> K-219's full complement of nuclear weapons was lost along with the vessel.
> In 1988, the Soviet hydrographic research ship Keldysh positioned itself over the wreck of K-219, and found the submarine sitting upright on the sandy bottom. It had broken in two, aft of the conning tower. Several missile silo hatches had been forced open, and the missiles, along with the nuclear warheads they contained, were gone.[13 [a book reference]]
The official story, then, is that they were recovered. What are you suggesting?
I suppose the 1988 Soviet media had a few reasons to lie. But still, there are only a few places the warheads could be: In Russian control - they recovered them quickly and didn't want to advertise the capability, and simply didn't tell the Keldysh or the public. Or perhaps the Keldysh's story is true, and they know that because they were the ones who pried open the silos. They could be in American control - we somehow stole them from the sub between the sinking and the survey, and kept it a secret. It sounds like that's the story we are meant to believe. They could be on the sea floor, fired or dropped onto the bottom to make recovery more difficult, or the Keldysh's report was a lie and they're sitting in their tubes on the sub. They could be in the control of some rogue weapons dealer who recovered them, but that seems much less likely than any of the above options. Or perhaps Dirk Pitt used a secret NUMA submersible to recover the missiles from the dangerous Soviet menace, and the warheads are decommissioned and sitting in Admiral Sandecker's basement.