Project Azorian
Hughes Glomar Explorer | |
Date | 1974 |
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Location | Over 16,000 feet (4,900 m) below the Pacific Ocean |
Participants | CIA, Soviet Navy, U.S. Navy |
Outcome | Successful recovery of a portion of Soviet submarine K-129 |
Project Azorian (also called "Jennifer" by the press after its Top Secret Security Compartment) at a cost of about $800 million, or $4.9 billion today.
The US designed the recovery ship and its lifting cradle using concepts developed with Global Marine (see Project Mohole) that used their precision stability equipment to keep the ship nearly stationary above the target while lowering nearly three miles (4.8 km) of pipe. They worked with scientists to develop methods for preserving paper that had been underwater for years in hopes of being able to recover and read the submarine's codebooks. The reasons that this project was undertaken included the recovery of an intact R-21 nuclear missile and cryptological documents and equipment.
The Soviet Union was unable to locate K-129, but the US knew where to look, based on data recorded by four
The wreck of K-129
On 24 February 1968, K-129, a Soviet
In April 1968, many
The US Navy analyzed acoustic data recorded by the
In July 1968, the United States Navy began "Operation Sand Dollar" with the deployment of USS Halibut from Pearl Harbor to the wreck site. Sand Dollar's objective was to find and photograph K-129. In 1968 Halibut, which had been configured to use deep submergence search equipment, was the US Navy's only such specially-equipped submarine. Halibut located the wreck after three weeks of visual search using robotic remote-controlled cameras. (It took almost five months of search to find the wreck of the US nuclear-powered submarine Scorpion in the Atlantic, also in 1968). Halibut is reported to have spent the next several weeks taking more than 20,000 closeup photos of every aspect of the K-129 wreck, a feat for which Halibut received a special classified Presidential Unit Citation signed by Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968.
In 1970, based upon this photography, Defense Secretary Melvin Laird and Henry Kissinger, then National Security Advisor, proposed a clandestine plan to recover the wreckage so that the US could study Soviet nuclear missile technology, as well as possibly recover cryptographic materials. The proposal was accepted by President Richard Nixon and the CIA was tasked to attempt the recovery.
Building Glomar Explorer, and its cover story
Global Marine Development Inc., the research and development arm of Global Marine Inc., a pioneer in deepwater offshore drilling operations, was contracted to design, build and operate Hughes Glomar Explorer to secretly salvage the sunken Soviet submarine. The ship was built at the
Preparatory missions
At least two preparatory missions were carried out in the general area of the recovery site using other ships. From September 1970 to January 1971 the drilling ship GLOMAR II collected site data as part of Project AXMINSTER.[8] From January to July 1972 the R.V. SEASCOPE surveyed the general area to within 45 nm of the recovery site. Both missions also probed the Soviet reactions to research ships in the region.[9]
Objectives: items to be recovered
The primary objective was to recover a major portion of the submarine. In particular the
Recovery
Hughes Glomar Explorer employed a large mechanical claw, which Lockheed officially titled the "Capture Vehicle" but affectionately called Clementine. The capture vehicle was designed to be lowered to the ocean floor, grasp the targeted submarine section, and then lift that section into the ship's hold. One requirement of this technology was to keep the floating base stable and in position over a fixed point 16,000 feet (4,900 m) below the ocean surface.
The capture vehicle was lowered and raised on a pipe string similar to those used on oil drilling rigs. Section by section, pairs of 30-foot (9.1 m) steel pipes were strung together to lower the claw through a hole in the middle of the ship. This configuration was designed by Western Gear Corp. of Everett, Washington. Upon a successful capture by the claw, the lift reversed the process: 60-foot (18 m) pairs drawn up and removed one at a time. The salvaged "Target Object" was thus to be drawn into a moon pool, the doors of which could then be closed to form a floor for the salvaged section. This allowed for the entire salvage process to take place underwater, away from the view of other ships, aircraft, or spy satellites.
Hughes Glomar Explorer arrived at the recovery site on July 4, 1974, after departing from Long Beach, California, on June 20, and traveling sailing 3,008 nautical miles (5,571 km). The ship conducted salvage operations for over a month. During this period, at least two Soviet Navy ships visited Hughes Glomar Explorer's work site, the oceangoing tugboat SB-10, and the Soviet missile range instrumentation ship Chazma.[4] It was found out after 1991 that the Soviets were tipped off about the operation and were aware that the CIA was planning some kind of salvage operation, but the military command believed it impossible that they could perform such a task and disregarded further intelligence warnings. Later, Soviet Ambassador Anatoly Dobrynin started sending urgent messages back to the Soviet Navy warning that an operation was imminent. Soviet military engineering experts reevaluated their positions and claimed that it was indeed possible (though highly unlikely) to recover K-129, and ships in the area were ordered to report any unusual activity, although the lack of knowledge as to where K-129 was located impeded their ability to stop any salvage operation.[7]
US Army Major General
The recovered section included two nuclear torpedoes, and thus Project Azorian was not a complete failure. The bodies of six crewmen were also recovered, and were given a memorial service and with military honors, buried at sea in a metal casket because of radioactivity concerns. Other crew members have reported that code books and other materials of apparent interest to CIA employees aboard the vessel were recovered, and images of inventory printouts exhibited in the documentary[7] suggest that various submarine components, such as hatch covers, instruments and sonar equipment were also recovered. White's documentary also states that the ship's bell from K-129 was recovered, and was subsequently returned to the Soviet Union as part of a diplomatic effort. The CIA considered the project one of the greatest intelligence coups of the Cold War.[10]
The entire salvage operation was recorded by a CIA documentary film crew, but this film remains classified. A short portion of the film, showing the recovery and subsequent burial at sea of the six bodies recovered in the forward section of K-129, was given to the Russian government in 1992.
Public disclosure
The New York Times story
In February 1975, investigative reporter and former
FOIA request and the Glomar response
After stories had been published about the CIA's attempts to stop publication of information about Project Azorian, Harriet Ann Phillippi, a journalist, filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the CIA for any records about the CIA's attempts. The CIA refused to either confirm or deny the existence of such documents.[18] This type of non-responsive reply has since come to be known as the "Glomar response" or "Glomarization".[19]
1998 release of video
A video showing the 1974 memorial services for the six Soviet seamen whose bodies were recovered by Project Azorian was forwarded by the U.S. to
2010 release of 1985 CIA article
In February 2010, the CIA released an article from the fall 1985 edition of the CIA internal journal Studies in Intelligence following an application by researcher Matthew Aid at the National Security Archive[22] to declassify the information under the Freedom of Information Act. Exactly what the operation managed to salvage remained unclear.[23] The report was written by an unidentified participant in Project Azorian.
2010 release of President Ford cabinet meeting
President
This episode has been a major American accomplishment. The operation is a marvel – technically, and with maintaining secrecy.[24][25]
Schlesinger indicated at least some form of success that should be confirmed publicly.[26] CIA Director William Colby dissented, recalling the U-2 crisis, saying:
I think we should not put the Soviet Union under such pressure to respond.[24][25]
The Los Angeles Times published a four-page story the next day by Jack Nelson with the headline "Administration Won't Talk About Sub Raised by CIA."[26]
Conspiracy theory
Eyewitness account
W. Craig Reed told an inside account of Project Azorian in his book Red November: Inside the Secret U.S. – Soviet Submarine War (2010). The account was provided by Joe Houston, the senior engineer who designed leading-edge camera systems used by the Hughes Glomar Explorer team to photograph K-129 on the ocean floor. The team needed pictures that offered precise measurements to design the grappling arm and other systems used to bring the sunken submarine up from the bottom. Houston worked for the mysterious "Mr. P" (John Parangosky) who worked for CIA Deputy Director Carl E. Duckett, the two leaders of Project Azorian. Duckett later worked with Houston at another company, and intimated that the CIA may have recovered much more from the K-129 than admitted publicly. Reed also details how the deep submergence towed sonar array[30] technology was used for subsequent Operation Ivy Bells missions to wiretap underwater Soviet communications cables.
The documentary film Azorian: The Raising Of The K-129 features interviews with Sherman Wetmore, Global Marine heavy lift operations manager; Charlie Johnson, Global Marine heavy lift engineer; and Raymond Feldman, Lockheed Ocean Systems senior staff engineer. They were the three principals in the design of the Hughes Glomar Explorer heavy lift system and the Lockheed capture vehicle (CV or claw). They were also on board the ship during the mission and were intimately involved with the recovery operation. They confirmed that only 38 ft (12 m) of the bow was eventually recovered. The intent was to recover the forward two thirds (138 ft [42 m]) of K-129, which had broken off from the rear section of the submarine and was designated the Target Object (TO). The capture vehicle successfully lifted the TO from the ocean floor, but a failure of part of the capture vehicle on the way up caused the loss of 100 ft (30 m) of the TO, including the sail. Norman Polmar and Michael White published Project Azorian: The CIA And The Raising of the K-129 in 2010. The book contains additional documentary evidence about the effort to locate the submarine and the recovery operation.[7]
CIA Museum artifacts
A number of artifacts from Project Azorian and Glomar Explorer are on display at the CIA Museum. The museum has shared declassified images and video featuring the artifacts through its website; however the physical grounds of the museum are on the compound of the George Bush Center for Intelligence and thus physically inaccessible to the public.
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Sherman Wetmore, lead engineer on the Glomar Explorer, looking at an oil painting of the ship raising the Soviet submarine.
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Sherman Wetmore poses next to a collection of Project AZORIAN artifacts on display.
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One of the manganese nodules that Glomar recovered from the Pacific, now encased in lucite.
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Hughes Glomar / Summa Corporation crew patch
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A video discussing the Glomar Explorer, produced as part of the CIA Debrief series on YouTube
Documentaries
The documentary film Azorian: The Raising Of The K-129 was produced by Michael White and released in 2009.[31]
Neither Confirm Nor Deny is a documentary on Project Azorian.[32][33][34][35]
See also
- HMS L55, a British submarine sunk in 1919 and raised by the Soviets in 1928
- HMS Poseidon, a British submarine sunk in 1931 and secretly raised by China in 1972
- Hughes Mining Barge, a submersible barge designed to keep the Glomar Explorer's true nature secret
- The Jennifer Morgue novel by Charles Stross, uses the K-129 scenario as a basis for supernatural horror.
- Three Miles Down novel by Harry Turtledove, based on Project Azorian.
- List of sunken nuclear submarines
References
Notes
- ^ Aid, Matthew; Burr, William; Blanton, Thomas (2010-02-12). "Project Azorian: The CIA's Declassified History of the Glomar Explorer". The National Security Archive. Retrieved 2010-02-13 – via GWU.
- ^ Wiegley, Roger D., LT (JAG) USN "The Recovered Sunken Warship: Raising a Legal Question" United States Naval Institute Proceedings January 1979 p. 30.
- ^ The secret on the ocean floor. David Shukman, BBC News. 19 February 2018.
- ^ CIA. Fall 1985. Retrieved 2010-02-13.
- ISBN 978-1-59114-690-2.
- ^ "Sub Pirates World Submarines". www.cliffhangershideout.com. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
- ^ ISBN 978-1591146902. Archived from the originalon February 5, 2009.
- ^ "186. Memorandum to the Chairman of the 40 Committee (Kissinger)". Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969–1976, Volume XXXV, National Security Policy, 1973–1976. May 28, 1974. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
- ^ a b "Memorandum to the Chairman of the 40 Committee (Kissinger)". Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969–1976. XXXV. 1974-05-28. Retrieved 2023-08-22.
- ^ "Project AZORIAN". CIA. November 21, 2012. Archived from the original on September 27, 2012. Retrieved July 9, 2013.
- ^ "The Press: Show and Tell? (Monday, Mar. 31, 1975)". Time. 31 March 1975. Retrieved 8 April 2022.
- ^ a b Robarge, David (March 2012). "The Glomar Explorer in Film and Print" (PDF). Studies in Intelligence. 56 (1): 28–29. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 12, 2022. Retrieved August 4, 2014.
- ^ Phelan, James. "An Easy Burglary Led to the Disclosure of Hughes-C.I.A. Plan to Salvage Soviet Sub" (fee). The New York Times 27 March 1975, p. 18.
- ^ Manjoo, Farhad (22 December 2005). "Prying open the Times". Salon. Retrieved 22 September 2021.
- ^ Bush, George H.W. (2 Dec 1976). "Meeting with the President, Oval Office, 1. December 1976, 9:00 to 9:30 a.m." (PDF). Central Intelligence Agency. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 17, 2016.
- ^ Bush, George H.W. (12 July 1976). "Meeting with the President, Oval Office, 12. July 1976, 8:00 a.m." (PDF). Central Intelligence Agency. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 17, 2016.
- ^ "Implications for US-Soviet Relations of Certain Soviet Activities: Microwaves in Moscow (section 13)" (PDF). Central Intelligence Agency. June 1976. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-11-05. Retrieved 2011-01-02.
- ^ Philippi v. CIA (Turner et al.), U.S. Court of Appeals, 211 U.S. App. D.D. 95, June 25, 1981
- ^ FOIA Update, Vol. VII, No. 1, Page 3 (1986). "OIP Guidance: Privacy 'Glomarization'". United States Department of Justice.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Clyde W, Burleson, author, "The Jennifer Project", 1977
- ^ PBS, Nova, "Submarines, Secrets and Spies". Broadcast January, 1999.
- ^ Calvin Woodward (February 13, 2010). "Gone fishing: Secret hunt for a sunken Soviet sub". Associated Press.
- ^ "US admits salvaging sunken Soviet submarine – The American government has finally revealed details of a secret mission to raise a sunken Soviet submarine
- ^ a b Matador Meeting
- ^ a b memorandum nsarchiv
- ^ a b Document Friday: The Origins of "Glomar" Declassified, William Burr, June 15, 2012.
- ^ "Espionage: The Great Submarine Snatch". Time Magazine. 1975-03-31. Archived from the original on February 4, 2013.
- ^ "Military Audit Project v. | 656 F.2d 724 (1981) | f2d72411252 | Leagle.com". Leagle. Retrieved 2017-09-17.
- ^ "656 F.2d 724; 211 U.S.App.D.C. 135, 7 Media L. Rep. 1708: Military Audit Project, Felice D. Cohen, Morton H. Halperin, Appellants, v. William Casey, Director of Central Intelligence, et al.; No. 80-1110". United States Court of Appeals, District of Columbia Circuit. 1981. Archived from the original on 2012-03-25.
- ^ USS Halibut Crew Member
- ^ Azorian – The Raising of the K-129 / 2009 – Two Part TV Documentary / Michael White Films Vienna
- ^ Abele, Robert (23 September 2023). "Review: 'Neither Confirm Nor Deny' tells a real-life tale of spies, nukes and Howard Hughes". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
- ^ Rapold, Nicolas. "'Neither Confirm Nor Deny' Review: Exhumation at Sea". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
- ISBN 978-0-231-55032-1.
- ^ DeFore, John (13 November 2020). "'Neither Confirm Nor Deny': Film Review - DOC NYC 2020". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 3 December 2023.
Sources
- Bennett, M. Todd (3 January 2023). Neither Confirm nor Deny: How the Glomar Mission Shielded the CIA from Transparency. Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-55032-1.
- ISBN 0-684-87213-7.
- Dean, Josh (2018). The Taking of K-129: How the CIA Used Howard Hughes to Steal a Russian Sub in the Most Daring Covert Operation in History. Dutton Caliber. ISBN 978-1101984451.
- Dunham, Roger C. (1996) Spy Sub – Top Secret Mission To The Bottom Of The Pacific New York: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-451-40797-0
- Reed, W. Craig (2010) Red November: Inside the Secret U.S.–Soviet Submarine War New York: William Morrow. ISBN 978-0-06-180676-6
- ISBN 978-1-59114-690-2
- Presidential Unit Citation – USS Halibut – 1968
- Sharp, David (2012). The CIA's Greatest Covert Operation: Inside the Daring Mission to Recover a Nuclear-Armed Soviet Sub. Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas. p. 344. ISBN 978-0-7006-1834-7. Archived from the originalon 2012-07-28.
- Sontag, Sherry (1998). Blind Man's Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage. New York: Harper. ISBN 0-06-103004-X.
- Varner, Roy and Collier, Wayne. (1978) A Matter of Risk: The Incredible Inside Story of the CIA's Hughes Glomar Explorer Mission to Raise a Russian Submarine
External links
- Project Jennifer and the Hughes Glomar Explorer fas.org
- bibliography intellit.muskingum.edu