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 … 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.
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Love the detail. Great read
The book was informative but went in too much detail of who did what, when.
A story I heard about, but never really knew the whole story. Very interesting that it actually did happen
Very interesting story
This was a great book. Written about a mission that is little know. Incredible story and mission. A must read!
It adds to the real world events that eventually puts honor between countries and their dead military. It is a great add to anyone’s inventory of historical events.
Really interesting story. This book is worth reading if you’re a Cold War buff.
Even though I was a “well informed adult” during the period of time covered in this book, I was totally unaware of this history. I found it a fascinating tale, even though the author, in my opinion, spent too many pages on inconsequential happenings and interactions.
A lot of detail and perhaps too much about the personalities but very informative of how the CIA worked and the people who made this effort a success.
The true story of American advanced technology in an effort to raise a Russian Nuclear power submarine from 16,500 below the surface. A story of American know how that has made our country great.
First-rate history about an incident nobody seems to have ever heard of. I mean, we stole a Russian sub, for crying out loud. And the engineering that went into the theft is phenomenal. If you’re an engineer or interested in the CIA or just like a good true story, you can’t pass this up.
This is the U.S. side of the K-129 incident. It goes into great detail of the U.S. efforts to raise and plunder the sub for any Russian technology. The technological breakthroughs that occurred because of the race to raise the sub are the basis for much of our wonderful tech toys now! The sheer combined intellectual giants that worked on this project stuns the mind.
A real life story of intrigue, initiative, creativity, adventure and triumph. Told in a writing style that brings the amazing details of the venture to life in an entertaining and readable fashion.
There was some padding in the book, it could have been reduced in size and been all the better for it. Nevertheless, despite the extraneous stories about those not directly involved in this effort, The Taking of K-129 is still an easy read and provides all the details of this daring and expensive attempt of the retrieval of a Soviet submarine from the deep ocean floor.
Very interesting. Gets a little tedious. Too much detail in the supporting information.
Too deeply informative. This made the story much too long a read.
A lot of background into history
Very interesting read about the true events surrounding the sub recovery!
Very well written as a compelling story for anyone that appreciates hero’s overcoming immense engineering obstacles, perseverance, and tragedy
This book is excellently written, factual yet has a great story line regarding a high stakes element of the Cold War.