USNS Glomar Explorer (T-AG-193)
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 Glomar Explorer mothballed in Suisun Bay, CA - June 1993. (USGS - Terraserver) |
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| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Ordered: | |
| Laid down: | |
| Launched: | 1 November 1972 |
| Placed In Service: | 1 July 1973 |
| Placed Out of Service: | |
| Fate: | Leased (not SAP) |
| Stricken: | |
| General Characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 50,500 tons full, 1780 tons light |
| Length: | 188.6 m (619 ft) |
| Beam: | 35.3 m (116 ft) |
| Draft: | 14 m (46 ft) |
| Propulsion: | five Nordberg 16-cylinder diesel engines driving 4,160 V AC generators turning 6 x 2200 HPO (1.6 MW) DC shaft motors, twin shafts |
| Speed: | 10 knots (19 km/h) |
USNS Glomar Explorer (T-AG-193) is a large ship currently being used as a deep-sea drilling platform. The vessel was built for a secret operation, Project Jennifer, by the United States Central Intelligence Agency to recover a sunken Soviet submarine, K-129, which had been lost in April 1968.
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[edit] Project Jennifer
Since the K-129 had sunk in very deep water, a large ship was required for the recovery operation. However, such a vessel would easily be spotted by Soviet vessels, who might interfere with the operation and so an elaborate cover story was developed. The CIA contacted the eccentric businessman Howard Hughes, who agreed to assist.
The Hughes Glomar Explorer (HGE), as the ship was called at the time, was built between 1973 and 1974, by Sun Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., at a cost in excess of $200 million. It set sail on June 20, 1974. Hughes told the media that the ship's purpose was to extract manganese nodules from the ocean floor. This marine geology cover story became surprisingly influential, spurring many others to examine the idea.
While the ship did recover a portion of the vessel, a mechanical failure in the grapple caused half of the submarine to break off during recovery. This lost section is said to have held many of the more sought after items, including the code book and nuclear missiles. It was subsequently reported that two nuclear-tipped torpedoes and some cryptographic machines were recovered, along with the bodies of six Soviet submariners, who were subsequently given a formal burial at sea, in a filmed ceremony.
There are credible claims, however, that the material recovered included nuclear missiles and various code books. It has been suggested that, contrary to the official account, the entire submarine was recovered and the CIA released disinformation to give the impression of an unsuccessful mission to the Soviets.
[edit] After Project Jennifer
The operation became public in February 1975 when the Los Angeles Times published a story about Project Jennifer, followed by news stories with additional details in other publications, including the New York Times.
From 1978 to 1980, Global Marine operated the ship under cover performing deep-ocean mining tests in water depths to 17,000 feet. Then, for many years, the Explorer sat in Suisun Bay, in "mothball" status, part of the U.S. Naval Reserve Fleet.
In 1997, the ship was taken to Hunters Point Naval Shipyard for modifications that converted it to a dynamically-positioned deep sea drilling ship, capable of drilling in waters of 7500 feet and, with some modification, up to 11,500 feet, which is 2,000 feet deeper than any other existing rig. The conversion cost over $180 million and was completed during the first quarter of 1998.
The conversion of the vessel in 1997 was the start of a 30-year lease from the U.S. Navy to Global Marine Drilling. Global Marine merged with Santa Fe International Corporation in 2001 to become GlobalSantaFe Corporation [1], which now operates the vessel.
[edit] The Glomar Explorer in fiction
In The Ghost from the Grand Banks, a 1990 science fiction novel written by Arthur C Clarke, the Glomar Explorer is used in an effort to raise the Titanic on the 100th anniversary of its sinking.
Glomar Explorer also makes an appearance in the novel Shock Wave by Clive Cussler. It was used to dangle a modified satellite dish under the surface of the ocean to deflect a massive acoustic shockwave.
Glomar Explorer made another appearance in a Clive Cussler book. In the novel Fire Ice by Clive Cussler and Paul Kemprecos a ship named the Ottoman Explorer is compared to the Glomar Explorer in size and appearance.
Glomar Explorer is also mentioned in Tom Clancy's debut novel The Hunt For Red October where a Soviet Alpha class attack submarine sinks off of the east coast of the US and a Soviet intelligence officer thinks to himself of the likelihood of the reactivation of the "insidious" ship to recover it.
The Glomar Explorer plays a central role in a Charles Stross book, The Jennifer Morgue (Golden Gryphon Press). It was used by a megalomaniac billionaire to raise an alien weapon from a Caribbean seabed in a rolling Bond parody.
