Naval Facility Point Sur was one of 30 secret sites worldwide that were built during the Cold War to detect Soviet submarines.

During World War II, naval personnel stationed at Point Sur, California conducted experiments with early sonar and radar systems.

Naval Research Laboratory reported it was able to detect submarines at ranges of 10 to 15 nautical miles (19 to 28 km; 12 to 17 mi) using SOFAR hydrophones off Point Sur.

[4] The early SOSUS arrays were positioned at the edge of the continental shelf at a depth of about 650 feet (200 meters) pointed into the deep ocean.

[11][12] NAVFAC Point Sur was part of a worldwide network of shore stations connected to undersea hydrophone arrays that tracked the movement of Soviet submarines.

[3][9][13] The personnel at the station had the mission to "support antisubmarine warfare command and tactical forces by detecting, classifying, and providing timely reporting" of Soviet submarines.

This led to a top-secret recovery program and eventually to Project Azorian, which resulted in the United States Central Intelligence Agency recovering a portion of the submarine.

[9][18] The US Navy Chief Warrant Officer and communications specialist John Anthony Walker began spying for the Soviet Union in 1968.

[19] When the Cold War gradually ended, the U.S. Navy allowed scientists increased access to the SOSUS system for basic research.

[5] In 2007, oceanographers at the Naval Postgraduate School attempted to persuade the Navy that commanders would benefit from the ability to train on the SOSUS system at Point Sur.

The Naval Postgraduate School staff believed commanders' knowledge of the ocean environment, underwater acoustics, and active and passive sonar would help them make effective decisions during combat.