Search for Titanic was Cold War cover story

[NooDle]

you cannot make this shit up

[hansvonaxion]

...causing the vessel to lose power and implode as it sank.

What a horrible way to die.

[toma_alimosh]

Originally Posted by Labcoatguy

BTW, for anyone about to lambaste Clive Cussler for being stupid, that book was written before they found out that the Titanic broke in half.

He is an idiot. If he would have just read some of the eyewitness accounts from the survivors, or at least approached them and asked about it, he would have found out. He gets 0 for research, therefore, he's a bad writer AND an idiot.

[Vector]

Originally Posted by hansvonaxion

What a horrible way to die.

Actually, implosion happens in the blink of an eye. You wouldn't even know it happened.

This reminds me though of the Howard Hughes expidition to recover Soviet submarines... anyone remember that?

Originally Posted by Wiki

In 1972, Hughes was approached by the CIA to help secretly recover Soviet submarine K-129 which had sunk near Hawaii four years earlier. He agreed. Thus the Glomar Explorer, a special-purpose salvage vessel, was born. Hughes' involvement provided the CIA with a plausible cover story, having to do with civilian marine research at extreme depths and the mining of undersea manganese nodules. In the summer of 1974, Glomar Explorer attempted to raise the Soviet vessel.

However, during the recovery a mechanical failure in the ship's grapple caused half of the submarine to break off and fall to the ocean floor. This section is believed to have held many of the most sought after items, including its code book and nuclear missiles. Two nuclear-tipped torpedoes and some cryptographic machines were recovered, along with the bodies of six Soviet submariners who were subsequently given formal burial at sea in a filmed ceremony. The operation, known as Project Jennifer, became public in February 1975 because burglars had obtained secret documents from Hughes' headquarters in June 1974.

[hansvonaxion]

Originally Posted by Vector

Actually, implosion happens in the blink of an eye. You wouldn't even know it happened.

This reminds me though of the Howard Hughes expidition to recover Soviet submarines... anyone remember that?

I was thinking more the waiting for it to happen. Loss of power, start sinking, fuck we're all going to die...wait for it. Like Das Boot but knowing you're not going to make it.

[British_Rover]

Originally Posted by toma_alimosh

He is an idiot. If he would have just read some of the eyewitness accounts from the survivors, or at least approached them and asked about it, he would have found out. He gets 0 for research, therefore, he's a bad writer AND an idiot.

Clive Cussler is actually a great writer you just have to suspend some of your disbelief when reading one of his books. Everything is a little bit on the fantastic side but still good stuff. Even after they Titanic was found there was some debate on if it broke up after it sank or while it was still sinking. Not sure if that was ever settled on way or the other.

Overall I like Cusslers books and not just because he has a fantastic car collection. http://cusslermuseum.com/

some of my favs...


1936 Pierce Arrow V-12 Berlin with 1937 Pierce Arrow Travelodge Trailer


1929 Bentley Blower


Now this is a picture....

http://cusslermuseum.com/Pictures/pan2x.jpg

Caution panoramic photo
And not even because he and my Mom had a thing years ago and they still talk from time to time so we have an open invitation to get the behind the scene tour of his collection.

[tigger]

Wow, that's crazy. Why would we be worried about the Russians knowing we were looking for a couple of our own subs?

Originally Posted by Donington

Next they'll be saying that the climb to Everest was really all about getting to the world's most powerful Nintendo Power Glove before the Nazis!

I was going to shoop Hitler's face in there, but this computer doesn't have Photoshop.

[British_Rover]

Originally Posted by tigger

Wow, that's crazy. Why would we be worried about the Russians knowing we were looking for a couple of our own subs?


.

Cause they were in international waters and if they found them first they could get all kinds of secrets from them just like we did to them with Project Jennifer.

[toma_alimosh]

Originally Posted by tigger

Wow, that's crazy. Why would we be worried about the Russians knowing we were looking for a couple of our own subs?

1. To save face. If anything, the Cold War was a war based on appearances. The fact that they didn't know EXACTLY what happened to the subs or that they haven't been recovered as of yet would show as a sign of weekness that the Soviets could have used as propaganda.

2. Because the Soviets weren't aware that the subs haven't already been recovered, or whether there was something of great value to gain from recovering them. Since the subs would have been non-communicative for most periods out at sea, they'd have to look for the needle in the haystack. The recovery team would have known the general area ... but it would have been a large general area. If the soviets caught wind that the American navy was looking for something at the bottom of the sea right where they sunk 2 subs, they'd start looking too. And if they found the codes first, the Americans could have kissed the rest of their underwater fleet goodbye, since most of the subs must have been out at sea.

[Blind_Io]

Originally Posted by Vector

Actually, implosion happens in the blink of an eye. You wouldn't even know it happened.

This reminds me though of the Howard Hughes expidition to recover Soviet submarines... anyone remember that?

The name of the ship was the Glomar Explorer, if I recall. The CIA approached Hughes because he was the only one rich and eccentric enough to pull off the cover story of building a giant vacuum cleaner to suck valuable minerals off the ocean floor. As they were lowering the massive claw to lift the Kilo-class boat, some of the "fingers" struck the ocean floor. When they were bringing the boat up those fingers failed, causing the boat to rotate in the claw. The crew watched in horror as a nuclear ICBM slid out of it's launch tube and began to sink nose-first to the ocean floor. They estimate it impacted at a speed of about 60 MPH, but it did not detonate. Just after the missile fell free, the entire stern section of the boat tore free and sank.

After the mission, the true purpose of Glomar Explorer was revealed by a spy - the ship has sat, rusting, ever since.

Check out the book Blind Man's Bluff. It's a fantastic read if you are interested in the covert submarine missions of the Cold War.

[bafranksbro]

Just saw that there is going to be a show on National Geographic on Monday night all about this, at 9pm eastern time to be exact.

[sonza68]

Originally Posted by Blind_Io

Check out the book Blind Man's Bluff. It's a fantastic read if you are interested in the covert submarine missions of the Cold War.

I've read that one as well. Some of it read more like fiction than fact, so was the craziness of the Cold War.