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''K-129'' was a Project 629A (NATO reporting name Golf-II) diesel-electric powered submarine of the Soviet Pacific Fleet, one of six Project 629 strategic ballistic missile submarines attached to the 15th Submarine Squadron based at Rybachiy Naval Base, Kamchatka, commanded by Rear Admiral Rudolf A. Golosov. In January 1968, the 15th Submarine Squadron was part of the 29th Ballistic Missile Division at Rybachiy, commanded by Admiral Viktor A. Dygalo. ''K-129''s commander was Captain First Rank V.I. Kobzar. ''K-129'' carried hull number 722 on her final deployment during which she sank on 8 March 1968. It was one of four mysterious submarine disappearances in 1968; the others being the Israeli submarine INS Dakar, the French submarine Minerve (S647) and the US submarine USS Scorpion (SSN-589). The Soviet Navy deployed a huge flotilla of ships to search for her but never found her wreck. The United States attempted to recover the boat in 1974 in a secret cold war-era effort named Project Azorian. The vessel's position 4.8 kilometres (3.0 mi) below the surface was the greatest depth from which an attempt had been made to raise a ship. The cover story used was that the salvage vessel was engaged in commercial manganese nodule mining. ==Sinking== ''K-129'', having completed two 70-day ballistic-missile combat patrols in 1967, was tasked with her third patrol to commence 24 February 1968, with an expected completion date of 5 May 1968. Upon departure 24 February, ''K-129'' reached deep water, conducted its test dive, returned to the surface to report by radio that all was well, and proceeded on patrol. No further communication was received from ''K-129'', despite normal radio check-ins expected when the submarine crossed the 180th meridian, and when it arrived at its patrol area. By mid-March, Soviet naval authorities in Kamchatka became concerned that ''K-129'' had missed two consecutive radio check-ins. First, ''K-129'' was instructed by normal fleet broadcast to break radio silence and contact headquarters; later and more urgent communications all went unanswered. Soviet naval headquarters declared ''K-129'' "missing" by the third week of March and organized an air, surface, and sub-surface search-and-rescue effort in the North Pacific from Kamchatka and Vladivostok. This unusual Soviet deployment in the Pacific was analysed by U.S. intelligence as probably in reaction to a submarine loss. U.S. SOSUS Naval Facilities (NAVFACs) in the North Pacific were alerted and requested to review recent acoustic records to identify any possible associated signal. Several SOSUS arrays recorded a possibly related event on 8 March 1968, and upon examination produced sufficient triangulation by lines-of-bearing to provide the U.S. Navy with a locus for the probable wreck site. One source characterized the acoustic signal as "an isolated, single sound of an explosion or implosion, 'a good-sized bang'."〔Craven, 2001〕 The acoustic event was reported to have originated near 40 N, 180th longitude.〔 Soviet search efforts, lacking the equivalent of the U.S. SOSUS system, proved unable to locate ''K-129'', and eventually Soviet naval activity in the North Pacific returned to normal. ''K-129'' was subsequently declared lost with all hands. American intelligence resources, with the aid of SOSUS triangulation, would later locate the ''K-129'' wreck, photograph it ''in situ'' at its depth, and (several years later) partially salvage it. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Soviet submarine K-129 (1960)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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