Hughes Mining Barge

HMB-1 in San Diego, June 2005.

The Hughes Mining Barge, or HMB-1, is a submersible barge about 99 m (324 ft) long, 32 m (106 ft) wide, and more than 27 m (90 ft) tall. The HMB-1 was originally developed as part of Project Azorian (more widely, but erroneously, known as "Project Jennifer"), the top-secret effort mounted by the Central Intelligence Agency to salvage the remains of the Soviet submarine K-129 from the ocean floor. The HMB-1 was designed to be submerged under the Glomar Explorer to conceal any salvaged remains from Soviet observers.

After the conclusion of Project Azorian, the HMB-1 was mothballed at the Todd Shipyard in San Francisco, California until November, 1982. At that time, the United States Navy towed the huge barge to a Lockheed Martin facility in Redwood City, California, where it became a floating drydock for the construction and sea trials of the Sea Shadow, an experimental stealth ship being tested by the Navy. Sea trials of the Sea Shadow continued until 1986.

Fate

The HMB-1 currently sits along with the Sea Shadow - which is still docked inside the vessel - in the National Defense Reserve Fleet at Suisun Bay, California.

References

• Roy Varner and Wayne Collier "A Matter of Risk: The Incredible Inside Story of the CIA's Hughes Glomar Explorer Mission to Raise a Russian Submarine", 1978

External links

• AZORIAN The Raising of the K-129 / 2009 - 2 Part TV Documentary / Michael White Films Vienna
• Photos and details of HMB-1
• Overview of Project Jennifer
• "The Navy Has a Top-Secret Vessel It Wants to Put on Display" by Barry Newman - Wall Street Journal - February 24, 2009
• Virtual tour inside HMB-1 and Sea Shadow, 2011, includes HMB-1 operating manual.
• Google Maps view of The Hughes Mining Barge