Burial At Sea of Soviet Submariners from Hughes Glomar Explorer - September 4, 1974
Channel: CT1660
Date: 2020-08-22

In 1968, Soviet submarine K-129, a Project 629A diesel-electric powered ballistic missile submarine, carrying hull number 722, suffered a failure of unknown origin, causing the submarine to sink to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. The Soviets initially attempted to recover the submarine, but they didn't possess the technology that the USA would eventually use to pinpoint the exact location of the sunken sub (AFTAC and SOSUS) once they saw the potential of valuable intel, such as codebooks, an intact R-21 nuclear missile and cryptological documents and equipment.

Then came Project Azorian, a covert mission conducted by the CIA to recover K-129. The Hughes Glomar Explorer had been built between 1971-1972 for one purpose: recover K-129 without the Soviets or the American public finding out. The official cover story was that the ship's purpose was for the extraction of manganese nodules from the ocean floor.

As the ship was lifting the K-129, a mechanical failure in the grapple caused 2/3rd of the sub to break off. The recovered section yielded nuclear-tipped torpedoes and some cryptographic machines. The bodies of six Soviet submariners were also found, who were given a formal, filmed burial at sea.

Flash forward to October 1992, when Robert Gates, then Director of Central Intelligence, visited Moscow to meet with President Boris Yeltsin. He brought a videotape of the funeral, in hopes that the United States would inspire Russia to offer up information on the whereabouts of missing American servicemen in Vietnam.

The filmed funeral was eventually declassified and was released to the public domain.

More on Project Azorian:
https://www.cia.gov/about-cia/cia-museum/experience-the-collection/index.html#!/story/14

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