarines into spy machines that could reach down miles to inspect and retrieve lost enemy matériel, including nuclear arms.

Dr. Craven liked to regale friends and journalists with as much of his personal history in the Navy as the nation’s secrecy laws would allow, resulting in books and articles that sought to illuminate his Cold War exploits.

Dr. Craven’s naval career has been profiled in several books. He recounted his own story in 2001 in “The Silent War: The Cold War Battle Beneath the Sea.” In its prologue, he says he wrote the book to honor men whose sacrifices might otherwise go unacknowledged.

Dr. Craven is survived by Dorothy Drakesmith Craven, his wife of 64 years; a son, David; a daughter, Sarah Craven; and five grandchildren. 

Once, at his Hawaiian laboratory, Dr. Craven described an energy project in terms that echoed his own life. “It seemed,” he said, “like perpetual motion.”

The New York Times