Project Azorian

The 1974 CIA mission that raised part of a sunken Soviet submarine from the Pacific floor

Overview

Project Azorian used the Hughes Glomar Explorer, a ship built under a manganese nodule mining cover story, to lift part of the Soviet ballistic submarine K-129 from 5,000 meters down in 1974. The grapple failed during the lift, and accounts differ on how much of the hull came up before most of it fell back into the deep. The Los Angeles Times exposed the story in 1975. The audacious cover and partial recovery make it a legend of engineering espionage.