the Romeo. It's been hiding from us all this time.'
All humor was gone from the conn. Considering their situation, Mack was pleased with how well his officers and crew were handling the sudden tension. Not aware they had regained old Master 24, the Kilo was designated Master 28.
Cheyenne had just been pinged on by a directly overhead Chinese ASW helicopter, which had undoubtedly received an exact fix on their present location five hundred feet below the surface. The helo would now probably be making an MAD (magnetic anomaly detection) pass to confirm Cheyenne^ position. Mack was concerned that they would follow that up by dropping a torpedo directly on top of Cheyenne.
'Conn, sonar, the Kilo, Master 28, just picked up speed. It's heading directly at us, making turns for seventeen knots. It must suspect that the helo gave their position away.'
'What's the range to the Kilo?' Mack asked the fire-control coordinator.
'Twenty-four thousand yards. Captain. We're within ADCAP range for the Kilo-it's making lots of noise at seventeen knots. Recommend making tubes one and two ready.'
Mack nodded and initiated Firing Point Procedures on Master 28. 'Torpedo room, fire control, make tubes one and two ready in all respects. Open the outer doors.'
The order was acknowledged. One minute later it was confirmed. 'Tubes one and two are ready in all respects, sir. Outer doors have been opened.' 'Sonar, conn, stand by.' 'Conn, sonar, standing by.'
'Match sonar bearings and shoot tube one, Master 28.'
'Match sonar bearings and shoot tube one, Master 28, aye, sir.'
Mack then came right to clear the datum.
'Tube one fired electrically,' the combat system officer reported. That was as far as he got. Before he could report on the torpedo's status, the sonar supervisor spoke up.
'Conn, sonar, torpedo in the water bearing 180! It's a Chinese Mk 46 copy, Mod 2.' Mack had been correct in assigning the helo a Master number, which were usually reserved for potential threats to Cheyenne herself, or to targets of significant intelligence value.
'Cut the wire and shut the outer door,' ordered the captain. 'Reload tube one.' Mack was throwing away his torpedo, and he knew it. The Kilo was too far away and maneuvering. The Mk 48 would probably not be able to acquire on its own, but right now Mack had a different torpedo to worry about.
'Left full rudder, all ahead flank, steady course 305,' Mack ordered. 'Cavitate. Make your depth 750 feet.' He waited for acknowledgment and then added, 'Rig ship for depth charge.'
Cheyenne's power plant was now running at peak capacity in an attempt to get away from the deadly torpedo racing their way.
'Conn, sonar, another torpedo in the water. Master 27 just dropped a second Mk 46 on us, bearing 245.'
'Release a noisemaker,' Mack ordered.
Confirmation was quick. 'Noisemaker away.'
Cheyenne^ top speed was nearly forty knots. The two torpedoes chasing her were knifing through the water at forty knots, but Mack wasn't worried. Not yet, anyway. Sonar reported the Chinese torpedoes bearing 268 and bearing 187. If Mack maintained his course and speed, the torpedoes would both run out of fuel before they closed the distance.
The problem was that, at flank speed, Cheyenne was maKing more noise, one was annum mug 11^1 i,Aavi iwu-tion to every nearby sonar device. On top of that, she was making enough noise that she could barely hear anything around her.
Mack knew that in order to outrun the torpedoes, they would need to keep running at this speed, blind to anything but the noisy torpedoes, for at least another five thousand yards.
That was when Cheyenne caught her first break. 'Conn, sonar,' the sonar supervisor reported, 'the first torpedo just fell for the noisemaker. It's off our tail.'
'Sonar, conn, what about torpedo number two?' Mack asked.
'Conn, sonar, it's at the edge of our port baffle.' There was a brief pause and then the sonar supervisor added, 'It just went active. Captain.'
'Release another noisemaker.' 'Releasing noisemaker, aye, sir.' The tension level slowly mounted. 'Conn, sonar,' the sonar supervisor announced, 'the Mk 46 just latched on to the noisemaker decoy? lost the torpedo in our baffles!'
Mack nodded. The Mk 46s were fast, but they were easily fooled.
'I guess those noisemakers reaily do work,' one of the sonar operators said to the operator sitting beside him.
'Ahead one third,' Mack ordered. He wanted to run slower until he knew what was going on around him.
It took several moments for Cheyenne to slow down enough to start listening once more. Mack slowly turned to the northeast to clear his baffles.
'Sonar, conn, report all contacts,' Mack said, once they had slowed enough. He wanted to know who was out there and exactly where they were.
'Conn, sonar, report all contacts, aye, sir,' the sonar supervisor acknowledged.
Less than five minutes had passed since the first Chinese Mk 46 had been fired at them, but to the officers and crew on board Cheyenne it seemed like only five seconds. It was ironic, Mack thought. The minutes it took for their own torpedoes to acquire and complete their runs seemed to stretch into hours, but when hostile torpedoes were coming toward Cheyenne, time passed much faster.
'Conn, sonar, we've got three contacts, Captain,' said the sonar supervisor. 'One Kilo class submarine bearing 278, making turns for fifteen knots. One Romeo class submarine bearing 020, making turns for about six and a half knots. The third contact is a Chinese Luda class destroyer, which is probably where that helo came from, bearing 350. The destroyer is also heading in our direction. The TB-23 doesn't hold the helicopter above us, which may be because we're too deep, but my guess is that it's rearming on board the destroyer.' Mack would be sure to mention his battle stations sonar supervisor in his patrol report.
The BSY-1 operators confirmed the sonar supervisor's expert calls. The Romeo was previous Master 25 and the Luda was previously Master 26. However, the Kilo's bearing was too far to the left for it to be the previous Master 28, which Cheyenne shot at earlier. Master 28 was added to the kill list and the new Kilo was designated Master 29.
'We'll take out the Kilo, Master 29, first,' Mack said. It was the closest target, and potentially the quietest, and Mack wanted it out of the picture. He gave the orders to prepare tube two in all respects, including opening the outer door. As soon as his orders were acknowledged and confirmed, he gave the command to match sonar bearings and shoot tube two, Master 29.
Seconds later, the combat systems officer reported, 'Tube two fired electrically, sir.'
'Conn, sonar, unit from tube two running hot, straight, and normal.'
The Kilo knew the moment the torpedo entered the water. It tried to turn and to run in the opposite direction, but the Chinese submarine had little chance. The Kilo had been closing on Cheyenne at top speed, and with a torpedo heading its way, it didn't have much room to maneuver.
The Kilo zigged and zagged, tossing its crew about as the Chinese captain tried to confuse the torpedo at the same time that he tried to reverse his heading. The Chinese submarine released a noisemaker decoy to buy time, but Mack, listening to the reports from sonar, didn't think it would work this time. He was right.
'Conn, sonar, the Mk 48 passed right by their noise-maker. It's still on course, bearing 275.'
Several minutes later sonar reported hearing the explosion. The 650-pound explosive warhead literally peeled open the Kilo's back end, beginning with its screw. The Chinese Kilo roamed the sea no more.
'Reload tube two with a Harpoon,' Mack ordered. There was no time to relish the victory. He wanted the destroyer, Master 26, next. With luck, the helo would still be on board. 'Diving officer, make your depth one hundred feet.' Mack needed to get closer to the surface so that they could launch the missile.
