Sea Shadow & HMB-1 on GSA Auction Site!

[tom dougherty]

The GSA is holding an auction right now on the combination Sea Shadow & HMB-1 barge:
http://gsaauctions.gov/gsaauctions/a....%201hRg.email
The bids right now are just above $100,000, and the auction ends next Friday, so if you want these in your collection, act fast! You get both for one low price!

Sea Shadow was the 1980's Stealth Ship, with its unique radar absorbing panels and catamaran hull. Kept under wraps for several years by docking it in the HMB-1.
HMB-1 was the submersible barge originally built to construct and house the Lockheed Ocean Systems Capture Vehicle used in the 1974 Glomar Explorer attempt to recover the Russian Golf II, sunk in 16,400 feet of water.

Call now, operators are waiting!


Sea Shadow in the HMB-1 Barge


HMB-1 Barge in Redwood City, Ca., in 1974.


HMB-1 in 1975 with....uummm...stuff in it, yeah, that's it, stuff.

[tabledancer]

Re: Sea Shadow & HMB-1 on GSA Auction Site!

Why don`t they just give it to the Chinese navy,or do they already have the plans?





TD

[salmon]

Re: Sea Shadow & HMB-1 on GSA Auction Site!

I just watched Azorian, The Raising of the K-129 - outstanding and I have a new appreciation of the history the HMB-1 barge.

[tom dougherty]

Re: Sea Shadow & HMB-1 on GSA Auction Site!

I just watched Azorian, The Raising of the K-129 - outstanding and I have a new appreciation of the history the HMB-1 barge.

Thanks for the comment! We learned quite a bit about the HMB-1 and its workings during the research for the documentary film & subsequent book.

Similar to a submarine, the HMB-1 was built with large ballast tanks; but the compressed air was supplied by hoses from support ships. The role of the barge in Project Azorian was to serve as a secure site for construction, testing, and transfer of the actual Lockheed built device (Capture Vehicle or CV) used to grasp the wreck of the K-129. The HMB-1 was parked at Redwood City, Ca. while the CV was assembled and tested inside the barge. Once ready, the barge with the CV was towed out to Santa Catalina Island, just off Avalon, and submerged in roughly 160 feet of water on the flat sandy bottom. The Glomar Explorer (HGE) was then positioned carefully above the barge. The HGE moonpool doors were opened as was the sliding roof of the HMB-1. The two docking legs on either side of the moonpool were lowered, and engaged pins (big, 3 foot diameter pins) at the ends of the CV. The CV was then lifted into the HGE, moonpool doors closed and the HGE moved off. The sliding roof of the now empty HMB-1 was closed and HP air pumped into the HMB-1 ballast tanks. After surfacing, the HMB-1 was towed back to Redwood City. To recover the CV after the mission, the process was reversed.

Contrary to some published accounts, the HMB-1 never accompanied the HGE out to the mid-Pacific site during the attempted recovery of the K-129. HMB-1 was never designed to sink to 16,400 feet, which was the depth of the K-129 wreck. Below is a still from the film of the CV being lifted out of the HMB-1 into the Glomar Explorer off of Santa Catalina. Click to enlarge.

[salmon]

Re: Sea Shadow & HMB-1 on GSA Auction Site!

Yes - cool part is they transferred the CV from HMB-1 in a Catalina Island Bay - In full view of public (granted transfer was at night time with under water security). For anyone who has not seen this - go rent it, go to the library and loan it, go out and buy it. It is that good of a documentary.

[tom dougherty]

Re: Sea Shadow & HMB-1 on GSA Auction Site!

Some photos of the Glomar Explorer off Catalina Island.

As mentioned, the transfer of the CV into the Glomar Explorer occurred at night. The lights in the moonpool attracted thousands of small squid into the moonpool. Although many left when the lights were shifted outside the hull, when the moonpool doors were closed and pumped dry, the crew still had to shovel many dead squid into drums for disposal.

The Glomar Explorer in the bay with the support ships for the barge and transfer operation




View of the Glomar from the hills above Avalon


and my favorite, tourists on the beach in Avalon, with the HGE and HMB-1 in the background

[tom dougherty]

Re: Sea Shadow & HMB-1 on GSA Auction Site!

Final price was 3.2 million dollars on the pair! Sea Shadow must be scrapped in the USA, and thus is only worth the price of the scrapped materials. Not sure what the fate of the HMB-1 will be.