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An Azorian is a person from the Azores, an archipelago of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean.
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What are the release dates for Azorian The Raising of the K-129 - 2010 TV?
Azorian The Raising of the K-129 - 2010 TV was released on: USA: 2010
Can a conventional submarine carry nuclear weapons?
Absolutely - the Soviet Union was arguably the largest nation to carry nukes aboard Diesel-Electric submarines (both SLBM's and Nuclear Torpedoes). The loss of the DE Soviet Submarine K-12, and the subsequent recovery attempt by the United States (Project Azorian) to recover her nukes and code materials is a good example as to how far we were willing to go during the Cold War to gain an advantage. Many nations today who still use DE boats often carry nuclear weapons as part of their weapons loadout.
What type of submarine was Project Jennifer?
"Project Jennifer" wasn't a submarine - it was the fake CIA Top Secret Compartment code name incorrectly used by the media which referred to the CIA's actual project, codenamed "Project Azorian".Azorian was arguably the most ambitious engineering, salvage, and intelligence operation of the Cold War, given the task of raising a submarine that was sitting on the bottom of the ocean over 3 miles down without the Soviets finding out.Azorian aimed to raise the sunken Soviet Golf II-class ballistic missile submarine K-129, which had been lost at sea under still unknown circumstances (though plenty of conjecture) in 1968. Though the Soviet Union launched an exhaustive search mission, they never found her location.However, United States SOSUS arrays (hydrophone arrays strategically placed at various locations on the bottom of the ocean) picked up her destruction, and analysts were able to triangulate K-129's position fairly quickly, northwest of Hawaii. USS Halibut (SSN-587), a specially outfitted submarine which had been converted for special operations use and had multiple exterior light and camera arrays, was dispatched to the area, and found the K-129 within days. After taking literally thousands of pictures, the CIA hatched a plan to raise the K-129, turning to defense contractor Global Marine, and its owner, billionaire Howard Hughes. The ultimate goal was to raise the K-129, and hopefully recover her nuclear weapons, cryptographic machines and codebooks, and other equipment for analysis.It took several years to finish the Hughes Glomar Explorer, which was designed and built specifically for the singular task of raising the K-129, which began in 1974. Several Soviet sailors' remains were recovered during the operation, and a formal burial at sea was filmed, in hopes of one day giving it to the Russians to show we had respected their dead. The video was given to Russian President Boris Yeltsin in the early 90's.A video was released earlier in 2011 by Michael White detailing the operation, with animation and interviews with Global Marine engineers involved with the program.
What is name of book about retrieving soviet submarine in 1974?
Project Azorian (the actual CIA code name for the operation), incorrectly referred to as Project Jennifer (the CIA compartmented fake code name) by the mediathe recovery of the Russian GOLF-II-class (NATO reporting name) ballistic missile submarine K-129 (lost in 1968, likely as a result of a fatal onboard casualty) 1800 miles north of Hawaii, is the subject of many speculative books. However, until recently, the full story has been (and still is) very highly classified. It is to date one of the biggest intelligence and recovery operations of the Cold War. Even during my time in the submarine force, there were always many rumors about the operation just 7 years later about how much they actually recovered. The engineering feat cannot be under-emphasized - the attempted raising of an intact sunken submarine almost 3 miles deep isn't easy.In November 2009, a video by Michael White films, released under the title "Azorian- The Raising of the K-129", is the most detailed analysis of the recovery effort to date, and includes engineers who were responsible for the recovery ship Hughes Glomar Explorer, and who were on site for the attempt. It was made without the consent of the U.S. Government, is available on DVD and has been included in the Netflix streaming plan under Documentaries.On March 11, 1968, the Soviet GOLF-II (NATO designation) Diesel-Electric submarine K-129 was presumed lost at sea when she failed to make her scheduled check-ins, and failed to respond to open communication from the Soviet Navy HQ. The Soviet Navy sortied into the Pacific in a massive search and recovery effort. While they didn't tell the United States what they were searching for, intelligence analysts correctly deduced they were likely looking for a lost submarine. Searching through acoustic SOSUS records, they found 2 significant acoustic events (likely casualty and impact of the bottom), at a spot 1800 miles north of Hawaii. Discussion was made at the highest levels of government as to whether an attempt could be made to find the wreck, and if so, if it could be raised both intact, and in secret.After only a relatively short time (a few weeks), the converted submarine USS Halibut (SSGN-587), modified for underwater search and special operations, located the wreck of the K-129. Taking thousands of photographs to document the wreck, a plan was eventually devised to try and raise the wreck intact to gain access to her nuclear missiles and code materials. Since the CIA couldn't do it openly, they approached billionaire Howard Hughes, a long-time government contractor, with the task of building a ship specifically for the one-time attempt at recovering the K-129. The result was the Hughes Glomar Explorer, built by Hughes' company Global Marine. Her cover story was that she was built for mining valuable manganese nodules recently found on the ocean floor. Hughes was rich and eccentric enough to build it for this reason, and most people (even today) still believe that's what it was built for.The operation remained highly classified until then-President Clinton gave Russian President Yeltsin a copy of a burial-at-sea ceremony film that was taken onboard the Glomar Explorer during recovery of the K-129. 6 remains of Soviet sailors were recovered with the wreckage, and they were buried at sea in services of both the Soviet Navy and U.S. Navy, approximating what was believed to be the closest of what an actual service would've been. It was hoped when it was filmed that the record could one day be given to the Russians to show that we had treated their sailors with respect, despite the adversarial nature of the Cold War.
Which country built the world's deepest and most silent nuclear submarine nicknamed 'Losharik'?
The Soviet (later Russian) submarine "Losharik" (Project 210) design (multiple pressure-hull spheres with a submarine external superstructure) is believed to be able to approach depths approaching 20,000'. As far as being silent, reactors can only be quieted so much, and the sound profile characteristics at that depth mean that any sound she generates would be pushed back toward the surface by sea pressure (cold temperatures bend sound down in the ocean, until pressure forces it back up) with a vengeance. While she'd have an advantage in deep, cold water, she'd be vulnerable to detection within the 100 fathom curve of most continents (where the edge drops from shallow to deep depths) like any other boat.While such a design might make it able to dive deeper and quieter, it also exacts strict limitations in equipment (weapons, sonar, etc.). While a unique design, it's more of a long-range independent DSRV / Research platform than a traditional submarine by naval warfare concepts.The vessel was originally laid down in 1988, but over the years the lack of funding after the collapse of the Soviet Union led the Russians to actually seek outside investors to complete it (including Americans, who declined). This is likely due to Soviet-era submarine reactor technology, which had significant problems. Either way, the boat's design makes it essentially useful only as a rescue/special operations/research platform, not unlike the U.S. Navy's NR-1 and DSRV, though on a much larger scale and with its own power source, not requiring a tender to launch and recover.It's most likely that the Soviets, having gained considerable intelligence knowledge from spy John Walker in the 80's, and release of the story concerning Project Azorian in the early 70's (erroneously called Project Jennifer by the press), could also have envisioned their own spy boat in the spirit of the U.S. Navy's USS Halibut (SSN-587) (Soviet submarine K-129 discovery/imaging), and USS Parche(SSN-683) ("Operation Ivy Bells"), but with much deeper depth capability, which was a limiting factor in the recovery effort of the K-129 by the CIA. Both the Halibut and Parche were used extensively in research, special operations, and rescue roles. Since the decommissioning of those boats, the Seawolf-class USS Jimmy Carter (SSN-23) has replaced them in those same spy roles.With the intelligence-gathering aspect it's important to also note submarine concept design and implementation; it takes many years for the concept to go into actual production (even for the Soviets, who experimented with many design concepts). This means that the idea for Project 210 likely started in the late 70's or early 80's. As an example, we were first briefed on the initial Seawolf-class design in 1982, but 7 years before the first hull was laid down, and another 9 before commissioning.
What was the name used in a US Cold War nuclear attack submarine for the sonar controller?
If you're referring to Sonar personnel such as myself, Sonar on most Fast-Attacks comprised of a division of about 12-15 Submarine Sonar Techs (STS). All Sonarmen were minimum 6 year enlistees, as Basic Sonar and Advanced Sonar typically took around 18 months from Boot Camp to their first afloat command. That included BT, Submarined School, Basic Sonar, Basic Electricity/Electronics, and Advanced Sonar Maintenance. A Sonarman's desired career path generally chooses which systems he'll train on for advanced training since FBM and Fast-Attacks typically have different systems, and they have different missions. For a true Sonar career, a Fast-Attack is the only real choice.Sonar watch comprises several crewmembers, who are overseen by a Sonar Supervisor. The Sonar Sup is typically a 2nd or 1st class STS, and has been through advanced acoustic and sonar training, as well as having been a veteran of key deployments. Aside from the Contro Room personnel, the Sonar Supervisor is considered one of the most important underway submerged positions on the boat, being responsible for reporting the acoustic tactical situation to Control.Under normal watch, Sonar was comprised of the Supervisor, Passive Operator (primary) Passive/Active Operator (normally run in secondary Passive on the Active console), Narrowband and Auxiliary systems Operators. Watch was rotated between personnel so ears remained fresh, and most importantly for coffee runs. For Battle Stations or Tracking Parties (key targets), typically senior Sonarmen were assigned to the main consoles in Sonar, while others were assigned to Damage Control duties. I was the Primary Passive Sonar Stack operator during Battle Stations on my boat for about 2 years, the key operator for the boat. "Hot Seat" doesn't even come close to a description during those days.If you're referring to Sonar equipment, the Sturgeon class and its variants were initially outfitted with the BQS-11/12/13 Series Sonar suite and BQR-7 as its primary sonar systems. After upgrades, all boats were eventually outfitted with the BQQ-5 Sonar Suite, which was an Analog/Digital hybrid of the original BQS-13 system. The other significant upgrade was a retractable Towed Array - original boats had a fixed TA which had to be deployed by a support Mike boat when the boat left port, and manually hauled in by a support boat when it entered port. This limited a boat's port call choices. LA Class boats were outfitted with the BQQ-5 system from the start, receiving upgrades as time went on. The biggest difference between the BQS-13 and BQQ-5 is that the 13 system was primarily an analog system, with fixed Passive and Active consoles. The Q5 was a computer core driven system that could load any stack program into any one of the consoles, though the configuration was typically standard throughout the fleet based on previous BQS-13 layout.Few jobs in the Submarine Force at the height of the Cold War were as cool and stressful as being a Submarine Sonarman on board a Fast-Attack. I experienced things before I was 30 that few people ever think about. My own cousin followed in my footsteps about a year after I joined the Navy - he was a Sonar Tech in my Squadron on another boat, and a good one to boot.To give you an idea of what we were required to learn, aside from the electronics maintenance and repair aspect, I remember going to a class called "Enlisted Sonar Principles". Naturally, those of us who went figured it was going to be a gravy week. That was blown when we walked in and saw 2 notepads, a box of #2 pencils and a Math textbook. As it turned out, the course was how to perform by hand all of the oceanographic geometry and math calculations that the Sonar systems do automatically, accounting for all physics and enviromental variables. To this date it is the hardest course I have ever taken.If you saw Hunt for Red October, it's not even close to reality as far as Sonar goes. Though I can't confirm or deny any events in Blind Man's Bluff (I'm still bound by security oath), I can say it's a "fairly accurate" account. While I and others of that era aren't happy with how the Submarine community has opened up some of its secrets, there is at least some material that my family can read to get an idea of what I used to do that I've never been able to specifically tell them about.You should also Google AZORIAN or Project Jennifer, which are the names of the CIA sponsored project to raise the Soviet Golf II submarine K-129 using the Hughes Glomar Explorer. A DVD was released last week documenting the project, which took place in 1974. It shows you the lengths at which our nation was willing to go to maintain the acoustic edge over the Soviet submarine fleet.If you're wondering, my old boat was USS RAY (SSN-653). Though now gone, it was then the most decorated boat in the Atlantic Submarine Fleet. You can see some pics on my bio page.
