USS Stonewall Jackson BoxSet

by Stephen Makk

  “Thank you Alessandra. Rival countries have wrangled over territories in the South China Sea for long centuries, but tension has risen recently.

  China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines and Brunei all have competing claims.

  China has rapidly been creating artificial islands in the South China Sea, expanding small islands and former reefs forming the outcrops into permanent outposts by reclaiming land with millions of tons of imported rubble and earth. These have already become a major source of tension with Washington. They now include runways and ports. They’re visited by ships and aircraft of the PLA and have their own surface to air missiles systems.

  It’s said that possession is nine-tenths of the law. China does possess a large part of the islands of the South China Sea. Most of The Paracels, The Spratlys and the Scarborough Shoal are de-facto Chinese territory.

  Johnson Reef and Fiery Cross Reef are virtually naval fortresses, with harbours, runways and reinforced hangars capable of housing military aircraft on the islands.

  Satellite images made public this week revealed weaponised revetments. The Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington said they showed “large anti-aircraft guns and probable close-in weapons systems”, which can theoretically thwart cruise missile attacks.”

  “So Dr Illenescu, they can protect these islands from other nations’ potentially hostile acts?”

  “Yes, long range SAMs are also present in the form of the HQ-9. With its G band HT-233 radar it can intercept targets out to one hundred and twenty five miles. They’ve also deployed the HQ-17 short range SAM, which has around eight miles range, but it’s lethal within that envelope.”

  “What’s Washington’s stance on all this?”

  “The US says it’s neutral in these territorial disputes, but the US Navy has conducted "freedom of navigation operations” by sending military ships and planes near disputed islands, in efforts to demonstrate ensured access to key shipping and air routes.”

  “Isn’t that provocative?”

  “The Chinese Government says so, but the Philippines and the Vietnamese disagree. In their view, their Islands have been occupied. In the seventies and eighties, China and Vietnam clashed, and the Chinese seized the Paracels from Vietnam, killing some 70 Vietnamese troops. The two fought again in the Spratlys, with Vietnam losing. China and the Philippines are engaged in a maritime stand-off over the Scarborough Shoal.”

  “But why are these islands so important?”

  “Trade and resources, Alessandra. It’s a vital trade route for China, Japan, Taiwan and Korea. Approx. $4.5trillion of shipping trade passes every year. The Paracels and the Spratlys may have deposits of natural resources around them; we don’t know this for sure, but it seems likely. The Spratly Islands are described as ‘a maritime region believed to hold a wealth of untapped oil and gas reserves’.”

  “I see, Dr Illenescu. Thank you.” She turned to the camera. “So there you have it. The South China Sea is fast becoming a flashpoint, with potentially grave global consequences.

  This is Alessandra Cristoforetti, and you’re watching NBC’s 40 minutes.”

  SOUTH EAST OF THE PARACEL Islands. South China Sea.

  JOZEF FITTED THE LIGHT case seal, replaced the transparent cover and screwed the light’s cover shut. He took out his walky-talky. He stood atop the ship’s tall superstructure to the rear of the ship and spoke. “Hi, test stern running light.” The light came on bright white.

  “Ok, it working.” Now for the red lights on the port side of the ship.

  The huge container ship, COSCO SHIPPING SCHELDT had left the Port of Shenzhen China, with eight thousand five hundred TEUs. That is Twenty foot Equivalent Units; the size of a container. She was bound for Rotterdam, Netherlands. Her vast bulk was 1,100 feet long and 140 feet in the beam. She was another spoke in the world’s commerce wheel.

  Jozef decided to take a break, he was ahead in his tasks for this watch and there was plenty of daylight left. He’d traced the fault; an electrical spike had blown the lights after somebody had fitted the wrong fuse. No problem. He lit a cigarette, leaned on the rails and looked over the side. The ship’s wake trailed off behind and below. He drew another breath and took in the smoke. Then he saw something in the sea.

  “What? It can’t be? What the...”

  An enormous explosion to the port side shook the ship under the superstructure, and Jozef was blown up into the air and fell into the sea. Two more explosions erupted, amidships and forward. Her engines and drive shafts were heavily damaged, but her momentum would carry the ship forward for some distance. Her double hull had failed in the explosions. The great ship started to list to port as she took on water. Torn steel groaned as it buckled with the new loading. Around five minutes later another three powerful explosions blasted their way through the starboard side of the hull. Her remaining crew got out a mayday call and deployed life rafts. Within twenty minutes, the COSCO SHIPPING SCHELDT had sunk from sight.

  WASHINGTON DC.

  SHE KISSED HIM. HE stretched and yawned, sunlight streamed in through a gap in the curtains.

  “Morning sugar.”

  “Morning Mi tang. I’m going for a long hot bath, ok?”

  “Yeah, go ahead. I’ll have to be at the department later, you hang around as long as you want.”

  “Thanks.”

  She got out of bed naked and his eyes followed her cute bum as she walked into the bathroom. Paul Wicks heard her running the bath.

  He’d met Zhi Ruo whilst having a coffee in a café near Union Station and she’d asked about a track for an arrival. He didn’t know, but they’d ended up having a coffee and had swapped phone numbers. They’d had dinner one night and that was it, the next thing he knew, her head was on his pillow. She wrote for three newspapers, two in the US and one in Singapore.

  He wondered about her. It was his nature, he supposed. The CIA did that to you; made you suspicious. Was she an agent of the Chinese Ministry of State Security? He had eventually run a check and when it came out clean it had made him feel so guilty. But there was a lingering doubt. Curse this job, he told himself.

  He’d told her that he worked for the Department of Energy, it was a cover he’d used before. He got up and dressed, then he spotted her bag. Could he? He opened the bathroom a little. There she was climbing in, he smirked; like Zhi Ruo, oriental women tended not to shave much down there. She’d be in there a while. He opened her shoulder bag. There were the usual women’s things, makeup, a mirror, cotton buds. A bowl of string; why would you carry a bowl of string? There was a brown paper envelope. He took out the papers.

  Paul’s eyes were as wide as the horizon. He couldn’t read Chinese, but he did recognise that string of characters: MSS, Ministry of State Security. Shit. He took out his cell phone, photographed each sheet, and replaced them.

  “Sugar, I’m off now. You OK in there? Need your back scrubbing?”

  “Come in here Paul and I’ll drag you in. I’ll see you at the Jade Rabbit at seven?”

  “Yeah, see ya.”

  PEARL HARBOR. HONOLULU, Hawaii.

  SHE KNOCKED ON REAR Admiral Sutton’s office door. The sign read COMSUBPAC.

  “Sir,” said PO McFadley, “I just took a call from The Pentagon. The joint Chiefs want to conduct a video conference in fifteen minutes.”

  “Ok thanks Kelly, route it to my desk.”

  She set down a packet of Oreos on his desk. “I will, and we’re re-stocked now too, sir.”

  He smiled. “Thanks.”

  A few minutes later on his monitor, the Department of Defense logo disappeared to be replaced by a group of uniformed senior officers sat around a table.

  The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Ian Cotton USAF spoke.

  “Hello, Admiral Sutton. We have you, is your feed ok?”

  “Yes sir.”

  Also present were the Chief of Staff of the Army General Sally Weingarten, USA.

  Chief of Naval Operati
ons Admiral Nicolaj Kamov, USN.

  Commandant of the Marine Corps Bruce Nanut, USMC.

  Chief of Staff of the Air Force General Neil L Cooper, USAF.

  National Security Advisor, Stockhaisen.

  “Right, we’re here to discuss the situation in the South China Sea,” said General Cotton. “Anybody have any initial comments?”

  “Yeah,” said Commandant Bruce Nanut, “it’s going to hell in a handbasket.”

  “Nicolaj?” asked Cotton.

  “We know that the PLAN sunk the Philippine Navy Corvette, by a Luyang II Destroyer, probably the Haikou. We think they used a C802.” He saw General Weingarten frown. “That’s a sea skimming missile, somewhat like our Harpoon. As for the container ship, we’ve no idea. I can’t think why they’d sink one of their own sea transporters, unless it was to put the blame on someone else.”

  “Someone like us?” General Cooper frowned.

  Nicolaj nodded.

  “But they haven’t accused us so far.”

  “I was briefed last week on the issue,” said Stockhaisen. “The Chinese protested when one of our warships came within sixteen miles of the shoal. They promised to take necessary measures to protect sovereignty. The Philippines conducted a maritime air patrol over the shoal last week after the incident, using a C-295 plane of the Philippine Air Force.

  The shoal is within the Philippines’ two hundred nautical mile exclusive economic zone in the South China Sea. China has been asserting ownership of the shoal. But in 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration, which is backed by the United Nations, ruled that the Philippines had the sovereign rights to fish and explore for resources. Also, China had interfered with these rights by restricting access.”

  “These guys are out of hand,” said Cooper.

  NSA Stockhaisen raised the palm of his hand. “I was on to a CIA contact just before this meeting. Jackpot tells me they just found out, via a humint source, that the Politburo Standing Committee is about to announce a stop and search policy for shipping passing through the South China Sea.”

  “Jackpot?”

  “That’s what you’ll know him by, I can’t divulge his real name.”

  “That could get interesting,” said Admiral Kamov, “civilian, military or both?”

  “He doesn’t know yet. Jackpot also says that they’re looking to use the incident to advance their goal of taking undisputed control of the South China Sea.”

  “Is this humint source reliable?” asked General Cotton.

  “He says so,” said Stockhaisen, “don’t ask me who it is. He won’t even tell me, but it must be someone well placed in the Communist party hierarchy.”

  “I suppose they’ll be fully mobilising these Island bases down there.” said General Cooper.

  Admiral Kamov looked up at the ceiling and sighed. “It would make sense, forward supply locations. Heck, one of them has a two kilometre runway.”

  “Yeah, that’s Fiery Cross Reef. You can bet there’ll be a lot of communications traffic as well as resupply flights,” said Kamov.

  “Just what do we know about these Island’s facilities?” asked Stockhaisen.

  “Not a lot,” said General Cooper, “we can photograph them from space, but that only tells you so much.”

  “What about intercepting communications?” asked Commandant Nanut.

  “Hard to do,” said Stockhaisen, “the NSA will be trying its best.”

  Commandant Nanut leaned forward and placed his palms on the desk. “Nicolaj. You remember that operation in the seventies? In the Sea of Okhotsk, the tapping of Soviet communications cables? Could we do that again?”

  Nicolaj rubbed his chin and stared at the desk thoughtfully. “You mean operation Ivy Bells. That was just about the most dangerous classified submarine op of the cold war.”

  “But could we?” asked General Weingarten.

  “We might,” replied Kamov. “But you know what that is, don’t you? The shallow waters of the South China Sea. That makes it hard for a submarine to hide. If the Chinese locate them, it’s a death mission.”

  NSA Stockhaisen cut in. “Nicolaj, I’m not really familiar with this Ivy Bells operation. Could you tell me about it?”

  “There was an idea back in the seventies that we may be able to listen in to Soviet communications by tapping into underwater cables. They targeted the cable running under the Sea of Okhotsk, from the Soviet navy base at Petropavlovsk on the Kamchatka peninsula to Pacific fleet HQ in Vladivostok. The submarine Halibut found the cable and divers left the boat and placed a device on the cable. It worked by magnetic induction, so it didn’t need to penetrate the cable. The idea worked; they’d tapped into an intel goldmine. Halibut returned to the cable again with a recording device they could leave on the seabed for up to a year.”

  “So what went wrong?” asked Stockhaisen. “I’m getting a vibe from you.”

  “A spy sold the secret to the Soviets.”

  Stockhaisen shook his head.

  “Admiral Sutton. What’s your opinion on this?” said General Cotton.

  “I’ve seen a report on the Island bases and there are communications sub surface cables laid to them.”

  General Cotton looked around the table with a fixed stare. “So there are cables. We think we can do it, but it’s goddamn dangerous. Do we do it?”

  Marine Commandant Nanut smiled. “Well pardon me, but this is the US military. We eat fucking danger for breakfast. Do it.”

  There were nods from around the table.

  “Ok, we’re on,” said Cotton.

  “Admiral Sutton. Do you have a boat in mind to carry out the mission?”

  Sutton knew whom he’d order into the South China Sea hell. Stealth and cunning would be needed, this was a very hazardous task.

  “Yes sir. I know who to send. Old Stonewall’s time has come again.”

  Chapter 2

  USS STONEWALL JACKSON.

  SEVERAL WEEKS LATER. Off the coast of Western Australia.

  “SIR, WE HAVE A POSTCARD.”

  Lieutenant Commander Lemineux, the boat’s Communications Officer smiled as he handed Commander Nathan Blake a communications slip.

  “This just came in from COMSUBPAC Sir.”

  PRIORITY RED

  R 231347Z OCT 88 ZY09

  COMSUBPAC PEARL HARBOR HAWAII//N1//

  TO STONEWALL JACKSON

  PACFLT// ID S072RQ81//

  NAVAL OPS/02

  MSGID/PACOPS 6722/COMSUBPAC ACTUAL//

  MSG BEGINS://

  PROCEED TO USN GUAM.

  MSG ME IMMEDIATELY ON ARRIVAL.

  MSG END//

  “What’s old Sooty up to now?” a PRIORITY RED, from Rear Admiral Sutton.

  A native of Pine Bluff, Arkansas, Nathan Blake was thirty five, young to be in command of a boat. He was of medium height, black hair with green eyes. He turned to his Executive Officer Lieutenant Commander Larry Sayers. His black skin glistened under a light and he stroked his moustache. A little older than Nathan, he was the Commander’s right-hand man.

  “He wants us in Guam. Larry, there goes our shore time in Perth and Freemantle.”

  Sayers frowned. “Damn, I’ve not been there. I was looking forward to that; we’ve been working pretty hard on the exercises with the Australian navy this last two weeks.”

  “I know, but needs must when the devil drives. Acknowledge the signal, Comms, then rewind the buoy.”

  He walked over to his female Navigation officer, Nikki Kaminski. She was fair haired, blue eyed and he knew, she was as smart as a whip. He stood before her and just had to run his eyes over the young woman from Macon Georgia. Nathan had tried his best, but the mutual attraction had proved too strong. He’d become involved with her. She smiled at him. “Sir where do you want to go?” Nikki could be a flirtatious siren. He tried not to notice her fair hair gathered into a ponytail, with blue eyes and trim but curvy build. Nathan tried, but damn it.

  “Ok. Lieutenant Kaminski, plot us a course to Guam.”<
br />
  “Aye sir.” She worked on her plot board for a minute. “Three two five degrees sir. We’ll clear the North West cape and then we’ll come to the northeast.”

  If Nikki Kaminski was disappointed at not getting ashore in Western Australia, she hid it well.

  “Planesman come to three two five degrees, speed twenty knots.”

  If Sooty wanted them in Guam, Nathan knew he’d want them there quick. So, it was full speed now.

  USS Stonewall Jackson was the USN’s first diesel-electric boat in a long time. Nathan was her first commander, she was his first command. He was proud of his first command and the change she brought to the fleet. He knew that the USN was an all-nuclear submarine fleet. It was aware that in any conflict it would likely have to face diesel-electric boats; they’re powered by diesel on the surface, and able to charge their large powerful batteries there for underwater propulsion and use. These boats are generally slower and more limited in the time they can spend underwater. But, they’re generally quieter and equipped with the same weapons. But Nathan knew, if a wire-guided torpedo strikes you, it doesn’t much matter what type of boat launched it. The USN exercises against this type of vessel whenever it can. A Swedish Navy boat, the Gotland and its crew had been hired long term as the Navy’s own pet diesel-electric boat for training.

  The Navy watched and learned and came up with a tool they didn’t possess: their own diesel-electric boat. Much to his surprise, they gave her to Nathan.

  The boat was a development and improvement on Japan’s Soryu class. A development was the addition of Lithium-ion batteries, providing stealth and endurance. This combination proved too hard to ignore and a joint development effort was undertaken. First in the class was the Stonewall Jackson. She was the most powerful and silent, the most deadly diesel-electric boat ever to patrol the deeps, and she was Nathan’s command.