TableofContentsTitlePageCopyrightPageAcknowledgementsForewordPreface:PreludetoWar

Chapter1.-FirstBloodChapter2.-SouthChina

SeaStationChapter3.-FourifbySea,

SixifbyLandChapter4.-Dogfight

Chapter5.-InterdictionChapter6.-AmbushChapter7.-Target:

ConvoyChapter8.-PatrolChapter9.-TheFourth

Patrol:FromRussiawithLoveChapter10.-RescueChapter11.-BattleRoyaleChapter12.-StraitUpChapter13.-Typhoon

HuntChapter14.-Hornets’Nest

Chapter15.-SpecialDelivery

InterviewGlossaryBibliography

THEBESTSELLING

NOVELSOFTOMCLANCY

THEBEARANDTHEDRAGON

President Jack Ryan facesa world crisis unlike any hehaseverknown...

“INTOXICATING ... AJUGGERNAUT.”

—Publishers Weekly(starredreview)

RAINBOWSIXClancy’s shocking storyof

international terrorism—closer to reality than anygovernment would care toadmit...

“GRIPPING ... BOLT-ACTIONMAYHEM.”—People

EXECUTIVEORDERSJackRyanhasalwaysbeen

asoldier.Nowhe’sgivingtheorders.

“AN ENORMOUS,ACTION-PACKED, HEAT-SEEKING MISSILE OF ATOMCLANCYNOVEL.”—TheSeattleTimes

DEBTOFHONORIt begins with the murder

ofanAmericanwomaninthe

backstreetsofTokyo.Itendsinwar....

“A SHOCKER.” —EntertainmentWeekly

THEHUNTFORREDOCTOBER

The smash bestseller thatlaunched Clancy’s career—the incredible search for aSoviet defector and thenuclear submarine hecommands...

“BREATHLESSLYEXCITING!” —TheWashingtonPost

REDSTORMRISINGThe ultimate scenario for

World War III—the finalbattleforglobalcontrol...

“THE ULTIMATE WARGAME...BRILLIANT!”—Newsweek

PATRIOTGAMESCIA analyst Jack Ryan

stops an assassination—andincurs the wrath of Irishterrorists....

“A HIGH PITCH OFEXCITEMENT!”—TheWallStreetJournal

THECARDINALOFTHEKREMLIN

The superpowers race fortheultimateStarWarsmissile

defensesystem....

“CARDINAL EXCITES,ILLUMINATES ... A REALPAGE-TURNER!” —LosAngelesDailyNews

CLEARANDPRESENTDANGER

The killing of three U.S.officials in Colombia ignitesthe American government’sexplosive, and top secret,response....

“A CRACKLING GOODYARN!”—The WashingtonPost

THESUMOFALLFEARS

The disappearance of anIsraeli nuclear weaponthreatens the balance ofpower in the Middle East—andaroundtheworld....

“CLANCYATHISBEST

...NOTTOBEMISSED!”—The Dallas Morning

News

WITHOUTREMORSEHis code name is Mr.

Clark. And his work for theCIAisbrilliant,cold-blooded,andefficient...butwhoishereally?

“HIGHLYENTERTAINING!” —TheWallStreetJournal

NOVELSBYTOMCLANCYTheHuntforRedOctoberRedStormRisingPatriotGames

TheCardinaloftheKremlinClearandPresentDangerTheSumofAllFearsWithoutRemorseDebtofHonorExecutiveOrdersRainbowSix

TheBearandtheDragon

RedRabbitTheTeethoftheTiger

SSN:StrategiesofSubmarineWarfare

NONFICTION

Submarine:AGuidedTourInsideaNuclearWarship

ArmoredCav:AGuidedTourofanArmoredCavalry

Regiment

FighterWing:AGuidedTourofanAirForceCombatWingMarine:AGuidedTourofaMarineExpeditionaryUnitAirborne:AGuidedTourofanAirborneTaskForce

Carrier:AGuidedTourofanAircraftCarrier

SpecialForces:AGuidedTourofU.S.ArmySpecial

Forces

IntotheStorm:AStudyinCommand

(writtenwithGeneralFredFranks,Jr.,Ret.,andTony

Koltz)EveryManaTiger

(writtenwithGeneralCharlesHorner,Ret.,andTonyKoltz)ShadowWarriors:Insidethe

SpecialForces(writtenwithGeneralCarl

Stiner,Ret.,andTonyKoltz)BattleReady

(writtenwithGeneralTonyZinni,Ret.,andTonyKoltz)

CREATEDBYTOMCLANCY

TomClancy’sSplinterCellTomClancy’sSplinterCell:OperationBarracuda

TomClancy’sSplinterCell:Checkmate

CREATEDBYTOMCLANCYANDSTEVE

PIECZENIK

TomClancy’sOp-CenterTomClancy’sOp-Center:

MirrorImageTomClancy’sOp-Center:

GamesofStateTomClancy’sOp-Center:

ActsofWarTomClancy’sOp-Center:

BalanceofPowerTomClancy’sOp-Center:

StateofSiegeTomClancy’sOp-Center:DivideandConquer

TomClancy’sOp-Center:

LineofControlTomClancy’sOp-Center:

MissionofHonorTomClancy’sOp-Center:

SeaofFireTomClancy’sOp-Center:

CalltoTreasonTomClancy’sOp-Center:

WarofEagles

TomClancy’sNetForceTomClancy’sNetForce:

HiddenAgendasTomClancy’sNetForce:

NightMovesTomClancy’sNetForce:

BreakingPointTomClancy’sNetForce:

PointofImpactTomClancy’sNetForce:

CyberNationTomClancy’sNetForce:

StateofWarTomClancy’sNetForce:ChangingoftheGuardTomClancy’sNetForce:

SpringboardTomClancy’sNetForce:The

ArchimedesEffect

CREATEDBYTOMCLANCYANDMARTIN

GREENBERG

TomClancy’sPowerPlays:Politika

TomClancy’sPowerPlays:ruthless.com

TomClancy’sPowerPlays:ShadowWatch

TomClancy’sPowerPlays:

Bio-StrikeTomClancy’sPowerPlays:

ColdWarTomClancy’sPowerPlays:

CuttingEdgeTomClancy’sPowerPlays:

ZeroHourTomClancy’sPowerPlays:

WildCard

TomClancySSNisbaseduponTomClancySSN,aninteractive

submarinecombatthrilleravailableonCD-ROM.

TOMCLANCYSSN

ABerkleyBook/publishedbyarrangementwith

C.I.Entertainment,Inc.

PRINTINGHISTORYBerkleytradepaperbackedition/

December1996Berkleymassmarketedition/February

2000

Allrightsreserved.Copyright©1996,2000bySimon

&SchusterInteractive,adivisionofSimon&Schuster,Inc.,C.I.Entertainment,Inc.,andVirtus

Corporation.PhotographsoftheUSSCheyennecourtesyofNewportNewsShipbuilding.PhotographsofTomClancyandCaptainDougLittlejohns

courtesyofTouchstoneMediaGroup.

PhotographsfromTomClancySSN,theCD-ROMgame,courtesyofSimon&SchusterInteractive.

Allotherphotographscopyright©Photri,Inc.

Thisbook,orpartsthereof,maynotbereproducedinanyform

withoutpermission.Forinformationaddress:

TheBerkleyPublishingGroup,adivisionofPenguinPutnamInc.,375HudsonStreet,NewYork,New

York10014.

ThePenguinPutnamInc.WorldWideWebsiteaddressis

http://www.penguinputnam.com

eISBN:978-1-101-00241-4

BERKLEY®BerkleyBooksarepublishedbyThe

BerkleyPublishingGroup,adivisionofPenguinPutnamInc.,375HudsonStreet,NewYork,New

York,10014.BERKLEYandthe“B”design

aretrademarksbelongingtoPenguinPutnamInc.

http://us.penguingroup.com

AcknowledgmentsI’dliketothankmyfriend

and colleague Captain DougLittlejohns, Royal Navy(Ret.), for his invaluablecontributions to theinteractive game upon whichthis book is based. I wouldalsoliketothankCommanderCraigEtka,U.S.Navy(Ret.),Eric Wertheim, and MikeHarris for their contributionsto the creation of the

manuscript and for theirrelentless fact-checking. Iwould like to acknowledgethe assistance of JamesAdams,MartinH.Greenberg,Larry Segriff, RobertYoudelman, Esq., TomMallon, Esq., and the finefolks at The PutnamBerkleyGroup, including PhyllisGrann, David Shanks, andDavid Highfill. In addition,this book would not havebeen possible without the

efforts of Elizabeth Mackey,Ken Gordon, and KeithHalper of Simon & SchusterInteractive,PaulWirthof theVirtus Corporation, BillHowe of Photri, Inc., andSteve Fahrbach of MagellanGeographix.Andasalways Iwould like to thank RobertGottlieb of the WilliamMorrisAgency,myagentandfriend, without whom thisbookandtheinteractivegamewouldneverhavebeendone.

And thanks to you, myreaders, who have come tolovesubmarinesand themenwhoman them asmuch as Ido.

Foreword:NotetotheReader

This book is based uponthe CD-ROM game TomClancySSN, co-published bySimon & SchusterInteractive, a division ofSimon & Schuster, C.I.Entertainment, Inc., andVirtus Corporation.Developed by Tom Clancywith Captain DougLittlejohns, CBE, British

Royal Navy (Ret.), SSN is agroundbreaking, action-packed submarine combatgame and a full-screen, live-actioncinematicthriller.This book, however, is

intended to serve as morethan a faithful adaptation.Whilebasedonthegame,thisbookisintendedtoserveasastrategy guide to submarinewarfare, and as such itcontains some minorvariationsfromtheCD-ROM

game: an additional class ofenemy submarines, a widerrange of weaponry, and abroaderspectrumofavailabletacticsandstrategies.Both the game and this

bookshareacommongoal:toputyou,thereader,inchargeof a United States nuclearattack submarine at war. Ifyou come away with a tasteof what life in the silentservice is like, with a betterunderstanding and

appreciation of the efforts ofthosebravesailorswhoserveaboard boomers and attacksubmarines everywhere, andwith an idea of the dangersthese sailors face every day,then this book and the gameupon which it is based havedonetheirjobs.Lifeaboardasubmarine is

filled with hard work, closequarters, and the constantthreat of silent enemies andthedeep,darkpressureofthe

ocean. Slip into your navaluniform—the one with thegoldendolphinson thecollar—andstepaboardoneof thefinest submarines in theUnitedStatesNavy—theUSSCheyenne. But don’t forgetyour seat belt. There’s awaron, and it’s going to be abumpyride.

Preface:PreludetoWar

Though the name maysound obscure, the SpratlyIslands have been a cause ofconflictinEastAsiaforquitesome time. Sovereignty overall or part of this potentiallyresource-rich archipelago inthe South China Sea ispresently contested byVietnam, China, Brunei,Malaysia,thePhilippines,and

Taiwan.AlthoughtheManilaDeclaration by theAssociation of SoutheastAsian Nations in 1992promised to resolve thisdispute peacefully, thenations involved have yet toarrive at a consensus aboutthe futureof this territory. Inthepastfewmonths,tensionshave mounted between theEast Asian nations, and theneed to have the UnitedNations serve as amediating

force has been suggested.Atthispointintime,manyofthecountries have stationedtroops on the islands andsome have begun to buildtheir own infrastructures,causing furtherdisagreements.

“The dispute over theSpratly Islands has served asa further impediment to

healing many of the riftsexisting within East Asia.This issue needs to beaddressed on an internationallevel before it escalates intohigher formsof conflict.TheSpecial Political andDecolonization Committeewill attempt to consolidatethe interests of all partiesinvolved and hopefullydiminishasourceofgrowingregional conflict in theworld.”

—TheNewAmerican“China’s aggressive search

for oil near the SpratlyIslands of Vietnam’s coasthas become themost seriousthreat of war along China’sfrontier.”—JimLanders,TheDallas

MorningNews

Chineseleaderdies,

powerstruggleanticipated

July19,1997Webpostedat:12:00P.M.

EST(1700GMT)

FromBeijing bureau chiefJulieMeyer

BEIJING (TCN)—Chineseleader Deng Xiaoping diedtoday at the age of ninety-

two.Havingsufferedmultiplestrokes in the previous twoyears, Deng had reportedlybeen living in a militaryhospital for the past eighteenmonths andwas said tohavebeenbarelyable to speak formuchofthattime.Deng’s successor,

President Jiang Zemin, waschosenbyDenghimselfovera year ago, yet could notassert full leadership rightsuntil Deng, as “paramount

leader,” had died. Now thatDeng is dead, many expertsfeel that Jiang’spositionwillbe challenged by his peersamong the Chinesegovernment,andthatapowerstrugglewillensue.Among the suspected

challengers to Jiang isPremier Li Peng, a Marxistconservative who played amajor role in thequashingofthe 1989 Tiananmen Squaredemonstrations. Li is said to

be intent on scaling backChina’s economic growth,whichhefeelstobeunstable,shouldhetakecontrol.Anotherpossiblecontender

is Zhu Rongji, senior vicepremier and the liberaleconomist responsible formuch of China’s economicgrowth under Deng.However, Zhu has alienatedmuch of the Chinesebureaucracy with hisinfamous temper and acidic

comments, and expertsbelievethathedoesnotenjoythe support necessary to wintheleadershipbattle.Whenaskedforanopinion

regarding the power shift inChina, prominent TuftsUniversity internationalrelations professor andAsianaffairs expert Adrian Mannstated that great “politicalinstability”layaheadandthat“there is a very good chancethat the power struggle may

leadtoaSoviet-stylebreakupof China,” a view shared bymany senior White Housepoliticaladvisers.The President, who is

currently vacationing atCamp David, issued astatementearliertodaysayingthat “theUnitedStatesoffershersincerecondolencestothepeopleofChinaonthelossoftheir esteemed leader” andthat “we have everyconfidence that the new

Chinese leadership willassume office with theminimum of disturbance.”When asked the President’sposition on the possiblepower struggle within theChinesegovernment,aWhiteHouse aide stated that “thePresident is watching withgreatinterest.”

UnitedFuelsCorp.

discoversoil,stocksoars

July21,1997Web posted at: 2:00 P.M.

EST(1900GMT)

From New York financialcorrespondentBillMossette

NEW YORK (TCNfn)—A spokesman for UnitedFuels Corporation stated

today that the company hadrecently located a large and,until now, undiscovered oildeposit six miles fromMischief Reef, one of theSpratly Islands chain locatedintheSouthChinaSea.The deposit is thought to

be the largest of its type yetdiscovered, with aconservative estimated yieldofclosetoonetrillionbarrels.This information caused amassivesurgeinUnitedFuels

stock,whichpeaked today ateighty-ninedollarsashare,upnearly 200 percent. Expertspredict that the stock willcontinue to skyrocket if thefindisfullysubstantiated.However, many financial

advisersarewaryofinvestinginUnitedon thebasisof thisnew find, due to thepoliticalinstability surrounding theareainwhichtheoillies.TheSpratly Islands have longbeen contested, with China,

Vietnam, Taiwan and otherneighboring countries allclaiming sovereignty. WallStreetexpertssay that theoilfindwill be contested by thegovernments of theaforementioned countries,amongothers,andthatitmaybe years before suchdisagreements may beresolved.Duringthistime,ofcourse, United FuelsCorporationwillbeunabletodrillinthearea.

Nevertheless, United hasalready started to build adrilling platform at the site,stagingconstruction from theprospecting ship that locatedthe enormous oil deposit,BenthicAdventure.

CoupinChina,Litakescontrol

July23,1997Web posted at: 3:00 p.m.

EST(2000GMT)

From Washington chiefcorrespondent MichaelFlasetti

WASHINGTON (TCN)—In a stunning development,PremierLiPenghasstagedacoup d’etat and gainedcontrol of the Chinesegovernmentintheearlyhours

ofthismorning.Aidedinthecoup by General Yu Quili,leader of the so-calledPetroleum Faction, Li hasapparently ordered the arrestofJiangZemin,presidentandsuccessor to the late DengXiaoping, and Zhu Rongji,senior vice premier. Bothpoliticalrivalsinthestrugglefor control, Jiang and Zhuhaveyettobelocatedandarepresumedinhiding.Li, a conservative with

broad support from both theChinese Communist Partyand the Chinese military,issued a statement to theeffect that Deng’s liberaleconomic policies werecausing ruin within China,destroying thesocialist idealsthattheCommunistPartyhasbeenstriving tomaintain.Healso stated that rampantcapitalism and greatereconomic ties to the Westthreaten to undermine the

“nationalfocusofChina”andthat “it was time that thepeople of China stoodtogetherinacommoncause.”Precisely what that cause isremainstobeseen.However, Taiwan has

requestedaidfromtheUnitedNations, fearing that Li mayattempt an invasion of thecountry, which China hasregarded as a renegadeprovince since 1949. If suchaninvasionwastotakeplace,

it would probably bemastermindedbyGeneralYuQuili, the one-armed armyveteran who led thePetroleumFaction,agroupofengineers that developed therich Daqing oil field inManchuria with the aid ofthenChairmanMaoZe-dong.The Petroleum Faction

wielded enormous poweroverChina’seconomicpolicyuntil Deng consolidated hisown power base within the

government in the early1980s. Now, with Li andother allies, including WangTao, chairman of the ChinaNational PetroleumCorporation, General Yuseems poised to take a placeamong the executive elite ofChina.East Asia political expert

Adrian Mann commentedtoday on the current radicalshift of government power.“Energy production seems to

havebecometheengineforaneoconservative upheaval inChina. Politically, those whocontrol the means of energyproduction can control thecountry. It’s a very strongposition.”Doubly strong,Dr.Mannwent on to argue, in acountry with a well-documented shortage of rawpower.The White House has so

far been unresponsive to thedevelopmentsinChina,asthe

President wishes to conferwith UN chiefs beforemaking any officialstatement, which is expectedlater today. Sources reportthat the President will needfull support from the UNbeforeaction, ifany, is tobetaken, in light of America’shistoricallyrockyrelationshipwithChina.

PresidentreactstoChinesecoup,UNsanctionsexpected

July23,1997Webposted at: 12:00p.m.

EST(1700GMT)From Washington chief

correspondent MichaelFlasetti

WASHINGTON (TCN)—After conferring with other

permanent members of theUNSecurityCouncilformostof the day, the Presidentmade a statementcondemning the Chinesecoup, led by Li Peng. Inaddition, both the U.S. andUNhaveofficiallyrefusedtoacknowledge the newChinese government,demanding instead that JiangZemin, chosen by ex-paramount leaderDeng tobehis successor, be restored as

China’s new leader.However,manybelieveJiangto be dead, killed by troopsunder Peng during the coup.Senior vice premier ZhuRongjiisalsomissing.Li Peng responded to the

demands by stating that bothJiang and Zhu were wantedfor“crimesagainst the state”andthathewouldnotgiveuphis new position, which issupported by the leaders ofChina’s industrial-military

complex.HewentontodecrytheUNmandatesasyetmore“interferistWesternmeddlingin China’s interior affairs”and that China would notsubmit to any of the UN’srequests.Deadlocked, the UN is

convening immediately toanalyze the situation anddiscuss the possibility ofsanctionsagainstChina.

ChinainvadesSpratlyIslands,oil

shipseized

July26,1997Webpostedat:12:00P.M.

EST(1700GMT)

From Beijing bureauchief.lulieMeyer

BEIJING (TCN)—In ashowofmilitarymight,China

has occupied the long-contested Spratly Islands.Both Vietnamese andPhilippine forces, which hadestablishedapresenceon theislands,werequicklyoverrunby the Chinese navy in thecourse of the two-daycampaign. Leading the ten-ship attack fleet, theChinesedestroyer Haribing quicklyand utterly eliminated allthreats in the area, and theislands now look to be

completely under the controloftheChinese.The rationale for such an

overtly aggressive act, at atime when the currentChinese leader, Li Peng,faces opposition to hisleadership by the UnitedNations, is made clearer inlight of the discovery of amassiveoilfieldlastweekbytheUnitedFuelsCorporationprospecting ship BenthicAdventure. The ship, which

has been seized by theChinese, ismoored sixmilesfrom Mischief Reef, theisland nearest the positionwhere the oil deposit issuspectedtobesituated.Thisis seen as a very serious act,say military experts,especially in light of the factthat Benthic Adventure is aU.S.-flagged ship, and wasseizedininternationalwaters.“ThePresidentwouldbe100percent justified calling the

seizure ofBenthic Adventurean act of war,” said one topaide today, apparentlyechoingthethoughtsofmanychiefswithinthePentagon.In addition to the massive

resource boost the SpratlyIslands may provide China,many analysts feel that theinvasion has significanttactical motivations, as wellas economic. “Control overtheSpratlyIslandsprovidesastaging ground for the South

China Sea,” a seniorPentagon aide commentedtoday.“Chinaunderstandsthetruevalueoftheseislands.”The Spratly Islands may

also be utilized to mount aninvasion of Taiwan, whichChina has never recognizedasasovereignnation.Expertssay that although China hasconsidered reclaiming thecountry since 1949, up-to-date military plans for suchanactionweredrawnup last

year. The Chinese ForeignMinistry calls such plans“completely groundless,”reiterating their comments tosimilar accusations leveledlast year. Nonetheless, theTaiwanese president LeeTeng-hui has appealed to theUnited States for militarysupport, echoing requestsmadein1996.ThePresidenthasmadeno

statement on the situation,preferring once again to

confer with the UN SecurityCouncil before passingcomment. Sources say thattheproceedingscontinuewithmuchtensiononallsides.

Presidentannouncesmilitaryresponseto

China

July27,1997

Web posted at: 3:00 P.M.EST(2000GMT)

From Washington chiefcorrespondent MichaelFlasetti

WASHINGTON(TCN)—The President, after a round-the-clock session with UNchiefs, made a statementannouncing America’smilitary commitment toopposingChina’sclaimtothe

Spratly Islands. HavingreceivednoconcessionsfromBeijing, the President feelsthat conflict is inevitableunlesstheChinesewithdraw.The secretary-general of

the United Nations has alsopledged the support of theworldorganization inoustingChinese presence from thedisputed islands. She statedthat theChinese have clearlyviolated the ManilaDeclaration of 1992, a treaty

signed by the Association ofSoutheast Asian Nations, ofwhich China is a member,that resolved to settle theSpratly Islands dispute in adiplomatic manner. Inresponse to this violation ofinternational law, the U.S.Navywillbeginmobilizationimmediately,withtheaircraftcarriers Nimitz andIndependence entering theareawithintheweek.Chinesereactiontotoday’s

announcement was one ofdiplomatic indignation. “Wehave every right to the Nan-ShaIslands,”saidtheChineseambassador, referring to theSpratlys by their Chinesename, “and we will defendthem as we would any otherpartofourhomeland.”

Russiasellingarmsto

China,U.S.Navyconcerned

July30,1997Webpostedat:12:00P.M.

EST(1700GMT)

From Washington chiefcorrespondent MichaelFlasetti

WASHINGTON(TCN)—As tensions mount in the

South China Sea, aconfrontation between theChineseandUNmilitary, ledby the U.S. Navy, seemsinevitable. Adding to thedanger of the situation is thenews, reportedly obtained bytheCIA,thatRussiahasbeenarming China with advancedweapons, among themnuclear attack submarinesthatmaybedeployedintothewaters surrounding theSpratlyIslands.

The news that Russia hasbeen selling arms to theChinese isnotnew.Over thepast two years, China hastaken delivery of fourRussian Kilo-class dieselsubmarines, which areconsiderably less advancedthan Russia’s nuclearsubmarines. However, thepossibility that Russia hassold more advancedsubmarines to the Chinese isof great concern to White

Housemilitaryadvisers.Asourceclose to theJoint

Chiefs of Staff has disclosedthat the Russians have evencollaboratedwiththeChineseonaprototypenuclearattacksubmarine, and that thesubmarine may see action inthe Spratly conflict. If true,this presents a possible shiftinthebalanceofnavalpowerin the region, and a greatconcern to the recentlydownsizedU.S.Navy.

Russian president GennadiZyuganov, himself aconservative Communist likeChinese leader Li Peng,refused to comment on thepossibility of advancedweapons sales to China, yetdid say that Russia enjoys abalanced trade agreementwith China on the sales ofcertain weapons, includingKilo class submarines.Russia, cash-poor since thebreakupof theSovietUnion,

clearlydependsonsubmarinesales to China to help fundsocialandeconomicprojects,aswellastheupgradingofitsownnavy.

Chinesesubmarinesunk,warexpected

soon

August2,1997

Web posted at: 1:00 P.M.EST(1800GMT)

FromBeijing bureau chiefJulieMeyer

BEIJING(TCN)—Fightingbegan today in the SouthChina Sea between the UN-backed United States Navyand the Chinese navy in andaround the Spratly Islands.The first skirmish occurredwhentheaircraftcarrierUSS

Nimitz was attacked by aChinesesubmarine,suspectedto be an aging Han classattack submarine. When thesubmarine came withinstriking distance of theNimitz, it was sunk by anAmerican Los Angeles classsubmarine thatwas escortingthe carrier. All hands arereportedlost.In response to today’s

conflict, the Chinese navyappears to have adopted a

more aggressive posture intheareaandmoreconflictliesahead. In fact, China isofficially expected to declarewaragainst theUnitedStatesofAmericawithintheweek.“Thisisn’tgoingtobeover

as quickly as the FalklandIslands conflict fifteen yearsago,” says internationalrelationsprofessor andChinapolicy specialist Dr. AdrianMann. “China is muchstronger than Argentina, and

they hold considerabletactical advantages over theU.S.Navyforcesinthearea.”Other experts are telling asimilarstory.However,intheface of lengthy combat, theuse of nuclear weapons is agreat concern to many,includingDr.Mann.“IdoubtthattheChinesewillconsiderthe possibility, and I think itlikelythatallsideswillagreetokeep thefighting localizedto the South China Sea.”

Indeed, thePresident and thesecretary-general of the UNare said to be drafting anoffer to Chinese leader LiPengproposingjustthat.In themeantime,U.S. and

UN sanctions against Chinacontinue, with the GeneralAssembly of the UN signingabroadpackageofeconomicrestrictions of trade withChina. The effects of thesesanctions should be feltimmediately, as they ban the

import of all goods intoChina, with the exception offoodandmedicalsupplies.Inaddition to economicsanctions, the President saidtoday that he is fullycommittedtoexpellingChinafrom the Spratly Islands andaiding in the restoration ofJiangZemintopower.

1.FirstBlood

TheUSSCheyenne, aLosAngeles class nuclear attacksubmarine, cast off thetugboat’s lines at precisely0100on12August1997,andmoved under its own powerinto the dark waters of SanDiego Bay. Astern ofCheyenne, the lone tugboathauledinthelinesandheadedback to its berth at the San

Diego Naval Base,headquarters of the ThirdFleet.The atmosphere aboard

Cheyenne was taut with pre-mission tension. Her crewhad performed admirablyduring her abbreviatedshakedown cruise, but nowshe was on high alert andheaded into almost certainconflict.A few years earlier, as a

result of the post-Cold War

defensedrawdown, theThirdFleethadrelocatedfromPearlHarbor to San Diego NavalBase. With the Chinesemoving on the SpratlyIslands, Cheyenne had beenordered to ready fordeployment.ShewasnowonherwayfromherberthattheBallast Point NavalSubmarine Base to the PearlHarbor Naval SubmarineBase to complete heroutfitting. From there she

would take up station in theSouthChinaSea.Cheyenne was the newest

attack submarine in the U.S.Navy.Shewasalsothelastofanera.GiventhehullnumberSSN-773,Cheyenne was thelastofsixty-twoLosAngelesclass nuclear attacksubmarines to be funded byCongress. Built by NewportNews Shipbuilding in theVirginia town of the samename,Cheyennewas360feet

long and displaced 6,900tons. She was equippedwiththe latest advanced weaponsandsensorsystems.

Cheyenne’s pressurized-water, S6G General Electricreactor had been critical forsome time and the OOD(officer of the deck) hadearlierpassed theword, “RigShip for Dive.” When shewas farther away from land,reaching the water west ofPoint Loma, where it wasdeep enough for thesubmarine to dive, sailors onboard Cheyenne completedreadying the submarine for

submergence.Fromthesonarroom to the torpedocompartments, sailorshurriedly confirmed that allwas well in theircompartments. The finalmessage came back to theOOD, “Cheyenne is nowriggedfordive.”Captain Bartholomew

“Mack”Mackeywas pleasedwith both his ship and hiscrew. A big man, Mack hadbeenengineeringofficerofan

earlier 688, and executiveofficerandplankowner(newconstruction crew) of animproved 688-like Cheyenne—the 6881 USS Greenville(SSN 772), Cheyenne’spredecessor at NewportNews.Mackwasarisingstar,two years deep selected forO-5 (Commander) and twoyears deep selected for O-6(captain). Mack was a realcaptain, not just in terms ofthe Navy tradition of

referring to a commandingofficer as “captain,” but inpaygradeaswell.Mack knew his crew had

heardtherumorsofapossiblewar with China. The recentChinese actions concerningthe U.S.-flagged BenthicAdventure, a United FuelsCorporation prospecting shipsailingininternationalwatersoff the Spratly Islands, hadbeen considered by many intheUnitedStatestobeanact

of war. Even more blatantwas the Chinese invasion ofthelong-contestedSpratlys.ButMackknewtherumors

were true.As of 2August, avirtual state of war hadexisted between the UnitedStates and China. On thatdate a Chinese Han classnuclear attack submarinecamewithin strikingdistanceof the U.S. aircraft carrierNimitzwithwhatappearedtobe hostile intentions. In

defense of Nimitz, anAmerican escort submarinesank the Han, killing allaboardtheChinesevessel.Thestoryhadsaturatedthe

news. There had been nofurtherhostileactiontakenbythe Chinese military, whichledmanyexpertstospeculatewhether they could havelearned their lesson. Thatwas,however,onenice thingabout being on a submarine.One didn’t have to worry

much about news. Attacksubmarines often stayed outonmissionsforaslongassixmonths, surfacing for foodand supplieswhen theywereneededorvisitingthevariousports towhich theyhadbeenassigned.News was not the job of

Cheyenne—theirs was amuch more importantmission: proceed to PearlHarbor and ready herself forpotentially imminent

hostilities with mainlandChina.

The submarine submergedwhen she was ready, slowlyat first and then more andmorequickly.When shewasunderwater, the OOD beganthe transit by turning thesubmarine in a southwesterlydirection—the most directrouteforPearlHarbor.With the ship underway

submerged,Mackwasabletoconcentrate on the mainobstacle to his mission, thepossibility that Chinese

nuclear attack submarinesmight be lurking along hispath.Hisorderswereclear:IfCheyenne were to come intocontactwithaChinesevessel,she was to proceed with theutmost caution and attackonly in self-defense. In otherwords,Mackknew,Cheyennewas free to fire only if shewas fired upon first. TheUnitedStateswas not atwaryet—“yet” being theoperative word. When

CheyennearrivedatPearlshewas to load up on weaponsand food needed for thepossibilityofa longcruise—one that could turn into acombatoperation.Therewas notmuch room

on a submarine for storingfood,socratescontainingthecanned goods that the crewneeded to eat were loadedinto thepassageways,oneontop of the other, making atemporary floor upon which

sailors would walk until thefood was ready to be eaten.As the crew consumed thefood, the floor would growshorter. Until then, thepassagewayswouldbeaverydangerous place for tallermembers of the submarinecrew. They would have towalk with their headshunched down to avoidhitting overhead pipes andwireways.AsCaptainMackeywalked

toward the tiny wardroomhe’d be using as the briefingroom, he grinned at thethought that everything fromcannedtomatosaucetostringbeanswas stored beneath hisfeet.Cheyenne was two hours

from San Diego Bay.Travelling at twenty-sixknots, this put her fifty-twonauticalmilesfromhome.Entering the wardroom,

Mackmotionedtohisofficers

tosit.“Asyouareallaware,”hesaid,“wearecurrentlyinahighlytenseenvironmentdueto the recent hostile actionstaken by the Chinesemilitary.” He was careful topoint out that theseaggressive actions were bythe military—not, as themedia often claimed, by thepeople or the politicians. “Iwould just like to inform allof you that we received amessage that a Canadian P-3

Orionoperatingona trainingmission out of San Diegothinks that they may havepicked up a submarine 237miles southwest of ourcurrent position. They evengot positiveMAD (magneticanomaly detection) contact,but they lost contact aftertracking the submarine forabouttwentyminutes.TheP-3crewisprettyconfidentthatwhattheyfoundwasanSSN.Naval Intelligence thinks it

may even be one of theChineseHanclassofnuclearattack submarines, but up tothis point they haven’t beenabletoconfirmanything.Wehave been instructed to keepourearsopenforthispossiblecontact while at the sametimeproceedingasfastaswecan to Pearl so that we canarrivesafelyonstationintheSouth China Sea. We are toavoid taking any actionsagainst the submarine—

unless, of course, he tries tokillus.”Theofficerstookthisnews

in stride, and while themeetingwasnotasrousingasthe captainhadhoped, it hadgottenhispointacross.Wordwould soon be buzzingthroughout Cheyenne thattheywouldbeonthelookoutfor a nuclear attacksubmarine, possibly Chinese,lingering far too close toUnited States waters for

comfort—even if being ininternational waters waswithin the legal realm ofinternationallaw.For her transit to Pearl

Harbor,Cheyenne was givena small loadout of torpedoes.The full capability of hertorpedo roomwas twenty-sixweapons, including four inthe torpedo tubes, consistingof a combination of Mk 48torpedoes, Tomahawk cruisemissiles (land-attack and

antiship varieties), Harpoonantiship missiles, andsometimes,thoughrarely,Mk67 submarine-launchedmobile mines. However, forthis transit, Cheyenne wasgivenonly12Mk48ADCAPtorpedoes. With a top speedof over fifty knots whilerunning deep, and a range inexcess of 30,000 yards, theMk48ADCAPwasarguablythe best heavy torpedo inexistence. Its only real

competition came from theBritish Spearfish, which wascarried by the submarines oftheRoyalNavy.TheMk48ADCAP,which

stood for AdvancedCapability,wasaheavywire-guidedtorpedoweighingover3,000 pounds. Nearly 20percent of its weight, or 650pounds, consisted of PBXN-103 high explosive. One ofthe advantages of theMk 48was that it could be used

against both submarine andsurfacetargets,whichmadeitmuch easier on logistics. Italsopleasedmany submarinecaptains who still preferredthe thrill of launching atorpedo over the newer,vertical launch Tomahawksor encapsulated Harpoonmissiles.Each Mk 48 was wire

guided so that targeting dataduringtheinitialstagesofthetorpedo launch could be

transmitted back and forthfromtheMk48totheBSY-1fire-control system on boardthe attack submarine.Duringthe terminal stages of theattack, theMk 48would useits powerful active seeker todetect, home in on, and thendestroy its target.As long asthe wire was intact,information from the torpedowas constantly relayed toCheyenneuntildetonation.After the meeting, Mack

returned to the control room.Knowing that theremight beanuclearattacksubmarineinthe area, he ordered thatinstead of running at twenty-sixknotsformuchofthewayto Pearl Harbor, as he hadoriginally planned,Cheyennewould now slow morefrequentlyinordertolistentohersurroundings.This“sprintand drift” techniquewas oneof the best methods ofarriving at a destination

quickly while also allowingthesubmarine’spassivesonarto search for any possiblesonarcontacts.Cheyenne was now at an

ordereddepthoffourhundredfeet.Atthisdepth,shewasinher own element, that of thedepths of the ocean. Ifnecessary, she could still bereachedbytherelativelynew,albeit slow, ELF, orextremely low frequency,band of communications. If

therewere a dire emergency,or a change in her orders,Cheyennewouldbeinstructedby a short, coded ELFmessage to come tocommunications depth inorder to receive importantmessagetraffic.Running at twenty-six

knots was not always quiet.The screw, known to thoseoutside the Navy as apropeller, was workingfeverishly to propel the

submarineatthisspeed.Iftooshallow, this created tiny airbubbles, which made apopping noise when theycollapsed. This noise wasknown as cavitation andcould give away asubmarine’s presence in thearea. At this moment, Mackdid not care as much abouthisstealthcapabilityashedidabout two other concerns:locating the submarine thatwas lurkingdangerouslynear

theWest Coast, and arrivingat the Pearl Harbor NavalSubmarine Base withCheyenneintact.All aboardCheyenne were

aware that theyweremakingslight cavitation noise andthat anyone who was closeenough and quiet enoughcould determine theirlocation. The frequentslowing and so-calledclearing of the baffles, thenormally “sonar blind” area

astern of submarines, evenedthescoresomewhat.At1100on12August,just

ten hours after leaving SanDiego, the OOD orderedCheyenne to slow to one-third.Exactly elevenminuteslater the sonar room camealiveasCheyenneslowedandher course was changedtowardthenorth.“Tonal contact, center

bearing 187 on the end-firebeam,” called one of the

young sonar operators. Theconsoles, which looked likecomputer screens with greenlines running through them,were often the sonaroperator’s most importantally.An instant later the sonar

supervisor, who had beenpaying close attention to thegoings-on in this importantcenter of the submarine,called to the captain, “Conn,sonar, we have a possible

submarine contact bearing187. We’re only receivingbladerateinformationsofar.”Mack entered the sonar

room, joining the five othermenalreadythere—includingthe sonar supervisor and thesonarofficer.Everyoneintheroomknewthattherewasthepossibility of encountering aChinese submarine, but alsoknew it was highly unlikely.Chinese naval vessels rarelyventured this far away from

home waters. This wasespeciallytrueoftheChinesesubmarine fleet, whichconsisted largely of older-modeldieselboatswithjustafew very noisy nuclear-poweredattacksubmarinesoftheHanclass.If there was a Chinese

submarine patrolling off theWest Coast of the UnitedStates, however, Mack wasfairly sure that itwouldhaveto be a Han class. Naval

intelligence reports hadrepeatedlyexplainedthatonlyone type of submarine wascapable of travelling this farfrom Chinese home watersand operating—withoutsurfacing—for an extendedperiodoftime.Thattypewasa nuclear submarine, and theonly Chinese SSN currentlyinservicewastheHanclass.Captain Mackey was, as

were all experiencedsubmariners, at least slightly

familiarwiththeHanclassofsubmarine. In addition,whenwordwaspassedofapossiblewar with China, theintelligence officer assignedtoSubRon11fromSubGroup5hadquicklypreparedabriefreportofwhatwasknownofthe Han class in the U.S.intelligence community.According to that report,constructionof theHanclasshad stopped after only fivesubmarines due to extremely

high internal radiation levels,and all of those werecurrently in service with theChinese navy. They carriedthe pennant numbers 401,402, 403, 404, and 405painted on their sail. One oftheclasshad,ofcourse,beendestroyed earlier that monthby a U.S. SSN. Navalintelligence was still unsurewhich number it was, butthey reported that it wasprobably number 402, the

second of the class. Theywereassumingthisbecauseithad been tracked sinceleavingNingboNavalBaseinChina’s East Sea Fleet fourdays prior to the actionsinvolvingNimitz.The torpedo complement

fitted to the Han class wasreported to be a mix of theolder straight-running typesaswellassomeof thenewerRussian homing varieties.According to the reports,

numbers401and402carriedonly torpedoes, but the lastthreesubmarinesoftheclass,numbers 403 to 405, carriedthe Ying Ji. Also known asthe Eagle Strike, thisantishippingmissilewasaseaskimmer and caused greatconcern in the eyes of navalcommanders.Themostrecentintelligencereportsstatedthatwhile thesemissilescouldbea significant threat towarships, the submarine

needed to surface in order tolaunch them. And submarinecommanders knew all toowell that a surfacedsubmarinewasaneasytarget.Unlike the USS Seawolf,

Cheyennedidnothaveawideaperture array, or WAA, soshewouldhavetotriangulatethe position of her passivesonar contacts in order todeterminetheirexactbearing,speed, and range. The shipmaneuverstoaccomplishthis

would have to be done veryquietly, especially if thecontact, now designatedMaster 1, was a direct-pathcontact.Butitwasapainfullyslowprocess.“Captain,” the sonar

supervisorsaid,“it’spossiblethe submarine was trackingus but lost us when weslowed. With theseconvergence zones out herein deepwater, it could be inexcessof75,000yardsaway.

Myguessisthathethinkswepassed him, and based on itsblade rate, is running fullspeed in an attempt to catchup with us and regaincontact.”That was a good guess,

Mackthought,butitwasstilljust a guess. He wantedsomething more than that.Proceeding to the conn, heordered the OOD to stationthe section fire-controltracking party so the BSY-1

computers could be used todetermine thesolutionon thetarget. The OOD wouldmaneuver the submarine inorder to change the bearingsreceivedbythetowedarrays.Mack also ordered the

OOD to house the TB-16towed array and deploy theTB-23 towed-array. Unlikethe 240 feet of TB-16hydrophones, the TB-23towed-array sonar measuredover 900 feet in length,

mounted nearly 100hydrophones, andwas towedat the end of a 2,600-footcable.Thenhereturnedtothesonarroom.“Captain, blade rate

indicatesMaster 1’s speed issteady at eighteen knots,”reportedthesonarsupervisor.“We’re getting more tonalsnow, including one from theconformal array. She’sdefinitely notAmerican. Thetonalscomparetothoselisted

in the sonar intelligencemanualsasuniquetoChineseHanclass,number402.”That stopped Mack. “I

thought402was sunkby thesubmarine escortingNimitz,”hesaid.“Sodidnavalintelligence,”

the sonar supervisor replied.“I guess they got theirnumbersmixedup.Wouldn’tbethefirsttime.”The captain called to the

OOD, “Begin retrieving the

TB-23. I don’t want to gettangledup incasewehaveafight on our hands.” Thetowed-array sonar wasvaluable for quietly listeningtopassivesonarcontacts,butMack, like many submarinecaptains,preferred to retrieveit before engaging in closecombat with an enemysubmarine.Mack left the sonar room

andwentback to theconn tosee how the fire-control

solutionwascoming.“Conn, sonar, our contact,

Master 1, just stopped hisshaft.”Seven more minutes

passed, Cheyenne’s sonaroperators carefullymonitoring the tonals fromthe Chinese submarine’sreactorcoolantpumps.Thesehad to be run constantly inorder to avoid destroying thereactor, one of the fewdrawbacks of a nuclear-

powered submarine. Aconventional, or non-nuclear,submarinecouldstopdeadinthewater,runningentirelyonher battery power, and becompletely silent. A nuclearsubmarine, however, such asCheyenne or Han number402, had to constantly pumpreactor coolant in order tokeep the reactor critical andprevent its overheating. Thatdifference meant that itsometimes could be easier to

hunt an SSN than a regulardiesel boat—especially whenthe SSN was an old, 1970s-vintage Han with reactorplantproblems.The silence ended when

the sonar supervisor called,“Conn, sonar, single activepulse from Master 1.”Moments later there was asecondsonarpulse.Mack ordered the chief of

the watch to “Man battlestations torpedo,” then took

the conn from the officer ofthedeck.With battle stations

manned, the executiveofficer, inhis role as the firecontrol coordinator, reportedto the captain, “Master 1 isnow bearing 169, BSY-1rangeis22,000yards.Hewasnotinaconvergencezone.”Aboard Han 402, the

Chinesecommanderfeltasifhe had little choice but togive his position away. His

sonar had acquired onlyintermittent contact on theAmerican submarinemaneuveringinthisarea,andheneededtolocateitinorderto accomplish his mission:sink the submarine and thencontinueonagainstAmericanmerchant ships. He knew anAmerican submarinewas outthere,butdidn’tknowwhere,and didn’t know it wasCheyenne. Unfortunately forhim and his crew, however,

he had thought that he wasmuchclosertotheAmericansthanhisactivesonartoldhimhewas.22,000yardswasoutof torpedo range for hissubmarine, but not forCheyenne’sMk48s.Those two active “pings”

were a calculated risk on theChinese captain’s part. Heknew his submarine was asnoisyasabullinachinashopand he suspected theAmericans had been tracking

him. Once he’d figured outthat the American submarinehadpassedhimheknewtheycould not be far off. If hewaited too long, he wouldmisshischancetoattack.Aboard Cheyenne, Mack

was trying to outguess theChinese captain. He knewthatChinesesubmarineswerenotorious for having verypoor sonar outfits, but hedidn’t think they were badenough that the captain of

number 402 would have nochoice but to use his activesonar, giving away his ownexact location. No, Mackthought. This does makesense. If theChinese captainknew we were tracking him,he probably had figured thatwe knew his location, so allhe was really doing wasleveling the playing field-giving away information wealreadyhadinordertolearnourlocationaswell.

Whatthisamountedtowasthat the Chinese submarinehad gone active on theAmericansubmarineandbothsubmarines now had anaccuratefiringsolution.Mackdidn’t expect the Chinesecaptaintoletthisopportunityslip away. The Han wascurrently outside its owntorpedo range, but that couldchangerapidly.“Conn, sonar, theHan just

started up again. It’s making

turns for twenty-five knots,sounds like she’s reallystraining. They are closingquickly.”Captain Mackey reversed

course tominimize the rangeclosure while he orderedtubes one and two madereadyinallrespects.“Torpedo room, fire

control, make tubes one andtwo ready in all respects andopentheouterdoors.”Whentheouterdoorswere

open, Mack turned backtowardtheHanandincreasedspeed to full. Bothsubmarines were headedstraight foroneanother inanunderwater game of chickenthatcouldpotentiallyigniteathirdworldwar.“Conn, sonar, we have a

torpedo in the water! TypeSET-53, bearing 163. It’sactive,Captain.”“Range to Master 1 is

21,000 yards,” reported the

firecontrolcoordinator.Mack looked around his

control room. There was alook of horror in the eyes oftheyoungsailorswhohadnotyet been in theNavy for sixmonths.“Allstop,”heordered.“All stop, aye, sir,” the

helmsman repeated. Secondslaterheadded,“Maneuveringanswersallstop.”The normal procedure for

counteringatorpedowasturn

and run, flank speed, in theopposite direction. This wasnot, however, a normalsituation.The U.S. intelligence

community had managed tosecretly buy three of theChinesetypeSET-53homingtorpedoes from the Russiansin a not-so-friendly transferof technology. From theirvarious tests, they haddeterminedthatthemaximumrangeoftheSET-53wasfive

nautical miles, or 10,000yards. Even building in alarge margin of error bydoubling that range to tennautical miles, or about20,000 yards, Mack knewthattherewassimplynowaythat the Chinese torpedocouldhitCheyenne.It did, however, make

CaptainMackey furious, andnot just because this was anactofwaragainst theUnitedStates by a Chinese

submarine. More than that,thiswasanaggressiveactionagainst him, his submarine,andhiscrew.Cheyenne was not in any

immediate danger—not yet,atleast.Justincase,however,the captain calmly ordered,“Rigshipfordepthcharge.”The Chinese captain had

put his submarine in a verybad position. The Chineseleaders, wanting todemonstrate their power to

the Americans, had givenHan 402 orders to attackAmerican submarines andsurfaceshipsoperatinginthearea. The 402’s captain wasfollowinghisordersfaithfully...buthedidn’tbelievethoseorders included suicide. Andhe knew all too well thatattackingaLosAngelesclasssubmarinewas tantamount tosuicide.Ifhecouldmanagetoget in close enough to attackCheyenne,hewoulddoso.If

not, he would follow hisordersandlaunchatwhateverrangehefelthecouldwithoutgetting himself killed, andthenhewoulddivedeepandhunt for American merchantships.When the active “pings”

revealedCheyenne’slocation,the Chinese captain realizedthat he had given away theirlocationmuchtoofarawaytoeffectively attack theAmericans. With their own

location revealed, closingwithCheyennewouldput theHan at serious risk, whichmeant that his only realchoice was either to simplyturn and run or to first shootat the Americans and thenturnandrun.Thefirstoptionappealedtohimthemost,butthe second option was whathisordersdemanded.The Han captain gave the

command to release a singletorpedo and then began

turning to his right.His onlyplanwastomakeaturntotheeast and get away from thenow-angry Americansubmarine.Mack thought about that

torpedointhewaterandwhatit meant. The Han had firedupon him withoutprovocation, which meantthat China had decided toescalate. They would bestarting hostilities at anymoment, and all submarines

would by now have beentaskedbytheChinesenavytosink anyAmericanwarships,merchant ships, orsubmarines as they exitedtheirhomeports.All around the world,

wherever Chinese vesselscame in contact withAmerican ships, there wouldbeblood-shed.Someofthemwouldgetlucky.Somewouldwin, and some would lose.But this particular Chinese

captain had gotten unluckywhen he decided to attackCheyenne rather than adefenselessmerchantvessel.And it was too late to

changehismind.Mack immediately saw

what the Han was doing. Itwas turning and running—inthe direction of San Diego,which could only mean onething.Chinawas atwarwiththeUnitedStates.“Conn, sonar, the Chinese

torpedo just settled dead inthe water,” the sonarsupervisor reported. “Basedon run time, it didn’t evenmakeit6,000yards.”Macknodded.TheChinese

had had their turn. Now itwasCheyenne’s.The Los Angeles class

attack submarine began topickupspeedrapidly,rushingto get behind the Han. TheChinese submarine wasrunning from them in an

attempt to escape theAmerican submarine andreturntoasafehaven,hidingsomewhere off the WestCoast, but Cheyenne wasn’tabouttoallowthat.The Han’s top speed was

twenty-five knots; Cheyennewas doing thirty-one knots,and the range to Master 1closed rapidly. Bothcommandingofficersknew itwould only be a matter oftime before the Americans

werewithinfiringrange.Aboard the Han, the

Chinese captain’s optionswere limited once again. Hecould continue to run,prolonging things for a shortwhilelonger,orhecouldturnandfight.His orderswere clear, and

so was his choice. At hiscommand, his submarinecame around in another slowturn and bore down onCheyenne.

Itwas anoblegesture, butafutileone.TheHancaptainwas racing to get withintorpedo range, knowing thatthe effective range of theAmerican Mk 48 ADCAPwasmorethandoublethatofhisChineseSET-53.“Conn, sonar, two

torpedoes in the water, moreSET-53s,bearing165.”The fire control

coordinator reported therange to Master 1 as 18,000

yards.Mack wasn’t worried.

Clearly,theChinesehaddonethis out of desperation. Theywanted to go down fighting,andtheironlyhopewastogetlucky—and a torpedo in thewater was a chance to getlucky; a torpedo unlaunchedwasnothing.Cheyenne had closed to

within striking range, butMack didn’t give the ordersto shoot yet.Therewere still

two chances for the Chinesetogetlucky,ifthoseSET-53sreally had a range of 20,000yards. Captain Mackey onceagain gave the orders toprepareforapossibletorpedohit, and also to take evasiveactionbylaunchingtwoADC(Acoustic DeviceCountermeasure) Mk 2decoys.The decoys, which were

launchedoutofwhatwereineffect mini-torpedo tubes,

accomplished exactly whattheywere intended todoanddecoyed the torpedoes in adirection other than that ofCheyenne. The Chinesetorpedoes ran out the lengthoftheircoursewithouthittinganything solid. Theirmomentumspent,theysettledtotheoceanfloor,takingHan402’shopeswiththem.Though Mack had trained

nearly his entire career forfiring on an enemy

submarine, he had neverreally expected it to happen.But Mack, like the othersaboard Cheyenne, was aprofessional.Hewascalmashe gave the command,“Firing point procedures,Master1,tubesoneandtwo.”ABSY-1operatorreported

therelevant targetdatato thecaptain.“Match sonarbearings and

shoot, tubes one and two,”Macksaid,hisvoicecooland

steady.“Match sonarbearings and

shoot, tubes one and two,aye,” the fire controlcoordinator repeated thecommand.TheMk48swerelaunched

from the weapons controlconsole and were ejectedfrom their tubes. Their Ottofuel engines came to life,poweringtheirpumpjets.“Tubes one and two fired

electrically,” said the combat

systems officer at theweaponscontrolconsole.As soon as the torpedoes

enteredthewater,theChinesesubmarine began to turn.Mackguessed that theyweregoing to try a ninety-degreeturn away from theMk 48s,but the seeker heads on theADCAPs were doing whattheyhadbeendesignedtodo:hunt down an enemysubmarine. They stayed withthe Han as it twisted and

turned.“Both torpedoes have

acquired Master 1,” reportedthe combat systems officer.Both Mk 48s had found theenemy submarine with theirown sonars and no longerneeded to be guided byCheyenne’s fire-controlsystem via their guidancewires.“Cut the wires, shut the

outer doors, and reload tubesone and two,” ordered

CaptainMackey.“Conn, sonar, two

explosions,bearing162.”A cheer erupted in the

control room, but CaptainBartholomewMackeydidnotjoin in. The sailors werecelebrating the fact thatCheyenne had just achievedher first blood, but Mackknewthatmorethanthathadjusthappened.War with mainland China

wasnowafactoflife.

A short time later, Macksecured from battle stationsand ordered Cheyenne toproceed to periscope depth.Using SSIXS (SubmarineSatellite InformationExchange System), Mackcommunicatedtheiractionstothe higher-ups in theDepartment of Defense andthe Navy. As Mack hadsuspected, message trafficindicated that their encounterhad not been an isolated

incident and Cheyenne soonlearnedthatwhatseemedlikean all-out war had beenstartedbyChinainanattemptto assert its position in thenewworldorder.Cheyenne’s orders were

againconfirmedandshewastoremainoncourse,sprintingand drifting until arriving atPearlHarborsothatshecouldresupply and join otherAmerican units in the SouthChina Sea. There was one

important change in herorders,however:shewasnowallowedtoattackanyChinesenaval vessel she encounteredso long as her trip to Pearlwouldnotbeoverlydelayed.

TheremainderofthetriptoPearlwas a tense one.Everymomentthatpassedincreasedthelikelihoodthattheywouldonce again face combat.

Runningat fourhundred feettoward the submarine safetylanes southwest of the BigIsland of Hawaii, the OODbrought the submarineshallow to copy over thefloating wire any news thatmight have occurred sincetheir last venture toward thesurface. The news was notgood.Two Spruance class

destroyers, the USS Fletcher(DD 992) and theUSS John

Young (DD 973), wereoperating inconjunctionwiththe Coast Guard cutterMidgett(WHEC726).Oneofthe SH-60 Seahawks fromFletcherhaddroppedalineofsonobuoys about 150 milessouth of Honolulu anddetected a possible sonarcontact.All vessels hadbeentoldofthefriendlysubmarinetraffic in the area, but thecontact the Fletcher’sSeahawk detected did not

match any of the sonarprofiles of the submarinesexpected to be operatingnearby.Another Seahawk from

John Young was en route tothe area. Its orders were toassist in determining whattypeofcontactthesonobouysweretracking.Cheyenne went to

periscope depth. Word cameto them over the periscopecommunications antenna, on

the “Navy Red” encryptedcircuit from one of thehelicopters, that there was apossible enemy submarineoperating in the area, whichturned out to be forty-twonautical miles north ofCheyenne’s current location.The message also indicatedthat Cheyenne’s assistancewouldbegreatlyappreciated.Mack acknowledged thepilot’s request, and thenorderedCheyennetoreturnto

operationaldepthandproceedtowardthereporteddatum.Forty-seven minutes later

Cheyenne’s towed-arraysonar detected the sonarcontact.Theywerestilloutofrangeandcouldnottellmuchaboutthecontact.Theyknewonly that it might be asubmarine,and that, if itwasa submarine, it wasattempting to be as quiet aspossible. The sonarsupervisor designated this

new contact as Cheyenne’sMaster2.On the surface, the two

U.S.destroyersandtheCoastGuardcutterwerehuntingthesonar contact. The surfaceshipswereattemptingtokeeptheir distance from thecontact, wary of a possibletorpedoattack.TheSeahawksdid not have to worry aboutthat, and at 1340, momentsafter the surface ships hadconfirmed that the contact

was indeed another Chinesenuclear submarine,Cheyenneheard the sounds of twoMk50 torpedoes entering thewater.“Conn, sonar, torpedoes in

thewater ...Mk50s, bearing017. The Seahawks justdropped weapons on thesubmarinecontact,Master2.”Ashorttimelaterthesmall

helicopter torpedoes wentactive. Cheyenne heard twonoisemaker decoys being

launched, followed by theloudcavitationoftheChinesesubmarine as it attempted tooutrun the Mk 50s—to noavail.“Conn, sonar, two

explosions,bearing023.”“Radio, Captain,” Mack

said. “Send congrats to thehelo pilots over Navy Red;they just sank themselves anenemysubmarine!”Cheyenne’s crew was

justifiably jubilant at having

witnessedthedestructionofasecond Chinese submarine.Perhaps it had not been asexciting as their initial tasteofcombat,butithadboostedtheirconfidenceintheirnavalbrethren hundreds of feetabovethem.More than that, though,

theywerebuoyedby thefactthateveryaspectoftheirfirstmissionhadgoneoffwithouta hitch. Mack orderedCheyennetoproceedtoPearl.

Once there, they wouldcomplete their mini-refit andprepare Cheyenne for hernext operation: her transit tothehomewatersoffChina—theSouthChinaSea.

2.SouthChinaSea

StationCaptain Mackey looked

around the small wardroom,meeting the gaze of each oftheofficers assembledbeforehim. “The price of success,”he said. “The Navy was sopleased with our operationswhile en route to Pearl thatthey decided to send usdirectly into harm’s way.

Cheyennehasbeenorderedtorendezvous with the USSIndependence (CV-62),whichwill be heading in thedirection of the recentlyoccupied Spratly Islands.Independence is currentlysteamingintheIndianOcean.We are to meet up with herone hundredmiles northwestof Natuna Island. UponcrossingthePacificOceanwewillchop(changeoperationalcommander) to the Seventh

Fleet.”Mack kept his voice and

his gaze steady. Suchtransfers were commonbetween fleets, but this onecarried the connotation of anincrease in risk. The ThirdFleet was remaining onstation closer to home; theSeventhwasonthefrontlinesofthisnewwar.“Naval intelligence reports

that there are large numbersof enemywarships operating

in the area,” Mack went on.“We will, without a doubt,come intocontactwithmanyof these. Our first priority,however,remainsmeetingupwith Independence. We willtake this dangerous missionone step at a time.Remember, they have thehome-courtadvantage.”He looked around the

wardroom one last time.“We’ll depart as soon as ourrefitiscomplete.”

If only that were true,Mack thought. But the truthwas, they would be leavingbefore they were completelyoutfitted. As was always thecase during peacetime,materielwasneverorderedinlarge enough quantities tosatisfy the demands ofwartime operations. Therewere too many shipssteaming into Pearl forsupplies, and not enoughweapons and ammunition to

goaround.

More was on order, ofcourse, and it wouldn’t belong before Pearl was fullystockpiled, but by thenCheyenne would be halfwaytotheSouthChinaSea.Cheyenne’s loadout

included sixteen Mk 48ADCAPs, six Tomahawkland-attack cruise missiles,and four Harpoon antishipmissiles for medium-rangeattacks on surface ships. Theloading was a long process.

TheMk48shadtobeslowlyandcarefullyloweredintotheloading hatch one at a time,and the Tomahawks in theirloadingcanisterswereloadeddirectly into Cheyenne’sverticallaunchtubes.If Mack had had his way,

though, the loading processwould have taken evenlonger. He’d take Cheyenneoutassoonasshewasready,ofcourse,buthewouldhavebeen happier if she’d had a

fullcomplementofweapons.The transit to the

rendezvous withIndependence would takeCheyenne in a southwesterlydirection through the PacificOcean and past theMarshalland Solomon Islands, bothsites of grisly combatoperations over fifty yearsago. Shewould then pass bythe Caroline Islands and cutthrough the Celebes Seabefore entering the Sulu Sea

and, finally, the SouthChinaSea.Naval intelligence had

confirmed thatCheyenne hadsunk the second of theChineseHanclassofnuclearattack submarines, number402, and that she had beenwitness to the destruction ofwhat turned out to be Hannumber 404 south ofHonolulu. These twoconfirmed kills, along withthe Han destroyed earlier by

the submarine escortingNimitz, meant that theChinese navy had only tworemaining nuclear poweredsubmarines.Oratleast,Mackreminded himself, only twothat the United States knewabout.Addressing that lack of

intelligence was a part ofCheyenne’smission.Once inChina’s home waters,Cheyenne’s orders were togather intelligence on

Chinese naval operationswhile making her way southin the direction of Indonesia.There,100milesnorthwestofNatunaIsland,theiroldfriendUSS Independence would bewaitingforthem.

Thinking about theirmission and the tools they’dhaveavailabletocompleteit,Mackadjourned themeeting.The loadout would becomplete in less than twohours, and he wanted hisofficers and sailors ready forimminentcombatoperations.

Somewhere in the centralPacific,aChineseLudaclass

destroyer sat quietly, dead inthe water. One hundredmetersbelowitlayitspartnerin crime, a Romeo classdieselattacksubmarine.Theirmission was simple: sink asmany American vessels aspossible. They had heard thenewsofChina’s lossesin thePacific Ocean, so they werepleased to detect a merchantship,The Southwest Passage,anAmericanmerchantvesseltwo days out from Japan, en

route to one of theHawaiianIslands.Themerchantman was not

abigship,butshewasflyingthe American flag, and thatmadeheratarget.AssoonasTheSouthwestPassage camewithin eighty miles, thedestroyer captain launchedone of his two Harbin Z-9Ahelicopters in order toconfirm the identity andnationalityoftheship.The merchantman did not,

atfirst,realizethedangershewas in, and her captain kepther on course. When theChinese helicopter finallybuzzed the bridge, however,he radioed their observationsin to the U.S. Navy andreceived orders to alter theircourse to avoid, as theNavyradioman described it, “apossibly life-threateningsituation.”Unfortunately for the

merchant ship and her crew,

it was already too late.Without warning, threeChinese HY-2 missiles,variants of the Silkwormsurface-to-surface missilefamily,camestreakingacrossthe sky,directly into thehullof The Southwest Passage.Allthreeimpactscamewithinseconds of one another, twoin the aft section of her hull,thethirdclosertothebow.The Southwest Passage

went down like a rock, not

evenpausingtobreakup.Allhandswerelost,mostofthemdyingintheexplosions.Aboard the Chinese

destroyer, the captain waswell pleasedwith the results.They had struck backsuccessfully at theAmericans. Even better, hehadusedonlyhisdestroyerinthe attack. With luck hewould be able to keep hissubmarine a secret, saving itasasurpriseforabiggerfish,

perhapsevenaU.S.warship.Having just passed

Midway Island, Cheyennewas about to begin turningsouthwardwhenshereceivedword of the attack on TheSouthwest Passage. Sincegetting underway submergedfrom Pearl, Mack hadmaintained the floating wirecommunications antennastreamed to get anyinformation that the Navymight wish to pass along to

them. He had expectedintelligence updates, andinformation on the latestdevelopments, but he hadn’tbeenexpectingnewslikethat.According to themessage,

the attack had occurred duesouth of Cheyenne’s currentposition. The coordinateswere located approximatelyoneday’s travelat full speed—oraboutadayandahalfattheir current rate of twentyknots. Mack didn’t hesitate.

Hisordersallowedhimsomelatitude,andhewaspreparedtotakefulladvantageofthat.Reading the message a

second time, he gave theorder to turn Cheyenne andhead full speed toward thedestroyer’s reported position.In the absence of a formaldeclaration of war, theChinese government wouldundoubtedly brand thedestroyer a renegade. Whichwas fine with Mack. He

intended to bring them tojustice...Americanstyle.

Twenty-six hours laterCheyenne received hersecond surprise. They hadpicked up a target, but itwasn’t thedestroyer. Instead,there was another signalmasking the one they’dexpected.Sonar quickly identified it

asadieselsubmarine,Romeoclass.TheChinesesubmarine

must have been having aproblem with her snorkelingsystem because she wasrecharging her batteries onthe surface—and making atremendous amount of dieselnoise in the process. It wasanothertwohoursbeforetheypickedup theLudadestroyerrunning at about thirteenknots.Mack ordered battle

stationsmanned.“Quiteadayfor going hunting, don’t you

think?” he said to the divingofficer.“Sure is, Captain. It’s not

often you find an enemysubmarineonthesurfacewithitspantsdownlikethisone.”For targets such as these,

the Harpoon surface-to-surface missile—or, in thiscase, submarine-to-surfacemissile—waswithoutadoubtthe weapon of choice,especially since both theChinese submarine and the

destroyer were operating sonoisily.Cheyennewasabletodetermine their positionsprecisely and easily,something that was highlyuncommonatthisdistance.“Conn,sonar.Master11is

bearing 013. Master 12 isbearing 002.”Master 11wasthe Romeo-class submarine ;Master 12was the destroyer.Neitherof themhadanyideawhat was about to be senttheirway.

Over thenext tenminutes,the BSY-1 computers wereable to determine roughranges of forty-three nauticalmilestoMaster11,andforty-two nautical miles toMaster12.Cheyennedidn’tneed theactual range. As long as thetargets were within reach ofthe Harpoons, it was theaccurate bearings thatcounted.Mackwaspleasedwiththe

target acquisitions. “Torpedo

room,” he called from theconn.“Removethetorpedoesand reload tubes two, three,and four with Harpoons.Leave an ADCAP in tubeone.”The response was

immediate. “Remove thetorpedoes and reload tubestwo, three, and four withHarpoons, leave an ADCAPintubeone,aye,sir.”Mackwouldhave loved to

shoot off all four of his

Harpoon missiles, but thatwas cowboy tactics.The twoknown targets were makingsomuchnoise thathehad tokeep in mind the possibilitythat there was a third—andmuch more quiet—enemy inthe area. He needed to keeponetorpedoreadytoshootincase he ran into one of theremaining Han class attacksubmarines they knew about—or, worse, an enemy theydidn’t know about and

weren’tpreparedfor.The Luda destroyer was

the bigger target, and it wasmore mobile than thesurfaced Romeo classsubmarine. Mack decided totarget two Harpoons to theLuda and only one to thesubmarine. At his command,Cheyenne decreased speedand began to creep silentlythroughthewater.“Tubestwo,three,andfour

are loaded with Harpoons,”

reported the combat systemofficer. Cheyenne was nowreadytofirehermissiles.The UGM-84, the

submarine-launched variantof the Harpoon, came“wrapped” inside a buoyantcapsulethatwasshapedtofitinside a torpedo tube. Uponfiring, the UGM-84 wouldrise to the surface and, afterejecting the nose to thecapsule, would ignite itsrocket booster. Then, after

dropping its booster, theHarpoon’s turbojet enginewould light off and themissile would accelerate oncourse toward its target. AstheUGM-84neareditstarget,the radar seeker head wouldswitch on and the Harpoonwould commence its finalapproach.For this mission, Mack

ordered each Harpoonprogrammedtomakea“pop-up” maneuver before

attacking its target. Thiswould confuse anyantimissile systems theenemy destroyer might haveonboard.Cheyennewasonlygoingtohaveoneeasylaunchwindowat thesetwoChinesevessels. Mack wanted tomake sure that his shotscounted.“Firing point procedures,”

Mack ordered, “tube two,Master 11; tubes three andfour,Master12.”

He gave the order to firethe Harpoons two minuteslater. Theywere launched tothe surface by the weaponscontrolconsoleandthesonarmanheardtherocketboostersignite. “Reload tubes two,three,andfourwithMk48s,”Mackcommanded.Flying at just under the

speed of sound, the missilesfoundtheirmarksinlessthanfiveminutes.ThistimeitwastheChinesewhoneverhada

chance.Three large explosions

marked the success ofCheyenne’s attack. TheRomeo was hit first. TheHarpoon came from itscruising altitude, performedits pop-up maneuver, andslammed into the top of theRomeo’s afterdeck while thesubmarinewas rechargingonthesurface.TheChinesenavyhad tried to save money bynot repairing the damaged

snorkelsystem.Thatdecisioncostthemtheirsubmarine.The missile’s 510-pound

high-explosive warheaddetonatedonimpact,tearingalarge hole in the hull andsending the force of itsexplosiondownintothebellyof the submarine. The thinsteelhullburstapart,splittingthe submarine into twopieces. Both halves quicklyfilled with water and sank,opposite ends first, into the

sea.Twelve seconds later, it

was thedestroyer’s turn.Thefirstmissile hit its front end,directly under the 130mmgun. There was a horrificexplosion and the entire foresection of the destroyer wasbentinadownwarddirection,bringing a large amount ofwater into the ship. ThesecondHarpoonhittheship’sbridge,killingthecaptainandallinitscommandcenter.

The 3,400-ton destroyerdid not sink right away. Itdidn’t break up quicklyenough for that. It would bethree long hours before itsank into the depths of thePacific.Instead,itsat,deadinthewater,aspreadingpoolofoil and diesel fuel markingwhat would become itswaterygrave.Aboard Cheyenne, the

captain and crew knew onlythattheyshouldhavehittheir

targets, but they had nowayof determining how well themissiles had done their job.As soon as the Harpoonswere launched, Cheyennedescended to 375 feet andimmediately departed thearea. If there were any otherenemy vessels nearby, theywould undoubtedly belooking for her at this verymoment. Mack waited fornearly an hour before hesecuredfrombattlestations.

Cheyennehaddoneherjobextremely well, CaptainMackey thought. Mack’sgrandfatherhadserved in the“Silent Service” of WorldWarII,andMackthoughttheoldmanwouldbeveryproudof their accomplishments, ifonlyhewerestillalive.Cheyenne was the newest

operational attack submarinein the entire U.S. submarineforce.Shehadbeenonactiveduty for only a short while.

But already she had beendirectly responsible for twokills of enemy submarinesand one kill of an enemydestroyer.Mack didn’t knowit,butCheyennewaswellonher way to becoming one ofthe most decoratedsubmarines of the entirePacificFleet.

Life aboard a submarine

was often a lonely existencein which sailors had littlepersonal space and almostzero privacy. The newestsailorswereoftenrequiredto“hot bunk”—sharing bunkson a rotating sleep schedule.As soon as one sailor rolledout of bed, another crewmanwould take his place in thesame bunk. Theuncomfortable feeling ofclimbing into an alreadywarm bed gave rise to the

term“hotbunking.”After their most recent

encounter, however, lifeaboard Cheyenne wasanything but lonely. Everysonar contact seemed tosignal an enemy, everynoisefrom their reactor orpropulsionplantthreatenedtoexpose them to the Chinese,and every incomingcommunication held thepromiseofaction.Runningattwenty-six knots in the same

“sprint and drift” mode theyhad employed in their transitto Pearl, Mack wanted toreach Independence asquickly as was practicallypossible.As time passed, however,

with no further encounters,the tension levels on boardgradually returned tonormal,and before the crew realizedit they were approaching theCelebes Sea. Once throughthis,theywouldhaveonlythe

Sulu Sea between them andtheirrendezvousintheSouthChinaSea.Cheyenne had received

word that Independence wason station and awaiting herarrival. Mack and his crewwere currently a little over1,200 miles fromIndependence’s location. Atflank speed,Cheyenne couldbe there in a little over twodays, but travelling that fastcould prove to be too noisy.

At the slower but safertwenty-six knots, running insprint-and-drift mode,Cheyenne would still makeher rendezvous in less thanfourdays.Midway through the

Celebes Sea, Mack receivedan update. Cheyenne wasinstructed to use extremecaution once she passedthroughtheCelebesandSuluseasandintotheSouthChinaSea. Naval intelligence was

reporting that mines mighthavebeenlaidthere,andtheycould pose a danger toCheyenne.That was news. China

typically deployed coastaland moored contactminefields—technology thatcertainlywasn’tobsolete,butwhich would not seriouslythreaten Cheyenne. Recentintelligencereports,however,indicated that the cash-strappedRussianmilitaryhad

sold the Chinese anunconfirmed number of“Cluster Bay” and “ClusterGulf” antisubmarine mines,the latter of which could beused in 2,000 meters ofseawater. That meant thatCheyenne would have to beon guard against the older,lessadvancedmines,andtheywouldalsohavetowatchoutfor the very real possibilitythat they might “come intocontact” with these deep-

waterminesaswell.Mackwasnotpleasedwith

this news, and he liked thenext bit of intelligence evenless. An extremely largeChinese surface andsubmarinefleetwascurrentlyforming, and navalintelligenceexpected them toleaveGuangzhouNavalBasesometime within the nextthirty-six hours. Navalintelligence assumed—andMack agreed—that the

Chineseforce’smissionmostprobably consisted of twoparts: hunting for any U.S.navalvessels intheareaand,more specifically and moreimmediately, attempting tosink the U.S. carrierIndependence.

Once they reached theeastern entrance to the SuluSea, Mack cut Cheyenne’sspeedtotenknots.Shewouldtravel through the Sulu Sea

slowly and quietly until shereached the Balabac Strait,south of the relatively tinyisland of Palawan. Thatwouldbeherlastopportunityto listen carefully beforeenteringhostilewaters.As planned, Cheyenne

stayed slow and listened forany danger signs beforeentering theSouthChinaSeatohersouthwest.Therecentlyinvaded Spratly Islands layseveral hundred nautical

miles away in the center ofthe South China Sea. Thesewere reportedly heavilyguarded by a large Chinesecontingent intended toprevent another invasion oftheislands.After Cheyenne passed

silently into the South ChinaSea, Mack ordered, “Deploythe TB-23,” calling for hiscrew to stream their passive“thin-line”towed-array.Designed to detect very

low-frequency noise at longdistances, theTB-23wasoneofthenewestadditionstotheimproved Los Angeles classsubmarines. Cheyenne wasalso one of the firstsubmarines to receive thisnewsystem.The TB-23, which was

reeled into the submarine’smain ballast tank instead ofbeing housed internally andrunningdown the sideof thepressurehullliketheTB-16,

was so long that even withCheyenne running at twentyknots,shewouldstillbeableto detect distant sonarcontacts.The towed-array worked

beautifully, and its dozensofhydrophones detected moresounds than the submarine’scomputers often knew whatto do with. Everything fromlarge fish to fishing trawlershad been detected on theirsubmarine’s TB-23 since

their abbreviated shakedowncruise and they were nowvery confident in itsoperation.Almost immediately, the

TB-23 detected a largenumber of contacts.Distancewas hard to gauge with theTB-23;the signals it picked up

could be coming through aconvergence zone, andwithout the sea room tomaneuver very much,

precisionbearingsandrangeswereverydifficult.Fromthe initialdetections,

Mack guessed that thesecontacts were from surfacecontactsveryfaraway—over100 miles. If he was lucky,thesetonalswouldturnouttobe from the Chinese taskgroup sent to attack theIndependence Carrier BattleGroup that had entered theSouth China Sea south ofBorneo.

Creeping along at fiveknots in awesterly direction,Mack took Cheyenne fartherintotheSouthChinaSea.

The TB-23’s detectionswere correct, and so wasMack’s guess. The contactswere theChinese taskgroup,and itwasvery large indeed.It consisted of seven fastattack craft, four Jianghuclass frigates, three Mingclass attack submarines, and

two Romeo submarines. TheChinese task group had twoprimary missions toaccomplish: mine the SouthChina Sea and sinkIndependence.Americancarriershadbeen

a thorn in the Chinesegovernment’s side since thevery beginning of thisconflict. They had lost theirfirstHanclasssubmarinetoaU.S. submarineaccompanying Nimitz, but

Nimitz herself was notcurrentlyatarget.Shewaitedoutside the SouthChina Sea,justsouthofTaiwan,readytoenter if the need arose. Thedangerofmines in theSouthChina Seawas a serious oneand was one of the majorreasonsthatNimitzwaitedoutofharm’sway,atleastforthetime being. But the aircraftcarrierIndependence(CV-62)had now been in the SouthChina Sea for over one

month, and for the Chineseshewasabig,attractive,andhighly desirable target. Afterlaying their mines, theChinese task group headeddirectly towardIndependence.With the aid of overhead

imagery, U.S. navalintelligence quickly guessedthe Chinese task group’smission, but they had noimmediate way to informCheyenne. Since ELF

coverage in the South ChinaSea was sporadic, thesubmarinewasessentiallyoutof contact until she cameshallow enough for thefloating wire to be able tocopytraffic.At 1000 hours on the day

afterenteringtheSouthChinaSea,Cheyenne’sfloatingwireantenna reached close to thesurface and stayed there justlong enough to copy recenttraffic. An S-3 from

Independence relayed thelatest intelligence on thisrather large Chinese surfaceand submarine group. Themessage relayed through theASWC (anti-submarinewarfare commander) to CTF74—Commander Task Force74, also known asCommander SubmarineGroup 7, located inYokosuka, Japan, alsoincluded Cheyenne’s neworders.

CheyennewasinstructedtopasssilentlyneartheChinesetask group and find outexactly how manysubmarineswereoperating incooperationwiththisgroup.Most Chinese surface

vessels had only a limitedASW (antisubmarinewarfare) capability, and sothe main threat to Cheyennewould come in the form ofattack submarines andmaritime patrol aircraft such

astheChineseversionsoftheRussian11-28Beagleknownas the Harbin H-5. Theseaircraft carried bombs andtorpedoes, and could pose aserious threat to Cheyenne.Captain Mackey wascounting on Independence’sF-14stohandleat leastsomeoftheseaircraft.In addition, therewas also

a shorter-range threat fromChinesehelicoptersthatmanyof their surface combatants

carried on board. Similar inconcept to the AmericanLAMPS program, theChinese had dozens ofChinesemodelsoftheFrenchDauphin helicopter equippedfor ASW operations. OnceCheyenne got close to thesurface fleet, shewouldhavetobeextremelycautious.Cheyenne picked up speed

in order to reach herobjective. The Chinese fleetcould only move as fast as

their slowest vessels, andtheir overall speed was lessthan ten knots. They werecurrently positioned a littleover six hundredmiles awayfrom the American CarrierBattleGroup,justattheedgeoftheIndependence’saircraftrange, but outside of normalCAP (Combat Air Patrol)searchsectors.Cheyennewasseventy-fivemileseastoftheChinesetaskgroup.After a brief run at 12

knots, Cheyenne cut thisdistance to less than fiftymiles. Then the fleet ofenemywarships slowed evenfurther. At first glance, itappeared that one of theirdestroyerswashavingtroublewith its power plant and,wanting to keep the fleettogether,theyhadallstopped.But Mack wasn’t fooled.WhattheChineseweredoingwaslayingmines.Their intent, asMack saw

it, was to lay a minefield incase one of the nations thatclaimed the Spratlysattempted to invade them. Infact,Mackwaswillingtobetthat all available Chinesenaval vessels were nowtasked with laying mines atevery access to the SouthChinaSea.Mack figured that after

seeing the disastrous loss theIraqis suffered in the 1991Persian Gulf War, the

Chinese had realized that theonly way to defeat theAmerican Navy was by theuseofnavalmines.Thiswasthe American weakness, andthe South China Sea—China’shomewaters—wouldbe where they would exploitit.Within an hour, the

Chinesetaskgrouphadcometo a complete halt, but thatdidn’tbotherMackatall.Thestoppageof theChinese fleet

allowed Cheyenne to closethe remaining distancequickly.Half an hour later, with

battle stationsmanned,Mackwaswithinrangetoattacktheclosest vessel in the fleet, alone Romeo class submarinethathadwanderedtotheeast,away from the group, in anattempt to detect possibleenemy operations. AsCheyenne crept closer to thegroup, at a cautious speed of

four-and-a-half knots, it wasclear that theRomeowasnotawareofhersilentpresence.“Conn,sonar,wenowhave

five submarine contacts, alldiesels on the surface,operating with this group,”the sonar supervisor advisedthe captain. “It looks as ifthey have three Mings andtwo Romeos. I think thesubmarines are patrolling theareawhilethesurfacevesselslaytheirmines.”

Mack acknowledged thereportandordered theMingsdesignated Masters 15, 16,and 17, and the Romeosdesignated Masters 18 and19. His assessment of thesituation matched that of thesonarsupervisor.AsCheyenneclosedonthe

Chinese task group, Mackwas faced with the difficultdecisionofwhetherornotheshouldattackanyunitsinthisenemy force. His orders had

been to find out how manysubmarines were operatingwiththisgroup.Hehaddonethat. His obligation nowwastoconvey that information toIndependence, but with thatfirst Romeo, Master 18,sitting solidly on his track,Mack’s instinct was to blowthatChinesesubmarineoutofthewater.Mack shook his head and

let theRomeo slip away.Hehadsomethingbetterinmind.

WhatCheyennewoulddo,hedecided,wastowaituntilshehad passed outside the rangeof the Romeo. Then shewould use her Mk 48s toattack one of the Jianghufrigates and one of theMingsubmarines, since the Mingwas the better of the twosubmarine classes. Cheyennewould then race away andsilently head forIndependence.ThatwasMack’s plan.No

battle plan, however, hereminded himself, survivesfirstcontactwiththeenemy.He got his chance to test

that maxim exactly ninety-threeminuteslater.Cheyennehad reached theouter ringofthe rest of the submarines,and the only danger to hernow was the ASWhelicopters that might bepatrollingthearea.The submarine and frigate

Mack had targeted were

operating within threethousandyardsofeachother.This would be a perfect Mk48 shot. He had decided totarget the Ming submarine,Master 15, first, and theJianghu frigate, Master 20,second, because the MingposedamoreseriousthreattoCheyenne.Mack announced firing

pointproceduresforanattackon the Ming, Master 15.“Make tubes one and two

ready in all respects,including opening the outerdoors!”Confirmation of his

command was almostimmediate. Tubes one andtwo were ready, with theirouterdoorsopen.“Matchbearingsandshoot,

tubes one and two, Master15.”Again, confirmation was

almost immediate. The firsttorpedoeswereaway.

“Cut the wires, shut theouter doors, and reload tubesoneand two,”Mackordered,hisvoicebriskandefficient.With their wires cut, the

Mk 48s would have to findtheir target without the helpof their guidance wires, butthey were close enough totheir target that they werevirtuallycertainofacquiring.Mack put the first two

torpedoes out of his mind.Theyweregoneandon their

own, and would fail orsucceed without his help.Now he had to worry abouttheirnexttarget.“Maketubesthreeandfour

ready in all respects,including opening the outerdoors,”hesaid,beginningtheprocedureonceagain.Withinmoments, the second pair ofMk 48s was headed straightfor Master 20, the 1,500-tonfrigate.Aboard the Ming

submarine there was littletime for reaction. TheChinesecaptainorderedflankspeed in the oppositedirectionofthetorpedoes,butthe twoMk48s continued toclosethegap.The Ming reached its

maximum speed quickly, butit simply did not have theabilitytooutrunthespeedingADCAP torpedoes, cuttingthroughthewateratoverfiftyknots.

The frigate wasencounteringasimilartypeofpanic.ItsfirstreactionwastobegindroppingASWmortarsintothewaterinanattempttothrow the torpedoes offcourse.These mortars, which

carried the designation RBU1200,wereunguidedbutstilldangerous. They essentiallythrew small bombs out to arange of slightly more than1,200 yards. Since each

mortar “shell” carriedseventy-five pounds ofexplosive, their effects werespread out over a large area.Therewasalways thedangerthat the explosion mightdamage Cheyenne, eventhough she was out of theirdirectrangeandpath.“Rig ship for depth

charge,”Mackordered.The mortars were a bad

idea.Theirexplosionsdidnotreach Cheyenne—in fact,

they posed a greater risk totheMing patrolling closer tothe frigate. What’s more,rather than harmingCheyenne, they actuallyhelped her. With the loudexplosions masking all othersounds—includingpreventingCheyenne from learningwhether her torpedoes hadfound their marks—Mackordered flank speed as heturned to run from theChinesetaskgroup.

Two hours later, withCheyenne clear of the areaand out of danger, herfloating wire confirmed thather presence in the area wasno longer a secret—but shehadannouncedherselfinfinefashion. Three of her fourtorpedoes had hit theirtargets,costing theChineseafrigate and a Ming classsubmarine.Along with this

informationcameCheyenne‘s

previous orders: continuewith the rendezvous withIndependence , still some sixhundred miles fromCheyenne’scurrentposition.Mack was pleased with

both the intelligence and theorders, but he knew thatthey’d have to be evenmorecautious from now on.Cheyenne was no longer asecret, and she was wearingthe enemy’s blood. EveryavailableChineseASWasset

would be hunting forCheyenne and attempting tokillher.Butthey’dhavetofindher

first, and then they’dhave tocatchher.AndCheyenne ranfast.Hermissionwasnowtoreach Independence—which,at her current speed oftwenty-five knots, andallowing for the sprint-and-drift technique, would takeaboutfifteenhours.Mack secured from battle

stations and the rig fordepthcharge,andthensettledinforthetransittoIndependence.WithCheyenne running at

twenty-five knots fourhundred feet beneath thesurface of the South ChinaSea, Mack had time towonder about his decision toattacktheChinesefrigateandsubmarine. Had he been tooaggressive? The captainsuddenly felt both guilt andvulnerabilityforattackingthe

task group. There had beenother, more stealthyalternatives, and perhaps heshouldhavetakenthem.This was one of the

dangers of post-actionletdown. Too many peopleused that time to play the“what if?” game and tosecond-guess their owndecisions.What if Cheyennehad been damaged? hethought to himself. After all,his main objective was to

reach Independence safely,not attack enemy warships.Independence could easilyhave handled that task groupherself.In addition to the risk of

the encounter, Mack knewthathehadcostCheyennetheelement of surprise. Shewasknown, now, and beinghunted.Perhapsitwouldhavebeen a better idea to silentlydrift alongside the Chinesetask group, obtain the

required intelligence, andthenheadforthecarrier.These questions troubled

himashepreparedtoproceedto periscope depth to getinformation concerningIndependence.“Conn, sonar,” the sonar

supervisor reported, “thetowed-array picked up ahelicopter overhead. We cantell it’sahelobecauseof thehighturbinerpm.”Hearingthis,Mackordered

an immediate excursion to325 feet. He soon heard thepingofthehelicopter’sactivedipping sonar throughCheyenne’s hull, and thesoundsentchillsuphisspine.He began to worry, onceagain, about the wisdom ofhis earlier decision to attacktheChinesetaskgroup.“Conn, sonar, we just

detected a submarine on thesurface. It’s beginning tosubmerge!”

Mack remanned battlestations. The atmosphere inthe sonar room grew verytense as everyone waited forthenextcontactevaluation.Itwasn’tlongincoming,anditwasn’tgoodnews.“Conn, sonar, we’ve got

anothercontact,”reportedthesonar supervisor. “This onesoundslikeaRomeo.Itmusthave been waiting for us,playing dead in the water,because we didn’t hear it

before the active sonar fromthathelo.”Sonar designated the helo

as sonar contact Sierra 179.Mack designated the RomeoasMaster21.Antisubmarine helicopters

were always a danger. Theywere hard for submarines todetect, and their dippingsonars and sonobuoys couldprovide enemy forces withvaluable data on the locationof Cheyenne. And that was

exactlywhatthisoneseemedtobedoing.And if the helicopter was

within its torpedo range,Mack realized, they couldalso drop a torpedo in thewater. That would definitelyruinourday,hethought.“Range to the Romeo,

Master 21, is seventeenthousandyards,bearing025,”the fire-control coordinatorreported.“Sonar, conn, what’s the

classification on the one thatjust submerged?” Mackasked.“Conn, sonar, it sounds

likeanotherRomeo.Itsoundscloser, bearing 027, sir.DesignateMaster22?”The BSY-1 operators

quickly determined that twoenemy submarines were fivethousand yards from oneanother. Cheyenne, it turnedout,wasonabearingdirectlybetween them, the reciprocal

bearing 206 if they detectedher.At that moment, the

helicopter’s dipping sonarwas active again, and thistimeitwasdirectlyoverhead.Mack smiled. That helo

pilot had just done them afavor. The two Chinesesubmarinesmayhavealreadyacquired Cheyenne—whichmeant that the latest “ping”didn’t help them at all. Butthe sound energy reflecting

off their hulls intoCheyenne’s waiting sonarsand the BSY-1 computersgave her accurate firingsolutions for both Romeoclasssubmarines.“Make tubes one and two

ready in all respects,” Mackordered. “Open the outerdoors. Firing pointprocedures, tube one,Master21,andtubetwo,Master22.”Mackwantedthefirsttorpedogoing after the closer

submarine and the secondtorpedoaimedattheother.His orderswere confirmed

quicklyandefficiently.“Match sonarbearings and

shoot, tube one, Master 21and tube two,Master22,”heordered.“Matchbearingsandshoot,

tubeone,Master21,andtubetwo, Master 22, aye,Captain.”Both torpedoes quickly

acquired.

Mack acknowledged thereports. “Now, let’s get thehelloutofherebeforewegetattackedbythathelo.Cutthewires, shut the outer doors,andreloadtubesoneandtwo.Aheadflank,rightfullrudder,make your depth 800 feet,steadyoncourse180.”Mackwas calm as the directedcommands were repeated bythe persons intended forthem. Cheyenne had becomea fine-tuned fighting

machine. Each man knewwhatwasexpectedofhim.

Above them, high in thesky, a lone F-14 flying fromthe aircraft carrierIndependence saw the targetblip on its radar long beforethe Chinese helicopter hadany idea what was about tohappen. With permission ofthe flagwatch officer aboardIndependence, the 000-045sectorF-14pilotwasallowed

toadvancehissectorsincehehad radar contact on theChinese helo that washarassingCheyenne.Afterhecut in his afterburners andapproached the target atsupersonic speed, permissionto fire was passed from theTAO(tactical actionofficer).With a thumb push on thepickle, the pilot reported“Phoenix1away.”Behind him, in the

backseat, his RIO (radar

intercept officer), who haddone all the targeting work,said, “Phoenix is locked on.That submarine captain sureowesusone.”Aboard Cheyenne, the

sonar supervisor couldn’texplainhislatestdetectionstoMack.“Conn,sonar,”hesaid,“thehelicopter,theoneaboveourposition...Ithinkshejustcrashed!Somethingfellinthewater and the TB-23 is notpicking up any helo turbine

noiseanymore.”“I guess we just broke

Murphy’s law,” Mackreplied,hisvoiceascalmandefficientasever.Mack had decided not to

designate the helo with aMaster number. He wouldleave that to the aviators.However,thehelowouldfinditself in the history ofsubmarinewarfare,inMack’spatrol report, by virtue ofCheyenne’s “Sierra”

designation assigned to thehelo as one of Cheyenne’smanysonarcontacts.

The remainder of theirtransit into the southern endof the South China Seaproved,tothedelightofboththe captain and the crew, tobe entirely uneventful. Mackhad not realized howenjoyable an uneventfulstretchoftimecouldbewhenthe alternative was someone

shootingathissubmarine.When they met up with

Independence northwest ofNatuna Island,Mack and hiscrew learned that both Mk48s had found their marksand the Chinese were nowdown another twosubmarines. Mack had alsodiscovered the true storybehind the “crash” of theirChinesehelo.Macksentamessagetothe

SEC (submarine element

coordinator) on boardIndependence, requesting aspecial“thank-you”fortheF-14 pilot—a thank-you that,whenever they got a chanceto get ashore to buy one,would include a very nicebottleofwine.

3.FourifbySea,SixifbyLand

Come toperiscopedepth,”Macksaid.”Iwant tohaveaquick look around beforeproceeding.” Cheyennemoved slowly from hercurrent depth of threehundred feet beneath thesurface of the South ChinaSea, pausing at one hundredthirty feet to clear baffles.

When the sonar supervisorreported no contacts to theOOD, Cheyenne completedher excursion to fifty-ninefeet. Before arriving, theOOD, Mack, and the crewmemberswhowere trying toeat could feel the effects oftheseastate.Mack had raised the Type

18 periscope while the OODrode the leaner, lessdetectable, Type 2 attackperiscope. Two sets of eyes

were better than one,especially since the sea statecould easily mask quietsurface contacts. Once theywere near ordered depth, thetops of both periscopes wereintermittently awash in thefour-foot swells, which werefrequently topped withsignificantlyhigherwaves.In order not to broach,

Cheyenne had to take theswells, caused by a distantstorm, no more than forty-

five degrees forward of thebeam. Otherwise, she wouldhaveatendencytopitchwithaten-secondperiodduetotheninety-footwavelengthofseastate four. Pitching up ordown with Cheyenne‘sforward momentum couldresult in an uncontrollableangle, causing either the sailto be exposed during an upangle or the stern to beexposedduringadownangle.Exposing the sternwasmore

dangerous because the sevenblades of Cheyenne’s screwwould pass through the air-water interface, causingunwanted high-torque joltingof the shaft as each exposedbladeonceagainencounteredthewater.Theweatheronthesurface was terrible, withviolent thunderstormsbreaking over the entireregion. The power andmajesty of the storms werebreathtaking,butMackfound

himself thinking more abouthow much they might beaffecting flight operations onboard Independence. Heknewhowmuchbadweathercould degrade surface shipoperations.Thatwas justoneofthemanyreasonshelovedworking far beneath theturbulentsurface.Unliketheirsurface counterparts—andespecially pilots and land-based soldiers—submarinerswere rarely affected by the

weather, except when theyneeded to go to periscopedepth.

On behalf of the crew,Mack decided to keep thetime at periscope depth to aminimum. After copying theSSIXS broadcast andverifying that there were nosurface contacts in thevicinity, Mack ordered theOOD to proceed deepbeneath the storm, whichunfortunately had eroded thefirstthermallayer,causinganisotherm (constanttemperature)fromthesurface

tooversixhundredfeet.Sixhoursearlier,Cheyenne

had arrived safely at herrendezvous point with thecarrier Independence onehundred miles northwest ofNatuna Island. The entireIndependence Battle Groupwas now heading in thedirection of the SpratlyIslands. Cheyenne’s currentassignment was to patrol thenearby waters in search ofany enemy submarines that

might try to sneak up on theBattleGroup.In a way, Cheyenne was

operating like a fighter pilotassignedtoaircover.ShewasIndependence‘s first line ofASW defense, 130 milesaheadwhere the noise of theBattle Group’s ships wouldnot degrade Cheyenne’ssonars, and where the F-14sfrom Independence could, inbetterweather,provideabouta ten-hour heads-up to

Cheyenne on approachingsurfacetargets.Mackwas lookingforward

totheescortduty,achancetobe the SSN(DS) (directsupport) for which the LosAngeles class was originallybuilt.Not onlywould it be anicechangeofpacebut,moreimportant, it meant he couldhave assistance from thecarrierifandwhenheneededit.Theonlyproblemwasthat

Cheyenne was alone. Insteadof sharing the 180 sectorforward of the Battle Groupwith two other SSNs, Mackhad it all. That was fine forthe prevention of mutualinterference, especially in ashooting war, but it was animpossibly large area ofresponsibility for a singleSSN.Independence was the last

active member of theForrestal class of aircraft

carriers. These vessels, thefirstreal“supercarriers,”werebuilt during the 1950s. By1997 they all had beendecommissioned exceptIndependence. At one point,there had been plans to turn“Indy’s” sister ship,Forrestal, into a trainingcarrier, but those plans hadbeen scrapped due to budgetcuts. Independence herselfhad been scheduled fordecommissioning in October

of this year, but Macksuspected that thiswarmightchangethings.All aircraft carriers’

strength lay with theiraircraft, and CV-62 was noexception. Independence’saircraftwereasgoodorbetterthan any combat aircraft inthe world. Her currentcomplement of aircraftincluded twenty F-14Tomcats for long rangeinterceptor missions. With

their new precision strikecapability, the F-14s weresometimes referred to as the“bomb cat.” Independencealso carried F/A-18 Hornets,which were perhaps the bestdual-capable (fighter/attack)aircraft in the world. TheIndependence air wingcommander, now an aviatorO-6 major command billet,coulduse them todefend thecarrier or to attack far-offtargetsonlandoratsea.Also

on board were four E-2CHawkeyes and four EA-6BProwlers. The Hawkeyeswere early warning planesand each one carried theAPS-145radarinalargediskconnected to the top of itsfuselage. The Prowlersspecialized in radar jammingandother formsofelectronicwarfare.Perhaps her most valuable

aircraft, at least as far asMack was concerned, were

the S-3B Vikings, thesubmariner’s favorite. Thiswas one of theworld’s greataircraft designs, combiningan extremely long range andan excellent ability to hunt“enemy” submarines. Duringseveral exercise encounterswith S-3s,Mack had learnedto respect them greatly, andhewasgladthattheywereonhisside.Theonlyaircraftthatcould

possibly compete with the

Viking was the SH-60Seahawkhelicopter.It lackedthe range of the S-3, butCheyennehadseenforherselfjust how effective theSeahawkscouldbe.Thiswasthe aircraft that had earlierdestroyed the Chinese Hansubmarine while Cheyennetrackedtheiractionsbysonar,and Independence carried sixof them. Because of herimmediatelocalitytothewarzone and the risk from

Chinese submarines,Independence had beendesignatedasthetestshipforthe new SH-60Rs—thenewesttypeofSeahawk.Thiswasthefirsttocarryboththenew airborne low-frequencydipping sonar, usuallyreferred to as ALFS, andsonobuoys. It also had twotorpedoes on board—eitherthe powerful Mk 50 or theolder Mk 46. These factorscombined to make the SH-

60R the most dangerousshort-range ASW platformhoveringovertheseas.Even with all this

firepower on board, thecarrier still had her seriousvulnerabilities.Sheneededtobe escorted by surfacevessels, and her entire groupwas vulnerable to modernenemy submarines. And thatwas where Cheyenne cameintoplay.Shewouldactasanadvance party for

Independence, proceedingwell ahead of the BattleGroup and either clearing asafepathorwarning themofpossibledangersthattheF-14radars couldn’t detect. Thiscombinationofsurfaceships,aircraft, and submarinesresulted in what Mackreferred to as “synergism,”where the end result ofoperating together would befar more devastating to theChinese than if each warfare

communityoperatedalone.Unmindful of theweather,

the Independence BattleGroup got under way,steaming northward in thedirection of the Spratlys.Travelling at flank speed,Cheyenne executed a quicksprint to regainher station infront of the Battle Group. IfMack fell behind the trailingedge of his moving searchsector, Cheyenne would befree game, the so-called

friendlyfireproblemthatwasa sad reality of warfare.When she was near theleading edge of her movinghaven slightly over an hourlater, Cheyenne slowed andwaited.After slowing, Mack

ordered the OOD to deploytheTB-23towedarrayforitslong-range tonal-detectioncapability. The report camebackexactlyashe’dhoped—no contacts on the towed

array. The sonar roomwatchstanders watched theirconsoles and waited forMack’snextorders.“Officer of the deck,

prepare to come to periscopedepth,” Captain Mackeyordered. Mack wanted torelay information about thesafety of their route back tothe Independence BattleGroup.“Prepare to come to

periscopedepth,aye,sir,”the

OODreplied.But Mack didn’t get the

chance to report toIndependence. BeforeCheyenne came shallowenoughtotransmit,shebeganto receive message trafficoverthefloatingwire.“Sir,” the communicator

reported, “it looks like wejustgotneworders!”Mack went to the radio

room, grabbed the sheet ofprinter paper, and quickly

readthemessage.“Looks like a strike

mission to me,” thecommunicator said, with anote of eagerness andbrashness. “What do youthink,sir?”ThatannoyedMack.Itwas

abreachofprotocol, andnotsmart. He looked at thecommunicator and shook hishead. “Call a meeting in thewardroomintenminutes,”hesaid, putting an edge in his

tone. “I want the executiveofficer, the combat systemsofficer,theoperationsofficer,andyourselfthere.”The communicator knew

he’d screwed up. “Tenminutes, in the wardroom,aye, sir,” he said. The cockynotewasgonefromhisvoice.Cheyenne returned to a

patroldepthof247feetsincethe first thermal layer wasgone, and within eightminutesall requestedofficers

were waiting for CaptainMackey to arrive inCheyenne’swardroom.Mackcameinfiveminuteslate.Hecarried a plain manila folderinhishand.“Gentlemen,” he said. “I

have called this meeting inorder to pass on our neworders. From our presentposition in the South ChinaSea,weare toproceedto thenorth of the Chinese-heldSpratly Islands. Once there,

threehundredmilesnorth,wewill launch six Tomahawkland-attack missiles at theChinese submarine base thathas recentlybeensetupnearCuarteron Reef, one of theislandsintheSpratlychain.”He paused to see how the

others would react. He waspleased to see that, whilethere was some tension, itwas mostly excitement, withonly a touch of healthycaution.Hewas also pleased

that the communicator kepthismouthshut.“As you all know,” Mack

continued,“navalintelligencehasreportedlargenumbersofChinesesubmarinesoperatinginthisarea.We’veconfirmedthiswithour owndetections.Our new orders are to dosomething about that.” Hepaused again, making surethateveryonewaspayingfullattention. “We are going toenter the belly of the beast,”

he said. “Wewill launch ourTomahawks as ordered, andthenwewillmeetupwiththesubmarinetenderUSSMcKeein order to rearm.” Hegrinned and added, “Maybewe’ll even get a quickglimpse of life on thesurface.”His lighthearted joke

helped to ease the tensionslightly. The assembledofficers had a few questions.They discussed their options,

and then Mack dismissedthemtoreturntotheirduties.When he had returned to theconn, he used the 1MC toinform the crewof their newmission. From there on out,Cheyenne would use sound-powered phones instead ofgeneralannouncingsystems.Forty-five minutes later

Cheyenneonceagainwenttoperiscopedepth.Theseashadabated somewhat, butcopying SSIXS required the

useof the long,multipurposecommunications mast topreclude the loss of synchcaused by waves slappingover the Type 18 periscopecommunicationsantenna.Mack stayed at that depth

just long enough to receivepreliminary Tomahawktargeting data. Thisinformation, which theywouldconfirmwhentheygotcloser to their launchposition,wouldbefedtotheir

cruise missiles prior tolaunching the Tomahawks.Mack hoped the weatherwould be better north of theSpratlys.Whenthedatatransferwas

complete,CheyennedetachedfromtheIndependenceBattleGroup without report andproceededonherown.Mackhad enjoyed having thecarriernearbyforbackupandair defense, but nowCheyenne was going back to

doing what she did best:operating on her own,sneaking up on the enemy,andblowingthemtohell.

Three hundred fifty milessouthwestofCuarteronReef,running at four hundredtwenty-five feet, Cheyennepicked up her first contact.Mackwasinthesonarroom.“Captain,” the sonar

supervisorreported,“wehavea sonar contact bearing 020

on the spherical array. Thecontact’s intermittent, so Ithink we’re receiving thesound source via aconvergence zone. We pickheruploudandclear,thenwelose her and don’t hearanythingforawhile.”While normal sound

traveled through water inwavesthatgaveatleastsomepredictability, there weresome areas in which soundwaveswereturneduptoward

the surface and then oftenbounced back into the sea.These were calledconvergence zones, and theycould allow sonar to detectthese sound waves at fargreater ranges than wouldotherwise be possible. If thewater was deep enough andthesoundvelocityexcesswaspresent at depth, these zonescommonly occurred aboutevery thirty miles. In a way,the ray paths of the acoustic

energy were much like AMradio transmissions, whichcouldtravelinastraightline,then bounce off the groundand up into the atmosphere,and then comeback to earth.ThisallowedAMfrequenciesto broadcast much fartherthanFM,thoughbeyondtheirimmediate range they couldbepickeduponly inpocketsand were more affected byweather.“My guess,” the sonar

supervisoradded,“is that it’sin the second convergencezone from us.” That wouldput the signal’s source at arange of more than sixtynautical miles, or 120,000yards.“Keep an eye on that

contact,” Mack said. If thesonar supervisor was rightandCheyenne‘soperatorshadindeed heard their sonarcontact through aconvergence zone, then the

signal’ssourcewasfaroutofCheyenne’sweaponsrange.Italso meant that the thermalgradientsinthedeeperwatersof the South China Sea hadnot been eroded by thestorms. But if the sonarsupervisor was wrong,Cheyenne could be in forsome very dangerous closecombat.Sixty-three miles away,

200feetbelowthesurfaceofthe South China Sea, crept

oneofthenewestadditionstotheChinese fleet, and one ofChina’s best submarinecaptains. The Chinese Kilosubmarine had been inserviceforlessthantwoyearsand had made its crew veryproud.The first Chinese Kilo

submarines had been boughtfrom Russia in 1993 anddelivered in February 1995.The Chinese had planned tobuy up to fifteen of these

powerful diesel submarinesand had hoped that theywould be able to build fivemore themselves, underlicensefromRussia.This particular submarine

hadexcellentequipment,withthe exception of her passivesonar outfit. That was theproblem with all Russiansubmarines, as its captainknew.TheRussianscouldnotmake a decent passivesubmarinesonar—atleastnot

onethathiscountrywouldbeallowedtobuy.Andthatwasaproblem.At

any given moment, theremight be an American LosAngeles class submarinesneaking up on his position,and he would never know ituntilitwastoolate.ThecaptainoftheChinese

submarinewasn’ttooworriedabout it, though.Hiswas thelead shipof three.Below thewaves, hisKilowasworking

in tandem with an olderRomeo class dieselsubmarine. Above them,Jinan,aLudaclassdestroyer,patrolled the surface. Theirmission was to hunt downand destroy any Americanships and submarines. Inaddition, there was anotherKilowellofftotheside—notpart of his task force, but itcouldprovideassistanceifheneededit.The captain of the Kilo

welcomedJinanmorethanhedidtheRomeo.Foronething,the destroyer’s two turbineswere loud, which wouldhopefully distract anyenemy’s sonar from anynoises his Kilo might make.Even more important,however,Jinan, likeallLudatypeIIdestroyers,carriedtwoFrench ASW helicopters.Thosewouldbeveryusefulifthe Kilo needed help whileengaging an American

submarine.As pleased as the Kilo’s

captain was with the surfaceship, he was equallydispleasedwiththeRomeo.Itwas an old attack submarinethat had been reactivatedfrom the naval reserve, and,inhisopinion,itwasmoreofathreattohisownsubmarinethan it was to the enemy. Itwas too noisy, for one thing.Thatcouldbedesirablewhenthe noise came from the

surface, but down below itwould only serve to alert theAmericans to thepresenceofone or more Chinesesubmarinesinthearea.Worse, the farther he tried

to get from the Romeo, themore it tried to stay close tohim.TheRomeocaptainwasno fool.He knew he stood abetter chance under theprotectionoftheKilothanhedidonhisown.Assuming, that is, that the

Kilo captain didn’t sink theRomeohimself.

Back on board Cheyenne,sonarwas trying to reacquirecontact.Mackhadgonebackto 247 feet to continue thesearch,whileatthesametimemaintaining copy over thefloatingwire.In the control room,Mack

was looking at the BSY-1fire-controlconsole,whichheliked to keep online for

himself. “Sonar, conn, haveyou regained contact onMaster24?”“Conn, sonar, we’re

working on a possiblecontact,”thesonarsupervisorsaid,“butI’mnotsureit’sthesame convergence zone one.This one may be a surfaceship. Master 24 wastentatively classified as asubmergedsubmarine.”Several minutes later, the

sonarsupervisorreportedthat

he had not one contact, buttwo, one Romeo submarineandoneLudadestroyer,bothbearing 020.Theywere bothgiven new Master Numbers,designatedMasters25and26respectively, since the sonarsupervisor was not sure ifeither one was Master 24.Reconstructionwouldhavetosort it out later. Withouthesitating, the OOD orderedhis section fire-controltrackingpartymanned.Mack

wenttothesonarroom.“Good job,” Mack said,

unaware that they had failedtodetect theKilo thatwas intheareaofMasters25and26.“Anythingelseoutthere?”“Not that we can tell yet,

Captain,” the sonarsupervisor said, “but thosetwocontactsareloud.Wecanhear them aurally, so therecouldbemoreshipsoperatinginthearea.”Mack left the sonar room

andwent back to the controlroom. The BSY-1 operatorshad a rough solution onrange,about30,000yards.At Cheyenne’s current

speed of ten knots, Mackwould soon be within rangetolaunchhisMk48ADCAPsattheChinesecontacts.Whenhegotcloser,hewouldslow.Noneedasyetforlong-rangeshots. Cheyenne wascurrently running with theTB-23 towed-array fully

deployed and, with theOOD’s maneuvers, thesection fire-control trackingpartyattheBSY-1computerswas getting better and bettersolutions on the Chinesedestroyerandsubmarine.“Conn, sonar, the TB-23

just picked up a helicopteroverhead,” the sonarsupervisor announced.“Probably flying from theChinesedestroyer.”“Take her down fast, to

five hundred feet!” Mackordered the OOD. This wasanotherhelo“Sierra”additiontohispatrolreport.Throughout Cheyenne,

sailors grabbed for whateverthey could as the submarineheaded down at standardspeed with a twenty-degreedown angle. The divingofficer, helmsman, andplanesman had all buckledtheirseatbeltsassoonastheyheard“takeherdownfast.”

Above them, the ChineseZ-9Ahelohoveredandbeganto lower its powerful FrenchHS-12 dipping sonar via thehydraulic winch. The winchwas touted to be “highspeed,”butitdidn’tseemfastenoughforthehelopilotasitslowly lowered the HS-12towardthewater.“Conn, sonar, we just

received a sonar pulse fromthe helicopter’s dippingsonar.It’saFrenchtype,HS-

12-thesamekindtheysoldtoChina. The transmissioncame from the oppositedirection of the Romeo. Idon’t think they could havedetected us, sir. Signal levelofthepulsewaslow.”Whichprobablymeant the helowasquite a ways off or else ithadn’t dipped its sonarbeneaththelayer.Mack acknowledged for

theOOD. “Verywell, sonar,we have it out here on the

WLR-9 as well,” he said.“Wereweabletopickupanyother information from thetransmission?”“Sonar, conn, negative,”

the sonar supervisoranswered. “It wasn’t a verystrong pulse. Let’s hope sheranoutofbatteries.”Mack smiled at the joke.

Unlike the communicator’searlier gaffe, this commentwaswelltimed,andhelpedtoeasethetensionslightly.

One hour and fifteenminutes later Cheyenne hadclosedtowithin20,000yardsofhertargets,Masters25and26. Mack ordered battlestationsmanned.A few minutes later the

helo was active again. TheWLR-9’s acoustic interceptreceiver at the conn pickedthatoneupalso,eventhoughitwasnearthebaffles.“Conn, sonar, that was a

loud one, sir,” the sonar

supervisorsaid.Mack smiled. “She must

haverecharged,”hesaid,inadeadpan voice. “DesignatetheheloMaster27.”“Conn,sonar,shegotuson

that one, sir—but that’s notall she painted! Captain,we’ve got another submarineout there, a Kilo class, onesix-bladed screw, makingturns for ten knots. It’sbearing 025, near the samebearing as the Romeo. It’s

been hiding from us all thistime.”All humor was gone from

the conn. Considering theirsituation, Mack was pleasedwith how well his officersand crew were handling thesudden tension. Not awaretheyhadregainedoldMaster24, the Kilo was designatedMaster28.Cheyenne had just been

pinged on by a directlyoverhead Chinese ASW

helicopter, which hadundoubtedly received anexact fix on their presentlocation five hundred feetbelow the surface. The helowould now probably bemaking an MAD (magneticanomaly detection) pass toconfirmCheyenne’s position.Mack was concerned thattheywouldfollowthatupbydropping a torpedo directlyontopofCheyenne.“Conn, sonar, the Kilo,

Master 28, just picked upspeed.It’sheadingdirectlyatus, making turns forseventeen knots. It mustsuspect that the helo gavetheirpositionaway.”“What’s the range to the

Kilo?” Mack asked the fire-controlcoordinator.“Twenty-four thousand

yards, Captain.We’re withinADCAPrangefortheKilo—it’s making lots of noise atseventeenknots.Recommend

making tubes one and twoready.”Mack nodded and initiated

Firing Point Procedures onMaster 28. “Torpedo room,fire control, make tubes oneandtworeadyinallrespects.Opentheouterdoors.”The order was

acknowledged. One minutelater it was confirmed.“Tubesoneandtwoarereadyin all respects, sir. Outerdoorshavebeenopened.”

“Sonar,conn,standby.”“Conn, sonar, standing

by.”“Match sonarbearings and

shoottubeone,Master28.”“Match sonarbearings and

shoot tube one, Master 28,aye,sir.”Mack then came right to

clearthedatum.“Tube one fired

electrically,” the combatsystem officer reported. Thatwas as far as he got. Before

he could report on thetorpedo’s status, the sonarsupervisorspokeup.“Conn, sonar, torpedo in

thewater bearing 180! It’s aChinese Mk 46 copy, Mod2.”Mackhadbeencorrect inassigning the helo a Masternumber, which were usuallyreserved for potential threatsto Cheyenne herself, or totargets of significantintelligencevalue.“Cut thewire and shut the

outer door,” ordered thecaptain. “Reload tube one.”Mackwasthrowingawayhistorpedo, andheknew it.TheKilo was too far away andmaneuvering. The Mk 48wouldprobablynotbeabletoacquire on its own, but rightnow Mack had a differenttorpedotoworryabout.“Left full rudder,allahead

flank, steady course 305,”Mack ordered. “Cavitate.Make your depth 750 feet.”

He waited foracknowledgment and thenadded, “Rig ship for depthcharge.”Cheyenne’s power plant

was now running at peakcapacity in an attempt to getawayfromthedeadlytorpedoracingtheirway.“Conn, sonar, another

torpedo in the water. Master27 justdroppedasecondMk46onus,bearing245.”“Release a noisemaker,”

Mackordered.Confirmation was quick.

“Noisemakeraway.”Cheyenne’s top speed was

nearly forty knots. The twotorpedoes chasing her wereknifing through the water atforty knots, butMackwasn’tworried. Not yet, anyway.Sonar reported the Chinesetorpedoes bearing 268 andbearing 187. If Mackmaintained his course andspeed, the torpedoes would

both run out of fuel beforetheyclosedthedistance.The problem was that, at

flank speed, Cheyenne wasmakingmore noise. Shewasannouncingherexactlocationtoeverynearbysonardevice.On top of that, she wasmakingenoughnoisethatshecould barely hear anythingaroundher.Mackknewthatinorderto

outrun the torpedoes, theywould need to keep running

at this speed, blind toanything but the noisytorpedoes,foratleastanotherfivethousandyards.That was when Cheyenne

caughtherfirstbreak.“Conn,sonar,” the sonar supervisorreported, “the first torpedojust fell for the noisemaker.It’soffourtail.”“Sonar, conn, what about

torpedo number two?”Mackasked.“Conn, sonar, it’s at the

edge of our port baffle.”There was a brief pause andthen the sonar supervisoradded, “It just went active,Captain.”“Release another

noisemaker.”“Releasing noisemaker,

aye,sir.”The tension level slowly

mounted. “Conn, sonar,” thesonar supervisor announced,“theMk46justlatchedontothe noisemaker decoy ... lost

thetorpedoinourbaffles!”Macknodded.TheMk46s

were fast, but they wereeasilyfooled.“Iguessthosenoisemakers

really do work,” one of thesonar operators said to theoperatorsittingbesidehim.“Ahead one third,” Mack

ordered. He wanted to runslower until he knew whatwasgoingonaroundhim.Ittookseveralmomentsfor

Cheyenne to slow down

enoughtostartlisteningoncemore.Mack slowly turned tothe northeast to clear hisbaffles.“Sonar, conn, report all

contacts,” Mack said, oncethey had slowed enough. Hewantedtoknowwhowasoutthere and exactlywhere theywere.“Conn, sonar, report all

contacts, aye, sir,” the sonarsupervisoracknowledged.Lessthanfiveminuteshad

passedsincethefirstChineseMk46hadbeenfiredatthem,but to the officers and crewonboardCheyenneitseemedlikeonlyfiveseconds.Itwasironic, Mack thought. Theminutes it took for their owntorpedoes to acquire andcompletetheirrunsseemedtostretch into hours, but whenhostile torpedoes werecoming toward Cheyenne,timepassedmuchfaster.“Conn, sonar, we’ve got

three contacts,Captain,” saidthe sonar supervisor. “OneKilo class submarine bearing278,making turns for fifteenknots. One Romeo classsubmarine bearing 020,making turns for about sixand a half knots. The thirdcontact is a Chinese Ludaclass destroyer, which isprobably where that helocame from,bearing350.Thedestroyer is also heading inour direction. The TB-23

doesn’t hold the helicopterabove us, which may bebecause we’re too deep, butmyguessisthatit’srearmingon board the destroyer.”Mack would be sure tomention his battle stationssonar supervisor inhispatrolreport.The BSY-1 operators

confirmed the sonarsupervisor’sexpertcalls.TheRomeo was previous Master25 and the Luda was

previously Master 26.However, the Kilo’s bearingwastoofartotheleftforittobe the previous Master 28,which Cheyenne shot atearlier.Master 28was addedto the kill list and the newKilo was designated Master29.“We’ll take out the Kilo,

Master 29, first,”Mack said.Itwas the closest target, andpotentially the quietest, andMack wanted it out of the

picture.Hegavetheorderstoprepare tube two in allrespects, including openingtheouterdoor.Assoonashisorders were acknowledgedand confirmed, he gave thecommand to match sonarbearings and shoot tube two,Master29.Seconds later, the combat

systems officer reported,“Tube two fired electrically,sir.”“Conn, sonar, unit from

tube two running hot,straight,andnormal.”TheKiloknewthemoment

thetorpedoenteredthewater.It tried to turn and to run intheoppositedirection,buttheChinese submarine had littlechance. The Kilo had beenclosing on Cheyenne at topspeed, and with a torpedoheading its way, it didn’thave much room tomaneuver.The Kilo zigged and

zagged,tossingitscrewaboutastheChinesecaptaintriedtoconfuse the torpedo at thesame time that he tried toreverse his heading. TheChinesesubmarinereleasedanoisemaker decoy to buytime, but Mack, listening tothereportsfromsonar,didn’tthinkitwouldworkthistime.Hewasright.“Conn, sonar, the Mk 48

passed right by theirnoisemaker. It’s still on

course,bearing275.”Severalminuteslatersonar

reported hearing theexplosion. The 650-poundexplosive warhead literallypeeled open the Kilo’s backend,beginningwithitsscrew.TheChineseKiloroamedtheseanomore.“Reload tube two with a

Harpoon,” Mack ordered.There was no time to relishthe victory. He wanted thedestroyer, Master 26, next.

With luck, the helo wouldstill be on board. “Divingofficer,makeyour depthonehundred feet.” Mack neededtogetclosertothesurfacesothat they could launch themissile.“Reload tube two with a

Harpoon,” acknowledged thefire-controlcoordinator.“Make my depth one

hundred feet, aye, sir,” thehelmsman finished the roundof repeat backs,

acknowledging the divingofficer’sorder.TheLudaIIclassdestroyer

was a fairly large target, soMack was going to fire twoweaponsatit.Hewouldhavepreferred to make them bothHarpoons, butCheyenne hadalreadyfiredthreeofherfourantishipping missiles inprevious actions. He wouldhave to attack theLudawithonly one Harpoon and oneMk 48. The torpedo had a

bigger warhead, but it alsohadamuchshorterrange.“What’s the current range

tothedestroyer?”“Range to Master 26 is

30,500 yards, bearing 354,”the fire-control coordinatoranswered.“And what’s the range on

theRomeo?”“BSY-1 computes 28,000

yards, sir. Master 25 is notmoving. I think they figurethat if theymove,we’ll hear

themandkillthem.”Mack ran through the

situation in his mind andquickly made his decision.“Make tubes one and twoready in all respects,including opening the outerdoors,”hesaid.“Firingpointprocedures, tube two,Master26;tubeone,Master25.”Hewaited for thoseorders

to be acknowledged andexecuted and then said,“Match sonar bearings and

shoot tube two, Master 26andtubeone,Master25.”Torpedo tube two,

containing Cheyenne’s lastremainingUGM-84Harpoon,firedfirst.Tubeonewasfiredas soonas the ejectionpumpramhadreturnedtobattery.“Conn, sonar, the

Harpoon’s on her way, sir,andtheMk48fromtubeoneis running hot, straight and”—there was a brief pause,andthenthesonarsupervisor

said—“normal!”The Romeo wasn’t as

quick as the Kilo. It tookthem two minutes to realizethere was an enemy torpedocoming through the water atthem, and several minuteslongertoincreasetheirspeed.And by then, it was simplytoolate.“The Mk 48 has acquired

the Romeo, Master 25,Captain.”“Cut the wire, shut the

outer doors on both tubes,andreloadtubesoneandtwowithMk48s.”Itwouldbeseveralminutes

before the torpedo reachedthe Romeo, but its fate wassealed. The Romeo hadnothing on board that wouldfool the Mk 48 once it hadacquired.TheLuda, however,was a

differentmatter.TheHarpoonwas very fast, covering theseventeen miles to the

Chinesedestroyerinlessthanthreeminutes.The Chinese sailors

launched a cloud of chaff totry and decoy the missileaway from the ship. Whenthat failed, and the Harpoonbegan its finaldescent,Jinanfireditstwin25mmgunsintothe air, putting up a “wall ofsteel” in front of the UGM-84.Years earlier, Saddam

Hussein had tried that

unsuccessfully aroundBaghdad against U.S.Tomahawk land-attackmissiles. It didn’t work anybetterfortheChinesesailors.The Harpoon slammed intothevesseldirectlyunderneathitsantishipmissile launchers,impacting downward andtearing a large hole in thehull.“Conn, sonar, we just

heard an explosion on thesurface.We hit the destroyer

bad, sir. I’m hearingbreaking-upnoisesalready.”“WhatabouttheMk48?”“Impact in four minutes,

Captain, but it’s a lock.ThatRomeo’s not doing much togetoutoftheway.”Thecombatsystemsofficer

knew his weapons well. ARomeo-classsubmarinecoulddothirteenknotsattopspeed—but only if it was in goodcondition. This one did notseem able to get above nine

knots.Mack was pleased, but he

wasn’t satisfied. He orderedtubes three and four readied,andtheninitiatedfiringpointprocedures against thedamaged destroyer. Whenthat had been done, heordered, “Match sonarbearingsandshoottubethree,Master26.”“Matchbearingsand shoot

tube three, Master 26,”acknowledgedthefire-control

coordinator.Tube three was fired

electrically, but sonar didn’thave the chance to report onthetorpedo’sstatusbeforetheRomeo was hit. The old,antiquated reserve submarinehad tried to evade, tried toflee, but Cheyenne had itoutgunned andoutmaneuvered.“Conn, sonar,we have the

soundsofasubmarinefillingwith water. Master 25 is

sinking,sir.”Mack acknowledged the

reportandasked,“What’sthestatusonthesecondMk48?”“Conn, sonar, it’s running

hot,straight,andnormal,sir.”Thecombatsystemsofficer

announcedacquisition.When theMk 48 acquired

its target Mack ordered thewire in tube three cut, tubefour secured, and tube threereloaded with an Mk 48.Whenthathadbeendone,he

gave the command to takeCheyenne deep once more.Moments later a loudexplosion marked the deathof the already damagedChineseLudaIIdestroyer.Mack was satisfied. The

Harpoon might have beenenough to sink it. Now,however, the destroyer wentdownwithallhandsandbothhelicopters on board. Mackgavetheordertosecurefrombattlestations.

Ten hours later Cheyennewas approaching her launchpointnorthoftheSpratlys.“How long until we arrive

at the launch point?” Mackasked.“We should be at our

launch point within sevenminutes,” the navigationofficer replied. WithCheyenne currently 2.5nautical miles south of herlaunch point and running at

twenty knots, Mack manned“battlestationsmissile.”Mack ordered Cheyenne

broughttoperiscopedepthtoconfirm her location byGPSand receive any new orders.Thisalsogavethemachanceto verify the targetinginformation they’ddownloadedearlier.With everything

confirmed, Cheyenneproceededtoherlaunchpointand prepared to launch six

land-attack missiles at theCuarteron Reef SubmarineBase.Twoof theTomahawkmissilesweretheUGM-109Dvarieties, each of whichcarried 166 BLU-97/Bcombined-effects munitions.These would be able to takeout soft targets and destroyelectronic sensors and early-warning systems protectingthe base. The remaining fourwere fitted with a 1,000pound “bull-pup” warhead

thatwasdesigned to takeoutthebaseheadquartersandthepiers where the submarineswere being rearmed andrefueled.One by one, Cheyenne

launched her missiles, andthen slipped deeper into thesea. She would now have towait on word from navalintelligence to determine ifhermissionwasasuccess.“Diving Officer, make

yourdepth fivehundred feet.

Let’s get out of here beforetheyknowwhat—andwho—hitthem.”Mack was pleased. His

crew had performed well,Cheyennehadcarriedouthermission, and now they wereheading toward theSuluSea.McKee would be therewaitingforher,andCheyennewould get amini-refit.Macksecured battle stations oncemore,hoping itwouldbe thelasttimethistrip.

Mackdidn’tknowwhathisnext orderswould be, but hewassureCheyennewasgoingto need all the weaponsMcKeecouldgiveher.

4.Dogfight

Mack walked throughofficer country on board thesubmarine tender McKee,accompanied by his combatsystems and operationsofficers, his navigator andcommunicator, and his sonarofficer. Cheyenne was justcompletinghermini-refit,andMack and his officers wereon their way to their final

briefing. The refit had takenseveral days, and for each ofthose days the officers fromCheyenne had taken theirmeals in the vast wardroomon board McKee. This day,the final day of their refit,Mackhad elected to take hisbreakfast with his ownofficers rather than inMcKee’sflagmess.Mackwas pleased that the

refit had gone smoothly. Onthe first day, his executive

officerandhischiefyeoman,alongwith the communicatorand officer-in-charge (OIC)of the naval security group(NSG) detachment on boardCheyenne, had beenresponsible for transferringnumerous boxes fromCheyenne to McKee. Thosecrates and boxes hadcontained the myriad logs,data sheets, and sonar andradio and ESM tapes thatCheyenne had amassed

during the period of timefromwhenshedepartedPearlHarboruntilshearrivedintheSuluSeaalongsideMcKee.Among this, carefully

storedinbox1,wasthethreehundred-page “Patrol ReportofCheyenne,PearlHarbor toSulu Sea,” which Mack hadsigned earlier. This was arunning narrative of eventsand tactics employed, alongwith a written guide to therestoftheitemsintheboxes.

Mack always enjoyedlooking back through thisreport. It was compiled fourtimes a day by the off-goingofficer of the deck and hisassistant, thejuniorofficerofthe deck. As soon as it wascompiled, the ship’s yeomentypedituponthehigh-speedPCs in the ship’s office. Thecolor printer and colorscanner made the patrolreport an interesting novel,complete with color pictures

of the tactical encountersexperienced.This report, with all the

details of Cheyenne’s firstadventures,would remain onboardMcKee for some time.Eventually, couriers fromIndependence would transferthematerials fromMcKee tothe carrier, and from therethey would travel by C-2aircraft to the YokosukaNavalBase.The pilots of these C-2

Greyhounds, called “COD”for “carrier onboarddelivery,” were used tomaking 3,000-mile flights.They had already completednumerous deliveries to andfrom Independence and theisland ofDiegoGarciawhileIndependence steamed southoftheArabianSea.Not that Cheyenne‘s

successes were being keptsecret. Interim reports hadbeen submitted as required,

and as soon as she hadsurfaced inside MindoroStrait, Mack had released along message containing acondensed version of thepatrol report anda tabulationofthecontentsoftheboxestobeshipped.Thismessagewasalready in the hands ofCheyenne’s superiors. Pickedupand relayedbyoneof thenumerous SSIXS satellites,this one perched high in itsequatorial synchronous orbit

over the Indian Ocean, themessagehadbeenprintedoutand copies had beendistributed all theway to theJoint Chiefs of Staff inWashington,D.C.On that firstdayalongside

McKee, while some ofCheyenne‘speopledealtwiththepatrolreport,theengineerofficer’s people had beenbusywiththedetailsoftakingon shore power. This wasvital to Cheyenne’s taking

steam out of the engineeringspacesandshuttingdownthereactorforthedurationoftherefit.Theywerealsoresponsible

forsomeofthemoredelicateprocedures. The engineeringlaboratory technicians firsthad to transfer a quantity ofnuclear waste materialsgenerated during theirperiodic sampling of thereactor coolant to ensure itspurity.Oncethistransferwas

complete,theywouldassistinrefilling the coolant chargingsystem’s pure water tankswith CPW. This “controlledpurewater”wasgeneratedonboardMcKeebypassingSSNdischargedcoolantfromstart-ups through the submarinetender’s massive ion beds.The coolant was no longerradioactive, yet it wascontrolled because of itssource. This way the waterfromtheSSNsalongsidewas

constantly recycled ratherthan discharged to theenvironment.While all this was going

on,withtheexecutiveofficersupervisingthetransferofthepatrol report and theengineering officeroverseeing the power plant,the combat systems officerand his people had theirhands full. The combatsystems officer wasresponsible for readying the

vertical launch tubes forremoval of the spentTomahawk loading canistersso that the tubes could bereloaded. Others of his crewhad to ready the three decksbetween theweapons-loadinghatchandthetorpedoroom.Mack smiled to himself,

rememberinghowwellithadallgone.Thoseactivitieshadmainly been Cheyenne‘sresponsibility, and they hadalloccurredontheirfirstday

alongsideMcKee. After that,Cheyenne’sofficersandcrewhad been able to rest whilethe refit crew took over therestofthenormaloperations.After the rigors of their

contested ingress and transitof the South China Sea andthe relatively simple TLAM-CandTLAM-DattackontheChinese submarine base atCuarteron Reef, the officersand men of Cheyenneappreciated this rest a great

deal. Even more, theyappreciated the assistance ofMcKee’s crew. In peacetime,a tender like McKee wouldnot have been employed forsuch a short refit. But thiswaswar now, and peacetimerules did not apply.Especially since it appearedthatCheyenne would be theonly U.S. submarine in theSouth China Sea for a goodwhile.Cheyenne’s officers and

crew understood this. “Norest for the weary,” as thesayingwent.Itwassimplyanextension of a policyestablished for returning warpatrol crews in Pearl Harborduring World War II. Theonly difference was that thistime there was norelinquishment either ofcommandoroftheindividualofficers’ responsibilities.Refits like this one weremerely opportunities for rest

and recreation, unlike thetwenty-four-hour refit/repairperiods that so manysubmarine crews hadexperienced duringpeacetime.Allofwhichmeantthatthe

policy was logical andintelligent—but policy wasgenerally not made by thepeople it most directlyaffected.Cheyenne’s officersand crew agreed with thepolicy,andtheyappreciatedit

—but they appreciated thehardworkandextraeffortputforth by the sailors andengineers from McKee evenmore.McKee was good, with a

seasoned crew, and the refithadgonewell.Cheyennewasrestockedandresupplied.Theexecutive officer, engineerofficer, the remaining juniorofficers, and their leadingpettyofficerswouldattendtothe final details of turnover

from the refit crew. As soonas this briefing was over,Mack and his officers wouldbe ready to return to activepatrol.Entering the war room,

Mack immediately noticedthat the eagles (captain’sinsignia) on the collar of theCommander SubmarineGroup Seven (CSG 7), alsoknown as Commander TaskForceSeventy-four(CTF74),hadbeenreplacedwithsingle

stars. Mack had expectedthat.Withwardeclaredinhistheater of operations, it wasstandard procedure for thecommodore, as he wasaddressed during peacetime,tobefrockedtorearadmiral,lowerhalf.Afterexchanginggreetings

with the captain of McKeeand CTF 74, Mack and hisofficers quietly took theirseats in the front row as thebriefing officer dimmed the

lights for his presentation ofthebombdamageassessmentatCuarteronReef.The satellite photography

provided clear evidence thateachTLAM-CandTLAM-D,which had been launchedfrom Cheyenne’s vertical-launchtubesatacomfortable,uncontested datum north ofthe Spratly Island chain, hadreached a mark. Notnecessarily the intendedmark, but at least damage

enough to put the Chinesesubmarine base out ofbusinessforawhile.Mack had seen the smoke

and fire from the explosionsthrough the high-power, 16Xmagnificationof theType18periscope, but, because theChinese submarine base wasbeyond the horizon of theperiscope’s height of eye, hehadn’t been able to discernthe actual targets that werehit. He listened carefully as

the briefing officer said thatthe main repair facility andweapons stowage buildingshadbeenhitasplanned,with1,000 pounds of explosivesperTomahawk.The national command

authority and theUSCINCPACtargetstaffhaddone a nice rush job inproviding both the terraincontour matching(TERCOM) data for theentirelengthofthePhilippine

Island of Palawan, and thefinal, more accurate, digitalscene-matching areacorrelation (DSMAC) data,especially sincePalawanwasnotpreviouslyahigh-prioritydigital terrain-data-collectioneffort. With the TomahawkBlock III Global PositioningSystem (GPS) providingupdates to the missiles, thethree hundred-nautical-mileflight from the last DSMACupdateonthesouthwesttipof

Palawanhadnotdegradedthetargetingaccuracy.As the briefing officer

went over this, Mack foundhimselfthinkingthatthelast-minute sighting of missilesarriving at Cuarteron Reeffromtheeastmusthavebeentotally confusing to theChinese. Moments later, thebriefing officer confirmedthatguess.IftheChinesehadknown Cheyenne’s position,theywouldhavesentsomeof

theirassetsafterher.Butthathadn’t happened. Althoughthe base infrastructure wasessentially out ofcommission,satelliteimageryshowed that a number ofChinese submarines and afewsurfaceshipsremainedinport, still moored to onlyslightlydamagedpiers.Mack knew that the

Chinese would be able tomake some guesses aboutCheyenne’sposition.Because

the missiles had not arrivedfrom the west, the Chineseremaining in port wouldassume that Cheyenne waslingeringinthesafetyofdeepwater to the north of theSpratlys.And they’dbe right...butonlytoapoint.Cheyenne had indeed

launched from the north, butshe was not lingering in thearea,havingentered theSuluSea from the north via theMindoro Strait. Mack knew

that the delay in theChineseexodus from Cuarteron Reefshould give Cheyenne theopportunity to repositionfromhersafehavenalongsideMcKee intheSuluSea.Theyshould end up in their primelocation west of CuarteronReef before the Chinesedecided to deploy theirsubmarines and surface shipsto the safety of the sea.Attacks from Cheyenne offCuarteron Reef also might

make the Chinese believetheyhadmorethanCheyennewithwhichtocontend,aploywhich the submarine forcehad used in previousconflicts.The briefing officer

continued with the lateststatus of the location of theUSS Independence BattleGroupandbackgroundontheBattle Group transit into theSouth China Sea. Prior toMack’s rendezvous and

reporting in as the SSN(DS),Independencehadsteamed tothesoutherncoastofBorneo,having passed through theLombok Strait with her AO(oiler) and AE (ammunitionship), while several of hersurface ships, including thetwo Ticonderoga classcruisers Gettysburg andPrinceton, had slippedthrough the Sunda Strait tothe west under the cover ofdarknessthenightbefore.

The CVBG admiral hadwisely split his forces toensure that all his eggs werenotinthesamebasketshouldthe Chinese havesympathizers, or even theirown soldiers, on Java,Sumatra, or Bali. Both theLombok and Sunda Straitswere narrow enough thatevensmall-armsfirefromthecliffs overlooking the straitscould inflict damage topersonnelondeck.

Atany rate, theno-longer-covertshowofforcefromtheCVBG, which rendezvousedintheJavaSeanearBelitungIsland,was intended to flushtheChineseatCuarteronReefto sea for attacks on theBattleGroup.The briefing officer went

on to explain that onceIndependence had recoveredthe S-3 aircraft, which hadprovided air cover of bothstraits, the Battle Group

steamed north to a positionnorthwest of Natuna Island.There they maintainedposition until Cheyenne hadrendezvousedandnotifiedthesubmarine elementcoordinator (SEC) and theanti-submarine warfarecommander (ASWC), co-located on boardIndependencewiththeSEC’ssubmarine advisory team(SAT),thatthetimewasrightfor the Battle Group to

continuesafelytotheSpratlyIslands without fear ofChinesesubmarineattacks.TheordersforCheyenneat

this stage of the naval waragainstChinawere clear andsimple: unrestrictedsubmarine warfare onChinese submarines andsurface warships, with themain targets expected to bethose departing CuarteronReef.Mack had known this, of

course. Because there was astrong possibility ofencountering Chinesewarships, Cheyenne hadtaken on four UGM-84Harpoonmissilesinsteadofafullloadoftwenty-sixMk48ADCAP torpedoes. Inaddition, a mix of TLAM-CandTASMhadbeenreloadedinto the twelve vertical-launch tubes: TLAM-C incase another land attackwould be authorized while

Cheyenne was at sea, andTASM in case they neededtheir longer rangeagainst theChinese surface ships. TheTASM had an extra twohundred nautical miles ofrange over the Harpoon.Either way, for those longrange shots, over-the-horizontargeting from Battle Groupaircraft would be necessaryunless the Chinese surfaceships themselves providedenough radar targeting

information to Cheyenne’sESM antenna for bearing-onlylaunches.So far, there was no need

for TLAM-N, which wouldbe a waste on the relativelytiny islands. Besides, thedigital terrain data of theChinese mainland itself,which met the TomahawkTERCOM and DSMAC datarequirements, more fullysupported TLAM-N. Unlikethe Spratlys, data on the

mainland had beenaccumulated and processedyearsearlier,inlessofarush,against the possibility offuture U.S. nuclear bombattacksonChina.The briefing was

professional and highlydetailed. Mack came awaywith all his questionsanswered, and a clear senseof Cheyenne‘s mission. Butno briefing was everabsolutely complete. The

briefingofficercouldnotpassalong information he didn’thave, and on the last day ofCheyenne’s refit navalintelligence had notdiscovered—or,assometimeshappened, had somehowneglectedtopasson—thefactthattherewasanewplayerinthearea.TheChinesealreadyhad a large fleet ofsubmarines purchased fromthe economically ailingRussians, and that fleet had

just gotten bigger. TheChinesehadrecentlyacquireda Russian Alfa class SSN,and the Alfa was now onpatrolintheSouthChinaSea.Mack didn’t know about

theAlfayet,buthedidknowthat his submarine and hiscrewwerereadyforanythingtheChinesecaredtothrowatthem, though with the sheernumbersofassetstheChinesehad hunting them, Cheyennewould have to be cautious.

The Chinese had theadvantage of being used todealing en masse; Cheyennehad the advantage that theirenemy obviously had nocoordination of surface andsubsurface forces—somethingMackhadnotedinhispreviousencounters.After the briefing, Mack’s

officers went back toCheyennetogetherreadyfordeparture. Mack stayedbehind for a little while

longer.Mackmetwith theMcKee

captain and CTF 74 in theadmiral’s sea cabin.Cheyenne was facing thepossibility of shallow wateroperations, and her crewneeded to prepare for that.Shallow water operationsweredifficult anddangerous,andtherehadsimplybeennoopportunitytopracticebeforeCheyenne was ordered toreadyherselffordeployment.

In the admiral’s sea cabin,Mack reported to the othertwo officers that afterdeparture, Cheyenne’s crewwouldpracticeshallowwater,high speedmaneuvering, andshallow water towed-arrayoperations first. That way, iftheTB-16arrayweretotouchbottom before theirproficiency had peaked, thesoft bottom of the Sulu Seawould ensure that the arraywould be undamaged. Mack

needed to ensure that hisdiving officers, helmsmen,and planes-men were readyso that they would notoverreact during high speed,shallow water maneuvers,and either broach the ship ordrag the propeller and lowerrudder through the bottom.Mackknewthatitdidn’ttakemuch angle for a 360-footsubmarine in 20 fathoms ofwater to subject itself to thedangers of the surface or the

oceanbottom.In addition, Mack

requested and receivedpermission to use theMcKeecaptain’s gig in theirexercises.Thiswouldprovideanadequatesurfacetargetforactive sonar detection andtracking in the irregularcontours and the varyingwind driven thermalgradients. Mack would usethe gig to practice activesonartrackingwiththeBSY-

1 spherical array at lowpowerandshortpulselengthsandwiththehigher-frequencyMIDAS under-ice and mine-hunting sonar as theyapproachedtheBalabacStraitsouthofPalawan.Cheyenne would have to

waitfortherockybottomandshoals off Cuarteron Reef toonce again be their provinggrounds should the Chinesesubmarines decide not toventureforthintodeepwater.

The Captain hoped MIDASwould be able to distinguishbetween the coral reefs andthe anechoic coatings of theChinese submarines. Butthen, active sonar would beused only if Cheyenne’spresence were otherwiseknown.There was one other point

Mack had to bring up. Heliked to assume that theChinese had equivalentoverhead satellite imagery

capability, and he wasconcerned for McKee’ssafety.The admiral advised him

not to worry, however, sincethey intended to weighanchor shortly afterCheyenne’s departure andwould periodically relocateoutside the Chineseintelligence satellites’footprints.Theactuallocationofthenextrendezvouswouldbe provided to Cheyenne as

soon as itwas decided upon.It might even be in port inBrunei, or off that coast,where carrier air protectioncould be afforded bothMcKee andCheyenne duringtheirnextreloadperiod.Mack was pleased to hear

that—and doubly pleased toknowthatchancesforanotherreload were good—but healso knew that itwould onlybe true if he could keep theChinese submarines away

fromthebasicallydefenselessMcKee before theIndependence Battle Grouparrived to relieve him of theburden of protecting thetender.

Shortly after getting underway from alongside McKee,Cheyennequietlysubmerged.They weren’t scheduled tocometothesurfaceagainfor

quite some time—and,depending on how muchactiontheysawandhowwelltheyfaredinCheyenne’snextwar patrol off CuarteronReef,itmightbeevenlongerbeforetheysawMcKeeagain.As he had briefed his

admiral,Mackmadesurethatthey practiced the shallowwater, high speedmaneuvering en route. Thismaneuvering was not unlikeflying an airplane—even

someof the terminologywassimilar. Indeepwater,wherethe automatic depth-controlsystem would frequently beused,thesubmarine’sverticalposition in the water columnwas referred to as “depth.”During these maneuvers,however, the term was“altitude,” with addedemphasis on maintaining acomfortable safetymargin oraltitude in the water columnabove the ocean bottom. To

help with this, the upward-looking beams of the under-ice sonar, MIDAS,continually displayed thedistance to the surface,whilethesecurefathometer,withitsnarrowsonarbeam,providedthealtitudeinformation.As Mack had hoped, the

McKee captain’s gig turnedout to be a useful target foractive sonar tracking. Inaddition, itprovidedasourceof sonar passive tonal

information.Inshallowwaterlike this, the TB-16 towedarray’s entire 2,600-foot towcable, with its 240 feet ofhydrophonesattheend,couldnot be totally deployed.Instead,itwouldbedeployedata“shortstay,”anoptimumlength forallhydrophones tobe at some distance awayfrom its own ship tonals, yetshortenoughtoensurethat itremained off the bottomduring maneuvers, its own

“towed-arrayaltitude.”ThelongerTB-23thin-line

array, with its 960 feet ofhydrophones, would remainstowed for these war patrolshallow water operations,thus ensuring its availabilityfor deepwater trackingoperations when—and if—theChineseventuredintothedeeper waters of the SouthChina Sea. The depthsnorthwest of the SpratlyIslands, ranging to over

15,000 feet, were ideal forconvergencezone trackingofthenoisyChinesesubmarineswhile they were running athighspeeds.Cheyenne had nearly

completedherexerciseswhenMack heard over the speakerat the periscope stand,“Captain, radio, incomingflashtraffic!”Proceeding quickly to the

radioroom,hearrivedintimeto see theprinter spittingout

neworders.Cheyennewas toproceed at best speed to alocation west of CuarteronReef. Overhead imagery hadshown that theChinesewerestirring,probablypreparingtodeploy under cover ofdarkness, which was onlyhoursaway.Mack was ready. Before

beginning the high speed,shallowwatermaneuvers, hehad decided that Cheyenneshould not dally inside the

Sulu Sea. Instead, he haddecided to continue westwhile conducting theproficiencytraining,andnowhe was doubly glad that hehadmadethatdecision.Cheyenne had earlier

released the captain’s gig toreturn to McKee. Now,having already clearedBalabac Strait, deep waterwas nearby, so the captainused the radiomen’smicrophonetopasstheorder,

“Officerofthedeck,Captain,shift main coolant pumps tofastspeedandthenproceedtoflankspeed.Makeyourdepthfourhundredfeet.”The OOD repeated the

captain’sorderverbatim,thenorderedmaneuvering to shiftthe main coolant pumps tofast speed. The OOD couldhave accomplished the samethingbyorderingflankontheengine order telegraph, a“jumpbell,”butthatmethod,

which was faster thanorderingmaneuveringtoshiftthecoolantpumps,wassavedfor when speed was of theessence ... as in torpedoevasion.Cheyenne arrived

northwest of West Reefshortly after nightfall,remaining outside the 100fathom curve for the timebeing. Upon receiving thereport from theofficerof thedeck that they were on

station, Mack proceeded tothecontrolroom.“Make preparations to

come toperiscopedepth,”hesaid.After acknowledging the

captain’s order, the OODslowed to two thirds andbroughtCheyenne up to 130feet, above the layer, andcleared baffles. He thenadvised the captain that hehad no sonar contacts andwas ready to proceed to

periscopedepth.“Verywell,”Mackreplied.

“Cometoperiscopedepth.”“Come to periscope depth,

aye, sir. Sonar, radio, conn,proceeding to periscopedepth.”“Conn, sonar, aye. No

contacts,” replied the sonarsupervisor.“Conn, radio, aye ...

manned and ready.” Thatacknowledgment came fromthecommunicator.

“Divingofficer,makeyourdepth six zero feet smartly,”orderedtheOODasheraisedthe Type 18 periscope andstarted his underwater visualsweeps to make sure therewere no dead-in-the-waterunderwater hulls forCheyenne to run into duringthislast,mosttenuouspartofthetriptoperiscopedepth.“Make my depth six zero

feet, smartly,” answered thediving officer. “Smartly”

meant that the diving officerwouldmaintainthetwo-thirdsbell as he ordered thehelmsman to fifteen rise onthe bow planes and orderedthe planesman to a fifteendegree up bubble. Using thestern planes to controlCheyenne’sangle, thebubblewould be eased asCheyennewas nearing eighty feet forthefinalglidetosixtyfeet.“Seven zero, six five, six

four, six three, six two,” the

diving officer said, countingdowntheirdepths.Whenthecounthitsixtwo,

the OOD called out,“Braking,” and quicklyswung the periscope througha 360-degree arc. Amomentlater he said, “No visualcontacts, Captain.” Therewere a number of radarcontacts chirping over theType 18 ESM receiver, butthe periscope wasn’t pickingupanyvisuals.

“Ahead one third,” Mackordered quietly to the OOD,not wanting to be entered inthe deck log as havingassumedtheconn.“Conn, ESM, I have five

ESMcontacts,oneaChineseradar, and four Russianradars. HULTEC indicates aHan class, three Kilo class,and one Alfa class. Theclosest is the Han at signalstrength three andincreasing.”

Captain Mackey and theOOD looked at each otherwithsurprise.Mack turned to the

microphone.“ESM,Captain,”he said, “are you sure aboutthatAlfa?”“Yes, sir, Captain,”

answered the voice of theNSG OIC. “It’s an Alfa.We’ve seen him, thisparticular one, in the NorthFleet numerous times. Nomistaking it, sir. He’s well

registered in our computerdatabase.”“Executive officer,” spoke

the captain calmly as heturnedtotheexecutiveofficerstandingaftinthedarknessofthe rig for black. “Are youbackthere?”“Yes, Captain. Should I

draftamessagereporton theAlfa?”“Please do so. Release it

when ready.Weneed to findout what gives.” The Alfa

wasdesignatedMaster31,theHanMaster32,andthethreeKilosMasters33,34,and35.In less than half an hour,

Cheyenne’s flash messagereport had been sent andanswered by thecommunicators at CTF 74headquartersinYokosuka.Mack read the CTF

message and filled in hisexecutive officer on whathe’d learned. “ESM is right.It seems the ’friendly’

Russians have sold a NorthFleetAlfatotheChinese,”hesaid,“whothencreweditandoverhauled it, apparently atCuarteron Reef. How manymore Alfas are beingtransferred to China isanybody’s guess at this time.Naval intelligence isworkingon the problem. They’repayingspecialattentiontotherecentlackofopennessoftheRussian submarine bases atVladivostok and

Petropavlosk.”Mackchosethismethodof

informing his executiveofficer,ratherthanfillinghimin during a private briefing,because he’d made a policyof ensuring that all hiscrewmen wereknowledgeable about anyenemy they were likely toencounter.Because of this, the

messenger of the watch—who had heard the initial

ESMreportbutnotthefollowup—knew, or thought heknew, the implication of anAlfa,aRussiansubmarine,inthe immediate area. Themessenger of the watchquickly spread the wordthroughthecrew’smessashestood there with his redgoggles on, drawing coffeefor the control room watchstanders.Themovie operatoreven shut down the movieand turned on the lights so

theycouldalldiscussthenewinformation.But for all Mack’s

openness,thecrewwasneveras well informed as theofficers.Inthiscase,becausethe messenger of the watchhad been sent for coffeebefore hearing Mack’s finalreport, none of the crew onboard Cheyenne knew thatthe Alfa was manned not byRussians but by Chinesesailors.

The captain called for animmediate meeting of allofficers in the wardroom toshare with them the newintelligence on the Alfa,manned by Chinese, and itscurrent exodus with a Hanand three Kilo SSKs. HeexpectedtheSSNstowaitfordeepwaterbeforediving,butanticipated the Kilos woulddiveintwentyfathoms.That was as far as Mack

got before the OOD called

him on the sound-poweredphones, allowing the messspecialist to sneak out of thewardroomgalleyandpassthewordon theChinese crew tothe already buzzing crew’smess.“Captain, ESM reports the

KiloradarsandtheHanradarhave shut down. They weredrawing left while the Alfaradarisstilldrawingright.”“Okay,men.We have our

workcutoutforus.Thethree

Kilos and the Han haveprobablysubmerged.AndtheAlfa may be trying to do anend around to get behind us.It’s time to man battlestations.”Mack’s reading of the

situation was correct. Sonarhad just finished reportingtonals from the Han SSN tothe conn as the captainarrivedandorderedtheOODtomanbattlestationstorpedo.There was still nothing from

theKilosacoustically,buttheAlfa had also shut down itsradar—lastbearingduesouthofCheyenne.Asdirectedby thecaptain,

who was now the conningofficer, the executive officer,in his role as the fire controlcoordinator, passed the orderto the torpedo roomover thesound-powered phones,“Torpedo room, fire control,make tubes one and twoready in all respects,

including opening the outerdoors.”Hewanted to get thetubes ready as early aspossible and as far from theenemy submarines aspossible.Theorderfromthecaptain,

carried by the openmicrophone at the periscopestand, alerted the sonaroperators that noisyevolutions would be takingplace near the BSY-1spherical array so they could

attenuate the sound levelreachingtheirsensitiveears.The torpedo room crew

acknowledged the order.“Make tubes one and twoready in all respects,including opening the outerdoors, fire control, torpedoroom,aye.”Momentslater, thetorpedo

roomreportedcompletingtheordered evolution with thetorpedo tubes. The executiveofficer relayed the

information to Mack.“Captain, tubes one and twoarereadyinallrespects.Bothouterdoorsareopen.”“Very well, fire control,”

answeredthecaptain.The Han was drawing left

and closing. It was not quietbyanymeans,andwaseasilytracked by the TB-16,spherical, and conformalarrays at the same time. Theinputs to the three BSY-1computers made the solution

a snap for the fire-controlparty.When the BSY-1 operator

and the fire-controlcoordinator were satisfiedwith theTMA(targetmotionanalysis) solution on Master32, the Chinese Han classattack submarine, the captainordered, “Firing pointprocedures,Master32.”Thecombatsystemsofficer

reported the target course,speed,andrange.

“Sonar, conn, stand by,”orderedthecaptain.“Conn, sonar, standing

by.”“Match sonarbearings and

shoot, tubes one and two,Master32.”“Match sonarbearings and

shoot, tubes one and two,Master32,aye.”Afterthelargepistonofthe

torpedo-ejection pump ramdrove home, the Mk 48ADCAP torpedoes were

ejected from their restingplaces at the same time thattheir Otto fuel engines werecoming up to full speed.“Tubes one and two firedelectrically,” reported thecombatsystemsofficer.“Conn, sonar, units from

tubes one and two runninghot, straight, and normal,”came the report from thesonar supervisor as the twotorpedoesexecuted theirwireclearance maneuvers and

accelerated rapidly to fiftyknotsenroutetoconvergencewiththeChinesesubmarine.“Very well, sonar,” Mack

said. Then, a moment later,he asked, “Time toacquisition?”“Eight minutes, Captain,”

answeredthecombatsystemsofficer.ToMack,itseemedlikean

eternity before he heard,“Unit one has acquired ...Unittwohasacquired.”

“Cut the wires, shut theouter doors, and reload tubesone and two,”Mack orderednow that the Chinesesubmarine’s fate was in thehands of the Mk 48s. Therewas no escaping theirrelentless attack. Thesubsequent reverberationsandbreakingupsoundsweredeafening.“Conn, sonar, we have a

torpedointhewater,SET-53,bearing 089!” The sonar

supervisor’s excited reportcamejustastheoceanstartedto quiet. Apparently the HanCOhadlaunchedasnapshotatthebearingoftheincomingtorpedoes as part of a last-ditcheffortpriortohiscertaindeath.“Right full rudder, all

ahead flank. Cavitate. Makeyour depth one thousandfeet,” Mack said, followedrapidly by his calm, butforceful words over

Cheyenne’s 1MC, “Rig shipfordepthcharge.”With the ship already at

battle stations, the reportsfrom Cheyenne’s variouscompartments came inquickly to the chief of thewatch at the ballast controlpanel. The engineeringofficerofthewatch(EOOW)had ordered main coolantpumps shifted to fast speed,andthethrottlemanansweredtheorderedbellassoonasthe

pumps were reported in fastspeedbythereactoroperator.In fact, the throttle man

was a little quicker than theEOOW had expected. Withthe precision of his training,he had acknowledged theengine order telegraphbackuptothecaptain’sordersand was already nearing 50percent steam flow. Now hewas just waiting for thechance to complete hisspinning open the main

engine throttles, which hecouldn’t do until the steamgenerator automatic levelcontrols allowed him to. Thesafeguards were there topreventexcessivelevelswell,which might result in carry-over of water into the steampiping.Within minutes, Cheyenne

wasatflankspeed,oncourse185,andatonethousandfeet.Thebearingratepresented totheChinese torpedomadeno

difference as the SET-53locked on to the knucklecreated by Cheyenne‘spowerfulmaneuver.Thatwasa direct result of Mack’sorder to cavitate, and hadformedoverathousandyardsaway from Cheyenne’scurrentposition.“Conn, sonar, two

explosions, bearing 055,range8,540yards.”Knowingthe depth of water and thesound velocity profile, sonar

coulddetermine therangebythe difference in timebetween the direct path andthebottombouncepathoftheincomingexplosionnoises.Above the cheers in the

control room, CaptainMackey ordered, “Chief ofthe watch, over the 1MC,securefromrigshipfordepthcharge.”When the word was

passed, Mack picked up the1MC microphone and spoke

to the officers and men ofCheyenne. “This is thecaptain. Gentlemen,Cheyenne has sent anotherenemy submarine to its fierygrave. Excellent work. Youcan be truly proud of yourteamwork, each and everyoneofyou.Cheyenne isyou.Carryon.”Replacing themicrophone,

he added, “Chief of thewatch, secure from battlestations.”Mackknewthatthe

stand-down from the tensioncould easily be short lived,especiallyiftheHanhadbeenaccompanied by quieter Kiloclassdiesels runningon theirbatteries.The officers adjourned to

the wardroom for thecaptain’s standard critique ofthe attack. Mack also hadevery battle stations sonarman there. This review wasvery positive, but Mackaddedanoteofcautionabout

not allowing their guarddown. This was war, hepointed out, and the Chineseshouldn’t be expected to sitback and watch theirsubmarine force bedevastated.Cheyenneandhercrew needed to proceedwithcaution back to aninterdictionpointsothattheycould detect and attack someofthoseKilos.Mack’s plan was a good

one, but itwas circumvented

by events. Even as he wascritiquing their most recentbattle, sonar reportedregainingcontactontheAlfa,Master 31. The Alfa wasproceeding north toward thesounds of the Han’s demise,and Cheyenne’s turn towardthe south during the torpedoevasion nicely closed therange.Mack’s attack on the Alfa

started out the same as theattackontheHan,exceptthat

this time Captain Mackeyelected to exercise torpedotubesthreeandfour.Butthatwas as far as the similaritywent.TheAlfa,withitsforty-knotspeed,wasabletoevadebothtorpedoes.TheChinesehadlearnedto

drivetheAlfa,Mackrealized,but fortunately they still hadthings to learn about theirsubmarine.If thathadbeenaRussian crew on board thatsubmarine, Cheyenne might

have had to contend withtheirtorpedoes.Mackwasn’t ready to take

on the Kilo SSKs, whichwere probably lurking in theshoals while communicatingwith the Alfa, so he decidedtowithdrawtothedeepwaterto the northwest. From therehe could report the Han andAlfa attacks to CTF 74. Hedidn’t need to return toMcKee yet since Cheyennestill had sixteen torpedoes.

And he had to clear the areabefore Independence couldsteamnorthtotheSpratlys.His message was quickly

acknowledged by CTF 74,who passed traffic from theSEC and ASWC on boardIndependence. Cheyenneturned to the southwest andprepared herself for shallowwateroperations.

“Conn,sonar,sonarcontactbearing 195. Sounds like theAlfa,Master31,comingbackformore.”The captain ordered the

towed array to short stay asCheyenneventured inside the100-fathom curve south ofFiery Cross Reef. Heintended to confuse theChinese by operating in theshallowwater.TheAlfaSSN,he knew, would remainoutside the shoals, unable to

hear Cheyenne until—ifthingswentaccordingtoplan—it was too late. A shorterrange attack would precludetheAlfafromrespondingandevadingthetorpedoes.Battle stations were

manned once again as therange to the Alfa closed toinside 40,000 yards—andnone too soon, as sonarreported transient noisesbearing 125 and 135. Macknodded. As he’d expected,

the Alfa was out in deeperwater, but the Chinese Kiloshad remained in the shoalwaters, massing for guerrillaoperationsagainstCheyenne.They could have been a

problem, but Cheyenne wasready with two outer doorsalreadyopen.“Snapshots, tubesoneand

two, bearings 125 and 135respectively,” Mack ordered.ThatordermeantthattheMk48s would have to do their

own thing in detecting,tracking, and sinking two ofthe Kilos, but Mack didn’thave the luxury of assistingthem.It worked. The two

torpedoes quickly acquiredtheKilos.ThetwoSSKstriedto flee, increasing speed andcavitating heavily, but to noavail. Both torpedoes foundtheirmarksanddestroyedtheSSKs, but Mack wasn’tsatisfied.Wherewasthethird

Kilo?hewondered.Hedidn’thavelongtowait

beforefindingout.“Conn, sonar, we have

transients bearing 180 thatsound like Christmas ballsfallingoffatreeandbreaking... like a tinkling sound.SeemsthatthethirdKilowasspookedbyourtorpedoesandranintoacoralreef.”Mack grinned. He was

happy to take the kills anyway he could.Only theAlfa

remained, andCheyenne hadlost contact after the firstexplosionagainsttheKilos.Sonar was not able to

reacquire the Russiansubmarine, and Mack gavethe orders to take Cheyenneout of the area. They’d haveanotherchanceattheAlfa,hehoped, before he had tosubmitthenextpatrolreport.Theonlyquestionthatwas

bothering him was how theAlfa had slipped away. He

hadn’t expected that from aChinese crew on a Russiansubmarine.ThenCheyennemovedinto

deeper waters. As sheresumed her patrol, Mackfound himself wonderingwhether the Alfa hadacquired a Russian adviser,or, worse, a full Russiancrew.

Afewdayslater,Cheyennehad been ordered to head to

the south to meet up withMcKee, anchored nearBrunei,foraquickreloadandresupply. Then she was torendezvous with theIndependence Battle GroupandawaitfurtherordersfromCTF74.Mackdidn’tknowityet, but theywould not havethe chance for a briefing inMcKee’s war room for sometimetocome.

5.Interdiction

The Independence BattleGroup, to which Cheyennewas assigned as the soleSSN(DS), was operatingsouth of the Spratly Islands.Having completed a quickreload and resupply,Cheyenne was with them,patrolling around theirposition, keeping the surfaceships safe. Only this time,

Mack’s patrol area was notthe forward 180 degrees,whichhepreferred.Instead,itwas an area the shape of adonut: a full 360-degreeannulus, centered onIndependence, with an innerdiameter of forty nauticalmiles and an outer diameterof eighty nautical miles.Mackdidn’tlikebeingreinedinlikethat.“Radio, conn, stream the

floating wire,” the OOD

ordered.“Conn, radio, stream the

floatingwire,aye,sir.”Cheyenne’s floating wire

communications antennawasfunctionally similar to thecommunications buoyscarriedbyOhioclassTridentballistic missile submarines.Cheyenne could deploy thiswire from depth, withouthaving to raise acommunications mast abovethesurface.

“Incoming messagetraffic,” the communicatorsaid.He’d learned his lessonfromtheirpreviouspatrolanddidnotspeculateontheirneworders.The OOD acknowledged

and summoned both thecaptain and the executiveofficertotheconn.Mack arrived in a few

minutes along with theexecutive officer. CaptainMackey read the message,

passed it to the executiveofficer, and then called ameetinginthewardroom.Herequested that thecommunicator, the executiveofficer, the combat systemsofficer, and the engineerofficerbepresent.

“Wehaveourneworders,”Mack said as the briefingbegan. “Naval intelligencehas determined that a largeChinese surface task grouphas been sighted leavingZhanjiangNavalBase,China.Satellite reconnaissance hasconfirmed this information.Thetaskgroupisexpectedtoform in the Mandarin Seasouth of that base. Allinformation indicates thatthey are headed in the

direction of the SpratlyIslands. Normally, theywould be taken care of byaircraft and surface units.However, the Navy doesn’twant to send the carrier toofar north as yet, or to divertanyof thecarrier’sdefensiveescorts away from theirprotective zone. They areworried about a Chinese airattackontheBattleGroup.”Mack lookedaroundathis

officers. They were a good

group,andgettingbetterwithevery mission. His last post-attack critique had reinstilledthe need for redundancy, theformal repeat backs, duringthe attack phase. There wasnoroomforerror.“Our orders,” he went on,

“aretodetachfromtheBattleGroup and proceed north ofthe Spratly Islands to attacktheChinesetaskgroup.”Cheyenne was currently

deployedsouthoftheSpratly

Islandschain.Herneworderswould send her on a voyageofover660miles.She had completed her

mini-refitwithMcKeeonlyafew days earlier, and theweapons she had taken onboard during the load-outshould serve nicely in theupcoming battle. She hadtwentyMk 48 torpedoes andsix Harpoon missiles readyfor loading in her torpedotubes, and six Tomahawk

antishipping missiles(TASM)inherVLStubes.This was the time when

somesubmarinecommandersdelivered a pep talk to theofficers and crew, but Mackdidn’t believe in that. Hismen were all professionals,and he wanted them to actthatway.Theydidn’tneedtobe pumped up to do theirjobs. They simply needed tocarry out their duties in acalmandproficientfashion.

Mack smiled to himself atthat thought. He’d leave therah-rah speeches forcheerleaders and footballcoaches, who dealt withmillion-dollar prima donnas.Mack much preferred beingable to rely on thecompetence andprofessionalismof the sailorsonboardCheyenne.

Over a thousand milesaway,theChinesenavalbaseat Zhanjiang was bustlingwith activity. The surfacegrouphadfinallyleftportandwas now headed in thedirection of the ChineseSpratly Islands. They weregoing to position themselvesbetweentheAmericanCarrierBattleGroupandtheirislandsin order to prevent the U.S.NavyfromtakinganyactionsagainsttheSpratlys.

Thissurfacegroupwasoneofthemostpowerfulsurface-action groups ever to beassembled by the Chinesenavy. Consisting of two ofthe new Luhu destroyers,three Luda I destroyers, andthree Jianghu frigates, thegroup totaled eight ships inall, and theywereallheavilyarmed.The two new Luhu

destroyerscarriedtwoFrenchZ-9Ahelicoptersapiece,and

each surface ship carried asubstantial quantity ofsurface-to-surface antishipmissiles. Many of theirvessels also were equippedwiththeFrenchnavalCrotaleSAM system, which couldtake out any Americanhelicopters that might straytoo close to the Chineseforce.The fleet had been rushed

to sea, and though theywerewellarmed, theircommander

couldn’thelpwonderinghowwellprepared theywere.TheChinese People’s LiberationArmy(Navy)hadmadegreatstrides in gaining newequipment and training sincehe had graduated from theCanton Surface VesselAcademy, yet there weregreatstridesremaining.Thethingthatbotheredthe

Chinesecommanderthemostwas that, for all the strengthand numbers of his surface

group, he did not have thesupport ofmany submarines.The military, he knew, wasstrong in numbers, butmuchof their equipment was oldand antiquated. Were thesubmarines in such a poorstate of disrepair that theywereunabletogotosea?This bothered him in part

becauseofitsimplicationsfortheChinesearmedforcesasawhole. More important,however, like most of the

officers in the navy, he hadheard rumors of Americansubmarines wreaking havocon theChinese forces in thisarea. If those rumors weretrue, without many SSNs orSSKsofhisown,his surfacegroup was a large, heavilyarmed,sittingduck.OnboardCheyenne,Mack

and his officers and crewwere doing everything theycould to substantiate thoserumors—and maybe add a

fewnewones.Four hundred feet below

the surface,Cheyennepickeduphernextsonarcontact.“Conn, sonar,” the sonar

supervisor reported, “we’regetting a sonar contact,sounds like a Chinesemerchant ship. It’s headingtowardSwallowReef.”Mack thought the situation

over quickly and decided toignore the merchant vessel.Cheyenne had a mission to

perform, and he didn’t wanttobedelayedbytakingoutanoncombatant.Healsodidn’twanttoalerttheChinesetaskgroup that Cheyenne washeadingtheirway.Mack went to the conn.

“Proceedatfullspeed,course316,” he ordered the OOD.“Letthemerchantgo.”The OOD acknowledged

hiscaptain’sorder.Slowly the Chinese

merchant vessel steamed out

of sonar range as Cheyennecontinued on her way, notknowing that it had been atarget and was saved by thegraciousnessofCaptainMackMackey.Eighty-five miles

southwest of the Spratlys,Cheyenne turned and headednorthwest to bypass theChinese-occupied Spratlys.Naval intelligence hadreportedahighprobabilityofmines in the area, andMack

hadoptedtoavoidtherisk.The Chinese task group

wasstillbeingtrackedbytheU.S. satellites. In addition,thecarriersIndependenceandNimitz—which werecurrentlysailinginthePacific—were monitoring radiotraffic and electronic signalsfor any indications of theChinesefleet’splans.Cheyenne continued the

“sprint-and-drift” techniqueduring her long transit, but

she also periodically went toperiscope depth tocommunicate via SSIXS andto obtain better informationonthepositionoftheChinesefleet. She also received arefinement of her orders—arefinement that Mackapproved of, even though itcarriedanelementofrisk.Cheyennewasscheduledto

arrive on station a full dayahead of the Chinese taskgroup. Within twelve hours,

Chinese helicopters wouldcome within range ofCheyenne’s position,dropping lines of sonobuoysall around them. Cheyennewould have to stay like this,deepandsilent,untilthetaskgroupcamewithinfiftymilesof her position. Dependingupon Mack’s assessment atthe time, his SSN was thensupposed to proceed toshallowdepthandlaunchherHarpoon antiship missiles. If

there were more targets thanHarpoons, Cheyenne wasinstructed to attack theremaining ships with herTomahawk antiship missiles(TASM).The TASM was a longer

range missile than theHarpoon, and it carried awarheadwithnearlytwicetheexplosive. The Harpoon, onthe other hand, was smallerand about fifty knots fasterand thus much harder to

destroy. The alternative wasforCheyenne touseonlyherTomahawks and attack theChinese task group frommore than 250 miles away.But that would requireexternaltargetinginformationfromeitheraU.S.aircraftorasatellite.That would be safer for

Cheyenne, at least initially,butwithonlysixTomahawkson board, Cheyenne had nochance to destroy the entire

task group from such adistance. Mack would thenhave to decide betweenallowingatleasttwoChineseships toget away,orwaitingfor those ships to close towithin Harpoon range beforehecouldattackthem.Mack didn’t want to do

that. In the long run, it putCheyenne more at risk.Launching the Tomahawkswould give away theirgeneral bearing, and every

helicopterandsurfaceshipinthe area would be comingafterCheyenne.No, Mack liked the other

planbetter.He’dwaituntilhecould release a large numberof missiles all at the sametime. Cheyenne would thendive deep and head back totheSuluSea and thewaitingsubmarine tender McKee inorder to rearm and resupplyforanothermission.Mack had the OOD slow

andcomeshallowenoughforthefloatingwiretocopy.“Conn, radio, we’re

receiving important trafficonthe floating wire. It seemsthere may be somesubmarines operating at ourplanned launch point. Thereports indicate that theymightevenbeAlfas.”“Maintain your present

courseandspeed,”MacksaidtotheOOD.“Maintain my present

course and speed, aye, sir,”theOODreplied.Cheyenne was making ten

knotsat247feet,closetothepoint of inception ofcavitation. Mack made hisbestselectionofspeedversusdepth for continuousbroadcastcopying.

The American frigateIngraham (FFG-61) was

nearly five hundred milesfrom Independence, and shewas alone. She had beenordered to an area north oftheSpratlyIslandssothathertwo SH-60B Seahawkhelicopters could helpCheyenne’s target missiles.Hercaptainwaspleasedwithneither her mission nor thereasoningbehindit.Ingraham, an Oliver

Hazard Perry class frigate,had been selected for this

mission for two simplereasons:shecoulddo the jobandshewasexpendable.The3,500-ton Ingraham wascheap, inexpensive, and hadabout 150 fewer sailors onboard than did the morepowerful Ticonderoga classcruisers.The captain had received

word of this mission threedays ago when his ship wasdispatched from the NimitzCarrierBattleGroup into the

South China Sea. He knewthat Nimitz could have sentone of the more powerfulAegis cruisers or destroyers,but that would have left thecarrier more vulnerable toattack.Ingraham’s captain didn’t

like being thought of asexpendable—but he couldn’treally argue with the logic.And it didn’tmatter anyway.Hewouldcarryouthisordersto the best of his ability,

whetherhelikedthemornot.He didn’t know much

about Cheyenne, thesubmarine he would besupporting. He knew that,like Ingraham herself,Cheyennewas the last ofherclass. He also knew thatCheyenne, thoughcommissioned less than ayear earlier, had alreadybecome one of the mostsuccessful submarines inAmerican naval history.And

he knew that her skipper,CaptainMackey,was a goodman and a highly respectedcommanding officer. Hehopedthatthismissionwouldput his own selection boardjacket on the top of the pilewhen the 0-6 selection boardwasnextinsession.For this support mission,

Ingrahamwas equippedwitha full loadout of weapons,which had both pleased andsurprised her Captain. He

guessed that the full loadoutwas his admiral’s way ofcompensating for sendingIngraham on such amission,without any support.Ingraham’ s armamentincluded thirty-six StandardSM-1 surface-to-air missiles,fourHarpoonmissiles, and afull loadofMk46 torpedoesfortheirMk32torpedotubes,plus lots of ammunition forboth their Mk 75 gun andtheir 20mm Phalanx CIWS.

The frigate also carried twoSH- 60B Seahawks, each ofwhich was equipped with apowerful APS-124 surface-search radar under its nose.This radar would beinvaluable in providing mid-course guidance to theantiship missiles launchedfromCheyenne.Ingraham’s job was to

supportCheyenne. If any ofthe submarine’s missilesfailed to hit their mark,

Ingraham had permission tofire her Harpoon missiles atthe Chinese task group. Shewas also permitted to fire onanyenemyvesselsoraircraftwith which she came intocontact, but the emphasis ofher mission was to supportCheyenne.On board Cheyenne, the

communicator had an updateforMack.“Captain,”hesaid,“we just received word thatIngraham has arrived in

position. She relayed amessage for you, Captain. Itreads, ‘all quiet on thenorthernfront.’”Mack smiled at that.

“Funny,”hesaid.“Howlonguntil we reach our launchpoint?”The OOD conversed

quickly with the QMOW(quartermaster of the watch)and determined thatCheyenne was currentlyninety-twomilessouthwestof

where she needed to be. “Ifweincreasespeedtofull,ourETA will be in four hours,Captain,”answeredtheOOD.Mack acknowledged that.

“Come right to course 045,speedfull,depthfourhundredfeet,”heordered.Two hours later the sonar

room began buzzing withaction.“Conn,sonar,wehavetwo

convergencezonecontactsonthe spherical array, classified

as probableAlfa class SSNs,bearing010and014.”As the sonar supervisor

continued the basis of hisclassification, a pictureemerged that Mack didn’tlike—and one thatIngraham’s captain wasgoingtolikeevenless.The frigate was supposed

to be on station forty-threemiles northeast ofCheyenne.Mackdidn’t know it yet, butthe two sonar contacts,

Masters 37 and 38, weretraveling next to each otherforty miles northwest ofIngraham,whichput thematthe third point of an almostequilateral triangle,approximately forty-twomilesfromCheyenne.Making turns for12knots,

the Alfas were running at adepth of fifty meters, notknowing that Cheyenne wasapproaching the area. Theywere heading toward

Ingraham,closinginforwhatthey thought would be aneasykill.“Come to periscope

depth,” Mack ordered theOOD. “I want to alertIngraham.”Within minutes, Cheyenne

was at sixty feet and the“flash”messagewas sentviasatellite to the lone frigate.The message includedCheyenne’s estimatedposition and bearing to the

two Chinese submarines andthe fact that Cheyenne hadtentatively classified them asAlfas.“Conn, sonar, Masters 37

and38have increased speed.Blade rate indicates they’rerunningatthirty-eight—makethat forty knots, sir. It lookslike they’re making theirmove.”Mack frowned. That

wasn’t what he’d wanted tohear. He’d wanted to remain

silent until he launched hismissiles, but that was nolonger an option. Not withtwo Chinese Alfas racing todestroy Ingraham. Therewere few circumstanceswhere Mack would havestood by and watched anAmerican ship come underfire, and this wasn’t one ofthem. He needed Ingraham.He needed it to guideCheyenne‘smissiles over thehorizon. Without Ingraham,

Cheyenne’s mission waslikelytofail.“Increase speed to flank,”

he ordered. “I want tointercept those Alfas. Comerighttocourse025.”“Increase speed to flank

andcomerighttocourse025,aye,sir.”Cheyenne‘s message,

rapidlyturnedaroundatCTF74 headquarters, galvanizedIngraham’s officers andcrew. The SH-60 crew

members ran toward theirhelicopters, strapping theirgear to their flight vests astheyran.“Launch both helos,” the

Ingrahamcaptainordered.In theoperationscenteron

the frigate the sonar roomwas silent, listening. Theyhad detected the two Alfas,bearing 310 and 320 fromthem, as soonas theChinesesubmarines increased theirspeedtoflank.

“Captain, sonar, we justdetected what must beCheyenne,bearing235.She’srunningatflankspeedalso.Itlooks like she’s trying to putherself inbetweenusandtheChinesesubmarines.”“Way to go, Mack,”

Ingraham’s captain saidsoftly.But the frigate wasn’t out

of the woods yet. TheChinese Alfas couldaccelerate up to forty-three

knots submerged.On a goodday, with a clean hull,Cheyenne maxed out atnearly forty knots whichmeant that the Alfas weregoingtoarrivefirst.Not if I can help it, the

Ingraham captain thought tohimself. “Helm,” he ordered,“come left to 235, all aheadflank.” He planned to headtoward Cheyenne at hisfrigate’stopspeed.Withluckand a strong tail wind,

Ingraham just might have achance.

Even running at flankspeed,Cheyenne‘s sonarwasable to detect Ingraham’smaneuver. The bearingindicated to Mack that shewasonstationwhereshewassupposedtobe.Itdidn’t takeMacklongtofigureoutwhather captain had in mind. On

the 1MC, Mack himselfordered, “Man battlestations.”According to the BSY-1

computers, the range to theAlfas was closing fast. TheChinese submarines wereheading southeast at forty-twoknots,andCheyennewasheadingnortheastat38knots.Mack would have liked tostay silent, but flank speedwasCheyenne‘sonlyhopeofheading off the Alfas.

Besides, at forty-two knots,the Chinese submarines hadno chance of hearingCheyenne’sapproach.When the range to the

closest Alfa, Master 37,reached 30,000 yards, Mackordered tubes one and twomadereadyinallrespects.Healso ordered the outer doorsopened. The range to thesecond Alfa,Master 38, wasjustunder33,000yards.“Sir,” the fire-control

coordinator reported, “we’rein range of the first Alfa,Master37.We’ll be in rangeof Master 38 in threeminutes.”Mack nodded, but he did

not give the command toshoot. “I want to wait untilthey are within 28,000yards,” he said. “Tell mewhenMaster37comeswithinthat range. Firing pointprocedures, tube one,Master37.”

Travelling at this speed,Cheyennewas relyingonherBSY-1computerstogiveherany information she requiredon the positions of the sonarcontacts. Because of herspeed, sonar was not able tohear much beyond the waterrushingbythehull.As Cheyenne‘s BSY-1

computed range neared28,000 yards, and theIngraham’s CIC (combatinformation center) reported

the range to the Chinesesubmarines as 25,000 yards,the SH-60 Seahawks fromIngraham came into play,laying down lines ofsonobuoysoneaftertheotherin an effort to determine theexact location of the Alfas.Once they had thatinformation in their onboardcomputers, they could droptheir own torpedoes on theAlfas.The fire-control

coordinator informed Mackthe moment the range haddecreased to 28,000 yards.Without hesitating, Mackordered, “Back full. Matchsonar bearings and shoot,tubeone,Master37.”WithCheyenne’s headway

quicklykilledby thebackingbell, Mack ordered, “Aheadonethird.”“Conn, sonar, unit one

running hot, straight, andnormal.”

IftheAlfacontinuedonitspresentcourseandspeed, thetorpedo would reach it insevenandahalfminutes.The crew of the lead Alfa

was excited. They had beenchasingtheirquarryforsometime now and were finallyclosinginfortheirfirstkill—againstanAmericanwarship,no less. For all theirexcitement, though, they hadno idea that there was anAmericanMk48headedtheir

way.A hundred feet above the

surface, one of Ingraham‘sSH-60LAMPSIIIhelicoptersdetected Cheyenne’s firsttorpedowithinmomentsofitslaunch.TheheloseachhadasingleMk50onboard,whichweresmallerthanCheyenne’storpedoes. The Mk 50’shundred pound warhead waslessthanasixththeweightofthe explosive packed intoMack’sMk48.

A quick communicationflashed between the twohelos,andmomentslaterbothpilots launched theirMk 50s—but not at the lead Alfa.Cheyenne wasn’t likely toneedtheirhelpwiththatone.Instead, they targeted thesecond Chinese submarine,Mack’sMaster38.Below the surface,

Cheyenne was nowcomfortably within range ofboth submarines and was

steering the Mk 48 into theleadAlfa,Master37.“Conn, sonar,” the sonar

supervisor reported,“Ingraham’ s SH-60s justdropped two torpedoes,sounds like Mk 50s, on thebearing to the second Alfa,Master 38.” There was apause and then the fire-controlcoordinatoradded,“Itlooks like they’re going tohit, too, sir. BSY-1 showsthey dropped them right on

topofit.”Neither of the Chinese

submarineshadany idea thattheyhadbeentargetedbyanyAmericantorpedoes.TheleadChineseAlfaneverwould.The650-poundwarheadof

Cheyenne’sMk48 detonateddirectly aft of the Alfa’ssinglescrewandblewoffthestern of the submarine.Runningatfourhundredfeet,the crew on board the leadAlfa never had a chance.

Those that didn’t drownimmediately as water rushedinto the engine room werecrushedbythepressureofthedeepsea.The second Alfa, still

running at top speed, wasunable to hear eitherCheyenneor the twoMk50sheading toward it, but itscrew heard the explosionfrom the Mk 48 on thebearing of their sister ship.The second Alfa’s captain

slowed immediately toassessthe situation—whichwas theworst thing he could havedone.Bystoppingdirectly inthepathof theAmericanMk50s, he had sealed his ownfate.“Conn, sonar, two

explosions, sir,” the sonarsupervisorsaidtoMack.“TheMk50sjusthittheirmark.”Amoment later he added, “Butshe’snotbreakingup,sir.”That didn’t surpriseMack.

The Alfa class SSNs hadalwaysbeenthoughtofasoneof the hardest types ofsubmarine to kill. Unlikemost other submarines, theAlfa had a hull constructednot of steel, but entirely oftitanium. This allowed it todive extremely deep,probably 3,000 feet, and italso made her a very hardtarget to destroy. Alfas werealmost as hard to sink as thedouble-hulledTyphoon.

TheAlfahadgottenlucky,but she hadn’t come awayundamaged. The twoAmerican light weighttorpedoeshadhit theAlfaonits starboard side, damagingthestarboardballasttanks.Tomake matters worse, theirreactorhadautomaticallyshutdown when the control rodscameunlatchedasa resultofthe torpedo concussions.Without its reactor, the Alfacouldnotrunaway.

The officers and crew oftheAlfahadjustbeguntogetagripontheirproblemswhenCheyenne fired her secondtorpedo at Master 38, andthingssuddenlybecamemuchworse.“Conn, sonar, unit 2

running hot, straight, andnormal,”thesonarsupervisorsaid.There was nothing for the

Chinese submarine to doexceptwaitanddie.Ifittried

to surface, it would listheavily to starboard. Withtheir sonar barely working,the Alfa’s sonarmen listenedas Mack’s torpedo camecloser and closer to theirsubmarine. One minutebefore impact, the Chinesecaptain did try launching anoisemaker, but the Mk 48ignored it and continued toclose on the helplesssubmarine.The torpedo detonated on

the same side as had thesmaller Mk 50s, but it hadmore of an impact. Thetitanium hull had alreadybeenweakenedby theearlierexplosions. This one crackedit clean through, flooding theAlfa and killing all forty-seven men on board. Fromthe moment Cheyenne’storpedo had acquired, theyneverhadachance.Thatdidn’tbotherMackat

all. This was war, and he

knew the Chinese hadn’tplanned on giving Ingrahamanychance,either.The Alfas were gone, and

nowCheyenne and her crewhad to focuson theirmissiononcemore.TheChinese taskgroup was still headed herway,but therewaslittle timeleft for Cheyenne andIngraham’s helos to preparefor the quick but deadlyupcoming attack. Mackallowed his crew a short

respitefrombattlestations.Nineteen hours later,

Cheyenne came to periscopedepth with battle stationsremanned.Shereceivedwordthat one of Ingraham‘shelicopters had detected theChinesetaskgroup150milesto the north of Cheyenne’sposition. Ingraham hadrelocated about fiftymiles tothe south of Cheyenne, buther Seahawks were flying asrotating radar pickets to

detect the enemy fleet. Assoon as the Chinese taskgroup was discovered, thesecond Seahawk, freshlyfueledandarmed,wassenttorelievethefirstoneandallowit to return to the frigate forrefueling.The Seahawk’s powerful

surface-search radar allowedthe helicopter to stay out ofChinese SAM (surface-to-airmissile) range while shepainted the task group with

radarwaves.Thisdatawouldbe used to guideCheyenne’sHarpoonsintotheirtargets.Cheyenne proceeded back

down to her normal patroldepthandincreasedherspeedto twenty-five knots. Twohours later she was wellwithinHarpoonmissilerangeof the Chinese task group,with Harpoons in all fourtorpedo tubes and “battlestationsmissile”manned.Mack’s orders were

unchanged, and so was hisplan. He intended to fire hissix Harpoons in salvos andthenlaunchhisTASMsattheremainingtargets.Hisbiggestconcern was the speed withwhichCheyenne would havetooperate—bothforherownsakeandbecause,iftheytooktoolong,theSeahawksriskedentering SAM range andbeing engaged by Chinesemissiles.Cheyenne had trained for

this kind of mission, andMackhadalwaysfeltthatthistype—striking atunsuspecting surface ships—was very much the same asthatofawaitingsniper:getinposition, wait for anopportunity, fire, and slipaway.Cheyenne came to one

hundred feet and withinminutes had launched all herHarpoons.Withoutmissingabeat, Mack ordered VLS

tubes five through ten fired.The Tomahawks werelaunched one by one as thehatches on each tube openedin sequence and the missileswereejectedskyward.When the last TASM was

away, Mack orderedCheyenne back down to fourhundred feet and headedtoward the submarine tenderMcKee. They had fired offmany of their weapons andneeded to rearm in order to

remaineffective.Battle stations were once

again secured while thetorpedo tubes were reloadedbut, as was always the casewhen attacking distanttargets, Cheyenne’s crewwould have to wait to learnhowwelltheyhadperformed.They knewonly that twenty-fiveminutes after the attack,sonar had reported twelvevery large primary andsecondary explosions. This

was a good sign, especiallyconsidering that there wereonly eight vessels in theChinese task group, butofficial confirmation of thekillswouldhavetowait.

McKee, like all submarinetenders, was an auxiliaryvessel with little weaponryand no sonar. Which meantthat, ironically, though she

had spent nearly all her lifeservicing submarines, shewas virtually defenselessagainst themandhadnowayof knowing if one wassneakinguponher.The McKee’s captain was

not known for his sense ofirony. He would not havebeen amused to know that,even as his ship wasoperating quietly off Bruneiinwait forCheyenne, a loneMing class submarine was

stalkingher.HehadweighedanchorafterCheyenneleftthelast time in order to conductseatrainingforhiscrew.

Thirteen hours afterlaunching her missiles,Cheyenne came to periscopedepthtocatchuponthelatestintelligence and to informMcKee that they were enroute and would arrive in

about twenty-five hours.Cheyenne was at periscopedepth for as short a time aspossible.Shewassoononherwaytothesouthernportionofthe South China Sea oncemore, unaware of the enemysubmarine that was headingtowardMcKee.

The Chinese submarinecaptain had closed to within

twenty-six miles of McKee.Hewouldmaintainhis speedof five knots until theAmericantendercamewithinrange of his SAET-60homing torpedoes with their400-kilogram warheads. Themaximum range for thesetorpedoes was 16,400 yards,or a little over eight nauticalmiles, so the Ming wouldhavetomoveinclose.Threehourslater,theMing

had closed the gap. McKee

was at the extreme edge ofthe torpedo’s range, and theChinese captain beganpreparing his submarine forfiring.Mack was in the control

room talking with his watchstanders when the reportcamefromsonar.“Conn, sonar, we just

picked up a sonar contactbearing 173; it’s opening itstorpedo tube doors. Thebearing is to the west of

McKee’sreportedposition.”“Come to periscope

depth,” Mack said. “Radio,Captain, contact McKee andask her if any friendlysubmarinesareexpectednearher location.” Mack had toask the question, but hewould have been surprised ifthe answer was yes. Thatwould have meant that CTF74 was losing control ofsubmarine mutualinterference.

Battle stations werequickly manned as sonarreported Master 47 to be aprobable Ming class SSK.Then the response fromMcKeecameback.“Conn, radio, that’s a

negative, sir, they’re onlyexpectingus.Wearetheonlysubmarine that should be inthearea.”“Radio, conn, tell McKee

to get under way at bestspeed, course 090.” That

would take McKee directlyaway from the enemysubmarine.Cheyennesentthemessage

and thenMack headed deep.Moments later, the sonarsupervisor reported contacton McKee and that McKeehadstartedtomoveoncourse090 and was picking upspeed.“Ahead flank, steer 173,”

Mackordered.That would serve two

purposes,heknew.First,andmost important, it would getthem within range to fire onthe Chinese submarine.Second,andalmostasvital,itwould serve notice to theMing, warning them that ifthey didn’t back off fromMcKeetheyweregoingtobefacingabig,angryAmericansubmarine.TheMing heardCheyenne

cavitating, but it didn’t altercourse. Instead, it increased

speed in the direction ofMcKee and fired twotorpedoes. Only then did theChinese submarine changecourse,butbythenitwastoolate.Mack had already slowed

and, with the BSY-1computer solutions,had firedtwo Mk 48s at the Ming.Minutes later, the torpedoesacquired their target andhomed in on the enemysubmarine. The sonar

supervisor reported twoexplosions, followed by thesounds of the Ming fillingwith water. The Ming wasdead.“What about the Chinese

torpedoes?” Mack asked.“How’sMcKeedoing?”He didn’t have to worry,

though. McKee was runningaway from the SAET-60s asfast as she could. At twentyknots, she wasn’t able tooutrun the torpedoes, but she

was able to stay ahead ofthemuntiltheyranoutofgas.Whensonarlostcontacton

the second Chinese torpedo,Mack ordered Cheyenne toperiscope depth. “Radio,conn, tell McKee we’recomingin.”Hewasgoingtobegladto

reach the tender. Cheyenneneededtorearmandresupply.Buthehadthefeelingthatthecaptain and crew of McKeewould be glad to see them,

too.

6.Ambush

Cheyenne’s crewwaswellrested after their relativelyrelaxing stay on board thesubmarine tender McKee.Cheyenne had been rearmedand their food and supplystocks had been replenished.Captain Mackey was evenlooking forward to his nextmission.According to naval

intelligence,thatmissionwasgoing to be a “breeze”compared to his last several—andMackhopedtheywereright. By now, his officersand crew were combat-hardened veterans who hadmore than paid their debt totheircountry.IfMackhadhisway, he’d give each andevery one of them a medaland a promotion for theirservice.The captain called the

executive officer into hissmall stateroom. This wasone of the few places wherethecaptaincouldhaveaquietmoment to himself. He hadaskedtheexecutiveofficertojoin him because he didn’talways trust navalintelligence and he wanted asecondopinionon theordersCheyennehadreceived.Whentheexecutiveofficer

arrived,Mackhandedhimthemessage. He didn’t say a

word.Hedidn’thaveto.The orders called for

Cheyenne to enter into theChinese-claimed SpratlyIslands and patrol several ofthenow-abandonedoilrigsinthe area, including thepartially built rig borderingonSwallowReef.The executive officer

studiedthemfortwominutesandthenlookedup.Thelookonhis facemade itclear thathe wasn’t any happier than

Mack was. A week earlier,naval intelligence hadproclaimed those waters toodangeroustoenter.Nowtheywere claiming that they’dbeendelousedandwereclearofallenemysubmarines.

Mackhadgottenwhathe’dwanted—confirmation of hissuspicions.Cheyennehadherorders, and she would carrythem out, but she would beexpecting trouble, no matterwhatthoseintelguyssaid.“Gather the officers,” he

said. “I want them all in thewardroom in fifteenminutes.”Ever since he’d first met

the executive officer, Mackhad likedhimand trustedhis

opinion. During wartime,Mackknew,one couldneverbe too reliant on intelligencereports from thousands ofmiles away. The executiveofficer had agreed with hisfeelings on their orders andthat made Mack trust himevenmore.Fifteen minutes later, the

wardroom was quiet whenMack entered. He lookedaround at the assembledofficers and decided to get

righttothepoint.“We’ve been ordered to

enter the Spratly Islandschain and patrol several oilrigs in the area that arebelieved to be possiblelocations for submarinesupply depots,” he said.“Naval intelligence doubtsthis finding, but they havesent us to investigatenonetheless.”Because the intelligence

analystsdidn’tthinkthatthey

would find anything in thearea, CTF 74 had decided itwould be cost efficient toload Cheyenne with onlytwenty Mk-48 torpedoes; noTomahawks and noHarpoons. So even if Mackdid find a remote Chineseoperating location, hecouldn’t attack it withTomahawksashewouldhaveliked to. He was ordered toreport back, and then theNavy would order an air

strike.He hated this kind of

thinking.The assembled officers

were silent, waiting for himto continue. “Navalintelligence reports that dueto our successful actionsduringthepastseveralweeks,as well as the actions of therestof theNavy, theChineseunits in the area are runninglow on supplies and morale.Theyexpectthat,atthemost,

we will come into contactwith only a handful ofsubmarinesinthesewaters.”Mack looked around the

room, assessing his officers.“Thismission is supposed tobeaneasyone,”hesaid,“butyou all know what thatmeans.Itjustmeanswehaveto be extra careful and keeponourtoes.Idon’tlikebeingthat close to Chinese-occupied waters any morethanyoudo.Butwehaveour

orders.”After the usual number of

questions, thewardroomwascleared and the captain wentback to his stateroom,whereheagainexaminedhisorders.He still didn’t like what hewasreading.Mack looked at the chart

he normally kept in thewardroom. It was one of thefew good charts he’d everseen of the Spratly Islands.The chain was oval, shaped

roughly like a football, withfour islands that Cheyenneneededtopatrol.As Mack examined the

chart, he decided he wouldsteam silently from the northinto the waters surroundingDiscovery Great Reef. Fromthere, hewould proceed in acounterclockwise direction,continuing west and southuntil he arrived nearCuarteron Reef, right in thecenteroftheoval.

From there, Cheyennewould travel to SwallowReef, near the southernborder of the islands, andthen sail northeast until shearrivedatherlastsearcharea,CarnaticReef.Assumingthatintel was right—anassumption Mack was notprepared to make—and thearea was clean, Cheyennewouldthencontinueontothenorthtoawaitfurtherorders.Cheyennewasnowpassing

the island of Palawan to theeast. Navigating theremaining 200 miles in thenarrow but deep channelleading to Mindoro Straitwould require a number ofGPS fixes en route. Thesubmarine tender McKee,from which he had justfinished rearming, wouldremainonstation in theSuluSea until ordered byCTF74torelocate.After the recent submarine

attack on McKee, theIndependence and theNimitzBattle Groups had eachdecided to part with oneASWhelicopter, and the twoLAMPS III helos were nowbeing flown to McKee’sposition.The SH-60s would be

operated from McKee’slanding pads in order toprotect the tender from anypossible future submarinethreats. The SH-60Bs were

also equipped to carry thePenguin antiship missile,whichwouldofferMcKeeanantisurface defense as well.The Navy would not betaking any more chances bysending a defenseless tenderintothelineoffire.Oneothergoodthingcame

outofthatattackonMcKee—atleastfromMack’spointofview. McKee’s captain wasvery appreciative ofCheyenne‘stimelyrescueand

had provided as much freshfruit as Cheyenne’s storagespaces would allow. Freshfruit was scarce on board asubmarine and stocks oftenran out quickly. This gestureon the part of McKee‘scaptain was greatlyappreciated, and while thefruit would not last long, itwould help ensure that thebeginning of Cheyenne’scruisewouldbeenjoyable.HavingfoundaMingSSK

in the Sulu Sea,Mack couldnot afford the luxury ofrunning on the surface untilclearofMindoroStrait.Still,the channel out to the SuluSea was narrow andtreacherous,soMackdecidedto supplement the GPS fixeswith occasional active sonar.The threat of other Chinesesubmarines was real, but sowasthethreatofrunningintothesideofthechannel.Once past the shallow

waters of Mindoro Strait,Cheyenne accelerated totwenty knots, on course 300toward the start of hercounterclockwise search ofthe Spratly Islands. Uponarrival, Mack ordered theOOD to run at four knotsuntiltheydeterminedthatthearea was clear beforecontinuingontheirway.The TB-23 towed array

was streamed to help in thesearch of the deep water in

case there were ChineseSSNs trying to slip in fromthe north. After a carefulsonar search, Cheyenneincreased speed to full andaltered course for DiscoveryGreatReef.The more Mack thought

aboutthiscurrentmission,thelesshelikedit.Hewasalltooaware of how easy it wouldbeforadieselsubmarinelikea Kilo to hide in the islandwatersnear theoilplatforms.

An enemy submarine couldlieinwaitnearthebottomofthe shallow water, hidinguntil Cheyenne came withintorpedo range. They couldevenbottomwithoutdamage,since the Chinese dieselsubmarines didn’t have aGRP (glass-reinforcedplastic) sonar dome orseawater cooling for a steampropulsion plant to worryabout.CaptainMackeydidn’tlikethatthoughtatall.

Mackdecidedthatoncehewaswithin twenty-fivemilesofeachsearcharea,hewouldreduce Cheyenne’s speed toeight to ten knots and thatoncehewaswithtenmileshewould slow to four to sevenknots.Hedidn’twantanyonesneaking up on them, andrunning slow was the bestwaytokeepCheyennequiet.

When Cheyenne wastwenty-five miles north-

northeast of the Spratlys,Mack proceeded to thecontrol room, looked atCheyenne’s position on thequartermaster’s chart, andthenorderedtheOOD,“Slowtotenknots.”“Slow to ten knots, aye,

sir.”Thechangeinthespeedof

the submarine,while sudden,wasnotoverlydrasticforthecrew.Theyhadgottenusedtothe rough riding of a

submarineinclosecombat.Hours before, Cheyenne

hadshiftedfromtheTB-23tothe TB-16 towed array. Thesonaroperatorswerelisteningquietly, but heardnothingonthe towed array or thespherical and conformalsonars, and the sonarsupervisor soon reported thattherewerenocontacts.Mackwas pleasedwith that report.Heknew that if theywere toencounter an enemy

submarine, they would be infor a dangerous, shallowwaterfight.Cheyennewasnotathome

in coastal waters like these.The Los Angeles classsubmarinesweredesignedforblue water operations.Cheyenneandhersistershipsperformed best in the openocean. While they stillperformed well in areas likethe South China Sea and,morespecifically, theSpratly

Islands, their superiority gapwasnarrowedmarkedly.A Los Angeles class SSN

was 360 feet in length—nearly100feetlongerthananAlfa submarine, and theChinese and Russian Kilosubmarinesweresmallerstill.The Kilo was a perfectweapon system for thesedangerous waters.Measuring229 feet, it could weave inand out of tight spots thatCheyenne would not even

wanttoventureinto.As Cheyenne approached

Discovery Great Reef, Mackdecided to remain relativelyshallow. That would allowCheyenne to copy any radiotrafficthatmightbebroadcasttothem.Inaddition,hedidn’ttrust the water depths in thisarea. He figured he had abetter chance of runningaground thanhedidofbeingdetectedbytheenemy.When Cheyenne crossed

the100fathomcurveinboundfor Discovery Great reef,Mack ordered, “Come toperiscopedepth.”Cheyennehadalreadybeen

running shallow at 200 feet.Now, however, Mack wouldusetheperiscopetocheckoutthenotorious“oilplatforms.”“Conn, sonar,” the sonar

supervisorcalledashorttimelater. “I think we’ve got acontactonthetowedarray.Itsounds faint, but itmay be a

submarine ... although thecomputers haven’t been abletoconfirmathing.”The contact was currently

too weak for Cheyenne’ssonar operators to do muchwith. Mack made a mentalnote to keep checking on it,though. He was sure that ifthis was a submarine theywere picking up, Cheyennewouldbegoingafteritsoon.Mack was also sure that

whatever they were picking

up had not yet detected theirownpresenceinthesewaters.Cheyenne was currentlyrunningatonlythreeknotstominimize the periscope“feather,”thewakecausedbythe periscope barrel as itmoved through the air-waterinterface, and shewasnearlyasquietasshecouldbe.“Captain, we are currently

seventeen miles northeast ofthefirstoilrig,”thenavigatorreported.

“Sonar, Captain, do youhave any additionalinformation to report on thatcontact?”Mackasked.“Conn, sonar, we classify

Master 48 as a probablesubmarine contact to thesouthwest. Itappears that it’son the other end of theabandoned oil rig from ourposition.It’sbarelymakingasound,though.”Mack acknowledged the

report and ordered battle

stations manned and thetowed array housed. He stilldidn’t know for sure whatthat contact was, but he hadthefeelingthatCheyennewasabout to go into battle oncemore.

Southwest ofCheyenne, atthe other end of theabandoned oil rig, a ChineseKilo submarine was getting

into position near DiscoveryGreat Reef. The Kilo wasrunning silently, and itscaptain was confident thatthey could not be detected.But then, based on estimatesfromChinese intelligence,hedid not expect anyAmericanSSNs to be near his positionforatleastanotherday.The Chinese intelligence

machine was very differentfrom its Americancounterpart. The Chinese

focused their intelligence onthe human aspect, orHUMINT, while theAmericans focused theirintelligence on ELINT—electronicsignalsinterceptionandsatellitephotography.These differences made

sense in terms of thebackgrounds of the twocountries. China had amassive population, withcitizens and former citizensscattered around the world.

America, on the other hand,had massive quantities ofmoney that theycoulduse toinvest in their defenseindustry.These differences came

into play off the Spratlys.Cheyenne,withheradvancedtechnology and sophisticatedsonarequipment,wasable topick up traces of the Kilo.The Chinese boat, however,was relying more heavily onhuman observers—but

Cheyenne’ssubmergedtransitof thePhilippineIslandsareahad precluded any HUMINTby Chinese observers on theislands.ThecaptainoftheChinese

Kilo finally arrived in hisposition slightly more thanonenauticalmilewestof theoil platform. He planned towait there in silence forpassing American navalvessels, hoping for some toventurecloseenoughforhim

tostrike.He didn’t know it, but he

wasabouttogethiswish.

“Conn,sonar,”reportedthesonarsupervisor,“wejustlostcontactonMaster48.”“Whatwasthelastposition

of Master 48?” Mack askedthefire-controlcoordinator.Theexecutiveofficer,who

was acting as fire-control

coordinator for this watch,said,“Captain,Master48wasabout nineteen thousandyards west of the DiscoveryGreat Reef oil rig. Do youthinksheheardus?”The question was a good

one.Couldtheyhaveheardus?

Mack wondered. The mostprobable reason that theywould lose contact with asubmarinewaseitherthat theenemysubmarine’snoisewas

being shielded fromCheyenne‘s sonar, possiblybyathermallayerorthesurfnoise, or that the submarinehad detected Cheyenne’spresence and had eitherstopped or was runningsilently.Thesilenceindicatedthat if therewasa submarineout there, it was probably aChinese diesel boat, runningonitsbatteries.Slowly, Cheyenne

approached theoil rig,which

lay within one mile ofDiscovery Great Reef. Thewaterwas extremely shallowin this area and the hugerocks surrounding the nowdilapidated oil rig served toshieldthediesel’ssounds.Cheyenne‘s passive sonar

suite was severely degradedintheshallowenvironmentofthe littorals. In thisenvironment, active sonarwouldworkalmostaswellaspassive, if theyusedMIDAS

todiscriminatebetweenrocksand a submarine’s longerhull, but Mack didn’tseriously consider the idea.Heknewthatusinghisactivesonar would give awayCheyenne’s exact position.He’d rather have bothsubmarines blind than giveaway his position to theenemy.Through the periscope,

Mack could see theDiscoveryGreatReefoil rig.

Ataglance,hecouldtellthatit had been destroyed duringtheChineseoccupationoftheisland.Butheneededtogiveitmorethanjustaglance.Hewas supposed to get someaccurate photographs of therig for intelligence back inWashington. In addition, heneeded to ensure that the rigwas not being used as aChinesesubmarinedepotthatcouldrearmorrefuelChineseSSKs.

He made another quickcircle as he “danced” theperiscopearound the surface.He could find no evidencethat the rig was being usedfor anything—or that it waseven in the process of beingrepaired—but still he wascautious. This was a verydangerous place forCheyenne to be running atperiscopedepth.Sixnauticalmilesaway,or

about 12,000 yards from

Cheyenne’s current position,the Chinese Kilo submarinewas operating in its silentmode—running on itsbatteries. With no noisecoming from their own ship,the Chinese sonar operatorslistenedcarefullytotheirlowfrequency sonar, searchingthe waters for the sound ofanyAmericanvessels.Theyheardnothing.The Chinese had been

loitering here, running

silently on their batteries, forseventeen hours, keepingtheirdepthshallowat45feetand their ears open. Thecaptain was waiting for theAmericans to walk into histrap.After seventeen hours,

however, the captain of theKilo grew impatient. He’dhad enough of this waiting.SlowlytheKilopulledoutofits hiding spot and began topickupspeed.Itscaptainhad

decided tomake a run at sixknots, slowly and quietlycircling Discovery GreatReef, searching for anyAmericannavalvessels.AssoonastheKilomoved,

it lost its protection againstAmerican sonars, andCheyenneheardit.“Conn, sonar, we just

reacquired Master 48. It’s aKilo,singlesix-bladedscrew.It just increased speed to sixknotsandit’sheadingnorth.”

AshorttimelateraBSY-1operator reported the Kilo’srange, and Mack knewCheyennewasintrouble.TheChinese submarine was only11,000 yards away, whichmeant that Mack hadunknowingly broughtCheyenne well withinweaponsrangeoftheChineseKilo and her TEST-71homingtorpedoes.“Make tubes one and two

ready,” Mack ordered. “But

donotopentheouterdoors!”He emphasized that. Theywere tooclose,andhedidn’twant to give the Kilo anychance of detecting theirlocation.“Make tubes one and two

ready but do not open theouterdoors,aye,sir.”Mack had a problem. He

hadthedropontheKilo,buthe didn’t have muchmaneuvering room. If theKilo got off a return shot,

Cheyennecouldbeintrouble.And that was the least of

his worries. His biggerproblemwashislackofintel.Were there other Chinesesubmarines out there? Navalintelligence said no—butthey’d missed one already.Who was to say they hadn’tmissedmore?This was a problem

because he would give awayhis position as soon as hefiredontheKilo—andevenif

that submarine didn’t fireback, there could be othershiding in the shallow waterwaitingtopounce.Captain Mackey ordered

Cheyenne rigged forultraquiet. He wanted everyeffort made to ensure thatnothing alerted the Kilo totheir location. Word wasquickly passed to allcompartmentsover thesoundpowered phones. Non-vitalequipment was quickly

secured.The crewwhisperedwhen they spoke, wonderingwhatwouldbenext.On board the Chinese

submarine, the captain wasgrowing frustrated. He wasassigned to keep watch forAmerican submarines,butheknew that he would neverhear them unless they werecloseenoughtofire theirMk48s. Even under idealcircumstances his passivesonar was never up to par

with the American BSY-1system, but in these shallowwaters his Russian passivesonar performance was evenworse.Frustrated, he ordered his

sonarroomtousetheiractivesonar and ping the area,hoping to even out theplaying field andget abetterfix on his surroundings. Hehad no idea that the USSCheyenne was attempting tocloseinonhisposition.

“Conn,sonar, theKilojustwentactiveonitsfire-controlsonar. He painted the entireareaforus.”Mack knew immediately

that this was good news aswell as bad. It was badbecause the Kilo now knewwhereCheyennewasandhadalso received a firingsolution. The good news,however, was that the activepinghadgiventhesamedatato Cheyenne. Even more

important, that one ping hadlit up the murky waters ofDiscovery Great Reef like aflashlight. Thanks to thatping, Mack now knew thatthe Chinese Kilo was allalone.Mack had the upper hand,

but he wouldn’t have it forlong.Hehadtoactfast—andactfirst.Heinitiatedthefiringpoint

procedurestoattacktheKilo,Master 48. “Open the outer

doorsontubesoneandtwo,”orderedMack.“Open the outer doors on

tubesoneandtwo,aye,sir.”“Match sonarbearings and

shoottubesoneandtwo.”“Match sonarbearings and

shoottubesoneandtwo,aye,sir.”Cheyenne’s torpedo tube

muzzledoorsopenedandtwoMk 48 ADCAPs knifedthrough the murky watertowardtheenemysubmarine.

Onboard the loneChineseKilo, the captainwas furiouswith himself. He had beentasked with waiting quietlyfor any American target, buthehadlosthispatience,andithadcosthim.He would have liked to

blame it on timing and badluck—that Americansubmarine showing up justwhen he decided to take astroll around the reef wasunbelievably bad luck—but

he knewhe couldn’t shrug itoff that easily. After all, hehad no idea how long theAmericans had been outthere. No, the simple truthwas he’d made a mistake.Nowhecouldonlyhope thatthe American captain wouldmakeone,too.That hope died almost

immediately. He had barelyformed the thoughtwhen hissonar room alerted him totheir discovery. The

American captain had notmade amistake.He’dbeatenthe Chinese captain to thepunch, launchingnotonebuttwo deadly ADCAPtorpedoesbeforetheKilohadevengottentheirtubesready.WithinminutesthetwoMk

48shadacquiredtheKiloandtheirwireswerecut.TheMk48swereontheirownastheyentered the terminalphaseoftheir“flight.”The Chinese submarine

launched a series ofnoisemakers, one afteranother, and began twistingthrough the shallowwater inan effort to decoy the twotorpedoes. It was no use,though. The Kilo had nomore room tomaneuver thanCheyennedid,andnotimetorun.The Mk 48s were now

using their powerful activeseekers and they simplyignored the noisemakers.

They stayedwith theKilo asittriedtoevade.Withinminutes,twonearly

simultaneous explosionsannounced to Cheyenne’screw that their weapons hadfound their mark. The twoMk 48s had impacted, onenexttotheother,intotheportsideoftheKilo.The explosion caused the

Chinese boat to split in halfafter both sides had filledwith water. Cheyenne had

destroyed another boat—andnot just any submarine. ThiswasanotherKilo,theprideoftheChinesenavy.“Conn, sonar, I don’t hear

anythingelseinthearea,”thesonar supervisor reported tothecaptainafter the situationwasundercontrol.“It looks like this area has

been ‘deloused,’ the captainsaid.”Idon’t think that thereare any other vesselsoperatinginthearea,butjust

to make sure let’s make aquick check around and thenhead to our second searcharea.”Battle stations and the rig

for ultraquiet were secured,and the reconnoiter aroundthe reef came up empty.Cheyenne turnedupno signsthat there was a submarinedepot operating in thislocality. There was also nosonar indication of any othersubmarines that may have

beenoperatingwiththeKilo.Mack was not surprised,

buthecouldn’thelpfeelingalittle relieved. “Plot a newcourse for Cuarteron Reef,search area 2, that takes usoutside this shallow water,”Captain Mackey said to thenavigator.“Aye, Captain, We’ve

already begun to plot thecourse,”thenavigatorreplied.Discovery Great Reef was

close to Cuarteron Reef, but

the trip itself would takeseveral hours. Mack couldhave covered it in far lesstime,buthewantedtoremainsilent and chose to keepCheyenne’s speed betweenfive and ten knots. Onceagain, Mack was frustratedwith his passive sonarperformance in these shallowwaters, but hewas not goingto risk giving away hisposition,sohekeptCheyennequiet and hoped that if

somethingwasouttheretheywouldhearit.As Cheyenne approached

closer to the abandoned oilrig, Mack got morephotographs of the oilplatform. Less than threemonths ago, this area hadbeen crowded with oilworkerswhowereattemptingtoextractoilfromthebottomoftheislands.Now,however,there was not a soul on therig, and the neighboring

islands were completelyoccupied by Chinese troopswho would have loved toattackCheyenne if given thechance. But Mack wasn’tabout to give them thatchance. Not if he could helpit,anyway.“Sonar, conn, have you

picked up any contacts yet?”Mack asked of the sonarsupervisor.“Conn, sonar, nothing at

all,Captain.”

Mack acknowledged thereport, but he wasn’t sure ifthiswasagoodsignorabadone.At three knots, Cheyenne

creptaroundtheentirelengthof Cuarteron Reef but foundno sign of enemy submarineoperations in the area. Thatwas definitely a good sign,Mackthought.“Next stop, Swallow

Reef,” Mackey said to theexecutive officer before

turningtheconnbackovertothewaitingOOD.The captain, satisfied with

Cheyenne’ssearch,wentbackto his stateroom for somerest. He gave specific orderstotheexecutiveofficernottohave him disturbed unlesstherewasanemergency.

Several hours later theexecutive officer walked

quietly into the captain’sstateroomandrousedhim.AssoonasMackopenedhiseyesandsawhisexecutiveofficerstanding over him, he knewsomethingwasup.“What happened?” Mack

asked. “Did you run usaground?”But the executive officer

was in no mood for humor.“We’ve got numerouscontacts near Swallow Reef,Captain,”hesaid.“Ithinkwe

foundtheirsubmarinedepot.”Mack was on his feet and

heading back toward thecontrol room before hisexecutive officer finishedspeaking.In the control room, the

OOD was examining theplottingtables.MackglancedoverattheOOD,thenheadedstraight for the sonar roomand looked at the sonarsupervisor. “What have wegot?”heasked.

“Sir, it looks like theabandoned Swallow Reef oilplatform is the submarinedepot we were sent here tofind.Sofar,we’veheardtwosubmarines surface in thearea. Both submarines thenslowed, heading north. Theyhave sincebegun to rechargetheir batteries on all dieselsand we can hear lots ofactivitygoingonoutthere.”“Do you have any

classification on those two

thatsurfaced?”Mackasked.The sonar supervisor

nodded. “We just picked upthe contacts three minutesago, sir. We’ve positivelyidentified two submarinecontacts, both old Romeos.But there might be more ofthemoutthere.”This situation was exactly

what Mack had hoped toavoid. He had detected amajor submarineoperationatSwallowReef,buthehadno

permission to attack thetargets. He wasn’t even surethat his Mk 48s could do ajob that was best suited toTomahawks.Thinking it over,

examining the fewpossibilities available tohim,Mackcameupwithaplan.Itmight not have been on thesame level of innovation andinspiration as some of hisearlier ideas, but it was theonly thing that occurred to

him.He knew that Cheyenne

would eventually be inposition to attack bothsubmarines, now designatedMasters 49 and 50. He alsoassumed that there wereprobably more than twosubmarines rearming andrefueling at this depot.WhatMack wanted to do was toattackthedepotitselfandputitoutofcommission.The question was—in

addition to whether or notMack and Cheyenne couldpull it off—would CTF 74granthimsuchleeway?Mackwas pretty sure that theanswerwouldbeno,but justin case he called his combatsystems officer and hiscommunicator in for ameetinginthewardroom.“Woulditbepossible,”the

captain asked the combatsystems officer, “to destroythatChinese depot by hitting

themwithMk48s?”Thecombatsystemsofficer

scratched his head beforelookingupatMack.“Iguesswe could do it, sir. The oilplatformactsassheltertothesubmarinesbeneathitandwecould target thosesubmarines. That would, atthe very least, severelydisruptoperationsatthemini-base.”Hepaused and lookedatMack. “But, sir,” he wenton, “have we been granted

permission to attack theplatform and the submarinesinit?”“Notyet,”Macksaid,glad

that his officers were bothinvolved and aware of whatCheyenne’s orders were.Turningtothecommunicator,he added, “Which is whereyou come in. I want you todraft a message to CTF 74,tell him what we’ve found,and request permission toengage the submarines in the

depot and hopefully bringdowntheentireplatform.”“Yes,sir,”thetwoofficers

replied.Theyweredismissedand both went about theirwork. The combat systemsofficer went to thequartermastertofindthebestlocations from which theycouldlaunchtheirattack.Thecommunicator went straighttotheradioroom.“Make preparations to

come to periscope depth,”

MacksaidtotheOOD.“Make preparations to

cometoperiscopedepth,aye,sir.”Minutes later, Cheyenne

was brought from twohundred feet to periscopedepth.Once thesafetysweeprevealed no surface contacts,the radio communicationsmastwas quickly raised, andthe message sent andreceiptedfor.Severalminuteslater,afteranextremelyrapid

response from CTF 74, themast was lowered and thecaptain entered the radioroom,oneof themosthighlyclassified places on thesubmarine.The radio room dealt with

encrypting devices and top-secret messages, and themessage Cheyenne had justreceived was no exception.As Mack entered, thecommunicator handed him acomputerprintout.

Mack glanced at themessage, paused, and thenreaditagain.

USS INDEPENDENCEUNDER HEAVY CHINESEAIR ATTACK. AIRCRAFTWILL BE UNABLE TOASSIST CHEYENNE INDESTRUCTION OF OILPLATFORM/SUBMARINEDEPOT. PERMISSIONGRANTED TO DESTROYSWALLOW REEF

SUBMARINEDEPOT.

TheexecutiveofficercameinjustasMackwasfinishingreading the message for thesecond time. The executiveofficer had completed a tourof the engineering spaceswith the engineer officer.“The combat systems officertoldmewhat’sgoingon,”hesaid. “Anything I can helpwith?”Mack showed him the

message,andthenthetwoofthem headed for thewardroom to work out theplanforattackingtheChinesesubmarine depot. When theyhadreachedanagreementonthebestplanofattack,Mackinstructed the executiveofficer to provide theappropriate details to all theareas of the ship that wouldplayapartintheexecutionoftheoperation.Theplantheyhadcomeup

with was for Cheyenne toheadnorthataspeedofeightknots. Once they were pastRoyalCharlotteReef, and assoon as they came within35,000 yards west of thedepot, they would slow tofive knots and approach thedepot quietly at a depth ofone hundred feet. That depthwould allow the top ofCheyenne’s sail to clear anyof the shallow draft vesselsthat might be loitering

overhead. They would listenforanysignsofsubmarineorsurfaceshipactivityandthenthey would close in for thekill.Once they were within

30,000 yards of thetransformed oil rig theywouldlauncheightMk48satthe vessels being refittedunder the platform. Theywould then head southeastuntil they had exited thewatersof theSpratly Islands.

Once clear, they wouldproceed northeast along theone hundred fathom curveuntil they were ready toreenter the islands chain andinvestigatetheirfourthsearcharea—CarnaticReef.Thatwas the plan.Now it

wasup toMack,hisofficers,andthecrewtoexecuteit.With battle stations once

again manned, Cheyenneslowed to five knots as theyapproachedweaponsrange.

“Conn, sonar, we justdetected two Huangfenmissile patrol boats,” thesonar supervisor said. “Theysailed underneath the depotplatformandpulledinnexttothe Romeos. I’ll bet they’rerefueling,sir.”“Sonar, conn, anything

else?Anyothersurfaceshipsin the area?” asked thecaptain.“Conn, sonar, it’s hard to

tell. This shallow water has

turned our passive sonarinsideout.Sometimesitgivesuswhatwewant.Othertimesit’sanyone’sguess.”“Sonar, conn, aye,” Mack

said. He thought for amoment, then said, “Okay,how long until we are infiringposition?”The fire-control

coordinatoransweredhim.“Itshouldbethreemoreminutes,Captain.”Tubes one and two were

readied for firing. Becausetheyhadtheexactlocationofthe noisy Romeos, andbecause the Romeos weredirectly below the platform,they also had the exactlocationoftheplatform.Theywould launch all eight Mk48s in succession as rapidlyas possible, cutting thewiresimmediately after they hadleft the tubes. This left thetorpedoes to hit their targetswithout guidance from

Cheyenne.Mack had the torpedoes

firedtwoatatime,tubesoneandtwofirst,thentubesthreeand four. He did this twice,andtheproceduredidn’t takelong. Cheyenne had recentlyhadlotsofexperienceloadingandfiringtorpedoes,andthatexperiencepaidoff.“Conn, sonar, we just got

another sonar contact,” thesonar supervisor said as thelast two Mk 48s were

launched.“AsingleHuchuantorpedo boat is heading ourway.Thenoiselevelindicatesit’srunningatfullspeed.”Mack had been briefed on

the Huchuan hydrofoils andknew that the Chinese hadmorethanseventyoftheminservice. He also knew thatthesesmallshipscouldreachspeeds of more than fiftyknots. The Huchuan wasdesignatedMaster53.“What’s the range to the

Huchuan, Master 53?” askedMack.“We can’t tell, Captain,”

the fire-control coordinatoranswered. “The water’s tooshallow and we can’t do anaccurate TMA on the boat.Bearingsarecominginoveratwenty-degreespread.”“Well, then,” Mack said,

“wehavenochoice.Wehavetogoactive.”This was one of the rare

times Mack could feel right

usinghisBSY-1sonarsystemin an active mode. For onething, the Chinese alreadyknewwhere theywere.Eighttorpedoes on essentially thesame bearing were a deadgiveaway. Besides, he knewthatanyChinesevesselswithsonar in the area would beconcentratingontheeightMk48s headed for the navaldepot under the abandonedoilrig.Withluck,theywouldbe more worried about that

and wouldn’t care aboutCheyenne’srushedgetaway.The Huchuan hydrofoil

comingtheirwaywasMack’sbiggest concern at themoment, but the hydrofoilshad no sonar. Without asonar, they would be unabletodetermineifCheyennewasactive, or even if shelaunched a torpedo in theirdirection.Cheyenne’s active sonar

pings echoed through the

hull. Being foil-borne, sonarwas actually tracking thewake it generated, not theHuchuan itself. But that wasenough for a “down-the-throat”shot.When Cheyenne’s sonar

went active, Mack was ableto acquire an accurate firingsolutiontotheChinesepatrolboat. He ordered tube onefiredattheChineseHuchuan.The Mk 48 was set todetonate, at a depth of ten

feet,justbeneaththefoils.The Huchuan, without a

sonar system, was unawarethatatorpedowasheadingitsway and continued on in thedirection they expectedCheyenne to be. The captainof the hydrofoil hadcalculated Cheyenne’sposition correctly—but thatwas also the same directionfromwhich the latestMk 48was coming. This broughtthemcloser andcloser to the

oncoming torpedo, closingrapidly at a combined speedofoveronehundredknots.“Conn, sonar, our Mk 48

justdetonatedbeneaththePTboat.”The Huchuan went

airborne, propelled by theforce of the water explodingup frombeneath it. It rotatedin a spiral as it flew, killingthose sailors aboard withoutseatbeltsastheywerethrownaround like “BBs in a

boxcar.”Momentslater,thosewho had seat belts—mostlybridge personnel—werekilledinstantlywhentheboatfinally hit the water, upsidedown,atfiftyknots.When sonar also reported

eight extremely largeexplosions followed by adozen smaller ones, Mackwent to periscope depth andthen broached to get theperiscope high enough tovisuallyassessthedamage.

Mack was pleased withwhathesaw.Theyhadblownup two Chinese submarines,Masters 49 and 50, twomissile patrol boats, Masters51 and 52, and a torpedohydrofoil, Master 53. Mostimportant, though, theChinese naval depot was nolonger usable, with firesraging on the platform as ittiltedintothesea.Cheyenne’s captain

grinned fiercely, pride in his

ship andhis crewwellingupwithin him. They’d beengiven a difficult assignment,andonceagainthey’dcarrieditout.He was about to order

Cheyenne to resume herpatrol, heading southeast, outof the islands, when theexecutive officer walked uptoMack,bringingwithhimaquietsenseofurgency.“Captain,” he said, “we

just received an emergency

message.Ourcurrentmissionhas been diverted.” Heshowed the new orders toMack.Cheyenne was to deploy

directly to the north of theSpratly Islands. A Chineseconvoy was forming andwould be heading south forthe islands. Cheyenne’sordersweretosinkit.Butnotjustyet.Cheyenne had expended

more than half the Mk 48s

she was given. She hadenough left on board tocompletehercurrentmission,butnotenoughtotakeoutanentireconvoy.Feelinghisearliersenseof

pride in his crew turn tofrustration at the loadoutshe’d been given, MackorderedCheyennetoreturntoMcKee. They’d come back,he knew, and deal with thatconvoy...butnotuntilthey’dhadthechancetorearm.

7.Target:Convoy

Mack was angry.Cheyenne had made itthroughherrecentencountersunscathed, and was nowsafely moored alongsideMcKee, but the fact thatMackandhiscrewwerealivewas a tribute to their ownsuperb training, not anyreflection on the intelligencethey had received. And that

waswhathadMacksoangry.Hedidn’tobjecttohisorders.His job was to take hissubmarine and his crew intodanger—into battle itself, ifnecessary—butheinsistedongiving hismen every chanceto survive the conflict. Thatmeant proper weaponry,reliable equipment, andaccurate information.Cheyenne had supplied thefirst two components, butnaval intelligence had

droppedtheballonthethird.Mack had been around

long enough to know thatsometimes lousy intelligencehappened. That was why itwas called the “fog of war.”Butthatdidn’tmakehimfeelany better. Not when it washissubmarineandhiscrewatrisk because of someoneelse’smistake.The one good thing that

hadcomeoutof thatmess—besides Cheyenne’s

performance—was the P4message he held in his hand.The P4, or “personal for,”messagewasanapologyfromUSCINCPAChimself for thelousy intelligence Cheyennehadbeenprovidedbefore thelastmission.Mackespeciallyliked the part where theadmiral had quoted theCNO(Chief of Naval Operations),currently the most seniorofficerintheNavy,astakinga personal interest in the

intelligencefiasco.He opened the message

and read that part one moretime.TheCNOhaddirecteda“reevaluation of proceduresand decision-makingpersonnel” within the navalintelligence chain ofcommand.Macksmiled.Thatmeant a lot of people weregoingtocomeunderfire,andthatwasgood.Withluck,thenextcommandingofficerandcrew going into battlewould

be better prepared withaccurateintelligence.Especially since, Mack

suspected, he knewwho thatnextcommandingofficerwasgoing to be. Cheyenne wasstill the best asset the U.S.Navyhadinthearea,atleastfor thekindsofmissionsthatwere being conducted, andMack was pretty sure thatthey would be called uponagainsoon.“Excuseme, Captain,” the

executiveofficersaid.Hehadjustclimbedtothebridgeandpoked his head through theupper access hatch. “They’rewaiting for you on McKee.Soundslikesomethinghot.”“Thank you,” Mack said.

“Anyideawhat’sup?”“Well, sir, judging from

thelatest intelligence...”Theexecutive officer let thesentence taper off as Mackshothimahardlook.“Notfunny.”

“No, sir, not at all, butsnafus do happen. I’m justglad that the crewwas readyforthechallenge.”Mack nodded and the

executive officer continued,“FromwhatIcangatherfromthe intelligence officer onboard McKee, the Chinesemerchant convoy that wasassembling off the southcoastofChinahasdecidedtomake a fast break for theSpratlys. My guess is

somebody figures that wedidn’tmakeitoutofthatlastscrap intact and theywant totake advantage of that bytrying to get some suppliesthroughwhile there’s no onearoundtostopthem.”Mack nodded. That was a

goodreadingofthesituation.Except that theChinesewerewrong. Cheyenne hadsurvived, andwas, no doubt,about tobeassigned to showthe Chinese howwrong they

were.Captain Mackey was

looking over the side of thebridgeasthefirstMk48wasalreadybeinghoistedintotheair and swung over fromMcKeetoCheyenne’swaitingcrew.Thejobhadtobehotifweapons were beingtransferred even before themissiondebriefing.Mack liked this

assignment. He couldn’trecall the last time an

American submarine wentaftera realmerchantconvoy.During World War II, theJapanesehadnotdevelopedareal convoy system like theUnited States had with theBritish. Most of the shipsAmerican submarines sankwere independents or justships travelling together.Closelyescortedconvoyslikethisonejustweren’tused.Whichmeantthatwiththis

missionCheyenne would get

to set the standard for howamodern convoy battleoccurred. Mack liked that alot.Cheyenne had more

sophisticated weapons thanwere available during WorldWar II, weapons that werefasterandhadalongerrange,butsodidtheescortdefenses.It would still be a case ofCheyenne getting intopositionasquietlyaspossibleand then hitting the convoy

beforetheycouldreact.“So we get to stop that

convoy,” Mack said. Henoddedandpattedthesideofthebridge.“Wecandothat.”“Yes, sir,” the executive

officer said. Then his eyesfocused beyond the captain.“Looks like they’re gettingimpatient on McKee. Thecombat systems officer andoperationsofficer are alreadyoverthere.”Mack glanced over at the

submarinetenderandnodded.“I’llbebackassoonasIcan.Letme know how long untilthereloadiscompletedwhenI get back. I suspect we’llneedtobeunderwayagainassoonaspossible.”The executive officer gave

aquicksaluteandsaid,“Aye,aye, sir,” asMack scrambleddowntheladdertothecontrolroom. He then turned andlooked out over the vastexpanse of the South China

Sea and wondered what thenext few days would bringand how a modern convoybattlewouldreallyshapeup.

Far out to sea, the samethoughts were going throughthe mind of the Chineseescort squadron commanderas the convoy was steamingtoward the Spratly Islands.The best speed some of the

convoyshipscouldmakewasten knots, whichwas far tooslowtoattemptasuddendashtotheSpratlyIslands.ButtheSouth Sea fleet commanderhad been adamant abouttaking someof theAK trooptransport ships and an ARSrepairshipwiththeconvoy.So now he was in

command of a slow convoywith an escort squadron thatwas too small andunderarmed.Only one of his

seven ships carriedhelicopters for ASWprosecution, a mission areathat the entire Chinese fleetwas sorely inexperienced in.But they did have a lot ofASW ordnance. Years ofcooperation with the thenSoviet navy had sponsored areliance on massivefirepower. If an Americansubmarine was unfortunateenoughtobecaughttryingtotorpedo any of his ships, a

tremendous amount offirepower was available torespond. The big problemwould be finding theAmericansubmarine.The United States had

notoriouslyquietsubmarines.The first indication theChinese would have that anAmerican was out therewould probably be when aship blew up. But that couldnotbehelped.The convoy commander

tightened his knuckles untilwhite skin showed clearlythrough the gloom of theclosingnight.Rapidresponseandgood josswould have toanswer for Americantechnology. That and a goodplan.He permitted himself a

slight smile. Since he couldnotdissuadetheadmiralfromtheconvoymission,hehadatleast tried his best toguarantee its safe arrival. He

knew that the best weaponagainst a submarine wasanother submarine. Years ofexperience had taught himthat. It was common senseand a frequently quotedslogan among Americansubmariners, but none of thequietdieselsubmarinesintheChinese fleet could keep upfor long while underwaterand running on its batteries,evenwithhisslowconvoy.But they could be

strategically placed incarefully selected locationsand thus be in position tolistenfor,detect,andthenkillanyAmericansubmarine thatattempted to attack theconvoy.He had no doubt that an

American submarine wouldfindandtracktheconvoy.Hehad no doubt that anAmerican submarine wouldattacktheconvoy.Hehadnodoubt that a few, perhaps

even several, of his shipswould be sunk by theAmerican submarine. But healso had no doubt that theAmerican captain wouldnever suspect that a stringofhidden Chinese submarineswould be strewn along theconvoy’s path like amannedminefield.The American captain

would pay dearly forattackingtheconvoy.

On boardCheyenne, plansfor the attack were beingmade.“Be seated, gentlemen.”

Captain Mackey waved hisofficers to sit down on thewardroom chairs and benchseat. “Here’s the situation.AChinese merchant convoyunder close escort is headedtoward the Spratly Islandswith supplies, troops, and a

repairship.Aswe’vealreadyfound out, the UN totalexclusion zone doesn’t meananything to them. Our job isto intercept the convoy andprevent it from reaching theSpratlys by any meansnecessary.”Mack paused to let that

information sink in. “Okay.Theoperationsofficerwillletyou know what we’re upagainst.”Mack leaned back in his

chairandwatchedhisofficersashe listened to thebriefing.Macksmiledtohimself.Theywere ready. Their last forayhadbeenacrucibletohardenthem into battle-testedveterans.As Mack assessed his

officers, the operationsofficer went on with hisreport. “The convoy itself iscomprised of four militarytroop transports, one ARS-type repair ship, four

merchantcontainerships,andone merchant tanker. Theconvoy escort is made up oftwo Luda class destroyers,four Jianghu class frigates,andoneLuhuclassdestroyercarryingtwoASWhelos.Theconvoy should be able tomake thirteen knots, but oursatellites are tracking it atonly ten.We should be ableto be in position just afterthey pass the exclusion zoneat dusk in two days. Looks

like they want to make therun in darkness to avoiddetection for as long aspossible.”CaptainMackeysatupright

in his chair after theoperations officer sat down.“Thanks, ops. Anyquestions?”There weren’t any, so

Mackallowed themeeting tobreak up. “Okay,” he said.“You all know what to do.We’re under way at 0600.

We’ll station themaneuvering watch at 0500.Dismissed.”The executive officer

crossedovertothecoffeepot,poured two cups, and slowlyaddedsugartoboth.“Sohowdo you intend to play this,Captain?”Mack leaned forward,

interlocking his fingersbeneath his chin. “I’m notsure on this one,” he said.“It’s a different ballgame

goingafteraconvoy.There’snooneprimarytargettofocuson, planning how to attack itand avoid getting caught.Instead, we’re going to haveto make an attack, break offto reload as necessary, andthengetbackintopositiontore-attack.Andkeepondoingit until all the ships in theconvoy are sunk or turnaround.”“Too badwe don’t have a

deck gun like the old boats.”

The executive officer sippedhis coffee as he set theothercupinfrontofMack.“Butatleast we’ve got range withboth weapons and sensorsagainsttheseguys.Andwe’refaster, so getting back intopositionshouldbefairlyeasy.It shouldn’t be any problemas long as we don’t get toococky.” He looked down atthe captain’s untouchedcoffee. “But you’re still notcomfortable with it. What’s

wrong?”“The escort squadron

commanderiswhat’swrong,”Macksaid.The executive officer

looked up at his captain.“Whydoeshebotheryou?”Mack paused as the

messenger of the watchentered the wardroom and,standing at attention in frontof his captain, reportedprofessionally, “Captain, theofficer of the deck sends his

respects and reports the hourof2000.”Hethenhandedthe2000 report sheet to thecaptain. When Mack hadacknowledged the report, themessenger of the watch leftthewardroomasquietlyashehadentered.When the messenger had

departed, leaving the two ofthemaloneonceagain,Mackstraightened, took a longdrinkofcoffee,andcarefullyset the cup back down.

Gettingtohisfeet,hemovedtoward the wardroom doorandthenpausedwithhishandon the doorknob. “Becausetheircommanderisreportedlya previous submarinecommanding officer, one oftheir best,” he said. “Whywould a submariner be incommand of a surface escortgroup and baby-sitting theconvoy?”As the captain left the

wardroom, the executive

officer began to worry, too,and to wonder what wouldhappen when Cheyennelocatedtheconvoy.

“Divingofficer,makeyourdepth 247 feet,” Mackordered. Cheyenne had metupwiththeChinesemerchantconvoy and had maneuveredinto position. “Fire control,haveyougotafiringsolution

ontheleadescort?”“Yes, sir,” the executive

officer replied. “We’ve gotfiring solutions on almost allofthem,butthebestsolutionsare the lead escort and thefront two troop transportships,Masters54,55,and56,respectively.ShouldIselectafourth target for torpedo tubefour?”“Negative,” answered

Mack. “I want to keep tubenumberfourstandingbyfora

snap shot in case anothersubmarine shows up likebefore,oroneofthoseescortsgets too close and damnedlucky.”“Aye,aye,sir.”“Has anything changed

with regards to theirdefensiveposture?”“No, sir. The escort ships,

except for one, are still in aring around the convoyat anestimateddistanceofeighttoten thousand yards. All

escorts that have an activesonar system are pingingaway for all they’re worth,but we’re still beyond theirdetectionrange.”Mack thought to himself

that the Chinese submariner,the escort squadroncommander, was wiselyshielding himself on boardhis Jianghu class frigate bysteaminginthemiddleoftheconvoy.“Very well,” Mack said.

He took a deep breath andslowly turned to survey theentirecontrolroom.Everyonewasattheirbattlestationsandprimedforaction.Asenseoftenseanticipationhungintheair. Not a nervousanticipation,butthekindthatcame from the pit of thestomach, awakened everynerve, and expanded thesenses.Thehunterhadfoundhis prey and it was time tokill.

“Torpedo room, firecontrol.Maketubesone,two,and three ready in allrespects, including openingtheouterdoors.”The standard repeat back

cameoverthesound-poweredphones crisp and clear.Captain Mackey himselfacknowledged and thencrossed to the chart trackingthe convoy’s route while hewaited for the crew in thetorpedo room to carry out

theirduties.Before long the executive

officer reported, “Tubes one,two,andthreearereadyinallrespects,Captain.Outerdoorsareopen.”“Very well.” Mack went

back to the BSY-1 fire-control and weapons-controlconsoles in “Fire-ControlAlley.” “Firing pointprocedures, tube one,Master54.”Thecombatsystemsofficer

reported the target’s currentcourse,speed,andrangefromtheweapons-controlconsole.Captain Mackey

acknowledged theinformation and thenannounced over the openmicrophone. “Sonar, conn.Standby.”“Conn, sonar. Standing

by.”“Match sonarbearings and

shoot,tubeone,Master54.”“Match sonarbearings and

shoot, tube one, Master 54,aye,sir.”As lights lit up on his

console, the combat systemsofficer reported, “Captain,tubeonefiredelectrically.”Moments later the sonar

supervisorsaid,“Conn,sonar,unitfromtubeoneisrunninghot,straightandnormal.”“Sonar, conn, aye.”

Turning to the fire controlparty, Mack said, “I don’twant to shoot tubes two and

three until after the otherescorts, especially the LuhuclassdestroyerwiththeASWhelicopters, have settleddownabit.They’reboundtochase their tails for a fewminutesaftertheirleadescortgoesdown.”“Aye, aye, sir,” the fire-

control coordinator answeredfor his operators. In a softervoice, speaking off line sothat only Mack would hear,he asked, “Excuse me,

Captain,butwhynottaketheother shots at the twomerchants now before theyget wind that we’re here, oreven go after more of theescorts?”Mack smiled. That was a

good question, and heanswered it out loud so thateveryone could hear him.“This first torpedo is foreffect,”hesaid.“Iwantthemscared. Our orders are toprevent them from reaching

the Spratlys. I’d rather forcethemtoturntailandrunthanhave to kill every sailor andsoldier on those ships. Butuntil they do turn and run, Iintend to focus our weaponson the primary targets—theconvoy ships. It’s a poorshowing for an escort toarrive with minimal damageand no ships left to beescorted. Now, time toacquisition?”“Thirteen minutes, twelve

seconds, sir,” reported thecombatsystemsofficer.When the torpedo closed

onitstarget,itwouldturnonits active sonar and, afterlocating the target, wouldthen shift to attack speed.Atthat range, the lead escortship would have very littlechance to react, and no timeat all to escape. The onlychance the ship would havewasif itdetectedtheinitiallysilent inbound torpedo with

itsownactivesonarpoundingthroughthewater.If that lead escort ship

made a rapid coursemaneuver or a suddenincrease in speed, Cheyennewould know that the torpedohad been detected.ButwhentheMk48acquireditstarget,both the convoy and theescortswere stillmaintainingtheircourseandspeed.“Conn, sonar. We have a

detonation on the bearing to

Master 54. All escort shipsare increasing speed,continuingtopingwithactivesonar.”“Sonar, conn, aye. Fire

control and sonar, keep asteady track on Masters 55and 56. I want to shoot assoonasthingssettleout.Shutthe outer door on tube oneandreloadwithanMk48.”Several minutes ticked by

slowly while the crew ofCheyenne waited for the

response of the shipsoverhead.“Conn,sonar.Escortshave

settled back into theirstations. Master 54 hadseveral secondary explosionsand it sounds like it’s goingdown.”“Sonar, conn, aye. Sonar,

any indications of assistanceor rescue efforts provided toMaster54?”“Conn, sonar, that’s

negative, Captain. They all

just steamed right passed itwithoutslowing.”“Sonar, conn, aye.” That

bothered Mack. The Ludahadn’t exploded or sunksuddenly, so there was noreasonwhyoneoftheconvoyships shouldn’t have at leastslowed to pick up survivors.Something was wrong, butMackwasn’tsurewhat.“Captain, we still have

solutions forMasters 55 and56beingpassed to tubes two

andthree.”Mack looked over at the

executiveofficer.“Verywell,fire control. Firing pointprocedures, tube two,Master55, and tube three, Master56.”Onceagainthedeadlydrill

wascarriedoutandtwomoretorpedoes sped fromCheyenne toward theirtargets.“Conn, sonar. Units from

tubes two and three running

hot,straight,andnormal.”“Time to acquisition will

be sixteen minutes, fortyseconds,” reported thecombatsystemsofficer.AgainCheyenne’s officers

and crew waited. Thetorpedoes knifed through thewater, but this time towardships that were dependentuponothersforprotection—aprotection those others couldnotprovide.“Conn, sonar. One of the

escort vessels closest to us,the other Luda, Master 57,has started to increase speedand is executing a rapidturn!”“Sonar, conn, aye. Which

wayisMaster57turning?”“Conn, sonar. It’s turning

right toward us, Captain.Back along the torpedoes’paths.”“Sonar, conn, aye. Have

thetorpedoesacquiredyet?”“Conn,sonar,yes,sir,both

torpedoeshavegoneactive.”“Cut the wires, shut the

outer doors, and reload tubestwoand three.”Mack lookedover toward his executiveofficer. “We’re going to getout of here. I want to clearthis area and be back in ashooting position within thehour.”“Conn, sonar. Both

torpedoes have detonated.Masters 55 and 56 havestoppedtheirscrews.”

Mack doubted either shiphad been killed. He didn’tthink that a single Mk 48each would sink the trooptransport ships, but he knewthat they must have beencrippled.Mack quickly gave the

orders to take Cheyenne outof the area, accelerating anddivingawayfromtheclosingsurface ship.Stillbeyond thedetection range of theChinese sonar, Cheyenne

increased speed to twentyknots and began a thirty-minute high-speed dash thattook her out and away fromthe convoy and then backalong a leading interceptcoursetowaitfortheconvoytocatchup.As before, the convoy

slowly approachedCheyennewhileonboardthesubmarinetubes one, two, and threewere made ready to shootonce again. Designated as

Masters58,59,and60, threeshipsoftheconvoy—thetworemaining troop transportsandthemerchanttanker—hadbeen selected as the nexttargets.Once again the firing

procedureswere executed bythe numbers against Masters58 and 59. The torpedoesfromtubesoneandtworanasexpected and soonCheyennedetectedtwomoreexplosionsunder the last two troop

transports.Thecombatsystemsofficer

reported to Mack, “We’rereadyonMaster60,Captain.”Master 60 was the

merchant tanker, no longershielded by the trooptransports. Mack knew thattanker would be sorelymissedbytheChinese.Mack glanced at the

executiveofficer.“Verywell,fire control. Firing pointprocedures, tube three,

Master 60.”Mack also knewthat, with its single hullconstruction, the tankerwould soon be spilling thediesel fuel, lubricating oil,and aviation fuel that theChineseontheSpratlysreallyneeded.“Course of Master 60 is

195, speed ten, range fifteenthousandyards.”“Sonar,conn.Standby.”“Conn, sonar. Standing

by.”

“Match sonarbearings andshoot,tubethree,Master60.”“Match sonarbearings and

shoot, tube three,Master 60,aye,sir.”“Tube three fired

electrically.”“Conn, sonar. Unit from

tube three running hot,straight,andnormal.”“Sonar,conn,aye.Timeto

acquisition?”“Time to acquisition is—”

Thecombatsystemsofficer’s

reportwassuddenlycutoff.“Conn, sonar! We have

torpedoesinthewateroffourport bow, SET-53s, bearing205and207!”Captain Mackey glanced

quickly at the executiveofficer and then turned backtoCheyenne’scontrolstation.“Make your depth fivehundred feet, increase speedto flank, do not cavitate.Release countermeasures.”Mack then turned to look

back at the executiveofficer.“Fire control, I need asolution on whoever thatbushwacker is, and I need itfast. Cut the wire on tubethree,shuttheouterdoor,andreloadtubethree.”“Conn, sonar. I think we

got it, sir. Must be a dieselboatsinceitwassoquiet.Butit’s trying to reload andmaking a racket, bearing200.”“Sonar, conn, aye.

Snapshot, tube four, bearing200,Master61.”TheMk48 from tube four

was quickly on its waytoward the bearing toMaster61.Mackwouldworryaboutthe classification of Master61later.“Conn, sonar. Both enemy

torpedoes have increasedspeed”—the sonar supervisorpaused—“but they are onintercept course for ourdecoys,”headded.“Theyfell

forit.”But Mack wanted one

morepieceofnewsbeforehewas sure that the danger hadpassed. “Sonar, conn. Whatcourse are those torpedoeson?”“Conn, sonar. Course is

020.Theyareheadedoutandaway,sir.Noindicationofre-attack.”The immediate threat of

thetorpedoeshadpassed,butCheyenne wasn’t out of

danger yet. The submarinethat shot them was still outthere.But not for long. The Mk

48 from tube four acquiredthe enemy submarine, andminutes later sonar reportedanexplosionfromthebearingof the fleeing diesel. Master61, which had given itselfaway as a noisyRomeo as itincreased speed, was nolongerathreat.But Mack didn’t relax.

Cheyenne still had a job todo. “Sonar, conn,” he said.“What’s the surface picturelooklike?”“Conn, sonar. The

remaining ships of theconvoy are still on samecourse, same speed. Master60, the tanker, is no longerwith the convoy; it’s fallenasternof the convoy.Soundslike it’s dead in the water,Captain.” The BSY-1operatorsconfirmedthesonar

supervisor’scall.“Sonar, conn, aye. What

abouttheescorts?”“Conn, sonar, the escorts

are still on station, but I ... ”The sonar supervisor’s voicetrailedoff.That was unusual. “Conn,

sonar, go on,” Mack said.“Whatisit?”“Conn, sonar. I could

swear that I heard anothertorpedo and some otherexplosions in thedirectionof

the convoy.Almost like theywere attacking anothersubmarine.”Mack paused. There were

no friendlies in the area, sowhat could they have beenattacking? “Sonar, conn. Didit sound like they gotanything?”“Conn,sonar,no,sir.ButI

was kinda preoccupied,Captain.”Mack smiled to himself.

“Sonar, conn, aye. We’re

going back after the convoy.Getaclearpicture,sonar.”“Conn,sonar,aye.”“Captain. What about the

cripples?” the combatsystems officer asked. “Arewejustgoingtoleavethem?”“That’sexactlywhatwe’re

goingtodo.Ourjobistostopa convoy, not rack up atonnagescore.Andyourjob,”Mack added, “is to get mefiringsolutionsonthreemoreconvoyships.”

“Aye,aye,sir,”thecombatsystemsofficersaid.

That diesel submarinebotheredMack.ThequestionthatkeptcomingbacktohimwashowdidthatdieselknowCheyennewasthere?Adieselboat couldn’t keep up withtheconvoywhilesubmerged,and the odds of Cheyennerunningintoadiesellikethatby coincidence right in themiddle of the convoy route

weresimplyastronomical.The executive officer was

thinking about the samething.Suddenlyhesmackedafist into his palm. “It makessense, Captain,” he said.“That’s why no one stoppedforsurvivors;whytheconvoynever changed course whenwe attacked. They’ve got tomaintain course and speed.The damned Chinese havedieselboatsslidingintoplacejust in time to protect the

convoy.Theyjustsitandwaitwhile we run up and beg togethit.”Mack’s eyes narrowed as

he thought about what theexecutive officer had said.“You’reright,”hesaid.“Andthat would explain why theyhave an ex-submarinecommanding officer runningtheconvoy.He’stheonewhocooked up those littlesurprises.”Mack grinned, and it

wasn’t a friendly grin. TheChinese commander wasn’tthe only submariner with atrickortwouphissleeve.Helooked up at the clock. “Weshould be coming up on thenextinterceptpoint,”hesaid.“We’ll start creeping in alittle earlier this time.”Mackthen ordered Cheyenne toslow to five knots and easedherabovethelayer.After giving the orders for

getting Cheyenne into

position to make anotherassault on the convoy,Captain Mackey returned tothe fire-control party. “Wemay very well run intoanotherdieselboathidingouthere. So let’s stay alert andkeepinmindthattherecouldbemultiplethreats.”Noone on board liked the

thought of encounteringanother threat that identifieditspresenceonlywhenitfireda weapon. That was how a

LosAngeles class submarinelike Cheyenne operated, andthey had seen for themselvestoo many times already justhoweffectivethatcouldbe.But there was no time to

dwell on profoundrealizations. There weretargets to pick and a convoytostop.The three merchant

container ships closest toCheyenne’s position becamethe next targets, designated

Masters 62, 63, and 64.“Let’s update the TMAsolutions and get it donequickly,”Macksaid.Cheyenne glided quietly

into her chosen ambush site.Sonar reported no contactsotherthantheclosingconvoy.But the convoy escorts hadchanged their tacticssomewhat. Every one of theescorts was maneuveringerratically though stillattempting to stay somewhat

on station. Waves of activesonar pulsed through theocean from the escorts asthough the sheer mass ofenergy used could create aprotective wall around theconvoy. The remaining fiveconvoy ships maintained asteady course, unable to doanything other than watchand wait and hope thatsomeone else would be thenexttorpedo’svictim.When the fire-control

coordinatorwassatisfiedwiththe TMA solutions, heinformed Captain Mackey.Mack then directed that alltubes be made ready, andopened the outer doors ontubesoneand two.This timehe would take no chances.Another submarine was outthere, waiting. He could feelit.“Sonar, conn. Keep your

earsopenafterweshoottubeone. You might be able to

hear an enemy submarineflooding its tubes andopening thedoors.Hopefullywe can get off a shot beforehedoes.”“Conn,sonar,aye.”“Firing point procedures,

tubeone,Master62.”The range, speed, and

course of the target wereverifiedandthetorpedofromtubeonespedtowardthefirstmerchant container ship.Thesonar supervisor and his

operatorsallstrainedtocatchthefirst indicationofanothersubmarine reacting toCheyenne’storpedolaunch.“Conn, sonar. Noise

bearing 250. Sounds like...yes, sir. It’s a submarineflooding his tubes. He’spreparingtolaunch!”“Sonar, conn. Stand by.”

Mack designated the newcontact Master 65 and thenordered, “Match sonarbearing and shoot, tube two,

Master65.”“Conn, sonar. Standing

by.”“Match sonar bearing and

shoot, tube two, Master 65,aye,sir,” thecombatsystemsofficer completed the repeatback.“Conn, sonar. Unit from

tube two is running hot,straight,andnormal.Targetisturning and increasingspeed.”“Sonar, conn. Did he

launch?”“Conn,sonar,negative,sir.

Our torpedo has alreadyacquired the target and he isincreasing speed. It’s anotherRomeo,Captain.”In the control room, all

hands were silent as thenarrativefromsonarfollowedthe pursuit of the enemysubmarine by Cheyenne’storpedo.“Conn, sonar. Master 65

has launched

countermeasures.”At the weapons control

console, the combat systemsofficer indicated that he hadheardthereportandinformedMack that the torpedo wasstill under positive wire-guidancecontrol.Thedecoyswould not work as long asCheyenne could continue tosteer the torpedo past thecountermeasures.“Conn, sonar. Impact on

Master 65. Multiple

explosions.It’sgone,sir.”Before Mack could

acknowledge that report thesonar supervisor added,“Conn, sonar, explosion onthebearingofMaster62.It’sbreakingup,Captain.”“Sonar, conn, aye. Good

work, everyone. Firing pointprocedures, tube three,Master 63, and tube four,Master 64. Shut the outerdoors on tubes one and two,and reload tubes one and

two.”“Conn, sonar. The escorts

have all increased speed andare shifting to cover theforward arc of the convoy.They must have heard theirfriendsgethit.”“Sonar, conn, aye. Fire

control, are we still out oftheirdetectionrange?”“Yes, sir. We’re well

beyondtheirrange.”“Verywell,”Mackreplied.The fire-control

coordinator informed thecaptain that course, speed,and range were verified fortargets Masters 63 and 64.Mack prepared to give theshootorder.“Conn, sonar. The escorts

have suddenly changedcourse toward the northeast.They are all maneuvering tothe port quarter of theconvoy.”“Sonar, conn, aye.” Then

Mack asked, “Do theBSY-1

computers show anyindication of what’s goingon?”“Not yet, Captain,”

answered the fire-controlcoordinator.“Conn, sonar. Sounds like

there’s another Romeo outthere closing on us at highspeed from the direction oftheescorts.”“Conn, sonar. Captain...

my God, sir! They’reshooting at their own

submarine! One, two, fivetorpedoes are in the water.Multiple explosions.Captain,they’re dropping all sorts ofordnanceinthewater!”“Sonar,conn.Understand.”

Mack could have almostexpected that. The convoywas on guard against anysubmarine contact, and theyhad mistaken the Romeo forCheyenne. “Any change inthe remaining convoy?” heasked.

“Conn, sonar. Negative.Convoysameasbefore.”“Sonar, conn, aye. Match

sonar bearings and shoot,tube three, Master 63 andtubefour,Master64.”“Match sonarbearings and

shoot, tube three,Master 63,andtubefour,Master64,aye,sir.”Mack walked to his stool

and sat down to wait as thetorpedoes raced toward theirdestination. With the escorts

busy attacking one of theirownsubmarines, therewouldbe less warning than ever ofthe approaching doom. Notthattheconvoyitselfhadeverreacted to their ship’s beingtorpedoed.Mack’sattentionshiftedas

anewreportcamein.“Conn, sonar. Explosions

onthebearingsofMasters63and64.They’regoingdown,Captain.”“Sonar, conn, aye. Any

reactionfromtheescorts?”“Conn, sonar. Affirmative.

They’re drawing left, turningnorth. No, wait, sir. Theconvoy is changing course.Coming starboard. Theconvoy ischangingcourse totheirright.”“Captain,” the combat

systems officer said, “theBSY- 1 computer shows theconvoyisturningtothenorthas well. Ranges to thecontacts indicate the escorts

are settling in behind thelimpingconvoy.”Cheers swept through

Cheyenne as crew memberscongratulated one another.Theyhaddoneit!Theconvoywas turning and heading forhome.But when the executive

officer suggested standingdown from battle stations,Mack shook his head. Theywouldremainattheirstationswhile Cheyenne was

repositioning to finish thattanker. Mack thought that itmight try to get back underwayandslipintotheSpratlysduringthenight, if ithadnotspilledallitstanks’contents.AsCheyenneclosedonthe

wounded tanker, Master 60,Mack’shunchprovedcorrect.Theshipwasbackunderwayand headed for the SpratlyIslands.AnMk48fromtubeone finished the job,however, and soonCheyenne

was headed back towardsMcKee. Itwas time to rearmand resupply, and to take adeep breath before it startedalloveragain.

8.Patrol

It was still dark whenCheyenne completedreloading her torpedo tubesand vertical launchers fromMcKee.Thesubmarinetenderwas still anchored off thecoast of Brunei under theprotection of theIndependence carrier aircover.As in their previous refit,

on the final day CaptainMackey, his combat systemsand operations officers,navigator and communicator,and sonar officer, proceededto McKee’s war room fortheir pre-underway briefing,butthistimetheotherofficersfrom Cheyenne also wouldattendthemeeting.Now that Cheyenne and

McKee had established asmooth mini-refit routine,Mack wanted all his officers

present.Besides,CTF74hadrequested the remainingofficers’ presence at thisbriefing. Partly because ofthat, Mack expected thisupcoming Patrol 3 to be ofmore significance, if thatwere possible, than theprevioustwo.Mack and his group

rendezvoused with theexecutive officer, engineerofficer, and the remainingjuniorofficersoutsidethewar

room. He knew the youngerofficers were all excited andbeaming with curiosity, buthe also knew he could counton them to maintain aprofessional decorum duringthebriefingitself.Noddingatthem,heledthewayintothewarroom.CTF 74, the briefing

officer, andMcKee’s captainwere already seated. WhenMack and his group entered,and after they had all

exchanged the normalgreetings and taken theirseats,thebriefingbegan.

Normally, these briefingswereamixofoldinformationandneworders,but this timethere was an added element:intel thatcouldnotbepassedtoCheyenne via flash traffic.This intel—and this briefing—was based on informationthat involved the CentralIntelligenceAgency(CIA).Operatives in Vladivostok

and Beijing had determinedthat the commander-in-chiefof the Chinese navy was

personally concerned aboutlosses inflicted by Cheyenneonhisforces.Butthatwasn’tthe only tidbit the Agencyhadturnedup.Theyhadalsolearned that, somehow, theChinese had determined thatCheyenne was the sole SSNresponsible. Their best guesswas that the Chinese hadprobably gotten thisinformationthroughthelooselips of other SSN sailors inport at Yokosuka, but NCIS

(NavalCriminalInvestigativeService)wasstillworkingonthat.That changed the situation

for Cheyenne, but it didn’tchange her orders.Cheyennehad another war patrol toundertake before any otherU.S.SSNswouldbeassignedto the same arena asCheyenne.Mack didn’t react to the

news, but it didn’t reallybotherhim.Ontheonehand,

he was just as happy not tohave other U.S. SSNs in thearea. It certainlymade thingssimpler,without theneed formeasures to prevent mutualinterference with his fellowcommanding officers.Besides, the Chinese hadalready been gunning forCheyenne.Theonlythingthathad really changed was thatuntil now the Chinese hadbelievedthattherewerethreeSSNs operating nearby.Now

theyknewtherewasonlyone—Cheyenne—and theywould focus their efforts onhuntingher.The only real downside to

Cheyenne operating solowasthat she could use help intrackingdownjustwhereandhow the seemingly never-ending supply of RussianKilos andAlfaswere gettingintothehandsoftheChinese.Mack couldn’t help thinkingthatitwasalmostliketheold

story that if the Chinesepopulation were to startwalkingintothesea, thetrailof people would be endless,as the reproduction rate farexceededthedestructionrate.Mackgrimaced,rememberingthestory.Heknewitwasoldbecause for decades theChinese had been controllingthe birth rate, often throughinhumaneprocesses.The briefing officer,

continuingonwithhisreport,

said that USCINCPAC andCINCPACFLT were nottaking the Chinesecommander-in-chief’scomments lightly, especiallysince he had found out thatthe losses inflicted byCheyenne had not, in fact,beentheworkofthreeSSNs,but could all be blamedon asingle boat. Still, Mack’ssuperiors were more thanpleased with Cheyenne’ssuccesses, and were not

intimidated by the Chinesecommander-in-chief.Withthatinmind,andwith

theutmostfaithinCheyenne,herofficers,andhercrew,theOahu admirals’ directiveswereforCheyennetoproceedback to the north of theSpratly Islands and establisha patrol routine, shifting pertheoperationsorderfromonearea toanother.Soon,maybein a few weeks, Cheyenne’ssister 688s, USS Columbia

and USS Bremerton, wouldarriveonstation.Beforethen,however, theywouldhave tofinish their own surveillanceassignments in the Sea ofJapan and in the northwestPacific off Petropavlosk,respectively.Thecombatsystemsofficer

hadearlierbriefedthecaptainthatthemixofTomahawksinthe vertical-launch tubes hadbeenchangedtoamixtureofland-attack missiles only,

bothTLAM-CandTLAM-D.The TASMs had beenremoved and replaced withthe TLAM-Ds. That wasMack’s first hint aboutpossible action concerningairfields and runways. TheTLAM-D version containedbomblets for creatingcraters,a real nightmare for aircrafttryingtotakeoff.The briefing officer

confirmed Mack’s guess.This typeof actionwouldbe

anoptiononcethelocationofthe runways had beenconfirmed and the imageryprocessed. Once thathappened, Cheyenne wouldbe notified viaVLFmessagetraffic over the floating wireand directed to periscopedepth where targeting datawould be downloaded bysatellite directly toCheyenne’s CCS Mk 2console. This data wouldcome from the theater

mission planning center,located at the IPACintelligence center in theUSCINCPAC compound onRedHill,Oahu.Mack kept his face

impassive, but he didn’t likethat.Hewouldhavepreferredtohavetheinformationaddedto Cheyenne’s onboard tapelibrary prior to her gettingunder way, but there simplywasn’ttimeforthat.Once they reached that

point in the operation, thePhilippine Island of Palawanwould again be used for itsTERCOMandDSMACdata,butCheyenne would have toestablishtheinitialwaypointsfor the missile flights toPalawan, which would varydepending on her location atthe time.That shouldn’t be aproblem,however.ItwaspartofthecapabilitiesoftheCCSMk 2 console, a self-contained, onboard mission-

planningcenter.So far, with the exception

oftheintelabouttheChinesecommander-in-chief, thebriefing had gone prettymuch asMackhad expected,butthebriefingofficer’snextcomments caught him offguard. According to thebriefing officer, by the timeCheyenne completedPatrol3and returned for reload, thefloating drydockArco wouldbeavailableasneeded.

Mack didn’t like hearingthat. He didn’t likeentertaining the notion thatCheyenne would suffersufficientdamagetorequireafloating drydock for repairs.But this was war, he knew,and with the Chinese navyfocused on huntingCheyenne, he just might beall too glad of Arco’spresence.Hewasstillthinkingabout

that when the executive

officer slipped the captain anotewiththelettersASDSonit.Mack nodded, liking the

news of Arco even less. Helooked over at the briefingofficer and asked, “Are thereany intentions for Arco tobring the advanced SEALdelivery system, ASDS, outhere?”The CTF 74 admiral

answered the question beforethe briefing officer could

speak:“Thatoptionhasbeendiscussed, Captain. Theconcern is that althoughCheyenne completed the shipalterations for theASDS andthe interfacepylon fit checksin San Diego prior to yourdeployment, the vehicle andyour shiphavenot seeneachother.”Mack nodded. “So the

chances are slim forCheyenne todemonstrate thisnewest war-fighting

capability?”heasked.“I would say yes,” the

admiralreplied.“Forthetimebeing.”“That’s a relief, Admiral,”

Mack said. “As you know,operations with that vehicleseemtobeextremelyintricate—especially the landing onmy back. We would needsome serious training beforeany prudent submarinerwould take that on for thefirst time in the uncontrolled

natureofwar.”“I agree, Captain,” the

admiral said. “And thatconcern is precisely what Ipassed to COMSUBPAC.”He paused briefly beforeadding, “If the SEALs getinvolvedinthiswar,andtheirmovements are very tightlysecretedbySOCOM(SpecialOperations Command), we’llprobably find out about itafter ithashappened—unlessthe intention is to use

Cheyenne.”Mackwas relieved to hear

that. Partially, anyway.Losing control of Cheyennewasnotpartofhisdestiny—not ifhehadanything to sayaboutit.The briefing ended soon

after, and when they wereback on Cheyenne Mackexpressed his concern aboutthe floating drydock to theexecutive officer. Theexecutive officer agreed. He

pointed out that it was theonlywayforCheyennetogetdry for removal of fixedballast—which would benecessary if theheavyASDSvehicleweretobeinstalledinits planned location.Installing it over the aftescapetrunk,whichledtotheengineroom,wouldputmoreweight aft than the variableballast tanks couldcompensatefor.

“Attention on deck and onMcKee,” the OODannounced over the bullhornfrom the bridge. “Single alllines.” This order wasrepeatedby thebridgephonetalker over the sound-poweredphonestothephonetalkers on deck, one forwardandoneaftofthesail.Within minutes, the bow,

stern, and spring lines weresingled. When the orderedactions had been completed

and the reports had beenrelayed to the OOD by hisphone talker, he ordered,“Cast off the spring lines,linesthreeandfour.”In peacetime, and under

other circumstances,Cheyennewoulduseherownlines. But this was war.During their very first reloadalongsideMcKee, Mack hadordered thatCheyenne’s linelockers be welded shut. Thiswould prevent any possible

noise sources from captivebolts loosening, especiallysince the chances ofencountering torpedo andevendepthchargeexplosionswereincreasing.As with the last two war

patrols,alllineswouldbeleftwith McKee, where theywould be dried and storedwith care until Cheyenneonceagain returned fromherpatrol.“Checkthesternline.Keep

theslackoutofthebowline,”ordered the OOD. He wasconcerned about maintainingpositive control ofCheyenne’s position until thestern was safely clear of theafter anchor lines, especiallythose on McKee’s starboardside. He would not back themain engines until she wasclear.Inpreparationforthisnext

evolution, the OOD hadalready extended the

secondary propulsion motor(SPM),testeditlocallyintheengineering spaces and fromthe ship-control console, andtrained it to 090 degrees(relative).“Helm, conn, start the

SPM.”Thatordercamefromconn on the sound-poweredphones.When the SPM started,

Cheyenne’s stern swungslowly to starboard. Pivotingaroundthecamelbetweenthe

two ships, the bow movedslowly toward McKee. Withthemomentum of the 6,900-ton submarine now swingingthe stern nicely, the OODordered the SPM stopped,trained to 000 degrees, andhoused.Astheshipcontinuedto swing slowly, the OODbacked the main engines atone-third speed long enoughto gain sternway, and justenough to keep the sonardome from coming too close

toMcKee’shull.At his command, the two

remaininglineswerecastoff,snaking through thewater asthe McKee line handlerspulled them on board. Withthe stern line clear of thestern planes, Cheyennebacked safely away from thesubmarine tender and herafteranchors.Patrol3hadcommenced.Cheyenne’sfirstpatrolarea

wascenteredonalinedrawn

directly between the SpratlyIslands and Cam Ranh Bay.Intel suspected that this wastheroute thatChinesesupplyships were using in keepingthe Spratly Islands’ forcessuppliedandmakingthenewairfieldconstructionpossible.Cheyennewasnot authorizedto attack these supply ships,just to collect intelligence onthem.Washingtoncould thenuse this information againstthe Vietnamese government

for their collaboration withChina.Just to the north of the

patrolarea,thebottomslopedsteadily downward from1,000 fathoms to over 2,200fathoms.Mackwelcomedthisdeepwater,whichwouldhelpCheyenne and her Mk 48s.This would allow them toapproach a target from deepbelow the layer without fearofdetectionbytheshallower-running Alfa, which Mack

suspected was lurking to thewestofCuarteronReef.Although the Alfa’s

titanium hull would actuallyallow it to dive deeper thanCheyenne, Mack didn’texpect it to do so. TheRussiansdidnottypicallyrundeep, and he expected theChinese, who were learningtheir Alfa handlingtechniques from theRussiansthat built her, to follow thesamepractices.

Mack hoped that he wasright. If he was, Cheyennewouldbeabletomaintainthetactical advantage as long aspossible. If hewasn’t...well,then things could get veryinterestingveryfast.

It was nearing midnight.Thecaptainhadbeenrelievedof his command duty officerresponsibilities by the

executive officer. The newsection fire control trackingpartyhadjustsettledinwhenthe TB-23 thin line towedarray gained tonal contact.ThesetonalswerethesameasthoseCheyenne had recordedduring her earlier encounterwith theChineseAlfa beforehe was lost in the shallowshoalwater.As towed-array bearing

ambiguity was beingresolved, more tonals were

detected, on different beams,totheeast.Thesetonalswerealso the same as theChineseAlfa.Theexecutiveofficerknew

that there was only one wayto interpret the situation:clearly,thereweretwoAlfas.As more data came in, hecouldtellthattheeasterlyonewas closer and wasmaintaining his distance, buttheotherAlfawasclosingonCheyenne’sposition.Thefact

thatneithertheconformalnorthe spherical arrays hadcontact as of yet meant thatboth were easily beyond60,000yardsaway.The executive officer

calledthecaptaintotheconn.Mack, as he always did,

made his decisions quickly.In battle, he simply didn’thave the luxury of mullingthingsoverforlong.Cheyenne would close on

the Alfa to the west. Mack

chose that option because heknew the first Alfa mighthave recorded some ofCheyenne’s signature,andbyclosingontheotherAlfafirsthe would place the easterlyAlfa in Cheyenne’s baffles.This was, perhaps, not thebest place for it to be, but itwas the best option availabletohim.And ithad theaddedbenefitofallowingCheyenneto take on the unsuspectingAlfafirst.

Battle stations weremanned as soon as contactwas gained on the conformalarrayat40,000yards.“Torpedo room, fire

control, make tubes one andtwo ready in all respects,including opening the outerdoors.”AswasMack’shabit,he instructed the executiveofficer to order the tubesreadied before the rangewasso close that the Alfa wouldheartheevolution.

Acknowledgment, asalways, was immediate.“Make tubes one and twoready in all respects,including opening the outerdoors, fire control, torpedoroom,aye.”The executive officer,

acting in his role as fire-control officer, passed theacknowledgmentontoMack.“Captain, tubes one and twoarereadyinallrespects.Bothouterdoorsareopen.”

“Very well, fire control,”Mackanswered.TheAlfawasdrawingright

now,withcontactonallsonararrays. When the BSY-1operator and the fire-controlcoordinator were satisfiedwith the TMA solution onMaster 69, the Chinese Alfaclass attack submarine, thecaptainordered,“Firingpointprocedures,Master69.”His command was

acknowledged and the

combatsystemsofficerat theBSY-1 reported the targetcourse,speed,andrange.“Sonar,conn,standby.”“Conn, sonar, standing

by.”“Match sonarbearings and

shoot,tubesoneandtwo.”“Match sonarbearings and

shoot, tubes one and two,aye.”There was a short delay,

and then the combat systemsofficer reported, “Tubes one

andtwofiredelectrically.”“Conn, sonar, units from

tubes one and two runninghot, straight, and normal,”said the sonar supervisor asthe two torpedoes executedtheir wire-clearancemaneuvers. They wererunningataslowerspeedfornow.Once theyhadacquiredthey would increase speedandcomeup from theirdeepsearch depth. When theybreached the layer, the

torpedoeswouldpitchupandcompletetheiraccelerationtoattackspeed.“Very well, sonar,” Mack

replied. “Time toacquisition?” he asked thecombatsystemsofficer.“Fifteen minutes, twenty

seconds,Captain.”Hunting two Alfas, with

every passing momentincreasing the odds thatCheyenne would bediscovered, fifteen minutes

had never seemed so long toMack. After another eternityhad passed, he heard, “Bothunitshaveacquired.”“Conn,sonar,Master69is

turningtowardandincreasingspeed,cavitatingheavily.”Mackdidn’thaveachance

to acknowledge theinformation. Before he couldsay anything sonar reportednoisemakers launched by theAlfa.Mack nodded and ordered

“steer the weapons.” Thatwould keep them frombeingtricked into attacking thedecoys. He also orderedCheyenne’s course changedtotherightbyninetydegrees.Hewanted accurate targetinginformationforthetorpedoes,and for that he needed thebearingstotheincomingAlfaand to the stationarynoisemakerstodiverge.Itdidn’ttakelongtoobtain

a bearing spread. But Mack

didn’t have any chance torelax. The combat systemsofficer had just reported thetorpedoes on course forintercept ofMaster 69,whenoutof thebafflescamesonarcontactonthesecondAlfa.“Cut the wires, shut the

outer doors, and reload tubesoneand two,”Mackordered.“Make tubes three and fourready in all respects,including opening the outerdoors.”

A melee situation wasrapidlydeveloping.“Conn, sonar, we have

torpedoes in the water,bearings 285, 290, 110, and105. Both Alfas havelaunchedweaponsatus!”“Match sonarbearings and

shoot,Master 70, as soon astubes three and four areready.”ItwastimeforCheyenneto

cleardatum. Itwas also timefor their own

countermeasures to belaunched. As soon as Mackreceived the report of tubesthree and four being firedelectrically, he ordered theouterdoorsshutandthetubesreloaded. The torpedoesthey’d just fired would havetodotheirownthing.“Steady as she goes, all

ahead flank.Do not cavitate.Make your depth onethousand feet.” When thoseorders had been

acknowledged, Mack added,“Rig ship for depth charge.”It didn’t matter that thosewere torpedoes coming atCheyenne, notdepthcharges.The phrase had originated inthe early days of the SilentService,andithadstuck.Mackhaddoneallhecould

forthemoment.Hisplannowwas to let thecountermeasuresdotheirownworkandtotryandslipawayfromthescene.

Cheyenne reached flankspeed, on course 015, and atone thousand feet, as theChinese-launched, Russian-madetorpedoeswereenteringthe baffles. Thecountermeasures, launchedfrom the dispensers at thestern planes’ vertical struts,hadworked,decoyingthefishand buying time forCheyenne.That was the good news.

Thebadnewswas that sonar

couldn’thearCheyenne’slasttwo torpedoes, and couldn’ttellwhether theyhadenteredtheir terminal homing modeat Master 70. With theguidancewirescut, theBSY-1 had no knowledge of it,either.Thenextfewminuteswere

tense and silent. Then thesonar supervisor spoke up.“Conn,sonar,twoexplosions,onebearing175andtheothercomingfromthebaffles.”

Sonar didn’t have enoughbearing information to getboth direct path and bottombounce, so the sonarsupervisor couldn’t reportrange.Sonaralsocouldn’ttellexactly what the torpedoeshadimpactedagainst.Itcouldhavebeenoneorbothof theChinese Alfas, but it couldalso have been Chinesenoisemakers, or evenCheyenne’s owncountermeasures. To top it

off, Cheyenne had lostcontact on both Alfas in thebaffles.Inshort,Mackhadnoidea

whether one or both of theAlfaswerestillthere—andhewanted to know. Thatinformationwas important toCheyenne’s survival, and tothesuccessofhermission.On his orders, Cheyenne

slowed and, after proceedingabove the layer, cleared herbaffles toport.Therewasno

sign of the Alfas, onlyreverberations from theexplosions.The data did show,

however, that there had beenthree explosions, not two.The one they’d picked up intheirbaffleshadactuallybeentwoseparateexplosions.Mack didn’t have many

different ways to read thissituation. The Alfas couldeither have surfaced or havegone to the bottom—and he

didn’t think they’d gonedown. There had been eightseparatetorpedoesinthearea,heknew,fourfromCheyenneandtwoeachfromtheAlfas.Withonlythreeexplosions,itwas doubtful that bothChinesesubmarineshadbeenkilled.But there just wasn’t any

waytotellfromtheavailabledata. Not yet, anyway. Thesonar tapeswouldhave tobeanalyzed, a process that

would take some time, andthen maybe they’d have abetteridea.

Cheyenne continued oncourse toward the secondpatrol area, at seven hundredfeettokeepbeneaththelayer,while battle stations and therig for depth charge weresecured.Theusual all-officermeeting was delayed for atleast thirtyminuteswhile thecaptain and executive officer

talked in his stateroom andthe melee was reconstructedby the battle stations fire-controlparty.It was clear to both the

captain and the executiveofficer that the Chinesecommander-in-chief hadordered drastic measures.BothAlfas had continued oncourse right at Cheyenne’sdatum without trying to turnaway, even with Mk 48scomingtheirway.

MackhadalwayshatedtheSovietCrazyIvanmaneuvers,but this was even worse. Itwas more like the Japanesekamikaze,the“DivineWind”WorldWarIIpilots.When the officers finally

gottogetherinthewardroom,the sonar supervisor and hischief petty officerwere therewiththeirtapeanalysis.Theyhad been able to determinethat two of the explosionswereMk48ADCAPPBXN-

103,oneinthebafflesandtheone bearing 175. The thirdexplosion, originally in thebaffles, was from a 53cmtorpedo warhead. They wereable to determine thedifference in kilogram yieldbased on the duration anddecibelsofthereverberations.Their reconstruction of the

target courses and torpedocourses proved almostconclusively that the twoAlfas had suffered one hit

apiece. As for the remainingChinese torpedoes, in theirprofessional opinion eitherthe 53cm torpedo explosionhad destroyed them or theyhad run themselves toexhaustion while circlingCheyenne’s countermeasures.Thetorpedoes,oncedecoyed,would have waited for thecountermeasures to exhibitsome doppler—somethingthey had been programmednottodo.

In keeping with hispolicies, Captain Mackeyused the 1MC to inform theentire crew of thereconstructed results of theirbattle. This time, he toldthem, the Chinesecommander-in-chief’s ordershad helped Cheyenne. TheAlfashadbeenmoreintentonthe kill than on their ownsurvival. But next time...well, he didn’t want there tobeanexttime.

From now on, he toldthem, Cheyenne wouldlaunch her torpedoes atlonger ranges, shooting ontowed-arraybearingsolutionswheneverpossible.Infact,headded, hewas contemplatingshootingwiththesectionfire-control tracking parties ifneed be.Mackhad no desireto be rammed by the crazyChinese COs on a vendettaand who apparently had norespect for their own men’s

lives.With what he knew ofthe Chinese, he could onlyassume that they figuredposthumous glory was betterthan returning to a firingsquad.The crew was silent after

the captain finished talkingon the 1MC.Each and everyman on board Cheyennerealized that this could be alongwarunlesstheyputmoreroundsintotheChinese,bothaboveandbeneaththesurface

of the sea, and they couldn’thelp wondering whenColumbia and Bremertonwould be sent to help.Beingkept informed was the nameof the game on boardCheyenne, and the executiveofficer had passed on thesister ship information atquarterspriortogettingunderway.

Cheyenne’s second patrolareawaslocatedtwohundrednauticalmilessouth-southeastofMacclesfield Bank, a spotthat shoaled rapidly fromovertwothousandfathomstodepthsof less thanfortyfeet.Thetransittherewasfastandsilentanduneventful.On arrival near the

southwest corner of the area,the captain ordered theOODto launch an SSXBT. Thissubmarine bathythermograph

devicewasdesignedtorisetothe surface and then drop tothebottom,collectingdataontemperature versus depthinformationthroughthewatercolumn. The SSXBT wouldsend this data back over athin wire, similar to thetorpedo guidance wire, to anonboard recorder in thecontrol room. Theinformation from theSSXBTwouldbe input to theBSY-1forusebythesonarandfire-

controlsystems.Italsowouldprovide layer depthinformationso thatCheyennecouldeffectivelyhidebeneaththe layer, or even a second,deeperlayer.Mack had not had time

uponarrivalinthefirstpatrolarea to obtain the SSXBTinformation. Cheyenne hadencounteredthetwoAlfastooquickly.Butthatwouldn’tbethe case this time. He wasplanningthelong-rangeshots

now, and the informationcollected by the SSXBTwould be vital to theiraccuracy. Cheyenne wouldgetmoreSSXBTinformationatotherlocations,justincasehorizontal gradients werepresent that couldsignificantly affect the fire-controlsolution.

Three of the four plannedSSXBT “shots” had been

completed when the OODinformed the captain thatsonar had gained weak, butslowly closing, Alfa-liketonal contacts to the north,possibly three separatecontacts.Mack acknowledged the

information,buthedidn’tlikewhatitmeant.Thesecontactscouldn’t have been theAlfasfrom the south, so Russiareally was dumping nuclearattacksubmarinesonChina.

Minuteslater,whilehewastalking with the executiveofficer outside the exec’sstateroom, the OOD toldMack over the exec’s sound-powered phone that he hadincoming flash VLF trafficover the floating wire.Mackand the executive officerproceeded to the radio roomforwardofthecontrolroom.Bad timing, Mack thought

ashereadthemessage.Asifthe inbound Alfas weren’t

enough, Cheyenne had justreceived orders to prepare tolaunch their Tomahawks. Todo that, they would have toproceedtoperiscopedepthtocopy the IPAC TomahawktargetingdataoverSSIXS.Mackdidn’tlikeit.Ideally,

they would do that quickly,get to periscope depth, copylengthySSIXStraffic,andgetback down before they lostthelong-rangeshotadvantageagainst the Alfas.

Unfortunately, this situationwas far from ideal. Launchdirectives were also cominginoverthefloatingwire,andthose launch directiveswouldn’t allow him thatluxury. Cheyenne was toremainatperiscopedepthandlaunch all twelve missiles assoon as the download wascomplete and pre-PalawanIsland waypoints had beeninserted into the CCS Mk 2console.

Mackdidn’tlikeit,buthisorders didn’t give him anychoice. Wasting no time, heordered the OOD to takeCheyenne up to periscopedepth.As soon as Cheyenne

started copying the targetingdata, the captain ordered,“Manbattlestations,missile,”thenexplainedthesituationtothe crew. Cheyenne was tolaunch theTLAM-Cs to takeout aircraft on the ground

beforetheymovedfromtheircurrent revetments. She wasalso to launch theTLAM-Dsto crater thenew runways soadditional fighteraircraft, theSU-27Flankers,couldnotbeso quickly repositioned fromtheParacels.This was a one-shot

opportunity. The Chinesewould be asleep when themissiles reached their targets—they didn’t like to fly atnight any more than the ex-

Soviet pilots did. And theattack had to take placetonight because the FleetNumerical Weather Centerwasprojectingrainsquallsforthe next two days, startingbeforedaybreak.The captain also prepared

the crew for possible attackby the incoming Alfas. Thenoise of the VLS launcheswould not go undetected bythem. And in addition, ifthere were surface ships and

aircraft with the submarines,the booster rockets’ last-minute illumination of thedarknesswouldprovide themwithCheyenne’slocation,theproverbial “flaming datum”withCheyenne at the wrongendoftheweapon’strack.Itwasadangerousmission,

no doubt about it. And, ifthey were unlucky, it wouldbe more than merelydangerous.Itcouldbedeadly.Thecombatsystemsofficer

attheCCSMk2reportedthathe had completed poweringup each missile, downloadedthe mission plans and flightprofile, and verified properweapon receipt of the data.He had then powered downthe missiles until the captainwas ready to start theautomatic launch sequence.All plans and Cheyenne’slaunch location fit themission parameters,especially the range of flight

to theairfieldsand the initialwaypoint prior to PalawanIsland TERCOM andDSMACupdates.Flight timewould be just in excess oftwohours.“Firing point procedures,

TLAM-CandTLAM-D,VLStubes five through sixteen,”orderedthecaptain.Theopenmike heads-up to sonar andtheshortdelayasthecombatsystems officer reappliedpower to the missiles,

inserted the launch key, andpressed the firing button,gavethesonaroperatorstimeto prepare their ears for thesix tosevenminutesofnoisethatwouldfollow.Mackwasn’tworriedabout

that, though.Hewasworriedthat the noise would startthose three Alfas cavitatingtoward Cheyenne. Sonarwouldn’t be able tohear thatcavitation, but then itwouldn’thaveto.Mackknew

they’dbecoming,andthey’dbecomingfast.ThehatchofVLStubefive

opened hydraulically, freeingthe interlock to detonate anexplosive charge. The firstTLAM-C burst upwardthrough the thin plasticmembrane of the loadingcanister that had helped tokeep the missile dry untilnow.The TLAM-C covered the

short trip to the surface, less

thanthirtyfeetaway,quickly.Just before the missilebroached the surface, itsbooster rocket fired, dryingquickly as it cleared thewater.Theboosterrocketusedup

the last of its fuel and themissile pitched down closertothehorizontal.Droppingitsspent booster, the TLAM-Cstarted its non-illuminatingturbojet engine, acceleratingtooverfivehundredknotsas

it turned toward the firstwaypoint.On board Cheyenne, tube

five backfilled with water tocompensateforthelossoftheejected missile’s weight andthen the hatch shutautomatically. That freed theinterlockforVLStubesix.Onedown,andonlyeleven

more to go, Mack thought.For once he was grateful forthe relative slowness ofsubmarines. Even the Alfa’s

40 knots were nothingcomparedtotheTomahawks.The launch sequence

seemed to take forever, butthe Alfas were able to closethenoisydatumbyonlyfournautical miles. By the timethe Chinese submarines hadclosed an additional twomiles, Cheyenne had alreadysecured periscope depthoperationsandhadproceededdeep beneath the secondlayer. There she slowed,

trackingthethreenoisyAlfas,still at battle stations andreadying all four torpedotubes, including opening theouterdoorson tubesoneandtwo.The Chinese submarines

hadrun toofast for too long.When they finally slowed tolisten, the sounds of theTomahawk launches hadceased.Cheyenne, too, had lost

most of her contacts. Due to

therange,shehadlostallbuttonal contact on the towedarray when the Chineseslowed.Whichwas justwhatMackhadintended.TheAlfaclass SSN had no towedarray, so they couldn’t gaintonal contact on theextremelyquietCheyenne.Itwasnowawaitinggame,

andMackknewthegamewasrigged. The smart thingwouldhavebeenfortheAlfasto slow and attempt to

reacquireCheyenne, but theydidn’t have that choice.Under their new rules ofengagement,Mackknewthattheywould continue to closeon Cheyenne’s last datum...whichwouldbringthemrightintoMk48ADCAPrange.The three Alfas were

approaching within range,runningatfiftymeters’depth,abreast of one another andonly four thousand yardsapart. Mack waited awhile

longer.He had six torpedoesplanned for them, and hecouldaffordtowait.Cheyenne fired tubes one

and two-first, at a range of25,000 yards, with bothtorpedoes initially running inslow speed.At 18,000yards,Mackorderedtubesthreeandfour fired,with the torpedoesinitially running in mediumspeed. At 10,000 yards,Cheyennelaunchedtwomoretorpedoes from the reloaded

tubes one and two aftercutting the guidancewires tothefirsttwofromthesetubes,which had still beencommunicating their searchdata, on track for intercept.These last torpedoes, thesecondsetfromtubesoneandtwo, started their journey athighspeed.Theresultof thissalvo was that all six wouldarrivewithintheiracquisitioncone ranges at slightlystaggered intervals, and with

full depth and azimuthalcoverage.Sonarreportedthefirsttwo

torpedoes increasing speed,signifying acquisition.Minutes later, three of theother four acquired targets,passing the good news overtheirguidancewires.On board the Alfas, the

Chinese were dumbfoundedas theocean in frontof themturned from silence into thenerve-racking, high-

frequency pinging ofattacking torpedoes. Eventheir prearranged depthexcursions and coursechanges to prevent their ownmutual interference were tonoavail.The oncoming torpedoes

had passed through boththermal layers and werealreadylockedon,refusingtobe fooled by the myriad ofnoisemakers launched by thefleeing Chinese SSNs. The

circuitry of the ADCAPtorpedoes allowed them to“seethrough”thenoisemakerjamming, and to remainlocked on their intendedtargets.Itwasoverwithinminutes.

All three Alfas had beendamaged severely, forcingthem to emergency-blow tothe surface. Two of themnever made it. In those two,seawater leaking through thebroken engine room piping

caused such an up angle thatwater filled thesteampiping.With the turbine generatorsdamaged by the water fromthe steam generator, theirreactors lost power and shutdown.The two dead Alfas sank

sternfirsttothebottom,morethan12,000feetbelow.Cheyenne returned to

periscope depth to report thesuccessful Tomahawk launchandtheattackontheChinese

Alfas. Although it seemedlike forever, less than twohours had passed since theirlaunch. The missiles werestill flying in single file,having completed the finalDSMAC updates shortlybefore,andwerenowrelyingon GPS updates during theoverwater ingress to theairfields.Cheyenne and her crew

would have to wait for thebomb damage assessment

(BDA) to learn the resultsofthe attacks—and they mighthave to wait a long time. Ifthe rainsqualls precluded thesatelliteimageryforanumberof days, the BDAwould notbeabletobesenttothemviamessage traffic during thefour-day patrol in their thirdpatrol area. If that happened,they would have to wait fortheir return to alongsideMcKee.Cheyenne’s SSIXS traffic

was receipted for, soCaptainMackey directed the shipbelow the layer for the shorttransittothethirdpatrolarea.Located to the northeast oftheshoalareasandsouthwestofSubicBay,thishadbeenarefit site for U.S. and alliednon-nuclear submarines until1992. This patrol wasdesigned to ensure thatChinese submarines wouldnot try to interdict thearrivalofthefloatingdrydock,Arco.

After its rest stop inYokosuka following the longopen ocean tow,Arcowouldbe towed southward,west ofthe Philippines, to meet upwithMcKee.Itscoursewouldbe through the Sulu Sea,away from possible Chinesesubmarines, which were stillswarming in and around theSpratlys.During the few sane

moments aboard Cheyenne,afforded by wardroommeals

between battle stations, oneof the topics of interestamongthecrewhadbeenthenewlyinstitutedpoliticaltalksbetween the United StatesandthePhilippines.Asoneofthe original claimants to thecontestedSpratly Islands, thePhilippine government wasnow showing theirappreciation for thesubmarine war being wagedby Cheyenne. They hadearlier agreed, in a secret

Navy summit atCINCPACFLT’sheadquarters inMakalapa, totheTomahawkmissileflightsover Palawan. Not that itwould have made anydifference, since the missileswould have beenprogrammed to overflyPalawan anyway.Nevertheless, not having todeal with interferingPhilippine aircraft ensuredthere would not be any

international bickering overtheflightpath.The crystal-balling by

some of theCheyenne juniorofficersincludedbetsthatthePhilippines would offer toreopenSubicBay,atleastforthe duration of the waragainst China’s submarinesandencroachingwarshipsandaircraft.Ifthepricewereright—for free—then the UnitedStatesmightevenagree.Mack listened to his

officers with interest. Heknew that putting Arco inSubic Bay would provide anuclear repair capabilitycloser to Cheyenne’s currentpatrolarea.Ofcourse,iftheydid that, then they would befarther away fromCheyenne’s next war patrolassignment and her patrolareassouthoftheSpratlys.Mack grinned to himself

and shrugged. Pay now orpay later, he thought. In the

end, though, it didn’t reallymatter. Arco or no Arco,SEALs or no SEALs,Cheyenne would go whereshewasorderedandcarryouttheordersshewasgiven.

9.TheFourthPatrol:

FromRussiawithLove

The third patrol area wasquiet. Cheyenne detected nosubmarines during her shortduration patrol. Which wasgood, Mack thought. It gavehis officers and crew theopportunity to catch up ontheir paperwork. More

important,therespiteallowedthe newest crewmembers tofinally complete theirsubmarine qualificationcheck-outs with thedesignatedsubsystemexperts.Before reaching that stage,

each enlisted man had tocompletecertainatseaandinport watch-standerqualifications required by hisdepartment—engineering,weapons, or operations.Qualification boards for the

enlisted were held in the“goat locker,” the chief pettyofficer (CPO) lounge, messarea, and bunk room, allrolled into one small, butcozyspace.These qualification boards

were run by several ofCheyenne’s senior personnel.Thetoptwowerethechiefoftheboat(COB),whowasalsothemaster chief petty officerof the command, andCheyenne’s qualification

officer, the combat systemsofficer. The qualificationofficerwasresponsibletotheexecutive officer, in theexecutiveofficer’sroleastheship’s training officer, forensuring the timelysubmarine qualification ofeach and every enlistedman.The rest of the qualificationboards were made up ofselected qualification pettyofficers, the designatedsubsystem experts, and the

individualcandidate’sleadingpetty officer and divisionofficer.Once this board made its

recommendation to theexecutive officer, Mack wasalways quick to hold aceremonyinthecrew’smess.He enjoyed pinning thecoveted silver dolphins oneach sailor’s uniform,conferring the right for thecrewman to add “SS” to hisofficialtitle.

Officer qualification insubmarines includedqualification as engineeringofficerofthewatch(EOOW)and officer of the deck, aswell as the in portengineering duty officer(EDO)andship’sdutyofficerresponsibilities. Theserequired the captain’scertification, as did otherseniorenlistedwatchstations.Otherofficerqualifications

included candidates for

engineerofficerofanuclear-powered ship.Completion ofthiswasgenerallyputonholdduring wars because thecandidate officer was unableto return to Washington,D.C.,tobeinterviewedbythehead of Navy NuclearPropulsion,NAVSEA08.For the officers, the same

qualification petty officerscheckedoutthecandidates,asdid the responsibledepartment heads. Once the

senior watch officer and thenavigator, who wasCheyenne’s third seniorofficer, made theirrecommendation to theexecutiveofficerandcaptain,aqualificationboardwasheldinthewardroom.The reward for these

officerqualificationswerethemuch rarer and even morecovetedgolddolphins,whichdesignated the officer as“submarine warfare

qualified.” After Cheyenne’smost recent war patrols,Mack felt that all her handshad earned this designation,and hewas pleased that theyhadgottenthechancetocatchuponthis.In addition to catching up

on paperwork and officerqualifications,therespitealsogaveMackthechancetohavehis junior officers practicetheir surfacing and diving ofthe submarine. But Mack

didn’tletthatgotoofar.Thiswas war, after all, and therewas always the chance thatsomeof thosepeskyChineseKilo SSKs were lurkingabout, so he instructed hisjunior officers to onlysimulate blowing the mainballast tanks. That restrictionkept Cheyenne safe, and itdidn’t affect the quality oftheirpracticeatall.Mackwasn’tworriedabout

their knowledge. He knew

thattheyhadlearned,atleastonatheoretical level,howtohandle the boat. All theofficers on Cheyenne werenuclear trained—trainingwhich had required allofficers to complete NuclearPower School in Orlando,Florida,alongwithtrainingatoneofthereactorprototypes,either in West Milton, NewYork; Arco, Idaho; orWindsor, Connecticut. Thistraining had taken a year to

complete, and it was sointense that they’d had tomemorize volumes ofinformation that, whenstackedon topof eachother,easily reached over six feethigh.Anditdidn’tendthere.It was followed by a stint atthe Naval Submarine SchoolinGroton,Connecticut.This was all before they

ever got to their firstsubmarine. Once on board,they had new reactor and

propulsion plant manuals tostudy, supplemented byship’s information books,weaponsmanuals,andatleasttwenty more documentsrelated to operations againstwhatwasnowtheenemy.Afterall this,Mackwasn’t

worried about what theyknew, but they neededpracticeandexperiencetogowithallthatbookknowledge.It was the procedural stepsandthefeeloftheshipunder

their feet that the JOODsneeded to learn well enoughsothattheycouldsurfaceanddive the ship in their sleep.And even more important,they needed to learn how tothinkontheirfeet,incasetheunusual were to happen,which might not be coveredinbooks.Cheyenne’s junior officers

weren’t theonlyonesboningup for qualification boards,either. Her executive officer

was shooting for the“qualified for command”designation—but he didn’tknow that Mack hadrecommendedhimtoCTF74prior to their last underway.His first hint that he’d betterready himself for the qual-for-command board was amessage stating that theircommodore, CommanderSubmarine Squadron Eleven(CSS 11) in San Diego,would be on boardArco, the

floating repair dock,medium(ARDM-5).Upon receiving that

message, the executiveofficer initially expected thatthe board would consist ofCTF 74, his CSS 11commodore, and the captainof McKee. That expectationchanged, however, whenCheyenne received anoperations directive routingthemtoSubicBay insteadofthesafeanchorageoffBrunei,

where they had originallyexpectedMcKee andArco tobe located.Based on the restof the message traffic, theexecutive officer wasn’t surethere would be time for hisqualboard.Message traffic indicated

that IUSS (IntegratedUndersea SurveillanceSystem) had sniffs of anumber of the newestoperational class of RussianSSNs, the Akula II, heading

south from the Sea ofOkhotsk area toward theSouth China Sea—and thenumbersdidnotmatchnavalintelligence’s initialexpectations. Satelliteimagery of Vladivostokshowed three submarinesmissing, and data fromPetropavlosk added anothermissing sub, for a total offour, but IUSS was pickingup seven different AkulaclassSSNs.

New data, however,showed three more missingfrom theRussian base in theKola Peninsula. Navalintelligence had beenconcentrating on the Pacifictheater and had missed thedeparture of the North FleetAkula II SSNs the weekbefore. These Akulas hadcompleted an under-icetransfer through the BeringStraits before they weredetected in the Bering Sea,

and had rendezvoused withthe PACFLT Akulas east oftheKurileIslands.According to the message

traffic, Arco was beingdiverted to Subic Bay forsafety. Had she stuck to heroriginal orders, she wouldhave made a long transit atsea protected only byCheyenne, and the risk ofbeing overwhelmed by thesheer number of Akulas wassimplytoogreat.

Ona similarnote, inorderto avoid a repeat of theChineseKiloSSKattacksonMcKee that Cheyenne hadfought off after returningfrom the first patrol, thesubmarinetenderwasnowenroute to the safety of SubicBay via the Philippine Sea.She was scheduled to arrivethedaybeforeCheyenne.Sino-Soviet trade relations

were obviously booming,Captain Mackey realized as

he read the message traffic.The Russian president,Gennadi Zyuganov, wasallowing his navy to supplythe Chinese with the AkulaIIs. That was bad enough.Worse, though, was the factthat these sales were beingconsummated so quickly thatChina could not crew theSSNs, and Russia hadwholeheartedly agreed tosupply Russian “observers.”These observers had turned

out to be nearly the entirecrew. The only realexceptions were someChinese interpreters for theirChinesemessagetraffic.TheRussianpresidenthad,

of course, initially deniedthesesalesatall.Then,whenthe crewing reports surfacedthrough the CIA, he tried touse the “observer” gambit.The United States hadrecognized this for what itwas—a feeble attempt for

Russia to avoid its own warwith the United States—andMack couldn’t helpwondering how his owngovernmentwouldrespondtothis.But for now, at least, he

didn’thavetoworryaboutit.Allhehadtodowastocarryouthisorders and to executethe missions he was taskedwith.

Several days later, as

Cheyenne “steamed” pastGrandeIsland inbound to theSubic Bay complex, Mackwas saddened at the sight ofthe once-proud base. Thebuildings and guest cottageswere run down anddilapidated, and even theswimming pool was emptyandcracking.It was clear that nothing

hadbeendonetotakecareofthe Grande Island after thedepartureoftheUnitedStates

five years before. Mackexpectedthatthesamewouldbetrueoftheairfieldatwhatwas once the Cubi PointNaval Air Station. Thatairfield had once been busybringinginsuppliesaswellasbeingthelaunchandrecoveryfieldforcarrier-basedaircraftleaving and returning toSubicBay.When Cheyenne rounded

the point of the airfield andheadedforthegapingjawsof

the now-flooded-down Arco,Macksawhowrighthisguesshad been. At the sight ofjungle growth overrunningtheCubiPointOfficers’Club,Mackfeltawaveofnostalgiaand regret wash over him,and he was glad thatCheyenne had only two daysin the Philippines to reloadandresupply.Sincetherefitcrewwason

boardMcKee,whichwasstillintransittoSubicBay,Mack

and theexecutiveofficerhadinformed Cheyenne’s crewthat they would remain onboard, for sleeping andsecurity purposes, until thetender arrived. Seeing thedevastation thathadoccurredsince the United States leftthe Philippines, Mack couldsee that he hadmade a wisedecision. The CPO andenlisted barracks, as well asthe Submarine Sanctuary(where the officers used to

partake of rest andrecreation), had been lootedanddestroyedbyvandals.Captain Mackey had also

informed theengineerofficerand auxiliary division officer—who also was theSUBSAFE (submarinesafety) officer—thatCheyenne would take theopportunitytocompletesomeof the SUBSAFEmaintenancerequirementcard(MRC) inspections.With the

ongoing war against theChinese, these inspections,which could only becompleted while in drydock,were in danger of becomingoverdue. Taking care of itnow, with the drydockcapabilitiesthatArcooffered,wouldensurethatCheyenne’sSUBSAFE certificationremained in force and theywouldhaveno restrictions indepth during upcomingoperations.

Maintaining certificationduring a war was not just aperfunctory administrativepaper drill. It was extremelyimportant. The certificationmeant that the home whichprotected the men ofCheyenne from the perils ofthe sea was satisfactory forkeeping water out of the“peoplelocker.”The SUBSAFE criteria,

which began in Cheyenne’snew construction period and

continued for the life of theship, included the capabilityof various importantcomponents to withstandunderwater explosive shockwithoutendangeringthelivesofthecrew.Integrityofthesecomponentswasparamountifthe crew was to survive therigors of enemy attacks andreachthesurfacesafely.Mackplannedtoavoidthat

situation, of course, but withthe reportsof sevenAkula II

SSNs en route to the SouthChina Sea, he knewCheyenne would have herworkcutout forher.And sodid her well-informed crew,whosetabouttheirinspectiondutiesassoonasthedrydockwaspumpeddown.The late arrival ofMcKee

meant that Cheyenne wouldhave only one day to reloadthevertical-launchtubeswithTomahawk missiles and thetorpedo room with Mk 48s.

Arco had no capability toreload SSN weapons, otherthan small-arms ammunition.Sofar,Cheyennehadnothadto resort to that limitedmethodofwarfare,andMackdidn’t intend toneed theminthenearfuture,either.Arco, like all the floating

drydocks in the fleet, didnothave a formal commandingofficer. Drydocks, whichwere not commissioned asUnitedStatesshipsandsodid

not receive the “USS”designation, had officers-in-chargeinstead.In talking with Arco’s

officer-in-charge, Macklearned that Arco hadmanaged to off-load someNavy Construction Battalionequipment and a smallcontingent of Seabees at apleasure boat launch rampnear the Cubi airfields. Thatwould have been very goodnewsiftheywereonalonger

timetable.Asitwas,repairofthe runways would probablybe too late for Cheyenne tocount on any air support inher upcoming missions.Besides, Mack thought,deciding to forget abouthaving to coordinateoperationswithaircraft, evenif the Seabees got therunwaysrepaired,itwouldn’tdo much good. Thesupporting infrastructure thathadoncebeenat theairfield,

as well as the air-trafficcontrollers and radars, hadbeenspread tootherairfieldsaroundtheworld.WhichwasfinewithMack.

Thiswasa submarinewar; itwas Cheyenne’s submarinewar. He did appreciate,however, that Arco hadbrought a replacement screwfor Cheyenne. She didn’tneed it yet, but there wasalways the outside chancethatChinesetorpedoshrapnel

would get close enough tocause damage to the screw.The “singing” screw thatcould develop from thatwould limit Cheyenne’sspeed, and that was worsethan a SUBSAFE depthrestriction to one-half testdepth.Singingscrewswereacondition that could not betoleratedeveninpeacetime.Arco also had brought the

“ship’skey,”thehugewrenchneededtoremoveandreplace

thescrew’shubnut.

The following morning,McKee arrived in Subic Bayunder the cover of darkness.She didn’t moor at the seawall, but instead mooredoutboard ofArco at the SRF(ship repair facility) justdown the street from the oldNaval Forces headquartersbuilding.Mackknewthat thecaptain of McKee wouldconsider moving his ship

after Cheyenne’s departure,andafterhismenwereabletoassess the safety of thepreviously normal berth forlargeshipslikeMcKee.Thoseberths had been unattendedfor nearly five years, and hewouldwant tobe sureof thesea wall’s status, includingthe mooring bollards, beforehefeltcomfortableenoughtomoorthereforthedurationofthewar.There was another good

reason for that choice. AsMackknew,theseawallwaslocated across the relativelynarrow channel from theaircraft carrier mooring atCubi Point, and tendingsubmarines there had neverbeen done before. In the olddays,when theUnitedStateswas maintaining andoperating this base,submarine upkeeps alwayshad been conducted withinthe SRF gates both for

securitypurposesandbecauseitwasneartheSRFshopsandweapons-storageareas.At daylight, McKee

slacked its mooring lines toArcoforthefloodingdownofthe drydock and the “deadstick” move of Cheyenne tooutboard of McKee. Forsafety reasons, the twocaptains agreed not to loadweaponswhileCheyennewasstillinsidethedrydock.When the drydock was

floodedandseawatersystemswere once again flooded andvented of any entrapped air,Cheyenne received the word“prepare to snorkel” andpassed it along, internally,over the 1MC. With nocurrent to contend with, thismove went smoothly andsafely. Cheyenne’s dieselgenerator provided power tothe emergency propulsionmotor (EPM) and to theship’s vital electrical loads,

which remained energizedduring “rig ship for reducedelectrical power.” Had thisbeen done in San Diego,without Cheyenne’s reactorpower and steam in theengineering spaces, it wouldhaverequiredatleastonetug,and maybe two if Cheyennehadneededtomakethemoveatotherthanslacktide.When Cheyenne was

positioned properly, thecombat systems officer,

engineer officer, and theirother division officersremained on boardCheyenneto take care of the weaponsloading and reactor start-uppreparations. CaptainMackey, along with hisexecutive officer, operationsofficer, and navigator,proceeded to McKee’s warroom for their pre-underwaybriefing.There was a new face at

this meeting: the CSS 11

commodore was present—which, Mack knew, couldmean major changes, or itcould mean nothing. Eitherway,he’dknowsoonenough.Once the formalities were

out of the way, the briefingofficer again took control ofthe meeting. He informedMack and the other officersof Cheyenne that, withMcKee no longer requiringairprotectionfromtheCarrierBattleGroup, CINCPACFLT

had decided to moveIndependence and his othersurfaceforcestoanareawestof the Spratly Islands.USCINCPAC, with JCSapproval, had concurred.Which meant that therewould be a change in thelocation of Cheyenne’s nextpatrol.Mack’s earlier orders had

been to patrol south of theislands,butthoseorderswereno longer valid. His new

orders were forCheyenne totransittoapatrolarealocatedabout four hundred nauticalmiles to the north—deepwaters with whichCheyennewas now familiar. However,the briefing officer went on,if the inbound Akulas weredetected heading for theParacels, Cheyenne wasexpected to cut them offbefore the threeAkulas fromthe North Fleet couldresupply.

Captain Mackey, hisexecutive officer, andCheyenne’s navigator allknew that this wouldintroduce additional hazardsto their mission. At the veryleast, they would have tocontend with the neutralshipping and the oil rigssituated off the northernslopes of the MacclesfieldBank. Cheyenne hadmanaged to avoid thoseproblems during the last

patrolbystayingsouthofthebanks,butthatwasnolongeranoption.After relaying that

information, the briefingofficerbroughtupsomeolderintel, emphasizing theinformation contained inCheyenne’s latest messagetraffic. In particular, hereminded them that theAkulas were not manned byinexperiencedChinesecrews,but had come complete with

their normal Russian crews.experienced with their ownsubmarines.And,thebriefingofficer continued, since theprotests from Washingtonwere falling on deaf ears inRussia,Cheyenne was beingtasked as an instrument ofdiplomacy: sink the Akulasand Russia would probablystop supplying assets, ships,andmentotheChinese.Mack spoke up at that.

Withthedwindlingsupplyof

torpedoes aboardMcKee, thetender was practicallyrationing them. For thisloadout, Cheyenne wasreceiving only twenty Mk48s,andwhileheunderstoodthe rationale for it, thatamountwasfarshortofafullcomplement, and not enoughto go against all sevenAkulas.CTF74agreed,buthedid

not authorizemore torpedoesforCheyenne.Instead,hesaid

that if she sank four of thesevenAkulas, theywould besuccessful. Losing four newsubmarines and nearly fourhundred of Russia’s bestsubmariners, CTF 74 said,might just fulfillWashington’s diplomaticneedsnicely.Mack was disappointed.

He’dbeenhopingforamorecomplete load-out. After all,the Seabees were already atwork. Resurfacing the

runway at Cubi Point wouldsolve the weapons-reloadproblemandremovetheneedforrationing.Inthelongrun,of course, it would do morethan that. In the long run, itwould solve the whole baseresurrectionproblem.Before the briefing was

terminated, the executiveofficer asked about“RuLings” (Russianlinguists). The briefingofficer replied that the NSG

(naval security group) inYokosuka had provided twoRuLings to supplement the“ChiLings” (Chineselinguists) currently with theNSG detachment aboardCheyenne.Theywerebroughtto Subic Bay by Arco. With“hot bunking” the rule for688s, they were prepared tohot-bunk with theircounterparts.As thebriefingcame toan

end, the executive officer’s

moment arrived. He waspreparingtofollowMackandthe other officers back toCheyenne when the CSS 11commodore stopped him andtold him that it was time forhisqualforcommandboard.This was even better than

the executive officer hoped.Hewas prepared, and he felthe was qualified, but hehadn’t been looking forwardto a long and difficult board.And with Cheyenne already

stationing the maneuveringwatch in preparation forgetting under way, theresimply wasn’t time for anextendedboard.Theboardturnedout tobe

even shorter than he’ddreamed. It consisted of thecommodore relaying amessage from the chief ofnaval personnel designatinghim “qualified forcommand.” The executiveofficer hadn’t known it, but

Cheyenne’ssuccessesandtherespect that Washington hadfor her captain had allowedthechainofcommandtotakea few shortcuts in protocol.The commodore could haveplaced this on the earlierbroadcast, but he hadn’tbecause he had wanted tosurprisetheexecutiveofficer.This didn’t mean that the

executiveofficerwasreadytoleave Cheyenne for acommand of his own. They

neededtofinishthiswarwithChina first so that he couldstart the command schoolingroute—which was oneprotocol that would not becircumvented.

Cheyennegotunderwayinarainsquall.Theweatherhadlittle effect on theSSNotherthan limitingvisibilityduringhersurfacetransit to thedivepointwestof theeighty-five-degree water of Subic Bay.

Cheyenne’s navigation radarhadbeentweakedandpeakedby the navigation ETs inorder to handle this event—providing that no Chinesewarships were around todetecttheradar’semissions.Mindful of the danger,

Mack decided to limit thepower on the navigationradar,keepingittoonlywhatwas needed to detect thenearby landmasses. Thatmeant that Cheyenne would

havetorelyonESMtodetectany incoming surface shipradars.Mackwascountingonthe fact that Subic Bay hadbecome a ghost town, withalmostnotrafficinandout.Subic Bay, it seemed,was

about the only place in thearea that had little traffic.During dinner that night, ashisofficersatequickly,Macksaidtothem,“Weonceagainhaveourworkcutoutforus.With thatmany quietAkulas

staring us in the face, we’llneed to be innovative in ourattacks.Wemayhavetolearnhow to flush them out. Andwe won’t have much chancetorestbeforeit’stimetomanbattlestations.”He was right. Sonar had

already reported weak tonalsfrom an Akula to the north.AsMack arrived at the connafter dinner, the section firecontrol tracking partyannounced that the initial

rough range had beenestablished as 75,000 yards.Mack acknowledged thereport and ordered the OODtomanbattlestationstorpedo.There was still no sign of

the rest of the Russiansubmarines. Just the one setoflowfrequencytonals,mostlikely from an Akula—onewith sound shorts to itsturbinegenerator.The captain passed the

orderforthetorpedoroomto

“Make tubes one and twoready in all respects,including opening the outerdoors.” It was Cheyenne’sroutine to make the tubesreadyasearlyaspossibleandas far from the enemysubmarine as possible, but itwas even more importantwhenfacingthequietAkulas.TheAkulaclasscarried its

own towed arrays. Intel hadnot been able to learn muchaboutitssensorcapability,so

Mack had to make his ownassumptions about it.Hehadalreadydecidedtoplayitsafeand assume that it wasequivalenttoatleastaTB-16array and a BQQ-5A sonarcapability, the first of theU.S. submarine force digitalsonarsystems.The acknowledgment of

his order came quickly overthe sound powered phone.“Make tubes one and twoready in all respects,

including opening the outerdoors, fire control, torpedoroom,aye.”Confirmation followed

moments later, and theexecutive officer informedthe captain that the orderedevolution with the torpedotubes had been completed.“Captain, tubes one and twoarereadyinallrespects.Bothouterdoorsareopen.”“Very well, fire control,”

Mackreplied.

Cheyenne had faced anumber of foes already, andin some of the encountersshe’d gotten lucky. Thiswasn’toneofthosetimes.TheAkulawas tracking to

thewest,whichputitstowedarray in a more optimalposition for detection thanCheyenne, whose array wastrained optimally only whentheyziggedandzaggedwhileapproaching the Akula.Cheyenne was closing the

range, intending to interceptwith a fire-control solutionbefore theAkulacould reachthebanks,where itwouldbeacoustically shielded. Mackknew that the other Akulashad to be out there as well,but Cheyenne could notdetect them. They remainedsilent, deadly holes in theocean.The Akula continued

drawing left as Cheyenneclosed. It was still showing

uponly as sonar tonals,withnocontact fromthesphericalor conformal arrays.But thatwasenough.The TB-23 inputs to the

three BSY-1 computerconsoles, augmented byCheyenne’s course changes,madethesolutionpossibleforthe fire-control party. Whenthe BSY-1 operator and thefire-control coordinator weresatisfied with the TMA(target-motion analysis)

solution on Master 74, theRussian Akula II SSN, thecaptainordered,“Firingpointprocedures,Master74.”Thecombatsystemsofficer

reported the target course as270, speed eight, and range22,500yards.“Sonar, conn, stand by,”

Mackordered.“Conn, sonar, standing

by.”“Match sonarbearings and

shoot,tubesoneandtwo.”

“Match sonarbearings andshoot, tubes one and two,aye.”There was a brief pause

and then the combat systemsofficer said, “Tubes one andtwofiredelectrically.”“Conn, sonar, units from

tubes one and two runninghot,straight,andnormal,”thesonar supervisor reported asthe two torpedoes executedtheir wire-clearancemaneuversandaccelerated to

slow speed for the longinboundrun.“Sonar, conn, aye,” Mack

replied.At dinner earlier, he had

told his officers they mighthave tobe innovativeagainstthe Akulas. He hadn’tforgotten. “Take charge andsteer the weapons,” he said.“Unit one off course thirtydegrees to the right and unittwo off course thirty degreestotheleft.”

The fire-control partyimmediately knew whatMack had in mind, and theyloved it.When the torpedoeswerecloseenoughforpassiveacquisition, they would besteered back in the oppositedirection. Upon acquisition,the incoming torpedoeswould make it appear thatthey had come from twoseparate U.S. submarines,lurking to the west and theeast, instead of only

Cheyenne closing from thesouth.“Time to turn the units?”

Mackasked.“Twenty-three minutes,

forty-five seconds, Captain,”the combat systems officerreplied.The torpedoeswere turned

on cue, bearing down on theAkula. To increase theirchances, one torpedo led thetarget while the other laggedslightlybehind.

“Time to acquisition?”Mack asked the combatsystemsofficer.“Nineminutes,Captain.”That was his best guess,

and it was wrong. Only fiveminuteshadelapsedwhenthecombat systems officerannounced, “Unit two hasacquired.”Amomentlaterheadded, “Unit one hasacquired, but it’s not Master74.”That couldmean only one

thing:thetorpedoeshadeachdetected a different Akula—theonetheyhadfirsttargetedand a bonus. Mack didn’thave time to celebrate. “Cutthe wires, shut the outerdoors, and reload tubes oneandtwo,”heordered.Thesilentoceandidn’tstay

silentforlong.“Conn,sonar,”thesonarsupervisorsaidwithtensioninhisvoice,“wehavetwo torpedoes in the water,bearings350and010.”

Mack smiled to himself ashe heard the bearings. TheRussian CO had launchedsnapshots at the bearings ofthe incoming torpedoes, butMack’sployhadworked.TheRussian torpedoes were notheadedforCheyenne.“Conn, sonar, the hornets’

nest is emptying.” Six newcontacts on the sphericalarray as well as Master 74indicated that the Akulaswere running for it.But they

werealsoturningtothesouthto avoid the easterly andwesterly bearings of theinvading Mk 48s. Spherical-array depression-anglechanges indicated they werealso coming down toCheyenne’sdepthzone.“All ahead flank. Do not

cavitate. Make your depthone thousand feet,” Mackordered.Cheyennewasalreadydeep

beneaththesecondlayer,soit

took less than a minute forher to reach flank speed, oncourse due north, and at onethousand feet. The nearlyzero bearing rate shepresented to the Russiansmeant that Cheyenne wouldgive them a taste—if theydetected her—of theChinesekamikaze runsweeks earlier.ButMackdidn’t thinkthey’ddetect her, even at flankspeed and deep. The rangewastoogreat,andtheAkulas

were running too fast for aTB-16andBQQ-5-equivalentsensorsuitedtodetectanybuttheclosesttargets.“Conn, sonar, two

explosions, bearings 359 and002, range hard to discern,estimate18to20,000yards.”MackpickeduptheOOD’s

JAsound-poweredphoneandspoketotheofficersandmenof Cheyenne through thecompartment phone talkers:“This is the captain.

Gentlemen, Cheyenne haswon again. Excellent work.We still have a number ofRussian SSNs out there, andthey aren’t too happy.”Hanging up the phone, heturned to the chief of thewatchandsaid,“Chiefofthewatch,standdownbutdonotsecurefrombattlestations.”Evenashegave theorder,

though, Mack knew that thestand-down from the tensioncould easily be short lived,

especially if the remainingAkulas continued heading tothesouth.“Conn, sonar, we have

multiple underwatertelephone contacts bearing355 to005.”TheAkulashadslowed and were conductingrangecheckswitheachother.Thiswas exactlywhy they’dbrought the RuLings aboard,to help with range inputs tothe BSY-1 by translating theranges being passed between

theremainingfiveAkulas.Captain Mackey ordered

thetowedarrayhoused.Theywouldn’t need it during theshort-rangetrackingcurrentlyinprogress.When that order had been

acknowledgedandconfirmed,heturnedhisattentionontheremaining Akulas. “Torpedoroom, fire control, maketubes three and four ready inall respects, includingopeningtheouterdoors.”

“Maketubesthreeandfourready in all respects,including opening the outerdoors, fire control, torpedoroom,aye.”Even in the aftermath of

their latest kills, the officersand crew of Cheyennemaintained their crisp,efficient, and professionalperformance.As soon as the torpedo

roomreportedcompletingtheordered evolution with the

torpedo tubes, the executiveofficer relayed theinformation to CaptainMackey. “Captain, tubesthreeandfourarereadyinallrespects.Bothouterdoorsareopen.”“Very well, fire control,”

hereplied.Only two of the five

Akulas were being tracked,but Cheyenne now hadcontact on all her sonararrays. When the BSY-1

operator and the fire-controlcoordinator were satisfiedwith the TMA solution onMasters 76 and 80, Mackgave the command, “Firingpoint procedures, Master 76,tube three and Master 80,tubefour.”As before, the combat

systems officer at theBSY-1reported the course, speed,andrangeofthetwotargets.“Sonar,conn,standby.”“Conn, sonar, standing

by.”“Match sonarbearings and

shoot,tubesthreeandfour.”“Match sonarbearings and

shoot, tubes three and four,aye.”“Tubesthreeandfourfired

electrically,” reported thecombatsystemsofficer.“Conn, sonar, units from

tubes three and four runninghot,straight,andnormal,”thesonar supervisor reported asthe two torpedoes executed

their wire-clearancemaneuvers.Unlike the torpedoes

CheyennehadfiredatthefirstAkula, these were set to runat slow speed untilacquisition. Once they hadacquired,theywouldincreasetheirspeedandheadupfromtheir deep search depth.When they breached thelayer, the torpedoes wouldpitch up and complete theiraccelerationtoattackspeed.

“Sonar, conn, aye,”responded thecaptain.“Timetoacquisition?”“Fourteen minutes, fifteen

seconds, Captain,” answeredthecombatsystemsofficer.Bynow,Mackhadlearned

that aminute never lasted solong as when you werewaiting for torpedoes toacquire the enemy—unless,of course, you were waitingfor an enemy torpedo toacquireyou.

“Both units haveacquired.”“Conn, sonar, Masters 76

and 80 are increasing speed,cavitatingheavily.”Sonar reported

noisemakers launched by thetwoAkulas.Mack respondedby ordering “steer theweapons.”Inordertodothis,Cheyenne needed to changeher course to the left byninety degrees so that thebearings to the incoming

Akula would diverge fromthe bearings to the stationarynoisemakers.As soon as the course

changewascompleted, sonardetected the other threeAkulas. They were to thenorthwest of the ones beingattackedandwereheadingfortheParacels.Whenabearingspreadwas

obtained, thecombatsystemsofficerreportedthetorpedoesoncourseforintercept.

“Cut the wires, shut theouter doors, and reload tubesthree and four,” ordered thecaptain.“Maketubesoneandtwo ready in all respects,including opening the outerdoors.”He didn’t expect to need

them, but another meleesituationwasalwayspossible,and it was better to beprepared for an emergencythat never happened than tosavetheeffortandregretit.

“Conn,sonar,wehavefourtorpedoes in the water,bearings 358, 359, 006, and008. Both Akulas havelaunched.”“Match sonarbearings and

shoot,Masters 76 and 80, assoonastubesoneandtwoareready.”Mackknewitwastimefor

Cheyenne to clear datum. Itwas also time for their owncountermeasures to belaunched. As soon as he

received the report of tubesone and two being firedelectrically, he ordered theouterdoorsshutandthetubesreloaded. Thatwould cut theguidancewires,buttherewasno help for it, and thosetorpedoeswereoutstandingatdoingtheirownthing.“Steady as she goes,” he

said.“Allaheadflank.Donotcavitate. Make your depthone thousand feet.” Whenthose orders had been

acknowledged, but beforethey had been executed, headded, “Rig ship for depthcharge.”The Akulas were running

away. Mack was relying onthe countermeasures to hidehim from their sonar. Thatwould give Cheyenne thechance to slip away—butMack had no intention ofslipping away.HewasgoingafterthefleeingAkulas.Cheyenne reached flank

speed, on course 275, and atone thousand feet, as theRussiantorpedoesenteredthebaffles after thecountermeasures. Sonardidn’t hear Cheyenne’s lasttwotorpedoesastheyenteredtheirterminalhomingmodes.“Conn, sonar, two

explosions bearing,” thesonar supervisor began, buthe interrupted himself. “Twomore explosions, all to thenorth.They’re lightingupall

three sonar consoles,Captain.”He couldn’t provide range

information for Mack,however.Therewastoomuchreverberation to get bothdirect path and bottombounceinformation.Butwiththe four explosions, sonarwassure the torpedoesfoundtheirmark.Moments later sonar’s

guess was confirmed. Thefour explosions were

followed by the distinctivesounds of external pressurevessels on the Russian SSNsimploding from their descentto the bottom of the SouthChina Sea. All four Akulashadbeenkilled.Four of seven, Mack

thought.That’swhatCTF74wanted. But it’s not what Iwant.Cheyennewouldtryforthe last three, if she couldcatch them before theyentered the territorial waters

surroundingtheParacels.First, though, he had to

make sure the Akulas didn’thaveanysupport.HeorderedCheyenne to proceed abovethe layer, and then to clearherbafflestostarboard.OnlythethreeAkulasfleeingtotheParacelswerethere.Satisfied, Mack took

Cheyenne back beneath thelayer. He also took theopportunity to secure frombattlestationswhiletheytook

up hot pursuit toward theshallow waters of theParacels. At his command,thecrewdeployed theTB-16for the time being, at leastuntil they started theirapproachtoshallowwater.Cheyenne continued on

coursetowardtheParacels,atseven hundred feet to keepbeneaththelayer,whilebattlestations and the rig fordepthchargeweresecured.Mack held his all-officer

meeting after the battlestationsfire-controlpartyhadreconstructed the attacks andreported their findings.Cheyenne had performedsuperbly,andthecritiquewasvery positive, but one itemfromthebattlewasbotheringMack.It had been clear earlier

that theChinesecommander-in-chief had ordered drasticmeasures.Cheyennehadseenthat before, and had taken

measures to counter it—atleast, as much as possible.And Mack could understandit,fromtheChinese...butnotfrom the Russians. Theyweren’t at war with theUnited States. They had noreasontosacrificethemselvesinbattle.Buttheyhad.Just like theChineseHans

earlier, these Akulas hadcontinued on course right atCheyenne’s datum withouttrying to turn away, even

when Mk 48s were comingtheir way. And it just didn’tmakesense.NotwithRussiancrews aboard those Akulas.And not with Russia notformallyinvolvedinthiswar.The officers discussed it

among themselves, but noone came upwith an answerthat satisfiedMack. He filedthe problem for the timebeing,butheintendedtokeepitinmind.Justashe’dshiftedhis tactics against the

Chinese, so, too, would hetakethisintoaccountthenexttime he went head-to-headwithanAkula.As Cheyenne approached

the time for coming shallow,sonar reported numerousmerchant ship contacts andalso reported contact lost onthe three Akulas. Mackwasn’t surprised, and at leastthey were still south of thebankswheretheydidn’thavetoworryabouttheoilrigs.

Biologics were alsohindering the sonar search,and increasing the Russians’options.Runningbeneathandwith the merchant ships wasan old ploy, and one Mackwasn’t about to fall for. Heordered sonar to conduct acareful tonal search on thebearingsofthemerchantsandthe biologics. A disturbanceof previously undisturbedbiologics could mean that asubmarinewas proceeding in

theirscatteringlayer.The search was

painstaking, but it paid off.Sonar gained contact on oneAkula as it entered shallowwater—and none too soon.Cheyenne’s towed arraywould have to be at leastpartially retrieved before shecould enter the shallowswithout fearofdamaging thearray,andMackcouldn’triskthat. He expected he wouldneed it for future patrols,

especially since neither Arconor McKee had replacementarrays for Cheyenne. If therunways at Cubi got fixedbefore the war was over,replacements would come inby airlift. Until then,Cheyenne couldn’t risk theoneshehad.MackorderedtheTB-16to

short stay as Cheyenneventured inside the onehundred fathom curve southof Bombay Reef in the

Paracels.Therewouldnotbemuch timebefore theAkulaswere safely in port, whichmeant that despite the CrazyIvan or kamikaze Chinesemaneuvers, a short-rangeattackwasinevitable.Battle stations were

mannedoncetherangetotheAkulaclosedtoinside15,000yards. Almost immediatelysonar reported transientnoises, surfacing submarinesbearing 345 and 350.

Cheyennewasreadywithtwoouterdoorsalreadyopen.“Snapshots, tubes one and

two, bearings 345 and 350respectively,” Mack ordered.He had no idea what theMaster Numbers were fromthe previous battle in deepwater, but it didn’t reallymatter. They would shootnowandreconstructlater.As with almost all

snapshots, theMk48swouldhavetodotheirownthingin

detecting, tracking, andsinking two of the Akulas,but Mack expected them todeliver. This would be justlike sinking surface ships.The Russian submarineswould increase speed aftersurfacing and, cavitatingheavily,wouldneverhearthetorpedoes approaching intheirbaffles.No battle plan ever

survives contact with theenemy, Mack reminded

himself. But there was ananswer to that. If the onlyelement of your plan iscontact with the enemy,there’s nothing to survive,and you’ve got a betterchanceofsuccess.He was right. The two

torpedoes,whichhadbeensetfor shallow water, quicklyacquired the Akulas. Theydetonated beneath theirtargets, rupturing the ballasttanks and sending the SSNs

to settle to the bottom ontothecoralreef.“Conn, sonar, we have

explosionsonthebearingsofthe torpedoes. Also havethose same sounds ofChristmas balls falling off atree and breaking.” Two ofthe Akulas were runningaground on purpose after theexplosions, hoping to keeptheirsailshighenoughoutofthewater that thecrewcouldescape safely.Mack let them

go. He didn’t care about theRussian sailors. He caredonly that the boats would beuselessfortherestofthewar.Cheyenne got to periscope

depth in one hundred feet ofwater in time tosee the thirdAkulapassingsafelyoverthehorizon. Mack didn’t mindtheonegettingawaysomuchas he minded not being ableto get closer to the groundedAkulas.Hewouldhave likedto give the crew a special

movie that night—periscopevideos of Russiansubmarinersjumpingship.Hesmiledtohimselfashe

gave the orders to takeCheyenne back out intodeeperwater.They’dhave tosettleforTheSoundofMusic,which was one of Mack’sfavorites.Or, he thought, hisgrin growing wider, maybehe’d give them a real treatand let them watch FromRussiawithLove.

10.Rescue

Cheyenne’s new orderscame throughonher floatingwire communicationsantenna. Mack was stillthinkinaboutthefactthattheChinese had Akula II classSSNs, and wondering howmany other surprises hewouldhavetofacebeforethiswarwasover.One more, at least, he

realized as he read over thenew orders. At least onemore.Mack called for a

wardroommeeting inhalf anhour and then headed to hisstateroomashereadovertheorders again. He could havecalled the meetingimmediately, but he wantedto thoroughly examine thedetailsoftheseneworders.Thirty minutes later, the

captain was seated at his

normalpositionattheheadofthewardroomtablewhen theother officers entered. Mackdidn’t wait for the normalexchange of greetings andotherpleasantries.Assoonasthe others took their seats hebegantospeak.“Asyoumayhaveguessed

from this meeting, we havereceived new orders.” Henodded at the printout lyingonthetablebeforehim.“Youall, I’m sure, remember the

United Fuels Corporationprospecting ship, BenthicAdventure.ShewasseizedbytheChinesebackinlateJuly.That seizure, it turns out, iswhat started this war we arenowfighting.”The officers around the

table stirred at that. Theyknew thatMackwouldn’t bebringingthisupnowunlessitimpacted on their currentmission.“Thusfar,”Mackwenton,

“the Chinese had been usingthe ship for drillingoperations around the oilfields in theSpratly Islands.”He paused for a moment,glancingaroundateachofhisassembled officers. “ThereasonIsaytheChinese’had’been using the ship fordrilling is because at 2300last night, elements of theU.S. Navy’s SEAL TeamOne were inserted byhelicopter from

Independence, boarded, andrecaptured BenthicAdventure. Which means,among other things, that wewon’thavetoworryabouttheASDS (Advanced SwimmerDeliverySystem)vehicle.Sofar, the Chinese have yet torealize that the ship is nowback under Americancontrol.”Mack paused again,

smiling at the thought of theChinese’s reactionwhen they

learned.Thenhesoberedandwent on, “The Chinese, ofcourse, will find out soonenough.BenthicAdventure isnow leaving the SpratlyIslands under the protectionof two Ticonderoga classcruisers, Gettysburg andPrinceton.Wearetojointhisconvoy as soon as they clearthe shallow water of theSpratly Islands. I havealreadydirectedthenavigatorto plot the most expedient

course for the rendezvouspointinordertomeetupwiththeescortgroupasquicklyaspossible.”Several questions were

askedofthecaptainwhothendismissed the meeting andheadedtothecontrolroomtofind out from the navigatorwhat timetable they couldexpect on their voyage tomeettheconvoygroup.

Several hundred milesaway,someothermembersofU.S. Navy SEAL Team Onehad been inserted into theSpratlys and had begunfortifying their new home.For the next few days, theirteammates on board wouldmake every effort to takeBenthic Adventure out ofdanger.Inthemeantime,theirjob was to deploy Stingerantiaircraft missiles in

positions near the probableroutes of attack for anyenemyaircraftorships.These missiles, however,

as the SEAL team knew,were more of an emotionalsecurityblanketthananyrealsupport. Benthic Adventure’sreal protection was providedby the two Aegis cruisers,Princeton (CG-59) andGettysburg (CG-64), two ofthemost capablewarships intheentireU.S.Navy.

The Aegis warships hadbeen designed to protectAmerican aircraft carriersfrom massive Soviet airattacks,andthesevesselsalsowereequippedwiththelatesttechnology in antisubmarineand antisurface warfare.These two warships hadsailed from Pearl Harbor aspart of the IndependenceCVBGand had beenwaitingwith Independence until theyreceivedwordthattheSEALs

had recaptured the UnitedFuels prospecting ship.Oncethe capture was confirmed,Princeton and Gettysburgsailed at flank speed toBenthic’s position and werenow providing an escort outoftheshallowSpratlyIslandsarea.Theentiregroupwouldbe

glad once they reacheddeeper water. Once there,Cheyenne would be able tojoin themand takeover their

antisubmarine warfarepatrols.Eachofthewarships’twoSeahawkhelicopters hadbeen working nonstopattempting to track anysubmarines thatmightposeathreat to their mission, buttheyweren’taswellequippedforthisasCheyenne.

“What’sourtimeofarrivalforrendezvousofftheSpratly

Islands?”Mackasked.The navigator looked up

from the quartermaster’schart he’d been studying.Cheyennewas running at theordereddepthoffourhundredfeet and twenty-six knots asthey approached the islandsfromthenorth,havingearlierdeparted the Paracels. “Weshould be there within sevenhours,”hesaid.“Come to periscope depth

as soon as we’re sure that

there are no surface ships inthearea,”orderedthecaptain.“Iwant to sendamessage toGettysburg and tell themwhattimetheyshouldexpectus.”Cheyenne proceeded to

periscope depth andtransmitted the SSIXSmessage over hercommunications mast to theTiconderoga cruiser escortgroup.Theyhadbeenrunningwith their TB-23 thin-line

array deployed for severalhours now, but had notdetected any sonar contactsother than biologics, theundersea life of the SouthChinaSea.As soon as Cheyenne

arrived in position to workwiththeescortships,CaptainMackey would be in chargeof ASW operations. BenthicAdventure would stay in thecenter of the group, withGettysburg and Princeton to

herleftandrightrespectively.Inorder to cover thegroup’sblind spots to their rear, thecruisers would take turnsdeploying their SQR-19towed arrays, and their SH-60B helicopters wouldprovide long-range, over-the-horizon radar coverage, thusgivingthegroupa360-degreebuffer zone protecting therecaptured vessel. Cheyennewouldrunquietly inadvanceofthegroup.

Time passed quickly. Fiveand a half hours later,Cheyenne’s sonar supervisoradvised the captain that theyhaddetected theTiconderogacruisers to their south. Uponhearingthis,Mackagainwentto periscope depth andtransmitted their location tothe escorts, with an updatedETAandhisowntonalmap.The sonar operators on

board Princeton detectedCheyenne’s knuckle soon

afterward, and recognizedMack’s sonar signaturequickly. Mack had realizedearlyonthatthetopspeedofthe convoy had never goneabovetwelveknots.Thiswas,hecorrectlyguessed,BenthicAdventure’stopspeed.After making her

transmission, Cheyennebegan receiving updatedinformation on the cruisers’newcourse,heading270.Thethree surface ships were to

sail in this direction in orderto meet up with the USSIndependence.Naval intelligence had

reported numerous Chinesesurfaceandsubmarinegroupsoperatingintheareabetweenthe Spratlys and USSIndependence. That didn’tbother Mack, though.Cheyenne could handle theASWmission, and theAegiscruisers would easily dealwith any surface or air

threats.As soon as the group left

the shallow portion of thewaters near the SpratlyIslands, Cheyenne was oncemore in her element. Mackordered the OOD to proceedto four hundred feet andpatrol the area in front oftheirescortgroup.Sprinting several thousand

yardsaheadof thegroupandthen waiting, Cheyennedetectedher first contact less

thananhourlater.TheTB-23was receiving tonals on thiscontact at quite a distance,which indicated that thesignal’s source was notmakinganyefforttobequiet.Still,itwasmorethananhourbefore they were able toprovide enough informationto the BSY-1 computers todetermine range with anyreasonable degree ofaccuracy.“Conn, sonar, we’ve got

two positive submarinecontacts, probable secondconvergence zone. Both aremaking turns for thirteenknots, bearing 310. Thecontactsarecomingfromthenorthwestandareclosing.”Cheyenne was currently

operating about 14,000 yardsin advance of the surfacegroup. Mack did a quickmental calculation anddetermined that the enemysubmarines were roughly

sixty miles from BenthicAdventure.Mackdidn’t have to guess

attheordersthosetwoenemysubmarines were operatingunder. They were headed intheir direction in an effort tointercept the convoy anddestroy as many Americanships as possible. The factthat they were coming fromthe northwest indicated thattheywerepartoftheChinesetask group originating at

ZhanjiangNavalBase.Mack couldn’t know

whether word had reachedChina yet that BenthicAdventurehadbeenliberated,but hewas sure that as soonas they learned that fact theywould make every effort todestroy it and embarrass theUnitedStates.“Conn, sonar,” the sonar

supervisor reported, “thosetwo sonar contacts have nowbeen positively identified as

Romeo class diesel attacksubmarines. I estimate thatthey are ten thousand yardsapart.Theirspeed isconstantatthirteenknotsbasedontheblade rate.” Thirteen knotsmeant that they were in ahurry.The old Romeos were

China’s most numeroussubmarine class, and Mackknew that China had dozensofthem.Hewasalsosurethatthis would probably not be

theonlyattackheadedintheirdirection.“Captain,” the

communicator said, tappingMackontheshoulderinorderto get his attention.“Gettysburg just sent us amessage. Their radar haspicked up three contacts thattheythinkareChinesemissileboats, and they are asking ifwehavedetectedthemoranyotherwarshipsinthearea.”Mack analyzed the

situationquicklyanddecidedto bring Cheyenne back toperiscope depth. He wantedto tell the cruisers about theRomeos they had detected,but before he could give theorder sonar had anotherurgentreport.“Conn, sonar, we just

picked up five fast attackcraft headed in our direction,onnearlythesamebearingastheRomeos.They’re runningat twelve knots, sir, and we

cantellthatthey’reoperatingveryclosetogether.”More information was

flowing through thecomputers,andMackwalkedintothesonarroomtogettheinformationassoonasitwasavailable.“Captain, these are

definitely Chinese. Theysound most like the Hainanclassfastattackcraft.”ThatwasenoughforMack.

Without waiting for more

information, he turned andranbacktothecontrolroom.The surface ships in theconvoy he was tasked withprotecting needed thisinformation, and theyneededitfast.“Come to periscope

depth,”heorderedassoonashereachedthecontrolroom.“Come to periscope depth,

aye,sir.”Under normal

circumstances, Cheyenne

would have cleared herbaffles at 130 feet, butMackordered her to go directly toperiscope depth. Theresimply wasn’t time to doeverything by the numbers,and hewas confident that hehad control of the tacticalsituation and the currentcontacts.Once the message was

sent, Cheyenne proceededimmediately to 247 feetwithout waiting for an

answer. They could receiveconfirmation via the floatingwire.Sheonlyneededtobeatperiscope depth to transmitmessages, not to receivethem.On board Gettysburg, the

convoy group commanderimmediately realized theseriousness of this situation.Thesubmarineshewasn’ttooworried about—they wereCheyenne’s responsibility,and he had absolute

confidence in CaptainMackey and his crew. Thesurfaceshipswereadifferentmatter.Theywereuptohim,butheandhiscrewhadbeenwell trained to deal withsituationslikethisone.Princeton immediately

launchedoneofherSeahawkhelicoptersinthedirectionofthe Chinese task group. Inordertoincreaseitsrange,theSH-60 was unarmed for thismission. It would have to

loiter for some time and getaccurate data on the Chineseships headed for theTiconderoga group. The SH-60s from Gettysburg wouldstay ready in caseCheyenneneededanyhelpwiththetwosubmarinecontacts.Nine hundred feet above

the South China Sea,Seahawk309,assignedtotheUSS Princeton, searched thesea with her powerful radar.It didn’t take long to detect

their targets. From theirvantagepointhighabove sealevel, the operators on boardcould seemuch farther, bothwiththeireyesandwiththeirinstruments.On boardCheyenne, sonar

detectedtheSH-60launch.“Conn, sonar, the towed

array just detected ahelicopter flying overhead,”reportedthesonarsupervisor.Mack assumed it was a

Seahawk from the

Ticonderoga group, headingout to get a better look atthose attack craft headed intheirdirection.Eitherway,hedidn’t have time to worryabout it.Cheyenne’s primaryresponsibility was those twoRomeos,Masters 83 and 84,and Mack set about takingcare of them before theycouldthreatentheconvoy.“Increase speed to thirty-

twoknots,”Mackordered.Atthat speed, Cheyenne would

bewithinMk48rangeofthetwo Romeos within an hour—less if the Chinesesubmarinescontinuedat theircurrent speed. He alsoordered battle stationsmanned.Cheyenne picked up speed

rapidly.Mackkepthis towedarray deployed to detect anyother sonar contacts thatmight be in the area, but hisfirst priority was killing theRomeos. He knew very well

that the Ticonderoga cruisergroup above would be morethan a match for the surfaceboats headed toward thegroup.The Chinese missile boats

sped forward, confidently.The five Hainan fast attackcraft had been scrambledfrom Zhanjiang Naval Baseseveralhoursearlier, justonehour after the Romeosubmarines had left. Theywere part of an all-out effort

onthepartoftheChinese.Assoonashehadreceivedwordthat the captured AmericanoilvesselhadbeenseizedbyAmerican SEALs, theChinese South Sea Fleetcommander, Vice AdmiralWang Yongguo, decided tosinkitatanycost.Heorderedevery available ship notalready assigned to a priormission to attack the taskforceescortingthevessel.Thiswasmore amatterof

nationalpridethanofmilitarysignificance, but it was adecision Vice AdmiralYongguo agreed with. TheAmerican-registeredprospecting ship had been inChinese waters—contestedwaters, perhaps, but Chinesenonetheless—afterChinahadinvaded the Spratly Islands.Now the Americans hadrecaptured the ship and theChinesemilitary,underdirectorders from the Chinese

government, wanted the shipdestroyed.TheHainanfastattackcraft

were generally considered tobeordinarypatrolboats.Theywereusuallyarmedwithgunsand were often tasked withmining activities. These fiveboats, however, had their aft57mm guns replaced—notwith the YJ-1 anti-shipmissile launchers that werethe usual replacement, butwith two HY-2 missiles.

These missiles had amaximumrangeofover fiftynautical miles. To takeadvantage of this, ViceAdmiral Yongguo hadordered them to head in thedirection of the Americans,hoping that at least some oftheir craft would get closeenough to launch theirmissiles.The crew on the Chinese

patrolboatshadbeenpleasedwith their assignment. They

had long-range missiles onboard.Theyhadhelpbeneaththe surface from two dieselattack submarines. And theyhadachancetostrikeablowfortheircountry.They remained extremely

confidentuntiltheyheardthewhoosh of a helicopter rotorflynearthemfromthesouth.

As instructed, theAmerican SH-60 buzzed infor a close look at the five

Chinese attack craft. Thecopilot on board theSeahawk, examining the shipthrough his binoculars, couldtellthateachoftheshipshadwhat looked like twomissiletubes fitted on their aft end.Hewouldhave liked tohavegotten even closer, butwhenthepilottriedtomovein,theleadChinese boat opened upon them with a barrage of25mmgunfire.TheSH-60pulledbackand

the pilot radioed Princeton.“Seahawk 309 to Princeton,we’ve just received small-caliber fire from the leadboat. They are fast attackcraft and it looked like theyare each carrying two bigmissilesontheiraftend.”“Wecopythat,309.Isyour

currentpositionsafe?”The helicopter had gained

altitude and was out ofdanger. “Sure is,” the pilotresponded. “You can launch

thoseHarpoonsanytime.”Princeton acknowledged

that,andtheSeahawktookupstation near the five Chineseattack boats. Her job nowwould be to provide targetdataonthesurfaceships,firsttoPrinceton and then to theactual missiles in order toensure that they hit theircorrecttargets.

The Chinese Romeosubmarines, like most olderRomeo models, carried thestandard sonar system giventhem by the Soviets manyyears before. Called theFeniks, theRussianword for“phoenix,” this system datedback to the 1950s. Outdatedandobsolete,itwasnomatchfor an ultramodern opponentlikeCheyenne and, unlike itsnamesake, could not riseagain from the ashes of

defeat.“What’s the range to our

Romeos?”Mackasked.Theyhad been travelling forthirteenminutes at thirty-twoknots and had just slowed toget a clear picture of theeventsgoingonaroundthem.The Romeos had continuedrunning at twelve knots intheirdirection,apparentlynotaware that Cheyenne wasstalkingthem.“BSY-1 convergence zone

range to the first Romeo,Master 83, is 68,000 yards,bearing030,” the fire-controlcoordinator reported. “TheotherRomeo,Master84,isat69,000yards,bearing320.”Mack ordered flank speed

in pursuit of the closingRomeos, and secured frombattle stations until the rangewasclosed.

On board the USSPrinceton, five Harpoonsexploded out of their missilecanisters fitted in the far aftportion of the warship. Themissiles streaked fast andlow, flying at sea level toavoid radar detection. Theyhad been given the generallocation of the craft, butbecause the Chinese boatsweremovingatahighrateofspeed and operating veryclose together, the missiles

wouldbemoreaccuratewhenthey had direct feedback ontheirtargetsviahelicopter.But the Harpoons weren’t

the only missiles in the air.Shortly after Princeton firedoffitsHarpoons,twosmaller,thinner missiles werelaunched, this time from oneof the Chinese fast attackcraft.Withinseconds,thetwoSA-14s,hand-heldsurface-to-airmissiles,hadreachedtheirtopspeedandwerehomingin

ontheAmericanSH-60.The American helicopter

detected themissiles as soonas they were launched, butthatwas already far too late.The Seahawk was too close,with no room to maneuverandnotimetorun.Momentslater, they exploded into thebottom of the helicopter,sending it down in aburningfireball.Princeton knew

immediately that something

hadhappened.“Captain, we just lost

contact with the Seahawk.She’s no longer showing upontheradarscope.”Therewasonlyonewayto

interpret that. The captainknew as soon as he heard itthat his helicopter had beenshot down. His first thoughtwastogetarescuehelicopterouttofindanysurvivors.Hissecond thought was forrevenge.

The five Harpoonmissilescontinued on their waytoward the Chinese taskgroup.Theplanhadbeenforeach missile to strike adifferent ship, but that planhad depended on theSeahawk to act as a spotter.Without the final data fromthe SH-60, the Harpoonsturnedontheiractiveseekerswhen they neared theprogrammed area and

searched forwhatever targetstheycouldfindinthewater.The first two Harpoons to

hit closed in and slammedinto the lead Hainan. Theystruck directly below thewaterline. The entire boat,whichdisplacedlessthanfivehundred tons, was literallypicked up out of the waterand thrown upside down.Very little was left of thesmall craft after the twoHarpoonsexploded.

The third Harpoon homedin on the boat farthest fromthepack.Themissilestreakedinanddetonatedinthebridgeof the ship, killing over halfoftheseventy-eightsailorsonboard. The rest died slowly,of smoke inhalation and thefires caused by the burningfuel, ammunition, andaluminum.TwomoreHarpoons, as if

they were guided byvengeance, crashed into the

same ship that had launchedthe SA-14s at the helo. Oneof themissileshit in the foresection, the other in the aftportion. Between them theytorethethinmetalhullapart.Threeshipshit, threeships

sunk. In other circumstances,that would have been anexcellent record. In thiscase,however, the important thingwasnothowmanyshipshadbeen destroyed. Whatmattered was the two ships

that survived, with theirmissiles intact, to launchagainstBenthicAdventure.The remaining Hainan

attack craft were in trouble.Theylackedgooddataonthelocation of the Americansurfacegroup,buttheylackedtime as well. They had noidea how long it would bebefore another salvo ofHarpoons appeared on thehorizon. Playing it safe, thetwo commanding officers

gave the orders for the twocraft to launch their missilesin the overall direction ofBenthic Adventure and thenturnbackandheadforChina.Theyhad lostmore thanhalfof their group, but theirmission would still be asuccess if they could destroyan American naval vessel—or, even better, BenthicAdventureherself.

Mack was notified of thelatest developments in hisstateroom.Thecommunicatorappeared in his doorway, amessageprintoutinhishand.“Captain,” the

communicator said, “we justreceived a message fromGettysburg. They report thatthe Chinese task group hasshot down their Seahawk.Theyalsoreport that threeofthe Chinese craft have been

destroyed, but the remainingtwohavemanagedtosqueezeoff four missiles in theirdirection. They haverequested our help, sir. Theyask that, if we are withinrangeof themissilecraft,weengage themwhilePrincetonandGettysburg focus on theincomingantishipmissiles.Ifweareunabletogetanexactfix on their location,Gettysburg asks us to radioback and they will launch

their Tomahawks at thetargets.”The thought of a 1,000-

pound Tomahawk missilewarhead blowing apart asmallChinesecraftbroughtamomentary smile to Mack’sface. Then he thought of thecrew on board the Seahawkand suddenly it didn’t seemsoamusing.He grabbed a pencil and

paper and drafted a quickmessage.

BASED ON YOURREPORT, CHINESE FASTATTACK CRAFT AREBEARING 279 AND 283FROM CHEYENNE.RANGE IS NOW 66,000YARDS. WILLCOMMENCE HARPOONLAUNCHINGASSOONASPRACTICAL.

“Send this toGettysburg,”

he said, “and then have thenavigator plot a course tothosetwoChineseships.”Hedidn’t say anything else. Hedidn’t have to. Cheyennewould worry about the twonoisy Romeo submarineslater.Tubes one and two were

reloaded with Harpoonmissiles and the interceptcoursetotheattackcraftwasagain verified. As soon asCheyenne was in optimal

firing position, at onehundred feet beneath thesurface, the Harpoons wereejected from Cheyenne’storpedo tubes on the manualfire-controlsolution,andtheyheaded toward the surfaceand then toward Masters 85and 86. Once their enginesignited,therewasnostoppingthem.The missiles found their

targets within minutes. ThedataprovidedviaCheyenne’s

BSY-1 fire-control systemwasremarkablyaccurate,andeven had the Chinese crafttried to evade, itwould havedone them no good. As itwas, theywereconfidentthatwiththeirownHY-2missilestrackingtowardtheAmericansurface group and keepingthemoccupied,theywereoutofdanger.Their first clue that they

were wrong was also theirlast. The two Harpoons

closed quickly, impactingamidships, just below thewaterline, one missile perHainan.Minutes later, the sea was

once again calm as theremains of the two attackcraft slipped below thesurface.“Now,” saidMack calmly,

“about those two Chinesesubmarines...”Tubes one and two were

reloadedwithMk48s.

On board the Americancruisers Princeton andGettysburg, an air of tensionran through the controlrooms. Their SPY-1Bmultifunction radars weredoingexactlywhattheyweredesigned to—track theincoming Chinese missilesand calculate optimalintercept locations for the

cruisers’ SM-2 surface-to-airmissiles. The four Chinesemissiles were closing in atjustunderthespeedofsound,whichleftonlyafewminutesofreactiontime.Less than thirty seconds

after the Chinese ships hadlaunched their four HY-2s,the fire-control systems hadtheir data and the two AegiscruisersbeganlaunchingtheirSM-2SAMsat the incomingmissiles.Gettysburg was the

first to fire, her foreMk 41,sixty-one-cell launchershooting off sixmissiles oneafteranother.SixmoreSAMsleapt from the deck ofPrinceton,all twelveheadingstraight for the speedingChineseHY-2s.Within seconds, the SPG-

62 missile illuminators onboard the cruisers begandirecting the Americanmissiles. These illuminators,four of which were on each

ship, switched guidancecontrols from missile tomissile, providing minuteflight changes so that themissiles would know exactlywhere to fly in order tointercept the incomingtargets.Approximately ninety

meters above the surface ofthe sea, thirty miles fromBenthic Adventure and herescorts,thefirstSM-2sbeganto detonate around the

incomingChinesetargets.The first explosions

occurredneartwooftheHY-2s, throwing them off targetand then destroying themwith shrapnel from thewarheads.TheremainingtwoHY-2missilesweredestroyedoutright by the AmericanSAMs targeted in theirdirection.Three minutes after the

launch of the Chinese HY-2missiles,whatwas left of all

fourof them layscatteredonthesurfaceofthesea,floatingbriefly before slippingbeneaththewaves.

OnboardCheyenne,Mackhadno ideahow thingswereprogressing above thesurface, andnochance to tryand find out. Cheyenneoutmanned, outgunned, andsimply outperformed the two

Romeos,butthatdidn’tmeanhe could afford to treat themlightly.Mack ordered one Mk 48

targetedateachRomeo.Withtheir antiquated Feniks sonarsystems, he doubted that theRomeos would even detectthetorpedoesbeforetheyhadacquired.Ifoneofthemwereto miss, however, he knewthatCheyenne would still beout of range of the Chineseweapons and could re-attack

atwill.After establishing firing

point procedures, the Mk 48in tube one was launched atMaster83andtheoneintubetwoatMaster84.Hisofficersandcrewhadrecentlyhadfartoomuchpracticeatthis,andperformed their duties asflawlesslyasever.TheMk48sclosedthegap

and detonated beneath theunaware Romeos, sendingboth to the bottom, but

Mack’sprideandpleasure intheir performance was short-lived.Cheyenne had just secured

from battle stations andbegun to head back to herescort position near BenthicAdventurewhen she receiveda sonar detection indicatingthatshehadtrouble.“Conn, sonar. We just

picked up two possiblesubmarine contacts on thetowedarray.”

Five minutes later, thesonar supervisor had anupdatedreportforMack,whohad gone to his place in thesonarroom.“Captain, I’m classifying

the possible submarinecontactsasoneAkulaIIclassSSNbased on its tonals, andoneKiloclassSSKbasedonhis single 6-bladed screw.Both are headed in thedirection of the Ticonderogagroup. The Kilo just started

running at three knots. TheAkula’s bearing is remainingconstant.Captain—I’mprettysurethattheyheardus.”Mack acknowledged the

report.Hewascertainthatthesonar supervisorwas correct,and that the Chinesesubmarines had heard them.Launching twoMk48s, bothof which detonated at theirintended targets, was boundtoattractsomeattention.Mack had a hard decision

tomake.Cheyennecouldtakeonthetwoenemysubmarinesherself,with a fair chance ofsurviving—but a fair chancewasn’t good enough forMack. Not when he had abetteroption.Cheyenne worked best

when sheworked alone. TheLosAngelesclass688Isweredesigned to work covertly,without help from any othervessel.Cheyenne couldworkin tandem with other ships,

but her biggest strength washerindependence.But that didn’t mean that

she wouldn’t acceptassistance when it wasoffered ... and when it wasneeded. And as much as hehated to admit it, Mackbelieved that Cheyenneneededsomenow.“RadioGettysburg,”Mack

ordered the communicator,“and give them our bestlocations of theKilo and the

Akula II. Tell them that wewill handle the Akula, askthemtosendsomeSH-60stohelp us out with that Kilo.And man battle stations,” headdedtotheOOD.“Aye,Captain.”In order to transmit this

information to Gettysburg,Cheyenne needed to come toperiscope depth,whichmadeher much easier to detect bythe Chinese submarines. ButMack felthehad to take that

chance. Two helicopters andCheyenne were better oddsagainst the two ChinesesubmarinesthanCheyennebyherself.As soon as word reached

Princeton and Gettysburg,two of the SH-60s werelaunched in the direction ofthe Kilo. They dropped lineafterlineofsonobuoys,someofthemdirectlyontopoftheChinese submarine. Rightnow, however, Mack could

not pay attention to theSeahawks’ fight with theKilo. He needed toconcentrate on his silent foe,theAkulaII.The one thing that was

botheringMack was that theAkula hadn’t fired yet. Hewas sure theChinese captainhad a pretty good idea ofwhere Cheyenne was,especially after Mack hadlaunchedhistwoMk48sandthenwent to periscope depth

toradioforassistance.With both submarines

within torpedo range of eachother, Mack could onlyassumethattheAkulacaptainwas waiting for exactly therightmoment to strike.WhatMackdidn’tknow—andwhathe couldn’t know, especiallygiven Cheyenne’s successesin these waters, and thenotorietyshehadgainedfromkilling so many Chinesesubmarines—was that the

Akula wasn’t hunting her atall. The Akula captain washunting Benthic Adventure.He had wanted to avoidCheyenneatallcosts.That little bit of caution

was going to cost him hismission, his command, andthe lives of himself and hiscrew.“Captain,” the fire-control

coordinatorreportedtoMack,“we’vegotthefiringsolutiontotheAkulaII,Master90.”

Mack immediatelyorderedfiring point procedures. Onhis command, tubes one andtwo were immediatelyreadiedandfired.TheAkula captain quickly

realized that he had beendiscoveredandthathissneakattackhadfailed.HearingtheAmerican torpedoesenter thewater, he did the only thinghecould...heturnedandran.The Akula was fast. It

turnedandincreasedspeedto

over thirty-five knots as theMk 48s closed in on its tail.Anditscaptainwassmart.Ashe fled, he launched severalnoisemaker decoys in anattempt to throw theMk 48soffcourse.Butneitherthesubmarine’s

speed nor its captain’sexperience was enough. ThefirstMk48fellforthedecoy.The second continued on,untilitfinishedthejob.The incredible explosion

tore open the hull of theAkula and sent it to thebottom.Theexplosionwassoloudthatitalmostmaskedthetwo subsequent explosionsthat soon followed—thesound of two Americanhelicopter-dropped Mk 50sexploding under the hull oftheChineseKilosubmarine.As soon as the two latest

kills were confirmed,Cheyenne and Princetonexchanged radio messages

congratulating each other onyetanothersuccessfulcombatoperation.Once thingsbegan tocalm

down,ahelicopterwasflownout to the location of thedowned SH-60. The remainsof the destroyed Seahawkcouldbeseenclearlyfromthesky.Therewerenosurvivors.Wartime losses were to beexpected,buttheywereneverwithoutpainandsadness.With the danger

eliminated, Cheyenne wasfree to return toherposition,directly west of theTiconderoga cruiser escortgroup. Mack gave the orderto move out in front oncemore.He was beginning to

understand why “May youlive in interesting times”wasconsidered a curse in China.Things had been toointerestingfor too long.Withluck, they would be allowed

to take things a little bitslower before their nextmission.He knew, though, as the

crew of the downed SH-60had found, that in war luckwasarareandfragilething.

11.BattleRoyale

Something was wrong.Cheyenne had completed herrefit, and once again had asmany Mk 48 ADCAPs onboard as McKee could giveher—whichwasstilllessthanMackwouldhaveliked.But that wasn’t what was

bothering him. He was stillthinking about their battlewith the Chinese Hainan

attack boats that, along withthefoursubmarines,hadbeensentafterBenthicAdventure.The thing was, both

Cheyenne and the surfacegroup had been lucky.Mackknewthat,andhe’dadmititifhe had to. But luck alonedidn’taccountforeverything.Since they had destroyed theChinese surface andsubmarine group sent toattackBenthic Adventure, allaspects of the escort mission

were proceeding far betterthan planned, and that waswhatwasbotheringMack.Cheyenne, Princeton, and

Gettysburghadnotpickedupany Chinese submarine orsurface contacts for quite along time now, and whileMack was happy to get therest, it just wasn’t right. TheChinese navy relied almostentirely upon numbers toaccomplish their missions,and yet they had sent only

five surface ships and foursubmarines to attack one oftheirprizedtargets.Mack didn’t buy it.

Something was wrong withthatpicture.Cheyenne shouldhavedetected at least severalmore Chinese surface orsubmarine contacts probingBenthicAdventure’sdefenses.Where, thoughtMack, had

theChinesenavygone?He was about to find out,

andhe—alongwiththeentire

American command—wasnotgoingtoliketheanswer.

At Zhanjiang Naval Basein southernChina, amassiveforce of over sixty ships andsubmarines was beingreadied. Their mission wassimple:destroy theAmericanaircraft carrier IndependenceandherentireBattleGroup.The Independence Battle

Group consisted of a ratherlarge contingent of ships.

This force included threeTiconderoga class AegisCruisers, Bunker Hill (CG-52),MobileBay(CG-53),andPort Royal (CG-73); twoArleigh Burke Aegisdestroyers, John Paul Jones(DDG- 53) and PaulHamilton (DDG-60); threeSpruance ASW destroyers,Hewitt (DD-966), O’Brien(DD-975),andFletcher (DD-992); and three Perry classfrigates, Rodney M. Davis

(FFG-60), Thach (FFG-43),and McClusky (FFG-41).Patrolling beneath them wasColumbia (SSN- 771), a LosAngeles class submarine likeBremertonandCheyenne.Within hours of their

preparation, Americansatellites had detected thechange inoperating tempoattheChinesenavalbase.Whilenaval intelligence was notexactly sure what was goingon,theydidknowthatitwas

somethingmajor.Assoonastheshipsbegan

to leave port, navalintelligence alertedIndependence of this majormovement. A force that sizecould only have onemissionin mind—attack theAmerican carrier group,destroy Independence, andsink the remainder of herescorts.When Independence

received this message, she

immediately went to herhighest defensive level. Atthe same time, the Navystarted trying to provide thecarrier all the backupavailable.USSCheyennewasone of the first ships outsidethe Independence BattleGroupsummoned toassist inherdefense.Cheyenne was running

deep, and the only way theNavy could reach her wasthrough the extremely low

frequency band ofcommunications. ELFmessagestooksolongtosendthat they were invariablyshort—just long enough toalert the submarine toproceed to periscope depthforalongermessage.“Captain,” reported the

communicator, “we justreceived an emergencymessage via ELF requestingustocometoperiscopedepthin order to receive an urgent

message.”“Come to periscope

depth,” Mack ordered theOODimmediately.It took several minutes to

make it to periscope depth.As soon as Cheyenne wasshallow enough she beganreceiving the importantmessageviaSSIXS.Mack looked at the

printout and immediatelyordered the communicator tosummon a meeting in the

wardroom. Mack wanted thecombat systems officer,executive officer, navigator,sonar officer, and thecommunicator there in tenminutes. Mack himselfheaded straight for thewardroom.When the officers were

assembled, Mack wasted notime. “Wehave just receivedan emergency change oforders,” he said. “Navalintelligence believes that the

USSIndependenceisabouttocome under amassive attackby theChinesenavy.Severalhoursago,oversixtyChinesesurface ships and submarinesleft Zhanjiang Naval Baseheaded in a southerlydirection.”Theroomhadgrownquiet.

Mack hadn’t been the onlyonetonoticethattheChinesehadn’t gone after therecaptured prospecting shipas heavily as expected, and

now many officers’suspicions were beingconfirmed.“Independence iscurrently

sailing in the southwesternportion of the South ChinaSea,” Mack went on. “Shehas been instructed to moveslightly east in order to headtoward deeper water whereher weapons systems andaircraft can be used to thebestadvantage.Wehavebeenordered to leave the Benthic

Adventure convoy and headsouthwest.Wearetomeetupwith the Independence BattleGroupsouthofVietnam.Ourorders are to protectIndependenceatallcosts.”Mack paused to let that

sinkin.Theveryideathatthecarriergroupherselfcouldbein danger took some gettingusedto.After a moment he went

on, “Independence will notbesittingstill,waitingforour

arrival.Shehasbeenorderedto close to within aircraftrange of the Chinese taskforce. Once her aircraft arewithin range, theywill begina preemptive attack on theChinese fleet. Our job thenwill be to assist in theASWefforts.”The executive officer

spokeupthen.“Willwehaveother submarine assets in thearea?”heasked.“Yes,” Mack said. “We

will be assisted in ouroperationsbyoursistershipsUSS Columbia (SSN 771)and USS Bremerton (SSN698). Columbia is currentlyoperating with theIndependence group.Bremertonwillbe runningatflank speed and will bejoining us from the IndianOcean, where she had beensent to check on anunidentified submarinecontact reported by the

Australians.”There were no further

questions, and Mackdismissed his officers. Theyall had a lot of work to dobefore Cheyenne arrived onstation.Thiswasnot the first time

Independence had beentargeted by the Chinese, butMack knew that this was byfar the most serious threatyet. Several weeks earlier,Independence had come

underheavyairattackby theChinese air force. At thattime, however, Independencehad been operating at rangesfarinexcessofmostChinesetactical aircraft and hadescapedunscathed.This timethe Chinese would havelearned their lessons andwould be sending bothsurface and submarine forcestoattackthecarrier.

Cheyenne was runningdeep at flank speed in anattempt to reachIndependence before theshooting started. Mack knewthat the Battle Groupcommanderwouldnotjustsitandwaitfor theChinesetaskforce to steam closer andcloser to them. Thatwas notthe American style offighting. Mack knew thatIndependencewould take theinitiative and attack as soon

as themomentwas right.Hejust hoped that he would beabletogetCheyenne there intime.Hours later, Cheyenne

proceededtocommunicationsdepth to receive the latestintelligence on the Chinesetask force. The fleet washeadingsouthinthedirectionof the Spratly Islands. Thelatest reports, which camefrom Independence herself,indicated that the Chinese

task force wasmaking everyeffort to close on theIndependence Battle Group,but they were not very wellorganized.As the sixty-odd Chinese

surface and submarines spedsouth toward Independence,there was as close to zerocoordination as a fleet couldattain.EachChineseshipwasoperating at what theircaptain felt was the optimalspeed for his ship, with no

attempt to maintain order orgroupingwiththeothershipsin the task force. The fleetconsistedofnearlyeverytypeof vessel known to beoperational within theChinese navy, from fastattackcrafttodestroyers,andfrom reserve Romeo dieselsubmarines to the newlyacquiredAkulaSSNs.This battle plan was

something of a desperationmove on the part of the

Chinese.TheAmericanswereaccustomed to more orderlywarfare, but the Chinesegroup had not planned onattackingtheAmericansinanorganized fashion. Instead,their orders were for eachship to slowly approach theSpratlys, refuel, and thenhead for Independencewithout waiting for support.As soon as any given shipwas within maximum rangeof theBattleGroup, itwould

fireitsweapons.Obviously, the Chinese

wereexpectingtotaketerrificlosses. If they failed, theywould be facing a majoractionbytheUnitedNations,who had ruled since thebeginning of hostilities thatthe Chinese were to blame.TheUnited States had begunrallying NATO members infavor of launching anoffensive against the SpratlyIsland chain. If the Chinese

failed here, they could faceinternational humiliation ifNATOorUNforcescapturedthe islands. But if theysucceeded, if they sankIndependence, the entireoperationwouldbeworthanyrisk.AsMackhadpredicted,the

Chinese had learned fromtheir previous attack on thecarrier.Theirlastattempthadbeenafiasco.Theyhadflownsixty H-6 bombers, Chinese

versions of the TU-16Badger, againstIndependence, but theAmerican F-14s had beenable to attack the bomberslongbeforeanyofthemwereable to launch their C-601antiship missiles. TheChinese had lost nearly fiftyaircraft. The Americans hadlost nothing but someAMRAAM and Phoenixmissiles.This time, however, things

wouldbedifferent.Since thefailed attack onIndependence, China hadbegun basing large quantitiesof tactical aircraft on severalof the larger Spratly Islands.TheAmericanswereunawareof the large numbers ofaircraft China had been abletostoreat these tinyairfieldsintheSpratlys.Whileseveralof the bases had been hit byTomahawk cruise missiles,several more had stayed

intact,andtheywouldnowbeusedtotheirfullestadvantageonce the new attack began.And, the Chinese hoped, theAmericans would have noidea of the battle they wereabouttoenterinto.Cheyennewasstillrunning

at thirty-two knots whenMack asked for the ETA ontheir rendezvous withIndependence.“Ifwemaintainourcurrent

speed,Captain,weshouldbe

thereinsixandahalfhours,”answeredtheOOD.“Very well,” Mack said.

“Maintain flank speed andheading.”The transit to the South

China Sea to meet withIndependencewas filledwithtension. All on boardCheyenne had been informedof the large attack groupheading their way and theywerenotexactlysureofhowtheir submarine fit into the

equation. They knew thatthey would be playing anessentialroleintheoperation,but they also knew that theywould not find outwhat thatrole was until their neworders were radioed to themfromthesurface.The Americans were not

liketheChinesewhenitcametofleetcooperation.TheU.S.Navyputagreatemphasisonintership communications.Theyhadlearnedthatthrough

digitaldata-linksandsatellitecommunications, that so-called information warfarecould mean the differencebetween failure and successinamajorbattle.“WejustpickedupMobile

Bay on sonar bearing 286,”reported one of the sonaroperators to his sonarsupervisor. The BSY-1operators immediately set towork to determineCheyenne’s range to the

cruiser.“Come to periscope

depth,”Mackordered.“Come to periscope depth,

aye, sir.” The repeated orderwas such a part ofNavy lifethat few even realized thattheyweresayingit.After four minutes the

captain ordered one of thecommunicationsmastsraised.When that order had beenacknowledged and carriedout, he instructed radio to

transmit a message toIndependence, indicating thatCheyenne had arrived onstationandwasawaitingtheirneworders.It took a few minutes for

the new orders to come in,but Mack didn’t mind thewait—especially once he gota look at exactly what thoseneworderswere.Cheyenne was to take up

position approximately onehundredmiles in frontof the

BattleGroup.Thiswouldgether away from the noisysurfaceshipsandallowhertodo what she did best: huntdownanddestroyanyenemysubmarinesinthearea.When the final message

traffic had come in, Mackordered Cheyenne to onceagain proceed below fourhundred feet. His normalroutinewas tocall ameetingin the wardroom, but theseordershadbeenexpectedand

didnotrequireafullmeeting.Instead,hetheninstructedthecommunicator to type up asummary and distribute it totheappropriateofficers.

To: All officers on boardUSSCheyenneFrom:CaptainMackeyRE:CombatoperationsWehave justbeen radioed

ourneworders.Asyouareallaware, the IndependenceBattleGrouphadbeentasked

with a preemptive attack onthe Chinese task forcecurrently heading for theSpratlyIslands.Cheyenne has been tasked

with running out in front ofthe Independence BattleGroup on course 090. Onceweareinposition,westoftheSpratlys, we have beenordered to wait for theChinese submarines to exitthe shallow waters near theislands. If we encounter any

such contacts, which weinvariablywill,wehavebeengranted permission to breakofffromtheBattleGroupandpursuethecontacts.We have been offered any

support that Independencecan provide. This may comeintheformofS-3s,SH-60s,a surface ship, or even asubmarine. However, if thebattlebecomesheavy,andweexpect that it will, we mayhavetooperateonourown.

Bremerton and Columbiawill remain withIndependence, protecting herport and starboard flanks.Because of the successeswe’vehadinthesewaters,wehave been given a greatamount of authority tooperate independently fromthe carrier. So let’s staycautious and keep on ourtoes.

Mack finished the letter

with his plain, recognizablesignature and had thecommunicator run off theappropriatenumberofcopies.On board Independence,

flight operations werebeginningtotakeonatoneoftension as well. While allcarrier flights involved afairly high level of risk,combat operations increasedthis risk. On top of that,within the past hour anES-3electronic warfare aircraft

flying from the carrier haddetectedstrongChineseradioactivity coming from thedirection of the SpratlyIslands.Sincetheinvasionofthe islands, this hadfrequently been the case,except that this time theheavy traffic was comingfrom naval vessels, notgroundunits.Currently, two of

Independence’s E-2Cs wereoperating around the carrier,

providing radar coverage outtomanyhundredsofmiles.F-14Ds,armedwithAMRAAMand Phoenix missiles, wereproviding air cover aroundthe clock for the BattleGroup. This was allhappening while two dozenF/A-18s were being armedwith two Harpoonantishipping missiles, twounderwing fuel tanks, andtwo Sidewinder missileseach, in an effort to prepare

them for the ensuing battle.Twelve F/A-18s also werebeing kept in reserve in casethe air battle got too stickyfortheF-14stohandlealone.On board the carrier’s

escorts, their crews werepreparing aswell. The entiregroup’s radars, including theAegis radars, were shutdown.Thesurfacegroupwasrelying entirely on the APS-145radarsflyingoverheadonboardtheE-2Hawkeyes.The

Battle Group commanderwanted to deny the Chinesethe opportunity to detectAmerican radar waves viaESM. Without an exactlocation on the Americanwarships, the Chinese wouldnot be able to launch theirmissiles until they camewithin either visual range ortheir own radar range—andthecommanderdidnotintendto allow them to getanywherenearthatclose.

Beneath the surface,operating twenty miles awayfrom the carrier on eitherside, were the USSBremerton and the USSColumbia. These submarineswere playing defense toCheyenne’s ASW offense.They waited just far enoughaway from the carrier to notbe affected by the group’snoise while staying closeenough to attack incomingthreats such as Romeo class

submarines armed withshorter-rangetorpedoes.BothBremerton and Columbiawere aware that the newerAkulas carried several long-range torpedoes, includingthe 65cm Type 65 wakehoming torpedo,whichhadarange in excess of fiftynauticalmiles. These longer-range threats would have tobe handled by Cheyenne ortheS-3Vikingaircraft.OnboardCheyenne,Mack

waswellawarethathewouldneed to takecareof themostdangerous ASW threats toIndependence. The Akulasubmarineswould be hard todetect and had weapons thatcould attack the carrier fromlong distances. He wouldhave to take special care todeal with these threats, evenif itmeant lettingthenoisier,less dangerous Romeos andMings slip by, leaving themforBremerton andColumbia

tohandle.Word passed rapidly

throughout the Battle Groupthat evidence stronglysuggested that the Chinesetask force had arrived at theSpratly Islands and was nowbeginningtorefuel.ThattoldMack that the battle wasabouttobegin.Cheyenne was in perfect

position to launch herTomahawk cruise missiles atthe refueling warships and

their piers, but Mack agreedwith the Battle Groupcommander’sdecisionnotto.Not even Cheyenne couldhavetakenoutallsixtyships,and launching herTomahawks would havegiven away Cheyenne’sposition. That would haverisked exposing her to anyAkulas in the area, andhampered her in her ASWmission.Mackwould have liked to

go after the Chinese shipswhiletheywerestillnothreatto the Independence BattleGroup,butheagreedwiththedecision. He would wait,silently, until the enemysubmarinesbegantoshowuponhissonarconsoles.

Cheyenne wasn’t the onlyU.S. asset in the area withTomahawks on board. The

USS Hewitt’s entire Mk 41vertical launch system hadbeen loaded with sixty-oneland-attack variants of theTomahawk cruise missile.And as the Chinese shipssteamed into the Spratlys,Hewitt received orders tolaunchhermissiles.Within several minutes,

Hewitt’s entire arsenal hadbeenfiredandtheTomahawkmissiles headed, at lowaltitude, for the Spratly

Islands.Bynow,USCINCPAChad

providedtheshipsintheareawith extremely accuratedigital terrain data of theislands. This intelligence,combined with the accuracyof the Tomahawk’s GPS,ensured an unprecedentedaccuracy when theTomahawks arrived at theirdestination.Forty-sixminutes later the

Tomahawks arrived at their

targets. One by one themissiles impacted, giving theChinese their first indicationthatperhapstheattackonthecarrier Independencewasnotsuchagoodideaafterall.At the naval bases where

the Chinese task force wasrefueling, many of the pierswhere the shipswere pullingin to be refueled werecompletely and utterlydestroyed.In all, twenty-three

Chineseshipsandsubmarineswere destroyed outright. Theexplosionsand fires resultingfrom the Tomahawkswreaked havoc on thefirefighting efforts of thesmall damage-controlcontingents at each of themini-bases.Ten more fast attack craft

and four submarines weresoon destroyed in secondaryexplosionsalsocausedbytheTomahawks.

All in all, following theAmerican Tomahawk attack,thetotalChinesetaskforceofsixty-two naval vessels wascut down to twenty-fiveships, including eighteensurface ships and sevensubmarines: three Romeos,two Mings, one Kilo, and asingleAkula.Oftheeighteensurface ships remaining, notall of them had the fuel tofight theAmericansand thenreturn to China—but that

didn’tmatter.Theordercamedown from above that alltwenty-fiveshipswouldfight—whether they had enoughfuelornot.Win or lose, many of the

Chinese sailorswould not becominghomefromthisbattle.

Cheyenne’s sensitivesonars picked up the soundsof destruction as Hewitt’s

Tomahawks found theirmarks. These noises werefollowed almost immediatelyby the distinctive sounds ofthe surviving Chinesesubmarines running out tosea.MackorderedCheyenne to

proceed to periscope depth.Once there, he radioedIndependence, alerting herthat the Chinese vessels hadstartedinherdirection.Whenthat had been done, Mack

manned battle stations andtookCheyenne backdown toasaferdepth.“Conn, sonar,” the sonar

supervisor reported, “we’vegot far more than a dozencontacts headed in thisdirection.”“Sonar, conn, aye,” Mack

said. “Make tubes one andtwo ready in all respects,including opening the outerdoors.”As was standard aboard

Cheyenne, all four of hertorpedo tubes were alreadyloaded with Mk 48 ADCAPtorpedoes. She was nowpreparingtousethem.Cheyennewaswaitingata

distanceofaboutonehundredmileswestofLaddReef,oneof the westernmost points inthe Spratly Island chain.Independence was operatingtwo hundred miles west ofCheyenne’s position, threehundred miles from Ladd

Reef.TheChinese navywas not

rated among the world’sfinest. As Mack listened tothe reports coming in fromhissonarsupervisor,hecouldseewhy.Active sonarwas good for

in-closework.Usedproperly,active sonar could give acompetent submariner aneffective firing solution,mapaminefield, or help navigatean unfamiliar trench. Used

poorly, in the hands ofincompetentor inexperiencedsailors, active sonar was theequivalentofhangingatargeton the side of your ship andinvitingtheenemytofire.That’s what the Chinese

were doing as they spedtoward the Independencecarrier group. Many of theoncoming surface shipswerepinging away with theiractive sonar, obviouslysearching for American

submarines.Mack was delighted. He

could hardly believe it whenCheyenne’s TB-23 thin-linearray picked up faint signalsthat matched the variable-depth active sonar fitted tothe new Chinese Luhudestroyers.TheChineseshipswere too far away to detectCheyenne, but their activesonar was illuminating theirown submarines andproviding Mack with both

range and targeting data ontheChinese.Nearly thirty minutes

passedbeforetheactivesonarsource got close enough forthe BSY-1 to decipher itsrangefromthebearingrate.“Captain,” the sonar

supervisor reported, “it’sdefinitely coming from aLuhudestroyer.BSY-1rangeis88,000yardstothepingingLuhu, bearing092, but sonarisn’t picking up any other

signalsyet.”Mack thought to himself

that the Luhu, designatedMaster 98, must have beenthe first Chinese vessel toleavetheSpratlyIslandchainafter the Tomahawk cruisemissile attack. He was sure,however, that it wouldn’t betheonlyone.Mackhadtoplayadelicate

balancing game now. As theLuhu drew closer, Mackknew that eventually he

wouldcomeintoactivesonarrange of the destroyer, andthe Luhu would detectCheyenne. Before thathappened, Mack would havetotakethedestroyeroutwithanMk48.Buthedidn’twantto do that too soon. He wasrelyingontheLuhu’ssonartopaint a picture of exactlywhat Chinese ships wereheadedhisway,andhedidn’twant to alert the otherChinese captains to the

mistaketheyweremaking.“Conn, sonar, we just

detected another contact, thistime a submarine.The activeLuhu sonarwas reflected offthe submarine’s hull. Wecan’ttellwhatclassitisyet.”Mack designated thesubmarineMaster99.“Conn, sonar, we just got

another active ping! Thisone’scomingfromaChineseLuda,” reported the sonarsupervisor.

“Range to the new contactis 82,000 yards,” reported aBSY-1 operator as Mackdesignated the Luda Master100.Mack would like to have

gonetoperiscopedepthsohecouldalertIndependence,buthe dared not give away hisposition.Hehopedthatonthesurface, the Battle Groupships were seeing the samethings that Cheyenne washearing.

He needn’t have worried.He couldn’t tell it on boardCheyenne,butevenashewasworrying about the ships hewasassignedtoprotect,waveupon wave of F/A-18s werelaunching off the deck ofIndependence. F-14s werewaiting in the air to escortthem to their targets in caseany Chinese aircraft were totaketothesky.The first raid from

Independence consisted of

twenty F/A-18 Hornets andseven F-14 Tomcats flyingcover. These were alsoescorted by a single EA-6BProwler intended to jamChinese radar, which mightotherwise be tracking theattackingjets.As soon as the F/A-18s

closed towithinonehundredmiles of their target, theyswitched on their APG-73radars. Prior to this they hadbeen relying on information

from the E-2Cs and the F-14s, which carried a newpassive infrared search-and-tracksystem,toalert themtoany changes in the Chineseoperation.But the Chinese, though

reelingfromtheTomahawks,weren’t finished yet. Theyhadindeedlearnedfromtheirearlierairassault,andassoonastheEA-6BsALQ-99radarjammer began jamming theirground radar on the Spratly

Islands, they launched theirsecret weapon—air defensefighters. Sixteen SU-27Flankersandover thirtyJ-7s,Chinesevariantsof theMiG-21, lifted off from their tinybases in the small islands oftheSpratlys.The F-14s’ radar detected

the swarms of Chinesefightersassoonastheyliftedoff into the air.Approximately two hundredmiles from the carrier

Independence and just overone hundred fiftymiles fromthe Spratlys, the F/A-18sbegan picking up speed inorder to target theirHarpoonmissiles at the Chinese fleetbefore the enemy fightersarrivedonthescene.The F/A-18s formed

single-file lines and beganlaunching two Harpoonmissiles apiece. After firing,they turned and flew backtoward Independence to

refuelandrearm.Before the F/A-18s

returned, Independencelaunchedsomeofthefightersshenormallykept in reserve.SixmoreF-14sandfourF/A-18s began racing from thedecks of the carrier in anefforttojoininthefight.The F-14s escorting the

strike group attacked theChinesefightersfirst.Eachofthe F-14s was armed withfour long-range Phoenix

missiles, two medium-rangeAMRAAMs, and two short-range Sidewinders. The F/A-18s flying in to assist hadbeen fitted with fourAMRAAMs and twoSidewinders apiece. As soonas the first SU-27s enteredwithin120milesoftheF-14s,the first wave of AIM-54CPhoenix missiles werelaunched at the oncomingChineseaircraft.

The success ofIndependenceandheraircraftwas,ironically,makingthingsmore difficult for Cheyenne.Relying solely on her sonar,she was having a difficulttimeattemptingtograspwhatwas going on above her.Explosion after explosionfrom the direction of theChinesetaskforcetoldMackthattheAmericanaircrafthad

begun their attack, but hewould have to wait until thenoises died down to figureouthowmanyshipswereleftand which submarines hewouldtarget.Mackhad just begunwhat

he thought would be a longwait when sonar reportedactive sonar from asubmarine contact. Thecontinuing loud explosionsmade it nearly impossible todetermine the range. The

underwater sonarenvironment was difficult tointerpret using only passivesonar—but Mack refused touse his active suite; he knewit would give away hisposition.“Conn, sonar, we just got

the classification of thatsubmarine that was active,”the sonar supervisor said.“It’sanAkula!”ThatgotMack’sattention.Within minutes, the fire-

control coordinator reported,“Range to theAkula,Master105, is 33,000 yards; shemust have snuck up on usduringtheairattack.”Hewasprobablyright,but

that didn’t make Mack feelany better. Letting theAkulaget that closewas amistake,and Mack knew he had tomakeupforit.Todothat,hehad to maneuver CheyenneclosertotheAkula.Overhead, the barrage of

explosions continued,indicating that the immensecarrier attack had still notended.SlowlyCheyenneincreased

speed to sixknots andbeganproceedinginthedirectionofthe Akula, the quietest non-friendly submarine in theworld. The only good thing,fromMack’sperspective,wasthat the Chinese Akula wasstill pinging away. TheirRussian-made passive sonar

was worthless in the currentunderwater environment, andthe only way they coulddetect contacts was to usetheiractivesonar.“Range to Master 105 is

now 28,000 yards,” reportedthefire-controlcoordinator.“Firing point procedures,

tubes one and two, Master105,”respondedMack.Bothtubeouterdoorswere

already opened and ready,and because the Akula was

using her active sonar theynow had an accurate firingsolution on the Chinesesubmarine.“Match sonarbearings and

shoot, tubes one and two,Master105,”orderedMack.ThetwoMk48swerefired

in the direction of the Akulaand Mack kept the guidancewires attached for as long aspossible.Hedidn’twantthesetorpedoestomiss.As the Mk 48s left their

tubesandclosed thedistanceto the enemy submarine, thesonar room and combatsystems officer providedcontinuous updates on theirstatus.Thefinalupdatescameaftertenminutes.“Conn, sonar, two

explosions in the water,bearing079.TheMk48sjustdetonated.”Mack acknowledged the

report,buthewasn’taselatedas he’d have liked. He’d

madeamistake,andagainstabetter opponent that mistakecouldhavebeendeadly.He wondered how things

were going on the surface,andwhether anyof theotherAmerican captains hadmadesimilarmistakes.

They hadn’t. Not a singleshot had gotten throughIndependence’sdefenses.

Of the attacking Chinesefleet,notasinglesurfaceshipremained undamaged. ThefewsurvivingChinesesailorshad been forced to abandontheir sinking warships anddrifted in lifeboats. Aroundthem, strewn in anunorganized pattern inbetween many of the smallships,laytheremnantsoftheChinese fightersand their airdefense effort, which hadattempted to stop the

Americanantishippingattack.TheChineseactionhadfailed—miserably.The Americans attacked

theChineseshipsandaircraftso effectively that not oneAmerican fighter had beenlost. Thirty-four high-performance Chinese aircraftwere destroyed in the battle,along with eighteen surfaceships. Now the hope of theChinese navy lay with theirsix remaining submarines:

three Romeos, two Mings,andoneKilo.

The explosions hadstopped and, with theexception of the occasionalChinese ship sinking beneaththe waves, the water wasagainquietbeneaththeSouthChina Sea. As thebackground noise faded,Cheyenne was once again

able to use her passive sonarandtobegintobuildapictureofwhattheyfaced.“Conn, sonar, we’ve got

numerous sonar contacts—probable submarines. Wecan’t tell quite how many atthis point, but it’s definitelymore than two. The contactssound like they may beoperatingclosetogether.”“Sonar,conn,aye.”Mack had made one

mistake based on

overconfidence. He wasn’tabouttodothatagain.“Okay,” he said to the

communicator, “let’s getsome help here. Draft amessage to Bremerton andthe SEC (submarine elementcoordinator). Ask them ifthey could give us a handwith these numeroussubmarinecontacts.”Fifteenminuteslater,word

was sent to Bremerton.Cheyenne’s sister submarine,

upon receipt of the messageover her floating wire andconcurrence of the SEC,began running at flank speedin an effort to meet up withMackandhiscrew.The Chinese diesel

submarinecaptainsknewthatthey were in trouble. Oncetheir refueling points weredestroyed,they’dlostallhopeof striking a significant blowagainst the Americans.Without the chance to fully

fill their diesel fuel tanks attheir base in the Spratlys,each of the submarines wasrunninglowbothonfuelandonbatterypower.Communicating with each

other as quietly as possible,theyallagreed that theirbestchancenowwastosimplytryto survive.A slow, quiet runfor their home waters mightget them back to mainlandChina. If they were lucky.But, as Mack had found out

earlier, luck was a fickle,fragile thing,andnever tobecountedon.

OnceBremertonarrivedonthe scene in her assigneddepth zone, she establishedcommunications withCheyenne via underwatertelephone. That allowedMack topass theword thatalarge Chinese submarinegroup had been detectedsome distance away and that

theChinesegrouphadbegunto head back in the directionofChina,bearing010.Bremerton and Cheyenne

conferredandlaidtheirplans.Then they separated,Bremertononcourse300andCheyenneoncourse040.Thetwo American submarineshadbegunstalkingtheirprey.Onebyone,Cheyenneand

Bremerton found the fleeingdiesels. The Chinesesubmarines,however,wereso

low on battery power thatthey couldput upno fight atall.Mackfounditalmostlikeshooting at anchored ships.All the Chinese could do indefense of their lives was tolaunch a few decoys. Thedecoys failed, and after theyhadrunouttherewasnothingleft for the Chinese captainsto do but just wait, one byone,untiltheyweredestroyedbytheAmericansubmarines.The last submarine to be

attackedbyCheyennewasthevenerable Kilo, and hercaptaingaveitallhehad.Inalast-ditch, desperate attempt,he tried to surface afterCheyenne had launched hertorpedo.Hiseffortswerenoble,but

they were doomed. The Mk48 followed theKilo,Master111, all the way up beforeblowing a hole in the boat’sstern and sending it straightbacktothebottom.

Mack and his crew onboard Cheyenne had neverhadamissionlikethis.Threesubmarines had beendestroyed by Bremerton andfourbyCheyenne in thisoneaction alone. Independenceand her Battle Group had,during this battle, destroyedover sixty ships andsubmarines, more than thirtyaircraft, and inflictedirreparable damage on themilitary installations on the

Spratly Islands. The tide inthe war against China hadnow turned completely inAmerica’sfavor.ButMackdidn’ttakemuch

satisfaction in that. He knewthat glory faded quickly, andtides had a way of turningwhenyouleastexpectedit.

12.StraitUp

Thebattleroyalewasover.Mack still could not believethe losses that Independenceand her entire group hadinflicted upon the Chinese.That battle, he was sure,would go down in history asthe single most one-sidedbattleinnavalhistory.Cheyenne was currently

running at periscope depth,

withnewinformationontheirlatest orders coming in overSSIXS. As soon as the neworders were decoded andprinted out,Mack took themand went directly to hisstateroom, where he couldlookat themandanalyze thedetails of his upcomingmission in a quietsurrounding without anydistractions.As soon as Mack finished

reading the new orders, he

called a meeting in thewardroom with Cheyenne’sexecutive officer, thecommunicator, the combatsystemsofficer,thenavigator,andthesonarofficer.Within minutes, the

officers Mack had requestedwere waiting in thewardroom.AsMack entered,all conversation cut offabruptly.“Gentlemen,” Mack said,

“Ihavejustreceivedournew

orders.We have been taskedto detach from theIndependence Battle Groupandheadnorth.Wewillhavea long transit of over onethousand miles ahead of us.Our destination is theFormosa Strait, in betweenChina and Taiwan.” Mackpaused to let that lastsentencesinkin.“Let me fill you in on

what’s been going on in theworldaroundus.Thingshave

been going verywell for theUnited States. Jiang Zemin,the Chinese president whowas overthrown in the Julycoup,hasrecentlysurfacedinTaiwanaftertheUSSSeawolfsmuggled him out ofmainlandChina.”

Mack knew that wouldcome as a surprise to hisofficers. He gave them amoment to absorb that andthen continued, “Cheyennehas been asked to ’delouse’and reconnoiter the FormosaStrait so that Jiang can betransported back to Chinawhen themoment for him toreturntopowerarrives.”Macklookedaroundat the

officers present, making eyecontact with each of them.

“Naval intelligence does nothave a firm grasp on whattypeofenemywarshipsareinthe area. They are expectinglarge numbers of Ludadestroyers and possiblyseveralverydangerousAkulaor Kilo submarines. Navalintelligence also reports thatlarge areas of the FormosaStrait are heavily mined, solet’swatchourstep.”On that cautionary note,

Mack concluded themeeting

and theofficerswentback totheirpreviousduties.AsCheyenne pulled away

fromtheIndependenceBattleGroup, Mack thought aboutthe dangers of this newmission.Heandhiscrewhadnothadmuchexperiencewithencounteringnavalmines,butheknewthattheypresentedagreat threat to all navalvessels, includingsubmarines.During the 1991Persian Gulf War, the only

naval casualties the U.S.suffered came from twoinexpensive and low-technology mines. It was anironic twist on modernwarfare,thoughtMack,thatamine costing a few thousanddollars could sink a billion-dollar submarine likeCheyenneifthemineweretocome into contact with herhull.As soon as themeeting in

the wardroom was complete,

Cheyennebeganherlongtripnorth from Independence.USS Bremerton would beleaving the South China Seaand returning to the IndianOcean.USSColumbiawouldstay with the IndependenceBattleGroup,actingasASWescort, in the same SSN(DS)roleCheyenne had played somanytimes.“Make your depth four

hundredfeet,”Macksaid.“Make my depth four

hundred feet, aye, sir,” theOOD said, acknowledgingtheorder.“Speed twelve knots,”

Mack added. This order wasalsorepeated.There was no emergency

rush for Cheyenne to get tothe Formosa Strait. SafetywasMack’sprimaryconcern.Hewouldmuch ratherget tohis destination slowly andquietly than to arrive thereafter having to fight his way

upnorth.Besides,Mackdidn’twant

to announce his position tothe Chinese navy. The straitbetween China and Taiwanwas their home waters, andheld the threat of warshipscoming from all directions.There were four Chinesenaval bases within range ofMack’s destination. Each ofthose bases could sendsubmarines, attack craft, ordestroyers and aircraft after

Cheyenne if they knew shewasintheirwaters.Whichmeant,Mackknew,

thathewouldhavetobesurethat they didn’t find outCheyennewasthere.

Mack had expected theentire cruise to take slightlymore than four days. At theend of the third day,Cheyenne had passed

Zhanjiang Naval Base insouthern China and wasapproaching Hong Kongexactly on schedule. So far,shehadnotdetected a singleChinese naval contact,possibly because theChinesenavy was still regroupingafter theirhumiliating loss tothe Americans south of theSpratlyIslands.That string ended at the

endofthethirdday.“Conn, sonar,” the sonar

supervisor reported. “Wehave a sonar contact bearing200. Sounds like a surfaceship.”Mack was in the control

room when the report camein. He decided that thecontactwasprobablycomingfrom a ship from the navalbase directly to theirsouthwest.Thenormalwatchstation BSY-1 operatorsstarted examining theinformation to attempt to

determine the range to thecontact.“Conn, sonar,” the sonar

supervisor said, “we haveactive sonars indicating thatthere are two Hainan fastattack craft—high—frequencysonars.”With the section fire-

control tracking partymanned, the BSY-1computers began to get theinformation needed todetermine Cheyenne’s range

tothetargets.“Conn, sonar, the active

sonarsareveryfaraway.Thisis very probably aconvergence-zone contact.According to ourcalculations, theyarepingingfrom over thirty nauticalmilesaway.”“Sonar, conn, aye,”

responded Mack for theOOD. “Keep tracking thosecontacts.”Mack didn’t intend to do

anythingabouttheHainans—notunlesshehad to.He stillwanted to stay silent andundetected, if possible. Onthe other hand, he couldn’tafford to arrive at theirdestination tailed by a bunchofangryChinesepatrolcraft.Mackneedn’thaveworried

—at the moment, anyway.The Chinese patrol craftknew nothing ofCheyenne’stransit north. They had goneactive to test out their

equipment, not because theysuspected there was a U.S.SSNinthearea.TheChinesecraft,builtintheearly1960s,had recently been fitted witha new active sonar and theircaptains often enjoyed usingthisduringtrainingexercises.Their upcoming mission,however,was anything but atraining exercise. The twoChinese Hainan class fastattack craft had been fullyloaded with twelve mines,

and when they reached theirassigned location theywouldbegin deploying these navalmines from their mine rails.Aftertheyhadevaluatedtheirnew sonars, the Chinesecaptains would continue ontheirassignedmission.After fifteen minutes of

tracking the Hainan attackcraft,Cheyenne’s sonars lostcontactwith the twoChineseboats. They reacquired thetwo patrol craft asCheyenne

begantoenterthestrait.Mackhadgonebacktothe

sonar room. After reportingthe contacts to theOOD, thesonar supervisor said,“Captain,we’vejustacquiredthe two Chinese craft again.Theymust have gone up theeastern coast of China.Bearingis355.”Mack went back to the

control room. “Do you havethe range to the Chineseactive sonars yet?” Mack

asked.“Not yet, Captain, but we

should have it ready soon,”the OOD answered. He hadworked hardwith his sectionfire-control tracking party,perfecting their technique,andhewasproudofthem.Lessthanaminutelaterthe

section fire-control trackingparty had an answer toMack’squestion.“Range is 68,000 yards,

Captain.”

“Conn, sonar, our Chinesecontacts have stoppedpinging, sir,” the sonarsupervisor said. “I’ll bet thatthey’relayingmines.”ThetwoChinesecraftwere

nearlyfortymilestothenorthof Cheyenne. One by onetheir Russian-designedMAGmoored contact mines werepushedoveranddroppedintothe water via the mine railsaboard the small craft.Thesemines were based on

technology that was nearlyone hundred years old, butthey still presented a seriousthreattoCheyenne.“Mark that area as a

minefield,” Mack said,pointing to the area on theplotting table where theybelieved theChineseships tobe operating. “If at allpossible, we want to stayclearofthatzone.”“Aye, Captain,” said the

auxiliary electrician forward

ashelookedupfromhisplot.He was the plotter for hiswatch section, and, like allthe sailors on boardCheyenne, he took pride inhis performance and hisprofessionalism.Mack did not know what

types of mines were beinglaidintheFormosaStrait,buthe did know that even themost basic, least expensiveunderwater pressure-sensitivemines could limit his

operation. He hated to thinkthat the Chinese could belaying some of the moreadvanced bottom-mooredinfluence and acoustic minessuchasthetypeemployedbytheU.S.Navy.For now at least, although

Mack didn’t know it, theChinese preferred the low-cost mines to the high-tech,expensive ones, and the twoChinese craft were layingonly pressure-sensitive types.

These were perhaps thelowest-technology and leastexpensive naval mines anation could buy. TheMAGwas a standard Soviet minethat was supplied to theChinese throughout the early1960s.Oneof thebenefitsoftheMAGmine,however,wasthat it could be laid inwaterup to about 1,500 feet deep.This made them perfect forattacking submarines such asthe American Los Angeles

classSSNs.As Cheyenne approached

the southern entrance to theFormosa Strait, thecommunicator came to thecontrol room to deliver amessagetoMack.“Captain, we just received

anELFmessagefromNimitzasking us to come tocommunications depth toreceiveamessagefromthemoverSSIXS.”“Very well,” Mack said.

“Come to periscope depth,”heorderedtheOOD.As Cheyenne ascended

slowly,Mack hoped that themessagewould contain somegoodnews.Mackhaddecidedtocome

toperiscopedepthincasetheincoming message fromNimitz required an answer.He couldn’t use the floatingwire to transmit a messageback to the fleet. He alsowasn’t sure if the message

was on the VLF broadcastyet.With Cheyenne at

periscope depth, Mackdecided tohave aquick lookaroundwiththeType2attackperiscope. After raising hisperiscope, Mack made aquickcircularmotioninordertoget acomplete360-degreepicture of the surface, but hedidn’tseeanythingoutoftheordinary.As the message was

received,itwasautomaticallydeciphered by the SSIXStransceiver and brought toMack.Hereadit,thenhandedittothenavigator.“Takealookatthis,”Mack

said. “Several of Nimitz’saircraft, operating from thePacific,havebeenmonitoringChinesenavalactivitiesintheFormosa Strait for the pastweek, and they havedetermined that we areheaded straight for a

minefield.”Thatwasgoodinformation

to have, and Mackappreciated receiving it, butthemessagedidn’tend there.Nimitzhadlocatedtworoutesthat they believed had beendesignated safe transit zonesfor Chinese vessels.According to navalintelligence reports they hadjust received, no mines hadbeen detected floating on thesurface in thoseareasandno

Chinese surface ships hadbeendetectedlayingminesinthosezones.Mack ordered Cheyenne

backtofourhundredfeet,andthen he and the navigatorwent over to thequartermaster’s tablewherealarge chart of the FormosaStrait was lying flat on thetable.The Formosa Strait was

shallow, running from northto south, in between China

and Taiwan. The suspectedmined area took up a largeportion of the strait, runningcompletelythroughitscenter.Thefirstmine-saferoutewasonthewesternside,alongthecoast of China. The secondroutewason theeasternsidealong the coast of Taiwan.Both officers examined therecommended routes, tryingtodeterminewhichroutewasbetterforCheyenne.The navigator spoke first.

“Captain, I recommendtakingtheeasternroute,alongthewestern shoreofTaiwan.I’mnotthatcomfortablewithrunning along the coast ofChina.Wewouldprobablybefaced with who knows whattypesofChinesepatrol craft,nottomentionalltheaircraftthat we would come intocontactwith.”Mackagreed,bothwiththe

reasoning and therecommendation. “The

second route it is,” he said.“Plotanewcoursejusttothestarboard side of thePescadoresIslands.”The navigator remained at

theplottingtablewhileMackheaded to the sonar room tofind out if any new,interesting contacts had beendetected. Then the navigatorhad the quartermaster of thewatchenterCheyenne’s trackontohischart.

Cheyenne headed throughthe shallow waters of theFormosa Strait at four knots.With their previousexperienceinshallowwaters,MackorderedtheOODtorunatonehundredfeet.Thestraititself was roughly 350nautical miles long. AtCheyenne’s current speed,Mackwouldreachtheendofhis trip north in about three

andahalfdays.HisplanwastoquietlysailupnearTaiwanand listen for enemy vessels.Mackknewthatifhedetectedanytheywouldmostlikelybemaneuvering in the westernsafe route, on the other sideof the minefield fromCheyenne’scurrentlocation.But Cheyenne’s mission

wasn’t just to detect enemyvessels. Shewas taskedwithconducting a search-and-destroy mission for any

Chinese submarines andmajor surface combatants. Inorder to carry out thismission, Mack decided thatonce Cheyenne wascompletely through the straithe would turn around andsearch the dangerous areaaround the Chinese coast,whichhewassurewouldbea“target-rich”environment.Cheyenne’ssonaroperators

listenedcarefullyasshemadeher transit north. As Mack

had guessed, there was littletonoChinesenavaltrafficonthe Taiwan side of the strait—but he did gain one keyitemofimportance,however:they now had an exactlocation on the Chineseminefield and had plotted atleastonesafezonearoundit.Once again, Mack found

himself appreciating themessage he’d received fromNimitz. Without that, hemight have found himself on

the wrong end of a mine’scontact“horn.”Cheyenne crossed north of

the twenty-fifth parallel,almost into the East ChinaSea. Two hours later, Mackordered Cheyenne toperiscope depth to have alookaroundand tocheck forany incoming SSIXS radiotraffic. There were nomessageswaitingforhimandno sign of Chinese surfaceships. Mack hoped that this

wasagoodsign.Once into the East China

Sea,Mack ordered the OODtocompleteaU-turn,clearingCheyenne’s baffles and alsochanging course. Movingslowlyandsilently,hestartedbringing Cheyenne backdown to the south, along theChinesecoast.Ten nautical miles into

their return trip in the strait,Cheyenne detected their firstsubmergedcontact.

“Conn, sonar, we’ve got asonar contact bearing 242. Ithink we’ve got a Kilo,Captain, running fast on hissinglesix-bladedscrew.”TheBSY-1operatorswent

to work immediately,attempting to determine therange to the Chinesesubmarinecontact.Sometimes that process

was excruciatingly slow.Sometimes it went veryquickly. Thiswas one of the

quickones.“We’ve got it,” one of the

BSY-1 operators said.“Range is 39,000 yards. It’srunning at sixteen knots,course145.”“Increase speed to eight

knots,” ordered Mack. “Manbattle stations, torpedo.”Mack knew he wouldcavitate,butthatdidn’tbotherhim this time. The Kilo wascavitating also, andhedidn’tbelieve that the Chinese

submarinewouldrunatflankspeedforlong,notintwenty-fourfathomsofwater.As Cheyenne got closer,

thefiringsolutionontheKilosubmarine got better andbetter.Afterclosingtowithin20,000 yards, Mack orderedtubes one and two madeready, and both torpedo tubeouterdoorswereopened.The range to the Kilo had

beenclosingslowly,butafterMack opened the torpedo

tube doors, sonar reportedthat the Kilo had sloweddown, and the range closedmore quickly. The BSY-1computers showed that theKilo had turned towardCheyenne.Lessthanaminutelater,sonarhadanotherreportforMack.“Conn,sonar, theKilojust

wentactivewith itsmedium-frequency ’Shark Teeth’sonar.”“Shark Teeth” was a

NATOnicknameforthehull-mounted passive/active sonarcarriedbytheChineseKilos.As soon as the Chinese

Kilo went active, Mack hadno choice. Cheyenne hadbeen discovered. “Matchsonar bearings and shoot,tubes one and two, Master112,”heordered.“Match sonarbearings and

shoot, tubes one and two,Master112,aye,sir.”Cheyenne had been

through this many, manytimes in the past severalweeks, but each new actionstill carried an edge oftension. The crew performedas well as always, however,and it wasn’t long beforeMack received the report,“Tubeone firedelectrically,”and, seconds later, “tube twofiredelectrically.”Mack acknowledged the

report.“Conn, sonar, both units

are running hot, straight, andnormal.”On board the Kilo, the

American Mk 48 torpedoesappeared to come out ofnowhere.TheKilohadbegunusing its active sonar in aneffort to detect any possiblesonar contacts. This close totheirhomewaters, theKilo’scaptainhadfeltsafedoingso.He was only now realizingthat he had made a grievouserror.

“Unitone ...unit twoalso,both units have nowacquired,” reported thecombatsystemsofficer.“Cut the wires,” Mack

ordered. “Iwant to be as faraway as possiblewhen thosetorpedoesexplode.”The650-pound warhead, Mack wasaware, could damage anysubmarine,Chineseornot, ifitwasclosewhenthetorpedodetonated. “Shut the outerdoors and reload tubes one

andtwowithMk48s.”When they were far

enough away, Mack slowedCheyennetofourknots.Theywere still close to Chinesehome waters and he didn’twant to risk detection again.With the loss of the Kilo,they’d probably figure outsoonenoughthattherewasanenemysubmarineinthearea,but Mack felt reasonablycomfortable that he couldavoid detection by running

quietly.Mack was also confident

that the Kilo itself hadnowhere to run.On one sidewastheChinesecoastline;onthe otherwas a large, deadlyminefield. Once the Mk 48shad acquired the Kilo,Mackwas sure that the Chinesesubmarinewasdoomed.“Conn, sonar,” the Sonar

Supervisor reported, “theKilo is drawing left again,headinginthedirectionofthe

Chinese minefield. The Mk48sarestillfollowingit.”Mack was calm as he

acknowledged the report, buthe had to admit to a certaingrudging respect for theChinese captain. Desperate,knowing thathis shiphadnochance to survive thetorpedoesbearingdownonit,he had taken the one gambleleftopentohim.“Conn, sonar, explosion in

thewater,bearing110.”

Mack tensed, waiting fortheendofthereport.“Captain, we just lost unit

one. The first Mk 48 hit amine.”Mack nodded, his

admiration for his opponentgrowing slightly. Thedesperategamblehadpaidoff—so far. But there was stillone more Mk 48 out there,and it was locked on to theKilo.The twinexplosionsof the

first Mk 48 and the mine ithad detonated sent shockwaves through the entireminefield. Because theChinese had, in somelocations, laid the mines tooclose together, the pressurefrom the first explosionsbegan touching off otherexplosions, and two moremines exploded withinseconds.Moments later, the sonar

room reported a third

explosion. The sonarsupervisor assumed it wasalso a Chinesemine becausethe second Mk 48 was stillchasingitsprey.“Conn, sonar, another

explosion,” the sonarsupervisor said a short timelater. “We’ve lost contactwith unit two. I think it justhitamine.”The desperate gamble had

paid off. The Kilo hadavoidedbothtorpedoes,butit

was still in trouble. It wasdeep in the middle of aminefield, and it knew therewas an enemy out theresomewhere,stalkingit.Less thanoneminuteafter

thesecondMk48hitamine,sonar detected two moreexplosions.“Conn, sonar, two more

explosions, bearing 112. I’mhearing breaking-up noises.The Kilo, Master 112, musthaverunitselfintoamine.”

The sound of groaningmetal was unmistakable. Asthe Kilo sank,Mack thoughtabout what had justhappened. Desperate timescalledfordesperatemeasures,heknew,but sometimes theyjustdidn’twork.The irony was that this

time it had worked—it justhadn’tworkedwellenough.Itwasn’toneoftheMk48sthathadkilledtheKilo;itwastheChinese’s own low-tech

mines.Cheyenne’sentirecrewhad

now seen firsthand whatdamage a Chinese minefieldcoulddotoasubmarine.Theproblem, however, was thatthe narrow path thatCheyenne was followingcould easily turn into a“killing zone” for her just asithadfortheKilo.But Mack didn’t have

much choice. If he was toaccomplish his mission, he

had to take Cheyenne alongthis route. He just hoped hehad better luck than theunfortunateKilo’scaptain.

Eight hours later,CheyennewasstillrunningatfourknotsandhadherTB-16towed array deployed to theshort stay. Eight sonarcontacts had been evaluatedasnon-threats.

“Conn,sonar,afterclearingour baffles, we’ve got twomore contacts bearing 004.Soundslikesurfacewarships,Captain.”“We’re working on range

to the contacts right now,Captain,” reported the fire-controlcoordinator.Mack immediately began

moving Cheyenne to aposition where they couldmore easily triangulate therange to the two sonar

contacts.“They’re two Luda I

destroyers, the kind withoutthe helicopter. The computerjust identified their screwcharacteristics,” one of thesonar operators said to thesonarsupervisor.Since the naval war with

China began, Cheyenne’slibraryofsonarcontacts,usedto identify sonar signalsreceived while on amission,had grown tremendously.

This was due largely toCheyenne’s stellarperformance during herundersea operations and herresulting contacts with justabout every class of Chinesewarship operated by theirnavy—which allowedCheyenne to record theirsound characteristics andcorrelatetohulltype.Withoutthis library, the sonaroperators would have littleidea what types of targets

theyweretracking.Mack ordered the Mk 48s

from tubes one and tworemoved and replaced withHarpoons. This took sometime, but it greatly improvedhisattackoptions.Several long minutes

passed before the BSY-1computers were finally abletocalculatearangetothetwodestroyers. “Range to theclosest Luda, Master 121, is22,000 yards,” the fire-

control coordinator reported.“Range to the second one,Master 122, is 28,000 yards.They are both running atsixteenknots.”“Verywell,”Macksaid.The Harpoon was Mack’s

weapon of choice for thissituation. Not only would itsavehismultipurposeMk48sfor future operations, but italso allowedCheyenne moreof a chance to escape oncethey had launched their

missiles.The Mk 48s were seeker-

type weapons. Afterlaunching them, Cheyennecontinued to provide themwith targetingdatauntil theirseekerheadshadacquiredthetarget. Only after they hadacquired couldMack cut thewires to them and withdrawfromthearea.The Harpoons, however,

were essentially “launch andleave” missiles. Once they

were loaded with their flightand target data they didn’tneed any further assistance.Following their launch, therewas nothing forCheyenne todo except get back to deepwater and move out of theenemy’s way. The Harpoonswere also ten times fasterthan an Mk 48, giving thesurface ships less time toreact.Order by order, step by

step, Mack readied the

Harpoons. When theylaunched, the noises ofcombatfiringscouldbeheardthroughoutthesubmarine.“Tubes one and two fired

electrically,Captain.”After being ejected from

Cheyenne’storpedotubes,theHarpoon canisters floatedtoward the surface. As thetwo buoyant capsules,pointed ina forty-five-degreeupangle,reachedthesurface,theyjettisonedtheirnosecaps

and aft bodies. Themissiles’boosters ignited, sending themissilesoutofthewater.Themissilesemergedfrom

the water, fast and sleek asthey entered their element.Once airborne, their boosterrockets continued to burn, asthey were designed to, forapproximately three moresecondsbeforetheHarpoons’main turbojets fired, sendingthe missiles onward—towardthe two unknowing Chinese

Ludas.Mack didn’t stick around

toadmiretheirflight.Assoonas he received word that themissiles had left hissubmarine, he ordered theOODtoincreasespeedtotenknots and exited the area,hoping no other submarineswerearound.The twoUGM-84missiles

made their way quicklytoward the two Ludas. Assoon as they had closed to

within one nautical mile, theHarpoons began theirterminalmaneuver.Insteadofthe regular “pop-up”maneuver,Mackhadorderedthat these two missiles beprogrammed to drop fromcruising altitude to the sea-skimming height of five feetbefore sneaking into the twodestroyers.The Harpoons’ terminal

sea-skimming trajectoryworked perfectly and the

Chinese Ludas did not evenknow that the missiles wereheading toward them. Themissiles were flying so lowthat the Chinese destroyer’s“Eye Shield” and “BeanSticks” radars—the NATOdesignation for the Russian-derived radarsonboard—didnotevendetecttheoncomingmissiles.Cheyenne was still

relatively close to the twodestroyers when the sonar

roomreportcamein.“Conn,sonar,wehavetwo

explosions, sixteen secondsapart,bearings002and006...”Before the sentence was

completed, the sonarsupervisor revised his report,“Correction. We just got athird explosion. This onesounds like a secondaryexplosion, also bearing 002.”He paused, then added,“Conn,sonar,we’venowgot

breaking-up noises on thatsame target,bearing002. It’sagoner,sir.”

The Luda destroyer atbearing 002 was a scene ofdeathanddestruction.Ithadacomplement of 280 sailorsand officers. Within forty-fivesecondsoftheHarpoon’sarrival, 180 of them weredead, killed in the fire andmelting deluge of metal andfuel that had ignited

following the impact. Overforty bodies were scatteredaround the warship, lifelessand bobbing in the water.Next to these dead sailorswere live ones, floating ontheirbacks,tryingtoadjusttothe sudden, ferocious attackand doing anything in theirpower to stay above thewater.There were only fifty

sailors who had managed toabandon the doomed Luda

destroyer. The remainingsailors and crew of thesinkingwarshipwere trappedinside with no chance toescape. No matter how hardthey struggled, they woulddie, either of smokeinhalation or the burning oftheshiparoundthem.Quietly, and slowly, the

Chinese destroyer sankbeneath the waters of theFormosa Strait. The crew—those who lived and those

who died—never even knewwhere the incoming missilehadcomefrom.Thedestructionwasnotso

completeonboardthesecondChinese Luda, but still thedamage was enormous. TheHarpoon’s 510-poundwarheadhaddetonatedat theaftendof thevessel, and thedestroyer had lost nearly aquarterofitspersonnel.When the Chinese naval

commanders received word

that both of these powerfulChinese warships had beenhit, their immediateassessment was that alightning strike of F/A-18shadtakenpart in theseships’destruction. Worried thatmore American aircraft wereoperating in the area, theChinese were afraid to sendanyaircraft topatrol theseasand, since they had alreadywithdrawn theirAkulas, theyhad no assets in the area

capable of detectingCheyenne.Mack had no way of

guessingattheChinesenavalcommanders’ thinking, butwhen no enemy vesselsshoweduphuntingCheyenne,Mack secured from battlestations. Traveling at fourknots, Cheyenne quietlyslippedfartherawayfromthearea.Mack and the officers of

Cheyenne were amazed that

here, as close to theChineseshore as any Americanwarship had ever venturedduring this war, there werefew operational enemywarships. Mack had had norun-ins with any targets thatrepresentedanytypeofthreatto his submarine, and for thefirst time in a long time,everythingwas under controlandworkingperfectly.As Cheyenne neared the

southern exit of the Formosa

Strait,Mackrealizedthatthisdelousingandreconnaissanceoperation had revealed thecondition the Chinese navywas in. As soon as Mackpassed back into the SouthChina Sea, he broughtCheyenne to sixty feet andraised the communicationsmast.Word was soon passed

throughout the Navy thatCheyenne had completed hermission of delousing in the

“perilous” strait. Warningalso was sent concerning themooredminefield,alongwiththe exact locations of theminefields, and the safezones. Mack also made apoint of sending word thatCheyenne and her crew hadadded three more kills, oneKilosubmarineandtwoLudadestroyers,totheirlonglistofsuccesses.As soon as the

communications mast was

lowered, Mack headed backto his stateroom to get somewell-deserved rest. He hadreturnedtheconntotheOODafterorderingthenavigatortoset course forTsoyingNavalBase,Taiwan.Thismissionhadbeenvery

successful,butMackcouldn’tcount on the next one goingso well. He was lookingforward to returning to thesubmarine tender McKee.This war was far from over,

and hewas sure that hewasgoingtoneedalltheweaponshecouldget.

13.TyphoonHunt

The combat systemsofficer and engineer officerand their other divisionofficers remained on boardCheyenne to take care of theweaponsloadingfromMcKeeand reactor start-uppreparations. CaptainMackey, along with hisexecutive officer, operationsofficer, and navigator,

proceededtotheheadquartersoftheTsoyingNavalBasefortheir pre-underway briefing.They weren’t sure why thebriefing wasn’t in McKee’swar room where theirprevious briefingswere held.Although the hospitality ofthe Taiwanese was fantastic,it was still hard to be surewhom they were talking towhen the Chinese were justacrossthestrait.Upon entering the

conference room on thesecond floor, thecaptainwashappy to see that securitypersonnel from the CTF 74staff were conducting anelectronicsweepoftheroom,hunting for listening devices.This had been standardpracticewhenthefoewastheSoviet Union and now itcontinuedasstandardpracticenomatterwhothefoewasorwherethemeetingroomwas.After Cheyenne’s officers

arrived,andbeforetheycouldsettle into their places, acouple of heavies precededwhat appeared to be adistinguished Chinesegentleman. He was Chinese;he turnedout tobePresidentJiang. The heavies were twoofhisbodyguards.Mack wasn’t too sure

about this. A war patrolbriefing with the Chinesethere?Noting Mack’s concerned

expression, President Jiangtoldhimtoresteasy.Hehadonly wanted to meet thefamous Cheyenne captainBartholomew “Mack”Mackey,andtothankhimforhis featsof fortuneonbehalfof all his people on themainland. In direct defianceof the renegade Li Peng,songs were being writtenabout Cheyenne in nearlyeveryprovinceofhiscountry,children walked to school

chanting “Cheyenne,Cheyenne,” and Wyominghadbecome themain subjectof United States geographylessons.After an uncomfortable

exchange of pleasantries,Jiangleftasquicklyashehadarrived.Mack,whohadbeentakencompletelybysurprise,was pleased to see him go.Cheyenne’s commandingofficer wasn’t much forChinesepolitics.

His war was a differentstory; Cheyenne wasfollowing orders. It didn’tmatter much who the enemywas since the Russians weresupplying submarines tonearly every Third Worldcountry that could afford thebill. Mack and his officershad become intimatelyfamiliar with the Romeos,Kilos, Alfas, and Akulas bynow.When President Jiang left,

the briefing began. TheChinese had heard of Jiang’ssurfacing in Taiwan, so theyspentsomeoftheirdwindlingcurrencyonthepurchaseofaRussian-built Typhoon-classSSBN. Apparently theycouldn’t trust their own XiaSSBN to be much of anintimidationfactor,whatwithnumerous CSS-N-3 ballisticmissile test-launch failures,so they took delivery of aNorthFleetTyphoonthathad

already completed its under-ice transit and was nearingthe South China Sea. Thebriefing officer alsomentioned that the Typhoonprobably had some NorthFleet Akula II SSNs “ridingshotgun.”That’s a waste, Mack

thoughttohimself.The Typhoon had been

built with its double-hullconstruction not just forsurvival against torpedo

attacks,butalsotoallowittopunch through the polar icecap and launch its missileswith near impunity. The Mk48s would have to beaccurately placed to damagethe SSBN. Screw damagewould be assured; but theTyphoon also had dualspinners, in addition to thetwo main screws, with their90,000 SHP (shafthorsepower), for enhancedslow-speed maneuverability

and depth control in andaroundtheicekeels.The Typhoon’s ability to

“ice-pick”—tohover inplaceunder the ice formonthsatatime—would also make theTyphoon hunt more than achallenge. The lack of IUSSintheSouthChinaSeadidn’thelp much, either. Mackdecided he would probablyhave to use someMk 48s inthe “swim-out”mode as off-board search sensors in the

patrol-area locations whereNaval Intelligence estimatedthe Typhoon could belocated.Naval intelligence, Mack

knew, was basing this onestimates that the Typhoon’sSS-N-20SLBMs(submarine-launched ballistic missiles)were not capable of short-rangeballistictrajectorieslikesome of their earlier missilesystems—especially on theYankees—were. The

Typhoon could launch atTaiwan from the ArcticOceanwhereitwouldrequirethe United States to detectand track the missiletrajectory.Bythetimeitwasdetermined where themissiles were headed, itwouldbetoolate.The captain decided that

after today’s reactor startupCheyenne would stay criticalevery time inport so longastherewasa threatofballistic

missiles. If the Typhoonlaunched, therewouldnot betime to conduct pre-criticalchecks, reactor start-up, andengine room light-off beforethe missiles detonated in thesky over the Tsoying NavalBase.Uponreturningtotheship,

the combat systems officerreported theweapons loadingcomplete, including twoHarpoon missiles, just incase.Mackwasn’thappythat

torpedo spacewas traded forHarpoons, but at least theyweren’tloadedinthetorpedotubes.

After departing hermooring alongside McKeeshortlybeforedark,Cheyennegotunderwayandheaded tothenorthoffKangshanonthesurface. Since the RussianRORSAT satellites had beensweeping the area for theChinese, the intent was to

fool the satellites intobelieving that Cheyennewould be patrolling to thenorth, when actually shewould be doing an endaroundtotheeastofTaiwan,where the water was deeper.Cheyenne no longer had herrunning lights energized, northesubmarineIDbeacon.Shewasrunning“darkenedship.”But she was not alone inrunningwithoutany lights togiveawayherposition.

The stillness of the nightwas broken by the staccatonoise of gunshots—smallercaliber in the after portquarter and somewhat largercaliber in the after starboardquarter. These sounds werefollowed by the distinctiveimpacts of ricochets off bothsidesofthesail.The source of the gunfire

maneuveredpastCheyenneathighspeed,essentiallyonthesamecourse.Therewere two

attackcraft,andtheirpassagecould be heard by the bridgewatch standers who hadducked down behind thesafety of the high-tensile-stresssteel.“Officer of the deck,

Captain,”Macksaid.“RigthebridgefordiveandlaybelowASAP.Ihavetheconn.”Never before had the

bridgebeenriggedfordivesoquickly. The spray from theopened main ballast tank

ventsnearlyengulfedthemenastheymadethefinalclosureof the bridge clamshell.Cheyenne was alreadypassing forty-five feet whenthe last man reported beingdown,bridgehatchessecured.Mack had finely timed thedive to ensure that the upperbridge-access hatch was shutbefore the surface of the seareachedthatheight.Whentheshipstabilizedat

90 feet in only 130 feet of

water, Captain Mackey usedthe sound-powered phone toexplain to thecrewwhathadhappened.AChinese(Soviet-built)Komarclassfastattackcraft was in a running gunbattle with a Taiwanese fastattack craft. The 25mm(Chinese) and 76mm(Taiwanese)gunfirewaswhattheyhadheard andwhathadbouncedoffthesail.Cheyenne had needed to

submerge quickly before the

Komar launched its SS-N-2surface-to-surface missilesand the Taiwanese craftreciprocated with its Otomatmissiles. The chances of themissilesinadvertentlyhomingin on the “innocent”Cheyenne’s sailhadbeen toogreat. Similar incidentsbetween theSouthandNorthKorean gunboats fighting itout nearly twenty yearsbefore had not been lost inthe archives of submarine

history.Some of the crew had

sustained minor injuriesduring their rushing to laybelow. The OOD, looking athisbleedingfingersandthoseof his compatriots from thebridge, tried to bring a littlelevity to the situation. “Doesthis mean,” he asked, “thatwe’re eligible for the PurpleHeart?”The executive officer

answeredthatitwouldbethe

first for submariners sinceWorldWarII,butthatitwasworthatry.Thejokinginthecrew’s mess and thewardroomthatnightservedtoease tensions, as each manfrom the bridge waspresented with largecardboard Purple Heartsattached to their spaghettibibs. The ship’s yeomen hadmade them up from picturesin theAwardsManual, usingthe color scanners and

printersintheship’soffice.Once Cheyenne

submerged, Mack reversedher course to the south. Hehad decided that the squeezeof the shallow water of theFormosa Strait would be toomuchiftheycontinuedtothenorthsubmerged.Besides,theRORSAT deception wasOBE (overcome by events)by now. If it didn’t work, itdidn’twork.The restwasupto Cheyenne’s sonars and

theirextraordinaryoperators.Mackalsoorderedtheship

to periscope depth until theywere clear of the shallowwater. He would remain inthe control room with thenavigator and the OOD—who, along with Mackhimself, were the officerswith the greatestresponsibility—to preventbottoming.“Conn,sonar,wehavethat

Chinese Komar bearing 355,

emerging from our starboardbaffles. Designate Master123.”“Conn, ESM, theKomar’s

radarispaintingtheType18,signalstrengththree.”Mack ordered the chief of

the watch to “man battlestations, Harpoon.” Hefollowed that with the ordertothetorpedoroomtochangethe load of torpedo tube oneto Harpoon. Torpedo roompersonnel were already

rearranging stows to get oneoftheHarpoonslinedup.Mackelectednottoexpend

Mk 48s on the Komar.Cheyenne would launch theHarpoon on ESM bearingswhilecontinuingtothesouth,an “over-the-shoulder”launch that Mack had lovedpracticing in the fire-controltrainer.Five minutes later, the

Harpoonwasloadedandtubeonemade ready.AfterMack

ordered ESM bearingsmatched and the Harpoonfired, he saw it depart thewater ahead of the ship andexecute its sweet turn tostarboard, racing toward thebearing of the Komar. TheHarpoon hardly had time toaccelerate to its maximumspeedbeforetheseekerfoundits target, crashing into thebridge of the Komar, tearingit in two as the missile’smomentum and its explosive

combined to create totaldestruction. A flash in thenight, then nothing, as if theKomar had literallydisintegrated.

After a day’s quiet transit,Cheyenne arrived in the firstpatrol area. Located twohundrednauticalmileseastofMacclesfieldBank,Mackhaddecided this would be themost likely Typhoon patrolarea.

On arrival near thenortheast corner of the area,Mack ordered the OOD tolaunch an SSXBT. Theinformation it gathered ontemperature versus depththrough the water columnwouldbe sent bywire to theBSY-1 for use by the sonarand fire-control systems. Italso would provide layer-depth information, whichMack wanted. He could usethat data to allow Cheyenne

to effectively hide beneaththe layer, or even a seconddeeperlayer.During dinner in his

wardroom—a dinner they allatequickly—Mackaddressedhis officers. “We have ourwork cut out for us again.With quiet Akulas and theTyphoon staring us in theface, we’ll need to be evenmore innovative in ourattacks than we were whenwewentupagainsttheseven

Akulas. We’ll have to flushout both the Akulas and theTyphoon.”Cheyenne had gotten a

break earlier. Sonar hadreportedweaktonalsfromanAkula to the south, the sametonals as had been detectedon the only Akula to havegotten away from her in theParacels.Apparently,runningoutofassets,theChinesehadbeen able to do nothing elsebut assign that one and the

remaining interfleet transferones to the Typhoon’sprotection.This was fine with Mack.

Not only did it give him asecondshotatthatAkula,butthis one was a deadgiveaway, if the Typhoonwerenearby.The initial range had been

establishedat roughly80,000yards in the thirdconvergence zone by thesection fire-control tracking

party.Thistime,Mackwouldwait until he ordered theOOD to man battle stations,torpedo.There was still nothing

from the otherAkulas or theTyphoon.Just the lonesetoflow-frequency tonals. Thesewere coming from the sameone with sound shorts to itsturbinegenerator.Just in case the other

Russian submarines weresomewhere nearby, Mack

passed the order for thetorpedoroomto“Maketubesone and two ready in allrespects, including openingtheouterdoors.”A short while later, the

OODreported to thecaptain,“Tubesoneandtwoarereadyin all respects. Both outerdoors are open.” Cheyennewasgettingsogoodthattheywere taking libertieswith thebattle stations versus thesectionfire-controlparties.

“Very well, officer of thedeck,”answeredMack.Fortunately,theAkulawas

nottrackingonanyparticularcourse. This meant he wasloiteringinthevicinityoftheTyphoon, as Mack hadhoped. This also allowedCheyenne to close the rangewhile the Akula did themaneuvering to allow thethree BSY-1 computers tocompute the fire-controlsolution before the Akula

could detect the launch ofCheyenne’s Mk 48s. Theother Akulas and theTyphoonremainedsilent.Other than the signature

obtained earlier, the Akulawasquiet.Cheyennewasnotable to detect it with eitherher spherical or conformalarrays. The course changesand the TB-23 inputs to thesonar consoles and to thethree BSY-1 computerconsoles made the solution

possible for the section fire-control tracking party.Whenthe BSY-1 operators and thesection fire-controlcoordinator were satisfiedwith theTMA(targetmotionanalysis) solution, Mackordered battle stationsmanned.As was routine for

Cheyenne, Captain Mackeyordered, “Firing pointprocedures,Master124.”Thecombatsystemsofficer

at the weapons controlconsole reported the targetcourse as random, speedthree,andrange15,780yards.“Sonar,conn,standby.”“Conn, sonar, standing

by.”“Match sonarbearings and

shoot,tubesoneandtwo.”“Match sonarbearings and

shoot, tubes one and two,aye.”“Tubes one and two fired

electrically,” the combat

systemsofficerreported.“Conn, sonar, units from

tubes one and two runninghot, straight, and normal,”came the report from thesonar supervisor as the twotorpedoesexecuted theirwireclearance maneuvers andaccelerated to medium speedfortheinboundrun.“Very well, sonar,”

respondedMack.The next report wasn’t

longincoming.

“Conn, sonar, theweaponsare accelerating.” This wasconfirmed by the combatsystemsofficer,whoreportedacquisition by both units.Cheyenne had detected asecond Akula when itaccelerated to flee thesituation, but there was stillnosignoftheTyphoon.The captain of the

Typhoon,acapitalshipoftheformer—and, perhaps, future—Soviet Union, was not

abouttogiveuphishovering.Hehoveredquietlywithmainengines secured and his twopressurized water reactors atthe lowest possible power inorder to generate as littlesteam-flownoise aspossible.He had even secured thespinners,allowinghisship toswing with the current. Thisparticular Russian captainintended to make admiral,following in the footsteps ofhisfather.

The two Mk 48s fromCheyenne continued oncourse for their targets, butonly the torpedo from tubeonehad targeted theoriginal,noisy Akula, old Master 74.MackhadretargetedtheotherMk48atthesecondAkulaassoon as it sped up, allowingCheyenne’s sonars to detectit. Sending the secondtorpedo toward this Russiansubmarine was merelyMack’sway ofwelcoming it

toPACFLT.“Conn, sonar, explosions

bearing195and178.”Mack was hoping that the

loss of two of his Akulaescorts would rattle theTyphoon captain, but hemaintained his posture, quietas a titmouse in a church.MackknewtheTyphoonwasout there, but he hadn’tflushedityet.What Mack didn’t know

was that there was another

Akula out there as well, onewhose captain had moreexperiencewith theU.S.688classthanhislostNorthFleetfellow captain. The Akula,like the Typhoon, wasrefusingtobebaited.“Conn, sonar, still nothing

fromtheTyphoon.”ThecaptainorderedanMk

48 prepared for “swim-out”and off-board sensor tactics.This deployment was oftenextremely useful, especially

under-ice, where the torpedocould seek out icepickingSSBNs and send theinformationbacktoCheyenneover the guidance wire. ButMack stillwishedhehad thecapability of a slower searchspeedandafrequencyhigherthan that which could bedetected by the Russianacousticinterceptreceivers.There was such a system,

FORMIDABOD, but it hadnot yet reached the fleet for

operational use. That systemwas the brainchild of aprevious COMSUBPACplans officer with a vision,who had noticed that theinitial indications were thatthe 688’s original BQS-15sonar couldn’t “see” mines.Standing for Fiber-OpticRemoteMIne Detection AndBreakOut Device, theremotely operated vehiclecouldadvancethesearch,outofharm’swayfromtheSSN,

and provide acousticinformationatoverfourtimesthedata rate andat six timesthefrequencyof theRussian,or U.S. for that matter,acousticinterceptreceivers.

The search for theTyphoon took a while, withthe Mk 48 probing the areaahead of Cheyenne, buteventually it paid off. Theoff-board sensor found theTyphoon—and the

Typhoon’s acoustic interceptreceiver found the off-boardsensor.On board the Typhoon,

with a true belief in hisinvincibility, the Russiancaptain decided to remain inplace. His only reactions tothesensor’spresenceweretooperate his spinners to twisthismassiveshipandtoreadyhis65cmand53cmtorpedoesfor use against theAmericansubmarine that had sent the

Mk 48 hunting. The Russiancaptain had no way ofknowing who was out there,but he decided it must beCheyenne.The Typhoon’s captain

ordered the interlocksbrokenbetween the port andstarboard tube nests, therebyallowing him to bring all his53cmtorpedotubestobearatonce. The Soviet Union haddeveloped the equivalent oftwo torpedo-tube ejection-

pump rams, one for port andoneforstarboard.At the same time that the

Typhoon was making itspreparations,CaptainMackeywasformulatinghisownnewdoctrine.Thenormaldoctrinedidn’tcoverthissituation:butthat was why he was incommand. His choice; hisdecision;noonecould refuteit. This situation had neverdeveloped before—but it hadits parallels, if one had the

brains,andtheguts,toseeit.“Firing point procedures,

Master 126, tubes one andtwo,” ordered the captain.“Firing point procedures,Master 126, tubes three andfour.”When the combat systems

officer and executive officerlooked to the captain withconfusion, he elaborated,“Unit one for the mainscrews; then,when they spinupon the spinners, units two

and three for the spinners.When that happens, we’ll bewithin range behind theTyphoontolightoffMIDAS.Thenwe’lldetonateunitfourovertheirmissiledeck.”Mack’sgutsyplanwentoff

without ahitch.Unit one ranto the Typhoon’s screws asintended. When sonarreported the spinners startingup, the next two units wereguided to their points ofdestruction.

With the launchof the lasttwo units, Cheyenneincreasedspeedtomatchthatofthetorpedoes.TheRussiancaptain finally decided tolaunchtorpedoesatCheyenneand the missiles at Taiwan,but by then it was too late.The fourth torpedo detonatedabovehismissiledeckbeforethe first launch tube missilehatch could be opened. Theresultwasthedishinginofallhatches so that they couldn’t

be opened. In addition, theoverpressurewave caused bythe lastMk 48’s 650 poundsofexplosive,coupledwiththeTyphoon’s depth and opentorpedo tube muzzle doors,resulted in the Russiantorpedo tube breech doorsgiving way. The torpedoroom flooded and theTyphoon started to take onwater.That would have finished

just about any other

submarine inanynavy in theworld, but not the Typhoon.With its double hulls stillintact, the would-be Russianadmiral ordered all internalballast dumped. Even if theouter ballast tanks wereruptured, the missile-tubewater-compensation systemwould provide somebuoyancy.With the loss of what

seemed like an insignificantamount of ballast, the

Typhoon accelerated rapidlyto the surface,butonce therethe Russians learned that theemergency escape capsule—which had never beenpracticedonarealsubmarine—couldnotbereleased.With the lessons learned

from the Mike SSN disasterintheNorthSeaoffNorway,the Typhoon’s captaindecided to remain where hewas to await rescue. MackknewtheRussiancaptainhad

lost his cool; hewas now inthe South China Sea, wherenoRussian shipscouldcometo his rescue. What’s more,Cheyenne had finally pickedup the last Akula, whosecaptainhadelectedtopullofftobeabletofightanotherdayand which had managed todistanceitselffromthefray.Cheyennewas there as the

Typhoonreachedthesurface.The Russian submarine hadbeen severely damaged, but

Mack ordered four moretorpedoesintothedefenselessTyphoon.Therewasseldommercyin

wartime,andCheyenne’sandMack’s orders were clear. Ifhe had allowed the Typhoonto survive, its crew wouldhave cut the missile hatchesopen with blow torches andcompleted their launchagainstTaiwan.Theresultoftheadditional

four torpedoes exploding

beneath the Typhoon causedmajor seawater systemflooding. The ensuing scenewassimilartothedevastationexperienced by the Yankeeclass SSBN southeast of theBermudasyearsbefore.Onlythis time there was nocapability to protect andremovethecrew.Liferaftswereputoverthe

side, only to be attacked bythe South China Sea sharkpopulation, so the crew

watched helplessly from thehuge, flat missile-tube deck.The oversized submarinestartedsettlingslowlydeeper,the water level rising towithinmeters of themissile-tube deck, with the crewtopside.The captain—the admiral-

to-be-had already sent amessage to his North FleetHeadquarters concerning theimpending demise of hiscapital ship and the lack of

help from his Akula escortsby name, two of which hadbeen sunk. He had not beengiven any means tocommunicate with theChinese, so he resorted tocalling home. After that hewent topside to be with hismen, sat down, and heldhands in a circle as theirsubmarine slid beneath thesurface of the sea, sailors tothe end, for eternity. Thesharksdidtherest.

Cheyenne’s Type 18periscopehadtapedtheentiresinking of the Typhoon, butMack had no intention ofshowingittothecrewastheirevening movie. He hadconfiscatedthetape,ensuringthat it would be seen againonly in a closed audience aspartofhispatroldebriefingtoahigherauthority.

When the Russian NorthFleet Headquarters received

the message from theTyphoon, the commander-in-chiefwas astounded, andnotjust at the loss of one of hisstrategic assets. He was alsofurious and astonished atwhat seemed to be a refusaltofollowordersbyoneofhisAkulacaptains.The scathing CO-Eyes

Only message sent to theremaining Akula was clear.Its meaning was wellunderstood by the Akula’s

captain, because it madereference to his family—hiswifeandtwodaughters—whohad been taken into“protective custody” by theRussiansecretservice.

Mack was nearing theperiscope stand when sonarreported low-frequency tonalcontact to the north. Thetonals were classified by the

sonar supervisor as comingfrom an Akula. They wereweak,butclosing.The Akula captain,

intimidatedbyhisownchainof command, had decided totake on Cheyenne. He’d hadno choice. Even without thethreat tohisfamily,returningto his homeland withoutbeing successful during war,evenif itwasaChinesewar,was tantamount to certaindeath.

He made two torpedoesreadyforhisownsnapshots,in case they stumbled uponthe quiet Cheyenne at closerange. The Russian sonaroperators were poised,carefully searching for anysign of Cheyenne with theirtowed array. They had alllistened to the sounds of thedeaths of their comrades onboard the Akulas and theTyphoon, and they wereeagertodefeatCheyenne.

Mack wasn’t about to letthat happen. He wanted nomore close-range encountersfor Cheyenne. He intendedfor this battle to be like theearlier long-range attack onone of the earlier Akulas,Master74.TheAkulawasnearingthe

outer weapon range of boththe U.S. and the Russiantorpedoes when Mackmanned battle stationstorpedo. He had already

expended eleven torpedoes,includingthedeadroundhe’dused as the off-board sensor.Thirteen Mk 48s and onelonely Harpoon remained,andtheHarpoonwouldbeofno use unless he could forcetheAkulato thesurface.If itwasdamagedenoughforthat,it could be finished asCheyenne had earlier donewiththeRomeonearMidwayIsland.ButMackdidn’twant it to

come to that.TheTyphoon’sdeath had been bad enough.Submariners,eventheenemy,deservedtodiewiththeirshipratherthanatthehandsofthecreaturesofthesea.Once battle stations were

manned, Captain Mackeypassed the order for thetorpedoroomto“make tubesone and two ready in allrespects, including openingthe outer doors.” In additionto making Cheyenne’s tubes

readyasearlyaspossible,heintended to launch two Mk48s in the quiet “swim-out”modeashehaddonewiththeoff-boardsensor,butthistimethey would be armed asweapons.TheremainingAkula,with

its own towed array, hadshown that he could be aquiet adversary. Navalintelligence still had notlearned much about thatsensor capability, so Mack

decided to play it safe. Heelected to follow the sameplanhehadusedsuccessfullyearlier,steeringthetorpedoesoff target so they would beattackingfrombearingsotherthanCheyenne’slocation.“Make tubes one and two

ready in all respects,including opening the outerdoors, fire-control, torpedoroom,aye.”After the torpedo room

reported completing the

ordered evolution with thetorpedo tubes, the executiveofficer informed Mack,“Captain, tubes one and twoarereadyinallrespects.Bothouterdoorsareopen.”“Very well, fire control,”

answeredthecaptain.TheAkulawas tracking to

the southwest.Cheyennewasclosing the range, intendingtointerceptwithafire-controlsolution before the Akulacould reach detection range

onCheyenne.The Akula continued

drawing left as Cheyenneclosed. It, too,wasotherwisequiet,with no contact on thesphericalorconformalarrays.Because of this, the BSY-1operators had to rely on thereadings from the TB-23,assisted by Mack’s coursechanges,tomakethesolutionpossible for the fire-controlparty. When both they andthe fire-control coordinator

were satisfiedwith the TMA(target motion analysis)solution on Master 127, theRussian Akula II SSN, thecaptainordered,“Firingpointprocedures,Master127.”Thecombatsystemsofficer

at the weapons controlconsole reported the targetcourseas200,speedfour,andrange27,250yards.“Sonar,conn,standby.”“Conn, sonar, standing

by.”

“Match sonarbearings andshoot,tubesoneandtwo.”“Match sonarbearings and

shoot, tubes one and two,aye.”“Tubes one and two fired

electrically,” reported thecombatsystemsofficer.“Conn, sonar, units from

tubes one and two runninghot, straight, and normal,”came the report from thesonar supervisor as the twotorpedoesexecuted theirwire

clearance maneuvers andaccelerated to slowspeed forthelonginboundrun.“Very well, sonar,”

responded the captain. “Takechargeandsteertheweapons.Unit one off course tendegrees to the right and unittwo off course forty-fivedegreestotheleft.”Whenthetorpedoes were close enoughfor passive acquisition, theywould be steered back in theoppositedirection.

“Time to turn the units?”askedthecaptain.“Twenty minutes for unit

one, captain,” answered thecombat systems officer.“Seventeen minutes for unittwo.”The torpedoeswere turned

on cue. Onewas leading thetarget while the other wasslightlylagging.“Time to acquisition?”

Mackasked.“Tenminutes forunit two,

Captain,”thecombatsystemsofficer replied. “Twelveminutesforunitone.”Exactly on schedule, the

combat systems officerreported, “Unit two hasacquired.”Twominutes laterhe added, “Unit one hasacquired.” This time bothtorpedoes had acquired theiroriginaltarget.TherewerenomoreRussiansubmarinesleftoutthere.“Cut the wires, shut the

outer doors, and reload tubesone and two,” ordered thecaptain.“Conn,sonar,wehavetwo

torpedoes in the water,bearing 205 and drawingright!” the sonar supervisorcalled out. The Russiancaptainhadlaunchedhissnapshots, but not at the bearingsof the incoming torpedoes.Hewaswilier than the otherAkula captains, andhad readthe report of Cheyenne’s

earlier tactic,whichhadbeensent by the Akula that gotaway and made it to theParacels. Guessing correctlythat the captain ofCheyennewould try it again, he hadlaunched on a bearinghalfway between theoncomingtorpedoes.Mack’s ploy hadn’t

worked. The Russiantorpedoes were headed forCheyenne.“Right full rudder, all

ahead flank,” Mack ordered.“Do not cavitate.Make yourdepthone thousand feet.”Hewasn’t sure if the Akula haddetected Cheyenne on itstowedarrayor if theRussiancaptain had guessed atMack’s earlier tactic. If theAkula had heard them, itknew Cheyenne’s location,but if its captain had justmade a lucky guess, thenMack didn’t want to revealCheyenne to its sonar. Not

unless the inbound torpedoesacquired Cheyenne and hehad to. Having been deepbeneath the second layer,Cheyennewas at flank speedin less than a minute, oncourse due east, and at onethousand feet. Mack waskeeping the torpedoes at theedge of his port baffles sosonarcouldcontinue to relaybearinginformation.A short while later, the

sonarsupervisorreportedthat

the torpedoes were speedingup and drawing right faster.Atthesametime,theWLR-9,Cheyenne’sacousticinterceptreceiver, started chirping atthefrequencyoftheincomingtorpedoes.“Conn, sonar, explosions

comingfromourbaffles!”That was the sound of

Cheyenne’s two torpedoesexploding. Unfortunately,because the explosionsoccurred in her baffles, the

sonar operators could notdeterminewhateffect—ifany—they’dhadontheAkula.But Mack couldn’t worry

aboutthatatthemoment.Theenemy torpedoes were stillout there, and closing fast,andtheywerehistoppriority.Mack released two gasgenerators, noisemakers, andbroughtCheyenne hard rightagain,circlingtothesouthtoopen the datum of the gasgenerators.

Cheyenne’s high-speedmaneuvers created anadditionalknucklethathelpeddraw the attention of theRussian torpedoes, whichattacked nothing but theboiling water column.Confusedbythenoisemakers,they could not acquireCheyenne,butmerelyheadedoffintothesea.When it was time for the

Russian torpedo end of runand the torpedoes could no

longerbeheard,Mackturnedto the west and slowedCheyenne to search for theAkula. Therewas no contacton any of the arrays, and noreverberations fromCheyenne’s torpedoesexploding.TheAkulahadvanished—

though whether it had beendestroyedorhadmerelygonebackintohidingcouldnotbedetermined with any degreeof certainty. Mack took

Cheyenne back towardTaiwan for reload,maneuvering her slowly andcautiously, but he could notgainanymorecontacton thethirdAkula.Following the Navy’s

standard procedures, Mack’spatrol report would list thislast Akula as being sunk.Mack only hoped he wasright.

14.Hornets’Nest

Cheyenne arrived safelyback at TsoyingNaval Base,onceagainmooringalongsideMcKee. Before heading overfor his next war patrolbriefing, Captain Mackeyrequested a full loadout ofMk48ADCAPtorpedoes.Heordered Cheyenne’s combatsystemsofficertoensurethatthe remaining Harpoon was

off-loaded and its stowrefilledwithanMk48.Mack’s first clue that this

briefing, like the last, wouldhave political overtones waswhen the McKee captainnotified him that the briefingwould once again be held atthe naval base headquartersrather than on boardMcKee.Mack didn’t mind thepolitics; he just hoped thatthisdidn’tmeanhe’dhavetodeal with another Typhoon

thistimeout.The first thing Mack

noticed when he entered theconference room on thesecond floor was the sameCTF 74 staff members whohad conducted the electronicsecurity sweep of the roombeforeCheyenne’slastpatrol.They had already completedtheirtaskandwereleavingasMackandhisofficersarrived.There was no sign of the

Chinese leader, but the

briefing officer said thatPresident Jiang would bealong before the end of thebriefing.Withoutwaiting forJiang, the briefing officerlaunchedintothebackgroundforCheyenne’snextmission.AsJianghadpointedoutat

the last meeting, much ofChina was enthusiastic in itssupport and appreciation ofCheyenne’s successes—muchofChina,thatis,butnotallofit. One group in particular

that was unhappy aboutCheyenne’s effectivenessagainst the Chinesesubmarineswas the so-calledPetroleum Faction. Thisgroup of engineers haddeveloped the oil fields inManchuria, and they had apersonal interest in this war.Their leader, General YuQuili, had taken charge of asquadron of Akula II SSNsand had made it his missiontodealwithCheyenne.

“What’s a general knowabout submarines?” Mackasked.That was the wrong

question, though, as thebriefing officer was quick topoint out. It wasn’t whatGeneral Yu Quili knew thatmattered. The leader of thePetroleumFactionhadbeenamajorplayerinthiswarfromthe onset. Not only had heassisted inPremierLiPeng’scoup, but his groupwas also

the source of funds for thepurchases of Russiansubmarines and Russiancrews.Besides, Mack realized as

he listened to the briefingofficer, General Yu wasn’tgoingtobedrivinganyofthesubmarines. But as a leadersince the days of ChairmanMao Tse-tung, heundoubtedly would beeffective in motivating andinspiring the officers and the

crews.What Mack really wanted

to know about, though,wasn’t General Yu and hispetroleumfaction,orevenhisAkulas. What Mack wantedto know about was what itwouldtaketowinthiswar.“Back when we went up

against those seven Akulas,”he said, “I was told thatkilling four of them wouldstop the Russians fromproviding more SSNs to

China.Cheyennekilledsixofthe seven, and yet Russiacontinued to providesubmarines to China—notonly Alfas, Kilos, andAkulas, but that Typhoon aswell. Where are they allcomingfrom?Whenwillthisend?”The briefing officer

answered frankly, perhapsbecause CTF 74 was atbreakfast with PresidentJiang.“Youareright,Captain

Mackey,” he said. “To behonest, the intelligencecommunity has not done toowelllately.However,theCIAand naval intelligence havedetermined that the RussianFar East Shipyard,Komsomolsk on the AmurRiver, really did not gocommercial like they hadoriginally thought. Instead, ithasbeenworkingthreeshiftsa day in building submarinesfor export to China. Plus,

China has been training newsubmarinecrews,actuallyoldChinese diesel boatpersonnel, in the KolaPeninsulaarea.”That was not good news.

Not only did it mean thatCheyenne would have moreenemy submarines to watchoutfor,butitalsomeantthatLi Peng was committed tothis war. Cheyenne’s pastsuccesses notwithstanding, itwas going to take a

tremendous effort to bringthisconflicttoanend.Mack didn’t have time to

mull that over much beforethe briefing officer startedexplaining Cheyenne’s nextassignment.Inpreparationforeventually moving PresidentJiang from Taiwan tomainland China, Cheyennewouldhavetoensurethatthewaters around Taiwan weresanitized of General Yu’sSSNs.

That didn’t sound so bad,but then the briefing officerwent on to the details.Muchof China was behindPresident Jiang—and thatincluded most of its navy.Because of this, Mack’ssuperiorswerepresumingthatYu’s SSNs were the onlyremaining hostile Chinesesubmarinesinthearea,whichmeant that any othersubmarines Cheyennedetected were off limits for

attacks. Unless, of course,Cheyennewasattackedfirst.Mackdidn’tlikethatatall.

Theseattackconstraintswerelike those he had receivedduringhistransitfromBallastPoint to Pearl Harbor, whenCheyenne had encounteredthe out-of-area Han and hadto wait until she was firedupon. But Mack didn’t havethe chance to object beforethe CTF 74 admiral arrivedwith President Jiang and his

heavies.“Good morning, Mack,”

the admiral said. “I presumeyou are aware of ’our’problem,GeneralYu.”Mack nodded, but didn’t

sayanything.“Captain Mackey,” the

Chinese president said, “wedo have some good news tooffer. Yu and Li Peng havehad a falling-out over thegeneral’sactions.LiPenghasrenouncedYu’sauthorityand

has ordered him arrested. Inaddition, Li and I are onceagain communicating witheach other—cautiously, Imightadd—butweareclosertonegotiations.Mack nodded again, but

remainedsilent.“Youareahero,Captain,”

PresidentJiangwenton,“butwatchyour180.Imust leavenow,fortheroachcoachisonthepierwithitsgedunks.”Mack blinked at that,

caught off guard by Jiang’suse of U.S. Navy andsubmarine lingo. Thepresident laughed, obviouslypleasedwithMack’sreaction,then shook his hand and lefttheconferenceroom,escortedbyhisheavies.Mackwanted to get under

way before dark, so oncePresident Jiang had left theCTF 74 admiral told thebriefingofficertofinishwhathadnotbeencovered.

According to navalintelligence, General Yu hadbeensupplyingthedieselfuelto several of the Romeo,Ming, and Kilo submarinebases—and he’d beensupplyingitforfree.Thishadnaturally won some convertsfor Yu, which meant thatMack could not discount thepossibility of dieselsubmarines present in thearea. Nevertheless, thebriefing officer emphasized,

CINCPACFLT’s orderswerethat Captain Mackey wouldhave to bide his time,ensuring that any submarinecontacts he planned to attackwere the Akulas unless fireduponbyanyotherclass.So far,Mackhadnotbeen

pleasedwiththenatureofthisbriefing, and he had beeneven less pleased with theinformation he had gained.And itwasabout togetevenworse.

In addition to the Akulasand the diesels, the briefingofficer said as he neared theendof his presentation, therewasanewwrinkleaswell.Atleast oneHainan class attackcraftfittedoutasaminelayerwas active in comms lastweek, paired with an oldRomeo at Zhanjiang NavalBase, theheadquarters of theChineseSouthSeaFleet.Theold Romeo—which was theChinese-builtversion,sixfeet

longerandwitheighttorpedotubes—was rumored to beoutfitted with twenty-eightmines instead of fourteentorpedoes. To make mattersworse, a Pothead radar,probably the Hainan, and a“Snoop Plate” radar, maybetheRomeo,hadbeentrackingup the coast from MandarinBay. They had turned to theeast near Hong Kong beforebeinglosttwodaysago.Mack was glad when the

briefingcametoanend.He’dhadenoughbadnewsforoneday.Unfortunately,therewasmoretocome.When he got back to

Cheyenne, Mack learnedfrom the combat systemsofficer that, against Mack’sexpressed instructions,McKee was still restrictingCheyenne’s torpedo loads. Itdidn’t help to learn thatMcKeewasdoing this forallthe right reasons.Bremerton,

a pre-VLS boat, andColumbia, a 6881 likeCheyenne, also had to besupplied. The arrival ofPortsmouth andPasadena intwo weeks from the AtlanticFleetwouldonlyservetoaddtothestrain.Politics again, Mack

thought. The shift in thetraditional “60-40 split” ofsubmarines, 60 percent forCOM-SUBLANT and 40percent for COMSUBPAC,

had obviously preceded theequivalent transfer oftorpedoes to PACFLT. Nowonly twenty Mk 48 ADCAPwereonboardCheyenne,andsome might have to be usedfor long distance off-boardminefield sensing beforeMack would decide to useMIDAS, the short-rangeunder-ice and mine-detectionsonarmountedonthesail.Althoughitsfrequencywas

nearly twenty times that of

the BSY-1 spherical activearray, it was still detectableby the enemy. Mack wishedeven more that he had thatFORMIDABOD sensorcapability. R and D or not,the United States had shownduring Desert Storm that theplaying field of war was abetter checkout of newlyemerging systems thansimulated targets and ranges.Anditsfrequency,whichwasmore than five times that of

MIDAS, was not detectableby other than its owntransducers.All of which meant that

Cheyenne would have tocontend with quiet dieselsandmineswhileattackingthequietAkulas, and she’dhaveto do it with a shortage oftorpedoes.Shaking his head, Mack

ordered Cheyenne to getunder way before anythingelsecouldgowrong.

Cheyenne submerged toperiscope depth at the fiftyfathomcurveandthenalteredhercoursetothesouth.Inthisdirection the shallow watersoftheFormosaStraitquicklygavewaytothedepthsoftheSouth China Sea. Within afew miles, the ledge wouldfall off to nearly 1,300fathoms.“Captain, officer of the

deck.Sonarreportsthesound

ofchainsdeadaheadofus. Ican’tseeanymooringbuoys,but with this sea state three,theycouldbebobbingupanddown,hardtosee.”Mack acknowledged the

report and quickly left hisstateroom, making a beelineforthesonarroom.Puttingonhis own headset, which hehad insisted be available forhim whenever he wanted,Mackheard thesoundssonarhad reported. But they were

not the clunking noise ofmooring buoys. They wereclinking noises that he hadheard once before in theMediterranean, as the sonarofficer during his firstsubmarine assignment on a637, when Egypt’s Romeosubmarineshad laidmines intheGulfofSidra.“Officerof thedeck,come

aroundtothewestandgetthecombat systems officer andexecutive officer to the

conn,”Mack called from thesonarroom.Afewminutes later,Mack

explained to the officersgatheredattheconnthattheywere up against mooredmines. If it had not been forthe sea state causing themines tomove up and downand the chain links to rattleagainstthemselves,Cheyennewould have been close tobeing history. He also knewthatCheyennecouldprobably

skirt the minefield usingMIDAS, but that would nothelp other sea travelers,including the other 688s ontheir way to help. Instead,theywouldhavetotrytotakeout themines with off-boardsensors.To do this, the warhead

grain burn would not beinerted, allowing the torpedoto be command-detonated intheminefield—assuming thatthe torpedo didn’tmerely set

off the mines with its screwnoise. If everything workedas planned, and the torpedodetonated in the properposition, the sympatheticconcussions should set off anumberofmines.Mack did not want to

expend more than two Mk48s. That would leaveeighteen for Cheyenne’sTaiwan-area sanitizationduties. To eliminate theminefield with only two

torpedoes, Cheyenne wouldhave to rely on the highfrequency of the torpedo’stransducer, nearly twice thatofMIDAS,topaintthescenewellenoughtoensurethattheminefieldwasplottedpriortotheirattemptingthekills.Cheyenne didn’t need to

man battle stations for thisevolution.Theminescouldn’tshoot back. Besides, Mackwould stay at least fivethousand yards away,

standing back at acomfortable distance, farbeyond the mine detectionanddestructioncapability.Thecombatsystemsofficer

alerted the TMOW (torpe-doman of the watch) of theplan to swim out tube threeand then tube four ifnecessary. At the same time,Mackinformedthecrewoverthe 1MC of what would behappening. They would beable to hear theMk 48 Otto

fuel engines spinning up,which one could pick upthrough the hull while thetorpedoeswerestillclose,andMackdidn’twant themtobealarmed and wonder whatwasgoingon.Healsowantedtoalertthepersonnelsleepingin the torpedo room, whowould have to get up andmove their portable skidbunksso that the tubescouldbereloaded.“Conn, sonar, we have

diesel lines bearing 285. Noscrew blade information yet.But it’s not a submarine’sdiesel. More like two oldChinese twelve-cylindersfiringaway,outof syncwitheach other. No bearing drift,either.He’sclosing.”Cheyenne had detected the

Hainan.Mackwassureof it.Which meant the Romeomightbearound.Mack found himself

wondering how accurate his

intel was this time. Navalintelligence and theCIA hadbeen wrong a bit too oftenlately, and it was especiallyimportant this time. If hecouldcountonthereportthatthe Romeo had replaced allits torpedoes with mines, hewouldn’thavetoworryaboutgetting shot at. On the otherhand, he couldn’t just ignorethe Chinese submarine,either. The last thing hewanted was a submerged

collisionatsea.Mack decided it was time

forsomeactivesonarpractice—forward of the beam insector searches. This wouldalert the Romeo, but that’swhat Mack wanted. Withluck, the Chinese captainwould be smart enough to“pull up his pants and gohome,” as the old sayingwent. Besides, it was betterthan two quiet submarinesrunningintoeachother.

Within minutes of goingactive,sonar reportedcontacton a submarine based on theelevation angle of thereturning energy. Range1,850 yards and on the samebearingofthetwelve-cylinderdiesels’ platform, which alsowas being painted by theBSY-1.Mackwantedtomaketube

onereadyforasnapshot,buthe couldn’t. His orderspreventedhim.Hecouldonly

firefirstatanAkula,notataRomeo.Moments later, though,

Mack realized that hewasn’tgoing to need to fire. Heknew that when sonarreported the submergedcontact blowing ballast andincreasing speed, two shafts,four blades each, andsquawkingonhisunderwatertelephonetotheHainan.The Chinese Romeo’s

captainhadindeeddecidedto

get away from the famousCheyenne, but he hadpanicked, remembering toolate that the Hainan wasabove him. He ordered themain ballast tank ventsopened,but itwastoolate tostop his ascent. His fullrudderturndidn’thelpeither,because theHainan turned inthesamedirection.Moments later, the

Romeo’s sail sliced throughthe thinHainan hull, right at

theengineroom.TheHainandiesels sputtered and died,their hot engine blockscracked by the much coolerseawater. Its captain orderedhis men to abandon ship asthe seawater continuedrushingin,helpingtoputoutthe fires but causing the tinycraft to sink beneath thewaves.The Romeo was

undamaged, but its missionwas over. Itwas going to be

busy rescuing the survivorsfrom the diesel fuel-slickedgraspofthesea.Mack grinned and made

another quick decision. Hedecidedtosavethetorpedoesafter all and not use them asoff-boardsensors.Usingtheiractivesonarhadgiventhemapretty good idea where theminefieldwas, so he ordereda notice-to-mariners messagedrafted and loaded into anSSIXS buoy. This notice

would be transmitted toCTF74oncethebuoyreachedthesurface and unfurled its tinysatellite antenna. Afterrepeating the transmissionfour times, the buoy wouldscuttleitself.Mackwaspleasedwithhis

decision. He saved his Mk48s. He didn’t have to go toperiscope depth near wheretherescueeffortsweretakingplace. And he was able toproceed upon his mission

rightaway.But there was a downside

to his plan, onewhichMackhadn’t considered. By notbeing at periscope depth,Cheyenne’s WLR-8(V)antennawasnotabletodetectaradiotransmissionfromtheRomeo, a transmission inwhich the Romeo’s captainreportedCheyenne’spresenceinthearea.This information was

picked up and put on the

Chinese South Sea Fleet andEast Sea Fleet broadcasts.Hours later, with Mackunaware of any of this,GeneralYu’sAkulasandalsosome Kilos were closing onthe datum reported by theRomeo. Three Akulas wereclosingfromthesouthwestata comfortable twenty-fiveknots,whiletwoslowerKiloswere making an end aroundnortheast of Taiwan, runningon their batteries at eight

knots so that theywould nothave to recharge theirbatteries before getting onstationeastofthebigisland.By supper time,Cheyenne

hadarrivedinherfirstsearcharea and slowed to one-thirdspeed to launch severalSSXBTs,butMackrescindedthe SSXBT order after theOODreported that sonarhadweaktonalsfromanAkulatothe south. These were thesame tonals that had been

detected on the last AkulathatsupposedlysankaftertheTyphoon hunt. Sonar alsodetected a loud shaft rub,whicheasilyallowedthemtodetermine the Akula’stwenty-fiveknotspeed.Mack realized that they

must have only damaged theAkula’s shafting. With awordofcautiontohisofficersabout their returningadversary, Mack orderedbattle stations torpedo

manned.ThiswasaRussian-crewed

Akula. Captain Mackey wasaware of this, and knew itwasdangerous.Healsoknewthatthiscouldbearepeatofaprevious hornets’ nest, whenquieterAkulaspoppedupoutof nowhere. But he didn’texpecttwohornets’nests.When the Akula’s range

closed to 25,000 yards, theshaft rub stopped.TheAkulahad slowed to determine

where his counterparts were.The two other Akulas,mannedbyChinesewhohadonly recently completed theirtraining in the North Fleet,lostcontactontheirleader,sotheyalsoslowed.OnelessontheChinesehad

learned during their trainingwasnottocommunicateoverunderwater telephone.Instead, they had come upwithatechniquetodeterminerange without using the

underwater telephone—atechnique that no seasonedsubmariner would everemploy, but these twoChinese captains were farfromseasoned.The first captain sent a

single sonar ping. Uponreceipt, the second captainreturnedtheping.Theyknewthat the time difference insound reaching each Akulawould translate to the rangeof the pinging Akula, plus

theywouldknowthebearingtoeachother.The Russian captain was

furious at the inexperienceand ineptness of his Chinesecomrades. He broke hissilence, using his underwatertelephonetotellthemtostop,but he was too late. Thesecond Akula had alreadyreturned the ping with hisfire-controlsonar.Mack was elated. The

bearingsandtimedifferences,

coupled with tracking of theRussian captain, gaveCheyenne the fire-controlsolutiontheyneeded.All threeAkulaswere still

outside 15,000 yards, soMackpassedtheorderforthetorpedoroomto“Maketubesone and two ready in allrespects, including openingtheouterdoors.”“Tubes one and two are

ready in all respects. Bothouterdoorsareopen.”

Captain Mackey ordered,“Firing point procedures,Master 131, tube one, andMaster 132, tube two.” Hewas going for the two quietonesfirst.Thenoisyone,ifitran, would give away hispositionbytheshaftrub.Thecombatsystemsofficer

at the weapons-controlconsole reported the targetcourses,speeds,andranges.“Sonar,conn,standby.”“Conn, sonar, standing

by.”“Match sonarbearings and

shoot, tube one,Master 131,andtubetwo,Master132.”“Match sonarbearings and

shoot, tube one,Master 131,and tube two, Master 132,aye,sir.”“Tubes one and two fired

electrically,” reported thecombatsystemsofficer.“Conn, sonar, units from

tubes one and two runninghot, straight, and normal,”

came the report from thesonar supervisor as the twotorpedoes executed theirwire-clearance maneuversand accelerated to mediumspeedfortheinboundrun.“Very well, sonar,” Mack

replied.“Conn, sonar, theweapons

areaccelerating.”This report was confirmed

by the combat systemsofficer, who announcedacquisitionbybothunits.

Mack was right. The twoquietAkulasweren’ttheonlyones increasing speed, butwhiletheywereturningawayto flee the incomingtorpedoes, the noisy Akulawasn’t running. Instead, itwasheadingforCheyenne.No Russian chicken there,

Mack thought as he orderedthewirescut,tubesthreeandfour made ready, and tubesoneandtworeloaded.The two Mk 48s from

Cheyenne continued oncourse for their targets. Thethird Akula, Master 130,whose captain was foolishenough to speed up, waswithin Mack’s sights,allowing Cheyenne’s sonarsto detect it easily and toquickly establish the perfectfire-controlsolution.“Conn, sonar, explosions

bearing205and198.”Even with two of his

Akulas gone, the Russian

captain still maintained hisposture, bearing down onCheyenne. He had moreexperiencewith theU.S.688class, and especially withCheyenne, than his lostChinese fellow captains, buthewasnomatch forCaptainMackey.When the Akula captain

finallyheard the twoMk48sfromCheyenne’s tubes threeandfour,itwastoolate.Theywere both in their terminal

phaseofhoming.Theywouldexplode before anycountermeasures could belaunched—which wasquestionable at this speed,anyway. The Akula’s flankspeed combined with that ofthe Mk 48s, a combinedclosing rate of over eightyknots.“Conn, sonar, two

explosions,bothbearing250.Lost the Akula, Master 130,intheexplosions.”

And when thereverberations died out, theocean was silent. Too silent,because the two Kilos hadslowed to three knots whentheyheard thefirstexplosiontotheirsouth.Mack cleared the area to

the north, not knowing hewas closing on the Kilos.That was not a mistake; itwasthenextphaseofMack’ssearch plan for sanitizing theTaiwanarea.

AsMackwas approachingcommunications (periscope)depth to report the attack onthe three Akulas, radioreportedthattheyhadlostthebroadcast on the floatingwire.Thewirewasdeadandwould have to be changedout.Thatwasamistake,forthe

motorreelnoisewasdetectedby the slinking Kilos, evenbefore Cheyenne’s radiomenhadcompletedreelingthebad

oneintotheshippastthelinewiper.“Conn, sonar, torpedoes in

the water, ET-80s, bearing355and008.”“Snapshots, tubesoneand

two, bearings 355 and 008respectively,” ordered thecaptain.Mackwasnotsureifthe torpedoes were launchedbyAkulasorbyKilos.Butitdidn’t matter. If the culpritswereKilos,theyshotfirst.“Conn, sonar,we have the

submarines. They’re Kilos,Captain, single six-bladedscrews speeding up. Thetorpedoes are heading rightforthem.”Mackandallofhisofficers, aswell as all of thesonar men, knew the screw-blade configuration of everyadversary. The Akulas hadseven-bladed screws whichhelped in differentiatingbetween the two classes. Iffoolhardy enough, one couldalso get close enough to

detect steam-flow noises,whichthedieselsdidn’thave.“All ahead flank. Do not

cavitate. Make your depthone thousand feet,” orderedthecaptain.Cheyenne was already

beneaththefirstlayer.Inlessthan threeminutesCheyennewasatflankspeed,oncourse175,andatonethousandfeet,beneath the second layer.There was a deep soundchannel present, something

Mack would have known ifhe’d been able to acquireSSXBT information. As itwas, he learned of itsexistence from the sound-velocityprofiler.“Unit three has acquired.”

Then, a moment later, “Unitfourhasacquired.”“Cut the wires, shut the

outer doors, and reload tubesthree and four,” ordered thecaptain, but they didn’t haveto cut the wires. Cheyenne’s

speed and course away fromthe torpedoes caused bothwires to break right afteracquisition.The torpedo’s guidance

wires had performed beyondall expectations. They wouldhave to inspect Cheyenne’ssternareaforanysignsofthethinwiresbeingentangled ineither the screw, sternplanes,orrudder.When out of danger from

the ET-80 torpedoes, Mack

slowedCheyenne and turnedtothewesttolisten.“Conn,sonar,wehavetwo

torpedoes in the water,bearings 275 and 209,” thesonarsupervisorreported.Apparently there were

more Akulas out there whohad picked up Cheyenne asshe ran fast and deep. Nowthat shehad slowed, shewasabletodetectthetorpedoes.“Conn, sonar, two

explosions, bearings 359 and

002, estimate range 20,000yards.”TheKilos,Masters133and

134, had experienced theirfirst and last battle withCheyenne.Mackonceagainincreased

speed to flank, launched twoevasion devices, and turnedaway from the incomingtorpedoes. As he did so, hecouldn’thelpwonderinghowmany other hornets’ neststhere were. He also ordered

tubes three and four madeready,sothatwhenheturnedback to face thenewAkulas,Cheyennewouldbeready.Hekept the muzzle doors shut,though,untilheslowed.Oncethey were open, he wouldpoint the direction in whichheexpectedtheAkulastobe.Mack actually didn’t care ifthey were Akulas or Sierras.Theyhadshotfirst.His orders were

acknowledged and executed

with Cheyenne’s usualthoroughness andprofessionalism. After thetorpedo room reportedcompleting the orderedevolution with the torpedotubes, the executive officersaidtoMack,“Captain,tubesthreeandfourarereadyinallrespects.Bothouterdoorsareopen.”“Very well, fire control,”

answeredthecaptain.Cheyenne turned to the

southwest and immediatelygained contact on twoAkulas. The contact was onall sonar arrays, and thetonals allowed the certaintyof the classification by thesonarsupervisor.The Akulas had been

running at flank towardCheyenne’s last knownposition. This was simplymore stupidity from the newChinese crews, who wereobviouslyenjoyingtheirhigh

speedsubmarines—andMackappreciated it. When theBSY-1operatorsandthefire-control coordinator weresatisfied with the TMAsolution on Masters 135 and136,heordered,“Firingpointprocedures,Master 135, tubethree, and Master 136, tubefour.”Thecombatsystemsofficer

reported the course, speedandrangeofthetwotargets.“Sonar,conn,standby.”

“Conn, sonar, standingby.”“Match sonarbearingsand

shoot,tubesthreeandfour.”“Match sonarbearingsand

shoot, tubes three and four,aye,sir.”“Tubesthreeandfourfired

electrically,” reported thecombatsystemsofficer.“Conn, sonar, units from

tubes three and four runninghot, straight, and normal,”came the report from the

sonar supervisor as the twotorpedoes executed theirwire-clearancemaneuvers.The torpedoes were set to

run at medium speed untilacquisition, at which timethey would increase speedandangleup from theirdeepsearch depth beneath thelayer. At that point thetorpedoeswouldpitchupandcompletetheiraccelerationtoattackspeed.“Very well, sonar,” Mack

said.“Timetoacquisition?”“Eight minutes, thirty-five

seconds, Captain,” answeredthecombatsystemsofficer.A fewminutes laterMack

heard, “Both units haveacquired.”“Conn, sonar,Masters 135

and136areincreasingspeed,cavitatingheavily.”Sonar reported

noisemakers launched by thetwo Akulas. Mack counteredthat by ordering, “Steer the

weapons.”Cheyenne’scoursewas changed to the right byninetydegreessothebearingstotheincomingAkulasandtotheir stationary noisemakerswould diverge. When abearing spreadwas obtained,the combat systems officerreported the torpedoes oncourseforintercept.“Cut the wires, shut the

outer doors, and reload tubesthree and four,” ordered thecaptain.“Maketubesoneand

two ready in all respects,including opening the outerdoors.”He knew a melee was

abouttooccur,andhewantedCheyenneready.“Conn,sonar,wehavefour

torpedoes in the water,between bearings 270 and265. Both Akulas havelaunchedagain.”They’re also running

nearly side by side, Mackthought. It was time for

Cheyenne to clear datum. Itwas also time for morecountermeasures to belaunched.“Steady as she goes, all

ahead flank.Do not cavitate.Make your depth onethousand feet.” Mackfollowed thiswith, “Rig shipfordepthcharge.”His plan was to let the

countermeasures do theirworkwhileCheyenne quietlyranawayfromthescene.

Cheyenne reached flankspeed, on course 085, and atone thousand feet, as theRussiantorpedoesenteredthebaffles after thecountermeasures. Sonardidn’t hear Cheyenne’s lasttwotorpedoesastheyenteredtheirterminalhomingmodes.“Conn, sonar, two

explosionsinourbaffles.”But Mack couldn’t slow

yet,whichmeanthecouldn’tturnanddeterminethefateof

the Akulas. There was alsotoomuchreverberationtogetboth direct path and bottombounce information, so norange would be availableanyway.Ashortwhilelater,though,

he knew he didn’t have toturn. Sonar picked up thefamiliar implosions asexternal pressure vessels onthe Russian SSNs implodedfrom their descent to thebottom of the northern

PhilippineSea, five thousandfathomsbelow.Mackwas satisfied. Seven

more kills forCheyenne, notcounting the Hainan. That’swhat CTF 74 andCINCPACFLT had wanted:more Akula kills. And theygottwoKilokillstoboot.When they had run far

enough that the enemytorpedoes shouldhave run toexhaustion, the captainslowed and cleared

Cheyenne’s baffles to portafter proceeding above thelayer. Sonar reported nocontact, so Mack securedfrom battle stations whileCheyenne took a coursetoward the shallowwaters ofthe East China Sea. ThereCheyenne would search thelast sector around Taiwan.The TB-23 would remaindeployed for the time being,atleastuntiltheystartedtheirapproach to shallow water.

Then the TB-16 would bedeployedtotheshortstay.The atmosphere aboard

Cheyenne was one ofhappiness,buttheeuphoriaofvictory was coupled withexhaustion.Asthestresslevelineachmanslowlysubsided,anunbelievablefatiguesetin.That was the norm of

submarining, when warriorsreturning home could sleepmost of a day away. Thosewhodidnothavetocontinue

attheirwatchstationscrashedin their narrow bunks. Therewastimetosleepbeforetheypassed by the RyukyuIslands; then it was back tobeing ready for anything.Even Mack finally crawledontopofhisbunk,curlinguptofitontheshortbunk.The following day, as

Cheyenne approached thetime for coming shallow,sonar reported numerousmerchantshipcontacts,easily

identified by their huge,slowlyturningpropellers.Allwere cavitating as if theywere empty of cargo, ridinghighinthewater.Mack wasn’t about to be

careless, however. TheJapanese supertankers haddrafts of over ninety feet.Cheyenne would be cautiousongoingtoperiscopedepth.Biologics were once again

hindering the sonar search.During one of his frequent

visits to the sonar room,Mack reminded the sonaroperators to conduct carefultonalsearchesonthebearingsof the merchants and thebiologics. The operators hadalreadybeendoingthis.Theyremembered the submarinethey had found in thebiologics of the South ChinaSea.The TB-16 towed array,

having been earlier deployedin exchange for the TB-23,

was ordered to short stay asCheyenneventured inside theone hundred fathom curvesoutheast of Taipei. Now atperiscope depth, Macksighted an interesting clusterof smoke over the horizon.Therewerefourdifferentsetsof smoke patterns movingnorth. He ordered Cheyenneto track behind them atperiscope depth in theshallowwater.Hours later, with the sea

bottom once againplummeting to over twothousand fathoms, sonarreported diesel lines on thebearings of the smoke beingobserved.Mackwentdeeptocatchupforavisual,runningat full for thenext fewhoursuntilthewaterstartedtoshoalagain as they approached theonehundred fathomcurveoftheEastChinaSea.Heknewthe contacts could not beAkulassnorkeling,butifthey

were Kilos Mack wanted toknowwhatwasgoingon.Cheyenne got back to

periscope depth in onehundredfeetofwater in timetosee thefoursourcesof thenow-blacksmoke.FourKiloswere on the surface, on acourse toward the YellowSea, the playing grounds ofChina’s North Sea Fleet.Being on the surface, andapparently heading awayfrom the battle zone of the

last few days, they were nothreattoCheyenne,andMackdecidednottogoafterthem.Cheyenne had done her

part—fornow,atleast.Mackordered the floating wirereplaced. It had been flakedout in the control room,waitingtobeinstalled.As the Kilos continued to

the north, Mack watchedthem go, thinking aboutbattles past and those yet tocome. When they had

steamed over the horizon, hehad Cheyenne turned to thewest, back toward her patrolarea, and then on toTsoyingNaval Base and some well-deservedrestandrecreation.

15.SpecialDelivery

Cheyenne arrived atdaybreak, surfacing offTsoying Naval Base for theslow transit among theseemingly never-endingjunks. During his lastunderway from Tsoying,Mack had remembered thewar stories,both fromWorldWar II and Vietnam, wherethe same type of junks were

carrying large-calibermachine guns.Mack tried toputthatoutofhismind.Thissituation, thisentirewar,wasdifferent, and he didn’tbelieve that any of theseTaiwanese junks posed athreat. Still, he was thecommanding officer ofCheyenne,responsibleforthesafetyofeachandeverymanaboard, and he wouldn’t befully at ease until they weresafelyawayfromthewestern

Pacific.Just in case, however, he

also had the M-14s safelyhidden away on the bridgewhile maneuvering on thesurface in these waters. Thisdelighted their newest messspecialist, at least. He hadbeen a maximum-securityprison guard, a sharpshooterhigh ina toweradjoining theprison’s ramparts, beforedeciding to join the Navy.When the executive officer

had learned this, Mack hadgranted him the guaranteed,cherished opportunity ofbeingoneofthemaneuveringwatchlookoutsonthebridge,even before hewas qualifiedin submarines. Being on thebridgeofCheyennewas akintobeingbackinhistower.Mack’s last briefing had

not gone well, but he waslooking forward to this one.Foronething, itwasapatroldebriefing rather than a pre-

mission briefing. Evenmore,though, hewanted an updateonseveralothersituations.

He knew that Columbiaand Bremerton were onstation to provide additionalASW protection to theIndependence Battle Group.In addition, Portsmouth andPasadena had managed tomake it safely to an areasouth of the Formosa Strait,having transited the IndianOcean and South China Seawithout opposition. Mackfigured that was becauseGeneral Yu was throwing

everything atCheyenne, eastof Taiwan. Unfortunately,both SSNs were blind-sidedby an unknown submarinecontact before they couldsurface at the one hundredfathom curve. The hostilesubmarine tonals that bothPortsmouth and Pasadenadetectedduring thecourseoftheattackdidnotcorrelatetoany known submarine in theworld, and Mack was veryanxious to learn more about

it.CTF 74 communications

personnel had alreadyreaddressedeachsubmarine’sCASREPT (casualty report)to Mack. The unknownassailant had inflicted majordamage to each submarine’sstern area. Their screws hadseveral blades peened over,andboththeTB-23andTB-16towed-arrayhousingsweredamaged.Mack read thesemessages

withconflictingemotions.Onthe one hand, he was happythat no Pasadena orPortsmouth submariners hadbeenhurt.Ontheotherhand,he was saddened by thedamage to the two SSNs—and by what that damagemeant to him and his owncrew. This had been a toughtime for Cheyenne; onlythroughthegraceofGodwasCheyenne still fullyoperational.

UponCheyenne’sarrivalinthe vicinity of McKee, henoted that Pasadena andPortsmouth had moored toport and starboard,respectively, so they wouldbe close for diver repairservices. McKee’s craneswere already busy workingoverbothsternareas.Screw replacement while

still waterborne had becomeanart,sincefloatingdrydockswere not always readily

available. Plus, neitherPortsmouth nor Pasadenacould have made it to SubicBay.They’dhadtobetowedintoportatTsoying.The successful attacks had

to have a tremendousemotional impact on thecrewsofbothPortsmouthandPasadena, but Mack couldsee no sign of it. No oneappeared demoralized, andthey worked as competentlyand professionally as if

nothinghadhappened.Ontopof that, both submarinesproudly sported their browcovers, telling the worldwhich one was which, shiplogos and all. The U.S.submarine force had longsupported the policy of notpainting hull numbers on thesides of the sail whileoperating, even inpeacetime,so the brow covers providedthepublicrelationsgesture.Cheyenne was directed to

moor outboard ofPortsmouth. Theseinstructions came from theMcKee CDO over theirbridgetobridgeradios.Whenthey pulled into position,Mack could see that bothPortsmouth’s screw and thedamaged portion of the TB-16 array housing at thestarboardsternplane,thesidenearest Cheyenne, hadalready been replaced. Thesehadsufferedtheleastdamage

ofthetwosisterships.Whenfinal repairs were completedon Portsmouth’s TB-23towed-array housing on theport side, Cheyenne wouldswapplaceswithPortsmouthso that the McKee cranescould reachher for reloadingweapons.Waiting on Portsmouth

would delay Mack’s nextunderway for at least anadditional two days, but thatwas all rightwithMack.His

officersandcrew—andMackhimself—needed some timetocatchtheirbreath.Besides,he had an indication ofwhattheirmissionwasgoingtobe;if he was right, Cheyennewould have to wait a bitanyway while the Chinesepolitical situation caught uptothem.He would have liked to

make a speed run up theTaiwan countryside toTaichung. Therewas a place

there, Ruth’s ChrisSteakhouse, that served themostamazingfour-inch-thicksteaks. But he couldn’t dothat—notnow,anyway.AnumberofPortsmouth’s

crewmen were exiting theforward escape trunk aft ofthe sail. Three of them hadsound powered phonesdangling from their necks.Watching them, Mack couldtellthatthePortsmouthCDOhad already passed the word

belowdecks, “All linehandlers lay topside. Prepareto take USS Cheyennealongsidetostarboard.”Mack waved to the

PortsmouthCOandCTF74,whowerewaiting topside onPortsmouth for him, and leftthe bridge to go on deckhimself. Before doing so, hegranted the OOD permissionto secure the maneuveringwatch when he was ready,and to take on shore power

andshutdownthereactor.As he had been trained,

Cheyenne’s OOD took careof Cheyenne’s delicatelanding alongsidePortsmouth, gently nudgingthe camel between the twoSSNs. Captain Mackey wascompletely satisfied with hisOODs’ abilities to maneuverCheyenne in tight quarterswithout his having to lookover their shoulders; and themaneuveringwatchOODwas

thebestofthebest.When Cheyenne’s lines

had been doubled, the OODsecured the maneuveringwatch, passing the word onthe 1MC, then ordered overthe 7MC, “Maneuvering,conn, take on shore powerand shut down the reactor.”His last officialmaneuveringwatch duties completed, theOOD laid below to thecontrol roomto turnover theofficer of the deck duties to

the in-port duty officer,Cheyenne’sCDOfor the restoftheday.Mack had left the ship as

soon as the brow was over,and was heading forMcKeeofficer country. He expectedto meet up with the COs ofPasadena and Portsmouthand to hear thedetails of theattacks.Once aboard, but before

reaching officer country,Mack expressed his pleasure

to CTF 74 and thePortsmouthcaptainathearingthatallhandswereuninjured.That was all he or anyoneelse said about the attacksuntil they were within theprivacy of the McKeecaptain’s stateroom. Mackwasabigbelieverinkeepinghis crew informed, but thatdidn’t mean he wanted todiscusswhat couldbehighlyclassifiedinformationinfrontofunauthorizedpersonnel.

The chief mess specialiston duty in the McKeecaptain’s stateroom departedas soon as Mack and theothers arrived. When he hadgone, Mack exchangedgreetings with the captain ofPasadena and againexpressed his pleasure at thelackofinjuryaboard.Once seated around the

table, with cups of freshcoffee at their elbows, theCOs of Pasadena and

Portsmouth attempted toexplain what had happened,buttheresimplywasn’tmuchhard information they couldprovide. The first clue eitherofthemhadthattheywereintroublewaswhen they foundtorpedoes in their baffles. Inboth cases, neither of thetorpedoes had gone activeuntilitwastoolate,andtheyhad detonated at a standoffdistance. The skimpy bit ofsonar data that had been

collected over their towedarrays was only enough todetermine that tonals fromtheir attacker could not becorrelated to any specificallyknownsubmarine.Mack wasn’t surprised at

that.The standard tonals thatcorrelated to nearly everyRussian, Chinese, and ThirdWorld country ships werelittle help in differentiatingsubmarine classes. Plus therewas no screw-blade

information.Mack said, “Sounds like

what saved you was a fire-control placement ordetonation planning error.That would fit withCheyenne’s recentexperiences: newly builtsubmarines with newlytrainedChinesecrewssenttoattack experienced U.S.submarinecrews.”CTF 74 agreed with

Mack’s assessment, but he

had a further question: If thecrewswereso inexperienced,howdidtheydetectPasadenaand Portsmouth? And in anaspect that allowed passivetorpedoes to homeundetected, for a while atleast,onwhatmusthavebeenareasonablygoodsolution.“I hate to suggest it,

Admiral,” Mack said, “butmaybe someone needs to goback and re-evaluate ourposition on non-acoustic

ASW.WeretheiranyunusualChineseorRussianaircraftintheareaaroundthattime?”It was a sobering thought

foreveryofficerintheroom,and the CTF 74 admiralpromisedtogetrightonit.Hewould see what he couldlearn, and hoped to have ananswer before any of hisSSNsputtosea.Mack hoped the admiral

could turn something up. Heknew that the submarines

wouldnotwaitforananswerbefore returning to theirpatrols. There was a threatout there, andCheyenne andhersistershipswouldhavetodeal with it, whether theycouldputanametoitornot.While Mack was at his

debriefing, discussingCheyenne’srecentpatrolsandlearning what littleinformation was availableabout this new threat, hisofficers and crew were

overseeingCheyenne’srefit.The sonar men on

Pasadena and Portsmouthbrought their last sonar tapesleading up to and followingthetorpedoexplosions.ThesetapeswerefedtoCheyenne’ssonarconsolesandherBSY-1 computer consoles, whilethe sounds were played overboth the sonar room andcontrol room speakers. Thiswasnotvirtualreality.Itwasinsitu reality,starkrealityof

a new foe—a chilling newfoe.Cheyenne’ssonaroperators

and BSY-1 operators putseven different computerconsoles, four in sonar andthe three in control, to workanalyzing the sparse data.They played the tapes overand over again, enhancingthemwiththecomputerseachtime and then starting thecycle again. Theywere evenable tomerge the tapes from

both SSNs, a feat madepossible by the accuratetimekeeping systems onU.S.submarines, but theyweren’tabletolearnanythinguseful.Then they slowed the

tapes, and got their firstbreak. When the tapes wereslowed enough to producesubharmonics of the mainelectrical frequency line, thechief sonar man noted awarbling that could not beattributed to slowed tapes, or

evenmergedtapes.Thechiefsonar man had never heardthat particular sound before,butheknewwhat itwas: thesound of a previouslyunknown submarine. Morethanthat,heknewthatithadtobe an anomalyof thenewsubmarine’s signature, whichwas masked at higherfrequencies, even at the basefrequency.In order to be certain, the

chief sonar man, along with

Cheyenne’s executive officerand the sonar men fromPasadena and Portsmouth,applied this same techniqueto previous Cheyennerecordings of other Chineseand Russian submarines.Theyfoundnomatches.Thisanomalywasnew,anditwasunique. Even better, itwas alow, low frequency,somethingtheTB-23thinlinearraywould thriveon if theyletitsearchthatlow.

WhenMackwas informedof the anomaly, heimmediately dubbed it, “aslowly varying constant.”He’dpickedupthattermina“pure math” class, and itseemedmorethanappropriateforthiswarwiththeChinese.

It was several days beforethe McKee captain notifiedMackthatthenextwarpatrolbriefingwouldagainbeatthenaval base headquarters.

Mack had expected that. Hehad been alerted earlier thatCheyenne had been selectedastheobviouschoiceforthisnext—and hopefully last—mission: to move PresidentJiang into Zhanjiang NavalBase.Prior to the briefing,

CheyennewasmovednexttoMcKee as planned, exceptthat she didn’t actually swaplocations with Portsmouth.CTF74haddecidedtomove

Portsmouth outboard ofPasadenaontheothersidesothat there would be one lessmove when Cheyenne wasfinally loaded and ready tosail for southern China withPresidentJiangaboard.With all Cheyenne’s

preparations completed priortothisbriefing,Mackdecidedto make it a nearly “allhands”evolution.Allofficersdefinitelyneeded tobe there,and with the promise of

information on the new foelurkingoutthere,somewhere,waitingtotakeonthefamousCheyenne, the entire sonardivision also needed to bepresent. And with PresidentJiang and his two heaviestaking up berthing space,Mack invited the COB tomeetthespaceintruders.The chief of the boat also

needed to figure out how tokeep the president and hisheavies out of sensitive

spaces. Being on good termswith them would be easierthan trying to force thecooperation of the heavies,especially since no oneaboardCheyennecouldmatchthe sheer bulk of Jiang’sbodyguards. The COBalready had formulated aninitial plan: lots of food,desserts, and movies in the“goatlocker.”Mack had informed the

executiveofficer to take care

of the president himself. Theexecutive officer’s stateroomhad two bunks, and so hewould share his space withthe Chinese leader. Thesecond bunk had been usedby theNSGOIC,butheandhisdetachmenthadbeenoff-loaded prior to this last trip,acting as the couriers toYokosukawithMack’s latestwar patrol report under theirguard.It had been difficult for

Mack to agree for thedetachment to be transferredprior to this patrol. He wasconcerned about possiblenon-acoustic ASW aircraft,and had agreed mostlybecause he knew that ifCheyenne remained fullysubmerged for the entiretransit they wouldn’t be ableto detect ESM contactsanyway. But he did addCheyenne’sESMoperatorstothe list of briefing attendees,

justincase.The briefing turned out to

be one for the books. Itstartedoffdramaticallywhenthe briefing officer openedthe meeting with, “CaptainMackey, our commander-in-chief sends his greetings.”Then he dimmed the lightsandnoddedforthevideotaperecordertobestarted.Mackhadhalfexpectedthe

briefingofficertobekidding,or tobereferringtosomeone

else,buthewasn’t.AsMackand the assembled officerslooked on, the face of thePresidentoftheUnitedStatesfilledthescreen.“Captain Mackey,” the

Presidentsaid,speakingfromthe Oval Office, “the StateDepartmentwill soon releasea report of an impendingsummit between me,President Jiang Zemin, andPremier Li Peng in Beijing.Premier Li Peng is expected

to relinquish his claim topower at that time.” Hepaused for a moment beforegoing on. “However,” hesaid, “in all fairness toCheyenne, no mention ofyour involvement in thishistoriceventisauthorized,atleast not until you havesuccessfully delivered therightful Chinese president toZhanjiang Naval Base.” Hepaused again to allow hiswords to sink in. “Captain

Mackey, theFirstLadyandIwould like to wish youGodspeed, fair winds, and afollowing sea. Good luck toyou,andtotheheroicmenofUSSCheyenne.”The briefing officer

ordered the monitor turnedoff and the room lightsbrightened, but few peoplenoticed. Everyone wastalking, with an excitementthatwasrareeveninwartimemissionbriefings.

ThePresidenthadn’treallysaidanythingthat theydidn’tknow about, but the simplefact of the President talkingdirectly to themadded to theimportance of Cheyenne’smission.It took severalminutes for

the room to quiet down.When it did, the briefingofficer continued with hispresentation. And it didn’ttakehimlongtodropanotherbombshell.

The decommissioning ofUSSLos Angeles (SSN 688)had been canceled, thebriefingofficer said, andLosAngeleswasnearlyonstationsouth of the Formosa Strait.There had been no trafficaddressed to Cheyenneconcerning Los Angeles, butthe CTF 74 admiralconfirmed her presence. Hermission, pending routinginstructions that wouldprevent mutual interference

between Los Angeles andCayenne, was to assist inescorting Cheyenne andPresidentJiang.Thatwasaseriousmistake,

Mackthought,buthekepthismouthshut.LosAngeles wasthe first of the 688s. He’dheard that herdecommissioning had beenpostponed due to a lack offunds,buthedidn’tknowthatshestillhadenoughcrewlefttoevengetunderway,much

lesstofighttheChinese.Ontopofthat,shehadthe

“old” fire-control and sonarsystems and no TB-23 thinline array, which meant thatLosAngeleshad littlechanceto detect the new Chinesesubmarine. Mack was afraidshe would be sunk beforeCheyenne even got underway.This briefing was turning

out even worse than the lastone,Mackthought.

The briefing officerinformed him that a ChineseNorth Sea Fleet Alfa classSSN, theChung, would alsoescort Cheyenne andPresident Jiang. Chung’sorders were to stay to thewest and eventually to thenorth of a speciallyconstructed track from theFormosa Strait to ZhanjiangNavalBase,andtoproceedatanSOA(speedofadvance)ofsixknots.

Outwardly, Mack didn’treact at all, but he couldn’thelp thinking how quicklythat Alfa would disappear atthe hands of the hostilesubmarine.That didn’t reallymatter,ofcourse,herealized,not as long asChung stayedout of Cheyenne’s sector asordered.Infact,itmighthelpto flush out the new foe,whateveritwas.MackwouldtradetheAlfa

forthenewenemysubmarine

with pleasure. But LosAngeles, thatwas a differentstory. The two 688s couldtalktoandprotecteachother,but that would also bedifficultatbest.Whentheroomonceagain

quieted, the briefing officerfinallygot to the subject thatMack and his officers weremost interested in: the newthreat,andwhatitmightbe.The briefing officer said

that, according to the CIA,

the unknown submarine wasbelieved to be theculmination of recent Sino-Soviet research anddevelopment into a nextgeneration nuclear attacksubmarine. Deployment oftheMao,astheybelievedittobe called, had not beenexpected anytime soon. Butnow, with the damageinflicted upon Portsmouthand Pasadena and theevidenceofthesonartapes,it

wasobviouseven to theCIAandnavalintelligencethattheMaowasouttherewaitingforCheyenne.When it looked like the

briefing officer had no moreto say on the subject, Mackasked the other question hedesperatelyneededanswered.“Whataboutthenon-acousticASW?”“Sorry, Captain,” the

briefing officer said,obviously prepared for the

question. “CIA still does notbelieve that an aircraft canuse lasers to detectsubmerged objects and tocommunicate with theirsubmarines.”Mack hated that answer.

He hated it because theanswer wasn’t, “The CIAcheckedthisoutandfoundnoevidence.” Instead, theanswerwassimply,“TheCIAcannot believe this, and sotheywon’tcheckitout.”

Changing the subject,Mack asked if either theHainan class mine layer orthe mine-laying Romeo thatCheyenne sank last patrolcould have laid mines nearZhanjiangNavalBase beforethey proceeded up the coastfrom Mandarin Bay. ThebriefingofficeransweredthatChinese minesweepers hadscoured the area and foundnone.TheotherCOsintheroom

seemed satisfied with thatanswer, but Mack wasn’t sosure.Hewouldactuallyhavefeltbetter if theminesweeperhad found some mines anddisposedofthem.Eitherway,though, he knew that theremight bemines strewn alongthe last leg of Cheyenne’sroute. They would simplyhave to take appropriateprecautions, either withMIDAS or an off-boardsensor.If,thatis,anyMk48s

remained by the time theyentered that lasthazardzone,the shallow-water leg enroute to the ZhanjiangNavalBase.The pre-mission briefing

came to an end shortly afterthis, but Mack soon foundthat there were moreunpleasant surprises waitingforhim.WhenhereturnedtoCheyennehelearnedfromthecombat systems officer thatMcKee,ontheordersofCTF

74, was still restricting historpedo loads, even though,to date, Portsmouth andPasadena had expendednone.He thoughtofasking fora

few from Pasadena andPortsmouth, since theywouldn’tbeputtingouttoseaanytime soon, but he didn’twant to get into interfleethassles. Once again onlytwentyMk 48ADCAPwereonboardCheyenne.

Three hours after thebriefing was over, PresidentJiangandhistwobodyguardswere led belowdecks by theexecutive officer and theCOB. Mack could haveallowed them to remain onthe bridge, but he didn’t. Itwastoocrowdedalready,andhe was still angry over theloadout.Cheyenne’s underway was

uneventful, and the M-14sMack had on the bridge

stayedsafelyintheirracks.After submerging, Mack

ordered the OOD to streamthe floating wire. He alsoordered the TB-23 towedarray deployed far enough toensure that the 960 feet ofhydrophones were clear oftheir housing. After that,Cheyenne headed for thethree hundred-fathom curve,whichshewouldfollowattheestablished six-knot SOAuntil shewas due east of the

Zhanjiang Naval Base. Thenshe would have nearly threehundred miles of westerlytransit across the widest partofthecontinentalshelf,allinless than one hundredfathomsofwater.The Chinese Alfa,Chung,

was presumably in board ofCheyenne,whereitbelonged,morethan20,000yardsawayaccording to its sectorrestrictions.AndLosAngeleswas outboard in the deeper

water to the east, where shewouldremainuntiltheturntothe west. Then Los AngeleswouldwatchCheyenne’s180,as President Jiang hadquippedearlier.Mack’s biggest concern

wastheMao.TheTB-23wastheirbestbet fordetecting it,and if they didn’t encounterthe unknown submarinebefore they had to switch tothe TB-16 towed array, theycouldbeintrouble.

Cheyenne, Los Angeles,andChungheardnothingbutfishing fleet and othermerchant traffic. All threecaptainswererelyingontheircontingent to do what andwhen they were supposed todo.A day and a half later, as

Cheyenne was nearing theturning point, sonar reportedseveral conformal-arraysubmarine contacts to thenorthwest, two at high speed

on converging bearings.Mack manned battle stationsand launched one of severalSSIXS buoys, with pre-arranged reports just in casesomething like this were tohappen. That was the safestway to communicate eventsto Los Angeles—SSIXS toCTF74forturnaroundtoLosAngeles for copying on herfloatingwire.By the time battle stations

weremanned, sonarhad four

sonar contacts to thenorthwest. Only one wasChung, as determined by theAlfa tonals. The other threewereAkulas.Chungwasalsocommunicating byunderwater telephone, whichwas being answered by onlyoneAkula.Without aChinese linguist

aboard—oraRussianoneforthatmatter—Mackcouldonlyguessatwhatwasbeingsaid,but he assumed that the

Chung captain was trying totalk himself out of a badsituation. The Chinesecaptain’s answer came in theform of three torpedoes, onefrom each of the threeAkulas, which were trackingon the bearing of the still-squawkingChung.Mack shook his head. The

Chung captain had not beeninept.Hehadbeenambushedby three of his fellowcommanding officers, who

were under the command ofthe still-at-large General YuQuili, and he had done thebest he could against them.His talking with the Akulason the underwater telephonemay have given his positionaway, but it also gave hisAlfa submarine fire controlsystem the ranges andbearings of the Chinesebullies.Hemanagedtolaunchtwo

ofhisET-80torpedoesbefore

Chungwashitbythree65cmtorpedoes.The Cheyenne control

roomandsonarroomwereintotalsilenceastheywitnessedthe carnage. They had seentheir share of enemy shipsdestroyed, but there wassomethingaboutthespectacleof Chinese submarinerskilling themselves that madethisespeciallypoignant.Five explosions and four

submarines had been

involvedinthefray,andonlyone Akula survived itunscathed.Aftertheexplosions,Mack

turnedtothesouthtoheadforthe five hundred-fathomcurve, where he could fullydeploy the TB-23. He hopedthat the rapid turnaroundpromised by the CTF 74communicatorshadhappenedby now. The SSIXS buoyinstructions were for movinghaven changes to the south

for both Cheyenne and LosAngeles.Los Angeles had received

the instructions and hadexecuted the turnasdirected,not knowing that she washeadingtowardtheMao.TheSino-Russian sub was layingin wait thirty degrees to theleftofhertrack,expectingtheattacking Akulas to causeCheyenne toturnawaytothesouth.The Mao captain did not

knowthatLosAngeleswasinthe area, so when the Maogained sonar contact heassumedthatitwasCheyenneand the notorious CaptainMackey.Withinminutes,fourMao torpedoes were headinginadepthandazimuthspreadatthetarget.LosAngelesgotoffasnap

shot. Then she launchedcountermeasures, turnedaway towarddeepwater,andincreased speed to flank en

routetoonethousandfeet.The Mao captain had

expectedthis.Hehadreadthereports from the fewsurviving commandingofficerswhohadtangledwithMack,andhefeltheknewtheAmerican’s tactics. EvenbeforeLos Angeles launchedcountermeasures, the Maocaptain was swinging hissubmarine to starboard. Assoon as his ship was inposition, he launched four

more torpedoes, leading theU.S.SSNperfectly.He had sprung his trap

exactly ashe’dhoped, and ifthe ship he had targeted had,indeed, been Cheyenne,Mack’sshipwouldhavebeendestroyed.Asitwas,theMaocaptain’s ambush became hisowndeathtrap.Cheyenne’s sonars had

picked up the first set oftorpedo launches from theMao. The noise from the

secondsetfinalizedtherange,bearing and course. Macklaunched the two Mk 48sfrom tubes one and two, andfollowed them with the twofromtubesthreeandfour.TheMao captain was too

busylisteninginthedirectionofhisown torpedoesand thefrantically racing LosAngeles to notice that fourMk 48 ADCAPs wereinboundtowardhisposition.Cheyenne’s first two

torpedoes acquired the Maojust as the first two ChinesetorpedoesstruckLosAngeles.TheMaoneverheardMack’sweapons, as the remainingtwo Mk 48s acquired thehostilesubmarineatthesametimeLos Angeles was finallydestroyed by the last fourMaotorpedoes.The sound of the

explosions—two,followedbyfour, followed by two, andthen by two more—was

incredible,andmore than theCheyenne sonar men couldwithstand. They all took offtheir headsets, turned downthe speaker volume, andwatched their sonar consolesilluminate.Mack kept all hands at

battle stations and proceededtotakeCheyennetotestdepthas a salute to their lost ship-mates aboard Los Angeles.Submarinersatseaaroundtheworld had done this same

thing as soon as they hadbeen informed that ThresherandScorpionwerelostatseawithallhandsaboard.Mack didn’t have to say

anything to the crew. Theyknew. The sound of theexplosions through the hulltold them at least onesubmarinehaddiedoutthere.ThedownangleasCheyenneheaded for test depth toldthemwhoithadbeen.Only President Jiang and

his two bodyguards didn’tunderstand,andMackwas innomoodtotellthem.The ocean was now quiet,

except for the occasional“hull popping” as Cheyenneslowly descended, headingsouth toward the safety ofdeep water. Only when shehad leveled out at test depthdid Captain Mackey pick upthe 1MC. He’d alwaysthought holding memorialservices for a lost crewman

wasthehardestjobhe’deverface, but conductingmemorial services for anentireshipwasmuchharder.Then Cheyenne pitched

slowly to a gentle up angleand her hull started poppingagain as Mack cameshallower,turningbacktothenorth to look for the lastAkula. He wouldn’t find it,though.Theexplosionsoftheother twoAkulas had causedenough overpressure damage

that the last Akula captainhad been forced toemergency-surface and limpfromthearea.

As Cheyenne approachedthe time for coming shallownear the shelf, sonar reportednumerous merchant shipcontacts, but still nosubmarinecontacts.Asusual,biologicshinderedthesearch,and they could not gain anycontact on an Akula as

Cheyenne entered shallowwater,headingwesttodeliverher precious cargo. Battlestations were secured andboth towed arrays werehoused at the one hundred-fathomcurve.Mack had the feeling that

Cheyenne had faced her lastopponent and that they wereout of trouble, but he didn’tlet his guard down. It wasonly a feeling, and he knewhe still needed to be on the

lookoutformines.Finally back at periscope

depth,Macksenthismessagetraffic concerning the battlesand the loss of Los Angeles.The ESM operator reportedcommunications from aChinese HF radio to thenorth. Acting on a previousthought that he had kept tohimself, Mack asked if theChinese president wouldmind translating somethingfor them. When the tape of

the comms was delivered tothewardroomandplayed forPresident Jiang, a smilespreadquicklyoverhisface.“CaptainMack, that is the

commanding officer of thelast of Yu’s Akulas. Hereportedhewasdamagedandhe is heading for ZhanjiangNavalBaseon the surface toask for amnesty from theJiang Zemin government forhimselfandhismen.”Since the weather was

calm, Mack decided tosurfaceCheyenne and followthe Akula into ZhanjiangNaval Base. This time heallowed President Jiang onthe bridge, giving him ahand-heldHFradiosothathecould act as interpreter forMack indiscussionswith theChinesecaptainoftheAkula.Mack advised the Akula COthat Cheyenne would followhim into port from theAkula’sstern,butthathehad

oneMk48,oneHarpoon,andone Tomahawk antishipmissile trained directly athim.Cheyenne steamed safely

into the naval base anddeliveredhercargo, and thenmade a slow transit back toTsoying. En route, the newscamethatChinahadformallydeclaredacease-fire.The war was over. The

United States, with the helpofCheyenne,hadwon.

Mack heard the newswithamixture of joy and sadness—joy that his crewwas safeoncemore,withnothingmorethan the hazards of the deepto worry about, and sadnessatthecost.Forhoweverlonghe remained at sea, thememory of those lost wouldstaywithhim.

UnitedStatesNaval

OfficerReceivesChinese“OrderofChairmanMaoTse-

Tung”

November9,1997Web Posted at 11:00 P.M.

EST(1600GMT)

FromBeijing bureau chiefJulieMeyer

BEIJING (TCN)—In anunprecedented ceremony atChina’s South Sea FleetHeadquarters, ZhanjiangNaval Base, Chinesepresident Jiang Zeminbestowed the coveted “OrderofChairmanMaoTse-Tung”tothecommandingofficeroftheUSSCheyenne(SSN773)for his valorous efforts insingle-handedly devastatingthe renegade Premier Li

Peng’s and General YuQuili’s submarines,purchasedwithfundsdivertedfromtheChinesepeople.Notto be outdone, the Presidentof the United States recalledthe commanding officer totheWhiteHouse.

PresidentBestowsMedalofHonoron

WarHeroSubmariner

November10,1997Web Posted at 2:00 P.M.

EST(1900GMT)

From Washington chiefcorrespondent MichaelFlasetti

WASHINGTON (TCN)—

The President today placedthe coveted Medal of Honorribbon with its large medalaround the neck of CaptainBartholomew Mackey,commanding officer of USSCheyenne(SSN773).CaptainMackey’s submarinewas thesingleforceinSoutheastAsiathat literally destroyed theChinese submarine force,accounting for over sixtyauthenticated kills withoutsustaining any damage to his

own ship. In anunprecedented meeting ofCongress prior to the event,CaptainMackeywasselectedforpromotiontorearadmiral,lower half, being read intolaw by the Senate majorityleader. This in itself was anunprecedented move onCongress’spart,sincetherearadmiral selection board,withits congressionalconfirmation, was monthsaway. And the last officer

promotion that Congress hadtakenoutof thehandsof theNavy was when theypromotedAdmiralHymanG.Rickover,thefatherofUnitedStates Navy NuclearPropulsion.AndwhereisRearAdmiral

“Mack” Mackey? A sourceclose to his family, whichasked the CIA not to beidentified,saidthatinsteadofthrowingquartersinthelawnto keep the kids out of the

house while Mack and hiswife renewed their vows,RearAdmiralMackeyandhiswife left for the cold andsnow of upstate New York,intendingontakingpartintheLake Champlain SubmarineTeam Races, “Frostbite 97,”followed by two weeks ofskiing at their chalet. CIAsaid the source is deemedreliable, since his family istaking care of the Mackeychildren.And thereyouhave

it,somuchforCIAsecrecy.

InterviewIntroduction

Captain DougLittlejohns,CBE,RN(Ret.),is one of the finest navalofficersIhaveevermet,andIam proud to call him myfriend. His distinguishedcareer includes threecommandtours,HMSOsiris,HMS Sceptre, and HMSLondon,respectivelyadiesel-poweredsubmarine,anuclear

fast-attack submarine, and amissile-armed frigate. Inaddition, Doug wasoperations officer for NATOsubmarines in the EasternAtlantic,AssistantDirectorofNaval Warfare for U.K.missile submarines, PrincipalStaff Officer to the Chief oftheDefenseStaff,Marshalofthe Royal Air Force LordDavid Craig, during thePersian Gulf War, andcommanding officer of the

Royal Navy’s engineeringcollege,HMSThunderer. Hehas seen and done it all. Ifyou want to know why theNavy’s been around for solong, people like Doug arethereason.

James Adams, whoconducted the interview, isalso a good friend, and asWashington Bureau Chief ofThe SundayLondonTimes isone of the finest writers I

know. He writes extensivelyonU.S.domesticandforeignpolicy and on such issues asnuclear proliferation andinternationalterrorism.

James Adams: Tom,Doug, thank you very muchfor joiningme today.Tom,ahallmark of your work is itsreality—it’sclosetothetruth,alwaysonthecuttingedgeofthe political scene. You two

have chosen China for SSNas the principal antagonist.DoyouseeChinaasa threatto the stability of the worldtoday?

TomClancy:Well, Chinais a country that doesn’treally knowwhat itwants tobe. On the one hand they’retrying to develop a freemarket economy and givetheir citizens economicfreedom. On the other hand

we had Tiananmen Square,where theydecided that theircitizenscouldhaveeconomicfreedom, but not politicalfreedom. This is aconsiderable imbalance.Moreover, in this particularcase,wealsohavetheSpratlyIslands. There appear to beconsiderable deposits of oilthere. And you’ll recall thatfourteen years ago that wasthe reason that Argentinawent after the Falkland

Islands—the thought thatthere might be oil there thatthey could exploit. EventhoughArgentina iscurrentlyself-sufficientinoil.A war of aggression is

really nothing much morethan a large-scale armedrobbery. Is this scenarioplausible? I think it’s quiteplausible.Becausenationsaregreedy. Particularly Marxistnations.

JamesAdams:Doug, youservedoutintheFarEastasasubmariner. Do you agreewith that? Was the potentialthreatposedbyChinapartofthe war game that went onwhenyouwereoutthere?

Captain DougLittlejohns: I was out therein themid ’60s. That was atthe time of the Indonesiaconfrontation, and we didn’treally think much about

Chinainthosedays.

JamesAdams:Wouldyoubuy the general scenario asseeing China becoming abiggerplayeronthescene?

Captain DougLittlejohns: Oh, very muchso. And I think this is anextremelygoodplot.

James Adams: Tom, youtalked briefly about the

Spratlys. Tell me a bit moreabout them.We’vereada lotaboutthem,andweknowthatmanynationsclaimthem,andI think thatChinahas landedships on them. And so haveothercountries.Whatexactlyisthestatusofthoseislands?

TomClancy: The SpratlyIslandsarekindoflikeadeadgrandfather with a heck of abig estate. And everybodywants to claim to be the

number-one heir. In fact, Ithink that China’s territorialclaim to the Spratlys isfictitious.

JamesAdams:Tenuousatbest.

Tom Clancy: Especiallygiven their location. Butthey’re such inhospitablepieces of real estate thatwhoevercangetthere,plantaflag,anddefenditisgoingto

ownthem.

James Adams: And youthinkthatthisscenario,whereChinaisanaggressorbecauseof political instabilityinternally,mightbearealisticdriverinthenearfuture?

Tom Clancy: Well,historically, a nation withinternal problems willexternalize. And nothingdrawsacountry together like

an external threat. Or aperceived external threat. It’sthe classical methodhistoricallytouniteacountry.

JamesAdams:Doug, youhave tremendous experienceinsubmarines.Thisisastoryaboutsubmarines.We’reinapost-Cold War world now.We devoted a great deal ofenergy to dealing with thepotential threat from theSoviet submarine fleet. But

now we’re in a differentenvironment. What do youthink is the strategic andtactical roleof submarines inthepost-ColdWarworld?

Captain DougLittlejohns: It ranges rightacross the spectrum, startingobviously with the majorstrategic use of a submarine—which is to launchintercontinental ballisticmissiles.Butinthissituation,

the submarine can be usedstrategically by taking up aposition off an enemy area.Its existence is then madeknowntotheenemy.Wehada very good example of thatin the ’70s when Argentinawasmaking noises about theFalklands. We dispatched anSSNdownthere,andwetoldthem it was there. And thatputoffthebusinessforafewyears.

JamesAdams:But in thatparticularsituation,Argentinahad no counter force tocombat that. They weren’tcapablereallyofdealingwiththe submarines that we had.That’s not the case withChina, where they have apretty extensive anti-submarinewarfarecapability.

Captain DougLittlejohns: Well, they havean anti-submarine warfare

capability. I don’t think youcanput it in the same leagueas the anti-submarinecapability of NATO nationsor, indeed, of the formerSoviet Union. So for thegame—and for reality—thetechnical superiority of theU.S. submarine force faroutweighs the capability thatChina, on its own today,couldputagainstthem.

James Adams: In other

words, the submarines thatthe Americans can field arequieter and faster than thecapability of the Chinese tofind with their sonars andothertechnologies.

Captain DougLittlejohns: Yes. At thisstage. But the world alwaysmoveson.Ithinkthatforthescenario

that we’re looking at here—which isn’t cast in today’s

technological climate—theAmerican submarines wouldhave a pretty good timeagainsttheirASWforces.

James Adams: Tom, doyou think that the ChineseNavy would have anyrealistic chance against theUnited States? They have alot of numbers but notmuchcapability,andthere’sahugetechnological gap betweenthetwo.

Tom Clancy: One of thethingsyouhave to rememberabout combat is that it’s notreally a technical exercise.It’s a human exercise, and apsychological exercise. It’snotmachineagainstmachine,it’s person against person.Andwealltoooftenoverlookthat. The difference betweenagoodnavyandabadnavyisthe quality in the training ofits personnel. You know,

better to have good men inbad ships than bad men ingood ships. If the Chinesedecide to make it a nationalgoaltoupgradetheirNavy—and, of course, they don’treally have a Navy; it’s theNavalBranchofthePeople’sLiberationArmy—butiftheydecided to really investsometime and money in it todevelop the capabilities theyneed, they could indeed bequiteformidable.

China does have amaritime history that we alltoooftenforget.

James Adams: Butthey’ve been trying toupgradeland,sea,andairforsome years now. They’veinvestedalotofmoney,andalotofpeople.Butthey’venotbeen able to bridge thattechnological gap betweenthe United States and theNATO forces and what they

currently have. They have alot of things, but can theytake that training and thattechnology and bring themtogether tomake it effective,doyouthink?

Tom Clancy: Thefundamental power base ofany country is its economy.China has a very rapidlygrowing economy. They’remaking computers. They’remaking all manner of

products, which can be soldworldwide. If they can dothat, they can make damnnearanything.

JamesAdams: So do youthink that today we treatChinawithkidglovesthatareperhaps inappropriate? Doyou see them as a threat, assomepeoplewouldargue,forthestabilityoftheworld?

TomClancy:Idon’tknow

thatIwouldgoquitethatfar.Probably the country atgreatest risk from Chineseaggression would be Russia,theformerSovietUnion.DowetreatChinainaway

which causes me difficulty?Yes. When Deng Xiaopingstompedonthedemonstratorsin Tiananmen Square, weshould have done something,for two reasons: First of all,America should not dobusiness with countries that

do such things to its owncitizens.Moreover,andthisissomething frequentlyoverlooked, that act wasdeliberately taken in theknowledge that Bernie ShawandCNNwerefilmingit—orsendingitoutliveatthetime—on global television. Theywere,indeed,thereforetellingthe world, “Drop dead. Thisisthewaywedobusinessandifyoudon’t likeit, that’s toobad.” I question the ethicsof

doingbusinessasusualwithacountry that is so grosslyrepressive as the People’sRepublicofChina.

James Adams: Doug, inSSNwe have a very realisticportrayal of what it’s like tobe in command of asubmarine. Something thatyou have done. Can you tellme a bit about what sort oftraining goes in to make acommander? What is looked

for, psychologically and inpractical terms, in somebodywhocandeliver?

Captain DougLittlejohns: First of all, thegame is designed to put theplayeroutside thesubmarine,if you like, to envisage thetactical situation around himin his mind’s eye. And tohaveapictorialrepresentationof that. That is where thegame is unique.Nothing like

thishasbeendonebefore.Asfor what makes a goodsubmarinecommander,thatisreally almost impossible toquantifyproperly.

JamesAdams:YougoonacourseinEnglandcalledthePerisherCourse,don’tyou?

Captain DougLittlejohns:Oh,yes.

James Adams: What do

they make you do in thatcourse?

Captain DougLittlejohns: First of all,there’s a big weeding outprocessbeforeyouevergettothat point. Lots of peoplewant to be submariners, butwhentheygettheretheyfindtheydon’tlikethewayoflifeor the hours they have tokeep.

James Adams: Whataboutclaustrophobia?

Captain DougLittlejohns: I’ve only everseen one member of asubmarinewhosufferedfromclaustrophobia. In the main,you just don’t experience it.Human beings are veryadaptable. By the time whatwecallintheRoyalNavythesubmarine Perisher comesalong, most people are well

imbued into submarines.Then it’s a question ofwhether they’ve got both thestaminaandthementalacuity—the particular ability toremember a tactical pictureafterhavingglancedatitonlyvery briefly. With thesubmarine tossing around,maneuvering all over theplace, it’s very difficult tostill be able to know wherethe various components ofthattacticalpictureare.

That isaparticular typeofspatial awareness althoughwe didn’t have that termwhenIdidthecourse.

James Adams: That isvery similar to the effect inSSN, where you’re having tosimulate essentially what thespatialpicturelookslike.

Captain DougLittlejohns: Yes. And theplayer has got to be able to

assimilate the information—which is not coming in asthickand fast as itdoesonareal submarine, but it’sreasonably realistic. If hedoesn’t assimilate theinformation, if he can’t putthings in the right priorityorder and tackle them in asensibleway,thenhewillgetcaught.

James Adams: Tom,Doug is a good friend of

yours and has been for anumber of years. You alsoknow a number ofAmericanequivalents to Doug. Whatwould you say is thedifference between a Britishand an American submarinecommander?

Tom Clancy: I’ve gottenintoalotoftroubleonthis.

Captain DougLittlejohns: And you could

getintroublehere,now.

Tom Clancy: I’ve beensufficientlypropagandizedbyDoug and a few of hispartnersincrimeintheRoyalNavythatIoncepublishedanarticle suggesting that theRoyal Navy trained itssubmarine skippers betterthan the U.S. Navy did.Whichearnedmetheundyingwrath of a certain seniorofficer in the United States

Navy.You can argue long and

hard about the differencebetween having a specialistand a generalist. Generallyspeaking, I think the RoyalNavy has a way ofdeveloping its officers andidentifying its stars. It beatsthe hell out of them towinnowthemout,andthenitpickstheabsolutebestofthatgroup to command. It is abletoawardcommandatamuch

youngeragethanwedointheU.S.Navy.I think that’s a

fundamentallyhealthything.

James Adams: So wouldyou say that implies that theBritish commanders tend tobeyounger,moreaggressive,and havemore initiative? Oris it that itmerelycomesoutinadifferentway?

Tom Clancy: It’s well

within the range of personalvariances—we have goodones, they have good ones,wehave bad ones, they havebadones.Generallyspeaking,Iwouldsaythattheirmethodfor advancing theirprospective commandingofficers is somewhat betterthanours.

James Adams: Do youagreewiththat,Doug?

Captain DougLittlejohns: Yes, I do. I’mnot so sure about the “wehave bad ones,” but I’ll letTomgetawaywiththat.To go back to something

thatTomsaidearlier,alotofthetechnicalcapabilityoftheU.S. submarines is of higherquality than ours, butsomehoworotherwemanageto achieve the same sort ofresults. And the two navieswork very closely together.

Particularlyon thesubmarinefront.

James Adams: And whatabout the Chinese? What dowe know about how theytrain and perform in theirnavies? Do we have anysenseofthatreally?

Tom Clancy: Well, it’s aCommunist country, and theCommunists do not rewardpersonal initiative ... except

byexecution.Now,inCommunistChina,

you have the odd situationwhere they’re trying todevelop a free marketeconomy without politicalfreedom. And that isultimately going to fail.Because that doesn’t work.But until such time as thathappens, we do face apotentialadversary,giventhefact that they do have theindustrial capability to

produce just about anythingthey want, of high enoughquality. If they can selltelevision sets throughout theworld, then they can build anuclear submarine. It’s just amatterofqualitycontrol.Andif they want the oil in theSpratly Islandsall thatbadly,which theyprobablydo, thenit’s simply a matter ofestablishing as a nationalpriority to make a Navywhichiscompetitivewiththe

rest of the world. If theydecidetodothat,theycan.Historically, Kaiser

WilhelmIIdecidedtomakeaNavy which was quitecompetitive with the RoyalNavy. And they did it in,what?Onegeneration?

Captain DougLittlejohns: And, of course,the former Soviet Union hadto go through the sametransformation in the ’60s,

after the Cuban MissileCrisis.Theycertainlyneededto build up a deep waterNavy. And they did that. Ittook them probably ten,fifteen years—not just to gettheequipment,but tobeableto use it to a reasonablestandard.

James Adams: Yes. Andthey developed a veryeffectivesubmarinefleet.One of the points of this

game is that we have Russiapassing on some equipmentto theChinese.Doyou thinkthat’s realistic? Will theRussianssell theirsoul,sotospeak? I mean, theirsubmarine fleet is really theonly thing that’s left of theirNavythat’seffective.

Captain DougLittlejohns: Well, they’vesoldsubmarinestootherpartsoftheworld.

James Adams: Most ofthem, though, have beenpretty low-grade, old-fashioned things, right? ToIran?

Captain DougLittlejohns: They’ve alsosold nuclear submarines toIndia. And whether they’repotential adversaries or not,there are clearly still linksthere. But Tom would know

moreaboutthatthanme.

Tom Clancy: It’s apolitical and economicquestion.TheRussiansaresostrapped now for hardcurrency that if you makethem the right kind of offer,they’llprobablydeliver.

James Adams: And theChinese have enough hardcurrencybycomparison?

TomClancy:We’vegotatradeimbalanceinChinathatwould buy half the SovietNavy.

James Adams: In thesameway,thegamesupposesthata takeoverof theSpratlyIslands is the beginning of amoveonTaiwan.WesawtheexercisesoffTaiwanrecently,which looked veryintimidating. Do you thinkthat remains a Mainland

Chinaambition?

TomClancy: It could be.The Falkland IslandsWar of1982 is an interestinghistorical model. Why didthat happen? It happenedbecausethemilitaryjuntathatruled Argentina at the timewas making such a botch ofrunning theirnation that theyhad to find something todistract theirpeople from thescrewups they had at home.

Andtheydidthatbygrabbingthe Falklands and causing aparticularly pointless littlewar.In thecaseof thePeople’s

Republic of China, one wayto distract their people fromtheir political difficulties athome is to externalize. OnetargetisHongKong.They’regoing to absorb Hong Kongvery shortly.And if theycanabsorb Taiwan, they’ll havean enormously powerful

economy.Also, they would put

“paid”onalong-standingbillwithChiangKai-shekandthePao Min Tong. And theChinesearepeoplewith longmemories.

James Adams: But thiswouldnotbewithout cost. Itwouldbedifficult to imaginethe United States sitting byandsaying,“Okay,guys,takeitover.”

Tom Clancy: This isunknown. It is a fact ofU.S.law that America has aparticularly schizophrenicpolicy toward China. On theone hand we acknowledgethat there is only one China.And yet, on the other hand,wesaythisisnottrue.Butifthe People’s Republic ofChina attacks Taiwan, we’renot going to like it verymuch.

Now those two statementsof policy are incompatible,butthatisstandingU.S.law.

Captain DougLittlejohns:Ithinktheworldshould watch very carefullywhat the Chinese militarydoes now. When they didtheir exercises off Taiwan,they had to sort of backdown.Itwillbeinterestingtoseehowtheyrespondtothat,and whether they feel that

they’ve got to pour moremoney or focusmoremoneyincertainareastoensurethatthatneverhappensagain.

Tom Clancy: A furthercomplication: What’s thenearest U.S. Navy base?Wedon’t have Subic Bay in thePhilippines anymore. Wehave to stage out of thenearest one we have—whichIguessisJapan.Andthat’sagoodlydistance.

James Adams: Yes, it is.AndwouldJapanreallywantthat either, if China wasrattlingsabers?

Tom Clancy: Goodquestion.

Captain DougLittlejohns: They’re notterriblykeenonnuclears.

Tom Clancy: No, they’re

not. The next nearest fleetbase is Pearl Harbor, andthat’s3,000miles.

JamesAdams:Givemeasenseofwhatit’slikeinsideasubmarine in a crisis.You’reunderattack.Youdon’tquiteknow where the enemy is.You’ve got to find them,retaliate,andatthesametimetake evasive action. What’stheflavorofthatlike?What’sthe smell, the taste of the

drama?

Captain DougLittlejohns: Well, the firstthingI’d like togetacross topeople—and I think theplayer needs to get that aswell—is professionalism.People remain reasonablycoolandcalm.Theyhave to,to do their job, becauseeverybody is depending oneverybodyelse.

James Adams: It didn’tlook like that in CrimsonTide,ofcourse.

Captain DougLittlejohns:Well...IthoughtCrimson Tide was a greatmovie until about halfwaythroughit.

JamesAdams: Until theirmutinystarted.

Captain Doug

Littlejohns: I hope thatwasn’tmadebyParamount.Having said that,you train

for it all the time. Andtherefore it’s almost—well,second nature is probablyputting it too far, but if youcompare a submarine to asmooth-running engine, thena little perturbation like anattackand soon just notchesitup toadifferentgear.Andpeople respond to that. I’veneverexperiencedhysteriaor

peoplejumpingupanddown.They just get on and do thejob.

James Adams: What wasyour worst experience as asubmariner?

Captain DougLittlejohns:Ithinktheworstexperience was when I hadwater coming in when itshouldn’t have been cominginwhenIwasprettyclose to

my maximum diving depth.But that was handled verynicely.

James Adams: What didyoudo?

Captain DougLittlejohns:Well,wewereina place where we couldsurface in a hurry. AndactuallyIwasveryimpressedbythewaypeopleresponded.They did all the right things

in the right order at the righttime.

James Adams: Has thatalwaysbeenyourexperience?Therehaven’tbeenoccasionswhere people have said ordone things that take itoutside of the normalperformanceloop?

Captain DougLittlejohns: If thesubmarineistakenoutsideofthenormal

performance loop then thecaptain will do that—and doit very advisedly, because heknowstheriskshe’srunning.But there are tacticalscenarioswhenyouwillneedto do just that. If you’re aprofessional, and you knowthe capabilities and thelimitations, not only of yourkit and your crew but ofyourself—which is the mostimportant one—then you candoitandgetawaywithit.

JamesAdams:Inonepartof the game the commanderofthesubmarineCheyenneisinstructedtofireonlyiffiredupon.Thatseemstometobea very vulnerable position tobe put in, because you’replaced not in a proactiveposition,butinareactiveone.Whichisnotahappystatetobein.

Tom Clancy: Well, you

won’t have a Navycommander initiating warbetween two superpowers.That’s seventeenth- andeighteenth-centurystuff.

JamesAdams:Butdoyoualsowanttoallowyourselftobe in a position where youcangettakenout?

Tom Clancy: That’s apolitical decision. InAmerica, the military is

controlledbycivilians.

Captain DougLittlejohns: So it iselsewhere. I never served inanSSBN—aboomer—but toanswer James’s question,when you go to sea in anSSN, you go on semi-warfooting.You’vegottorpedoesloaded, particularly if you’redoing some interestingoperations.And thenyou arein the situation you’ve just

described. You could findsomebodyfiringatyouatanymoment,butyoucan’tgooutand initiate things. Becausemilitarydon’tmakewar,theyconductawarwhichismadebythepoliticians.

James Adams: That’s afine distinction. Tom, whatabout your experiences onsubmarines?

Tom Clancy: Well, for

one thing, they were all tiedalongside while I was onboard.Withoneexception.

James Adams: What wastheexception?

TomClancy:Isteppedoffa tugboat onto the portsidefairwater plane of U.S.S.Hammerhead,walked across,and climbed up into the sail,soNewsweekcouldtakesomephotographs of me being a

fool.

Captain DougLittlejohns:Andyouweren’tseasick?

Tom Clancy: Not in theleast. I was too scared to beseasick. There was only alittlebitofwaterbetweenthepressure hull of thesubmarine and the tugboat. Ifigured I was on a realthinningprogramifIfelloff.

James Adams: Gettingback to the game, in one ofthe missions we meet theAkulaclasssubmarineforthefirst time. By then, we’vealready met the Han class.Describe for me, Tom, thedistinctions between the twoandtheircapabilities.

Tom Clancy: It’s thedifferencebetweenaModelTFord and a current day

Ferrari. The Akula is a veryformidable platform. Towardthe end of the life of theSoviet Union, they actuallystarted to understand whatnavieswereallabout.

James Adams: With thehelpof—?

TomClancy: Phillip JohnWalker. Yes, he was veryhelpfultotheminsomeways.Fortunately, one of the other

things they found is that it’sawfully expensive to do itright.The Akula is the rough

equivalent of an early 688class, which means that itmay be, what? Fifteen yearsbehind current technology.But that’s only a fewpercentage points ofperformance.

Captain DougLittlejohns: It’s a major

step/change/ improvement incapability. In my early daysin submarines, if one wentout tosea in theAtlanticandhung around for a bit, onewas bound to find a Russiansubmarine. And you knewthat he wasn’t going to beabletofindyou.Now the situation ismuch

more mind focusing. Nowyou can’t go out there andjust crash around and expectto always have a tremendous

sonaradvantageoverhim.

James Adams: But itseems to have been the case,Tom,thatsincetheendoftheColdWar the Russians havebeen organizing a prettyseverechangeinthewaytheymakeupthesubmarinefleets,getting rid of the old ones,keeping up the new ones,refining the crews so thatthey’re better trained, betterorganized, and investing in

new submarines. Do youthink that’s right? How doesthat capability stack up thesedays?

Tom Clancy: I’ve yet tofigure out exactly what theRussianswere thinkingaboutin terms of defense policy.Historically, they’re acontinental power, not amaritime power, and thebiggest national securitythreat they face is probably

China.Now there are peoplein Moscow who still worryabout the Germans, but Iguess that’s because they’vebeen reading the recenthistory. They do not face amaritime threatperse,whichmakes me wonder why thehell they continue to buildsome ships. Retiring the oldshipswas just tosavemoneyand they had no real tacticalutility. Yes, they do seem tobecontinuingconstructionon

the Akula, the advancedAkulaclass.ButIreallydon’tknowwhy.

Captain DougLittlejohns: I still think thatthey’re looking to the West.You say they don’t have animmediate maritime threat,but the U.S. has got thebiggest Navy in the world,and that in being is a threat.GobacktoJutland,afleet inbeingisathreat.

James Adams: Why doyou think they’ve beenputting the Akulas off theEast and West coasts of theUnitedStates in the last yearorso,successfullyIbelieve—some of them, we think,undetected? That shows firstof all an aggressiveness wehaven’t seen before; second,an ability that we haven’tseen before; and third, aworrying potential gap

between American capabilityvis-à-visRussiancapability.

Captain DougLittlejohns: Well, you’vemade three points there. Theaggression we have seenbefore. They’ve alwayswantedtogointotheAtlanticand roam at will and showtheir capability in so doing,but they couldn’t do it. Nowthey can, to an extent. It’salways impossible to say

what sort of detectioncapability the NATO forcesortheU.S.specialequipmenthas got because you don’tknow quite what you’remissing in what you havedetected.Thereisnodoubtthatthey

havebeendoingwhatyousayandgettingawaywithit.Andthatdoesanumberof things,doesn’t it? It gives them aconsiderable amount ofconfidence, it worries the

Western powers, and it goesback to their politicalleadership who say, “Well,we can do something if wewantto.”SoIthinktheywillcontinuetodothat.Whereas,whether they’ve got a propermaritime policy sinceGorshkov died is anotherquestion, and I would agreewith Tom that it could dowithare-evaluation.

James Adams: Do you

think that’s right, Tom? Doyouthinkthatthatanalysisiswhy this apparent newaggressionagainst theUnitedStates is with theirsubmarines?

Tom Clancy: Well,aggressionisthewrongword.Theseaisfreeforpassageforallandwe foughtawaroverthis once. They’ve got sometoys; they probably want toplay with them. And, in

realistic terms, I don’t reallythink it goes farbeyond that.They’ve got the platforms,theywanttoseeiftheywork.To me, and fromconversations that I’ve hadwith people who’ve talkedwith the Russian—what theyused to call Stavka; I don’tknow what they call it now,Russian Military HighCommand—the two bigenemies they see in theirfuture are Germany and the

People’s Republic of China.As for Germany, I thinkthey’re just out of theirminds,but theRussianshavealonghistoryofparanoia.InthecaseofChina,weneedtoremember that the Chinesehave been as far West asNovagrad,whichisalmostinthe Baltic. So there is ahistorical concern there thatthey have, particularly sinceChina has a growingeconomy and needs natural

resources, and the Soviets inEastern Siberia have theworld’s largest unexploredmineralogicaltreasurehouse.

James Adams: Later inthe game, we meet a newclass of submarine called theMao, which is based onanotherRussiandevelopment,the Severodvinsk class. Canyoutellmeabitaboutthat?

Tom Clancy: It’s a new

boat.AsIsaidearlier,wecananticipate that the Chinesehave highly sophisticatedindustrial capability now.And if they choose to buildsomethingthatgood,theycanprobablydoit.BackinWorldWar I, the Germans built afleet from scratch, and by1916theyhadshipseverybitas good as what the RoyalNavy was fielding withhundredsofyearsoftradition.It’s simply a matter of

political will and industrialexpertise. They have theindustrial expertise, and iftheydevelopthepoliticalwillit’sgoingtohappen.

James Adams: In part ofthegame,weintheCheyenneexperience being attackedwithsonarbuoysextensively.Doug, you must have gonethrough that yourself. Willyoudescribeformehowthatworksandwhatitfeelslike?

Captain DougLittlejohns:Youdon’treallygetattackedbyasonarbuoy.

James Adams:Threatened,then.

Captain DougLittlejohns: Sonar buoystend to be dropped fromeither maritime aircraft orhelicopters and they have alimited detection capability.

But years and years ofresearch has gone intodeveloping the pattern inwhich they lay them in thewater. And they do have acertain capability to detect.Occasionally in thesubmarineyoucanhearasortof plopping noise assomething’s dropped into thewater,butinthemain,youdonot know whether there aresonarbuoysthereornot.

James Adams: So it’spassive because it just sitsthere?

Captain DougLittlejohns: They arepredominantly usedpassively,butthereareactivecapabilities in these sonarbuoys. Now if somebody isactiveonthesonarbuoycloseto you, then that probablymeans either they’ve seenyou because you’ve been up

at periscope depth andthey’ve seen your periscope,or they’ve got a passivedetection on you and they’retrying to localize you for aweapon attack. So onewouldn’t hang around verylong.

Tom Clancy: Or he’stryingtospookyou.

Captain DougLittlejohns:Orhe’stryingto

spook you, yes, but thenyou’re getting into the “DoI/don’t I, do I believe it ordon’tIbelieveit.”

James Adams: Whathappens when you hear theping of an active buoy andyou know a weapon’s abouttogointothewater?Orwhenyou feel that’s going tohappen?Whatdoyoudo?Doyou take immediate evasiveaction?Whatshapedoes that

take?

Captain DougLittlejohns:Thereisnoclearanswertothat.Iftherewereaclearanswertowhat todointhat situation, then peoplewouldn’t try and firetorpedoesbecausetheywouldneverwork.Youjusthaveto—asyoudointhegame—sitback and take a global viewofthetacticalscenarioyou’rein. Sometimes, you would

drop countermeasures, speedup, change depth, andbasicallydisappearasquicklyas possible. Other times youmight lie doggo. Or youmight fire a torpedo down abearing if you think that it’snot a sonar buoybut anothersubmarine that’s spookingyou because you willcertainlyspookhimifyoudothat. So there is no clear-cutanswer. And the captain ofthesubmarinehastohaveall

thesethoughtsinhismindallthetime.

JamesAdams:What’stheenvironment in the SouthChina Sea like? How doesthat impact on the sort ofdecision making you’d havetotakeinasubmarineliketheCheyenne? What are theparticular aspects of theSouthChinaSea?

Captain Doug

Littlejohns: Well, it’scertainlyshallowinparts,anditwouldbeprettynoisywithalotofbackgroundnoise.It’sabusyshippingarea.

James Adams: Whichhelpsyouin...?

Tom Clancy: In a lot ofways.

Captain DougLittlejohns: It helps and it

hinders. It helps if you’retrying to sneak in and dosomething. But if you’redesperately searching for anelusive target like an Akula,it’s not necessarily such agreathelp.But there’s nothing unique

aboutoperationsintheSouthChinaSea,really.

Tom Clancy: Keep inmind that this is anodd caseof modesty on Doug’s part.

He knows more aboutoceanography than somePh.D.oceanographers.Hehasto,becauseasubmarinerusestheenvironmentasaweaponand with considerable skill.And he’s spent fifteen yearslearningthat.

Captain DougLittlejohns: Well, twentyyears.

James Adams: Which

leads neatly into thedistinctions between realityandfiction.You,Tom,asyousaid earlier on, have tried toblurthetwo.

Tom Clancy: Thedifference between realityandfictionhastomakesense.You want to keep that inmind.

James Adams: But howdidyoufinddealingwiththis

game as opposed to writingnovels?

TomClancy:Thepointofagameisthatyousetupasetof circumstances which theuser,thegameplayer,defineshimself.So,essentially,we’rebuilding an intellectualplayground and lettingsomebody else play in it anddetermine what happensthere. Which is sort of themagic of this if you do it

right.

JamesAdams: But aren’ta lot of books like a wargame? I would think youwork it through in a similarkind of a way, although notwith a similar resultobviously because they’redifferentmedia. Is that right?I mean, you’ve got a lot ofexperiencewithwar gaming,Ithink.

Tom Clancy: It’s kind oflike owning a casino andloading the dice. I prettymuch determine the way Iwant the story to turn out.Agame in some ways is moreintellectually honest becauseinmybooksIdeterminewhatall the players do. In a gameeither the artificialintelligence on theCD-ROMor another player determineswhat the other guy does andin that sense it’s muchmore

realistic.

James Adams: How didyou dealwith that?This is anewmediumforyou,andyouwere bringing a lot of thegreat wealth of yourexperiencetothegametotryandcreateasmuch realityaspossible. Where did realitymeettherealityoffiction?

Captain DougLittlejohns: First, nobody

should be under anymisconception that this is asort of submarine attacksimulator. It certainly is notthat.Whatitistryingtodoisto make a player realize agoodpercentageofthesortofinformation and actions onewould take when driving anSSN. Take a scenario: ifyou’rehominginonacontactwhich has been detected byothermeans,itcouldtakeyouthreedaysof stealthilygoing

around the ocean. Then yougetasniffofacontact,itgoesa bit further, you get anothersniff, then get into a firingposition. This can take days,weeks. Clearly, that’s notsomethingwecoulddointhecomputer game because theplayer would be asleep. Andso the compromise betweentotalrealityandtherealityofthegameplayerissomethingthat we’ve debated at lengthwithexpertsonthemarketing

side and with those amongstus who enjoy the game forthe game’s sake. We’vereached a compromisewhichwe believe is going to meetexpectations.

JamesAdams:Thetimingissue, the time compression,was that themost significantcompromise? Or were thereother areas where you felt,“Well,okay,inthebalanceofthings, reality has to go here

andwe’ll create this becauseit’ll create the same sort ofatmosphere if not the exactthing?”

Captain DougLittlejohns: Well, timingwas by far the biggest, butthere are a host of othercompromises that have beenmade as well. They’re notparticularly big, but ifsomebody who’s done thesame sort of job asmeplays

thegame,heshouldplayitinthe knowledge that this is agame to entertain rather thantoteach.

James Adams: But moreaccurate entertainmentperhapsthanCrimsonTide.

Captain DougLittlejohns: Oh, yes, muchmore so. But it would notenablethegameplayerattheend of fifteen successful

missions to go and takecommand of a Los Angelesclasssubmarine.

JamesAdams: Well, if itwere that easy, I’m sure thatmanyotherswouldhavebeensummonedtotheflag.

TomClancy:Well,maybea Los Angeles, but not aTrafalgar,right?

Captain Doug

Littlejohns: Well, we’regoing to get national aboutthis...If theplayergets itwrong,

hewillbekilled,orhewillbeattacked, anyway. There’s alearning process throughout.It starts with a very simplescenario, building up to acrescendo.But by the end ofthe game, the player willknow quite a bit abouthandling a submarineunderwater.

James Adams: Do youagree with that analysis,Tom?

Tom Clancy: On that Ihave to defer to Doug. Imean,I’veneverdoneitforaliving, he has. You know, Iwrite about it, but justbecause I can spell theacronymsdoesn’tmeanIcandrive the boats. He spenttwentyyears learninghow to

dothethingsIwriteabout ina few months. So I’m theminstrel in thiscaseandhe’stheexpert.

James Adams: Doug, wesee in the game that there isan attack on a carrier battlegroup,andduringthisthereisinfiltration by enemy boats.This creates the danger offriendly fire. How real isthat?

Captain DougLittlejohns:Very.

JamesAdams:Itis?

Captain DougLittlejohns:Oneofthemoredangerous scenarios—and Ihopenosubmarinerswilltakeoffense at this—is mixing ituplikethat.Whenyou’vegotsurface forces, aircraft, andsubmarines all in the samepartof theoceanwithenemy

submarines infiltrating,there’sa temptation to fireatshadows. There areprocedures which have beenworked on for years tocontrolpeopleinareaswhichmove with the carrier taskforce, but that requires anawful lotofcommunications,either underwatercommunications or satellitetype communications. I’vedoneitafewtimesandneverfelt entirely comfortable

when there’s been a knownenemyinthevicinity.

JamesAdams: Those sortof blue on blue instances areall too common on landwhere people apparentlyshould be able to see eachother.

Captain DougLittlejohns:War’sdangerousand that sort of thing doeshappen.

Tom Clancy: In WorldWarII,weknowat leastoneandpossiblyasmanyasthreeU.S. submarines were killedblueonblue.And in theoneknown case, the submarinewas in a safe travel zonewhere nobody was supposedtoattackanybody.

Captain DougLittlejohns: My pointexactly.

Tom Clancy: Yes, but atincan skipper said, “This isit, that’s a Japanesesubmarine.”Boom.

Captain DougLittlejohns:Yes.

James Adams: We learnin the game that intelligencesays, “There are no enemyaround here,” andintelligence, to put it mildly,

gets it slightly wrong. Whatcan you rely on? Are youvery alone down there? Areyou saying it’s me againsteverybody?

Captain DougLittlejohns: No, I think thatwould be overdramatizing it.But there’s no doubt that ifone puts implicit faith in theintelligence without aquestioningmind,thenitwillend in tears. Intelligence can

be reassuring, but as wementioned earlier, Akulasubmarines have come outinto the Atlantic and notnecessarily been detected, orhave only been detectedinfrequently, during whichtime they could have movedthousands of miles. Sointelligence is not the be allandendall,andthereforeitisjust another part of thebrickwork for running yoursubmarine.That’sit.

JamesAdams:Youhaveajaundiced view ofintelligence,Tom,Isee.

Tom Clancy: It’simperfect. I’ve yet tomeet atactical or operationalcommanderwho really trustshisintelligencesources.

James Adams: Becausetheyprefer to trust their own

judgment on the groundrather than some guy who’ssomewhereintherear?

Captain DougLittlejohns:No,butitisniceto get intelligence,particularly hard intelligencereports, because that canmake you frame yourthinking for the next severalhours. The English languagegets very rough treatment inthe intelligence service and

you go from probable topossiblewith an awful lot ofvariations in themiddle.Andit is possible, after years ofreadingthesethings, toknowhow comfortable they’refeelingbackatbase.ButasIsaid, I would never put totalconfidenceinit.

James Adams: How doyou think aplayerwill comeout of this game? Will theycome out thinking, “God,

whowants tobeaskipperofa submarine?” or will theycomeout thinking,“This isagripping, exciting,intellectually challengingtask?” What do you thinkthey’llcomeawaywith?

Captain DougLittlejohns: First of all,they’llcomeoutwithasenseof achievement, I hope, ifthey’ve got through thefifteenscenarios.Secondly,it

is not designed to act as arecruiting drive for the U.S.Navy submarine service. ButI think what the player willcomeoutwithiswithabitofanunderstandingofwhat it’slike down there, somethingwhichnobodyreallyhastriedto portray in the past. Youmentioned Crimson Tide;we’vehadafewothermoviesaswell,onethatwasinvolvedwiththischaphere.Butnoneofthosehavereallybeenable

topittheplayeragainstafewscenarios where he’s had tolearn, hopefully, by hismistakes—or, if he’s brightenough, to operate thesubmarine intuitively. So Ithink that, yes, they’ll comeout of it with a much betterunderstandingofwhatlifeona submarine is about. Andthat’sit.

James Adams: What doyouthink,Tom?

Tom Clancy: I knowpeople who’ve donesubmarine and anti-submarine warfare from thesurface,fromunderneath,andfrom the air, and they allagree that it’s the best gamein town, that there is nothingmore intellectuallychallenging than submarineslash anti-submarinewarfare.And if the player really paysattention to the game, he’ll

come out with as realistic afeelfor thatgameasyoucangetanywhere.

GlossaryActive Sonar: Sonar that

provides data by evaluatingreflections of its own soundemissions.ADC Mk 2 Decoy:

Electro-acoustic torpedocountermeasure carried byAmericansubmarines.ADCAP: Advanced

capability(Mk48).Themostadvanced version of the Mk48torpedo.

Aegis: Advanced ship-based air defense systemdesigned to protect againstmassive air and missilesaturation attacks. Fitted toTiconderoga and ArleighBurkewarships.Akula: The newest and

most advanced Russiannuclear attack submarine.Therearetwovariants:AkulaIandAkulaII.Topspeed:35knots submerged. Length:370 feet, 6 inches.

Displacement: approximately10,000 tons submerged.Major weapons: four 65cmtubes and four 53cm torpedotubes.Alfa: The Alfa is the first

submarine in theworld tobeconstructedofatitaniumhull.It is also the fastest and oneof the deepest diving. Lessthan ten units wereconstructed,however,andthesubmarine is very noisy andeasytodetect.Topspeed:43

knots submerged. Length:267feet.Displacement:3,680tons submerged. Majorweapons: six 53cm torpedotubes.ALFS: Airborne low

frequency dipping sonar.Joint U.S.-French dippingsonar that will equip futureASWhelicopters.AMRAAM: Advanced

medium range air-to-airmissile(AIM-120).Arco(ARDM5):Medium

auxiliaryrepairdrydock.ArleighBurke(DDG-51):

Advanced American class ofdestroyers equipped with theAegisairdefensesystem.Topspeed: 31knots.Length: 504feet, 4 inches. Displacement:9,033 tons full load. Majorweapons: Tomahawk, SM-2,andHarpoonmissiles.ASDS: Advanced SEAL

delivery system for use onboardsubmarines.ASW: Anti-submarine

warfare.ASW Mortars/Rockets:

Unguidedrockets thatcanbefired from surface ships andare designed to attacksubmarines.Baffles: The sonar-blind

area to the rear of a ship orsubmarine. Because of thenoisegeneratedbythescrew,itisdifficulttodetectasonarcontact in this area. BDA:Bombdamageassessment.Biologics:Thenamegiven

totheunderwatersea-lifethatshowsupassonarcontactsonboardU.S.sonarsystems.BlueonBlueEncounters:

The U.S. Navy’s term for“friendly fire,” an accidentalattackonone’sownforcesbytheir own or allied ground,air,ornavalforces.BSY-1: Advanced sonar

and fire control system fittedinthe6881class.CAP: Combat air patrol.

Protective air defense cover

provided for the aircraftcarrier battle group by thecarrier’sairdefenseaircraft.Cavitation:The formation

of tiny air bubbles aroundrapidly revolving propellerbladeswhen the depth is tooshallow for the speed. Theseair bubbles make a poppingnoiseas theycollapse,whichincreases thenoise levelof apropellerandmakesashiporsubmarineeasiertodetectviasonar.

CCSMk2:CommandandcontrolsystemcarriedonLosAngelesclasssubmarinesthatis used to plan and controlmissionsfortheHarpoonandTomahawkmissiles.CINCPACFLT:

Commander-In-Chief, U.S.PacificFleet.CIWS: Close-in weapons

system. A last ditchantimissile system fitted onsurfaceships.Cluster Bay and Cluster

Gulf mines: Russianmanufactured moored risingmines with an acoustichomingwarhead.COB: Chief of the boat.

The senior enlisted sailor onboard an Americansubmarine.COD: Carrier on board

delivery.Delivery of supportitems, including mail, to anaircraft carrier whileunderway. The U.S. Navy’sprimary COD aircraft is the

C-2Greyhound.Conn:Controlofashipor

submarine’smovements.Convergence Zone:

Phenomena whereby, if thewater is deep enough, waterpressureturnssoundwavesinthe direction of the surface.This occurs at intervals ofroughly 30 miles. Multipleconvergence zone contactsare possible when the soundbounces off the surface andheads back down, eventually

to be turned back upwardagainbythepressure.CTF74:CommanderTask

Force 74, also known asCommander SubmarineGroup7.Dipping Sonar: Sonar

systemcarriedbyahelicopterthat can be unreeled anddipped into the water toprovidevariabledepth,activeorpassivesonardetection.DSMAC: Digital scene-

matching area correlation.

One of several types ofmissile guidance used forTomahawkcruisemissiles.E-2C Hawkeye: Carrier-

based airborne earlywarningaircraft fitted with APS-145searchradar.EA-6B Prowler: Radar

jamming and electronicwarfare version of the A-6Intruder.Carries theALQ-99jammer.ELF: Extremely low

frequencyradioband.

ELINT: Intelligencecollected by electronicmeans.ESM: Electronic support

measures.A passive receiversystem designed to detectradaremissions.ET-80: 53-cm Russian-

manufactured wire-guided,active/ passive homingtorpedo.F-14Tomcat: Long-range

fleet air defense fightercarried on board U.S. Navy

aircraftcarriers.F/A-18 Hornet: Dual

purpose (fighter and attack)carrier- and land-basedcombataircraft.Fathom: Measure of

lengthequaltosixfeet.Floating Dry Dock:

Movable dock, used tofacilitate repairs to theunderwaterbodyofshipsandsubmarines.FloatingWire:Alsocalled

trailing wire. Similar to a

receivingantenna thatcanbestreamedunderwatersothatasubmarine can remainsubmerged while it receivesmessages.GPS: Global Positioning

System. Satellite-basednavigation system that canprovide extremely accuratelocationfixestoforcesonair,land, and sea. Can also beused in missile guidancesystems.H-5 Harbin: Chinese

variant of the Russian I1-28Beagleattackaircraft.H-6Xian:Chinesevariant

of theRussianTu-16Badgerbomber.Hainan: Chinese fast

attack craft. Top speed: 30+knots. Length: 193 feet.Displacement: 392 tons fullload. Major weapons: cancarry YJ-1 missile, ASWmortarrocket launcher, depthcharges,ormines.Han:ThiswasCommunist

China’s first nuclear attacksubmarine.Onlyfiveunitsofthis class were built. Topspeed: 25 knots submerged.Length: 321 feet.Displacement: 5,500 tonssubmerged. Major weapons:six53cmtubes.Harpoon: Medium range

anti-ship missile used by theU.S. Navy and its allies. Air(AGM-84), surface (RGM-84), and submarine torpedotube (UGM-84) launched

variantsareallinuse.Huchuan: Chinese

torpedo-carrying hydrofoil.Top speed: 50 knots foil-borne. Length: 71 feet, 6inches.Displacement:46tonsfullload.Majorweapons:two53cmtorpedotubes.HULTEC: The U.S.

Navy’s library of ESMinformation.HUMINT: Intelligence

collected by humanoperatives.

HY-2: Chinese anti-shipmissile with a range of overfiftynauticalmiles.Independence (CV-62):

The sole surviving activemember of the 1950s eraForrestal class aircraftcarriers—the first of theAmerican “supercarriers.”Capable of carrying overseventyaircraft.IUSS: The U.S. Navy’s

integrated underseasurveillance system, the

combination of SOSUS(sound surveillance systems)and SURTASS (surfacetowed array surveillancesystems)ships.J-7:Chinesevariantofthe

RussianMIG-21fighter.Jianghu: Chinese frigate.

Jianghu I, II, III, and IVvariants are in service.Jianghu I: Top speed: 26knots. Length: 338 feet, 6inches. Displacement: 1,702tons full load. Major

weapons: HY-2 missiles,ASW mortars /rocketlaunchers,depthcharges,andmines.Kilo: This is the newest

class of Russian diesel-electric submarines. Topspeed: 17 knots submerged.Length: 229 feet.Displacement: 3,076 tonssubmerged. Major weapons:six53cmtorpedotubes.Knot: Unit of speed

equivalent to one nautical

mileperhour.Komar:1960s-eraRussian

missile-armed fast attackcraft. Top speed: 40 knots.Length: 83.7 feet.Displacement: 80 tons fullload. Major weapons: anti-shipmissilesandguns.LAMPS: Light airborne

multipurpose system.Multipurpose helicoptercarried by many Americanwarships.ThelatestvariantistheSH-60LAMPSIII.

Los Angeles (SSN 688):With the exception of theUSSSeawolfclass,thisisthemostadvancednuclearattacksubmarineclass in theworld.Built to several majorconfigurations, the 688 classofsubmarinescanbedividedintothreecategories:

• Flight 1:SSNs618-718.Original LosAngelesclass• Flight 2:

SSNs719-750.VLS addedalong with anupgradedreactorcore• Flight 3:

SSNs751-773.BSY-1 added,along withbow planes,improvingunder-icecapability andquieting. This

is referred toas theimproved LosAngeles class,and receivedthedesignation6881

Top speed: 30+ knots.Length: 360 feet.Displacement: 6,927 tonssubmerged. Major weapons:four 21-inch torpedo tubesand twelve VLS in later

boats.Luda: Chinese destroyer.

Therearethreevariants:LudaI, II, and III. Luda I: Topspeed: 32knots.Length: 433feet. Displacement: 3,670tons. Major weapons: HY-2missiles,ASWmortars-rocketlaunchers, mines and depthcharges. Type II carries twohelicopters.Luhu: New, relatively

advanced Chinese destroyer.Topspeed:31knots.Length:

468feet.Displacement:4,200fullload.Majorweapons:YJ-1 missiles, ASWmortars/rocket launchers.Carriestwohelicopters.MAD: Magnetic anomaly

detector. A device that candetect a submergedsubmarine from a low-flyingaircraft or helicopter bydetectingthedistortionoftheearth’smagnetic field causedby the metal hull of asubmarine.

MAG: Russianmanufactured moored ASWcontactmine.Master Number:

Designation on board U.S.Navy submarines thatrepresents a contact attainedby combining one or moresignalsand/orsensors.MC: Shipboard

announcing system on boardU.S. submarines (1MC is themain shipwide announcingsystem).

MIDAS: Mine detectionand avoidance sonar fitted inimproved Los Angeles classsubmarines. Also used undericetoavoidicekeels.Mike: This was an

advanced Soviet testsubmarine which was lost atseainApril1989.Ming: Chinese diesel

attack submarine.Top speed:18 knots submerged.Length:249.3 feet. Displacement:2,113 tons submerged.Major

weapons:eight53cmtorpedotubes.Mk 41: Vertical launch

systemusedonboardseveralclasses of U.S. surfacewarships.Mk 46: American

lightweight ASW torpedocarried by helicopters,aircraft, and surface ships.The Mk 46 has been widelyexported.Mk 48: Heavy torpedo

carried by all American, and

someallied, submarines.Canbe used for attacks on bothsurface and submarinetargets. The ADCAP is thenewesttypeofMk48.Mk 50: Advanced

American lightweighttorpedo. Replaces andsupplementstheMk46.Nautical Mile: 6,076 feet

orroughly1.15miles,usuallyroundedoffto2,000yards.Nimitz (CVN-68): The

first of the nuclear-powered

Nimitz class of aircraftcarriers,whichcancarryovereighty-fiveaircraft.Noisemaker:nicknamefor

a submarine-launchedcountermeasure designed todecoy an enemy torpedoawayfromitstarget.Oliver Hazard Perry

(FFG-7): Large class ofAmerican multipurposefrigates.Topspeed:29knots.Length: approximately 450feet. Displacement: 4,100

tons full load. Majorweapons: Harpoon, SM-1.Carries two LAMPShelicopters.OOD:Officerof thedeck.

The U.S. Navy officer incharge of the ship orsubmarine. The OODrepresents the commandingofficer.P-3 Orion: Long-range

land-based maritime patrolandASWaircraftoperatedbythe U.S. and many of its

allies. In Canadian service,the Orion is known as theAurora.Passive Sonar: Sonar that

passively gathers its datafrom the noise an objectradiates.PBXN-103: High

explosive, 650 pounds ofwhich are found in the Mk48’swarhead.Phoenix: AIM-54. Long-

range air-to-air missilecarried by the F-14 Tomcat.

Maximumrangeismorethan100miles.RBU-1200: Russian ASW

mortar/rocketlauncher.Romeo: Russian designed

diesel-electric class ofsubmarines. Constructionbegan in the 1950s. Morethan sixty are believed toremain in service withChinese active and reserveforces. Top speed: 13 knotssubmerged.Length:252 feet,7inches.Displacement:1,700

tons submerged. Majorweapons:eight53cmtorpedotubes.RORSAT: Russian radar

ocean reconnaissancesatellite.S-3 Viking: Carrier-based

long-rangeASWaircraft.ES-3 version used for carrier-basedSignalsIntelligence.S6G: The pressurized

water reactor that providesthemainpowersourcefortheLos Angeles class of attack

submarines.SAET-60: 53cm Russian-

manufactured anti-surfacetorpedo.SEALs: Sea air land,U.S.

Navyspecialoperationsunits.Seawolf (SSN-21): the

newestclassofnuclearattacksubmarine to be built for theU.S. Navy. Top speed: 35+knots submerged. Length:approximately 350 feet.Displacement: 9,150 tonssubmerged. Major weapons:

eight30-inchtorpedotubes.SET-53: 53cm Russian-

manufactured active/passiveASWhomingtorpedo.Seventh Fleet: U.S. Navy

Fleet responsible for navaloperations in the WesternPacific and Indian Oceans.Headquarters: Yokosuka,Japan.SH-60 Seahawk: U.S.

NavyASWandmultipurposeLAMPSIIIhelicopter.Sierra: Advanced Russian

SSN. Only slightly lesscapable than theAkulas.Topspeed: 35 knots submerged.Length: 351 feet.Displacement: 7,900 tonssubmerged. Major weapons:four 65cm and two 53cmtubes.Sierra Number: A

designation representing asonarcontactonboardaU.S.Navy submarine. Suchcontactsmay be upgraded toMaster Numbers if they are

deemedpossiblethreatsorofothersignificance.SLBM: Submarine

launchedballisticmissile.SM-1/SM-2: Standard

surface-to-airmissilescarriedon board U.S. and alliedwarships. SM-2 is the moreadvanced of the two and isalso carried on board Aegiswarships.Snap Shot: Firing a

torpedo in an emergencysituation. Because no TMA

has yet been conducted, thetorpedo must be launched inthe probable direction of thetarget.Snorkel:Deviceusedbya

submarine to draw air fromthe surface while remainingsubmerged. This allows adiesel submarine to rechargeitsbatteriesorallsubmarinesto ventilate while remainingunderwater.Sonobuoy: A small, air-

dropped sonar device

designedtodetectsubmarinesand transmit their data backtotheaircraft.Spruance (DD963):Large

class of anti-submarinedestroyers operated by theU.S. Navy. Top speed: 33knots. Length: 563 feet, 2inches. Displacement: 8,040full load. Major weapons:Harpoon, Tomahawk, andASROC (anti-submarinerocket). Also carries twoLAMPShelicopters.

SQR-19: Tactical towedarraysonarcarriedbyseveraltypesofU.S.Navywarship.SSBN: Nuclear-powered

ballisticmissilesubmarine.SSIXS:Submarinesatellite

informationexchangesystem.Satellite system throughwhich the U.S. Navy and itssubmarinescancommunicate.SSK:Diesel-electricattack

submarine.SSN: Nuclear-powered

attacksubmarine.

SSXBT: A submarineexpendablebathythermograph deviceused to measure watertemperature at varyingdepths.Sturgeon (SSN 637): U.S.

nuclear attack submarineclass. Predates the LosAngelesclass.Topspeed:30knots submerged. Length:292feet.Displacement:4,780tons submerged. Majorweapons: four 21-inch

torpedotubes.SU-27: Highly advanced

Russian air defense fighter.Operated by Russia, China,andothernations.SUBGRU: Submarine

group.Submarine Tender: A

ship designed to providesupport to submarines,including logistical supportandsmallrepairs.SUBRON: Submarine

squadron.

TB-16: U.S. Navysubmarine towed array. Thearray is 240-feet long and istowed at the end of a 2,600-footcable.Thearrayisstoredin a shroud on the starboardside.TB-23: U.S. Navy

submarinethinlinearray.ThearrayisfourtimeslongerthantheTB-16 and housed in thesubmarine’sballasttank.TERCOM: Terrain

contour matching. One of

several missileguidance/navigation systemsusedintheTomahawkcruisemissile.TEST-71: Russian 53cm,

submarine-launched, active/passive, wire-guided ASWhomingtorpedo.Third Fleet: U.S. Navy

fleet responsible foroperations in the EasternPacific Ocean. Headquarters:SanDiego,California.Ticonderoga(CG-47):The

most powerful class ofcruisers in the world,operated by the U.S. Navy.Fitted with the Aegis airdefense system. Top speed:30+ knots. Length: 567 feet.Displacement: approximately9,500 tons full load. Majorweapons: Harpoon,Tomahawk, and SM-2missiles. Also carries 2LAMPShelicopters.TMA: Target motion

analysis. The process of

determiningatarget’scourse,speed, and range in order todirect a weapon in itsdirection.Tomahawk: Family of

long-range cruise missilesused by the U.S. Navy.Severalvariantsexist:TASM(antiship variant), TLAM-N(nuclear land attack variant),TLAM-C (conventional landattack version with highexplosive warhead), andTLAM-D (conventional land

attackwithbomblets).Trafalgar Class:

Advanced class of BritishRoyalNavalSSN.Batch1isinservice,batch2isplannedforthenextcentury.Dataforbatch1—Topspeed:32knotssubmerged. Length: 280.1feet. Displacement: 5,208tons submerged. Majorweapons: five 21-inchtorpedotubes.Type2:Optics-onlyattack

periscope carried on board

U.S.submarines.Type18:Searchperiscope

carried on board U.S. SSNs.Also contains still and videocamera systems as well asESM and communicationsreceivers.Typhoon: This Russian

nuclear ballistic missilesubmarine is the world’slargest. The Typhoon isconstructedoftitaniumwithadouble hull, making itextremely difficult to kill.

Top speed: 25 knotssubmerged.Length:560 feet,11 inches. Displacement:25,000 tons submerged.Major weapons: six torpedotubes (65cm and 53cm) andtwentySS-N-20SLBMs.UHF:Ultrahighfrequency

radioband.Underwater Telephone:

Device that allows twosubmarines to communicateverbally with each otherwhilesubmergedandinclose

proximity to one another.Also allows submergedsubmarines to communicateverbally with nearby surfaceships.VHF:Veryhighfrequency

radioband.VLF: Very low frequency

radioband.VLS: Vertical launch

system used to launchmissiles from warships andsubmarines.WAA: Wide aperture

array. Advanced sonarsystem, fitted to the Seawolfsubmarine, employingpassive sensors to rapidlydetermine the location oftargets and give moreaccurate target range andtrackingdata.WLR-9: Acoustic

intercept receiver. Thissystem is used to alert thecrew of a submarine ifsomeoneisusingactivesonaragainstthem.

YingJi (YJ-1andYJ-2):Chinese antiship missileswith a range of over twenty(YJ-1) and sixty (YJ-2)nauticalmiles.Z-9 Harbin: Chinese

versionoftheFrenchSA-365Dauphin II helicopter. Usedfor ASW. Some Z-9s carrythe French HS-12 dippingsonar.

BibliographyBaker III, A.D.TheNaval

Institute Guide to CombatFleets of the World, 1995.Annapolis, MD: NavalInstitutePress,1995.Clancy, Tom. Submarine.

New York: Berkley Books,1993.Francillon, Rene J. The

Naval Institute Guide toWorld Military Aviation1995.Annapolis,MD:Naval

InstitutePress,1995.Friedman, Norman. The

Naval Institute Guide toWorld Naval WeaponsSystems 1991/92. Annapolis,MD: Naval Institute Press,1991.Friedman, Norman. The

Naval Institute Guide toWorld Naval WeaponsSystems 1994 Update.Annapolis, MD: NavalInstitutePress,1994.Friedman, Norman. Naval

Radar. Annapolis, MD:NavalInstitutePress,1981.Friedman, Norman. U.S.

Naval Weapons. Annapolis,MD: Naval Institute Press,1988.Hooten, E.R., ed. Jane’s

Naval Weapon Systems.Surrey, UK: Jane’sInformationGroup,1996.Jackson, Paul, ed. Jane’s

All the World’s Aircraft1995-96. Surrey, UK: Jane’sInformationGroup,1995.

Lennox, Duncan, ed.Jane’s Air LaunchedWeapons.Surrey,UK:Jane’sInformationGroup,1996.Lennox, Duncan, ed.

Jane’s Strategic WeaponSystems. Surrey, UK: Jane’sInformationGroup,1996.Miller, David, and John

Jordan. Modern SubmarineWarfare.NewYork:MilitaryPress,1987.Noel, Jr., John V., and

Edward L. Beach. Naval

TermsDictionary.Annapolis,MD: Naval Institute Press,1988.Polmar, Norman; Mark

Warren; and Eric Wertheim.Dictionary of MilitaryAbbreviations. Annapolis,MD: Naval Institute Press,1994.Polmar, Norman, and

Jurrien Noot. Submarines oftheRussianandSovietNavies1718-1990. Annapolis, MD:NavalInstitutePress,1991.

Polmar, Norman. TheNaval Institute Guide to theShipsandAircraftoftheU.S.Fleet, Fifteenth Edition.Annapolis, MD: NavalInstitutePress,1993.Polmar, Norman. The

Naval Institute Guide to theSoviet Navy, Fifth Edition.Annapolis, MD: NavalInstitutePress,1991.Sharpe,Richard,ed.Jane’s

Fighting Ships 1995-96.Surrey, UK: Jane’s

InformationGroup,1995.Thomas, Jr., Vincent C.,

ed.TheAlmanacofSeapower1996. Arlington, VA: NavyLeagueoftheUS,1996.Vego,Milan.Soviet Naval

Tactics. Annapolis, MD:NavalInstitutePress,1992.Watts, Anthony J., ed.

Jane’s Underwater WarfareSystems 1995-96. Surrey,UK: Jane’s InformationGroup,1995.

Journals:

DefenseNewsJane’s Defence SystemsModernisationJane’sDefenceWeeklyJane’sIntelligenceReviewJane’s International DefenceReviewJane’sNavyInternationalNavalInstituteProceedingsNavyTimesSeapowerMagazineTheSubmarineReview

CD-ROM:

Jane’s CD-ROMElectronicLibrary1995-96