Ice Station Nautilus

by Rick Campbell

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  Table of Contents

  About the Author

  Copyright Page

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  To Lynne—our thirty-year journey together has been amazing. I couldn’t have chosen a better partner.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  Many thanks are due to those who helped me write and publish this novel:

  First and foremost, to my editor, Keith Kahla, for his exceptional insight and recommendations to make Ice Station Nautilus better. To others at St. Martin’s Press—Hannah Braaten, Justin Velella, and Paul Hochman, who I relied upon in many ways as Ice Station Nautilus progressed toward publication. And finally, thanks again to Sally Richardson and George Witte for making this book possible.

  To those who helped me get the details in Ice Station Nautilus right: to Navy Captain Tom Monroe, former Commanding Officer of PMS 391, Escape and Rescue Program Office, along with his deputy, Dave Wunder, who walked me through the submarine search and rescue process. To Commander Andrew Kimsey and Lieutenant Commander Jonathon Gibbs, Commanding Officer and Engineer Officer of the Undersea Rescue Command, who showed me the submarine rescue equipment and explained its operation.

  To U.S. Navy public affairs officers Lieutenant Matthew Stroup, Lieutenant Ryan de Vera, Colleen O’Rourke, Brie Lang, Olivia Logan, and Stan Weakley, who arranged the meetings with the above organizations and assisted getting those sections of Ice Station Nautilus reviewed by the appropriate subject matter experts.

  To Director Larry Estrada and ice pilot Howard Reese at the Arctic Submarine Laboratory, for walking me through Arctic ice camp operations and the unique differences in submarine operations while in the Marginal Ice Zone and under the polar ice cap.

  To Lieutenant Commander Stephen and Nicole Hunt, for helping translate legacy submarine operations into how Virginia class submarines operate, as well as explaining the hardware differences between Virginia class and older submarines.

  And finally, to the men and women who have served in our armed services. My heart and thoughts will always be with you.

  I hope you enjoy Ice Station Nautilus!

  MAIN CHARACTERS

  (COMPLETE CAST OF CHARACTERS IS PROVIDED IN ADDENDUM)

  UNITED STATES ADMINISTRATION

  CHRISTINE O’CONNOR, national security advisor

  STEVE BRACKMAN (Captain), senior military aide

  USS NORTH DAKOTA (VIRGINIA CLASS FAST ATTACK SUBMARINE)

  PAUL TOLBERT (Commander), Commanding Officer

  USS MICHIGAN (OHIO CLASS GUIDED MISSILE SUBMARINE)

  MURRAY WILSON (Captain), Commanding Officer

  JOHN MCNEIL (Commander), SEAL team commander

  JAKE HARRISON (Lieutenant), SEAL platoon officer-in-charge

  UNDERSEA RESCUE COMMAND

  NED STEEL (Commander), Commanding Officer

  PETER TARBOTTOM, lead contractor for Phoenix International

  ARCTIC SUBMARINE LABORATORY

  VANCE VERBECK, technical director

  PAUL LEONE, ice pilot

  RUSSIAN FEDERATION ADMINISTRATION

  YURI KALININ, president

  BORIS CHERNOV, minister of defense

  RUSSIAN FLEET COMMANDERS

  GEORGIY IVANOV (Fleet Admiral), Commander-in-Chief, Russian Navy

  OLEG LIPOVSKY (Admiral), Commander, Northern Fleet

  K-535 YURY DOLGORUKY (BOREI CLASS BALLISTIC MISSILE SUBMARINE)

  NICHOLAI STEPANOV (Captain First Rank), Commanding Officer

  K-157 VEPR (AKULA II CLASS NUCLEAR ATTACK SUBMARINE)

  MATVEY BACZEWSKI (Captain Second Rank), Commanding Officer

  K-329 SEVERODVINSK (YASEN CLASS NUCLEAR ATTACK SUBMARINE)

  JOSEF BUFFANOV (Captain Second Rank), Commanding Officer

  ICE CAMP BARNEO / MIKHAIL RUDNITSKY

  JULIUS RAILA, Chief of Search and Rescue Services

  POLAR SPETSNAZ UNIT

  JOSEF KLOKOV (Captain First Rank), Commanding Officer

  GLEB LEONOV (Captain Second Rank), Executive Officer

  PROLOGUE

  USS MICHIGAN—BARENTS SEA

  “Torpedo in the water, bearing two-five-zero!”

  Captain Murray Wilson acknowledged Sonar’s report, then examined the geographic display on the nearest combat control console. A red bearing line appeared, radiating from Sierra eight-five, forty degrees off the port bow. He needed to turn away.

  “Helm, ahead flank. Right full rudder, steady course three-four-zero. Launch countermeasure.”

  The Helm rang up ahead flank and twisted his yoke to right full, and the Officer of the Deck launched one of Michigan’s decoys. Wilson turned his attention to getting a torpedo into the water. His crew was still at Firing Point Procedures, but his Executive Officer hadn’t determined an adequate target solution. With Michigan increasing to ahead flank, they would likely lose Sierra eight-five due to the turbulent flow of water across Michigan’s sensors. They needed to launch a torpedo soon.

  Wilson stepped from the Conn and stopped beside his Executive Officer, examining all three consoles. With the frequent maneuvering by both submarines, the target solutions were all over the place, failing to converge on a similar course, speed, and range. As Wilson evaluated his options, he was interrupted by another announcement by the Sonar Supervisor.

  “Torpedo in the water, bearing two-four-five!”

  A purple bearing line appeared on the geographic display. Their adversary had launched a second torpedo. Wilson responded immediately.

  “Check fire. Quick Reaction Firing, Sierra eight-five, tube One.”

  Wilson canceled their normal torpedo firing process, implementing a more urgent version that forced his Executive Officer to send his best solution to the torpedo immediately.

  Lieutenant Commander Sparks shifted his gaze between the three consoles, then tapped one of the fire control technicians on the shoulder. “Promote to Master.”

  Sparks announced, “Solution ready.”

  The Weapons Officer followed up, “Weapon ready.”

  “Ship ready,” the Officer of the Deck reported.

  “Shoot on generated bearings,” Wilson ordered.

  Wilson listened to the whirr of the submarine’s ejection pump impulsing the torpedo from the tube. Inside the sonar shack, the sonar techs monitored the status of their outgoing weapon.

  “Own ship’s unit is in the water, running normally.”

  “Fuel crossover achieved.”

  “Turning to preset gyro course.”

  Michigan’s torpedo was headed toward its target.

  Wilson examined the red and purple lines on the geographic display, with new lines appearing every ten seconds. The red torpedo bearings were marching slowly forward, which eased Wilson’s concern until he evaluated the purple lines. The bearing to the second torpedo remained constant. The Russian captain had fired a torpedo salvo, with a lead torpedo fired slightly ahead of Michigan and a lag torpedo fired behind. When Wilson turned away, he had unwittingly put Michigan on an intercept course with the second torpedo.

  “H
elm, right standard rudder, steady course zero-seven-zero. Launch countermeasure.”

  Michigan turned toward the east as the Officer of the Deck launched another torpedo decoy. Wilson watched intently as the second torpedo closed on Michigan.

  TWELVE DAYS EARLIER

  1

  NORFOLK, VIRGINIA

  Andy Wheeler, seated at his desk inside the Atlantic Submarine Fleet’s headquarters, worked his way down the inbox on his computer display. He took a sip of his morning coffee as he clicked through the emails, stopping to review the daily Naval intelligence report. In addition to the standard information, it contained something unexpected. Russia’s new Borei class ballistic missile submarine was preparing for its first patrol.

  He placed the coffee mug on his desk and opened the attachment of time-lapsed satellite photographs. A moment later, he called Commander Joe Ruscigno, seated at his desk at the back of the room.

  “Look at these photos,” Wheeler said as Ruscigno stopped behind him.

  He cycled through the satellite images. Russia’s first Borei class ballistic missile submarine, Yury Dolgoruky, had conducted a torpedo and supply loadout, then entered the missile handling facility.

  “It’s about time,” Ruscigno said. “She’s been delayed for years.”

  “We’ll need to assign someone to shadow Dolgoruky during her patrol,” Wheeler said. “Is Annapolis still on the northern run?”

  “No, she just got relieved by North Dakota.”

  “Perfect. I’ll draft a message while you brief the Admiral.”

  Wheeler pulled up the message template and entered the pertinent data. Yury Dolgoruky was about to embark on her maiden patrol.

  North Dakota would be there to greet her.

  2

  GADZHIYEVO, RUSSIA

  Along the snow-covered shore of Yagelnaya Bay, a cold Arctic wind blew in from the Barents Sea as Captain First Rank Nicholai Stepanov emerged from the back of his black sedan. The icy wind bit into his exposed face, and he pressed the flaps of his ushanka fox-fur hat tighter against his ears. The month-and-a-half-long polar night had finally ended, and Stepanov welcomed the faint warmth of the early-morning sun, hovering in a clear-blue sky just above the snow-covered hills to the east.

  Stepanov stood beside his car, taking in the scene. Tied up along the center pier of Gadzhiyevo Naval Base, its curving shoreline forming a semicircular bay, was the pride of the Russian fleet—K-535 Yury Dolgoruky, the Navy’s first new ballistic missile submarine in seventeen years. The sun glinted off the sides of the 170-meter-long submarine, the ship’s black hull trapped in a thin layer of coastal ice. Nearby, the nuclear-powered icebreaker Taymyr waited patiently for orders to clear a path to sea.

  A second sedan pulled up and two Russian Admirals emerged. Stepanov saluted his superiors—Rear Admiral Shimko, commander of the 12th Submarine Squadron, and Admiral Lipovsky, commander of the Northern Fleet. The two Admirals returned Stepanov’s salute, but no words were exchanged. Stepanov already knew Admiral Lipovsky desired to speak with him, in private, following this morning’s ceremony.

  Stepanov turned and strode onto the pier toward his submarine. The two Admirals joined him, their feet crunching through a fresh layer of snow deposited by the weekend storm. As the three men headed down the long pier, Stepanov’s eyes went to a podium on the pier across from his submarine. The sides of the temporary ceremonial stand were draped in red, white, and blue striped bunting that matched the colors of the Russian Federation flag.

  Yury Dolgoruky’s crew was already assembled on the submarine’s missile deck; 107 men—55 officers and 52 enlisted—were standing in formation with the seven battle department commanders in front of their respective men. Stepanov’s First Officer, Captain Second Rank Dmitri Pavlov, stood at the head of the formation. On the pier, in front of the podium and facing Yury Dolgoruky, were assembled the three submarine staffs under the purview of Rear Admiral Shimko—his own 12th Squadron staff, plus those of the 24th and 31st Submarine Divisions.

  Stepanov and the two Admirals climbed the wooden stairs onto the platform, and Rear Admiral Shimko approached a lectern while Stepanov and Lipovsky settled into chairs behind him. Shimko greeted his staff and Stepanov’s crew, and, after a short introduction, relinquished the lectern to Lipovsky. The Commander of the Northern Fleet stepped forward, studying Dolgoruky’s crew before beginning his speech. As Lipovsky spoke, Stepanov’s mind drifted. He had heard it all before. Yury Dolgoruky was a symbol of the Russian Navy’s bright future, not unlike the sun climbing into the sky after the long polar night.

  Like Gadzhiyevo, the Russian Navy had emerged from dark times. In the years that followed the collapse of the Soviet Union, the once proud Soviet Submarine Fleet had decayed, submarines rusting alongside their piers due to inadequate funding for even the most basic repairs. But the economy finally gained traction and the government had begun the task of rebuilding the Navy, committing to two new nuclear attack submarines per year, plus eight Borei class submarines to replace the aging Akyna, Kal’mar, and Delfin class submarines—called Typhoon, Delta III, and Delta IV by the West.

  The rusting hulks had been towed to nearby Guba Sayda, a holding pen for submarines awaiting dismantling, or had already been scrapped at nearby shipyards. The submarines that remained at Gadzhiyevo Naval Base in addition to Yury Dolgoruky—six ballistic missile and a half-dozen nuclear attack submarines—were fully operational.

  Yury Dolgoruky was also operational. Finally. It had slipped from its floating dock at the Sevmash shipyard into the White Sea six years ago, and the submarine and its new nuclear warhead–tipped ballistic missile, the Bulava, had been plagued with countless design and material issues. After a seemingly endless series of sea trials, shipyard repairs, and test missile firings, Yury Dolgoruky was finally ready to commence her first patrol.

  After almost forty minutes, Admiral Lipovsky finished his speech and retreated from the lectern. It was Captain Stepanov’s turn to inspire his crew. He approached the lectern, resting his hands along the edges as he surveyed his men. They had been standing in formation in the bitter cold for almost an hour, assembling topside twenty minutes before the two Admirals and their Captain arrived. Stepanov decided to keep his speech short.

  “Station the underway watch.”

  He could see the faint smile on his First Officer’s face as his second-in-command saluted crisply. Stepanov returned the salute, and Captain Second Rank Pavlov turned to address the battle department commanders. A moment later, the formation dissolved into a mass of men moving toward the submarine’s three hatches. One by one, the men disappeared down the holes.

  Rear Admiral Shimko wished Stepanov good luck, then headed down the pier with the three squadron staffs, leaving Admiral Lipovsky and Stepanov behind.

  “Your stateroom,” the Admiral said.

  * * *

  A few minutes later, the two men entered Stepanov’s stateroom, a three-by-three-meter room containing only a narrow bed and a table seating two persons. Lipovsky closed the door, then settled into one of the chairs, motioning Stepanov into the other with a wave of his hand. The Admiral kept his coat and gloves on; their discussion would not take long.

  “You are a man of few words,” the Admiral said as Stepanov took his seat. “I should learn from you. I sometimes like to hear myself speak.”

  “The men appreciate your visit,” Stepanov replied.

  “And I appreciate your dedication,” Lipovsky said. The Admiral fell silent, his eyes probing Stepanov until he finally spoke again.

  “How many men know what Yury Dolgoruky carries?”

  It was Stepanov’s turn for silence, reviewing in his mind the images of the loadout three days ago in the missile handling facility.

  “The entire crew knows,” Stepanov replied. “Missile Division assisted with the loadout, and you cannot keep something like this a secret.”

  Lipovsky leaned forward. “You must keep it a secret. No one besides your crew and the pe
rsonnel in the missile handling facility can know.”

  Stepanov nodded. “I have already spoken to my men. They know not to speak about this to others. Not even family members.”

  “Good,” Lipovsky replied. “We cannot underestimate our peril if others learn of our deception. The Rodina itself would be at risk.” Lipovsky paused before continuing, expressing his fear more distinctly. “The Americans cannot discover what you carry.”

  3

  USS NORTH DAKOTA

  Just off the coast of Russia’s Kola Peninsula, USS North Dakota cruised at periscope depth, the top of its photonics mast sticking above the ocean’s surface. Seated at the command workstation near the front of the Control Room, the submarine’s Officer of the Deck, Lieutenant Scott Molitor, studied the left display on the dual-screen console, examining the image from the photonics mast as he rotated it clockwise with a tilt of the joystick. Molitor paused on each revolution to study Kola Bay to the south, the exit point for warships stationed in the Northern Fleet ports along the shores of the Murmansk Fjord, searching for their target of interest.

  Yury Dolgoruky.

  The latest INTEL message reported the Russian ballistic missile submarine was preparing for her first patrol. If things went as planned, North Dakota would accompany her.

  Molitor had only one hour left on watch, but so far had nothing to show for his effort. After five hours of scrutinizing the shore and surrounding ocean, he had detected only a few merchant ships far out to sea. He commenced another sweep with the photonics mast, shifting to the low-power Wide-Field view with a push of a button on the joystick. He was thankful North Dakota had photonics masts instead of periscopes. He couldn’t imagine going round and round on his feet for six hours straight, dancing with the Gray Lady—the senior officers’ phrase for countless hours spent circling with one of the mechanical periscopes on older submarines.

  As Molitor continued his clockwise rotation, the Sonar Supervisor, standing only a few feet away, spoke into his headset, his report coming across the speakers in Control.