Operation Ivy Bells was the most daring Cold War espionage objective in United States Navy history, utilizing the USS Halibut to covertly wiretap Soviet undersea cable televisions. Discover how nuclear submarine technology and NSA codebreakers captured the Kremlin's many personal communications in the Sea of Okhotsk.
TL; DR: In the early 1970s, the US Navy performed the difficult: they found a single Soviet cable 400 feet undersea and secured a 20-foot inductive tap onto it. For a decade, the "Bat Cave" on the USS Halibut drank the Soviet Navy's tricks-- up until a $35,000 betrayal by Ronald Pelton changed whatever.
WHY THIS MATTERS: The majority of people believe the Cold War was won with rockets and providers. It wasn't. It was won by the "metadata" of regular life-- fuel tallies, upkeep hold-ups, and the voices of tired clerks. This is the story of how the United States Navy turned the ocean floor into a listening post and how one guy's debt spiral blinded the Kremlin over night.
IN THIS VIDEO:
The secret refit of the USS Halibut and the "Bat Cavern."
How the inductive clamp tape-recorded information without a single splice.
The Ronald Pelton betrayal: How $35,000 ended a billion-dollar objective.
The modern tradition: From copper cable televisions to USS Jimmy Carter and optical fibers.
TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 - The $500 Million Silence 3:12 - Finding the Needle: Mapping the Sea of Okhotsk 10:45 - The Bat Cavern: Inside the USS Halibut 18:30 - Engineering the Perfect Parasite: The Inductive Tap 27:15 - First Harvest: What the Kremlin Didn't Encrypt 38:50 - The $35,000 Betrayal: Ronald Pelton and The KGB 45:20 - The Discovery: When the Sea Gazed Back 54:10 - From Copper to Glass: Modern Undersea Espionage
ABOUT THE WAR SPACE: We dive into the surprise facts of military history, geopolitical dispute, and the technology that specifies modern warfare. From the depths of the Pacific to the halls of the Kremlin, we map the heart beat of international power.
