by M L Maki
Kennedy, “Just a sec, sir.”
Kichiro uses a flashlight to make sure the torpedo does not foul on anything as it slides into place. “Guide center. Guide slot.”
Kennedy, “Guide center, guide slot, aye.”
When the fish is most of the way into the tube, Kichiro removes the cover over the screw and carefully installs the Amphenol, screwing it into position.
Cumberland, “Let’s go!”
Kennedy, “Slow and careful.”
Trindle, “Ready aft.”
Kichiro, “Weapon in motion.” He holds the cable with his flat palms as it slides into position.
Kennedy, “Mark.”
Kichiro, “Mark, aye.” He releases the lever and motions stop. “Warning, weapon must be restrained at all times.” He locks the hold lever for the torpedo, then releases the push arm. “Track down one. Clear forward.”
Trindle, “Clear aft.”
“Motion.” The arm is withdrawn. Kichiro installs the fire latch pin and reports it. “Positive control of breach door. Caution.” He swings the door partly shut and installs the other end of the Amphenol on the torpedo tube door. He then carefully shuts the door, making sure nothing binds.
Cumberland, “Come on. Let’s go.”
Kennedy, “Slow and careful.”
Kichiro, “Rolling breach ring tube 1. Stand clear.” The ring is turned to the lock position. “Ready to flood.”
Kennedy, “Flood tube 1.”
Kichiro, “Flood tube 1, aye.” He slowly opens the flood valve and allows pressure in the tube to equalize with the water pressure outside the submarine. “Tube 1 flooded. All lights are lit.”
Cumberland pushes a button, “Conn, Captain. Do we still have a solution for Sierra 7?”
“Affirmative, Captain.”
Cumberland pushes the button, “Opening the door.”
Kichiro pushes the button for the doors, “Chief, safe tube 4.”
Kennedy, “Got it.” He flips the firing circuits to off on tube 4. “Tube 4 is safed.”
Kichiro, “Doors open on tube 1.”
Kennedy pushes the button, “Conn, Torpedo. Doors open.”
“Doors open, aye.”
Cumberland pushes the button, “Conn, Captain. Match bearings and fire.”
Morrison repeats. They hear and feel the air discharge that pushes the torpedo out of the tube.
Cumberland, “Now. What happened?”
Kichiro, “Sir, the light was good on tube 4 when we loaded it. It went out when we flooded.”
“Chief, what would have happened if we fired without the indication?”
Kichiro, “We would die.”
Kennedy, “Sir, if we fired the torpedo, it would either not start, or it would circle.”
Cumberland “I want to know why it failed. Carry on.” He runs upstairs to control.
USS SAN FRANCISCO
When the captain enters control, Miller announces, “Fish is running straight, hot, normal. The fleet’s been attacked, sir.”
Cumberland, “Very well. My scope.”
Morrison backs away from the periscope and Cumberland takes over.
IMPERIAL JAPANESE SUBMARINE, I-57
Lieutenant Nakamura spots an explosion in the sky far away. Looking carefully, he can see small grey dots racing across the distant sky. “We are killing them.”
They do not see the torpedo as it races toward their boat. Modern torpedoes do not leave a trail of bubbles, or any indication of their existence. Nakamura is lifted up and out of the bridge in a cloud of spray. He finds himself in the water. He can see the bow and stern of his boat pointing toward the sky. Sato swims to him through the cold water. “Sir, what happened?”
The bow of the sub rolls on its axis nearly 360 degrees as it falls slowly on its starboard side and begins its last dive. “We were torpedoed. There are no aircraft around.”
“So fast?”
“Yes. It must be.”
USS SAN FRANCISCO
Morrison, “Sir, there might be survivors.”
Cumberland, “After that? No way.”
“Sir, we have to look. Law of the sea.”
Cumberland, “The British didn’t in the Falkland’s.”
“Yes, sir, and they were criticized.”
Cumberland, “Look. If you find any of your family or friends, surface and bring them down for tea and crumpets.” Cumberland stomps out of control.
Miller and Morrison look at each other. Morrison, “Wankowski, Mallory, get your survival suits. Call for the SAR swimmer. Oh, Wankowski, Mallory, draw small arms.” He pushes a button, “Kichiro, Trindle, lay to control with rifles, flak vests, and side arms. Miller, blow ballast.”
“Aye, sir. Shall I order up some Dramamine?”
“If you need.” He picks up the VHS set, “Any unit, San Francisco.”
“San Francisco, Sylvester 270. How might I help you?” Sylvester is the call sign for VF-6 off the Enterprise.
“We have sunk a Japanese submarine and are checking for survivors. Could you relay a request for a helicopter?”
“Can do.”
The sub starts rocking as it settles on the surface. “Miller, your boat. I want to shift any bodies or prisoners directly to the helo.”
“Aye, sir.”
Morrison grabs the phones, lowers the ladder, opens the hatch, and climbs up into the sail. Kichiro and Trindle come up into the sail with M-16s, helmets, body armor, and side arms. Next up is the SAR, BM1(SS) Sarvis in his wet suit. “Japanese, sir?”
“Yes. I saw a couple get ejected from the sail.”
“Okay.” He climbs down onto the deck below.
Next up are Mallory and Wankowski, “We’ll do our bit to keep them away from our guns.” The two strong guys climb down and hook up to the rail.
Trindle, “I see one.” He points off the port bow.
Morrison calls down, “Left standard rudder. All stop.” As the sub slowly comes left, he says, “Rudder amidships. Back 1/3.” As the way comes off, “All stop.” He shouts down to the men on the deck, “We’ve stopped.”
Sarvis jumps into the waves.
Morrison, “Trindle, Kichiro, aim at the Japanese.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Um, sir, the SAR is getting in the way.”
“I know. Hold fire and just point.” He calls on the phone, “What is the status of the helo?”
In the water, Sarvis approaches two men who are floating together. He notices the rank insignia of an officer and an enlisted. He points at the officer then the San Francisco. “You’re going with me.”
The officer holds out his hands to stop the SAR. Sarvis dives down, grabs the legs of the man and pulls him down and away from the other. Two powerful strokes and he has the officer facing away from him in a hold as he swims for the boat. When he gets there he says, “This guy is a fighter.”
Mallory and Wankowski time the waves and grab the Japanese, hauling him on board. Sarvis reverses, pushes off the sub and swims for the other man.
Mallory holds the Japanese while Wankowski searches him. The lieutenant has a bill fold and pen. Once they know he is unarmed, they zip tie his hands and feet. Mallory sets the man against the sail.
When Sarvis gets to the young enlisted Japanese, he’s desperately trying to remove his life jacket. Sarvis dives under, comes up behind him, get an arm around him, and swims for the sub.
The lieutenant on the sub tries to roll into the water. Mallory picks him up with one hand and cocks a fist.
Soon, both Japanese are aboard. Wankowski shouts up, “Sir, can you talk to these guys?”
Morrison removes the phone and goes down. Hanging from the ladder, he says, in rough Japanese, “We no harm.”
The officer speaks a torrent of words so fast; Morrison can’t understand him. “Slow down. My Japanese is bad.”
“Who are you?”
“Lieutenant Commander Morrison. I’m the second in command of this boat.”
“What is thi
s boat?”
“You are prisoners of war. You will be treated fairly. Are you injured?”
“You sink us?”
“Yes.”
“You’re Japanese.”
“I’m American.”
“You are Japanese.”
“No. No, I’m American.” Morrison hears the helo in the distance, “Your names?”
The lieutenant spits, “You are a traitor.”
Morrison wipes the spittle from his face, “And you’re a prisoner.” To his men, “He called me a traitor. Be careful not to get shocked by the helo.”
“Aye, sir.”
Mallory, “Did you get their names?”
“No, and I don’t know how to read it off their uniforms.”
“Roger that, sir.”
Morrison climbs back up the sail as the helo approaches. Both prisoners are hoisted aboard and the helo flies off to the Enterprise. That done, they clear the bridge for dive. Morrison is the last man down. Once in control, he sees Cumberland standing silently in the corner. Morrison goes through the dive routine and they slip under the sea.
When they’re at 200 feet, Cumberland hands him a message, “While you were talking to your cousins up topside, we got this.”
The message reads:
Bravo Zulu on engagement with sub. The attack on Tokyo area was highly successful. Japanese have high performance jet aircraft and counter-attacked the fleet with a swarm of Harpoon missiles. Sunk: USS FANNING DD-385 AND USS DUNLAP DD384. Damaged: USS SALT LAKE CITY CA-25, USS SAN FRANCISCO CA-38, USS LONG BEACH CGN-9, USS FIFE DD-991, USS CARL VINSON CVN-70
Carrier is still fully functional. Upon completion of emergency repairs to Salt Lake City and Long Beach, we will retire to Pearl Harbor.
Continue patrolling. Note, there are a number of USN submarines operating in and outside Tokyo Bay.
Halsey.
Morrison, “Damn. The fleet got hammered and we lost a lot of our ASW.”
Cumberland, “We did. While you were helping your relatives, their pals were destroying our fleet.”
“Sir, I was trying to do the right thing.”
Cumberland raises his voice, “Listen up. Put it in the pass down log. From now on, we practice unconditional submarine warfare. We do not recover survivors. We do not warn civilian targets. The only good Japanese is a dead Japanese. That is all.” He turns and walks out of control.
Miller, “Can he do that, sir?”
Morrison, “Only the President can set national policy, but the captain sets policy for his ship. He may get into trouble for it, but he can do it.”
USS SAN FRANCISCO, 50 MILES WEST OF THE FLEET
2111, 14 January, 1942
ST2 Gil Gordon, the watch 3 team lead sonarman, sits quietly watching the waterfall display and listening to the ocean. The pounding repairs on the Salt Lake City can be clearly heard over the fleet noises. Because the Long Beach is moving slowly, it is quiet for a change. Even among the new ships, the Long Beach is the loudest. He mentally mutes the known noises and listens for outliers. Their sub has been tracking south and north to the west of the fleet. He picks up another sound. He hears it before he sees it on the waterfall. He focuses the waterfall on the area where the sound is coming from. “Conn, Sonar. Two contacts bearing 145. Two submerged submarines in close proximity. Designate Sierra 8 and Sierra 9.”
“Conn, aye.”
Lt. Henry Thoreau, the watch team 3 OOD comes in, “What do you think?”
“Gordon, “Two subs, sir. They could be American or an American chasing a Jap. I don’t have a blade count yet.”
“Could they be Japanese?”
“Sir, I thought the Japanese didn’t hunt in packs.”
“Maybe they have changed. Good job.”
Thoreau goes back into control and pushes the button, “Captain, two submerged contacts to our southeast.”
“Roger. Call me when you have course, range, and speed, and if they’re Japanese.”
“Yes, sir.”
The conning officer, LTJG Eric Forester, “Are we changing course?”
Thoreau, “No. We need more information. If we change course it complicates the sonar and the math.”
“Sir, the math isn’t that hard.”
“For you, math-tenant. Steady as we go.” Forester grins. He has a degree in math from Cincinnati University.
“Conn, Sonar. Sierra 8 and 9 are both two screw vessels with three-bladed screws.”
Thoreau, “Very well.”
Forester, “Should we call for the tracking party, sir.”
“Fire control has it for now. Let them sleep. This is your first deployment, right?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Submarine warfare is a patient art. It’s less fencing and more Samurai.”
“I don’t understand.”
“Fencers swat and stab, hoping to create an opening. Samurai patiently circled until one found an opening. With one strike it was over.”
“How many patrols have you been on?”
“This is my third patrol and first war.”
Fire control reports, “Sir, Sierra 8 and 9 are close together. Bearing 132. Speed 3 knots. Course 015. Submerged. They are both confirmed submarines.”
Thoreau pushes the button, “Captain, Sierra 8 and 9 are working together and approaching the fleet.” He repeats the bearing, speed, and course. He pushes another button, “Load and make ready tubes 1 and 2 with Mark-48s.” He studies the chart table. “Come to new course 042. Ahead standard.”
Morrison walks into control. “XO in control.”
“Carry on.” He goes to the table and studies it and nods to Thoreau, “Good job.” He goes into sonar, “Gordon, how do these compare to our other Japanese tracks?”
“Sierra 9 is a close match to Sierra 3. The two are so close together they have to be working together. They can’t be more than 3 miles apart.”
“Thank you.” Morrison goes back into control and sees Cumberland at the chart table. “Sir, Sierra 9 matches Sierra 3, a confirmed Japanese sub.”
He nods, “Thoreau, you’re a studied man. When was the last time a sub killed two other subs at once?”
Thoreau, “To my knowledge, it’s never happened. Submarines have killed more than one surface ship at a time, but never have two subs been engaged at once.”
Cumberland, “Never. We’ll be the first. Let’s get behind them.”
Morrison, “Sir, if we shoot from behind, we may hit the fleet if a fish misses.”
Cumberland sighs, “If we shoot from the side, we can only hit one at a time.”
Morrison, “Front quarter, sir? We’ve little risk of counter-battery from their torpedoes and it’s safer.”
Cumberland takes a deep breath, “We won’t hit the fleet, XO. Are you trying to give the enemy a fair chance?”
“No, sir. I just don’t want to risk the fleet.”
“Set it up. Call me before we shoot.” Cumberland walks out.
Morrison, “Come to 030.”
I-5, JUNSEN CLASS JAPANESE SUBMARINE
LCDR Takahashi studies his charts. “The Americans are moving very slowly. Continue on course.” The nearest American warship is 28 miles. “It is the carrier we want.”
USS SAN FRANCISCO
Morrison, “Ahead 1/3rd.”
He walks into sonar, “Gordon, as the noise clears, we’ll need separate bearings.”
Gordon, “Yes, sir. These diesel electrics are surprisingly quiet submerged.”
“Yeah, they’re so slow there isn’t as much flow noise as you would expect.”
Morrison walks back into control, “Time to call the captain.” He takes his place behind the scopes.
When Cumberland comes in, he goes straight to the chart table. “Sonar, give me a bearing for 8 and 9.”
“Aye, sir. Sierra 8 is 041. Sierra 9 is 047.”
Cumberland, “Match bearings. Tube 1 for Sierra 8. Tube 2 for Sierra 9. Doors open.”
I-5, JAPANESE SUBMARINE
/> Sonar, “Sir, I think I heard a transient. A rumble to our northwest.”