A Matter of Risk: The Incredible Inside Story of the CIA's Hughes Glomar Explorer Mission to Raise a Russian Submarine

by Roy Varner, W. R. Collier, Wayne Collier

Book Overview

The Incredible Inside Story of the CIA's Hughes Glomar Explorer Mission to Raise a Russian Submarine. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0394424328
• ISBN13: 9780394424323
• Release Date: January 1978
• Publisher: Random House (NY)
• Length: 258 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.

Customer Reviews

What a trip!

This book was spellbinding! Cotton Collier & Roy Varner make this "far-out" story come to life before your eyes. Throw in a little Howard Hughes and you get a killer story. Those Reds thought they could just sneak up and spy on us- forget it! Must read for CIA fans! I could not put the book down! My thanks for my friend good pal W.C. for turning me onto this mind numbing tale.

A Matter of Risk

I read this fantastic story many years ago and made the mistake of lending it to someone! Having some connection with the Hughes organization, it gave me an appreciation for the paranoia that permeated it.Even after all this time, it seems an impossible story and well worth reading again to appreciate the lengths that the CIA would go to during the Cold War.It is real spy story.

Deep Sea Fishing

'A Matter of Risk' was the first book that dealt with the salvage operation of a Soviet submarine carried out by the CIA. Written by Roy Varner, a man charged with recruiting the men who would crew the salvage ship, Howard Hughes' Glomar Explorer, Varner's experiance with the operation dealt with it up to its sailing in mid-1974 to recover the sunken submarine. He did not sail on the Explorer, but apparently talked to members of the crew after the salvage operation. The story deals mostly with the design, engineering, and construction of the Explorer and all that led up to the salvage attempt, as well as the people working behind the scenes to put the operation together. A very good read in that respect. While most accounts of the recovey operation say it was a failure, only recovering part of the submarine, other accounts have since come forward since 'Risk' was first published. 'Blind Man's Bluff,' ' The Jennifer Project,' 'Spy Sub' has shed new light on the story as had several documentaries on various stations such as the History Channel. But one question still has to be answered: All accounts I have read say the submarine was to be recovered in one attempt. If so, how do you pull a 300+ foot-long submarine up through a 199 foot-long opening in the bottom of the Explorer (the Moon Pool)? According to Varner, it took 2 1/2 days for the recovery platform to be lowered to the bottom of the ocean, and the same amount of time to bring it up. The Explorer, according to Varner, was over the site for a month. Time enough for several attempts? A good story for the techno-phile. Hope you can find a copy if you are interested.

Read it if you can find it

The definitive (published) account of the Glomar Explorer project to raise a sunken Soviet nuclear missile sub. Another book covering the same events, "The Jennifer Project" has little of the detail or drama of this book.

One of the best examples of this country's cababilities.

If you ever wondered why this country is the most advanced or enjoys the high level of freedom that we do, then this book is for you. If you consider this unprecedented feat was accomplished in the seventies, what else has been done since to keep us on top ?