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Not many are aware the Cold War came to Redwood City. Indeed, for those old enough to remember the great Leslie Salt pile had a unique neighbor in the port for a while. It was a large covered barge, known as HMB-1, which had a slight resemblance to an airplane hanger.
Built by the recluse entrepreneur Howard Hughes, the football field long vessel played a key role in a secret 1974 CIA operation known as Project Azorian.
The project goal was to retrieve a sunken Soviet submarine named K-129 from the sea bottom, located roughly a thousand miles from Hawaii.
The barge was designed to allow a specially made device to retrieve the sunken sub, and bring it to the surface, under the barge’s cover. It would then be transferred to another Hughes vessel known as the Glomar Explorer, all in secrecy.
The entire sub apparently was not able to be retrieved, however, some valuable portions of it were, so the operation was considered successful.
Ultimately, HMB-1 was mothballed in 1982 and was turned into a floating drydock which was used to house a futuristic stealth ship known as the Sea Shadow. While the covered barge was clearly visible to any and all, the Sea Shadow was rarely, if ever, seen by the public. Maneuvering almost exclusively at night the stealth vessel never lived up to its anticipated potential.
So what about the Bond connection?
The sea going ship used by the bad guys in the film Tomorrow Never Dies was inspired by the Sea Shadow.
Everything else is just history
Some of the photos used in this blog are courtesy of the Local History Room, Redwood City's best-kept secret. The Local History Collection covers all aspects of Redwood City's development, from the 1850s to the present day, with particular emphasis on businesses, public schools, civic organizations, city agencies, and early family histories. The Local History Room is not affiliated with the Redwood City Public Library, but it is inside it.
