Titanic search was cover for secret...

[jmatt]

... Cold War subs mission.

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[zzzz]

A guy has written a book about the Scorpion wherein he puts forth the theory the sub was led to its doom by the Soviets -- that they used codes from the Pueblo and info from the John Walker spy ring to lure it into an ambush in retaliation for one of their own subs that was lost at sea (at the hands of the U.S. they believed).

 

[LonghornLawyer]

We did a lot of salvage of submarines during the Cold War. The most famous example is the Hughes Glomar Explorer, which was built by Howard Hughes for the Navy. The cover story was that the Glomar Explorer was built to explore the ocean floor for mineral deposits. In truth, we used it to locate and partially raise the Soviet SSBN K-129.

Interesting stuff.

 

[RayDog]

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[austintex]

Were there any undersea exploration missions that weren't covert military operations?!??

 

[Texanne]

I have nothing to add to this thread, except that austin's sig is greatness.

 

[HatDaddy]

Man, I completely dig reading and hearing about stuff like this.

 

[Knoxville-Horn]

Hmmm...

Don't know if this is the same operation, but I seem to recall my mother going into a "find the Titanic" stage after the movie came out and investing money in the outfit that was supposed to salvage it. I guess she lost that one...

 

[lostman]

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[HornsOverIthaca]

I can't think of anything I'd want to do less than serve on a submarine. I don't know how they do it.

 

[El Sapo]

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[WorsterMan]

I have never heard that story before either... thanks for sharing it. Also never heard the story that the luring out and sinking of the Scorpion was pulled off by the Rooskies using codes from the capture of the USS Pueblo and John Walker spy intell in retaliation for us sinking one of theirs - wow! I too dig these cold war covert ops stories.

 

[BattleshipTexas]

The best story is the sub that snuck right up to the coast of the USSR and tapped into the long distance telephone lines. We wemt a decade listening to the Vladivostock generals and admirals gripe about their shortages to Moscow. The most successful intelligence operation ever in some views. The stupid NY Times got wind of it and did a story, wrecking its value.

 

[OldHippie]

This reminds me of a Kingston Trio song from my youth called Ballad of the Thresher about that sub being lost.

 

[fratboy_legend]

if you want to read a really interesting book on all of this stuff, check out Blind Man's Bluff. you wont be able to put it down.

 

[HornsInTheHouse]

I read Blind Man's Bluff, it was an exciting book I agree. Without getting it off my bookshelf, I think it said the evidence of the USS Scorpion pointed to an exploding torpedo battery that was known to be extremely volatile. I also learned how miserable being a Soviet submariner was.

Its take on the Glomar Explorer expedition was that it was a bad decision by the time it was launched because it was extremely complex and expensive and the intelligence value from the codebooks and warheads was low because it was eight years old by the point the ship sailed. They also said a smaller mission using an underwater robot to blast a hole in part of the sub and retrieve a few of those things instead of the whole submarine was a better idea.

 

[Mrmyke709]

BTW, the Glomar Explorer has been refitted for deep sea drilling and is back in maritime service in Angola.

 

[RayDog]

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[Statalyzer]

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[TexonLongIsland]

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[washparkhorn]

It is an interesting story. In many ways, the Soviets looked at the destruction of the K-129 like some Americans view the USS Liberty.

We did little to distract from their "theorizing" about how the K-129 was destroyed because Kissinger was a big believer in uncertainty as a tool of diplomacy ("deterrence through uncertainty"). We wanted the Soviets to believe we took out the K-129 or that the K-129 was rogue. We wanted the Soviets to believe we had their codes . . ..
The Link



Cold War diplomacy remains fascinating to me.

 

[HoosierHorn]

NASA does more than visit the moon and Mars.

 

[Orange&White]

I'll go ahead and give a nod to Blind Man's Bluff as well. Good book.