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| Date | 1974 |
|---|---|
| Location | 16,500 feet (5,000 m) below thePacific Ocean |
| Participants | CIA,U.S. Navy |
| Outcome | Successful recovery of a portion ofSoviet submarine K-129 |
Project Azorian (also called "Jennifer" by the press after its Top Secret Security Compartment)[1] was a U.S.Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) project to recover the sunkenSoviet submarineK-129 from the Pacific Ocean floor in 1974 using the purpose-built shipHughes Glomar Explorer.[2][3] The 1968 sinking ofK-129 occurred about 1,560 miles (2,510 km) northwest of Hawaii.[4] Project Azorian was one of the most complex, expensive, and covert intelligence operations of theCold War at a cost of about $800 million, or $5.1 billion today.
The US designed the recovery ship and its lifting cradle using concepts developed with Global Marine (seeProject 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 intactR-21 nuclear missile and cryptological documents and equipment.
The Soviet Union was unable to locateK-129, but the US determined its general location from data recorded by fourAir Force Technical Applications Center (AFTAC) sites and the AdakSound Surveillance System (SOSUS) array.The US identified an acoustic event on March 8 that likely originated from an explosion aboard the submarine, and was able to determine the location to within five nautical miles (5.8 mi; 9.3 km).[clarify]
The submarineUSS Halibut located the boat using the Fish, a towed, 12-foot (3.7 m), two-short-ton (1.8 t) collection of cameras, strobe lights, and sonar that was built to withstand extreme depths. The recovery operation in international waters about six years later used mining formanganese nodules as itscover story.
The mining company and ship were nominally owned by reclusive billionaireHoward Hughes, but secretly backed by the CIA, who paid for the construction of theHughes Glomar Explorer.[5] The ship recovered a portion ofK-129, but a mechanical failure in the grapple caused two-thirds of the recovered section to break off during recovery.[6][7]
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On February 24, 1968,K-129, a SovietProject 629Aballistic missile submarine attached to the 15th Submarine Squadron of theSoviet Pacific Fleet, left Rybachiy Naval Base inKamchatka on a routine missile patrol, the boat's third since completing a major modernization the previous year. On the first day, the sub cruised out to deep water, conducted a test dive, surfaced to radio in, and embarked for its patrol station. The sub was to make standard radio contact with its commanders in Kamchatka when crossing the180th meridian and when arriving on station. ButK-129 missed its designated check-ins and did not respond to communication attempts. By the third week of March, the submarine was declared missing.
In April 1968, manySoviet Pacific Fleet surface and air assets deployed to theNorth Pacific Ocean, performing unusual search operations. The activity was evaluated by the United StatesOffice of Naval Intelligence (ONI) as a possible reaction to the loss of a Soviet submarine. Soviet surface ship searches were centered on a location known to be associated with SovietGolf II-class strategic ballistic missile (SSB) diesel submarine patrol routes. These submarines carried three nuclear missiles in an extended sail/conning tower and were routinely deployed within missile range of the US west coast. After weeks of searching, the Soviets were unable to locate the sunken boat, and Soviet Pacific Fleet operations gradually returned to normal.
The US Navy analyzed acoustic data recorded by theSOSUShydrophone network in the northern Pacific—four AFTAC sites and theAdak, Alaska SOSUS array—and found evidence of the implosion that had sunk the Russian sub.[citation needed]Naval Facility (NAVFAC) Point Sur, south ofMonterey, California, isolated a sonic signature on its low-frequency array recordings of an implosion that had occurred on March 8, 1968. Using NavFac Point Sur's date and time of the event,NavFac Adak and the US West Coast NAVFAC were also able to isolate the acoustic event. With five SOSUS lines-of-bearing, Naval Intelligence was able to localize the site of theK-129 wreck to the vicinity of 40.1° N latitude and 179.9° E longitude (close to theInternational Date Line).[6]
In July 1968, theUnited States Navy began "Operation Sand Dollar" with the deployment ofUSS Halibut fromPearl Harbor to the wreck site. Sand Dollar's objective was to find and photographK-129. In 1968Halibut, 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 submarineScorpion 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 theK-129 wreck, a feat for whichHalibut received a special classifiedPresidential Unit Citation signed byLyndon B. Johnson in 1968.
The photos were sent to theNational Photographic Interpretation Center at the CIA to determine what, if anything, could be determined about the status of the wreck. CIA analysts wrote a report indicating that there was a good probability that the nuclear missile in the #3 missile tube was still intact.[7]
In 1970, based upon this photography,Defense SecretaryMelvin Laird andHenry Kissinger, thenNational Security Advisor, proposed a clandestine plan to recover the wreckage so that the US could study Soviet nuclear missile technology, as well as possibly recovercryptographic materials. The proposal was accepted by PresidentRichard Nixon, and the CIA was tasked to attempt the recovery.
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 operateHughes Glomar Explorer to secretly salvage the sunken Soviet submarine. The ship was built at theSun Shipbuilding yard near Philadelphia. Billionaire businessmanHoward Hughes – whose companies were already contractors on numerous classifiedUS military weapons, aircraft and satellite contracts[citation needed] – agreed to lend his name to the project to support the cover story that the ship was miningmanganese nodules from the ocean floor, but Hughes and his companies had no actual involvement in the project.K-129 was photographed at a depth of over 16,000 feet (4,900 m), and thus the salvage operation would be well beyond the depth of any ship salvage operation ever attempted.[citation needed] On November 1, 1972, work began on the 63,000-short-ton (57,000 t), 619-foot-long (189 m)Hughes Glomar Explorer (HGE).
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 ofProject AXMINSTER.[8] From January to July 1972, the R.V. SEASCOPE surveyed the general area to within 45 nautical miles of the recovery site. Both missions also probed the Soviet reactions to research ships in the region.[9]
The primary objective was to recover a major portion of the submarine. In particular, theUnited States Intelligence Board (USIB) expected to recovercryptographic equipment, anuclear warhead, aSS-N-5 missile, thenavigation system,fire control system,sonar system,ASW countermeasures, and related documentation.[9]
Hughes Glomar Explorer employed a large mechanical claw, whichLockheed officially titled the "Capture Vehicle" but affectionately calledClementine. 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'smoon pool for processing. 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. ofEverett, 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 the moon pool in the center of the vessel, 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 (40°06′N179°54′E / 40.1°N 179.9°E /40.1; 179.9)[10] on July 4, 1974, after departing fromLong Beach, California, on June 20, and 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 visitedHughes Glomar Explorer's work site, the oceangoingtugboatSB-10, and the Soviet missile range instrumentation shipChazma.[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 AmbassadorAnatoly 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 recoverK-129, and ships in the area were ordered to report any unusual activity, although the lack of knowledge as to whereK-129 was located impeded their ability to stop any salvage operation.[6]
US Army Major GeneralRoland Lajoie stated that, according to a briefing he received by the CIA during recovery operations,Clementine suffered a catastrophic failure, causing two-thirds of the already raised portion ofK-129 to sink back to the ocean floor.[citation needed] Former Lockheed and Hughes Global Marine employees who worked on the operation have stated that several of the "claws" intended to grab the submarine fractured, possibly because they were manufactured frommaraging steel, which is verystrong, but not veryductile compared with other kinds of steel.[6] Video evidence and eyewitness reports have stated that multiple claws of Clementine sheared off, causing a 100-foot (30 m) section of the submarine to fall back to the seafloor.[7] Eyewitnesses have stated that only the 38-foot (12 m) bow section was raised, while the sail portion containing the nuclear missiles was lost during the raising operation.[7]
The recovered section included twonuclear 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[6] suggest that various submarine components, such as hatch covers, instruments and sonar equipment were also recovered.[original research?] White's documentary also states that theship's bell fromK-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.[11]
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 ofK-129, was given to the Russian government in 1992.
Time Magazine creditedJack Anderson as breaking the story in a March 1975 radio broadcast.[12][13] Rejecting a plea from theDirector of Central IntelligenceWilliam Colby to suppress the story, Anderson said he released the story because "Navy experts have told us that the sunken sub contains no real secrets and that the project, therefore, is a waste of the taxpayers' money."[13]
In February 1975, investigative reporter and formerNew York Times writerSeymour Hersh had planned to publish a story on Project Azorian.Bill Kovach, theNew York Times Washington bureau chief at the time, said in 2005 that the government offered a convincing argument to delay publication – exposure at that time, while the project was ongoing, "would have caused an international incident."The New York Times published its account in March 1975,[14] after a story appeared in theLos Angeles Times, and included a five-paragraph explanation of the many twists and turns in the path to publication.[15] CIA directorGeorge H. W. Bush reported on several occasions to U.S. presidentGerald Ford on media reports and the future use of the ship.[16][17] The CIA concluded that it seemed unclear what, if any, action was taken by the Soviet Union after learning of the story.[18]
After stories had been published about the CIA's attempts to stop publication of information about Project Azorian,Harriet Ann Phillippi, a journalist, filed aFreedom 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.[19] This type of non-responsive reply has since come to be known as the "Glomar response" or "Glomarization".[20]
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. toRussia in the early 1990s. Portions of this video were shown on television documentaries concerning Project Azorian, including a 1998Discovery Channel special calledA Matter of National Security (based on Clyde W. Burleson's book,The Jennifer Project (1977)) and again in 1999, on a PBS Cold War submarine episode ofNOVA.[21][22]
In February 2010, the CIA released an article from the fall 1985 edition of the CIA internal journalStudies in Intelligence following an application by researcher Matthew Aid at theNational Security Archive[23] to declassify the information under the Freedom of Information Act. Exactly what the operation managed to salvage remained unclear.[24] The report was written by an unidentified participant in Project Azorian.
PresidentGerald Ford, Secretary of DefenseJames R. Schlesinger, Philip Buchen (Counsel to the President),John O. Marsh, Jr. (Counselor to the President), AmbassadorDonald Rumsfeld, USAF Lieutenant GeneralBrent Scowcroft (Deputy Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs), andWilliam Colby (Director of Central Intelligence) discussed the leak and whether the Ford administration would react to Hersh's story in a cabinet meeting on March 19, 1975, the same day thatThe New York Times published the story. Secretary of Defense Schlesinger is quoted as saying,
This episode has been a major American accomplishment. The operation is a marvel – technically, and with maintaining secrecy.[25][26]
Schlesinger indicated at least some form of success that should be confirmed publicly.[27] CIA Director William Colby dissented, recalling theU-2 crisis, saying:
I think we should not put the Soviet Union under such pressure to respond.[25][26]
TheLos Angeles Times published a four-page story the next day byJack Nelson with the headline "Administration Won't Talk About Sub Raised by CIA."[27]
Time magazine[28] and a court filing by Felice D. Cohen andMorton H. Halperin on behalf of the Military Audit Project[29] suggest that the alleged project goal of raising a Soviet submarine might itself have been a cover story for another secret mission. Tapping undersea communication cables, the cover up of an assassination, the discovery ofAtlantis, the installation of amissile silo, and installation and repair ofsurveillance systems to monitor ship and submarine movements are listed as possibilities for the actual purpose of such a secret mission.[30]
W. Craig Reed told an inside account of Project Azorian in his bookRed 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 theHughes Glomar Explorer team to photographK-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 DirectorCarl 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 theK-129 than admitted publicly. Reed also details how the deep submergence towed sonar array[31] technology was used for subsequentOperation Ivy Bells missions to wiretap underwater Soviet communications cables.
The documentary filmAzorian: 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 theHughes 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]) ofK-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 publishedProject 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.[6]
A number of artifacts from Project Azorian andGlomar Explorer are on display at theCIA 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 theGeorge Bush Center for Intelligence and thus physically inaccessible to the public.
The documentary filmAzorian: The Raising Of The K-129 was produced by Michael White and released in 2009.[32]
Spy Ops: Project Azorian (Season 1, Episode 8) is a short documentary also produced by Michael White which adds some details to his earlier work. Two former CIA officials (Robert Wallace, John Cardwell) make their appearance in this film for Netflix.[7]
Neither Confirm Nor Deny is a documentary on Project Azorian.[33][34][35][36]
Notes
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