Project Jennifer - The Recovery of the K-129

There have been books, articles and television documentaries describing Project Jennifer, the CIA's efforts to recover K-129 from its grave two and a half miles below the surface. Almost everything printed has been wrong. Project Jennifer raises a number of questions that have, until the writing of Red Star Rogue, never been answered.

1. Why did the CIA spend almost $500 million (in 1968 dollars) to raise an old diesel submarine? According to testimony by Navy experts, the wreckage had already been stripped of technology by units of the U.S. Navy.

2. What was so important about this particular submarine to risk provocation of the Soviet Union by raiding the grave of 98 Soviet sailors?

3. The CIA knew that a project that included 4,000 participants could not be kept secret from the KGB. Who was the CIA trying to keep in the dark, and why?

4. How much of the K-129 was really recovered?

5. Was Project Jennifer, the largest failure of the CIA or its most stunning victory?

For the first time in its history, the CIA actually acknowledged an operation, and even more unusual, it announced that Project Jennifer had been a failure, with the CIA only recovering the forward torpedo compartment of K-129. The CIA went to great lengths to leak details of the failed mission. Journalists eager to attack the hated agency pounced on the story. They failed to ask critical questions such as, "If it takes only four days to lower and retrieve the claw, and if the claw broke on the first try, then why was the Glomar Explorer on station for 40 days?"

Rumors:
March 1968 | Halibut | Submarine Development Group

The Submarine:
Golf Submarine | Submarine Crew | Submarine Officers

CIA:
Project Jennifer | Glomar Explorer | Hughes Barge | Sea Wolf

Love Story:
Alexander and Irina | The Early Years | Today

About the Author Ken Sewell:
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