From the Naval Historical Foundation: "Naval History Book Reviews" March 15,

2011
Project AZORIAN: The CIA and the Raising of the K-129
by Norman Polmar and Michael White. Naval Institute Press, 2010. 173 pp.
Reviewed by Captain James B. Bryant, U.S. Navy (Retired)
The year 1968 was bad for submarines. In January the Israelis and the French lo
st their diesel-electric powered submarines Dakar and Minerve at sea with all ha
nds and a submerged grounding badly damaged the American nuclear-powered fast at
tack submarine Seawolf (SSN 575). On March 11, 1968, the K-129, a Soviet Golf
II diesel-electric powered ballistic-missile boat van
ished north of the Hawaiian Islands carrying three ballistic missiles with one-m
egaton nuclear warheads. The story of the sinking and partial recovery of the K
-129 by the CIA is the subject of this review.
Just two months later Scorpion (SSN 598) sank in the Atlantic. The short time b
etween the of loss of K-129 and Scorpion led to decades of Cold War intrigue, di
plomatic confrontations, investigations, speculation, and books based on conflic
ting, false, conspiracy theories labeled "non-fiction" to promote sales.
This is the first book that gets the facts right on the events leading to the lo
ss of the K-129, why we knew where it sank and the Soviets didn't, and the cover
t location and reconnaissance of the wreck by the super-secret Halibut (SSN 587)
. Due to recently declassified information it tells the story of Project AZORIA
N that designed, built and operated the Hughes Glomar Explorer to salvage the fo
rward section of the K-129 from a depth of 16,000 feet. This technical achievem
ent is comparable to the Apollo 1969 moon landing as well as an exciting intelli
gence success by recovering a 38-foot section of the K-129 in plain view of the
Soviets. This is one time we caught them "flat-footed, and pants down."
The authors have the right stuff. Norman Polmar has written dozens of books on
naval subjects, held advisory positions for the Navy's leadership and is a recog
nized expert on U.S. and Soviet submarine issues. He is fearless in getting his
point across, but can be controversial. Polmar told me that this was a difficu
lt book for him to write because more than ninety percent of his prior knowledge
on PROJECT AZORIAN was wrong. I also interviewed Michael White by phone from V
ienna, Austria and was truly impressed by his dedication to this project and wha
t he calls "his team of experts" who have unprecedented knowledge of the subject
and were personally committed to making the book accurate. Michael's 104 minut
e video with the same title provides more detail and personal interviews with th
is team of experts.
There is a long list of unsung Cold War heroes like Raymond Feldman, a senior en
gineer at the time with Lockheed Ocean Systems, one of the key contractors, who
helped plan and then run the project, including watching the recovery from TV ca
meras. Rear Admiral Viktor Dygalo, Soviet Navy (Retired), commanded a submarine
division of ten ballistic-missile boats that included K-129. He ordered K-129
on patrol, participated in the search and wrote the letters to the families when
K-129 was declared lost at sea.
Bruce Rule was the leading acoustic analyst for the Office of Naval Intelligence
for 42 years. In May 1968, the Navy took the acoustic data and compartmentaliz
ed it so that not even the Navy's experts could review it. Consequently, it was
not until 2009 - forty-one years after the event - that Bruce's analysis of th
e data from open sources determined that the K-129 was lost when two ballistic m
issiles' rocket motors fired, melted the launch tubes and filled the boat with b
urning exhaust. This book gives details of the probable causes.
This book is critically important to understanding the Cold War as S
hattered Sword: the Untold Story of the Battle of Midway by Jonathan Parshall an
d Anthony Tullyis to better understand that pivotal battle. Shattered Sword mak
es a strong case that the Japanese defeat at Midway couldn't be blamed on the de
layed launch of the Cruiser Tone's #4 scout plane or Admiral Nagumo's rearming h
is attack planes. Project AZORIAN : The CIA and the Raising of the K-129 provid
es indisputable evidence that sinking of K-129 and Scorpion can't be linked to o
r blamed on US/Soviet interaction.
The authors dismantle the conspiracy theories by proving they are mo
stly derived from unrelated data, selective interviews or just fabricated. This
book should thwart attempts to write new conspiracy theory books on K-129 and S
corpion. This is a must read for all of you that were or wished you were in the
exciting, dangerous, previously highly-classified, submarine component of the C
old War. I bet my 24-carat Gold Dolphins and Command at Sea Pin that you will l
ove this book.
After commanding Guardfish (SSN 612) Captain Bryant was a Deputy Commander of Su
bmarine Squadron 11 before being assigned to the Political Military Division of
the Navy Staff.