by Ted Halstead
The Oregon carried the best tools available to find enemy submarines. The horseshoe-shaped Large Aperture Bow (LAB) replaced the previous sonar sphere. It was surrounded by water instead of air and made of advanced composite materials. These three changes dramatically improved performance.
The new Light Weight Wide Aperture Array (LWWAA) used fiber-optic arrays instead of ceramic hydrophone sensors for another significant increase in performance.
Multiple upgrades to the AN/WLY-1 acoustic intercept and countermeasures system helped sonar technicians examine and interpret the data collected by these sensors more quickly. Just as important, in case of attack, the Oregon's ability to emit signals designed to confuse and degrade an enemy torpedo's tracking ability had improved as well.
"Yes, sir," Fischer replied. "They tried to be quiet about it, but sonar got a good return as the target approached the surface to raise their communications antenna. They've definitely received new orders."
Cartwright nodded. "And based on their conduct since, any indication what those orders might have been?"
"Sir, they've once again tried to look like a hole in the ocean. Sonar thinks they must be running on batteries. Also, we don't yet know much about the new Sui class. But during the target's ascent towards the surface, they got enough data to make that the most likely identification," Fischer said.
"Well, that's what I'd expected. It makes sense to have your best submarine guard your most advanced base. Anything suggesting they're planning to attack?" Cartwright asked.
"No, sir. Sonar reports our fix is getting softer by the minute. They're keeping pace, but on battery, there's no way they'll overtake us. At our current course and speed, in a few hours, we'll be outside China's most expansive territorial claims," Fischer replied.
"So, then, cancel battle stations? Head to the mess for a cup of coffee?" Cartwright asked with a smile.
Fischer shook his head with an answering smile. "No, sir. I doubt the Chinese know we didn't intend to destroy their base. Even if they figure that out, they probably won't care. Frankly, I doubt we would either. I'm certain they've been ordered to attack."
"Agreed," Cartwright said. "But our orders still stand. Our guesses don't count. We don't fire on the Chinese submarine unless they fire first."
"Yes, sir," Fischer replied.
Cartwright could see Fischer was just as unhappy as he was to be playing defense. Submarine combat was like any other in one respect.
Firing first was a significant advantage. However, many computer combat simulations suggested it was a disadvantage that could be overcome.
Cartwright was not looking forward to becoming the first American submarine commander since World War II to find out whether those simulations were right.
Changzheng 20
Under the South China Sea
Captain Wen gestured towards Commander Duan, who was then immediately at his side.
"Commander, I know we're still out of torpedo firing range. How long will it take us to correct that if we move towards the target at maximum speed?" Wen asked.
"Sir, I've constantly been updating the answer to that question. About five and a half minutes," Duan replied.
Wen nodded. "And if we assume the Americans fire as soon as they can once they detect us moving towards them at high speed, how long would it take their torpedoes to reach us?"
"Sir, that is much more of a guess. Sonar believes we are facing a Virginia class submarine. Naval Intelligence has estimates of that submarine's capabilities, but we can't be sure of their accuracy. They carry the Mark 48 torpedo, but there are many variants. It is likely one able to reach about one hundred kilometers per hour, with a range of at least eight kilometers, probably more," Duan replied.
"Yes. About the same range but roughly fifteen kilometers per hour faster than our Yu-11 torpedoes. And we can only guess at their orders. Moving towards them at high speed could be seen as evidence of intent to attack," Wen said.
Seeing Duan's raised right eyebrow, Wen had to stop and smile.
"Yes, should be seen as evidence of intent. But, do the American captain's orders say 'fire only if fired upon,' or do they say 'fire only if under attack.' And, will he obey them when faced with our advance?" Wen asked.
"Yes, sir. Those are all key questions. I can only say for sure that our chances of launching a successful attack increase substantially the longer the Americans wait to fire," Duan said.
Wen nodded. "Of course, there is the other difference between the Mark 48 and the Yu-11 to consider. Their torpedo carries a warhead with about eight times more explosive than ours. How many Yu-11s do you recommend we fire?"
"I think four is the best number. We can put that many in the water very quickly and then focus all our efforts on defeating the American torpedoes," Duan replied.
"Agreed. I have been impressed by the crew's performance in exercises with both electronic jamming and acoustic decoys. I think the enemy will find we are not so easy to kill," Wen said.
Duan smiled. "I think you're right, sir."
Wen nodded. "Very well. Full speed towards the target, and fire four torpedoes as soon as we are within range. If the enemy launches torpedoes before we reach firing range, maintain course until, in your judgment, we have a reasonable chance of scoring a hit. We must launch our attack before beginning evasive maneuvers. Once our torpedoes are away, we will change to an evasive course and deploy all countermeasures."
"Understood, Captain," Duan said as he hurried to carry out Wen's orders.
It helped that Duan agreed with them completely. Their priority had to be destroying the American submarine that had launched an attack killing everyone on China's newest base.
If to achieve that goal, it became necessary to sacrifice the Changzheng 20, so be it.
Chapter Fifty
USS Oregon
Under the South China Sea
Captain Jim Cartwright had started to think that maybe their guess of the enemy submarine's intentions had been wrong.
Lieutenant Commander Fischer dashed that hope nearly the instant it was born.
"Captain, sonar reports Sierra One's speed has more than doubled, and it is now on a direct intercept course."
In theory, the enemy submarine's actions could be a bluff designed to hurry their departure from claimed Chinese waters.
And his orders were precise. Fire only if fired upon.
Cartwright had no problem with dying to achieve his mission. That commitment came with the uniform. But he wasn't going to sacrifice his crew when he knew that the officer who had drafted his orders couldn't have imagined these circumstances.
"Latest report, Sierra One," Cartwright replied.
The sonar supervisor called out Sierra One's bearing, estimated course, and range.
Cartwright then said, "Firing point procedures Sierra One, tubes one and two."
The weapons officer then designated Sierra One as the system contact and entered a target solution into his console. The target solution was then sent to the torpedoes in tubes one and two.
Both torpedoes were powered on, and their gyros rapidly spun up. Then an internal system check was run, and the fire control solution data set in memory. The fire control officer next confirmed, "Solution set!"
The flooded torpedo tubes were equalized to the current depth pressure, and the outer doors opened. Next, "Weapons ready!" was announced by the weapons officer. The diving officer declared, "Ship ready!"
Cartwright authorized launch by saying, "Shoot tubes one and two."
At nearly the same moment, the typical torpedo firing sequence was interrupted by the sonar supervisor calling out, "Torpedo launches by Sierra One confirmed! Likely Yu-11 model."
"Deploy countermeasures and continue with firing point procedures," Cartwright replied.
The first countermeasure to be activated was the torpedo jamming component of the AN/WLY-1 system. It had signals preprogrammed to attempt to throw off any enemy torpedo's tracking ability. It also
had refinements specifically targeting the performance of torpedo models that US Navy technicians had analyzed.
There were many ways to obtain foreign torpedo models. The easiest was to purchase them. The Yu-7, the Yu-11's predecessor, had been based mainly on two sources. The first was the Italian A244/S torpedo, which China purchased from Italy in 1987.
Italy, a NATO ally, had no objection to America's purchase of several A244/S torpedoes for evaluation.
Another was fishing nets. Chinese fishermen retrieved an American Mark 46 Mod 2 torpedo in 1978. Some of its technology had also been incorporated in the Yu-7. Vietnamese fishermen had found a Chinese Yu-6 torpedo in 2018.
Other foreign torpedoes had been found over the years, including many never reported by the press. Unfortunately, these did not include the Yu-11.
The unmistakable rumble of thousands of kilos of air forcing hundreds of liters of seawater into and through two torpedo tubes confirmed launch of two Mark 48 torpedoes from the Oregon.
"Weapons startup" was confirmed by the sonar supervisor when two new traces appeared at the top of the sonar display.
The Mark 48 is a wire-guided torpedo designed to allow guidance from operators in the Oregon to take advantage of its vastly more powerful sonar. Even the upgraded Mark 48 carried by the Oregon with its Common Broadband Advanced Sonar System (CBASS) had its limits. The CBASS's instruments had to fit inside a torpedo.
So "wire-guided" meant that once the Mark 48s had been fired, it was necessary to confirm the submarine was clear of their command wires. But it only took a moment for the sonar supervisor to announce, "Wire clearance maneuver complete, weapons running normally."
The warning that Sierra One had fired meant the command wires had to be cut immediately. Updating the initial information on the enemy submarine's location would have to be left to CBASS.
The torpedo firing procedure was one of the most frequently drilled in not only the Oregon, but every American attack submarine.
That helped explain how the entire process took only about forty-five seconds.
Next to be launched were weapons designed to destroy the attacking torpedoes. Officially called the Anti-Torpedo Torpedo Compact Rapid Attack Weapon (ATT CRAW), they were usually called simply "mini-torpedoes" by the crews who used them.
Weighing only about one hundred kilograms, the mini-torpedo was about sixteen times lighter than the Mark 48s the Oregon had just fired. At just over two meters long and with a diameter of a bit more than seventeen centimeters, each mini-torpedo was also far smaller than the Mark 48.
Yet, each mini-torpedo was able to accelerate to half the speed of the Mark 48 in under twelve seconds and nearly match it in under a minute. This speed was produced by its Stored Chemical Energy Power System (SCEPS). SCEPS worked by bathing a solid lithium block in sulfur hexafluoride gas, creating a chemical reaction that produced steam to drive the mini-torpedo's turbine engine.
The Oregon's crew was able to fire six mini-torpedoes in time to attempt an intercept of the four Yu-11s launched by the Changzheng 20.
One of the four Yu-11s had already been led astray by an acoustic device countermeasure (ADC) called the ADC MK5. A mere eight centimeters in diameter, it was the first time this model of ADC had been deployed in combat. Though it had cost over forty million dollars to develop the ADC MK5, today the Oregon's sailors would call the expense well worth it.
Two of the mini-torpedoes failed to lock on to the three remaining Yu-11s in time.
The remaining four mini-torpedoes did successfully acquire Yu-11s as their target.
Unfortunately, two Yu-11s were each targeted by two mini-torpedoes. This happened because the mini-torpedoes were not wire-guided and had no way to communicate with each other.
This was not all bad. One of the targeted Yu-11s was hit by only one of the two mini-torpedoes, while the other passed it by harmlessly. The hit broke the Yu-11 in half, and it was no longer a threat.
The other targeted Yu-11 was hit by two mini-torpedoes, and reduced to fragments drifting onto the seabed.
But that still left one undamaged, on-target Yu-11.
That remaining Yu-11 was briefly sent off course by an ADC MK5. But the Yu-11 had a proximity sensor that told the torpedo the target it had been seeking was nearby.
The Yu-11's designers knew that targeted ships and submarines would try to confuse its guidance systems. So whenever it faced conflicting information, it was programmed with a simple solution.
It exploded.
On the one hand, the Yu-11's designers had definitely made the right decision. The Yu-11 was about to be led off course and cause no damage to the Oregon.
But as it was, the Yu-11 exploded too far away to inflict a mortal blow.
Not by much, though.
The Oregon rocked as the pressure wave from the Yu-11's explosion hit.
"Damage control crews, report," Cartwright said.
"Sir, a hit on Sierra One from one of the Mark 48s," the sonar supervisor reported.
"Damage estimate to Sierra One?" Cartwright asked.
The sonar supervisor listened to his headset intently for over a minute, while Cartwright received reports on the damage caused by the Yu-11 explosion from throughout the Oregon.
Then he looked up at Cartwright, who was now standing next to him.
"Sir, I can hear compartments collapsing. Sierra One has been destroyed."
There was no cheering from any of the sailors within earshot. They all knew it could just as easily have been them.
"Any indication of additional enemy torpedoes?" Cartwright asked.
The sonar supervisor would have told Cartwright immediately if any had been detected. But the question didn't bother him since he knew it was procedure, drilled countless times.
In the stress of combat, details were easy to miss. Even the most important ones.
"No, sir. No indication of either torpedoes or other vessels in the area," the sonar supervisor replied.
Cartwright turned to Fischer.
"Commander, continue on course to base at our best safe speed. Coordinate with damage control parties, and get me a report as soon as possible. In particular, I want to know if any damage could affect hull integrity, our top speed, or our acoustic signature," Cartwright said.
"Yes, sir," Fischer replied.
Well, it looks like we survived that battle, Cartwright thought. And, we should soon reach Japanese-patrolled waters.
But would his superiors consider this a victory?
Chapter Fifty-One
South Sea Fleet Headquarters
Zhanjiang, China
Senior Captain Ding hadn't been happy with any aspect of the damage report prepared on the base at Ziyou Island. Most obviously, it failed to explain what had killed everyone on the island.
But after multiple exchanges, it had finally become clear that Captain Qin, the officer who had signed off on the report, had not even set foot on the island. A Chief Sergeant Class 2, who the Americans would call a Sergeant Major, had done the actual assessment.
In one sense, Ding had no problem with that. He had pulled Chief Sergeant Cao's file and saw that he was indeed the man for the job. Cao had investigated everything from accidental explosions caused by poor munitions storage to arson. Thankfully, nobody since China's brief war with Vietnam in 1979 could claim directly relevant experience. If anyone was still serving who had seen combat in that war, Ding hadn't met them.
No, what was bothering Ding was that Captain Qin had tried to refuse his request to have Cao report to him directly. Instead, Qin had said he would answer any questions about his report.
Ding knew that some officers would have agreed with Qin's request simply because it came from a fellow officer.
Not Ding. One of the reasons Admiral Bai had picked him as his deputy was he knew Ding was not impressed by rank. And gave zero priority to doing things "as they had always been done."
No. Qin was hiding something. And Ding was going to find out what
that was.
The intercom on Ding's desk crackled to life. His assistant, a lieutenant, said hesitantly, "Sir, Chief Sergeant Cao is reporting as you ordered."
Ding mashed the reply button and said irritably, "Escort him in, Lieutenant."
"Sir, a Captain Qin is insisting that he come in as well," the Lieutenant said.
"Tell Captain Qin I will talk to him after I speak with his Sergeant. And if he has a problem with that, tell him I will have him wait in less comfortable surroundings," Ding snarled.
There was a pause, and then a relieved voice said, "He heard you, sir. On my way."
Moments later, the door to Ding's office opened. Cao entered, and Ding's assistant closed the door behind him.
Cao marched up to Ding's desk, saluted, and said in a confident voice, "Chief Sergeant Cao reporting as ordered, sir."
Ding looked Cao up and down while Cao stood at attention. Uniform in perfect order and groomed to correct military standards. In excellent physical shape, which was not a given. As a senior noncommissioned officer, Cao would spend a lot of time behind a desk. That meant on top of demanding responsibilities, Cao had the good sense to go to a gym.
Satisfied, Ding nodded towards the chair in front of his desk. "Have a seat, Chief Sergeant. You know you're here to answer questions about your report on Ziyou Island."
"Yes, sir," Cao said as he sat.
"Good. Now, your report says you could find no evidence of an attack. What did you look for?" Ding asked.
"Fragments that didn't belong there, sir," Cao replied immediately. "When I've investigated accidental ordnance explosions, for example, the scene was always littered with metal fragments from the weapon casings. They're easy to distinguish from other metal debris, like pieces of metal support beams."
Ding frowned. "Isn't it possible that the fragments were too small to spot? Or were blown off the island and into the sea?"
Cao nodded. "I had both thoughts, sir. That might account for some pieces of an enemy weapon. But to do the kind of damage I saw, no ordinary ordnance could have done it without leaving some evidence behind."
"And that's where the report leaves it. So, Chief Sergeant, what do you think happened?" Ding asked.