The Hunt for Red October - Tom Clancy [217]
"Sonar, search forward on all active systems!" the captain ordered.
The michman pushed the button.
The Red October
"Ouch." Jones' head jerked around. "Skipper, we're being pinged. Port side, midships, maybe a little forward. Not one of ours, sir."
The Pogy
" Conn, sonar, the Alfa's got the boomer! The Alfa bearing is one-nine-two."
"All ahead two-thirds," Wood ordered immediately.
"All ahead two-thirds, aye."
The Pogy's engines exploded into life, and soon her propeller was thrashing the black water.
The V. K. Konovalov
"Range seven thousand, six hundred meters. Elevation angle zero," the michman reported. So, this was the submarine they had been sent to hunt, he thought. He had just donned a headset that allowed him to report directly to the captain and fire control officer.
The starpom was the chief fire control supervisor. He quickly entered the data into the computer. It was a simple problem of target geometry. "We have a solution for torpedoes one and two."
"Prepare to fire."
"Flooding tubes." The starpom flipped the switches himself, reaching past the petty officer. "Outer torpedo tube doors are open."
"Recheck firing solution!" Tupolev said.
The Pogy
The Pogy's sonar chief was the only man to hear the transient noise.
" Conn, sonar, Alfa contact—she just flooded tubes, sir! Target bearing is one-seven-nine."
The V. K. Konovalov
"Solution confirmed, Comrade Captain," the starpom said.
"Fire one and two," Tupolev ordered.
"Firing one . . . Firing two." The Konovalov shuddered twice as compressed air charges ejected the electrically powered torpedoes.
The Red October
Jones heard it first. "High-speed screws port side!" he said loudly and clearly. "Torpedoes in the water port side!"
"Ryl nalyeva!" Ramius ordered automatically.
"What?" Ryan asked.
"Left, rudder left!" Ramius pounded his fist on the rail.
"Left full, do it!" Mancuso said.
"Left full rudder, aye." Ryan turned the wheel all the way and held it down. Ramius was spinning the annunciator to flank speed.
The Pogy
"Two fish running," Palmer said. "Bearing is changing right to left. I say again, torpedo bearing changing right to left rapidly on both fish. They're targeted on the boomer."
The Dallas
The Dallas heard them, too. Chambers ordered flank speed and a turn to port. With torpedoes running his options were limited, and he was doing what American practice taught, heading someplace else—very fast.
The Red October
"I need a course!" Ryan said.
"Jonesy, give me a bearing!" Mancuso shouted.
"Three-two-zero, sir. Two fish heading in," Jones responded at once, working his controls to nail the bearing down. This was no time to screw up.
"Steer three-two-zero, Ryan," Ramius ordered, "if we can turn so fast."
Thanks a lot, Ryan thought angrily, watching the gyrocompass click through three-five-seven. The rudder was hard over, and with the sudden increase in power from the caterpillar motors, he could feel feedback flutter through the wheel.
"Two fish heading in, bearing is three-two-zero, I say again bearing is constant," Jones reported, much cooler than he felt. "Here we go, guys . . ."
The Pogy
Her tactical plot showed the October, the Alfa, and the two torpedoes. The Pogy was four miles north of the action.
"Can we shoot?" the exec asked.
"At the Alfa?" Wood shook his head emphatically. "No, dammit. It wouldn't make a difference anyway."
The V. K. Konovalov
The two Mark C torpedoes were charging at forty-one knots, a slow speed for this range, so that they could be more easily guided by the Konovalov's sonar system. They had a projected six-minute run, with one minute already completed.
The Red October
"Okay, coming through three-four-five, easing the rudder off," Ryan said.
Mancuso kept quiet now. Ramius was using a tactic that he didn't particularly agree with, turning into the