Deep-sea drillship platform used by the CIA to recover sunken Soviet submarine
This article is about the CIA ship used to recover a sunken Soviet submarine as part of Project Azorian. For the deep-sea oceanographic research and scientific drilling vessel, see Glomar Challenger.
History
Name
GSF Explorer
Owner
Global Marine Development Inc.
Operator
Central Intelligence Agency
Port of registry
Port Vila, Vanuatu
Builder
Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.
Chester, Pennsylvania
Cost
>$350 million (1974)
(>$1.68 billion in 2023 dollars.[2])
Laid down
1971
Launched
4 November 1972
Completed
1974
Acquired
2010
Identification
ABS class no: 7310452
Call sign: YJQQ3
DNV ID:29748
IMO number: 7233292
MMSI no.:576830000
Fate
Scrapped
Notes
[1]
United States
Name
Hughes Glomar Explorer
Namesake
Howard Hughes
Builder
Sun Shipbuilding and Drydock Co.
Launched
4 November 1972
In service
1 July 1973
Fate
Scrapped, 2015
Notes
[1]
General characteristics
Type
Drillship
Displacement
50,500 long tons (51,310 t) light
Length
619 ft (189 m)
Beam
116 ft (35 m)
Draft
38 ft (12 m)
Propulsion
Diesel-electric
5 × Nordberg 16-cylinder diesel engines driving 4,160 V AC generators turning 6 × 2,200 hp (1.6 MW) DC shaft motors, twin shafts
Speed
10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Complement
160
Notes
[1]
GSF Explorer, formerly USNS Hughes Glomar Explorer (T-AG-193), was a deep-sea drillship platform built for Project Azorian, the secret 1974 effort by the United States Central Intelligence Agency's Special Activities Division to recover the Soviet submarine K-129.[3][4]
^ abc"ABS Record: GSF Explorer." American Bureau of Shipping, 2010. Retrieved: 25 December 2010.
^Johnston, Louis; Williamson, Samuel H. (2023). "What Was the U.S. GDP Then?". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved 30 November 2023. United States Gross Domestic Product deflator figures follow the MeasuringWorth series.
^Burleson 1997, p. 52.
^"Mysteries of the Deep: Raising Sunken Ships: The Glomar Explorer." Archived 16 October 2015 at the Wayback Machine Scientific American Frontiers (PBS), p. 2. Retrieved: 25 December 2010.
GSF Explorer, formerly USNS Hughes GlomarExplorer (T-AG-193), was a deep-sea drillship platform built for Project Azorian, the secret 1974 effort by the...
was notably used to respond to requests for information about the GlomarExplorer. In national or subnational freedom of information policies, governments...
the Pacific Ocean floor in 1974 using the purpose-built ship Hughes GlomarExplorer. The 1968 sinking of K-129 occurred about 1,600 miles (2,600 km) northwest...
Transocean. Glomar Challenger, the drillship used for the Deep Sea Drilling Project GlomarExplorer, a large salvage vessel built by the CIA Glomar response...
recovery plan used the special-purpose salvage vessel GlomarExplorer. In the summer of 1974, GlomarExplorer attempted to raise the Soviet vessel. However,...
pipes to run vertically through the structure or hull. The Hughes GlomarExplorer was a 50,500 long tons (51,300 t), 619-foot-long (189 m) ship constructed...
The Glomar Challenger was a deep sea research and scientific drilling vessel for oceanography and marine geology studies. The drillship was designed by...
Azorian, through billionaire Howard Hughes, commissioned the ship Hughes GlomarExplorer with the cover story of harvesting manganese nodules from the sea floor...
ships which was created in the period following World War II. The USNS GlomarExplorer was anchored here after recovering parts of a sunken Soviet submarine...
Azorian, through billionaire Howard Hughes, commissioned the ship Hughes GlomarExplorer with the cover story of harvesting manganese nodules from the sea floor...
constructed inside the barge and out of sight, and to be installed in the GlomarExplorer in secrecy. This was done by towing the HMB-1, with the capture device...
USCGC Storis (WMEC-38) USCGC Iris (WLB 395) GlomarExplorer – also known as USNS Hughes GlomarExplorer (T-AG-193) – and later as GSF Explorer Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance...
Directorate of Science and Technology built and deployed the USNS GlomarExplorer (T-AG-193), a large deep-sea salvage ship, on a secret operation. This...
the secret transfer of a mechanical lifting device underneath the GlomarExplorer ship, as well as the development of the Sea Shadow stealth ship. The...
the gimbal platforms and bearings,: 14 during the construction of GlomarExplorer, which was the centerpiece of Project Azorian, a CIA project that aimed...
submarine K-219 by a joint team of U.S. Navy and CIA engineers aboard GlomarExplorer.[citation needed] Pieter van Oord, CEO of Royal van Oord Michael E...
retrieved from the ocean floor with the Howard Hughes-designed ship GlomarExplorer), K-8 in 1970, K-219 in 1986, and Komsomolets in 1989 (which held a...
-1968), famous as target of CIA recovery operation using the Hughes GlomarExplorer Whiskey class Twin Cylinder Whiskey class Long Bin Juliett-class submarine...
1974 by the CIA to raise the sunken Soviet submarine K-129 using the GlomarExplorer, a ship purpose-built for the task by Howard Hughes. The operation...
the 1974 Project Azorian using the specialist salvage vessel Hughes GlomarExplorer to raise a Soviet submarine. After news leaked out about this boondoggle...
has similarly been reduced. This location is known for hosting the GlomarExplorer after its recovery of portions of Soviet submarine K-129 during the...
retrieve from the ocean floor with the Howard Hughes-designed ship named GlomarExplorer), K-8 in 1970, K-219 in 1986, and Komsomolets in 1989. Many other Soviet...
the CIA wanted the whole submarine. They built the ship GlomarExplorer (now GSF Explorer) to raise K-129, which became very expensive (up to 500 million...
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