By Norman Polmar and Michael White
From Baird Maritime:
All the ingredients of a James Bond style thriller are there: the CIA; Howard Hughes; a sunken Soviet ballistic missile submarine; and, the U.S. Navy. In this case, though, they are all factual.
In March 1968 the nuclear-armed Soviet Golf II class submarine 'K-129' went missing en route from Kamchatka to her patrol area north of the Hawaiian island of Oahu. There were 98 men aboard. After an intensive two month search the Soviet Navy found no trace of the boat.
The U.S. Navy then commenced a search. Two months later she was found and photographed in water more than five kilometres deep. Then came the detailed planning for the recovery of the boat.
Under the subterfuge of a deepwater mineral exploration project the Hughes owned drillship 'Glomar Explorer' was moved into position above the submarine. The objective was the recovery of as much as possible of the vessel and most particularly its nuclear warheads. A delicate, difficult job. By August 1974 a significant section of the boat was recovered.
The salvage was kept secret until February 1975, when it was exposed by the Los Angeles Times. The story became even more interesting after that. One of the great dramas of the Cold War.
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