[MAIL] Their mission was to sail from Malaysia, and dive down to place a 'pod' disguised as a rock beneath the surface. The pod would monitor electronic signals of Chinese naval ships operating in the area.The crew would sail on to Japan, spend a few weeks there, then return to collect the device.
Their 40 foot boat was secretly owned by the CIA, yet the four had a cover story that they had been hired to transport the vessel from Malaysia for a client in Japan, and they had the paperwork and documentation to back up the story if questioned.
They also were using commercially-available scuba diving gear, rather than U.S. government-issued kit. The problem, however, came in the shape of Tropical Storm Higos.
The storm was forecast to take a sharp turn away from them, and so on September 28, 2008, Stanek - commanding the crew - made the fatal decision to go ahead with the mission.
Higos did not change course, however, and smacked straight into the little boat. The CIA had a beacon on the ship that tracked the boat right into the center of the storm until it disappeared.
