SSN - Tom Clancy [114]
"Conn, sonar, we have two torpedoes in the water, bearing 205 and drawing right!" the sonar supervisor called out. The Russian captain had launched his snap shots, but not at the bearings of the incoming torpedoes. He was wilier than the other Akula captains, and had read the report of Cheyenne's earlier tactic, which had been sent by the Akula that got away and made it to the Paracels. Guessing correctly that the captain of Cheyenne would try it again, he had launched on a bearing halfway between the oncoming torpedoes.
Mack's ploy hadn't worked. The Russian torpedoes were headed for Cheyenne.
"Right full rudder, all ahead flank," Mack ordered. "Do not cavitate. Make your depth one thousand feet." He wasn't sure if the Akula had detected Cheyenne on its towed array or if the Russian captain had guessed at Mack's earlier tactic. If the Akula had heard them, it knew Cheyenne's location, but if its captain had just made a lucky guess, then Mack didn't want to reveal Cheyenne to its sonar. Not unless the inbound torpedoes acquired Cheyenne and he had to. Having been deep beneath the second layer, Cheyenne was at flank speed in less than a minute, on course due east, and at one thousand feet. Mack was keeping the torpedoes at the edge of his port baffles so sonar could continue to relay bearing information.
A short while later, the sonar supervisor reported that the torpedoes were speeding up and drawing right faster. At the same time, the WLR-9, Cheyenne's acoustic intercept receiver, started chirping at the frequency of the incoming torpedoes.
"Conn, sonar, explosions coming from our baffles!" That was the sound of Cheyenne's two torpedoes.
Unfortunately, because the explosions occurred in her baffles, the sonar operators could not determine what effect-if any-they'd had on the Akula.
But Mack couldn't worry about that at the moment. The enemy torpedoes were still out there, and closing fast, and they were his top priority. Mack released two gas generators, noisemakers, and brought Cheyenne hard right again, circling to the south to open the datum of the gas generators.
Cheyenne's high-speed maneuvers created an additional knuckle that helped draw the attention of the Russian torpedoes, which attacked nothing but the boiling water column. Confused by the noisemakers, they could not acquire Cheyenne, but merely headed off into the sea.
When it was time for the Russian torpedo end of run and the torpedoes could no longer be heard, Mack turned to the west and slowed Cheyenne to search for the Akula. There was no contact on any of the arrays, and no reverberations from Cheyenne's torpedoes exploding.
The Akula had vanished-though whether it had been destroyed or had merely gone back into hiding could not be determined with any degree of certainty. Mack took Cheyenne back toward Taiwan for reload, maneuvering her slowly and cautiously, but he could not gain any more contact on the third Akula.
Following the Navy's standard procedures, Mack's patrol report would list this last Akula as being sunk. Mack only hoped he was right.
* * *
14. Hornets' Nest
Cheyenne arrived safely back at Tsoying Naval Base, once again mooring alongside McKee. Before heading over for his next war patrol briefing, Captain Mackey requested a full loadout of Mk 48 ADCAP torpedoes. He ordered Cheyenne's combat systems officer to ensure that the remaining Harpoon was off-loaded and its stow refilled with an Mk 48.
Mack's first clue that this briefing, like the last, would have political overtones was when the McKee captain notified him that the briefing would once again be held at the naval base headquarters rather than on board McKee. Mack didn't mind the politics; he just hoped that this didn't mean he'd have to deal with another Typhoon this time out.
The first thing Mack noticed when he entered the conference room on the second floor was the same CTF 74 staff members who had conducted the electronic security sweep of the room before Cheyenne's last patrol. They had already completed their task