Oregon Files


The Oregon Files is a group of novels written by author Clive Cussler and co-author Craig Dirgo for the first two titles followed by co-author Jack Du Brul for the next seven titles. Starting with book 10 co-author Boyd Morrison takes over. The books follow the mysterious "Corporation" and its leader Juan Cabrillo. The "Oregon Files" come from the name of the ship on which the Corporation is based, the Oregon. The ship's name is based on the current State University of New York Maritime College training ship the TS Empire State VI. Its original name was the SS Oregon.

Books

The crew of the Oregon first appeared in Flood Tide. The main Oregon Files series is:
The Oregon is a high tech ship owned by a private secret service organization called 'the Corporation'. It is disguised as a rusty old tramp steamer. It mounts five cranes - three fore, two aft - only two of which are operational, one each fore and aft. To add to its appearance of authenticity, this disguise is highly detailed. This includes a fake mess hall, and a captain's cabin specially designed to be utterly repulsive, with features including specially designed chemicals to keep people away, a dysfunctional toilet, and depressing paintings of clowns on black velvet. In reality it is an extraordinarily sophisticated intelligence-gathering vessel with luxury facilities and top of the line technical capabilities. It is equipped with a moon pool for launching two minisubs, an Olympic swimming pool, state-of-the-art medical facilities, and powered by a pair of revolutionary magnetohydrodynamic drives. It also uses an array of underwater vectored-thrusters to give it unparalleled maneuverability for a ship of its size - Dark Watch gives its dimensions as 560 feet long, with a 75-foot beam and a gross weight of 11,585 tons. The Oregon is also equipped with a suite of armaments that rivals most military capital ships, including: French-built Exocet anti-ship missiles, two torpedo tubes below the waterline, 20 mm multibarrel Gatling-style rotary cannons mounted behind steel plates on its hull, and an array of 7.62 mm caliber M60 machine guns concealed in dummy oil barrels welded onto her deck that are all remotely operated with the most sophisticated fire-control systems. As well as these, the Oregon carries Russian-built cruise missiles of an unspecified type, a 40 mm Bofors autocannon, and at least one Rheinmetall 120 mm gun of a similar type to that of the M1A1 Abrams tank. Most novels talk about the 120 mm in the singular, however Dark Watch states that it has two - one on each side of the hull. The ship's control center, located deep within its hull, is said to have the feel of the starship Enterprise, including a large, central command chair in which Cabrillo sits when on the bridge, which is colloquially referred to as "The Kirk Chair".

Characters

Corporation Members

Executive Officers