A crane with a CIA history helps with the Baltimore bridge cleanup

[samwillis]

The story of "Project Azorian" and the Hughes Glomar Explorer (the ship this crane was first used to construct) is a Wikipedia hole perfectly sized for a Saturday and some coffee. Well worth reading if you haven't before:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Azorian

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glomar_Explorer

[pavel_lishin]

This featured in one of Charles Stross's novels, too - The Jennifer Morgue.

[mobilio]

Also don't forget Howard Hughes

[mojomark]

Fun anecdote that Gen-X Baltimoreans may recall from youth - "chessy" was also the name of a myth about yet another prehistoric-esque aquatic beast that swam in the Chesapeake Bay waters (1). Silly Baltimore:)

1.) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chessie_(sea_monster)

[themark]

I wonder how many super yachts are actually destroyers.

[nickff]

None; modern super yachts are usually on the order of hundreds of tons, while destroyers displace nearly ten thousand tons.

[sparrish]

So 'big crane does big jobs for anyone willing to pay for it, including government' is news?

[dboreham]

It was originally built for a black project. Useful for other things subsequently, obviously.