The Taking of K-129: How the CIA Used Howard Hughes to Steal a Russian Sub in the Most Daring Covert Operation in History

by Josh Dean

What Clementine had to do required technical precision of a kind that would be difficult to accomplish on the surface, considering the size of the machines in question, but to do it under the ocean—three miles away from the men who’d be operating the device—would require the most advanced technologies on the planet, including some that would have to be invented for the operation. The capture vehicle was outfitted with a suite of sensors, including long-range sonar, high-resolution sonar, and altitude/attitude sonar, plus twelve television cameras lit with twenty-six lights to provide the eyes for the men on the controls up on the surface. Really, Clementine needed only the acoustic or the optical system, but because the Azorian team would get only one shot at this mission, every facet of the vehicle’s operation had a redundant system to provide a backup if the primary system failed. To locate and place itself over the wreck, Clementine carried an array of beacon transponders that were to be dropped around the target. Hydrophones on the CV would listen to these beacons, and onboard software used that data to position the CV over the target with an accuracy of one foot.