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

436 Pages·2017·3.73 MB·English

by  Josh Dean

ALSO BY JOSH DEAN
Show Dog

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Copyright © 2017 byf Josh Dean
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Hughes Glomar Explorer illustration here courtesy of Antonio Raspa with minor modifications by Dutton.
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The ability to get to the verge without getting into the
war is the necessary art.
—John Foster Dulles The only way of discovering the
limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them
into the impossible.
—Arthur C. Clarke In wartime, truth is so precious that
she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies.
—Winston Churchill If ever legends and stories of
American technological genius were deserved and not
yet realized, they would be about the scientists and
engineers—the wizards—of [the] CIA.
—Robert M. Gates
For my dad,
who needs to stick around
for a few more books
CONTENTS
Also by Josh Dean
Title Page
Copyright
Epigraph
Dedication
Hughes Glomar Explorer Schematic
PROLOGUE | Unexpected Visitors
1 | K-129 Down
2 | Is This What You Were Looking For?
3 | Finders Keepers
4 | Enter the Halibut
5 | Okay, Now What?
6 | America’s Top Secret Hub of Innovation
7 | Faster and More Furious
8 | Same Man, Different Mission
9 | Need to Know
10 | So, How Do We Steal a Submarine, Anyway?
11 | Epiphany
12 | The Secret Office of Underwater Spies
13 | Global Marine to the Rescue
14 | Ocean Mining 101
15 | Every Great Ship Has a Great Naval Architect
16 | Big Bertha
17 | Paging Howard Hughes
18 | Building a Bulletproof Lie
19 | The Big Con
20 | The Program Office
21 | Back to the Wreck Site
22 | A Minor Complication
23 | We Need a Bigger Boat
24 | The Mother of All Barges
25 | Oh My Darling, Clementine
26 | Across the Airport
27 | Accountability Matters
28 | We Need More Proof
29 | A Ship Rises in Philadelphia
30 | Come One, Come All!
31 | Surprise, Surprise
32 | Ongoing Resistance
33 | Graham’s Masterpiece
34 | Bon Voyage
35 | On to Long Beach
36 | Paint It Black
37 | Strike!
38 | Graham Gets Sick
39 | We Need a Crew
40 | So, Who’s Going?
41 | West Coast Sea Trials
42 | A Crack in the Facade
43 | Sub School
44 | Standing by for Green Light
45 | Twiddling Thumbs
46 | Waiting, More Waiting
47 | Trouble on Romaine Street
48 | Let’s Go Fishing!
49 | Hurry up and Wait
50 | Trouble on the Horizon
51 | Here Comes Trouble
52 | Action All Over
53 | Meanwhile, Back at LAX
54 | The Breaking Point
55 | Touchdown!
56 | Tysons, We Have a Problem
57 | Assessing the Catch
58 | Down Goes Nixon
59 | Crew Change
60 | Burial at Sea
61 | Good-bye, Azorian; Hello, Matador
62 | The Beginning of the End
63 | More Legal Troubles
64 | What Are We Doing Again?
65 | Stranger Than Fiction
66 | The SEC Butts In
67 | Damn You, Jack Anderson
68 | Tumbling Down
69 | The End Is the End, Isn’t It?
70 | That’s All She Wrote
71 | All Good Things Come to an End
AFTERWORD | The Glomar Response
EPILOGUE | The Last Days of Mr. P
The Long View
Photographs
Acknowledgments
A Note About Sources
Selected Bibliography
Index
About the Author