When you're trying to be quiet, it's extremely difficult to do so, even if your life depends on it. The natural tendency was to grab a towel and stop the random drops from blasting out their position. But even that was forbidden. Take no chances, just freeze.
No one doubted the ability of the enemy to hear the drops. The fear of the technology of the Russian Killer Sub was palatable in the confines of their Sea Wolf Attack Sub. Of course the Russian crew was just as new, perhaps only two to three years. The enemy sub and its crew would normally have boasted of ten or eleven years of age and experience, except that the Russians were extremely adept at taking advantage of the US' technology slowdowns. The MIKE boats were as new as their own. The fact they were at par or even just a bit better off than the Russian was an effect of the "end of the cold war." Every time Congress hiccuped and dropped the DOD budget, the Russians went into full production, taking advantage of falling technological security, a chance to gain superiority in numbers, and a fundamental free hand at improving their already stolen technology. The fall of the Soviet Union had been no exception. Now the Russians were only two years behind in delivering their own technology into the field.
Even if the Soviet Union had continued to exist with technology five years behind that of the U.S., they were able to get that technology in place in the field at least four years ahead of the slow and ponderous liberal U.S. bureaucracy of the last two decades. Now that the Soviet Union no longer existed, many in Congress thought that the threat had dissappeaed. On the contrary, the new Russian government (and, some say, some of their sister states in the former Soviet Union) had put on crash programs to once and for all catch up to their old foes. Not that anyone in the Russain Government would admit it though. It was funny how their public commercial enterprises tottered on bankruptcy, yet their military factories thrived at the boatyards. Simply amazing was that no one seemed to care or notice.
Anyway, the new U.S. administration was faced with a hell of a buildup just to keep pace, and they could only count on four years to do it in. Needless to say, the President was energetic as hell on the hill during his term. Despite his efforts, the U.S. boats were only one or two years ahead at most right now, and that lead was eroding fast, as the effects of the depleted budget continued to show themselves.
No one aboard the USS Silver Fish would deny they were worried. But their ship was a pretty sweet young lady, even if she were only slightly better than the Russians. Her sister ship, the Sea Wolf, the namesake of the class, was out there somewhere, too. Both were pacing the MIKE class Russian sub. The Fish was the newer of the two and had been modified slightly to make up for several small defects found in the Sea Wolf.
But the men aboard the U.S. killer subs knew too well that the enemy was not just foolin' around with his war machinery. The U.S. subs had been playing cat and mouse for four months now, trying to avoid detection and at the same time watching the brazen Russian subs troll the waters off of Osaka, Japan.
Captain Ray Johnson, seemingly relaxed, leaned against the chart table, quietly watching the visual cue on the sound man's console. His overall mission was to aggressively patrol the waters he now hid in. That meant, for now, playing the waiting game. At least that is what the book said. Course, Ray Johnson wrote the book...or at least the latest chapters. So he wasn't about to resist being a little inventive.
A bright L.E.D. on the sound panel before him was, occasionally, flashing with differing intensities, as sound was "heard" from outside the hull. A less experienced submariner might have had the sound man's gear patched through the intercom so all could concentrate and strain to hear the smallest sound, but Ray knew to resist that particular temptation. Not only did the listening to the hydro input add more tension into their already mind warping atmosphere, but there was always the "Thump" trick he knew all too well. He had invented it one night in the Oman Straights.
It was now a classic technique, taught at all U.S. sub schools. When you were listening for a quiet sub with your hydrophone volume cranked way up, even the smallest sounds echoed through the boat. All your opponent had to do was to instruct a remote decoy to make a loud crashing sound near your sub, yet far away from his own. Your hydro input would copy the decoy sound, blasting it throughout your entire boat. The opponent's sound man would pinpoint that blast emanating from your boat, the hull acting as a huge amplified speaker system. He knew it worked well because he had caught a Russian Sub in the Gulf Of Oman with that very same trick. And he wasn't about to let it happen to him.
But now was not the time to wait. He could feel it in his bones. Time to surprise the ugly duckling. Catch 'em unawares, and find out if anyone else was lurking out there as well.
"Sonar, prepare to go active on my signal", he whispered. Turning to the charts, he looked at the crisscrossed pattern that his sub had been traversing, trying to locate exactly where the Russian Killer Sub was lying in wait.
"Helmsman, prepare for a three step course change, as we go active, I want you to come 273, run for 3 seconds, come to 265, 5 seconds, 240 for 10 seconds, then stop the screws and coast. Planesman, I want a full dive on during this whole series."
"Aye sir 273 for 3, 265 for 5, 240 for 10, all stop...Aye Sir, full dive, peacetime max, 25 degrees down plane."
"Planesman, After we stop the screws, I want up 3 degrees, to 1000 feet, hold for 10 seconds, then drop 3 quarters full, back down to 1200 feet. Then just let it drift."
"Aye sir, 3 degrees up-plane to 150 for 10, fast down to 190."
"Okay Mister Allision, let's go Super Active. All ahead full, down and to Port."
The loud "Beeep" jarred everyone on the sub, as the sonar pulse blasted out at an incredibly intensity, running ever so slowly through the water. In about three and a half seconds, the answering echo was heard. The Russian was very near, and now he also knew the position of the U.S. sub.
Ray watched with pride, as his crew went through the random manuever designed to foil any hostile action from the Russian Sub. His object was to blast out the sonar at the Russian, making his ears hurt, hoping the shock would delay, just for a moment the pinpointing of the source of the pulse. At the same time his ship moved quite a distance away from the origin of the Sonar pulse, decreasing the chances a torpedo could find them based on the last known position or an inline "coast".
As the echo return was heard, the sonar man held up a thumb then marked a large M on his chart, which was copied by the "standup" board further forward in the center of the sub's CIC. A smaller echo must have been discernable as the sonar man had also marked "SW " followed by a small question mark.
"Secure Active, back to slow ahead...Resume silent routine". Now they would wait again, having moved some 100 feet in the horizontal, 120 feet in the vertical, and 60 feet in the direction of the Russian sub. In this manner, Ray hoped to work close enough for a sound "signature" of the Russian killer sub, all without being in the same place the beep had been generated from. Once he had the Russian sub's signature, he would have accomplished a major part of his mission. Identifying killer subs was extremely important to the U.S. submariners.
It all had started when the first Soviet killer sub had rammed the Trestle back in the early sixties. Sub Command Atlantic had been advised via a flash message, that the Trestle was tracking a Russian sub off the New England Coast. Alarmed, SubComAtlantic had ordered the Trestle to intercept the sub, and force her to surface. Two months later, the pictures from a submersible bell showed her to be in pieces on the bottom of the Atlantic rift. No internal explosion could have torn those pieces. They were torn inward, like a can opener. An obvious ram to the Pentagon, a tragic accident to the press. From that day forward, all U.S. subs played the game for keeps, ready to respond in kind to any seemingly hostile action. Up to and including underwater nuclear detonation...at least below 800 feet of water, the minimum "breach" depth of a small tactical nuclear weapon.
Ray wasn't about to let that happen to his boat either. Right now he was the one in position to launch or ram. Not that he would, unless provoked, but he certainly wasn't going to give the Russian a chance. Especially since the sound man was indicating that the killer sub was moving away under auxillary power.
Being a nuke, the Russian Killer Sub would move with a small, but revealing amount of noise under normal power. To escape detection, they used their MHD propulsor, which while known to US Navy sub watchers, was never-the-less a Soviet only device.
Ray's boat on the other hand, was a hybrid nuke. Having augmented the normal nuclear plant with an extremely small and efficient electric power plant and a quadruple set of batteries, the much modified Sea Wolf class sub could easily outrun the Russian, with little cost in the way of reserve battery power or the deadly noise level of a chase under nuclear propulsion. The Russian though, would have to surface soon, running on the surface, to recharge his batteries, or fire up the noisy nuclear plant again to get the necessary charging current needed to recharge the much depleted batteries...a MHD pod was hell on batteries.
Ray's hope was that the Russian would do so in the same area it was currently trapped. A couple of satellite photos, and the Russian sub would be positively identified in restricted waters. It would be his fifth "capture".
In a way it was unfortunate. The poor Russian sub commander would not be a very happy man. His comrades at home would expel him with disfavor for being so careless.
It didn't matter to the Kremlin that the poor slob was highly outnumbered in this area, and that the high class quiet subs were intended for patrol missions rather than the current insurgent role. Ray really felt for his opponents sometimes. Even if only for a moment.
The sonar man marked a short line on his tracking sheet, running off to the left a bit from the MIKE boat's last position.
"Moving away is he Allison? Okay...All Ahead one third on batteries, up-plane 3 degrees. Helm come to ... ", now looking at the bearing on the sound gear, "Helm, when I give the word, give me 248 degrees. At the same time I am gonna want all ahead two thirds for three seconds. Exec, while we're maneuvering, go on short pulse Gertrude to U.S.S. Sea Wolf, request them to go active for a flash."
As his crew quietly echoed his orders, he poundered his position.
"Execute".
The sound of the under water coded sound blast, again jarred those in the Sea Wolf. The other U.S. sub would now show itself to let the Russian know that he was trapped between two rather indignant opponents.
"Come to zero degrees, back to slow ahead, and silent."
It was doubtful that the Russian commander had any idea that he was up against the newest killer subs in the U.S. fleet, but any two U.S. subs would have scared him. The audacity of the Americans to announce themselves just might give the U.S. subs the psychological edge they needed. And since the Russian detection gear was not good enough yet to distinguish the Sea Wolves from their Los Angeles cousins, their more silent Sea Wolf class boats would be doubly unnerving.
"Anything?"
"No Sir. He's in quiet mode again."
"Probably shouting at his Political Officer for getting him into this mess in the first place!"
A few chuckles could be heard as the crew close enough to him to hear the comment released a little of their tension.
Ray had the distinct advantage over the Russian, that being knowlege of the displacement, top speed and maximum depth of his opponent. A great advantage, because he knew he could drop well below the Russians depth, and sneak up under a thermocline, to surpise the Russian with a message to surface. In fact he was in position to do that now.
"Okay Mister Edwards, give me positive up bubble, tanks 1 and 4. All ahead two thirds, go full active, sound and sonar. Begin Russian surface message, and launch comm bouy. Ship to situation 2."
Ray had now taken the initiative, placing his crew one step from war time conditions. This was necessary, since the Russian might get nervous and send a torpedo at either of the two American subs. As was the game underwater, who could prove that a torpedo had been launched and hit at this depth. It always could be explained as an "unfortunate accident". It wouldn't be the first time.
"Target is blowing his tanks sir, looks like he's blasting for the surface."
"Damn! Full up bubble. Planesman, give me all you've got. Blow all tanks..." and turning to the Chief, "but keep the screws at one quarter speed, Kelly...", leaning over to the sound man, he said quietly, "Okay Allison, listen to him real close. Try to catch him re-pumping or cutting back on his tanks. I don't want to beat him to the surface."
Ray was worried that the Russian was faking a rush to the surface, so that he could dive deep under the American boats, while they erroneously raced for the surface.
"Ah sir.. strange sounds now, kind of background roar...yes you pegged it sir. He's cycling his air. Wow that's crazy. Won't he run outta air?"
"Belay the blow. Secure HP air."
Then turning to answer the young sonar man's question, "He doesn't care too much now. If he can break free, then later he can sneak up to snorkel depth and do okay. If he can't then he'll have to surface anyway, cuz we'll force him to. What would you say his rate of ascent is?"
"About 2 meters per second, Sir. And slowing."
"Okay, Hydrophone again, repeat surface message to Russian, send to Sea Wolf in the clear, 'Goto Situation 2'. That ought to tell Ivan that we mean business. Keep an eye on 'em, Allison, noisy little fish are not on the Sea Wolf's diet plan."
The young sonarman grinned as he cranked the volume up a bit, and adjusted the computer signal processing to blank out the background noises a little more. Listening closely for the sound of a torpedo launch from the nervous Russain, his face was a mask of concentration.
Now the nerve racking vigil would take on a new form. The Russian could let loose a whole field of seeker torpedoes toward both the American subs. These little devils, were heat or metal seeking, conventional warheaded torpedos which were guided at first by wire for their run toward their targets. Then they were released on their own, with about a fifty to sixty percent hit rate. Not too fun when there were more than two, as that was when they were almost sure to find their target.
"Pass the word, quickly, crew be prepared for angles" whispered Ray, letting his crew know that he might have to do some fancy dancing, the deck angle getting pretty precarious for men not strapped into their seats. A good move too, since a few moments later...
"Some noise now, can't make it out...Shit! Shit! Slamming sound...",
"All ahead full, left full rudder, full down, flood tanks 3 and 4. Dive!
"...that;'s it sir. Small, high speed screws. He's launched one...no two..."
Ray hit the klaxon, both as a spur to make his men move, as well as to warn the Sea Wolf that he was taking evasive action from an attack. It was a gamble, making the noise, but he needed to let his sister ship know the danger, just in case the screws of the torpedoes could not be heard from their position. Even the few seconds gained between the time he blew the klaxon and the Sea Wolf heard the Fish's high speed retreat would be of help. And God help the Russian if one of the torpedoes hit. Sea Wolf would reek a vengence that the Russian Sub commander hadn't counted on.
"Spiral Jacobsen, Negative bubble. Bow pointed down, and hold that left full rudder." The spiral maneuver Ray was attempting was known for its peril. Not unlike the spin an aircraft pilot feared, the spiral in a submarine was death if they failed to pull out. If the hull were breached in even a minor manner, it would collapse under the incredible stress placed on it during the maneuver. The addition of outside water in the sub would also drive the boat straight to the bottom, with no chance of changing direction. Finally, the steep dive in a sub meant enormous stress on the diving planes when you tried to pull out of it. Just like a Piper Cub pulling out of a steep dive, you could pull the wings off. At about 3000 feet the hull would cave in, leaving little trace of the sub.
"High speed screws slowing sir. I think its sniffing."
That meant that the churned up water and the noise had temporarily confused the torpedo as well as the operator on the Russian Sub. It was known as a "knuckle" in the water. Good. All they had to do was wait a little longer, and the torpedo would be on its own. Then perhaps they would be able to out-fox it.
"Reduce flood of 3 and 4 to quarter, release decoys 1 and 2. Load tubes 1 thru 4 when able. Load Stern 1 and 4 when able. Reduce speed to one quarter, but continue spiral. Depth?"
"1500 feet, Sir."
"Level at 1700 feet, confirm"
"Level at 1700, aye."
Now the waiting would begin again. If the torpedo ran to finish, then the Russian would have cut the wire, and gone back to hiding. Obviously the commander of that sub was none too happy about being caught. He probably had waited for the sound of the bouy broaching the surface before firing the fish. In that way, he guaranteed that the American sub would have only one buoy left. Pretty smart. Except for the fact that the Sea Wolf had both her buoys yet! What a break. She could let SubComPac know that the Silver Fish was taking evasive action.
"Sir, I am getting a very loud...ahhhh...strange sound, almost like a howl..."
"Secure the dive. All Stop, Level deck. Load tubes, and then go to silent routine."
The look on Ray's face and the concern apparent in his face, swept through the command center. The rumors of some new weapon were always floating around. But recently the rumors had been more frightening than usual. Something about the entire command crew of a destroyer being incapacitated. Then the flash from SUBCOMPac warning against the waters near Korea. Maybe Ray was jumpy, but it couldn't hurt to be a little cautious.
"Release sound decoy, and give me tube status."
"Level deck, Sir."
"Bow and Stern tubes loaded-conventional and ready, Sir."
"Load Locator Probe, Tube 5, fire when ready. ECM, put it on the command board. Stay loose everybody."
Ray was hoping that the Sea Wolf had understood what had happened and had stuck with the Russian. But just in case, he was sending a decoy to distract the Russian, as well as a small probe to locate the killer sub.
"Positive contact from probe, Bearing 247, depth 600 feet, Sir. I think its him, Sir. My best guess is he's facing Sea Wolf. He may be ready to launch some fish at him, Sir, he's exactly bow on."
"Give him another blast of Sonar, Allison. All ahead two-thirds. Set bow tubes 1 and 4 to 650 feet, range 1000 yards. Open outer doors when depth at 600 feet. 30 degrees up bubble in 3 seconds. Crew stand by for angles."
As the sub began to pitch up toward the surface, Ray called up a tactical plot on the command console. He was rapidly moving toward the surface without blowing his tanks, but still creating alot of noise. The Russian sub was at an attitude of about 20 degrees, that is, not parallel and not perpendicular to his attitude. That would preclude a stern shot from the Russian, and make a nice shot for Ray.
"Ahh Sir, strange sounds again, like tanks blowing, but not the Russian...Its the Sea Wolf, Sir....She's surfacing! Real slow Sir."
Now that was a puzzle. Why would she being doing that. Hardy must know I've been shot at. What's he running for. Did she take a hit? They having mechanical troubles? Damn. He wished he could communicate with them.
"You didn't hear any fish running?"
"No Sir! Absolutely not. Just that strange howling noise, then quiet. The Sea Wolf's tanks started blowing...say twenty or thirty seconds after that."
He debated his choices. If Sea Wolf was in trouble, should he pursue the Russian, or help his sister ship. Double Damn. His sister ship's safety would take precedence.
"Course of target?"
"Same as before the contact, Sir...making about 25 knots and accelerating, Sir. He's running."
Ray took a few more moments to think then turned to his exec. "Okay Bill, what's your call?"
"I don't know. Sea Wolf may be in trouble, the Russian knows it, and is high-tailing it outta here. Or maybe the Russian thinks were down, and is gloating and is gonna back off and take a shot at their sister ship. In either case, we can't play dead or he'll accomplish either. I say join Sea Wolf or shoot. Those are the choices as I see it. I would really like it to be shooting, but I know what it might mean to the Sea Wolf. I don't want to be the bad guy either."
Ray and his exec stared at each other for a moment, and then he broke it. "Okay. Intercom, all ship. This is the Captain. We are going to surface to join Sea Wolf. I realize that you're all aching to take a shot at that guy out there, but our sister ship may need some help. We have got a pretty good signature on Ivan's boat, so we will know him next time. I promise you we will treat him a little different when we see him again. For now, let's stand down. Deck crew to sail, crew prepare for surface action. Surface, Surface". Ray reached over and goosed the klaxon twice, turned to the chart table and his exec. "Let's go Active, range finding on the Sea Wolf, and we'll keep an eye out for our friend, just in case he gets froggy again."
Staring down at the map of their movement in the last half hour, he mouthed, "Fuck".