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Azorian
Project Azorian (also called "Jennifer" by the press after its Top Secret Security Compartment) was a U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) project to recover the sunken Soviet submarine ''K-129'' from the Pacific Ocean floor in 1974, using the purpose-built ship ''Hughes Glomar Explorer''.Wiegley, Roger D., LT (JAG) USN "The Recovered Sunken Warship: Raising a Legal Question" ''United States Naval Institute Proceedings'' January 1979 p. 30. The 1968 sinking of ''K-129'' occurred approximately northwest of Hawaii. Project Azorian was one of the most complex, expensive, and secretive intelligence operations of the Cold War at a cost of about $800 million, or $ billion today. In addition to designing the recovery ship and its lifting cradle, the U.S. used concepts developed with Global Marine (see Project Mohole) that utilized their precision stability equipment to keep the ship nearly stationary above the target while lowering nearly of pipe. They worked with scientists to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Soviet Submarine K-129 (1960)
''K-129'' ( Russian: К–129) was a Project 629A ( Russian: проект 629А ''Projekt 629A'', NATO reporting name Golf II–class) diesel-electric- powered ballistic-missile submarine that served in the Pacific Fleet of the Soviet Navy–one of six Project 629 strategic ballistic-missile submarines assigned to the 15th Submarine Squadron based at Rybachiy Naval Base near Petropavlovsk, commanded by Rear Admiral Rudolf Golosov. The ''K-129''s commander was Captain First Rank Vladimir I. Kobzar, and she carried the hull number 722 on her final deployment, during which she sank on 8 March 1968. This was one of four mysterious submarine disappearances in 1968, the others being the Israeli submarine , the , and the American submarine . After nearly two weeks of silence during her patrol in the Pacific Ocean, the Soviet Navy officials became concerned about her status and reportedly deployed large numbers of aviation and ships to search for the vessel, but no sign or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hughes Glomar Explorer
''GSF Explorer'', formerly USNS ''Hughes Glomar Explorer'' (T-AG-193), was a deep-sea drillship platform built for Project Azorian, the secret 1974 effort by the United States Central Intelligence Agency's Special Activities Division to recover the Soviet submarine ''K-129''. Construction The ship was built as ''Hughes Glomar Explorer'' in 1971 and 1972 by Sun Shipbuilding and Drydock Co. for more than (about $ billion in ) at the direction of Howard Hughes for use by his company, Global Marine Development Inc. It began operation on 20 June 1974. Hughes told the media that the ship's purpose was to extract manganese nodules from the ocean floor. This marine geology cover story became surprisingly influential, causing many others to examine the idea. Project Azorian The Soviet diesel-electric submarine ''K-129'' sank in the Pacific Ocean NW of Hawaii, on 8 March 1968. The USS ''Halibut'' identified the wreck site and the CIA crafted an elaborate and highly secret plan t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
USNS Glomar Explorer (T-AG-193)
''GSF Explorer'', formerly USNS ''Hughes Glomar Explorer'' (T-AG-193), was a deep-sea drillship platform built for Project Azorian, the secret 1974 effort by the United States Central Intelligence Agency's Special Activities Division to recover the Soviet submarine ''K-129''. Construction The ship was built as ''Hughes Glomar Explorer'' in 1971 and 1972 by Sun Shipbuilding and Drydock Co. for more than (about $ billion in ) at the direction of Howard Hughes for use by his company, Global Marine Development Inc. It began operation on 20 June 1974. Hughes told the media that the ship's purpose was to extract manganese nodules from the ocean floor. This marine geology cover story became surprisingly influential, causing many others to examine the idea. Project Azorian The Soviet diesel-electric submarine ''K-129'' sank in the Pacific Ocean NW of Hawaii, on 8 March 1968. The USS ''Halibut'' identified the wreck site and the CIA crafted an elaborate and highly secret plan to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
GSF Explorer
''GSF Explorer'', formerly USNS ''Hughes Glomar Explorer'' (T-AG-193), was a deep-sea drillship platform built for Project Azorian, the secret 1974 effort by the United States Central Intelligence Agency's Special Activities Division to recover the Soviet submarine ''K-129''. Construction The ship was built as ''Hughes Glomar Explorer'' in 1971 and 1972 by Sun Shipbuilding and Drydock Co. for more than (about $ billion in ) at the direction of Howard Hughes for use by his company, Global Marine Development Inc. It began operation on 20 June 1974. Hughes told the media that the ship's purpose was to extract manganese nodules from the ocean floor. This marine geology cover story became surprisingly influential, causing many others to examine the idea. Project Azorian The Soviet diesel-electric submarine ''K-129'' sank in the Pacific Ocean NW of Hawaii, on 8 March 1968. The USS ''Halibut'' identified the wreck site and the CIA crafted an elaborate and highly secret plan to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Golf-class Submarine
Project 629 (Russian: проект–629, ''Projekt-629''), also known by the NATO reporting name Golf, was a class of diesel-electric ballistic missile submarines that served in the Soviet Navy. All boats of this class had left Soviet service by 1990, and have since been disposed of. According to some sources, at least one Golf-class submarine was operated by China, to test new submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs). Class history Project 629 was started in the mid-1950s along with the D-2 missile launch system, which it was to carry, and was based on the Foxtrot-class submarine. The design task was assigned to OKB-16, one of the two predecessors (the other being SKB-143) of the Malakhit Marine Engineering Bureau, which would eventually become one of the three Soviet/Russian submarine design centers, along with the Rubin Design Bureau and the Lazurit Central Design Bureau. The submarine was originally designed to carry three R-11FM ballistic missiles with a range ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Naval Facility Point Sur
Naval Facility Point Sur was one of 30 secret sites worldwide that were built during the Cold War to detect Soviet submarines. In 1958, the U.S. Navy built a Naval Facility (NAVFAC) ½ mile south of Point Sur on the Big Sur coast to provide submarine surveillance using the classified SOund SUrveillance System (SOSUS). The public was told the station was engaged in oceanographic research. Long-range acoustic listening was first tested and partially developed at Point Sur light station with an associated SOFAR station. The facility was one of the stand-alone SOSUS stations around the world. NAVFAC Point Sur played a key role in identifying the location of the wrecked Soviet submarine Soviet submarine ''K-129'', a portion of which was eventually raised in a significant intelligence coup. The NAVFAC was closed in 1984, when its operations were computerized and its data transmitted to another location. All but one building was donated to California State Parks in 2000, which used so ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Air Force Technical Applications Center
The Air Force Technical Applications Center (AFTAC), based at Florida's Patrick Space Force Base, is an Air Force surveillance organization assigned to the Sixteenth Air Force. Its mission is to monitor nuclear treaties of all applicable signatory countries. This is accomplished using seismic, hydroacoustic and satellite-detection systems. Mission The Air Force Technical Applications Center (AFTAC) is the only American military unit responsible for providing national authorities with technical measurements to monitor nuclear-treaty compliance. It also develops proliferation-monitoring technologies. AFTAC maintains a system containing more than 3,600 sensors worldwide and a global network of nuclear event-detection equipment called the U.S. Atomic Energy Detection Systems (USAEDS), the largest sensor network in the U.S. Air Force. When a disturbance is detected underground, underwater, in the atmosphere or in space, the event may be analyzed for nuclear identification, and the fi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Presidential Unit Citation (United States)
The Presidential Unit Citation (PUC), originally called the Distinguished Unit Citation, is awarded to units of the uniformed services of the United States, and those of allied countries, for extraordinary heroism in action against an armed enemy on or after 7 December 1941 (the date of the Attack on Pearl Harbor and the start of American involvement in World War II). The unit must display such gallantry, determination, and '' esprit de corps'' in accomplishing its mission under extremely difficult and hazardous conditions so as to set it apart from and above other units participating in the same campaign. Since its inception by President Franklin D. Roosevelt with the signing of Executive Order 9075 on 26 February 1942, retroactive to 7 December 1941, to 2008, the Presidential Unit Citation has been awarded in conflicts such as World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, Iraq War, and the War in Afghanistan. The collective degree of valor (combat heroism) against an armed e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manganese Nodule
Polymetallic nodules, also called manganese nodules, are mineral concretions on the sea bottom formed of concentric layers of iron and manganese hydroxides around a core. As nodules can be found in vast quantities, and contain valuable metals, deposits have been identified as a potential economic interest. Nodules vary in size from tiny particles visible only under a microscope to large pellets more than across. However, most nodules are between in diameter, about the size of hen's eggs or potatoes. Their surface textures vary from smooth to rough. They frequently have botryoidal (mammillated or knobby) texture and vary from spherical in shape to typically oblate (flying saucer), sometimes prolate (Rugby ball), or are otherwise irregular. The bottom surface, buried in sediment, is generally rougher than the top due to a different type of growth. Occurrence Nodules lie on the seabed sediment, often partly or completely buried. They vary greatly in abundance, in some cases ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
NavFac Adak
Naval Air Facility Adak , was a United States Navy airport located west of Adak, on Adak Island in the U.S. state of Alaska.. Federal Aviation Administration. Effective 11 February 2010. After its closure in 1997, it was reopened as Adak Airport. The facility was designated a National Historic Landmark for its role in World War II, although most of its elements from that period have been demolished or lie in ruins.Erwin N. Thompson (16 March 1984) , National Park Service and History Adak Army Airfield On June 6/7, 1942, the Japanese Navy and Army participated in the only invasion of the United States during World War II through the Aleutian Islands of Kiska and Attu as part of the Aleutian Islands Campaign. Despite the first loss of U.S. soil to a foreign enemy since the War of 1812, the campaign was not considered a priority by the Joint Chiefs of Staff. British Prime Minister Churchill stated that sending forces to attack the Japanese presence there was a diversion from t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Howard Hughes
Howard Robard Hughes Jr. (December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976) was an American business magnate, record-setting pilot, engineer, film producer, and philanthropist, known during his lifetime as one of the most influential and richest people in the world. He first became prominent as a film producer, and then as an important figure in the aviation industry. Later in life, he became known for his eccentric behavior and reclusive lifestyle—oddities that were caused in part by his worsening obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), chronic pain from a near-fatal plane crash, and increasing deafness. As a film tycoon, Hughes gained fame in Cinema of the United States, Hollywood beginning in the late 1920s, when he produced big-budget and often controversial films such as ''The Racket (1928 film), The Racket'' (1928), ''Hell's Angels (film), Hell's Angels'' (1930), and ''Scarface (1932 film), Scarface'' (1932). He later acquired the RKO Pictures film studio in 1948, recognized then as one ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
North Pacific Ocean
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is related to the Old High German ''nord'', both descending from the Proto-Indo-European unit *''ner-'', meaning "left; below" as north is to left when facing the rising sun. Similarly, the other cardinal directions are also related to the sun's position. The Latin word ''borealis'' comes from the Greek '' boreas'' "north wind, north", which, according to Ovid, was personified as the wind-god Boreas, the father of Calais and Zetes. ''Septentrionalis'' is from ''septentriones'', "the seven plow oxen", a name of ''Ursa Major''. The Greek ἀρκτικός (''arktikós'') is named for the same constellation, and is the source of the English word ''Arctic''. Other languages have other derivations. For example, in Lezgian, ''kefer'' can mean b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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