ALSO BY JOSH DEAN Show Dog An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC 375 Hudson Street New York, New York 10014 Copyright © 2017 byf Josh Dean Penguin supports copyright. Copyright fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with copyright laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin to continue to publish books for every reader. DUTTON is a registered trademark and the D colophon is a trademark of Penguin Random House LLC. Hughes Glomar Explorer illustration here courtesy of Antonio Raspa with minor modifications by Dutton. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA has been applied for. ISBN 9781101984437 (hardcover) 9781101984444 (ebook) While the author has made every effort to provide accurate telephone numbers, Internet addresses, and other contact information at the time of publication, neither the publisher nor the author assumes any responsibility for errors or for changes that occur after publication. Further, the publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content. Version_1 The ability to get to the verge without getting into the war is the necessary art. —John Foster Dulles The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible. —Arthur C. Clarke In wartime, truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies. —Winston Churchill If ever legends and stories of American technological genius were deserved and not yet realized, they would be about the scientists and engineers—the wizards—of [the] CIA. —Robert M. Gates For my dad, who needs to stick around for a few more books CONTENTS Also by Josh Dean Title Page Copyright Epigraph Dedication Hughes Glomar Explorer Schematic PROLOGUE | Unexpected Visitors 1 | K-129 Down 2 | Is This What You Were Looking For? 3 | Finders Keepers 4 | Enter the Halibut 5 | Okay, Now What? 6 | America’s Top Secret Hub of Innovation 7 | Faster and More Furious 8 | Same Man, Different Mission 9 | Need to Know 10 | So, How Do We Steal a Submarine, Anyway? 11 | Epiphany 12 | The Secret Office of Underwater Spies 13 | Global Marine to the Rescue 14 | Ocean Mining 101 15 | Every Great Ship Has a Great Naval Architect 16 | Big Bertha 17 | Paging Howard Hughes 18 | Building a Bulletproof Lie 19 | The Big Con 20 | The Program Office 21 | Back to the Wreck Site 22 | A Minor Complication 23 | We Need a Bigger Boat 24 | The Mother of All Barges 25 | Oh My Darling, Clementine 26 | Across the Airport 27 | Accountability Matters 28 | We Need More Proof 29 | A Ship Rises in Philadelphia 30 | Come One, Come All! 31 | Surprise, Surprise 32 | Ongoing Resistance 33 | Graham’s Masterpiece 34 | Bon Voyage 35 | On to Long Beach 36 | Paint It Black 37 | Strike! 38 | Graham Gets Sick 39 | We Need a Crew 40 | So, Who’s Going? 41 | West Coast Sea Trials 42 | A Crack in the Facade 43 | Sub School 44 | Standing by for Green Light 45 | Twiddling Thumbs 46 | Waiting, More Waiting 47 | Trouble on Romaine Street 48 | Let’s Go Fishing! 49 | Hurry up and Wait 50 | Trouble on the Horizon 51 | Here Comes Trouble 52 | Action All Over 53 | Meanwhile, Back at LAX 54 | The Breaking Point 55 | Touchdown! 56 | Tysons, We Have a Problem 57 | Assessing the Catch 58 | Down Goes Nixon 59 | Crew Change 60 | Burial at Sea 61 | Good-bye, Azorian; Hello, Matador 62 | The Beginning of the End 63 | More Legal Troubles 64 | What Are We Doing Again? 65 | Stranger Than Fiction 66 | The SEC Butts In 67 | Damn You, Jack Anderson 68 | Tumbling Down 69 | The End Is the End, Isn’t It? 70 | That’s All She Wrote 71 | All Good Things Come to an End AFTERWORD | The Glomar Response EPILOGUE | The Last Days of Mr. P The Long View Photographs Acknowledgments A Note About Sources Selected Bibliography Index About the Author