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The CIA's Greatest Covert Operation: Inside the Daring Mission to Recover a Nuclear-Armed Soviet Sub

ePub The CIA's Greatest Covert Operation: Inside the Daring Mission to Recover a Nuclear-Armed Soviet Sub by David H. Sharp in History

Description

Explains how Cairo came to have its important Genizah archive; how Cambridge developed its interests in Hebraica; and how a number of colourful figures brought about the connection between the two centres. Also shows the importance of the Genizah material for Jewish cultural history.


#287090 in Books University Press of Kansas 2012-04-04Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.03 x .71 x 6.06l; 1.03 #File Name: 0700619410344 pages


Review
52 of 52 people found the following review helpful. A Real Mission Impossible StoryBy Leonard J. WilsonSeveral books have been written that attempt to describe the CIA's Hughes Glomar Explorer (HGE) mission to recover a sunken Soviet submarine from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean in 1974. David H. Sharp's newly published book; The CIA's Greatest Covert Operation; is by far the most detailed and authoritative of the lot. Dr. Sharp (PhD; EE; UVA) was assigned to the AZORIAN Program (the CIA's name for the effort) from the concept development phase through the actual recovery effort. He sailed as the CIA mission director on the second "survey" mission (which was really intended to support the cover story described below) and as the director of recovery operations on the subsequent recovery mission.There are several interwoven stories (or mission phases) in this narrative; some played out sequentially; others in parallel. I'll try to briefly outline these mission phases in the following paragraphs.Intelligence OpportunityIn 1968; the Soviet guided missile submarine designated K-129 sank in the Pacific Ocean northwest of Hawaii. The cause of the disaster was probably an onboard explosion of unknown origin. The event was probably detected by various acoustic sensors operated by the US Navy to monitor Soviet submarine activity and by the US Air Force to monitor the impacts of Soviet missile tests in the Pacific. Subsequent search and rescue activity indicated that the Soviets did not know where the sub sank. These circumstances created the possibility that the US could obtain valuable intelligence on Soviet missile technology; nuclear warheads; crypto logical codes and equipment; and submarine design IF the US could obtain access to the sub without being detected by the Soviets.Target LocationThe detection of the event by multiple acoustic sensors probably provided a rough initial estimate of the sub's location. Dr. Sharp does not provide more detail on how the sub was precisely located (see Blind Man's Bluff by Sherry Sontag and Christopher Drew for more on this topic.) By whatever means; the sub was precisely located resting on the bottom at a depth of 16;000 - 17;000 feet.Development of Possible Mission ConceptsAs the service most directly concerned with Soviet submarines; the US Navy developed the first mission concept for recovering useful intelligence on the K-129. However; the concept; based on deploying a manned mini-sub to cut or blow a hole in the K-129 and then remove items of interest; failed to convince Admiral Thomas Moorer; Chief of Naval Operations. Moorer sought alternative mission concepts from other elements of the Intelligence Community; and the CIA responded by forming a team of engineers with extensive experience on aircraft and satellite systems. This team developed several preliminary concepts for raising the entire sub by using devices such as inflatable pontoons attached to the sub or a pentane filled barge that would be lowered to the target; jettison its ballast after capturing the target and then rise to the surface.Mission DefinitionEventually; the CIA team recognized their lack of experience in designing deep sea and heavy lift systems (the K-129 weighed a few million pounds!). They contacted Global Marine; a designer and operator of large off-shore drilling ships. The Global Marine engineers politely listened to the CIA concepts and politely suggested that the ideas wouldn't work. Their alternative suggestion was a "grunt-lift" concept based on their off-shore drilling systems.Selection of Contractor TeamGlobal Marine was selected to procure a custom-designed ship for the recovery mission.The next problem was how to attach a lifting mechanism to the target. Lockheed Missiles and Space Company (LMSC) was selected to design a "Capture Vehicle" (CV); essentially a large multi-toothed claw that would be lowered to the target and then close around it to provide support along the target's length.Estimating and maintaining the positions of the ship and the CV relative to the target 17;000 feet below the surface was essential to the mission. Honeywell was selected to develop required positioning system.Cover StoryIt was inconceivable that the Soviets; if they realized what was happening; would permit the US to raise and examine their submarine. It was also inconceivable that the CIA would go into deep ocean exploration for any purpose other than intelligence collection which would lead quickly to the K-129 as the probable target. Consequently; a cover story for the Glomar Explorer mission needed to hide the CIA and US Government as sponsors. Even the standard response to inquiries "I can't tell you; that's classified" wouldn't work since it led directly to a classified government sponsor. The cover story had to be that the operation was private and for purely commercial purposes.A public US corporation; answerable to its stockholders would be subject to inquiries that could not be honestly answered. A small privately held company would not be a credible sponsor for so large and expensive a project (on the order if $500 million). Fortunately; there was a large; privately held company controlled by an eccentric and reclusive owner: Howard Hughes' Hughes Tool Company (later Summa Corporation) which was involved in the drilling business. The cover evolved from off shore drilling to ocean mining to better fit the observable aspects of the ship and its equipment. Hughes Tool/Summa Corp issued contracts in its own name to the contractor team and was covertly reimbursed by the CIA.System Development and Integrated System TestDr. Sharp goes into much detail on the design; development and testing of the HGE and its various systems. I found that description fascinating but will leave it as an exercise for the interested reader.Mission ExecutionThe HGE arrived on station in July 1974 and was shadowed / harassed by Soviet naval vessels. Hoping that the cover story would hold; the crew proceeded with the deployment of the capture vehicle. After several days and numerous technical problems (again left as an exercise) the CV reached the target; enclosed it; and lifted it off the bottom. At just this point; a problem arose in the Heave Compensator (part of the control system that kept the ship; CV; and target moving smoothly together). To repair problem; it was necessary to lower the CV and target back to the ocean floor. Unfortunately; the tines on the CV were designed to support the immense weight of the target resting on them but were not designed to be pressed into the ocean floor by the weight of the target. (The tines could withstand downward force much better than upward force.) Some of the tines were probably over stressed by this unanticipated but necessary return to the bottom. After correcting the Heave Compensator problem; lifting resumed; but part way up; some of the stressed tines apparently broke and about two thirds of the target sank back to the bottom. The remaining portion of the target was safely enclosed in the HGE. At just about this point; the Soviet ship That had been harassing the mission apparently thought it had seen enough and steamed away.It was impossible to attempt to recover the lost portion of the target with the damaged CV but it was hoped that a second recovery mission could be mounted in 1975.SecuritySomehow; the press got wind of the mission prior to its execution. CIA Director William Colby personally contacted NY Times reporter Seymour Hersh and gave him a full briefing on the project on the condition that Hersh would hold his story until the mission was complete. Hersh honored the agreement.In June 1974; just before the recovery of the target; a Hughes office in Los Angeles was burglarized. Cash; various valuables; and a hand written memo describing the mission were stolen. The CIA cooperated with the LAPD and briefed some of their officers on the mission. The burglars were never identified nor was the memo recovered. In 1975; after the recovery mission was complete; The LA Times got word of the HGE mission; probably as a result of the burglary investigation and published a story about the US raising a sunken Soviet submarine.In his memoirs; Soviet Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Dobrynin describes a late 1974 event (soon after the recovery mission) in which an anonymous note was delivered to the Soviet embassy stating that the US was attempting to recover a sunken Soviet submarine.These leaks rendered a second recovery mission impossible.Product ExploitationLittle has been said by Dr. Sharp or other authors on the intelligence derived from the HGE mission. Dr. Sharp offers the plausible explanation that one of the valuable byproducts of the mission was the uncertainty that it created in the minds of Soviet leaders. They didn't know how much information the US had derived from the recovery and; consequently; had to consider the possibility that the US did obtain details of their nuclear weapons; submarine design; and crypto codes.Reviewer's CommentsThis book was fascinating; in large part due to the author's style. Dr. Sharp presents this detailed and often technical narrative in an informal; conversational style; interspersed with entertaining and often self-deprecating anecdotes. I recommend it; along with Blind Man's Bluff cited above; to readers interested in the intelligence aspects of the Cold War. While I had nothing to do with the HGE mission; after reading Dr. Sharp's book; I feel like I was there.-------------------------------------Addendum 6/8/13: I recently discovered the author's related website: http://www.todaretheimpossible.com28 of 28 people found the following review helpful. Project Azorian- from the InsideBy Thomas J. DoughertyThis book is a well written insider's tale of the CIA's Project Azorian; the attempt to recover the Soviet submarine K-129 from 16;400 feet down in the northern Pacific. Dr. Sharp; who was also a participant in both the U-2 (Aquatone) and A-12 (Oxcart) programs; played a key role both in the preparations for the mission as well as serving onboard the Glomar Explorer as the Senior CIA representative during the 1974 recovery attempt.After the discovery of the K-129 wreck site; the decision is made to attempt an audacious recovery of the submarine with its nuclear missiles; codebooks and other valuable intelligence. He describes early ideas as to how to lift the front portion of the submarine from more than three miles down. Amazingly these imaginative concepts were developed by the CIA engineers; none of whom had ocean engineering experience. When it became clear that these ideas were not feasible; the agency contacted Global Marine; which brought John R. Graham and his team into the picture. The resulting design is a recovery system involving the built for purpose Glomar Explorer with its heavy lift system and pipe string; as well as the Lockheed Ocean System's massive "Capture Vehicle" (CV); again custom built to interface with the K-129 wreck. Dr. Sharp spends considerable space on these systems; which is key to understanding the enormous technical challenges and problems that arose during the recovery operation. Discussed as well is the elaborate scheme to disguise the operation as a Howard Hughes Deep Ocean Mining Project.A detailed accounting of the mission occupies a significant portion of the narrative. The rush to prepare the mission for the summer of 1974 (due to a potential for disclosure of the true nature of the operation by Seymour Hirsch) leads to sailing with many elements of the complex system partially tested at best. Once on site the halting progress; along with continuing problems and fixes that the crew must deal with during the recovery attempt; are described in detail. The continual harassment of the Glomar Explorer by a Soviet tug also adds tension to the recovery operation. In the end; the forward part of the K-129 (the Target) is grasped by the CV; but again technical problems intervene. The subsequent lift and heartbreaking partial failure of the CV are detailed. Of particular interest is a detailed discussion of multiple factors that might have led to the CV problems; and efforts to address them. We also learn some of the details of what was recovered from the portion of the wreck that did make it into the Glomar Explorer's moonpool.The book also describes the plans for the follow up mission; Project Matador; which was to retrieve the center section that had been dropped; which included the sail area where the nuclear armed ballistic missiles tubes were located. Interweaved with that is the increasingly difficult task of keeping the story from leaking out and exposing the true nature of the mission on the Glomar Explorer. The book also deals with the fallout that the program had on the CIA; and the perceptions of how successful the operation really was.The book also includes two sections of BW photos of both the people and the mission elements; including illustrations by Michael White from his documentary film Azorian: The Raising of the K-129 (full disclosure- I was a research assistant on both that documentary film and the follow up Polmar-White book; so I have more than a passing interest in this topic).This book is a superb personal recollection of one of the most unique and imaginative operations attempted by the CIA. Dr. Sharp spent a great deal of time and effort writing this book; and fighting to convince the CIA to get it into print. It deserves the attention of anyone with an interest in the history of the Cold War.5 of 5 people found the following review helpful. The Amazing True Story of Project AZORIANBy Terry SundayIn 1968; the Cold War raged at full intensity. Tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union were high. Memories of the Berlin Blockade; the shootdown of Francis Gary Powers' U-2 spyplane and the Cuban Missile Crisis lingered on both sides of the Iron Curtain as though the events had happened yesterday.On February 25 of that tragic year; the Soviet Navy's diesel submarine K-129; armed with three 755-nautical-mile-range ballistic missiles each tipped with a 1-megaton thermonuclear warhead; sailed from its base at Petropavlovsk on the Kamchatka Peninsula; bound for its assigned patrol station northwest of Hawai'i. The 324-foot-long; 3;610-ton submarine never made it. On March 11; the K-129 sank in the northern Pacific Ocean in 16;700 feet of water; with the loss of all 98 men on board."The CIA's Greatest Covert Operation" is the almost unbelievable story of Project AZORIAN; the most audacious American clandestine intelligence operation of the Cold War--the CIA's top-secret 1974 attempt to salvage the forward 136 feet of the K-129 (which had broken off from the stern section) from the ocean floor. Author Dr. David Sharp; a career CIA employee at the time; was there during the whole operation; and he offers the unique and invaluable perspective of a man who KNOWS the truth. But it's a double-edged sword. He had to submit his manuscript to the CIA for review before publication (a standard requirement for anyone with certain security clearances); and the Agency censored some of the most interesting material. Strangely (or maybe not); some of the information the CIA did not permit Dr. Sharp to discuss has already appeared in other books. But "publication does not imply declassification..."AZORIAN offered the chance for the U.S. to gain information of incalculable value about Soviet equipment; capabilities and operational procedures. Intelligence analysts drooled at the thought of what the K-129 might yield--construction details; metallurgical secrets; cryptographic and communications hardware; code manuals; torpedoes and even the ballistic missiles and their thermonuclear warheads. AZORIAN would be scandalously expensive; unprecedentedly complex; extremely risky; of questionable legality and not at all certain to succeed. But if it did; it would be the intelligence coup of the century; if not of all time.AZORIAN cost about as much as an Apollo mission to the moon; and involved equipment and hardware that to this day remain marvels of innovative marine engineering. With cost practically no object; the CIA; through "front" companies and using "ocean mining" as a cover story; built the huge ship "Hughes Glomar Explorer" (HGE); a remote-controlled capture vehicle (CV); or "claw;" to pick up the forward part of the K-129; and an enormous covered barge to conceal operations from prying eyes. Dr. Sharp was on AZORIAN from the beginning. He describes the conception; design; development; testing and operation of these remarkable pieces of hardware with exceptional breadth; depth and clarity. His highly readable; conversational; page-turning style has an incredible sense of day-by-day immediacy; making the reader feel he or she was at Dr. Sharp's side in the HGE's control room during the mission.There are other books about the K-129 salvage operation. "The Jennifer Project;" by Clyde Burleson; published in 1977; is too dated to be of much value ("Jennifer" was actually the administrative security "compartment" for AZORIAN; not the project's code name). The 2010 book "Project Azorian;" by Norman Polmar and Michael White; based on recently declassified information and on interviews with program participants; is an excellent volume in its own right; although it is considerably less detailed than Dr. Sharp's book. One of its strengths; however; is its illustrations. My only criticism of "The CIA's Greatest Covert Operation" is its relative lack of meaningful photographs; maps and drawings. Dr. Sharp includes many photos of key program personnel; a few of HGE shipboard operations and harassing Soviet ships and aircraft at the recovery site; and very few indeed of HGE and CV technical details. Polmar and White; on the other hand; offer scores of great photos; drawings; maps and computer-generated images; including some amazing mosaics of the K-129 on the bottom and a still from a closed-circuit TV camera mounted on the CV showing the submarine in the "claw." I assume the CIA forbade Dr. Sharp from using such images in his book. Polmar and White also include cutaway drawings of the K-129 and HGE; which aid greatly in understanding the operation.I most enthusiastically and unconditionally give "The CIA's Greatest Covert Operation" my highest possible recommendation--in fact; this is one of my highest recommendations ever; even though I'm limited to five stars. I highly recommend that those interested in the subject also read "Project AZORIAN;" or even read the two books simultaneously; if for no other reason than because Polmar and White's photos and drawings add even more clarity and comprehensibility to Dr. Sharp's already-cogent technical and operational descriptions. Both of these outstanding volumes should be in every techno-geek's library.

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