What do a top-secret CIA mission and the Maryland bridge wreck have in common? Well, the same crane

These days a floating crane called the Chesapeake 1000 — nicknamed “Chessy” — has the grim task of hauling off shattered steel from last week's fatal bridge collapse in Baltimore. It has taken on many jobs over the decades. But the crane's most notable operation, until last week, was helping the CIA retrieve part of a sunken Soviet submarine.

In the early 1970s, the crane barge was called the Sun 800 for the number of tons it could lift. It helped to construct a specialized ship that raised a portion of the sub in 1974. Specifically, the crane hoisted into the ship heavy machinery that was vital to the Cold-War heist. The equipment included a mechanical claw, tons of steel pipe and a heavy duty hydraulic system. The Soviet submarine was roughly 3 miles below the surface of the Pacific.

The secret mission was called “Project Azorian.” News stories in 1975 told of the mission. But Washington didn’t confirm the basic facts until 2010, when the CIA released a partially redacted report that lacked many of the juicy details. “It's considered one of the most expensive intelligence operations of all time,” said M. Todd Bennett, a history professor at East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina, who wrote a 2022 book on the mission.

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