10. Rescue
Cheyenne's new orders came through on her floating wire communications antenna. Mack was still thinking about the fact that the Chinese had Akula II class SSNs, and wondering how many other surprises he would have to face before this war was over.
One more, at least, he realized as he read over the new orders. At least one more.
Mack called for a wardroom meeting in half an hour and then headed to his stateroom as he read over the orders again. He could have called the meeting immediately, but he wanted to thoroughly examine the details of these new orders.
Thirty minutes later, the captain was seated at his normal position at the head of the wardroom table when the other officers entered. Mack didn't wait for the normal exchange of greetings and other pleasantries. As soon as the others took their seats he began to speak.
'As you may have guessed from this meeting, we have received new orders.' He nodded at the printout lying on the table before him. 'You all, I'm sure, remember the United Fuels Corporation prospecting ship, Benthic Adventure. She was seized by the Chinese back in late July. That seizure, it turns out, is what started this war we are now fighting.'
The officers around the table stirred at that. They knew that Mack wouldn't be bringing this up now unless it impacted on their current mission.
'Thus far,' Mack went on, 'the Chinese had been using the ship for drilling operations around the oil fields in the Spratly Islands.' He paused for a moment, glancing around at each of his assembled officers. 'The reason I say the Chinese 'had' been using the ship for drilling is because at 2300 last night, elements of the U.S. Navy's SEAL Team One were inserted by helicopter from Independence, boarded, and recaptured Benthic Adventure. Which means, among other things, that we won't have to worry about the ASDS (Advanced Swimmer Delivery System) vehicle. So far, the Chinese have yet to realize that the ship is now back under American control.'
Mack paused again, smiling at the thought of the Chinese's reaction when they learned. Then he sobered and went on, 'The Chinese, of course, will find out soon enough. Benthic Adventure is now leaving the Spratly Islands under the protection of two Ticonderoga class cruisers, Gettysburg and Princeton, We are to join this convoy as soon as they clear the shallow water of the Spratly Islands. I have already directed the navigator to plot the most expedient course for the rendezvous point in order to meet up with the escort group as quickly as possible.'
Several questions were asked of the captain who then dismissed the meeting and headed to the control room to find out from the navigator what timetable they could expect on their voyage to meet the convoy group.
Several hundred miles away, some other members of U.S. Navy SEAL Team One had been inserted into the Spratlys and had begun fortifying their new home. For the next few days, their teammates on board would make every effort to take Benthic Adventure out of danger. In the meantime, their job was to deploy Stinger antiaircraft missiles in positions near the probable routes of attack for any enemy aircraft or ships.
These missiles, however, as the SEAL team knew, were more of an emotional security blanket than any real support. Benthic Adventure's real protection was provided by the two Aegis cruisers, Princeton (CG-59) and Gettysburg (CG-64), two of the most capable warships in the entire U.S. Navy.
The Aegis warships had been designed to protect American aircraft carriers from massive Soviet air attacks, and these vessels also were equipped with the latest technology in antisubmarine and antisurface warfare. These two warships had sailed from Pearl Harbor as part of the Independence CVBG and had been waiting with Independence until they received word that the SEALs had recaptured the United Fuels prospecting ship. Once the capture was confirmed, Princeton and Gettysburg sailed at flank speed to Benthic''s position and were now providing an escort out of the shallow Spratly Islands area.
The entire group would be glad once they reached deeper water. Once there, Cheyenne would be able to join them and take over their antisubmarine warfare patrols. Each of the warships' two Seahawk helicopters had been working nonstop attempting to track any submarines that might pose a threat to their mission, but they weren't as well equipped for this as Cheyenne.
'What's our time of arrival for rendezvous off the Spratly Isiands?' Mack asked.
The navigator looked up from the quartermaster's chart he'd been studying. Cheyenne was running at the ordered depth of four hundred feet and twenty-six knots as they approached the islands from the north, having earlier departed the Paracels. 'We should be there within seven hours,' he said.
'Come to periscope depth as soon as we're sure that there are no surface ships in the area,' ordered the captain. 'I want to send a message to Gettysburg and tell them what time they should expect us.'
Cheyenne proceeded to periscope depth and transmitted the SSIXS message over her communications mast to the Ticonderoga cruiser escort group. They had been running with their TB-23 thin-line array deployed for several hours now, but had not detected any sonar contacts other than biologies, the undersea life of the South China Sea.
As soon as Cheyenne arrived in position to work with the escort ships, Captain Mackey would be in charge of ASW operations. Benthic Adventure would stay in the center of the group, with Gettysburg and Princeton to her left and right respectively. In order to cover the group's blind spots to their rear, the cruisers would take turns deploying their SQR-19 towed arrays, and their SH-60B helicopters would provide long-range, over-the-horizon radar coverage, thus giving the group a 360-degree buffer zone protecting the recaptured vessel. Cheyenne would run quietly in advance of the group.
Time passed quickly. Five and a half hours later, Cheyenne's sonar supervisor advised the captain that they had detected the Ticonderoga cruisers to their south. Upon hearing this, Mack again went to periscope depth and transmitted their location to the escorts, with an updated ETA and his own tonal map.
The sonar operators on board Princeton detected Cheyenne's knuckle soon afterward, and recognized Mack's sonar signature quickly. Mack had realized early on that the top speed of the convoy had never gone above twelve knots. This was, he correctly guessed, Benthic Adventure's top speed.
After making her transmission, Cheyenne began receiving updated information on the cruisers' new course, heading 270. The three surface ships were to sail in this direction in order to meet up with the USS Independence.
Naval intelligence had reported numerous Chinese surface and submarine groups operating in the area between the Spratlys and USS Independence. That didn't bother Mack, though. Cheyenne could handle the ASW mission, and the Aegis cruisers would easily deal with any surface or air threats.
As soon as the group left the shallow portion of the waters near the Spratly Islands, Cheyenne was once more in her element. Mack ordered the OOD to proceed to four hundred feet and patrol the area in front of their escort group.
Sprinting several thousand yards ahead of the group and then waiting, Cheyenne detected her first contact less than an hour later. The TB-23 was receiving tonals on this contact at quite a distance, which indicated that the signal's source was not making any effort to be quiet. Still, it was more than an hour before they were able to provide enough information to the BSY-1 computers to determine range with any reasonable degree of accuracy. 'Conn, sonar, we've got two positive submarine contacts, probable second convergence zone. Both are making turns for thirteen knots, bearing 310. The contacts are coming from the northwest and are closing.'
Cheyenne was currently operating about 14,000 yards in advance of the surface group. Mack did a quick mental calculation and determined that the enemy submarines were roughly sixty miles from Benthic Adventure.
Mack didn't have to guess at the orders those two enemy submarines were operating under. They were headed in their direction in an effort to intercept the convoy and destroy as many American ships as possible. The fact that they were coming from the northwest indicated that they were part of the Chinese task group originating at Zhanjiang Naval Base.
Mack couldn't know whether word had reached China yet that Benthic Adventure had been liberated, but he
