BC Cook
IN 1968, at the height of the Cold War, a Soviet nuclear missile submarine sank in deep water in the northern Pacific. The Russians did not know where it went down, but the Americans secretly found and recovered it. What caused it to sink? How did the Russians not know where it was? How did the Americans raise a vessel that weighs thousands of tons from three miles below the surface of the ocean, grab it right out from under everyone and manage to keep it a secret for so long? This is not a Hollywood blockbuster, this is a true Tale of the Pacific.
1968 was a turbulent year in world history. The Cold War had everyone nervous, the conflict in Vietnam raged, the space program worked toward its ultimate goal of putting astronauts on the moon and popular uprisings in communist countries disrupted international relations. In January, North Korean forces captured the American spy ship Pueblo, triggering a tense standoff that could have blown up into a larger war. Because of this, along with the rapid escalation of the war in Vietnam with the Tet Offensive, American and Russian military forces went to high alert. Submarines took to the sea to be in position if fighting broke out. K-129 was one of these.
For a few days the K-129 proceeded along its assigned route and conducted deep-sea maneuvers. All went well. The sub surfaced, reported its location and condition to its base, and then disappeared. When the Soviet navy looked for the wreck near its last known location it was not there, not even close. Meanwhile, the Americans picked up an underwater explosion at about the time the K-129 disappeared and pinpointed its location, hundreds of miles from where the Russians thought it was, hundreds of miles closer to Hawaii than it should have been. Now they knew where the sub rested, but what could they do about it?
That is nearly all that we know, which is not much. We don’t know why the submarine was so far off course, so much so that the Soviet navy could not locate the wreck. Were they on a secret mission? Was there a mutiny on board, and if so, why? Was the sub skipper “going rogue” and attempting his own mission? Was he going to attack Hawaii?
The mystery deepens. A typical submarine of that class held a crew of 83, but Russian President Boris Yeltsin posthumously awarded 98 Order of Valor medals to the crew of K-129. Why the extra fifteen medals? What were extra crew members doing on board? The Russian navy has never explained this or released the crew list to the public. Why not?
This is only part of the story. How the Americans found and recovered the submarine is the most amazing part of this tale.
BC Cook, PhD lived on Saipan and has taught history for over thirty years. He is a director and historian at Sealark Exploration (sealarkexploration.org).
