that helo.'
Sonar designated the helo as sonar contact Sierra 179. Mack designated the Romeo as Master 21.
Antisubmarine helicopters were always a danger. They were hard for submarines to detect, and their dipping sonars and sonobuoys could provide enemy forces with valuable data on the location of Cheyenne. And that was exactly what this one seemed to be doing.
And if the helicopter was within its torpedo range, Mack realized, they could also drop a torpedo in the water. That would definitely ruin our day, he thought.
'Range to the Romeo, Master 21, is seventeen thousand yards, bearing 025,' the fire-control coordinator reported.
'Sonar, conn, what's the classification on the one that just submerged?' Mack asked.
'Conn, sonar, it sounds like another Romeo. It sounds closer, bearing 027, sir. Designate Master 22?'
The BSY-I operators quickly determined that two enemy submarines were five thousand yards from one another. Cheyenne, it turned out, was on a bearing directly between them, the reciprocal bearing 206 if they detected her.
At that moment, the helicopter's dipping sonar was active again, and this time it was directly overhead.
Mack smiled. That helo pilot had just done them a favor. The two Chinese submarines may have already acquired Cheyenne-which meant that the latest 'ping' didn't help them at all. But the sound energy reflecting off their hulls into Cheyenne's waiting sonars and the BSY-l computers gave her accurate firing solutions for both Romeo class submarines.
'Make tubes one and two ready in all respects,' Mack ordered. 'Open the outer doors. Firing point procedures, tube one, Master 21, and tube two, Master 22,' Mack wanted the first torpedo going after the closer submarine and the second torpedo aimed at the other.
His orders were confirmed quickly and efficiently.
Match sonar bearings and shoot, tune one, Master zi and tube two, Master 22,' he ordered.
'Match bearings and shoot, tube one, Master 21, and tube two, Master 22, aye, Captain.'
Both torpedoes quickly acquired.
Mack acknowledged the reports. 'Now, let's get the heii out of here before we get attacked by that helo. Cut the wires, shut the outer doors, and reload tubes one and two. Ahead flank, right full rudder, make your depth 800 feet, steady on course 180.' Mack was calm as the directed commands were repeated by the persons intended for them. Cheyenne had become a fine-tuned fighting machine. Each man knew what was expected of him.
Above them, high in the sky, a lone F-14 flying from the aircraft carrier Independence saw the target blip on its radar long before the Chinese helicopter had any idea what was about to happen. With permission of the flag watch officer aboard Independence, the 000-045 sector F-14 pilot was allowed to advance his sector since he had radar contact on the Chinese helo that was harassing Cheyenne. After he cut in his afterburners and approached the target at supersonic speed, permission to fire was passed from the TAG (tactical action officer). With a thumb push on Ihe pickle, the pilot reported 'Phoenix 1 away.'
Behind him, in the backseat, his RIO (radar intercept officer), who had done all the targeting work, said, 'Phoenix is locked on. That submarine captain sure owes us one.'
Aboard Cheyenne, the sonar supervisor couldn't explain his latest detections to Mack. 'Conn, sonar,' he said, 'the helicopter, the one above our position? I think she just crashed! Something fell in the water and the TB-23 is not picking up any helo turbine noise anymore.'
'I guess we just broke Murphy's law,' Mack replied, his voice as calm and efficient as ever.
Mack had decided not to designate the helo with a Master number. He would leave that to the aviators. However, the helo would find itself in the history of submarine warfare, in Mack's patrol report, by virtue of Cheyenne's 'Sierra' designation assigned to the helo as one of Cheyenne's many sonar contacts.
The remainder of their transit into the southern end of the South China Sea proved, to the delight of both the captain and the crew, to be entirely uneventful. Mack had not realized how enjoyable an uneventful stretch of time could be when the alternative was someone shooting at his submarine.
When they met up with Independence northwest of Natuna Island, Mack and his crew learned that both Mk 48s had found their marks and the Chinese were now down another two submarines. Mack had also discovered the true story behind the 'crash' of their Chinese helo.
Mack sent a message to the SEC (submarine element coordinator) on board Independence, requesting a special 'thank-you' for the F-14 pilot-a thank-you that, whenever they got a chance to get ashore to buy one, would include a very nice bottle of wine.
3. Four if by Sea, Six if by Land
Come to periscope depth,' Mack said. 'I want to have a quick look around before proceeding.' Cheyenne moved slowly from her current depth of three hundred feet beneath the surface of the South China Sea, pausing at one hundred thirty feet to clear baffles. When the sonar supervisor reported no contacts to the OOD, Cheyenne completed her excursion to fifty-nine feet. Before arriving, the OOD, Mack, and the crew members who were trying to eat could feel the effects of the sea state.
Mack had raised the Type 18 periscope while the OOD rode the leaner, less detectable, Type 2 attack periscope. Two sets of eyes were better than one, especially since the sea state could easily mask quiet surface contacts. Once they were near ordered depth, the tops of both periscopes were intermittently awash an the four- foot swells, which were frequently topped with significantly higher waves.
In order not to broach, Cheyenne had to take the swells, caused by a distant storm, no more than forty-five degrees forward of the beam. Otherwise, she would have a tendency to pitch with a ten-second period due to the ninety-foot wavelength of sea state four. Pitching up or down with Cheyenne^s forward momentum could result in an uncontrollable angle, causing either the sail to be exposed during an up angle or the stem to be exposed during a down angle. Exposing the stem was more dangerous because the seven blades of Cheyenne's screw would pass through the air-water interface, causing unwanted high-torque jolting of the shaft as each exposed blade once again encountered the water. The weather on the surface was terrible, with violent thunderstorms breaking over the entire region. The power and majesty of the storms were breathtaking, but Mack found himself thinking more about how much they might be affecting flight operations on board independence. He knew how much bad weather could degrade surface ship operations. That was just one of the many reasons he loved working far beneath the turbulent surface. Unlike their surface counterparts-and especially pilots and land-based soldiers-submariners were rarely affected by the weather, except when they needed to go to periscope depth.
On behalf of the crew, Mack decided to keep the time at periscope depth to a minimum. After copying the SSIXS broadcast and verifying that there were no surface contacts in the vicinity, Mack ordered the OOD to proceed deep beneath the storm, which unfortunately had eroded the first thermal layer, causing an isotherm (constant temperature) from the surface to over six hundred feet.
Six hours earlier, Cheyenne had arrived safely at her rendezvous point with the carrier Independence one hundred miles northwest of Natuna Island. The entire Independence Battle Group was now heading in the direction of the Spratly Islands. Cheyenne's current assignment was to patrol the nearby waters in search of any enemy submarines that might try to sneak up on the Battle Group.
In a way, Cheyenne was operating like a fighter pilot assigned to air cover. She was Independence's first line
