by Stephen Makk
Nathan sat, how to take on the Jin? How would Hannibal have done it? Of course, he could just get in her baffles, a Delta III wasn’t too quiet, and shove a Mk 48 up her ass. But he knew life wouldn’t be that simple. He wouldn’t be taking on a half-wit, more like Captain Karl Franks of USS NYC probably.
“XO, KAMINSKI, WARD Room.” The war committee met, Nathan turned up late with three coffees.
“Hi,” started Nathan, “it should be easy. But something tells me it’s not going to be.”
“Yeah,” said the XO, “we could run up his baffles and give him the good news. But yeah, nothing’s that easy.”
“If I was Conning that Jin,” said Nikki taking the cap off and banging it on the table, “If I got half a sniff there was a sub following or an ASW bird up there. I’d have all my birds primed and ready. Every JL-2 aimed and ready. From where he’ll be, DC would be possible but on his limit. Everywhere else West coast, Denver, Phoenix, Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, Camp Minden Louisiana, Philly.”
“Go back a bit Nikki, Camp Minden LA?” Nathan frowned.
“I’ve been around Nathan. It’s about one twenty miles north west of New Orleans. Do you think Skynet’s going to let the PRC nuke its ass off?”
Nathan smiled, “Yeah, I suppose not.
Whad’y think Larry?”
“Yeah, I can see it, flood all tubes, all 12 armed and aimed. Just pop up to periscope depth open them up and fly them birds. Won’t take long.”
“If it comes to that what about Vulture’s Stare?”
Nikki shook her head. “We’d get one, maybe two if lucky. But that’s 10 birds flying.”
Nathan took his coffee and finished it. “I’ll go grab some more Nathan,” said Nikki.
Larry narrowed his eyes. “Any boats on the way to help?”
”USS Cheyenne is coming out from San Diego but she’ll be too late.” Nikki returned and sat.
“Ok,” said Nathan, “here’s my plan.” He outlined his plan to take on Tango one.
“Fuck me,” said Nikki.
“I’ll put your name down.” He smiled.
“Where did that come from?” she asked.
“Well, I sat down with Sun Tzu and Hannibal and we just came up with it.”
“They didn’t drive subs,” Nathan.
“True, but they both knew the enemy and how to fuck with his mind.”
“I’ll give you this it’s different,” smiled Larry, “If it works, they’ll teach it at sub school, if it doesn’t, we’ll be deep down in this abyss.”
“Any objections?” asked Nathan.
“No,” said Nikki, “you’re going to do it anyway. Hannibal and the battle of Cannae?” she shook her head.
“BENSON, ANY SIGN OF Tango one yet?”
“No sir, You say he’s going to be like a Delta III sir?”
“Not a Delta III but similar noise levels. So, I’m told.”
“I’ll keep on it, probably too early yet sir.” Benson listened to the Humpback whales calling from Hawaii. The bubbles and gloop sounds from the deep, the Krill. Seabirds diving into the waters to hunt. The marine symphony Opus one played on for him.
Nathan walked back to the galley he’d grab some food and then try to get a couple of hours sleep.
“Hello sir, cheese omelette and coffee.”
“Sounds good to me.” He sat next to Kate LeDonns a Lieutenant in Engineering.
“Just finishing my shift sir.”
“Hitting your bunk then.”
“Yes sir. How’s Nikki?”
“She’s fine, I told her some hours ago to get to her bunk, she’s just back on now.”
“I’m going to try for a couple of hours after this.”
“Sleep’s good sir, keeps you on your game. We are heading east sir?”
“What makes you say that?”
“We use tiny magnets in oil flow readings, I’ve seen the north poles to port sir.”
“Well, Kate, magnets don’t lie. Ok, I must try to grab some sleep. Goodnight Kate.”
“Night sir.”
Nathan got into his bunk and slept.
There was a knocking at the door. “Sir, It’s the Chief, XO want’s you.”
“Ok.”
Nathan walked into the control room. The XO pointed to Benson.
“What you got for me, Benson?”
“Sir, I’m picking up a boat about 40 miles away, large, single screw, spin count consistent with 14 knots, heading 060. Computer library says 30% Jin.”
Nathan stood behind Benson.
“And you?”
“It’s him sir. It’s got to be.”
“Planesman, trim for depth fore and aft. Down bubble 15, make your depth 1,800 feet. Nikki intercept course?”
“039 degrees sir.”
“You heard her planes.” Jackson dived into the crushing depths. She was well suited to this cold crushing forbidding place. As they levelled out and continued their course, Nathan thought about the Argentine Navy submarine San Juan, it imploded at a similar depth to this with 44 onboard, twice its test depth. God rest them. USS Stonewall Jackson’s operating depth was 3,000 feet. Its implode depth would probably be more than 1,000 feet deeper.
“Sir we’re level with the Jin,” reported Benson. “Sorry, Tango one.”
“Keep going planes.”
“Now two miles ahead sir.”
“Ok, planes, trim for ascent fore and aft. Up bubble ten. Match depth 300 feet. At three hundred come about and face him.” The boat’s deck tilted up to the bow. A few minutes later the Plansman reported. “300 feet sir reciprocal 060 degrees. We are facing him.”
“Range to Tango one Benson?”
“Point .8 miles sir.”
“Weaps, make one ping, directional at Tango one.”
“Sir.” A loud ping sounded out from the boat.
“Planesman, down twenty, 3 knots. Sink, where you are. Depth 1,800 feet. Weaps. Flood tube, four, open outer doors launch Deputy Dawg.”
“Aye sir the Dawgs out now. Just got a message from the Jin sir.” Nathan frowned.
“Who let the dogs out, who, who.”
The USS Stonewall Jackson sank almost vertically down into the Pacific blackness.
GREAT WALL II.
CAPTAIN WANG YITIAN started, he heard the ping without the need for any headset. The whole boat would have felt it.
“What the hell?” Out here it must be an American boat probably an SSN. What the hell was he doing? Why not just follow and launch when ready? He could be saying thus far and no further. Or could he be playing mind games?
“Sonar, any sign of him?”
“Searching sir.” What was this joker playing at? He’d met a few of their Captains and Commanders. It’s not always a Captain in command. They are a type in a way, all individuals. They played by their own rules. That made them difficult but oddly predictable. They’d try to take the initiative, losing it was an anathema to them. They’d always try to do what you least expected. So just expect the unexpected and narrow the angles, they’re a bit like a cat with a mouse. Play with it first, then strike. You had to find when they were off guard and strike.
“So, what will he not expect?”
“Sir sonar, I have a faint prop noise getting deeper and some sounds indicating a sinking boat. Going deep.”
“How deep?”
“Sir, hard to say approx. 1,000 feet.” Ok, Wang Yitian had the first card.
“Weapons Officer. Flood tube one, open outer doors. Launch Yu-6 at sinking target T1, spiral search.”
“Flood tube one, opening outer doors. Launch Yu-6, running, down search.”
USS STONEWALL JACKSON.
“SIR, FISH IN THE WATER Yu-6 spiral search pinging.” Benson called out.
“Keep sinking. Ready countermeasures port and starboard.” Nathan waited for a few minutes. “Chief get the knocking crew down back aft.”
“Sir.”
The Chief went aft, he heard him going through the crew cabins. “A
ny lazy shits will do. That means you Johansson. Stop stroking off, get up and follow me, bring the rest of the room hiding behind their wank curtains. You lot in there, Mary fucking Goodnight, get the whole coven up, stop rubbing em, hide the dildos and come on aft.”
They assembled with tools handed out by the engineers. The Chief Engineer looked at them like filth.
“When I say knock, you monkey’s knock.”
“Fish has acquired us sir, pinging running in. I don’t know its crush depth.”
“Nobody does Benson. Range?”
“Point five miles. Coming down now. Five hundred feet, three hundred feet going to our starboard.”
“Launch countermeasures to starboard, come to port two thirds rudder. All ahead full.” barked Nathan.
“Yu-6 closing, I think it’s gone for the bait.” A huge explosion rocked the boat. She turned and rocked left and right, he heard steel groaning. The rocking grew violent as the shockwave hit the hull. Nathan remembered thinking, come on Japanese Kobe steel, hold please.
“Keep sinking Planesnman.” The depth passed 2,000 feet. The pressure hull moaned but held.
In the engineering spaces the rocking was just as bad. There were cries as heads hit pipes and valves.
“Ok you fuckers knock,” shouted the Chief Engineer. The crew banged with spanners, pipes and hammers.
GREAT WALL II.
“SONAR, HUGE EXPLOSION at the correct depth. I heard hull stress sounds. Rhythmic battering noise from T1. Sir, I don’t think we sank her, but she’s in bad shape. Probably leaking from cracks and serious failures of machinery.”
Captain Yitian was cautious, it’s quite feasible that she’s crippled. He’d seen what a Yu-6 could do. American SSN’S were all capable of 1,000 feet, with a crush depth well below that. This one was now below 2,000 feet. It had to be near implosion time. But he knew their damage control was very good and they were practiced. They may come back from down there. He had to try. Finish them off for good.
“Planes, hard starboard. Down 30. Flood forward one and two. Weapons Officer. Flood tube two, open outer doors. Ready Yu-6.” Great Wall II dove down into the depths in pursuit of its stricken prey.
“Sonar sir, I have him 2,300 feet and sinking. His hull’s strong for a US SSN.”
“Captain,” said the Weapons Officer, “I have tube two Yu-6 in a firing solution.”
Captain Yitian looked at him. “It’s time, flood tube, open outer doors.”
“Sir, sir,” sonar called out alarmed, “we have an active ping two miles to our west and above us. It’s a Virginia class boat sir. A hundan US SSN.”
“Xielinlin di diyu,” cursed Yitian. Now we have two of the bastards, get rid of this one first.
“Launch tube two.”
“Tube two, Yu-6 running in on T1.”
“Weapons Officer, designate Virginia as T2.”
The sonar operator opened his mouth. “Torpedo in the water Mk 48, the Virginia has launched.
“Ready tube three Yu-6. Snapshot on T2.”
Yitian knew with two of them the odds were turning. One was disabled, and probably sinking, but the Virginia was fresh.
It had come down to this, time to play his ace card.
“Planes, trim for ascent, come port and head west. Periscope depth.” The Jin pulled out of her dive and turned to her left, rising for the surface.
USS STONEWALL JACKSON.
“LAUNCH REN TO STARBOARD. Get him to simulate countermeasures.”
“Ren Launched. He’s away to our right, countermeasures on.” Weaps crossed his fingers.
“Yu-6 running in. range 900 feet,” cried Benson.
“Eject countermeasures Port and Starboard,” Nathan ordered, “blow forward one and two. Planesman, up full. All ahead full, max revs.” The jet drive pushed out hundreds of tons of water and the boat was pushed up through the deep waters. The buoyancy pulled her up too.
Benson called out, “Yu-6 is turning up, I can see it hunting left and right. Countermeasures are confusing it. It’s going right, it’s heard Ren’s call. Pinging, pinging.” The boat was pushed to the left violently by the force of the Yu-6’s warhead. Crew were pulled hard against their harnesses of fell over and against cabinets and bulkheads.
“It went for Ren. We got high enough, just,” said Benson.
“Weaps, get tube one ready in all respects.”
“Tube ready sir.”
“Snapshot on Tango one. Launch.”
“Fish running sir, fish hungry. He’s turned up full power and buoyancy. Jin has released countermeasures.” The crew heard the explosion through the hull. Fish detonated.
“Hot datu... No, Tango one still surface bound, our fish exploded behind him.”
Bastard, thought Nathan, we should have waited that bit longer.
Chapter 21
Great Wall II.
CAPTAIN YITIAN PEOPLE’S Liberation Army Navy, knew there was only one thing they could now do.
“Weapons officer. Spin up missile tubes one to twelve.” The Weapons officer looked at Yitian.
“Aye sir.” Deputy Long of the Politburo watched the control room activities from a position behind the Chief of the boat. He’d hung on for dear life at times, he wasn’t used to the hard violent manoeuvres that the submarine made. But all was going well now. His contacts at the PLAN naval staff would have done the right thing.
“Weapons Officer, open your release cabinet.” The Weapons Officer looked briefly across then used the key around his neck to open the cabinet. Yitian did the same on his side.
“We will both open the active code cabinet.” The two of them put their keys in, opened the cabinet and Yitian took out the paper slip.
“Open your keycodes.” He did and Yitian did the same.
“Sir, we are at periscope depth,” said Planes.
“Level the boat.”
“Comms float the buoy. Get a position fix.”
“Aye sir.”
“Weapons Officer. Open missile tubes one through twelve.”
“Aye sir,” there was a pause, “tubes open.”
“Weapons Officer. Read out your authorisation code.”
“Sir T 0 6 8 U 9 X 6 2.”
It was sometimes the same, sometimes different.
“My code is, T 0 6 8 U 9 X 6 2.” Yitian read it out. He showed his codes to the Weapons Officer, who did the same.
“The codes are the same, do you concur?”
“Yes sir, I concur.”
“Chief?” The Chief of the boat looked at the codes.
“I concur sir, the three codes are identical.” Yitian passed the active code to the Chief of the boat.
“Read the code Chief.”
“Sir code is T 0 6 8 U 9 X 6 2.” Yitian swallowed.
“Weapons Officer, Chief. Look at all three codes.”
“All identical sir,” said the Weapons Officer with incredulity.
“I concur,” said the Chief, his eyes flicked to the two officers briefly. It was now doubly confirmed.
“I confirm we have three matching codes.” Captain Yitian looked down at the deck for a few seconds, gulped and looked back up.
“Gentlemen we have a release order. Weapons Officer, arm the JL-2 missiles.”
“Sir.” He armed the missiles quickly; the targets were predefined.
“Our Lat and long confirm sir. We are on the launch track line sir, in position. Target group G1 in range.” said the Communication officer.
“Read out the G1 targets Weapons officer, I’ll follow and check.”
“Sir, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego, Denver, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, Chicago, Atlanta, Houston, Pittsburgh, Washington DC. Three MIRV warheads each.”
“I concur. Chief?” The Chief checked the list carefully.
“I concur.”
“Weapons Officer, get all tubes ready for launch.”
“Sir.”
Politburo Deputy Long smiled, his men at the code PLAN code centre had done well.<
br />
Yitian shook his head, they were going to launch. They were going to launch at the US. He clenched his fists until they were white. Do they know what this means? Do they realise what the response would be?” Yitian could barely believe it. He had to do it, it was his duty. But shit, do they know? China’s great cities would be smoking death pits in hours. Thank God his family were with friends in Yunnan province.
“All tubes ready sir.” The Weapons Officer looked at him his face drawn.
USS STONEWALL JACKSON.
“SIR, TANGO ONE IS AT periscope depth. Sir, all missile tubes are open and spun up.” Benson swallowed. Nathan raised the periscope, and looked at his monitor, there was the Jin’s periscope.
“Weaps, flood tubes two and three, open outer doors.”
Surely the Chinese are running some kind of drill? Nathan thought.
“Move into three hundred yards.”
“Tubes two and three ready in all respects sir.” Nathan glimpsed the XO and then Nikki. Both their faces dripped with tension.
“Sir,” shouted Benson, “I have rocket motor ignition on tube 12, now 11.”
Fuck. “Launch tubes one and two. Go, go.”
“Fish running sir.”
“Ignition tube 10.” The missiles filled the sea with billowing gas as they rose for the surface and flight.
“Pinging, pinging. Impact. Hot datum, Tango one.” The shock could be felt in the boat as the two Mk 48 blew up amidships. The Jin’s back was broken in two places after being briefly lifted from the sea. The explosion caused the gimbals on the JL-2 missiles to fully rotate to one side. The missiles briefly left the sea but flew quickly back into it.
Great Wall II sank in three separate parts down into the Pacific depths.
NATHAN FELT RELIEF at the sinking but a feeling of sorrow too. Why did all this have to happen? It should have been elation, but it wasn’t. He unhooked the intercom. “All hands, all hands. We have just scored a Hot Datum on the Jin SSBN. She’s gone.” A cheer went up from the crew.