SSN - Tom Clancy [76]
Maintaining certification during a war was not just a perfunctory administrative paper drill. It was extremely important. The certification meant that the home which protected the men of Cheyenne from the perils of the sea was satisfactory for keeping water out of the "people locker."
The SUBSAFE criteria, which began in Cheyenne's new construction period and continued for the life of the ship, included the capability of various important components to withstand underwater explosive shock without endangering the lives of the crew. Integrity of these components was paramount if the crew was to survive the rigors of enemy attacks and reach the surface safely.
Mack planned to avoid that situation, of course, but with the reports of seven Akula II SSNs en route to the South China Sea, he knew Cheyenne would have her work cut out for her. And so did her well-informed crew, who set about their inspection duties as soon as the dry-dock was pumped down.
The late arrival of McKee meant that Cheyenne would have only one day to reload the vertical-launch tubes with Tomahawk missiles and the torpedo room with Mk 48s. Arco had no capability to reload SSN weapons, other than small-arms ammunition. So far, Cheyenne had not had to resort to that limited method of warfare, and Mack didn't intend to need them in the near future, either.
Arco, like all the floating drydocks in the fleet, did not have a formal commanding officer. Drydocks, which were not commissioned as United States ships and so did not receive the "USS" designation, had officers-in-charge instead.
In talking with Area's officer-in-charge, Mack learned that Arco had managed to off-load some Navy Construction Battalion equipment and a small contingent of Seabees at a pleasure boat launch ramp near the Cubi airfields. That would have been very good news if they were on a longer timetable. As it was, repair of the runways would probably be too late for Cheyenne to count on any air support in her upcoming missions. Besides, Mack thought, deciding to forget about having to coordinate operations with aircraft, even if the Seabees got the runways repaired, it wouldn't do much good. The supporting infrastructure that had once been at the airfield, as well as the air-traffic controllers and radars, had been spread to other airfields around the world.
Which was fine with Mack. This was a submarine war; it was Cheyenne's submarine war. He did appreciate, however, that Arco had brought a replacement screw for Cheyenne. She didn't need it yet, but there was always the outside chance that Chinese torpedo shrapnel would get close enough to cause damage to the screw. The "singing" screw that could develop from that would limit Cheyenne's speed, and that was worse than a SUB-SAFE depth restriction to one-half test depth. Singing screws were a condition that could not be tolerated even in peacetime.
Arco also had brought the "ship's key," the huge wrench needed to remove and replace the screw's hub nut.
The following morning, McKee arrived in Subic Bay under the cover of darkness. She didn't moor at the sea wall, but instead moored outboard of Arco at the SRF (ship repair facility) just down the street from the old Naval Forces headquarters building. Mack knew that the captain of McKee would consider moving his ship after Cheyenne's departure, and after his men were able to assess the safety of the previously normal berth for large ships like McKee. Those berths had been unattended for nearly five years, and he would want to be sure of the sea wall's status, including the mooring bollards, before he felt comfortable enough to moor there for the duration of the war.
There was another good