What was the purpose of the Glomar Explorer?
What was the purpose of the Glomar Explorer?
The mission of Glomar Explorer was to raise a Soviet nuclear submarine that had sunk in the Pacific, resting on the ocean floor nearly 17,000 ft. (5,200 m) down. The Soviet Golf-II Class ballistic missile submarine sank on April 11, 1968, approximately 750 miles northwest of Hawaii.
What was recovered from K 129?
The United States announced that in the section they recovered were the bodies of six men. Due to radioactive contamination, the bodies were buried at sea in a steel chamber in September 1974, with full military honors about 90 nautical miles (167 km) southwest of Hawaii.
Which information did the Glomar Challenger study in 1968?
It investigated some 624 sites in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans, not only revealing the presence of deep ocean salt domes (which themselves may indicate the presence of oil) but also supporting the theory of plate tectonics by providing evidence of continental drift and seafloor renewal.
What does GSF explore stand for?
. 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.
What ever happened to the Glomar Explorer?
These sources indicate that only the forward 38 ft (12 m) of the submarine were recovered. Glomar Explorer mothballed in Suisun Bay, California, during June 1993. While the ship had an enormous lifting capacity, there was little interest in operating the vessel because of her great cost.
When was the first Hughes Glomar Explorer built?
Hughes Glomar Explorer, as the ship was named at the time, was built between 1971 and 1972, by Sun Shipbuilding and Drydock Co. for more than US$350 million (approximately $1.4 billion in 2018) at the direction of Howard Hughes for use by his company, Global Marine Development Inc. It first began operation on 20 June 1974.
