Some of these missions are described (in a very suspenseful way) in the book Blind Man's Bluff. What was interesting to me is that the DSRV[1] program provided both a cover story, equipment, and funds that could be secretly appropriated for these missions. According to the author, the DSRV was created by the Navy to salvage (heh) its reputation after the loss of the USS Thresher.[2]
Ah, you beat me to referencing the book! The Soviets discovered one of these Sea of Okhotsk tap pods, and interestingly enough it had printed on it "Property of the United States Government".
Good article. And of course the obligatory Glomar[1] response from the Navy when asked for comment—“we can neither confirm nor deny.” That legal phrase has an interesting undersea pedigree as well.[2]
Comments
Some of these missions are described (in a very suspenseful way) in the book Blind Man's Bluff. What was interesting to me is that the DSRV[1] program provided both a cover story, equipment, and funds that could be secretly appropriated for these missions. According to the author, the DSRV was created by the Navy to salvage (heh) its reputation after the loss of the USS Thresher.[2]
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep-submergence_rescue_vehicl...
[2]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Thresher_(SSN-593)
Ah, you beat me to referencing the book! The Soviets discovered one of these Sea of Okhotsk tap pods, and interestingly enough it had printed on it "Property of the United States Government".
More info here for those that don't want to read the book: https://www.nytimes.com/1998/11/08/us/a-tale-of-daring-ameri...
Edit: The pod ended up on display in the Ministry of Security's museum in Moscow.
Good article. And of course the obligatory Glomar[1] response from the Navy when asked for comment—“we can neither confirm nor deny.” That legal phrase has an interesting undersea pedigree as well.[2]
[1]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glomar_response
[2]: https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2017/09/18/549535352/...