Remember the "Hughes Mining Barge," HMB-1? It is now serving at Bay Ship & Yacht's Alameda, CA, shipyard as a covered floating dry dock. That's a pretty peaceable retirement job for a one-time CIA asset that was built in the 1970's, ostensibly for manganese nodule mining operations, but, in truth, as a vital element of Project Azorian-the Cold War covert operation that saw the U.S. secretly salvage the remains of the Soviet submarine K-129 from the ocean floor.After the conclusion of Project Azorian, the HMB-1 was mothballed at the Todd Shipyard in San Francisco until November 1982. The Navy then towed it to Redwood City, where it became a floating dock for the construction and sea trials of the stealth ship Sea Shadow.
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