Project Azorian: The CIA and the Raising of the K-129

In August 1974, despite risks, the CIA attempted to salvage the sunken Soviet ballistic missile submarine K-129 from the North Pacific Ocean. The audacious effort, disguised as an undersea mining operation by billionaire Howard Hughes, was the most ambitious ocean engineering endeavor. After the accidental sinking of a Soviet missile submarine in 1968, U.S. intelligence agencies determined the submarine’s location and devised a method to raise it from 16,400 feet. Soviet naval ships guarded the lift ship, the Hughes Glomar Explorer, while the K-129 contained nuclear-armed torpedoes, a nuclear-tipped missile, and crypto equipment. The book, based on research for Michael White’s documentary film Azorian: The Raising of the K-129, led to a brief CIA report in early 2010, with one-third redacted.

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