The Taking of K-129: How the CIA Used Howard Hughes to Steal a Russian Sub in the Most Daring Covert Operation in History

by Josh Dean Narrated by Neil Hellegers

Overview

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 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.

Editorial Reviews

DECEMBER 2017 - AudioFile

Neil Hellegers narrates the story of a 1974 CIA project that was reminiscent of a Hollywood movie. In one of those instances when truth is more amazing than fiction, the goal was to recover the sunken Soviet submarine K-129, armed with nuclear weapons. K-129 sank in 1968, and, after an extensive search by the Soviet Navy, the U.S. Navy located the ship but was adamant that it could not be recovered. However, the CIA came up with a plan that included building a specially designed ship to recover the submarine at nearly 16,000 feet, using a fake project supposedly funded by billionaire Howard Hughes as a smoke screen to mask their intentions. Hellegers’s somewhat gravelly baritone voice is understandable, but not optimal for this production. His timbre is slightly nasal, his intonation not very expressive, and his pacing subtly disjointed. The story itself, reminiscent of the movie ARGO, is quite interesting. M.T.F. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine

From the Publisher

Praise for The Taking of K-129

“An absorbing, suspenseful chronicle of a remarkable Cold War episode.”—The Wall Street Journal

“It’s a complicated affair, but Dean relates it simply and completely. From undersea searches to maritime architecture to spy agency intrigue, the author excels at making complex operations understandable to the layman… The Taking of K-129 is a worthwhile addition to the shelves of military history buffs, nautical enthusiasts and anyone who enjoys a well-told story.”—USA Today

“One of the most astonishing covert operations in U.S. history is detailed by author Josh Dean in his new book The Taking of K-129... a spy story on steroids.”—New York Daily News

“The incredible true story of how the CIA—with help from Howard Hughes—stole a sunken Soviet nuclear submarine during the Cold War.”—People

“Josh Dean takes readers on a fascinating—and optimistic—journey through this strange saga.”—VICE.com

“The stellar research Dean uses to tell this captivating tale includes declassified primary documents, personal journals, and autobiographies...Recommended for fans of naval history, marine engineering, ocean mining, and spy stories.”—Library Journal

“Outside magazine correspondent Dean ably resurrects the forgotten Cold War drama of Project Azorian...A well-researched, mostly engrossing geopolitical narrative of American ingenuity in the face of Russian threats.”—Kirkus Reviews

“In a lively, you-are-there pace...Dean delivers an engaging rendition of the high-profile espionage effort.”—Booklist

“An incredible true tale of espionage and engineering set at the height of the Cold War when the CIA, the US Navy, and America's most eccentric spent six years and nearly a billion dollars to steal the nuclear-armed Soviet submarine K-129...”—The Intelligencer

“Josh Dean has a gift for unearthing remarkable stories lost to history, and in The Taking of K-129 he has uncovered perhaps the most remarkable one of all—a story replete with spies and engineering marvels and a secret drama unfolding thousands of feet beneath the sea. Brilliantly researched and beautifully written, this is a book you can't put down.”—David Grann, New York Times bestselling author of Killers of the Flower Moon

“From the depths of the Pacific and the depths of CIA covert operations comes an absorbing tale of daring engineers and shadowy espionage. A terrific read.”—David E. Hoffman, New York Times bestselling author of The Billion Dollar Spy

“An engrossing account of shadowy intrigue, precision engineering and ultra-deception, The Taking of K-129 is a high-stakes espionage drama of operational boldness married with technical brilliance.”—Robert Wallace, author of Spycraft: The Secret History of the CIA's Spytechs from Communism to al-Qaeda
 
“A riveting account of the American intelligence community. Told in fascinating detail, The Taking of K-129 is nonfiction at its best because with every page I had to remind myself this actually happened.”—Kevin Maurer, co-author of the #1 New York Times bestseller No Easy Day

“As a former submariner and navy diver, I give Josh Dean an A+ for The Taking of K-129. This non-fiction account of one of the most dangerous and daring missions of the Cold War is well-researched and reads like a Tom Clancy thriller.”—W. Craig Reed, New York Times bestselling author of Red November

"If you’ve been hungry for a submarine tale in the league of The Hunt For Red October, but subscribe to the belief that the truth is stranger than fiction, you’ll devour The Taking of K-129, an epic befitting the top shelf of espionage and military reads. Prepare for impact—you won’t be able to put this one down.”—Eric Blehm, New York Times best-selling author of Fearless and The Only Thing Worth Dying For

“A fast-moving account of Project Azorian, CIA’s covert operation to recover a sunken Soviet nuclear ballistic missile submarine from over three miles under the Pacific Ocean that was conducted in absolute secrecy - all under the watchful eyes of the Soviet Navy.  With the driving pace of a thriller, Dean’s lively and detailed narrative draws on eye witness accounts and the latest materials released by the CIA itself.  Fascinating.”—Peter Earnest, Founding Executive Director of the International Spy Museum and former Senior CIA Officer   

Library Journal

08/01/2017
In 1968, the Russian submarine K-129 disappeared in the Pacific Ocean northwest of Hawai'i. The Soviets deployed a massive search but were unable to find the vessel. Using new underwater acoustic equipment, the U.S. located the submarine and tried to do the impossible by raising it from three miles underneath the ocean's surface to obtain the nuclear warheads and coding machine inside. Dean (The Life and Times of the Stopwatch Gang) tells the story of the CIA's mission, the detailed operation required for raising a heavy submarine intact from such an incredible depth, and how the agency collaborated with businessman Howard Hughes and his mining company. After being tasked with Project Azorian, CIA agent John Parangosky spent six years engineering and problem-solving in secret. The stellar research Dean uses to tell this captivating tale includes declassified primary documents, personal journals, and autobiographies. VERDICT A Cold War espionage story that seems implausible yet is still true. Recommended for fans of naval history, marine engineering, ocean mining, and spy stories. [See Prepub Alert, 3/27/17.]—Jason L. Steagall, Gateway Technical Coll. Lib., Elkhorn, WI

DECEMBER 2017 - AudioFile

Neil Hellegers narrates the story of a 1974 CIA project that was reminiscent of a Hollywood movie. In one of those instances when truth is more amazing than fiction, the goal was to recover the sunken Soviet submarine K-129, armed with nuclear weapons. K-129 sank in 1968, and, after an extensive search by the Soviet Navy, the U.S. Navy located the ship but was adamant that it could not be recovered. However, the CIA came up with a plan that included building a specially designed ship to recover the submarine at nearly 16,000 feet, using a fake project supposedly funded by billionaire Howard Hughes as a smoke screen to mask their intentions. Hellegers’s somewhat gravelly baritone voice is understandable, but not optimal for this production. His timbre is slightly nasal, his intonation not very expressive, and his pacing subtly disjointed. The story itself, reminiscent of the movie ARGO, is quite interesting. M.T.F. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

2017-06-27
Meticulous account of an audacious covert operation to snatch a sunken Russian submarine.Outside magazine correspondent Dean (Show Dog: The Charmed Life and Trying Times of a Near-Perfect Purebred, 2012, etc.) ably resurrects the forgotten Cold War drama of Project Azorian, showcasing governmental and engineering derring-do, seemingly impossible in both its difficulty and secrecy. Following the K-129's disappearance in the Pacific in 1968, some American officials realized, "if the US Navy could locate the sub's precise location, it might be able to access the wreck and mine it for a host of valuable intelligence." This fell to the CIA, which recruited civilian experts in multiple fields to design a ship equipped with a deep-mining derrick and clawlike "capture vehicle" to pluck the sub off the seafloor. They also developed a plausible cover story, involving new ocean-mining technologies pursued by reclusive billionaire Howard Hughes. Dean captures the personalities and patriotism of the industrialists, engineers, and spies who stealthily built the Hughes Glomar Explorer and perfected large-scale systems so cutting edge that it remained unclear "whether or not they could locate, grab, and lift a submarine three miles deep in the ocean." The high-risk voyage went forward in 1974 and was partially successful, as a large portion of the submarine broke off while being raised; one engineer "was stunned at how little of the sub remained." Plans for a follow-up mission were scuttled when the story leaked in the press following a mysterious burglary at a Hughes facility. This created a delicate situation for the new Gerald Ford presidency; to avoid impacting the politics of détente, writes the author, "both sides would pretend as if the boldest and most outlandish intelligence operation in history had never happened." Dean is verbose in laying out this improbable tale, with a fondness for occasionally extraneous detail, but this style is well-suited to a complex adventure spanning six years and numerous principal characters. A well-researched, mostly engrossing geopolitical narrative of American ingenuity in the face of Russian threats.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940172167706
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	09/05/2017
Edition description:	Unabridged

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