SSN - Tom Clancy [37]
As directed by the captain, who was now the conning officer, the executive officer, in his role as the fire control coordinator, passed the order to the torpedo room over the sound-powered phones, "Torpedo room, fire control, make tubes one and two ready in all respects, including opening the outer doors." He wanted to get the tubes ready as early as possible and as far from the enemy submarines as possible.
The order from the captain, carried by the open microphone at the periscope stand, alerted the sonar operators that noisy evolutions would be taking place near the BSY-) spherical array so they could attenuate the sound level reaching their sensitive ears.
The torpedo room crew acknowledged the order. "Make tubes one and two ready in all respects, including opening the outer doors, fire control, torpedo room, aye." Moments later, the torpedo room reported completing the ordered evolution with the torpedo tubes. The executive officer relayed the information to Mack. "Captain, tubes one and two are ready in all respects. Both outer doors are open."
"Very well, fire control," answered the captain. The Han was drawing left and closing. It was not quiet by any means, and was easily tracked by the TB-16, spherical, and conformal arrays at the same time. The inputs to the three BSY-1 computers made the solution a snap for the fire-control party.
When the BSY-1 operator and the fire-control coordinator were satisfied with the TMA (target motion analysis) solution on Master 32, the Chinese Han class attack submarine, the captain ordered, "Firing point procedures, Master 32."
The combat systems officer reported the target course, speed, and range.
"Sonar, conn, stand by," ordered the captain.
"Conn, sonar, standing by."
"Match sonar bearings and shoot, tubes one and two, Master 32."
"Match sonar bearings and shoot, tubes one and two, Master 32, aye."
After the large piston of the torpedo-ejection pump ram drove home, the Mk 48 ADCAP torpedoes were ejected from their resting places at the same time that their Otto fuel engines were coming up to full speed. "Tubes one and two fired electrically," reported the combat systems officer.
"Conn, sonar, units from tubes one and two running hot, straight, and normal," came the report from the sonar supervisor as the two torpedoes executed their wire clearance maneuvers and accelerated rapidly to fifty knots en route to convergence with the Chinese submarine.
"Very well, sonar," Mack said. Then, a moment later, he asked, "Time to acquisition?"
"Eight minutes, Captain," answered the combat systems officer.
To Mack, it seemed like an eternity before he heard, "Unit one has acquired Unit two has acquired."
"Cut the wires, shut the outer doors, and reload tubes one and two," Mack ordered now that the Chinese submarine's fate was in the hands of the Mk 48s. There was no escaping their relentless attack. The subsequent reverberations and breaking up sounds were deafening.
"Conn, sonar, we have a torpedo in the water, SET-53, bearing 089!" The sonar supervisor's excited report came just as the ocean started to quiet. Apparently the Han CO had launched a snap shot at the bearing of the incoming torpedoes as pan of a last-ditch effort prior to his certain death.
"Right full rudder, all ahead flank. Cavitate. Make your depth one thousand feet," Mack said, followed rapidly by his calm, but forceful words over Cheyenne's 1MC, "Rig ship for depth charge."
With the ship already at battle stations, the reports from Cheyenne's various compartments came in quickly to the chief of the watch at the ballast control panel. The engineering officer of the watch (EOOW) had ordered main coolant pumps shifted to fast speed, and the throttle man answered the ordered bell as soon as the pumps were reported in fast speed by the reactor operator.
In fact, the throttle man was a little quicker than the EOOW had expected. With the precision of his training, he had acknowledged the engine order telegraph backup