SSN - Tom Clancy [94]
"Very well," Mack said. "Maintain flank speed and heading."
The transit to the South China Sea to meet with Independence was filled with tension. AH on board Cheyenne had been informed of the large attack group heading their way and they were not exactly sure of how their submarine fit into the equation. They knew that they would be playing an essential role in the operation, but they also knew that they would not find out what that role was until their new orders were radioed to them from the surface.
The Americans were not like the Chinese when it came to fleet cooperation. The U.S. Navy put a great emphasis on intership communications. They had learned that through digital data-links and satellite communications, that so-called information warfare could mean the difference between failure and success in a major battle.
"We just picked up Mobile Bay on sonar bearing 286," reported one of the sonar operators to his sonar supervisor. The BSY-l operators immediately set to work to determine Cheyenne* s range to the cruiser.
"Come to periscope depth," Mack ordered.
"Come to periscope depth, aye, sir." The repeated order was such a part of Navy life that few even realized that they were saying it.
After four minutes the captain ordered one of the communications masts raised. When that order had been acknowledged and carried out, he instructed radio to transmit a message to Independence, indicating that Cheyenne had arrived on station and was awaiting their new orders.
It took a few minutes for the new orders to come in, but Mack didn't mind the wait-especially once he got a look at exactly what those new orders were.
Cheyenne was to take up position approximately one hundred miles in front of the Battle Group. This would get her away from the noisy surface ships and allow her to do what she did best: hunt down and destroy any enemy submarines in the area.
When the final message traffic had come in, Mack ordered Cheyenne to once again proceed below four hundred feet. His normal routine was to call a meeting in the wardroom, but these orders had been expected and did not require a full meeting. Instead, he then instructed the communicator to type up a summary and distribute it to the appropriate officers.
To: All officers on board USS Cheyenne
From: Captain Mackey
RE: Combat operations
We have just been radioed our new orders. As you are all aware, the Independence Battle Group had been tasked with a preemptive attack on the Chinese task force currently heading for the Spratly Islands.
Cheyenne has been tasked with running out in front of the Independence Battle Group on course 090. Once we are in position, west of the Spratlys, we have been ordered to wait for the Chinese submarines to exit the shallow waters near the islands. If we encounter any such contacts, which we invariably will, we have been granted permission to break off from the Battle Group and pursue the contacts.
We have been offered any support that Independence can provide. This may come in the form of S-3s, SH-60s, a surface ship, or even a submarine. However, if the battle becomes heavy, and we expect that it will, we may have to operate on our own.
Bremerton and Columbia will remain with Independence, protecting her port and starboard flanks. Because of the successes we've had in these waters, we have been given a great amount of authority to operate independently from the carrier. So let's stay cautious and keep on our toes.
Mack finished the letter with his plain, recognizable signature and had the communicator run off the appropriate number of copies.
On board Independence, flight operations were beginning to take on a tone of tension as well. While all carrier flights involved a fairly high level of risk, combat operations increased this risk. On top of that, within the past hour an ES-3 electronic warfare aircraft flying from the carrier had detected strong Chinese radio activity coming from the direction of the Spratfy Islands. Since the invasion of the islands, this had frequently