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    The Taking of K-129: How the CIA Used Howard Hughes to Steal a Russian Sub in the Most Daring Covert Operation in History
    Unavailable
    The Taking of K-129: How the CIA Used Howard Hughes to Steal a Russian Sub in the Most Daring Covert Operation in History
    Unavailable
    The Taking of K-129: How the CIA Used Howard Hughes to Steal a Russian Sub in the Most Daring Covert Operation in History
    Audiobook15 hours

    The Taking of K-129: How the CIA Used Howard Hughes to Steal a Russian Sub in the Most Daring Covert Operation in History

    Written by Josh Dean

    Narrated by Neil Hellegers

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    An incredible true tale of espionage and engineering set at the height of the Cold War—a mix between The Hunt for Red October and Argo—about how the CIA, the U.S. Navy, and America's most eccentric mogul spent six years and nearly a billion dollars to steal the nuclear-armed Soviet submarine K-129 after it had sunk to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean; all while the Russians were watching.

    In the early hours of February 25, 1968, a Russian submarine armed with three nuclear ballistic missiles set sail from its base in Siberia on a routine combat patrol to Hawaii. Then it vanished.

    As the Soviet Navy searched in vain for the lost vessel, a small, highly classified American operation using sophisticated deep-sea spy equipment found it—wrecked on the sea floor at a depth of 16,800 feet, far beyond the capabilities of any salvage that existed. But the potential intelligence assets onboard the ship—the nuclear warheads, battle orders, and cryptological machines—justified going to extreme lengths to find a way to raise the submarine.

    So began Project Azorian, a top-secret mission that took six years, cost an estimated $800 million, and would become the largest and most daring covert operation in CIA history.

    After the U.S. Navy declared retrieving the sub "impossible," the mission fell to the CIA's burgeoning Directorate of Science and Technology, the little-known division responsible for the legendary U-2 and SR-71 Blackbird spy planes. Working with Global Marine Systems, the country's foremost maker of exotic, deep-sea drilling vessels, the CIA commissioned the most expensive ship ever built and told the world that it belonged to the reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes, who would use the mammoth ship to mine rare minerals from the ocean floor. In reality, a complex network of spies, scientists, and politicians attempted a project even crazier than Hughes's reputation: raising the sub directly under the watchful eyes of the Russians.

    The Taking of K-129     is a riveting, almost unbelievable true-life tale of military history, engineering genius, and high-stakes spy-craft set during the height of the Cold War, when nuclear annihilation was a constant fear, and the opportunity to gain even the slightest advantage over your enemy was worth massive risk.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateSep 5, 2017
    ISBN9780525499718
    Unavailable
    The Taking of K-129: How the CIA Used Howard Hughes to Steal a Russian Sub in the Most Daring Covert Operation in History

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    Reviews for The Taking of K-129

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    • 4/5
      Josh Dean skillfully navigates the intricate, clandestine path taken by the United States at the height of the cold war to recover the sunken Soviet submarine, K-129. On or about March 11, 1968, K-129 suffered an undisclosed failure in the north Pacific and sank. The Soviet Navy responded with a massive, all-hands-on-deck search and rescue mission but to no avail. Aware of the nature of the Soviet’s activity at sea, the CIA decided to search for and recover the lost sub for any information it might contain.After having located the U.S.S Thresher and U.S.S. Scorpion, both lost in deep water, the CIA received permission from Howard Hughes to use his name and corporation as cover. Under the pretense of “a deep ocean mining venture,” the “Hughes Corporation” (CIA) built the Glomar Explorer specifically to recover K-129 from 16,500 feet of water. In August of 1974, while ostensibly mining the ocean floor for manganese, a Soviet seagoing tug approached. Harassing Glomar Explorer and taking pictures of the strange ship, the Soviets remained unaware that K-129 was hanging from the capture vehicle beneath the ship. The cover and operation were a qualified success.Mr. Dean weaves a dizzying cast of characters into a readable narrative that is fascinating in its scope and for its cover story holding for five years. Only when the first phase was complete did a major-media leak scuttle any further attempts. Nicely done Mr. Dean. One complaint, however: The accompanying photos were too few to enlighten, and did neither the Glomar Explorer nor K-129 justice. I had to beseech the Oracle of Google for that. Seriously, seeing K-129 lying on the ocean floor some three miles down gave one pause as to the absurd difficulty of raising a sub from that depth and keeping it secret. The picture of John Wayne posing as a potential customer on the stern of the Glomar Explorer, not so much. Three and a half stars. Well done.