By Andrew Moseman
In February 1968, the Soviet submarine K-129 was conducting ordinary patrols in the Pacific Ocean when it vanished. The USSR organized a massive air, sea, and submarine search for the vessel, but by March they'd come up empty and declared K-129 lost with all hands missing.
The sub carried a Soviet nuclear missile, and Americans in the intelligence and military worlds know what a colossal coup it would be to recover not only an enemy sub but also a nuclear warhead. Thus began a mammoth operation to find and potentially recover a submarine from the bottom of sea. Called Project Azorian, this effort would among the most expensive and secretive operations of the Cold War. But it was only partially successful. For the all engineering ingenuity and guile required for the U.S. to locate the sub, build a rig to retrieve it, and fake a cover story to explain their actions, the mission salvaged only part of the vessel and some of the secrets American spies hoped to get their hands on.
http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/navy-ships/a27968/the-taking-of-k-129-josh-dean-project-azorian/
