Activity 5

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University of Texas, El Paso *

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4301

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History

Date

Dec 6, 2023

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docx

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2

Uploaded by MagistrateWorld3211

Project Azorian was the CIA’s secret operation to find and raise a Soviet submarine, which was known as the K-129, which sank to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean in 1968. The operation involved building a unique ship unlike any other, to retrieve the submarine without alerting the Soviets. This operation was of course highly classified but eventually became public. The acquisition of the Soviet submarine by the CIA through this project was a cover operation, since it was done secretly without the knowledge of the Soviet Union. This retrieval would help gain intelligence on Soviet military technology and operations, with particular information on their nuclear missile program. The operation began in 1974. Those involved with the operation consisted of the CIA, the United States Navy, and the Howard Hughes Corporation. The CIA planned and executed the operation, and the Navy provided the logistical support and technical expertise. Hughes was simply used as a cover story for the operation to keep it under the radar. The success for the operation was a success in the sense of “execution” but not in the sense that it had achieved what they had strived for. They did manage to recover a portion of the submarine, but the intelligence they were hoping for was not as significant as they wanted it to be. They managed to obtain some insights to the technology of the Soviet military but were not able to make significant breakthroughs. Due to the operation later becoming public, it had also created bad relations with the Soviets. The linked video in regards of deep-sea mining is that even if it had been for use for minerals in the ocean it ended up providing the footwork needed for the USNS Hughes Glomar, which was used to recover the Soviet submarine needed to further intelligence on the Soviets. This essentially created the “butterfly” effect to execute Project Azorian.
References Myre, G. (2017, September 18). How the CIA found a Soviet sub - without the Soviets knowing . NPR. https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2017/09/18/549535352/how-the-cia-found-a- soviet-sub-without-the-soviets-knowing YouTube. (2020). YouTube . Retrieved November 15, 2023, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXUqUpfzgxQ.
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