The CIA built a ship to steal a Soviet nuclear submarine!

8 May 2026 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

1:13

The video narrates the Cold War mystery of the Soviet ballistic missile submarine K-129, which vanished in 1968 in the Pacific Ocean. While the Soviet Union conducted a large-scale search, the United States, using underwater acoustic monitoring, detected an explosion and located the wreck at roughly 5,000 meters depth. The CIA then launched the covert Project Azorian, commissioning the Hughes Glomar Explorer—ostensibly a deep‑sea mining vessel but actually built to recover the submarine with a massive claw. In 1974 the ship attempted the lift; the submarine began to rise but broke apart mid‑ascent, resulting in only a partial recovery that included the bodies of Soviet sailors, who were later buried at sea with full military honors despite being adversaries. The operation remained highly classified for decades, representing one of the most complex covert missions of the Cold War era.

Chapters

In 1968, a Soviet submarine vanished in the Pacific Ocean, without a trace. It was called K-129, a ballistic missile submarine, carrying nuclear weapons. Then suddenly, silence. No signals, no distress call, nothing. The Soviet Union launched a massive search. Planes, ships. Weeks passed. They found nothing. But the United States did. Using underwater listening systems, the US detected an explosion deep in the ocean. They tracked the sound and located the wreck nearly 5,000 meters below the surface. Now came the real mission. Not rescue. Recovery. The CIA launched a secret operation, codenamed Project Azorian. They built a massive ship, the Hughes Glomar Explorer. Officially, it was for deep-sea mining. In reality, it was designed to lift a sunken submarine from extreme depths using a giant claw. In 1974, they attempted it. Slowly, carefully, the submarine began rising after years on the ocean floor. But halfway up, it broke apart. Part. Only part of it was recovered. Inside were bodies of Soviet sailors. They were buried at sea with full military honors, even though they were enemies. The mission remained classified for years. One of the most complex covert operations ever attempted, a Cold War secret pulled from the bottom of the ocean.