that the captain and crew of McKee would be glad to see them, too.
6. Ambush
Cheyenne's crew was well rested after their relatively relaxing stay on board the submarine tender McKee. Cheyenne had been rearmed and their food and supply stocks had been replenished. Captain Mackey was even looking forward to his next mission.
According to naval intelligence, that mission was going to be a 'breeze' compared to his last several-and Mack hoped they were right. By now, his officers and crew were combat-hardened veterans who had more than paid their debt to their country. If Mack had his way, he'd give each and every one of them a medal and a promotion for their service.
The captain called the executive officer into his small stateroom. This was one of the few places where the captain could have a quiet moment to himself. He had asked the executive officer to join him because he didn't always trust naval intelligence and he wanted a second opinion on the orders Cheyenne had received.
When the executive officer arrived, Mack handed him the message. He didn't say a word. He didn't have to.
The orders called for Cheyenne to enter into the Chinese-claimed Spratly Islands and patrol several of the now-abandoned oil rigs in the area, including the partially built rig bordering on Swallow Reef.
The executive officer studied them for two minutes and then looked up. The look on his face made it clear that he wasn't any happier than Mack was. A week earlier, naval intelligence had proclaimed those waters too dangerous to enter. Now they were claiming that they'd been deloused and were clear of all enemy submarines.
Mack had gotten what he'd wanted-confirmation of his suspicions. Cheyenne had her orders, and she would carry them out, but she would be expecting trouble, no matter what those intel guys said.
'Gather the officers,' he said. 'I want them all in the wardroom in fifteen minutes.'.
Ever since he'd first met the executive officer, Mack had liked him and trusted his opinion. During wartime, Mack knew, one couid never be too reliant on intelligence reports from thousands of miles away. The executive officer had agreed with his feelings on their orders and that made Mack trust him even more.
Fifteen minutes later, the wardroom was quiet when Mack entered. He looked around at the assembled officers and decided to get right to the point.
'We've been ordered to enter the Spratly Islands chain and patrol several oil rigs in the area that are believed to be possible locations for submarine supply depots,' he said. 'Naval intelligence doubts this finding, but they have sent us to investigate nonetheless.'
Because the intelligence analysts didn't think that they would find anything in the area, CTF 74 had decided it would be cost efficient to load Cheyenne with only twenty Mk-48 torpedoes; no Tomahawks and no Harpoons. So even if Mack did find a remote Chinese operating location, he couldn't attack it with Tomahawks as he would have liked to. He was ordered to report back, and then the Navy would order an air strike. He hated this kind of thinking.
The assembled officers were silent, waiting for him to continue. 'Naval intelligence reports that due to our successful actions during the past several weeks, as well as the actions of the rest of the Navy, the Chinese units in the area are running low on supplies and morale. They expect that, at the most, we will come into contact with only a handful of submarines in these waters.'
Mack looked around the room, assessing his officers.
'This mission is supposed to be an easy one,' he said, 'but you all know what that means. It just means we have to be extra careful and keep on our toes. I don't like being that close to Chinese-occupied waters any more than you do. But we have our orders.'
After the usual number of questions, the wardroom was cleared and the captain went back to his stateroom, where he again examined his orders. He still didn't like what he was reading.
Mack looked at the chart he normally kept in the wardroom. It was one of the few good charts he'd ever seen of the Spratly Islands. The chain was oval, shaped roughly like a football, with four islands that Cheyenne needed to patrol.
As Mack examined the chart, he decided he would steam silently from the north into the waters surrounding Discovery Great Reef. From there, he would proceed in a counterclockwise direction, continuing west and south until he arrived near Cuarteron Reef, right in the center of the oval.
From there, Cheyenne would travel to Swallow Reef, near the southern border of the islands, and then sail northeast until she arrived at her last search area, Car-natic Reef. Assuming that intel was right-an assumption Mack was not prepared to make-and the area was clean, Cheyenne would then continue on to the north to await further orders.
Cheyenne was now passing the island of Palawan to the east. Navigating the remaining 200 miles in the narrow but deep channel leading to Mindoro Strait would require a number of GPS fixes en route. The submarine tender McKee, from which he had just finished rearming, would remain on station in the Sulu Sea until ordered by CTF 74 to relocate.
After the recent submarine attack on McKee, the Independence and the Nimitz Battle Groups had each decided to part with one ASW helicopter, and the two LAMPS III helos were now being flown to McKee's position.
The SH-60s would be operated from McKee's landing pads in order to protect the tender from any possible future submarine threats. The SH-60Bs were also equipped to carry the Penguin antiship missile, which would offer McKee an antisurface defense as well. The Navy would not be taking any more chances by sending a defenseless tender into the line of fire.
One other good thing came out of that attack on McKee-at least from Mack's point of view. McKee's captain was very appreciative of Cheyenne's timely rescue and had provided as much fresh fruit as Cheyenne's storage spaces would allow. Fresh fruit was scarce on board a submarine and stocks often ran out quickly. This gesture on the part of McKee's captain was greatly appreciated, and while the fruit would not last long, it would help ensure that the beginning of Cheyenne's cruise would be enjoyable.
Having found a Ming SSK in the Sulu Sea, Mack could not afford the luxury of running on the surface until clear of Mindoro Strait. Still, the channel out to the Sulu Sea was narrow and treacherous, so Mack decided to supplemenl the GPS fixes with occasional active sonar. The threat of other Chinese submarines was real, but so was the threat of running into the side of the channel.
Once past the shallow waters of Mindoro Strait, Cheyenne accelerated to twenty knots, on course 300 toward the start of her counterclockwise search of the Spratly Islands. Upon arrival, Mack ordered the OOD to run at four knots until they determined that the area was clear before continuing on their way.
The TB-23 towed array was streamed to help in the search of the deep water in case there were Chinese SSNs trying to slip in from the north. After a careful sonar search, Cheyenne increased speed to full and altered course for Discovery Great Reef.
The more Mack thought about this current mission, the less he liked it. He was all too aware of how easy it would be for a diesel submarine like a Kilo to hide in the island waters near the oil platforms. An enemy submarine could lie in wait near the bottom of the shallow water, hiding until Cheyenne came within torpedo range. They could even bottom without damage, since the Chinese diesel submarines didn't have a GRP (glass-reinforced plastic) sonar dome or seawater cooling for a steam propulsion plant to worry about. Captain Mackey didn't like that thought at all.
Mack decided that once he was within twenty-five miles of each search area, he would reduce Cheyenne's speed to eight to ten knots and that once he was with ten miles he would slow to four to seven knots. He didn't
