View source for Soviet submarine K-129 (1960)

{{Short description|Golf II-class ballistic missile submarine}}
{{Redirect|K-129}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2024}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=Soviet ballistic missile submarine K-129.jpg
|Ship caption=Golf II-class ballistic missile submarine ''K-129'', hull number 722
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Ship country=Soviet Union
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Soviet Union|naval}}
|Ship name=''К-129''
|Ship ordered=26 January 1954
|Ship builder= Nr. 132 Komsomol Na Amur<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/russia/slbm/629.htm |title=629 GOLF – Russian and Soviet Nuclear Forces |publisher=[[Federation of American Scientists]] |year=2012 |access-date=11 September 2012 |archive-date=12 October 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012213147/http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/russia/slbm/629.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>
|Ship launched=
|Ship completed=1959<ref name="Miramar">{{csr|register=MSI|id=6124943|shipname=K-129 |access-date=22 September 2009}}</ref>
|Ship fate= Sank on 8 March 1968 approximately {{convert|1560|nmi|km}} northwest of [[Oahu]] in the Pacific Ocean<ref name="CIA1" /> with all 98 hands
|Ship notes= Partially recovered in covert salvage operation by the [[CIA]] in 1974
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class= [[Golf-class submarine|Golf II-class]] [[ballistic missile submarine]]
|Ship displacement={{Convert|2700|LT|t|0|abbr=on|order=flip}} submerged
|Ship length={{Convert|100|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam= {{Convert|8.5|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft={{Convert|8.5|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=*3 × diesel engines, each {{convert|2000|bhp|kW|-2|abbr=on|order=flip}}
* 3 × electric motors, {{convert|5200|shp|kW|-1|abbr=on|order=flip}}
* 3 shafts
|Ship speed=*{{Convert|15|-|17|kn|km/h|lk=in}} surfaced
* {{Convert|12|-|14|kn|km/h|lk=in}} submerged
|Ship range=
|Ship endurance= 70 days
|Ship test depth=
|Ship complement= 83, 20 officers and 63 enlists
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament= 
[[Vertical launching system|D-4 launch system]] with 3 × [[R-21 (missile)|SS-N-5 Serb)]] missiles
|Ship notes= Said to be armed with SS-N-5 Serb missile with {{Convert|750|-|900|nmi|km|abbr=on}} range and 1-megaton warhead
}}
|}
'''''K-129''''' was a Project 629A ({{langx|ru|проект 629А}}, {{translit|ru|proyekt 629A}}; [[NATO reporting name]] [[Golf-class submarine|Golf II]]–[[Ship classification|class]]) [[Diesel-electric submarine|diesel-electric]]-powered [[Ballistic missile submarine|ballistic-missile]] submarine that served in the [[Soviet Pacific Fleet|Pacific Fleet]] of the [[Soviet Navy]]. It was one of six [[Project 629]] strategic ballistic-missile submarines assigned to the 15th Submarine Squadron based at Rybachiy Naval Base near [[Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky]], commanded by [[Rear Admiral]] [[Rudolf Golosov]].

The ''K-129''{{'}}s commander was [[Captain 1st rank|Captain First Rank]] Vladimir I.&nbsp;Kobzar, and she carried the [[hull number]] 722 on her final deployment, during which she sank on 8 March 1968 along with her missiles and their nuclear warheads. This was one of four mysterious submarine disappearances in 1968, the others being the Israeli submarine {{Ship|INS|Dakar}}, the {{Ship|French submarine|Minerve|S647|6}}, and the American nuclear-powered submarine {{USS|Scorpion|SSN-589|6}}.

After nearly two weeks of [[Radio silence|silence]] during her patrol in the [[Pacific Ocean]], the Soviet Navy officials became concerned about her status and reportedly deployed large numbers of [[Soviet Naval Aviation|military aircraft]] and ships to search for the vessel, but no sign or wreckage was found. With the [[United States Navy|U.S. Navy]] observing the Soviet efforts, the Americans also began searching, ultimately determining the exact coordinates of the wreck utilizing underwater acoustic data in August 1968, hundreds of miles away from the Soviet search efforts.

In 1974, the United States attempted to recover the submarine in a secretive [[Cold War]]–era effort named [[Project Azorian]]. Only a part of the submarine was recovered from its position {{convert|16000|ft|km|order=flip|abbr=on}} below the surface, making this the deepest attempt to raise a ship. The [[cover up|cover story]] was that the salvage vessel was engaged in commercial [[manganese nodule]] mining.

==Launch and operations==
[[File:Golf I class SSB 629 project.svg|left|thumb|Project 629A submarine]]
The keel of ''K-129'' was laid down on 15 March 1958 at [[Komsomolsk-on-Amur]] [[Amur Shipbuilding Plant|Shipyard No. 132]]. She was launched on 16 May 1959, with her acceptance certificate signed on 31 December 1959, and assigned to the 123rd Brigade, 40th Division of the [[Soviet Pacific Fleet]] at [[Vladivostok]]. In 1960, she was reassigned to 15th Submarine Squadron based at Rybachiy Naval Base in [[Kamchatka]].

On 3 April 1964, ''K-129'' underwent modernization under Project 629A at [[Dalzavod]] in Vladivostok, and re-entered service following completion of modernization on 30 May 1967. In January 1968, ''K-129'' was assigned to the 15th Submarine Squadron as part of the 29th Ballistic Missile Division at Rybachiy, commanded by Admiral Viktor A. Dygalo.

== Sinking ==
The ''K-129'', having completed two 70-day ballistic-missile combat patrols in 1967, was tasked with her third patrol in February 1968, with an expected completion date of 5 May 1968. Upon departure on 24 February, ''K-129'' reached deep water, conducted a test dive, returned to the surface and reported by radio that all was well, and proceeded on patrol.

Upon her final deployment,  ''K-129''{{'}}s commander was Captain First Rank Vladimir I. Kobzar and [[Captain 2nd rank|Captain Second Rank]] Alexander M. Zhuravin was senior assistant to the commander (executive officer). She carried hull number 722 on her final deployment. No further communication was received from ''K-129'', despite normal radio check-ins expected when the submarine crossed the 180th meridian, and further when she arrived at her patrol area.

By mid-March, Soviet Navy commanders in [[Kamchatka]] became concerned because ''K-129'' had missed two consecutive radio check-ins. First, ''K-129'' was instructed by normal fleet broadcast to break radio silence and contact headquarters; later and more urgent communications all went unanswered. Soviet naval headquarters declared ''K-129'' missing by the third week of March, and organized an air, surface, and underwater search-and-rescue effort in the North Pacific from Kamchatka and Vladivostok.

This Soviet deployment in the Pacific was analyzed by U.S. intelligence as likely a reaction to a submarine loss. U.S. [[SOSUS]] naval facilities in the North Pacific were alerted and requested to review acoustic records on 8 March 1968 to identify any possible anomalous signal. Acoustic data from four Air Force AFTAC sites and the Adak, Alaska SOSUS array<ref>{{cite web |title=Sub Pirates World Submarines |url=http://www.cliffhangershideout.com/subpirates/world_submarines/SP_Project-Azorian.html |website=www.cliffhangershideout.com |access-date=3 January 2019 |archive-date=3 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190103110207/http://www.cliffhangershideout.com/subpirates/world_submarines/SP_Project-Azorian.html |url-status=live }}</ref> triangulated a potential event location to within 5 nautical miles, a site hundreds of miles away from where the Soviet Navy had been searching and in water around {{convert|16,500|ft}} deep.<ref>{{cite web |title=Operation Azorian: How America Stole a Soviet Submarine – Defensionem – The WarBible {{!}} Everything About Defense. |url=http://www.defensionem.com/operation-azorian/ |website=Defensionem – The WarBible {{!}} Everything About Defense. |access-date=3 January 2019 |date=9 April 2017 |archive-date=26 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220526172437/https://defensionem.com/operation-azorian/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Several SOSUS stations recorded signals. According to [[Bruce Rule]], a former lead acoustic analyst for the Office of Naval Intelligence, an initial significant acoustic signal from ''K-129'' had been recorded by [[SOSUS|PACSOSUS]] on 11 March 1968. It was interpreted as a possible small explosion occurring in the pressure hull at 11:59:47.<ref name="BruceRuleLetter20090403" />
According to [[John P. Craven]], an event was already recorded on 8 March 1968. Upon examination, it produced sufficient triangulation by lines-of-bearing to provide the U.S. Navy with a [[Locus (mathematics)|locus]] for the probable wreck site. One source characterized the acoustic signal as "an isolated, single sound of an explosion or implosion, 'a good-sized bang'."<ref name="craven">Craven, 2001</ref>{{rp|205}} The acoustic event was reported to have originated near 40°N, 180° longitude.<ref name="craven" />

Soviet search efforts, lacking the equivalent of the U.S. SOSUS system, failed to find ''K-129''; and, eventually, Soviet naval activity in the North Pacific returned to normal. ''K-129'' was subsequently declared lost with all hands.

==Recovery: Project Azorian==
{{main|Project Azorian}}

===Location===
[[File:K129 HGE recoverysite.png|250px|thumb|left|The recovery site of ''К-129'' based on the intersection of three circles marking the distances to Long Beach, California; Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; and Petropavlovsk, Kamchatka]]
The wreck of ''K-129'' was identified by {{USS|Halibut|SSGN-587|6}} northwest of [[Oahu]] at an approximate depth of {{convert|16000|ft|m|-2|order=flip|abbr=on}} on 20 August 1968.<ref>"K-129", in ''Historical Dictionary of International Intelligence'', by Nigel West (Rowman & Littlefield, 2015) p183</ref> 
It was surveyed in detail over the next three weeks by ''Halibut'' – reportedly with over 20,000 close-up photos, and later also possibly by the [[bathyscaphe]] {{ship|Bathyscaphe|Trieste II||2}}. The location of the wreck remains an official secret of the United States intelligence services.  [[John P. Craven]], though, points to a location nearly [[40th parallel north|40°N]], and almost exactly on the [[180th meridian]]. 

''[[Hughes Glomar Explorer]]'' traveled 3,008 miles from [[Long Beach, California]], to reach the recovery site.{{r|CIA1|p=37|q=On 29 June, the HGE had covered a distance of 1,888 miles without incident and still had 1,120 miles to go;}} CIA documents reveal that she sank "1,560 miles northwest of Hawaii". The [[International Atomic Energy Agency]] states that two nuclear warheads from ''K-129'' were located in the Pacific 1,230 miles from Kamchatka at coordinates 40°6'N and 179°57'E at a depth of {{convert|6000|m}}, and lists them as recovered.<ref name="IAEA">{{cite web
|url=http://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/publications/PDF/te_1242_prn.pdf
|title=Inventory of accidents and losses at sea involving radioactive material, IAEA-TECDOC-1242, Appendix I.3
|date=September 2001
|publisher=[[International Atomic Energy Agency]]
|access-date=18 February 2010
|archive-date=12 November 2020
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112004558/http://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/publications/PDF/te_1242_prn.pdf
|url-status=live
}}</ref><ref name="IMO">
{{cite web
|url=http://docs.imo.org/Shared/Download.aspx?did=68104
|publisher=[[International Maritime Organization]]
|date=15 July 2011
|title=LC 33/INF.5 Matters Related to the Management of Radioactive Wastes: Inventory of waste disposals, accidents and losses at sea involving radioactive materials
|author=International Atomic Energy Agency
|author-link=International Atomic Energy Agency
|access-date=11 September 2012
}}{{registration required |date=September 2012}}</ref> All three distances point to a location of {{coord|38|5||N|178|57||E}}, which is close to {{convert|600|nmi|km}} north of the [[Midway Atoll]]. The CIA gives {{convert|16440|and|16500|ft|order=flip}} for its approximate depth.<ref name="CIA1" />

===Secret recovery attempt===
Given a unique opportunity to recover a Soviet [[R-21 (missile)|SS-N-5 Serb]] nuclear missile without the knowledge of the Soviet Union, President [[Richard Nixon]] authorized a salvage attempt after consideration by the Secretary of Defense and the White House. To ensure the salvage attempt remained "[[Black operation|black]]" (i.e., secret), the [[CIA]], rather than the Navy, was asked to conduct the operation. ''[[GSF Explorer|Hughes Glomar Explorer]]'' was designed and built under CIA contract solely for the clandestine salvage of ''K-129''. The cover story was that the ship would be mining [[manganese nodule]]s on the sea floor. The salvage operation, named [[Project Azorian]], was one of the most expensive and deepest secrets of the Cold War.

According to one account, in July–August 1974, ''Hughes Glomar Explorer'' grappled with and was able to lift the forward half of the wreck of ''K-129'', but as it was being raised, the claw suffered a critical failure, resulting in the forward section breaking into two pieces with the all-important [[Submarine sail|sail]] area and center section falling back to the ocean floor. Thus, the center sail area and the after portions of ''K-129'' were allegedly not recovered. What exactly was retrieved in the section that was recovered is classified Secret Noforn or [[Top Secret]], but the Soviets assumed that the United States recovered torpedoes with nuclear warheads, operations manuals, code books, and coding machines. Another source (unofficial) states that the U.S. recovered the bow area, which contained two nuclear torpedoes,<ref name="polmar">Polmar 2004, Cold War Submarines</ref>{{rp|111}} but no cryptographic equipment nor code books.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Norman Polmar|author2=Kenneth J. Moore|title=Cold War Submarines: The Design and Construction of U.S. and Soviet Submarines|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U86giz-cluoC|year=2004|publisher=Potomac Books, Inc.|isbn=978-1-57488-594-1}}</ref>

===Media and official reporting===
[[Seymour Hersh]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' uncovered some of the details of Project Azorian in 1974, but was kept from publication by the action of the [[Director of Central Intelligence]], [[William Colby]]. Months after the salvage operation was completed, in February 1975, the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' ran a brief story regarding the CIA operation, which led ''The New York Times'' to release Hersh's story. [[Jack Anderson (columnist)|Jack Anderson]] continued the story on national television in March 1975.<ref name=CIA1>[http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nukevault/ebb305/doc01.pdf Project Azorian: The Story of the Hughes Glomar Explorer] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120131100657/http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nukevault/ebb305/doc01.pdf |date=31 January 2012 }}, a CIA declassified Secret Noforn document from the mid-1980s.</ref> The media called the operation Project Jennifer, which in 2010 was revealed to be incorrect, since Jennifer referred only to a security system that compartmentalized Azorian project data.<ref name="CIA1" />

According to a report released by the US Navy, the pressure-hull of the 40-foot bow-section was intact forward of the break-point, but had been subject to massive internal destruction.<ref name="BruceRuleLetter20090403">{{cite web |url=https://www.secnav.navy.mil/foia/readingroom/CaseFiles/Scorpion%20Submarine/Rule%20Letter%20to%20N87%20of%2003APR09.pdf|title=Rule Letter to N87 of 03APR09|access-date=27 October 2021 |date=9 April 2009}}</ref>

The United States announced that in the section they recovered were the bodies of six men.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.projectjennifer.at/ |title=Projectjennifer.at |access-date=9 February 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090205063115/http://projectjennifer.at/ |archive-date=5 February 2009}}</ref> Due to [[radioactive contamination]], the bodies were buried at sea in a steel chamber in September 1974, with full military honors about {{convert|90|nmi|km|0}} southwest of Hawaii.<ref name="polmar" /> The videotape of that ceremony<ref>{{cite AV media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJAJUJ41PBI |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211215/aJAJUJ41PBI |archive-date=15 December 2021 |url-status=live|title=Burial at Sea of Soviet Submariners from Hughes Glomar Explorer|date=25 August 2014|publisher=Central Intelligence Agency|via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}</ref> was given to [[Russia]] by U.S. Director of Central Intelligence [[Robert Gates]] when he visited Moscow in October 1992.<ref name="polmar" />{{rp|359}} The relatives of the crew members were eventually shown the video some years later.

===Continued secrecy===
The ''K-129'' recovery has been stated to have been a failure, recovering only a small amount of insignificant parts of the submarine. The CIA argued in a [[Freedom of Information Act (United States)|Freedom of Information Act]] lawsuit, however, that the project had to be kept secret because any "official acknowledgment of involvement by U.S. government agencies would disclose the nature and purpose of the program."<ref name="Philippi">
{{cite court
|litigants=Philippi v. CIA (Turner et al.)
|vol=211
|reporter=US
|opinion=App. D.D> 95
|pinpoint=
|court=US Court of Appeals
|date=25 June 1981
}}</ref> This response has entered the lexicon of legal jargon as "the [[Glomar response]]" or "glomarization" - "neither confirm nor deny".

As of 2018, the files, photographs, videotapes, and other documentary evidence remained closed to the public. A few pictures appeared in a 2010 documentary showing the ''K-129'' wreck - the bow and the sail, with the missile compartment heavily damaged showing only one missile tube left attached to the structure.{{citation needed|date=June 2023}}

== Causes ==
[[File:Ssb golfii.png|300px|thumb|Profiles of a Project 629A (''Golf II'') ballistic-missile submarine like the ''K-129'']]
The official Soviet Navy hypothesis is that ''K-129'', while operating in [[Submarine snorkel|snorkel]] mode, slipped below its operating depth. Such an event, combined with a mechanical failure or improper crew reaction, can cause flooding sufficient to sink the boat.<ref>Podvig, 2001, Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces, p. 290</ref>

This account, however, has not been accepted by many, and alternative theories have been advanced to explain the loss of ''K-129'':

# A [[hydrogen]] explosion in the batteries while charging
# A collision with {{USS|Swordfish|SSN-579|6}}
# A missile explosion caused by a leaking missile door seal
# Intentional or unintentional scuttle by crew due to ''K-129'' violating normal operating procedures and/or departing from authorized operating areas

Reportedly, as many as 40 of the complement of 98 were new to the submarine for this deployment.<ref name="polmar" />

''K-129'' was roughly midway through standard shore leave/replenishment and repair when a new mission was given.<ref name="sewell-rsnf">Sewell (2005) ''Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces'', Center for Arms Control Studies, Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology, edited by Pavel Podvig</ref>{{rp|156}}

===Battery malfunction===
[[Lead-acid batteries]] release explosive hydrogen gas while charging. The hydrogen gas, if not properly vented, could have accumulated into an explosive concentration.

John Craven, former chief scientist of the U.S. Navy's Special Projects Office and former head of the [[Deep Submergence Systems Project|DSSP]] and [[Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle|DSRV]] programs, commented:

<blockquote>I have never seen or heard of a submarine disaster that was not accompanied by the notion that the battery blew up and started it all. [...] Naive investigators, examining the damage in salvaged battery compartments, invariably blame the sinking on battery explosions until they learn that any fully charged battery suddenly exposed to seawater will explode. It is an inevitable effect of a sinking and almost never a cause.<ref name="craven"/>{{rp|215}}</blockquote>

At least one American submarine, {{USS|Cochino|SS-345|6}}, though, was lost off Norway in 1949 due to a hydrogen explosion in the battery compartment. Most of ''Cochino's'' crew was rescued and the cause of her sinking is therefore known.<ref>Sontag and Drew, ''Blind Man's Bluff.'' New York: Public Affairs (1998) pp. 12–24</ref>

===Collision with USS ''Swordfish''===
[[File:SSN-579_BWN00174364_1968_03_page03.png|250px|thumb|left|Deck Log Book USS Swordfish from March 1968, stating that she had been on "Special Operations" from 1 to 17 March 1968]]
Standard practice during the [[Cold War]] was for U.S. Navy attack submarines to trail Soviet missile submarines as they departed their home ports and moved into the North Pacific or the North Atlantic Oceans.<ref name="LATimes19850617">{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-06-17-mn-12570-story.html |title=Change in Soviets' Sub Tactics Tied to Spy Case: Material Reportedly Available to Walkers May Have Tipped Kremlin to Vessels' Vulnerability |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |first=Robert C. |last=Toth |access-date=2 January 2011 |date=17 June 1985 |archive-date=3 January 2013 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130103162436/http://articles.latimes.com/1985-06-17/news/mn-12570_1/2 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The collision hypothesis is the unofficial opinion of many Soviet Navy officers,<ref name="offley">Offley, Ed ''Scorpion Down: Sunk by the Soviets, Buried by the Pentagon'' (Paperback – 24 March 2008)</ref> and is officially denied by the U.S. Navy. According to U.S. Navy sources, {{USS|Swordfish|SSN-579|6}} put into [[Yokosuka, Japan]], on 17 March 1968, shortly after the disappearance of ''K-129'', and received emergency repairs to a bent periscope, reportedly caused by ice impacted during surfacing while conducting classified operations in the [[Sea of Japan]].  The {{USS|Pueblo|AGER-2|6}} seizure by the [[North Korea]]n government occurred in the Sea of Japan on 23 January 1968, and the U.S. Navy response to this incident included the deployment and maintenance of naval assets in the area off the eastern North Korean coast for some time thereafter.

In response to Russian efforts to ascertain whether ''K-129'' had been lost due to damage resulting from a collision with a U.S. submarine, an official U.S. statement by Ambassador [[Malcolm Toon]] to a Russian delegation during a meeting in the Kremlin in August 1993 related:

{{blockquote|At my request, U.S. naval intelligence searched the logs of all U.S. subs that were active in 1968. As a result, our Director of Naval Intelligence has concluded that no U.S. sub was within {{convert|300|nmi|km|-1}} of your sub when it sank.<ref name="sewellusrjc">Sewell (2005) ''Minutes of the Sixth Plenary Session'', USRJC, Moscow, 31 August 1993</ref>{{rp|262}}
}}

A news release in 2000 demonstrates that Russian suspicion and sensitivity concerning the collision possibility, and indeed their preference for such an explanation, remains active:

{{blockquote |As recently as 1999, Russian government officials complained that Washington was covering up its involvement. One accused the Americans of acting like a "criminal that had been caught and now claimed that guilt must be proved," according to the notes of a U.S. participant in a November 1999 meeting on the topic.<ref>Robert Burns, AP, "Decades later, Russians press suspicion of U.S. role in sinking Soviet sub", 22 August 2000</ref>}}

=== Explosion due to leaking missile hatch ===
On 3 October 1986, the Soviet [[Yankee-class submarine|Project 667A]] ballistic-missile submarine {{ship|Soviet submarine|K-219||2}}, while on combat patrol in the Atlantic, suffered the explosion of a liquid-fueled [[SS-N-6|R-27]] missile in one of its 16 missile tubes. The cause of the explosion was a leaking missile tube hatch seal. The leak allowed sea water to come into contact with residue of the missile's propellants, which caused a spontaneous fire, resulting in an explosion first of the missile booster, then a subsequent explosion of the warhead detonator charge. In the case of the Project 667A, the missiles were located within the pressure hull, and the explosion did not cause damage sufficient to immediately sink the boat. It did, however, cause extensive radioactive contamination throughout, requiring the submarine to surface and the evacuation of the crew to the weather deck, and later to a rescue vessel, which had responded to the emergency. Subsequently, ''K-219'' sank into the [[Hatteras Abyss]] with the loss of four crewmen, and rests at a depth around {{convert|18000|ft|m|-2|order=flip|abbr=on}}. The Soviet Navy later claimed that the leak was caused by a collision with {{USS|Augusta|SSN-710|6}}.

Some indicators suggest ''K-129'' suffered a similar explosion in 1968. First, the radioactive contamination by weapons-grade plutonium of both the recovered bow section and the six crewmen of ''K-129'' indicates the explosion of the warhead detonator charge of one of the missiles, ''before'' the ship reached its [[crush depth]]. The report that the forward section was crushed and that charring in the bow section indicated [[dieseling]] from an implosion (or alternatively from a fire), would indicate that the explosion occurred while ''K-129'' was submerged and at depth. The report found in [[Blind Man's Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage|''Blind Man's Bluff'']] that the wreck revealed ''K-129'' with a {{convert|10|ft|m|0|adj=on|order=flip|abbr=on}} hole immediately [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/abaft#Preposition abaft] the [[Conning tower#Submarines|conning tower]] would support the theory of an explosion of one of the three missiles in the sail (possibly missile number 3). Since ''K-129''{{'}}s missiles were housed in the sail, much less structural mass (compared to the K-219) was available to contain such an explosion, and loss of depth control of the submarine would be instantaneous.

A photograph taken by the cameras on the capture vehicle, though, as published in the White and Polmar book, shows extensive sail damage with two missile tubes obliterated, and  the target for recovery was the forward 135-ft section of the sail.  The wreck was in two major pieces on the ocean bottom.

===Patrol deviation===
According to Craven, ''K-129'' crossed the [[International Date Line]] at [[40th parallel north|40°N]], which was much further south of her expected patrol station:

<blockquote>When ''K-129'' passed [[180th meridian|longitude 180]], it should have been further north, at a [[45th parallel north|latitude of 45°]], or more than 300 miles away. If that was a navigational mistake, it would be an error of historic proportions. Thus, if the sub were not somewhere in the vicinity of where the Soviets supposed it to be, there would be a high probability, if not a certainty, that the submarine was a rogue, off on its own, in grave disobedience of its orders.<ref name="craven"/>{{rp|206}}</blockquote>

Craven does not explain why he eliminated the possibilities that ''K-129'' was proceeding to a newly assigned and officially approved patrol area, or using a new track to an established patrol area, nor why he concluded that ''K-129'' was acting in an abnormal or criminal manner for a Soviet strategic missile submarine. According to an internal intelligence memo directed to [[Henry A. Kissinger]] in May 1974, K-129's recovery site is within the 500 nm transit lane used by a Soviet [[Yankee-class submarine]] on its initial deployment to the East Pacific.<ref name="Memo19740528_KIss">{{cite journal |date=28 May 1974 |title=Memorandum to the Chairman of the 40 Committee (Kissinger) |url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1969-76v35/d186 |journal=Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969–1976 |volume=XXXV |access-date=22 August 2023 |archive-date=22 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230822120303/https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1969-76v35/d186 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Craven also noted:

{{blockquote |While the Russian submarine was presumed to be at sea, an oceanographic ship of the University of Hawaii was conducting research in the oceanic waters off [[Northwestern Hawaiian Islands|Hawaii's Leeward Islands]]. The researchers discovered a large slick on the surface of the ocean, collected a sample, and found that it was highly radioactive. They reported this to George Woolard, the director of the Hawaii Institute of Geophysical Research.<ref name="craven"/>{{rp|216}}}}

Anatoliy Shtyrov (Анатолий Штыров), a former Soviet Pacific Fleet Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence, has said that ''K-129'' would normally patrol an area off the West Coast of the United States, but it was sent on an unscheduled combat patrol in the eastern Pacific only 1½ months after returning from its regularly scheduled patrol.<ref name="Shtyrov">{{cite web
|title=The tragedy of submarine K-129: Behind the scenes of operations "Jennifer"
|language=ru
|url=http://flot.com/history/si58.htm
|date=14 June 2008
|publisher=flot.com
|first=Anatoliy
|last=Shtyrov
|access-date=19 February 2010
|archive-date=15 June 2024
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240615152235/https://flot.com/history/si58.htm
|url-status=live
}}</ref> Vladimir Evdasin (Владимир Евдасин), who from June 1960 to March 1961 served aboard ''K-129'', reported that ''K-129'' was sent on a secret mission in response to the substantial U.S. naval force build-up off the Korean coast after the [[USS Pueblo (AGER-2)|Pueblo incident]].<ref name="USCryptHist">{{cite web
|title=The Capture of the USS Pueblo and Its Effect on SIGINT Operations
|url=http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB278/03.PDF
|year=1992
|publisher=U.S. Cryptologic History, Special Series, Crisis Collection, Vol. 7, [[NSA]]
|first=Robert E.
|last=Newton
|access-date=19 February 2010
|archive-date=15 June 2024
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240615152129/http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB278/03.PDF
|url-status=live
}}</ref> ''K-129''{{'}}s mission was in support of North Korea, which was an ally of the Soviet Union, and directed against U.S. naval operations, Pacific bases, and U.S. maritime support lines to Southeast Asia.<ref>
{{cite web
|title=K-129: How was it?
|language=ru
|url=http://flot.com/history/branches/sub/k129.htm
|date=14 June 2008
|publisher=flot.com
|first=Vladimir
|last=Evdasina
|access-date=20 February 2010
}}</ref><ref>{{cite web
|title=Has the "Fire!" Command Sounded in the Compartments of the Cold War?
|url=http://rusnavy.com/history/events/scorpion.htm
|publisher=rusnavy.com
|access-date=20 February 2010
|archive-date=15 June 2024
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240615152239/http://rusnavy.com/history/events/scorpion.htm
|url-status=live
}}</ref>

==Alternative theories==
''Red Star Rogue'' by Kenneth Sewell makes the claim that Project Azorian recovered virtually all of ''K-129'' from the ocean floor,<ref name="sewell-rsnf" />{{rp|243}} and in fact, "Despite an elaborate cover-up and the eventual claim the project had been a failure, most of ''K-129'' and the remains of the crew were, in fact, raised from the bottom of the Pacific and brought into the ''Glomar Explorer''".<ref name="sewell-rsnf" />{{rp|22}}

In August 1993, Ambassador [[Malcolm Toon]] presented to a Russian delegation ''K-129''{{'}}s [[ship's bell]].<ref name="sewellusrjc" />{{rp|262}} According to ''Red Star Rogue'', this bell had been permanently attached to the middle of the [[conning tower]] of ''K-129'', thus indicating that in addition to the bow of the submarine, the critical and valuable midsection of the submarine was at least partially recovered by Project Azorian. Additionally, Ambassador Toon is quoted from the 6th Plenum of the [[U.S.–Russia Joint Commission on POW/MIAs]]<ref name="sewellusrjc" />{{rp|262}} as saying, "Our Director of Naval Intelligence has concluded that no U.S. sub was within 300 nautical miles of your sub when it sank". ''Red Star Rogue'' places K-129 at 24°N by 163°W, less than 350 miles from Honolulu. This site is consistent with the discovery of radioactive oil<ref name="craven"/>{{rp|216}} reported to the Hawaii Institute of Geophysical Research at the time.

The premise of ''Red Star Rogue'' is that a fail-safe device designed to be activated in the event of an unauthorized fire command of its nuclear missiles caused two catastrophic explosions (monitored by U.S. technology at the time) had sunk the submarine. Eleven additional crewmen have never been satisfactorily identified, and K-129's crew manifest was listed as missing by Russian authorities. An ID photograph of a sailor found in the wreck has never been identified.<ref>{{cite book|title=Red Star Rogue|last=Sewell|first=Kenneth|year=2005|publisher=Simon&Schuster|isbn=0-7432-6112-7|url=https://archive.org/details/redstarrogueunto00sewe}}</ref> ''Red Star Rogue'' claims the changing relations with China and Russia in the early 1970s, forged by Nixon and Kissinger, were enabled by the ''K-129'' incident.

Craven suggests that Project Azorian's real goal was not the nuclear weapons or the coding systems at all; rather, the project sought to determine exactly what ''K-129'' was doing at 40°N/180°W "where she did not belong". Such information could be (and supposedly was) used within [[Henry Kissinger]]'s foreign policy of "Deterrence Through Uncertainty",  to "raise an unanswerable question in [[Leonid Brezhnev]]'s mind about his command and control of his armed forces".<ref name="craven" />{{rp|221}}

A retired U.S. Navy captain and former naval attaché in Moscow, [[Peter Huchthausen]], said he had a brief conversation in 1987 with Admiral Peter Navojtsev, who told him, "Captain, you are very young and inexperienced, but you will learn that there were some matters that both nations have agreed to not discuss, and one of these is the reasons we lost ''K-129''."<ref name="offley" /> In 1995, when Huchthausen began work on a book about the Soviet submarine fleet, he interviewed Russian Navy Rear Admiral Viktor Dygalo, who claimed that the true history of ''K-129'' has not been revealed because of the informal agreement between the two countries' senior naval commands. The purpose of that secrecy, he alleged, is to stop any further research into the losses of [[USS Scorpion (SSN-589)|USS ''Scorpion'']] and ''K-129''. Huchthausen reported that Dygalo told him to "overlook this matter, and hope that the time will come when the truth will be told to the families of the victims."

==Legacy==
[[File:Burial At Sea of Soviet Submariners from Hughes Glomar Explorer.webm|thumb|250px|The declassified American CIA short film showing the burials of the Soviet sailors at sea with military honors.]]
In October 1992, [[Robert Gates]], as the [[Director of Central Intelligence]], visited Moscow to meet with President [[Boris Yeltsin]] of Russia. He said:

{{blockquote|As a gesture of intent, a symbol of a new era, I carried with me the [[List of USSR navy flags|Soviet naval flag]] that had shrouded the coffins of the half dozen Soviet sailors whose remains the'' [[Glomar Explorer]] ''had recovered when it raised part of a Soviet ballistic-missile submarine from deep in the Pacific Ocean in the mid-1970s; I also was taking to Yeltsin a videotape of their burial at sea, complete with prayers for the dead and the [[Soviet national anthem]]&nbsp;– a dignified and respectful service even at the height of the Cold War.<ref name="Gates1996">
{{cite book
|title=From the Shadows
|last=Gates
|first=Robert
|year=1996
|publisher=Touchstone
|pages=[https://archive.org/details/fromshadows00robe_0/page/553 553–54]
|isbn=0-684-81081-6
|url=https://archive.org/details/fromshadows00robe_0/page/553
}}</ref>}}

Gates's decision to bring the videotape of the funeral held for the men on the ''Golf'' was ultimately motivated by the fact that the United States wanted to inspire Russia to offer up information on [[Vietnam War POW/MIA issue|missing American servicemen in Vietnam]]. Before that, "We had never confirmed anything to the Russians except in various vague senses," he said in an interview.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}}

{{blockquote|Shortly after [[Fall of the USSR|the USSR collapsed]], the [[George H.W. Bush|Bush]] administration had told the Russians through an intermediary that we couldn't tell them any more about what had happened on'' Golf''/''Glomar''. But then when we started asking the Russians about what had happened to U.S. pilots shot down over Vietnam, and if any U.S. POWs had been transferred to Russia and held there, they came back and said, "What about our guys in the submarine?" At the time, the administration told the Russians only that there were no survivors and that there were only scattered remains.{{citation needed|date=March 2023}}}}

A subsequent FOIA search to find if any POWs were released as a result of this visit produced only negative results.<ref name="Sontag1998">
{{cite book
|last=Sontag
|first=Sherry
|year=1998
|title=Blind Man's Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage
|publisher=Harper
|isbn=0-06-103004-X
|page=[https://archive.org/details/blindmansbluffun00sont/page/486 486]
|url=https://archive.org/details/blindmansbluffun00sont/page/486
}}</ref> According to Peter Huchthausen:

{{blockquote |American officers have refuted the Russian charge made early on that American nuclear attack submarine U.S.S. ''Swordfish'' was the U.S. submarine involved&nbsp;– a charge based solely on the latter's reported arrival in the Ship Repair Facility, Yokosuka, Japan, on 17 March 1968, with a badly damaged sail. Retired U.S. Navy Admiral [[William D. Smith]] informed Dygalo by letter following a 31 August 1994, meeting of a Joint U.S./Russia Commission examining questions of Cold War and previous war missing, that the allegation of ''Swordfish's'' involvement was not correct and that ''Swordfish'' was nowhere near the ''Golf'' on 8 March 1968. The joint commission, headed by General Volkogonov and Ambassador Toon, informed the Russians that no U.S. submarines on 8 March 1968, had been within {{convert|300|nmi|km|-1}} of the site where the ''K-129'' was found.<ref name="Huchthausen">
{{cite book
|title=K19, The Widowmaker
|last=Huchthausen
|first=Peter
|year=2002
|publisher=[[National Geographic Society]]
|isbn=0-7922-6472-X
|page=[https://archive.org/details/k19widowmaker00huch/page/177 177]
|url=https://archive.org/details/k19widowmaker00huch/page/177
}}</ref>}}

Around the same time, Russian President Boris Yeltsin posthumously awarded the [[Medal "For Courage" (Russia)|Medal "For Courage"]] to 98 sailors who died on ''K-129''. However, as the complement of a diesel-electric ''Golf''-class Russian submarine was about 83, his award acknowledges  15 extra personnel aboard the boat at the time of its sinking. An increase in the sub's total complement would put a strain on the logistical capabilities of a patrol because it reduces its duration. No explanation for the ''K-129'''s extra submariners has ever been provided by the Russian Navy.<ref name="sewell-rsnf"/>{{rp|156}}

==See also==
* ''[[Phantom (2013 film)|Phantom]]'' (2013 movie), loosely based on the story of ''K-129''.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book |last=Craven |first=John |author-link=John Piña Craven |title=The Silent War: The Cold War Battle Beneath the Sea |year=2001 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York |isbn=0-684-87213-7 |chapter=The Hunt for Red September: A Tale of Two Submarines |pages=[https://archive.org/details/silentwarcoldwar00crav/page/198 198–222] |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/silentwarcoldwar00crav/page/198 }}
* {{cite book |last=Sontag |first=Sherry |title=Blind Man's Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage. |year=1998 |publisher=Harper |location=New York |isbn=0-06-103004-X |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/blindmansbluffun00sont }}
* {{cite book |last=Sewell |first=Kenneth |title=Red Star Rogue: The untold story of a Soviet submarine's nuclear strike attempt on the U.S. |year=2005 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York |isbn=0-7432-6112-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/redstarrogueunto00sewe }}
* {{cite book |last=Polmar |first=Norman | title=Cold War Submarines: The Design and Construction of U.S. and Soviet Submarines. |year=2004 |publisher=Potomac Books |location=Dulles | isbn=978-1-57488-594-1 }}
* {{cite book |last=Podvig |first=Pavel | title=Russian Strategic Nuclear Forces |year=2001 |publisher=MIT Press |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts | isbn=0-262-16202-4 }}
* {{cite book|last=Sharp|first=David|title=The CIA's Greatest Covert Operation: Inside the Daring Mission to Recover a Nuclear-Armed Soviet Sub|year=2012|publisher=University Press of Kansas|location=Lawrence, KS|isbn=978-0-7006-1834-7|pages=344|url=http://www.kansaspress.ku.edu/shacia.html|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120728214106/http://www.kansaspress.ku.edu/shacia.html|archive-date=28 July 2012}}
* {{cite book|last=Dean|first=Josh|title=The Taking of K-129 : How the CIA Used Howard Hughes to Steal a Russian Sub in the Most Daring Covert Operation in History|year=2017|publisher=Penguin Publishing Group|location=New York, NY|isbn=9781101984437|pages=448|url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/534584/the-taking-of-k-129-by-josh-dean/9781101984451}}

==External links==
* [http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nukevault/ebb305/ Project Azorian: The CIA's Declassified History of the Glomar Explorer], 12 February 2010, Matthew Aid, William Burr, Thomas Blanton
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090205063115/http://projectjennifer.at/ AZORIAN The Raising of the K-129 / 2009 – 2 Part TV Documentary / Michael White Films Vienna]

{{Coord|38|5|N|178|57|W|scale:10000000_region:XZ|name=Approximate location of the wreck of the K-129 submarine|display=title}}

{{Golf class submarine}}
{{1968 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:K-129}}
[[Category:1960 ships]]
[[Category:1968 in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Cold War submarines of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Golf-class submarines]]
[[Category:K-129 submarine sinking accident]]
[[Category:Lost submarines of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1968]]
[[Category:Military nuclear accidents and incidents]]
[[Category:Russian submarine accidents]]
[[Category:Ships built in the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Warships lost with all hands]]
[[Category:Submarines lost with all hands]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean]]
[[Category:Soviet Union–United States relations]]
[[Category:Submarines of Russia]]
[[Category:March 1968 events]]