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

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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 ...