STEM program for Life Long Learning with an emphasis on the cold war, critical thinking exploring the sinking of the Soviet K129, US SSN Scorpion, and Cuban Missile Crisis

1. Spies, Lies and Sunken
Subs
Jim Isaak
http://is.gd/7KYNYU

2. The Sixties
• JFK elected in 1960, assassinated 1963
• Berlin wall raised 1961
• Cuban Missile Crisis – Oct.1962
• Dasiy ad –’64 election
• Vietnam war –
US Combat troops enter 1965
• Movements: Free Speech,
Woman’s Rights, Anti-war, Hippie
• Martin Luther King and RFK
assassinated,1968
• Beatles (1960-1970)
• Neil Armstrong steps on moon 21-July-1969
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3. Movie Time
Project Azorian
http://is.gd/7KYNYU

4. Homework
Take a book and/or try some web research
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5. Books
1. White, Michael & Polmar, Norman: Project Azorian; 2010
2. Sewell, Kenneth; Red Star Rogue; 2005
3. Sharp, David; The CIA’s Greatest Covert operation; 2012 (Principal)
4. Burleson, Clyde; The Jennifer Project; 1977
5. Collier, Wayne & Vamer, Roy; A Matter of Risk; 1978 (Principal)
6. Craven, John Pina; The Silent War; 2001 (Principal)
7. Sontag, Sherry & Drew, Christopher; Blind Man’s Bluff; 1998 (hard copy &
Paper back)
8. Reed, Craig; Red November; 2011 (ref. to Sanders Assoc.)
9. Offley, Ed; Scorpion Down; 2007 (hard copy, paper back)
10. Sewell, Kenneth; All Hands Down; 2008
11. Vyborny, Lee & Davis, Don; Dark Waters; (NR1) 2003
12. Dunham, Roger; Spy Sub; 1996 (Halibut, “Viperfish”)
13. Rule, Bruce; Why the USS Scorpion Was Lost; circa 2011
http://is.gd/7KYNYU

6. Spies, Lies and Sunken Subs
Class 2
Delving Deep
“Ye shall know the truth, and
the truth shall make you free”
(John 8, and CIA motto)
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7. Azorian
“Documentary”
• June 10, 1974 oval office tapes – final go/no
go on Glomar Explorer (what meeting when)
– (oops, Nixon flew to Austria that day!)
(Nixon Library visitor log
http://www.nixonlibrary.gov/virtuallibrary/documents/PDD/1974/080%20June%201974.pdf )
• Hammer on sub in video
• Bell transferred to Soviets
• 9,000 vs 22,000 pictures from Halibut
• Redaction in log entry of “Bel Hudson”?
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8. Returns
June 19
After
Middle
East
tour
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9. Just for orientation
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10. Subs
• “Boomers” (Missile subs) are for strategic “MAD” defense
• Attack subs, and some others, are spy subs – they can attack
shipping (WWI, WWII), or other subs; but also offshore
monitoring of radio signals; wiretapping of undersea cables,
photographing opponents latest devices – like subs
– even in the opponents harbors.
• Most sub activities are secret –
30 year gag rule is normal
some are more secret
• Subs can land SEALS, spies, et al – and extract them
• Most subs have a ~1000 ft limit; special systems like NR-1 may
go deeper; and of course Trieste, Alvin, et al can do this
• The majority of the ocean is between 2000 & 20000 ft deep
http://is.gd/7KYNYU

11. The Context
1967 Dec. – John Walker starts selling US
Navy info to Soviets, starting with Codes
used to communicate to/from US Subs
(caught 1985)
1968 Jan 23– USS Pueblo (& KW-7)
captured by North Korea (/Soviets)
1968 Mar. 11 1200Z –
Soviet Sub K129 Sinks in North Pacific
1968 May 22 – US Sub Scorpion Sinks
in the Atlantic
1968 Summer – USS Halibut locates
& photographs K129
http://is.gd/7KYNYU

12. K 129
1968 Mar. 11 1200Z – Soviet Sub K129 Sinks
in North Pacific (local midnight)
1968 Summer – USS Halibut locates & photographs K129
(“Red September” designation by CIA)
1969 Apr. – Project initiated to recover key parts of K129
1972 – Glomar Explorer Launched –
CIA project under
Hughes Summa Corporation cover:
“Mining Manganese Nodules”
http://is.gd/7KYNYU

13. K129
http://is.gd/7KYNYU

14. Rendition of K129
http://is.gd/7KYNYU

15. K129 Picture
http://is.gd/7KYNYU

16. ActII
Glomar Explorer
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17. A Cover Story
• “For the first two hours, Ito’s detailed monologue described
the Hughes empire and Summa’s plans for undersea mining…”
• “Next came an hour on the organizational structure of the
independent drilling company, Global Marine…”
• “What you’ve heard about our plans in the last three hours is
a complete lie … We are going to recover a sunken Russian
submarine and you are working for the CIA”
Wayne Collier, Summa HR manager [5]
http://is.gd/7KYNYU

18. Manganese Nodule
Documented as typically swag from Summa corporation
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19. http://is.gd/7KYNYU
Dated June 1974
(xfer of ship to Hughes)
With misleading return
address
Coin not mentioned in
any of the Azorian books
to the best of my
knowledge

20. The Coin
http://is.gd/7KYNYU

21. Glomar Explorer
1972 – Glomar Explorer Launched –
CIA project
Hughes Summa Corporation cover:
“Mining Manganese Nodules”
1974 Aug – Part of K129 recovered from
16,500 Ft below ocean
(July 10 – Aug 9)
(Nixon resigned Aug 8)
30 years of limited revelations about
these events – 1975 News break;
2001 -2012 series of related books
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22. Long baseline positioning
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23. “Captain, you are very young and inexperienced,
but you will learn that there are some things
that both sides have agreed not to address,
and one is that event [USS Scorpion] and our
K-129 loss, for similar reasons.”
Soviet Admiral Navoytsev to
US Capt. Peter Huchthausen in 1987 [9]
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24. Assignment
• Read one of the books
– What happened to the K129/Scorpion?
– What was it doing at the time?
• Does this seem believable?
• For given "facts", how solid are they?
Which are clearly well founded, which need confirmation?
• How might you confirm specific information?
• Are there obvious flaws in the source that might indicate other errors as well?
(Note: spelling, grammar, and such all affect perception and credibility)
• What experience does the author/source have that might add credibility?
• What interest might the author/source have that might undermine credibility?
• How would the author/source "know" that?
• Is the author holding back information or misleading in some area and
acknowledging it?
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25. Week 3
Test Depth
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26. Big Questions
• What are the questions we have?
• What related information would help us sort
things out?
• What do we seem to know?
• Do we believe it?
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27. The Big Question
Why did K129 sink?
“The CIA will not permit me to publish any information I have relating to the
cause of the loss. However, I can state that I find inconsistencies between
every one of the hypotheses that have been presented by AZSORIAN authors
and my own personal knowledge of the target’s condition and its contents.
None of the proposed scenarios convincingly explain all of the existing data
and facts relevant to the loss of the K-129”
“I don’t know what caused the loss of the K-129, but I believe there is a fairly
strong likelihood that the truth, if exposed, could still be embarrassing to the
governments of the United States and the Russian Federation. The list of
people who actually know the cause of the K-129’s loss is very small – and
that list is getting smaller every year. I suspect if I knew the truth, I would
choose not to publish it.”
David Sharp, CIA Mission Director of Recovery Systems [3]
http://is.gd/7KYNYU

28. SOSUS, AFTAC
• AFTAC info (from Project Azorian)
• Test explosions on June 9th to validate/calibrate
• Note: Soviet Subs work on Moscow Time this is 4PM
Station 1st Event 2nd Event
Midway 12:14:30 12:20:28
Adak (SOSUS) 12:18:56 12:24.55
Wake 12:30:12 12:36:10
Hawaii 12:33:22 12:39:20
Eniwetok 12:40:30 na
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29. http://is.gd/7KYNYU

30. Stories
• USS Swordfish collided with K129 (Soviet assertion)
• USS Scorpion was sunk by Soviets in revenge for K129
• K129 went rogue and was trying to launch an attack on Hawaii
perhaps as if they were a Chinese sub
• Trieste II recovered an (outer space) alien from the K129 site in 1972
• K129 materials provided to Soviets and China resulted in significant
changes in relations between the US and these countries
• Glomar Explorer got more than reported front 20% of K129
• The “Glomar Response” – Freedom of Information Act response by
CIA “We cannot confirm or deny that we have any records relevant
to … but if we did they would be classified” (upheld in 1976)
http://is.gd/7KYNYU

31. What might you hear?
Bayesian search theory used by Craven to
identify area for Scorpion
http://is.gd/7KYNYU

32. Toys & Tools
• USS Halibut –
reconfigured for
special ops
• Trieste II – Deep with
devices for retrieval
• NR1
http://is.gd/7KYNYU

33. Trieste
http://is.gd/7KYNYU
Built 1953, US Navy acquired 1958
Decommissioned 1966
23 January 1960, - 35,797 ft
Challenger Deep

34. Trieste II
http://is.gd/7KYNYU
In service, Sept., 1969
Test depth 20,000+
Operated as if Trieste I for many
years

35. DSRV
http://is.gd/7KYNYU
Depth 5,000 ft
In service 1979
Can be loaded into cargo
plane as well as piggyback
with sub

36. NR1
http://is.gd/7KYNYU
Length 150 Ft
Launched Jan 1969
Depth ??
Dual mission sub – research &
military – under guise of
“DSRV” program
Rickover’s baby

37. Possible NR2
http://is.gd/7KYNYU
Youtube video asserts
this US mini-sub was
fireing a laser at
Somali pirates circa
2011
Screen shot has many
problems for a “real”
picture
Ship appears to be
190 ft long or so
Rand report on NR2 is publicly available
Implication is that it was not built

38. Different Data
• 11 plus non-crew were on K129 (typically KGB or GRU?)
• US satellite detected a missile fuel explosion [2] on surface
• U. Hawaii research vessel Teritu located radioactive oil slick off
leeward islands [8, 2]
• Body near sub in Halibut pictures was wearing outdoor gear –
implies sub on surface at time of explosion
[8, 6, 2, but variations in other books]
• K129 could launch R-21 missiles underwater, while moving, with a
range of 900+ miles (1700 w/lighter load?)
• Chinese subs could launch R-13 Missiles, Thought to be
Surface Launch
at defined longitude/latitude points
while stationary
with a range of 350 miles
http://is.gd/7KYNYU

39. Spies, Lies and Sunken Subs
Getting to the bottom
(It is not always a good idea)
http://is.gd/7KYNYU

40. A Test
True or  False?
Explain …
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41. The Collision Assertion
• If the USS Swordfish hit K129, why did it go to Japan for repairs rather
than Hawaii?
• Conflicting stories of “entering Yokosuka harbor with veiled damage”
vs simply a bent periscope -- & picture in Asahi newspaper from March
17, 1968
• Boat logs provided to Soviets show sub in N. Japan Sea
and that it surfaced under unexpected ice flow
• This is “still” the perspective of key Soviet military persons
and Soviets may have decoded radio signals from the Swordfish
• Subs collide
– Nov 1969 K19 collides with USS Gato
– June 1970 K108 collides with SSN-639 Tautog
– Feb 1992 K276 (SSN) hit by SSN 698 Baton Rouge “Tailing to close”
– Mar 1993 K407 (SSBN) hit by SSN 646 Grailing “passing in front”
– Aug 2000 Kursk sunk, indications that SSN- Memphis may have struck Kursk
Why might US or Soviets lie about this situation?
What information would we need to sort it out?
http://is.gd/7KYNYU

42. The Accident
If K129 had an onboard mishap, resulting in a fuel explosion of
one or two of the missiles, it could sink the boat.
Clearly the US would cover up information until all chance of
recovery and possible recovery had passed --- but why be
concerned after that?
While the Soviets would be embarrassed – clearly they lost the
sub in any case; why cover up or refuse to acknowledge an
accident? – They have admitted other sub accidents.
What information would support/or discount this theory?
http://is.gd/7KYNYU

43. Rogue Attack
Suggested by Craven, thesis for Sewell
“Published” Position of sub – 40n 180w appears too far for R21
missiles to reach Hawaii (but Midway?)
Was status/location consistent with emulating Chinese attack?
(surface, long/lat, distance?)
How does this theory align with the Russian and US agreement
to remain silent?
“But the secret hiding within the secret – the motivations of that
Soviet captain and his crew – had remained in tact and that,
ironically, is the secret that ought to be reveled” J Craven
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44. 3-Way Cold War
1968 Nov. – Nixon Elected
President
high Sino-Soviet Tension
1969 Apr. – Project initiated to
recover key parts of K129 (crypto,
missiles, torpedoes, code books)
1969 Nov – SALT I Strategic Arms
Limitation Talks Start
1971/72 – Kissinger, Nixon trips to
China 1969 – Border fights
http://is.gd/7KYNYU

45. Where?
http://is.gd/7KYNYU

46. 4 reported
positions
Pearl Harbor
and the
Soviet search
area
http://is.gd/7KYNYU

47. Critical Thinking
• We know many of the things being said are not
correct
– Loose Lips Sink Ships
– Great hooks to sell books
– Governments hiding secrets/ embarrassments
– Censorship of (or by) knowledgeable authors
• So what tools do we have to sift the facts from
the noise? What are they missing pieces? What
questions might we ask and/or research to
resolve key points?
http://is.gd/7KYNYU

48. Some observations
• Soviet decode(?) of KW-7 might have disclosed a US sub collision in ‘real time’ – from Swordfish or
other sub
• Russia knows what is at 40n 180w by now (has submersibles, etc.)
• Actual site has “legs” from Clementine (Claw), and residual sub
• Thousands of pictures of K129 exist, most still restricted (Halibut in 68 “Velvet Fist”, Operation Sand
Dollar, Trieste II?, returns of Halibut, et al; Glomar 2, Glomar Explorer, ----post 1974???)
• Craven given the Distinguished Civilian Service Award (DoD’s highest),
“I have never seen the citation”
• Key Craven assertion – US strategy in many cases has been to convince the Soviet leader that he
was not in control of his armed forces & recovery was intended to be “in Soviet view”
• Sewell suggests data was given to both Soviets and China
– facilitating improved relations with each
• Howard Hughes was likely a major campaign contributor to Nixon’s Election
a half billion dollar project directed his way may have had political vs military incentives
• Robert Ballard visited Scorpion site in 1985 along with the discovery of the Titanic
in NR-1 (a dual purpose operation)
http://is.gd/7KYNYU

49. Resources
1. White, Michael & Polmar, Norman: Project Azorian; 2010 book & PBS show
2. Sewell, Kenneth; Red Star Rogue; 2005
3. Sharp, David; The CIA’s Greatest Covert operation; 2012 (Principal)
Appendix A: Perception Management and Disinformation
4. Burleson, Clyde; The Jennifer Project; 1977
5. Collier, Wayne & Vamer, Roy; A Matter of Risk; 1978 (Principal)
6. Craven, John Pina; The Silent War; 2001 (Principal)
7. Sontag, Sherry & Drew, Christopher; Blind Man’s Bluff; 1998
8. Reed, Craig; Red November; 2011 (ref. to Sanders Assoc.)
9. Offley, Ed; Scorpion Down; 2007
10. Sewell, Kenneth; All Hands Down; 2008
http://is.gd/7KYNYU

50. 1962
Subs and the Cuban Missile Crisis
http://is.gd/7KYNYU

51. Cuban
Missile
Range
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52. Flash back to 1962
• 1960 Dec.- Soviets start using burst sub transmissions
• 1961 US SOSUS network established UK to Iceland
• 1962 May – Polaris missile launch success
• 1962 Fall – Soviet Union installs nuclear missiles in Cuba
• 4 Soviet Diesel subs, each with one nuclear torpedo, approach
Cuba – in theory to start sub base there
• 1962 Oct 25 – Sanders suggests simulated burst transmissions
• 1962 Oct. US Blockade – brinksmanship situation
– Soviet ships turn back
– All four Soviet Subs forced to surface & retreat (one pulled a fast escape)
– All four subs seriously considered firing their nuclear torpedoes
http://is.gd/7KYNYU

53. Oct 1
4 Foxtrots to Cuba
http://is.gd/7KYNYU
With Nuclear Torpedoes – 2 “special weapons” each

54. The Burst Problem
Short – difficult to detect, but could once nature
was identified
Encoded – hard to analyze
Short – limited time to “triangulate” => 10 Mile
But … Saunders Associate Nashua contribution
Send a similar signal from a known ship near
the sub -- & correct for variations
http://is.gd/7KYNYU

55. Foxtrot locations
B-59 is at top
http://is.gd/7KYNYU

56. • Oct 24, 1962 US directive to Soviets:
– Will drop 4-5 harmless explosives
– Subs should surface on Easterly course
• Soviet Sub commanders didn’t get “the memo”
• Red November (Reed) suggests that all four
considered firing nuclear torpedoes
• “Man who saved the world” suggests at least one
http://is.gd/7KYNYU

57. 1 minute to
midnight
Soviet sub B-59,
commanded by
Valentin Savitsky
October 27, 1962
“Ok” from Political
Officer
Blocked by Deputy
Brigade
Commander
Archipov
http://is.gd/7KYNYU

58. http://is.gd/7KYNYU

59. Post mortum
• 1963 June 20 -- Red phone agreement –
US/Soviet leaders
• 1964 Khrushchev leaves office
• 1964 first China nuclear device test
• 2001 March - meeting of principles in Havana
disclosed that tactical and some medium
range nukes could/would have been used
(McNamara, Castro, Soviet folks, etc.)
http://is.gd/7KYNYU

60. Resources
– http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB75/
Subs of October (GWU National Security Archive)
– PBS “The Man Who Saved the World” 2012
– http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB399/
Update 2012
– McNamara World Affairs Council on FORATV
• http://fora.tv/2005/03/09/Robert_McNamara
• Fog of War video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afVzS742enE
– Peter Huchthausen, October Fury; New York: John
Wiley & Sons. Inc., 2002
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61. Parental warning
"Knowledge-Based Education – We oppose the teaching of
Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) (values clarification),
critical thinking skills and similar programs that are simply a
relabeling of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) (mastery
learning) which focus on behavior modification and have the
purpose of challenging the student’s fixed beliefs and
undermining parental authority”
A Texas political party platform point for 2012
Source: Scientific American, p. 71; Nov. 2012
Warning: This program is intended to challenge
fixed beliefs and develop critical thinking
http://is.gd/7KYNYU