Vixen

1954. Vixen 03 is down. The  plane, bound for the Pacific carrying thirty-six  Doomsday bombs -- canisters armed with quick-death  germs of unbelievable potency -- vanishes. Vixen has  in fact crashed into an ice-covered lake in  Colorado. 1988. Dirk Pitt, who heroically raised  the Titanic, discovers the wreckage of  Vixen 03. But two deadly canisters  are missing. They're in the hands of a terrorist  group. Their lethal mission: to sail a battleship  seventy-five miles up the Potomac and blast  Washington, D.C., to kingdom come. Only Dirk can stop  them.

Vixen 03 by Clive Cussler

1954. Vixen 03 is down. The plane, bound for the Pacific carrying thirty-six Doomsday bombs -- canisters armed with quick-death germs of unbelievable potency -- vanishes. Vixen has in fact crashed into an ice-covered lake in Colorado. 1988. Dirk Pitt, who heroically raised the Titanic, discovers the wreckage of Vixen 03. But two deadly canisters are missing. They're in the hands of a terrorist group. Their lethal mission: to sail a battleship seventy-five miles up the Potomac and blast Washington, D.C., to kingdom come. Only Dirk can stop them.