SSN

by Tom Clancy

  Mack had a hard decision to make. Cheyenne could take on the two enemy submarines herself, with a fair chance of surviving — but a fair chance wasn’t good enough for Mack. Not when he had a better option.

  Cheyenne worked best when she worked alone. The Los Angeles class 688Is were designed to work covertly, without help from any other vessel. Cheyenne could work in tandem with other ships, but her biggest strength was her independence.

  But that didn’t mean that she wouldn’t accept assistance when it was offered… and when it was needed. And as much as he hated to admit it, Mack believed that Cheyenne needed some now.

  “Radio Gettysburg,” Mack ordered the communicator, “and give them our best locations of the Kilo and the Akula II. Tell them that we will handle the Akula, ask them to send some SH-60s to help us out with that Kilo. And man battle stations,” he added to the OOD.

  “Aye, Captain.”

  In order to transmit this information to Gettysburg, Cheyenne needed to come to periscope depth, which made her much easier to detect by the Chinese submarines. But Mack felt he had to take that chance. Two helicopters and Cheyenne were better odds against the two Chinese submarines than Cheyenne by herself.

  As soon as word reached Princeton and Gettysburg, two of the SH-60s were launched in the direction of the Kilo. They dropped line after line of sonobuoys, some of them directly on top of the Chinese submarine. Right now, however, Mack could not pay attention to the Seahawks’ fight with the Kilo. He needed to concentrate on his silent foe, the Akula II.

  The one thing that was bothering Mack was that the Akula hadn’t fired yet. He was sure the Chinese captain had a pretty good idea of where Cheyenne was, especially after Mack had launched his two Mk 48s and then went to periscope depth to radio for assistance.

  With both submarines within torpedo range of each other, Mack could only assume that the Akula captain was waiting for exactly the right moment to strike. What Mack didn’t know — and what he couldn’t know, especially given Cheyenne’s successes in these waters, and the notoriety she had gained from killing so many Chinese submarines — was that the Akula wasn’t hunting her at all. The Akula captain was hunting Benthic Adventure. He had wanted to avoid Cheyenne at all costs.

  That little bit of caution was going to cost him his mission, his command, and the lives of himself and his crew.

  “Captain,” the fire-control coordinator reported to Mack, “we’ve got the firing solution to the Akula II, Master 90.”

  Mack immediately ordered firing point procedures. On his command, tubes one and two were immediately readied and fired.

  The Akula captain quickly realized that he had been discovered and that his sneak attack had failed. Hearing the American torpedoes enter the water, he did the only thing he could… he turned and ran.

  The Akula was fast. It turned and increased speed to over thirty-five knots as the Mk 48s closed in on its tail. And its captain was smart. As he fled, he launched several noisemaker decoys in an attempt to throw the Mk 48s off course.

  But neither the submarine’s speed nor its captain’s experience was enough. The first Mk 48 fell for the decoy. The second continued on, until it finished the job.

  The incredible explosion tore open the hull of the Akula and sent it to the bottom. The explosion was so loud that it almost masked the two subsequent explosions that soon followed — the sound of two American helicopter-dropped Mk 50s exploding under the hull of the Chinese Kilo submarine.

  As soon as the two latest kills were confirmed, Cheyenne and Princeton exchanged radio messages congratulating each other on yet another successful combat operation.

  Once things began to calm down, a helicopter was flown out to the location of the downed SH-60. The remains of the destroyed Seahawk could be seen clearly from the sky. There were no survivors. Wartime losses were to be expected, but they were never without pain and sadness.

  With the danger eliminated, Cheyenne was free to return to her position, directly west of the Ticonderoga cruiser escort group. Mack gave the order to move out in front once more.

  He was beginning to understand why “May you live in interesting times” was considered a curse in China. Things had been too interesting for too long. With luck, they would be allowed to take things a little bit slower before their next mission.

  He knew, though, as the crew of the downed SH-60 had found, that in war luck was a rare and fragile thing.

  11. Battle Royale

  Something was wrong. Cheyenne had completed her refit, and once again had as many Mk 48 ADCAPs on board as McKee could give her — which was still less than Mack would have liked.

  But that wasn’t what was bothering him. He was still thinking about their battle with the Chinese Hainan attack boats that, along with the four submarines, had been sent after Benthic Adventure.

  The thing was, both Cheyenne and the surface group had been lucky. Mack knew that, and he’d admit it if he had to. But luck alone didn’t account for everything. Since they had destroyed the Chinese surface and submarine group sent to attack Benthic Adventure, all aspects of the escort mission were proceeding far better than planned, and that was what was bothering Mack.

  Cheyenne, Princeton, and Gettysburg had not picked up any Chinese submarine or surface contacts for quite a long time now, and while Mack was happy to get the rest, it just wasn’t right. The Chinese navy relied almost entirely upon numbers to accomplish their missions, and yet they had sent only five surface ships and four submarines to attack one of their prized targets.

  Mack didn’t buy it. Something was wrong with that picture. Cheyenne should have detected at least several more Chinese surface or submarine contacts probing Benthic Adventure’s defenses.

  Where, thought Mack, had the Chinese navy gone?

  He was about to find out, and he — along with the entire American command — was not going to like the answer.

  At Zhanjiang Naval Base in southern China, a massive force of over sixty ships and submarines was being readied. Their mission was simple: destroy the American aircraft carrier Independence and her entire Battle Group.

  The Independence Battle Group consisted of a rather large contingent of ships. This force included three Ticonderoga class Aegis Cruisers, Bunker Hill (CG-52), Mobile Bay (CG-53), and Port Royal (CG-73); two Arleigh Burke Aegis destroyers, John Paul Jones (DDG- 53) and Paul Hamilton (DDG-60); three Spruance ASW destroyers, Hewitt (DD-966), O’Brien (DD-975), and Fletcher (DD-992); and three Perry class frigates, Rodney M. Davis (FFG-60), Thach (FFG-43), and McClusky (FFG-41). Patrolling beneath them was Columbia (SSN- 771), a Los Angeles class submarine like Bremerton and Cheyenne.

  Within hours of their preparation, American satellites had detected the change in operating tempo at the Chinese naval base. While naval intelligence was not exactly sure what was going on, they did know that it was something major.

  As soon as the ships began to leave port, naval intelligence alerted Independence of this major movement. A force that size could only have one mission in mind — attack the American carrier group, destroy Independence, and sink the remainder of her escorts.

  When Independence received this message, she immediately went to her highest defensive level. At the same time, the Navy started trying to provide the carrier all the backup available. USS Cheyenne was one of the first ships outside the Independence Battle Group summoned to assist in her defense.

  Cheyenne was running deep, and the only way the Navy could reach her was through the extremely low frequency band of communications. ELF messages took so long to send that they were invariably short — just long enough to alert the submarine to proceed to periscope depth for a longer message.

  “Captain,” reported the communicator, “we just received an emergency message via ELF requesting us to come to periscope depth in order to receive an urgent message.”

  “Come to periscope depth,” Mack ordered the OOD immediately.

  It took several minutes to make it to periscope depth. As
soon as Cheyenne was shallow enough she began receiving the important message via SSIXS.

  Mack looked at the printout and immediately ordered the communicator to summon a meeting in the wardroom. Mack wanted the combat systems officer, executive officer, navigator, sonar officer, and the communicator there in ten minutes. Mack himself headed straight for the wardroom.

  When the officers were assembled, Mack wasted no time. “We have just received an emergency change of orders,” he said. “Naval intelligence believes that the USS Independence is about to come under a massive attack by the Chinese navy. Several hours ago, over sixty Chinese surface ships and submarines left Zhanjiang Naval Base headed in a southerly direction.”

  The room had grown quiet. Mack hadn’t been the only one to notice that the Chinese hadn’t gone after the recaptured prospecting ship as heavily as expected, and now many officers’ suspicions were being confirmed.

  “Independence is currently sailing in the southwestern portion of the South China Sea,” Mack went on. “She has been instructed to move slightly east in order to head toward deeper water where her weapons systems and aircraft can be used to the best advantage. We have been ordered to leave the Benthic Adventure convoy and head southwest. We are to meet up with the Independence Battle Group south of Vietnam. Our orders are to protect Independence at all costs.”

  Mack paused to let that sink in. The very idea that the carrier group herself could be in danger took some getting used to.

  After a moment he went on, “Independence will not be sitting still, waiting for our arrival. She has been ordered to close to within aircraft range of the Chinese task force. Once her aircraft are within range, they will begin a preemptive attack on the Chinese fleet. Our job then will be to assist in the ASW efforts.”

  The executive officer spoke up then. “Will we have other submarine assets in the area?” he asked.

  “Yes,” Mack said. “We will be assisted in our operations by our sister ships USS Columbia (SSN 771) and USS Bremerton (SSN 698). Columbia is currently operating with the Independence group. Bremerton will be running at flank speed and will be joining us from the Indian Ocean, where she had been sent to check on an unidentified submarine contact reported by the Australians.”

  There were no further questions, and Mack dismissed his officers. They all had a lot of work to do before Cheyenne arrived on station.

  This was not the first time Independence had been targeted by the Chinese, but Mack knew that this was by far the most serious threat yet. Several weeks earlier, Independence had come under heavy air attack by the Chinese air force. At that time, however, Independence had been operating at ranges far in excess of most Chinese tactical aircraft and had escaped unscathed. This time the Chinese would have learned their lessons and would be sending both surface and submarine forces to attack the carrier.

  * * *

  Cheyenne was running deep at flank speed in an attempt to reach Independence before the shooting started. Mack knew that the Battle Group commander would not just sit and wait for the Chinese task force to steam closer and closer to them. That was not the American style of fighting. Mack knew that Independence would take the initiative and attack as soon as the moment was right. He just hoped that he would be able to get Cheyenne there in time.

  Hours later, Cheyenne proceeded to communications depth to receive the latest intelligence on the Chinese task force. The fleet was heading south in the direction of the Spratly Islands. The latest reports, which came from Independence herself, indicated that the Chinese task force was making every effort to close on the Independence Battle Group, but they were not very well organized.

  As the sixty-odd Chinese surface and submarines sped south toward Independence, there was as close to zero coordination as a fleet could attain. Each Chinese ship was operating at what their captain felt was the optimal speed for his ship, with no attempt to maintain order or grouping with the other ships in the task force. The fleet consisted of nearly every type of vessel known to be operational within the Chinese navy, from fast attack craft to destroyers, and from reserve Romeo diesel submarines to the newly acquired Akula SSNs.

  This battle plan was something of a desperation move on the part of the Chinese. The Americans were accustomed to more orderly warfare, but the Chinese group had not planned on attacking the Americans in an organized fashion. Instead, their orders were for each ship to slowly approach the Spratlys, refuel, and then head for Independence without waiting for support. As soon as any given ship was within maximum range of the Battle Group, it would fire its weapons.

  Obviously, the Chinese were expecting to take terrific losses. If they failed, they would be facing a major action by the United Nations, who had ruled since the beginning of hostilities that the Chinese were to blame. The United States had begun rallying NATO members in favor of launching an offensive against the Spratly Island chain. If the Chinese failed here, they could face international humiliation if NATO or UN forces captured the islands. But if they succeeded, if they sank Independence, the entire operation would be worth any risk.

  As Mack had predicted, the Chinese had learned from their previous attack on the carrier. Their last attempt had been a fiasco. They had flown sixty H-6 bombers, Chinese versions of the TU-16 Badger, against Independence, but the American F-14s had been able to attack the bombers long before any of them were able to launch their C-601 antiship missiles. The Chinese had lost nearly fifty aircraft. The Americans had lost nothing but some AMRAAM and Phoenix missiles.

  This time, however, things would be different. Since the failed attack on Independence, China had begun basing large quantities of tactical aircraft on several of the larger Spratly Islands. The Americans were unaware of the large numbers of aircraft China had been able to store at these tiny airfields in the Spratlys. While several of the bases had been hit by Tomahawk cruise missiles, several more had stayed intact, and they would now be used to their fullest advantage once the new attack began. And, the Chinese hoped, the Americans would have no idea of the battle they were about to enter into.

  Cheyenne was still running at thirty-two knots when Mack asked for the ETA on their rendezvous with Independence.

  “If we maintain our current speed, Captain, we should be there in six and a half hours,” answered the OOD.

  “Very well,” Mack said. “Maintain flank speed and heading.”

  The transit to the South China Sea to meet with Independence was filled with tension. All on board Cheyenne had been informed of the large attack group heading their way and they were not exactly sure of how their submarine fit into the equation. They knew that they would be playing an essential role in the operation, but they also knew that they would not find out what that role was until their new orders were radioed to them from the surface.

  The Americans were not like the Chinese when it came to fleet cooperation. The U.S. Navy put a great emphasis on intership communications. They had learned that through digital data-links and satellite communications, that so-called information warfare could mean the difference between failure and success in a major battle.

  “We just picked up Mobile Bay on sonar bearing 286,” reported one of the sonar operators to his sonar supervisor. The BSY-1 operators immediately set to work to determine Cheyenne’s range to the cruiser.

  “Come to periscope depth,” Mack ordered.

  “Come to periscope depth, aye, sir.” The repeated order was such a part of Navy life that few even realized that they were saying it.

  After four minutes the captain ordered one of the communications masts raised. When that order had been acknowledged and carried out, he instructed radio to transmit a message to Independence, indicating that Cheyenne had arrived on station and was awaiting their new orders.

  It took a few minutes for the new orders to come in, but Mack didn’t mind the wait — especially once he got a look at exactly what those new orders were.

  Cheyenne was to take up position approximately one hundred miles in front o
f the Battle Group. This would get her away from the noisy surface ships and allow her to do what she did best: hunt down and destroy any enemy submarines in the area.

  When the final message traffic had come in, Mack ordered Cheyenne to once again proceed below four hundred feet. His normal routine was to call a meeting in the wardroom, but these orders had been expected and did not require a full meeting. Instead, he then instructed the communicator to type up a summary and distribute it to the appropriate officers.

  To: All officers on board USS Cheyenne

  From: Captain Mackey

  RE: Combat operations

  We have just been radioed our new orders. As you are all aware, the Independence Battle Group had been tasked with a preemptive attack on the Chinese task force currently heading for the Spratly Islands.

  Cheyenne has been tasked with running out in front of the Independence Battle Group on course 090. Once we are in position, west of the Spratlys, we have been ordered to wait for the Chinese submarines to exit the shallow waters near the islands. If we encounter any such contacts, which we invariably will, we have been granted permission to break off from the Battle Group and pursue the contacts.

  We have been offered any support that Independence can provide. This may come in the form of S- 3s, SH-60s, a surface ship, or even a submarine. However, if the battle becomes heavy, and we expect that it will, we may have to operate on our own.

  Bremerton and Columbia will remain with Independence, protecting her port and starboard flanks. Because of the successes we’ve had in these waters, we have been given a great amount of authority to operate independently from the carrier. So let’s stay cautious and keep on our toes.

  Mack finished the letter with his plain, recognizable signature and had the communicator run off the appropriate number of copies.

  On board Independence, flight operations were beginning to take on a tone of tension as well. While all carrier flights involved a fairly high level of risk, combat operations increased this risk. On top of that, within the past hour an ES-3 electronic warfare aircraft flying from the carrier had detected strong Chinese radio activity coming from the direction of the Spratly Islands. Since the invasion of the islands, this had frequently been the case, except that this time the heavy traffic was coming from naval vessels, not ground units.