Cheyenne, Princeton, and Gettysburg had not picked up any Chinese submarine or surface contacts for quite a long time now, and while Mack was happy to get the rest, it just wasn't right. The Chinese navy relied almost entirely upon numbers to accomplish their missions, and yet they had sent only five surface ships and four submarines to attack one of their prized targets.
Mack didn't buy it. Something was wrong with that picture. Cheyenne should have detected at least several more Chinese surface or submarine contacts probing Benthic Adventure's defenses.
Where, thought Mack, had the Chinese navy gone?
He was about to find out, and he-along with the entire American command-was not going to like the answer.
At Zhanjiang Naval Base in southern China, a massive force of over sixty ships and submarines was being readied. Their mission was simple: destroy the American aircraft carrier Independence and her entire Battle Group.
The Independence Battle Group consisted of a rather large contingent of ships. This force included three Ticonderoga class Aegis Cruisers, Bunker Hill (CG-52), Mobile Bay (CG-53), and Port Royal (CG-73); two Arleigh Burke Aegis destroyers, John Paul Jones (DDG-53) and Paul Hamilton (DDG-60); three Spruance ASW destroyers, Hewitt (DD-966), O'Brien (DD-975), and Fletcher (DD-992); and three Perry class frigates, Rodney M. Davis (FFG- 60), Thach (FFG-43), and McClusky (FFG-41). Patrolling beneath them was Columbia (SSN-771), a Los Angeles class submarine like Bremerton and Cheyenne.
Within hours of their preparation, American satellites had detected the change in operating tempo at the Chinese naval base. While naval intelligence was not exactly sure what was going on, they did know that it was something major.
As soon as the ships began to leave port, naval intelligence alerted Independence of this major movement. A force that size could only have one mission in mind- attack the American carrier group, destroy Independence, and sink the remainder of her escorts.
When Independence received this message, she immediately went to her highest defensive level. At the same time, the Navy started trying to provide the carrier all the backup available. USS Cheyenne was one of the first ships outside the Independence Battle Group summoned to assist in her defense.
Cheyenne was running deep, and the only way the Navy could reach her was through the extremely low frequency band of communications, ELF messages took so long to send that they were invariably short-just long enough to alert the submarine to proceed to periscope depth for a longer message.
'Captain,' reported the communicator, 'we just received an emergency message via ELF requesting us to come to periscope depth in order to receive an urgent message.'
'Come to periscope depth,' Mack ordered the OOD immediately.
It took several minutes to make it to periscope depth. As soon as Cheyenne was shallow enough she began receiving the important message via SSIXS.
Mack looked at the printout and immediately ordered the communicator to summon a meeting in the wardroom. Mack wanted the combat systems officer, executive officer, navigator, sonar officer, and the communicator there in ten minutes. Mack himself headed straight for the wardroom.
When the officers were assembled, Mack wasted no time. 'We have just received an emergency change of orders,' he said. 'Naval intelligence believes that the USS Independence is about to come under a massive attack by the Chinese navy. Several hours ago, over sixty Chinese surface ships and submarines left Zhanjiang Naval Base headed in a southerly direction.'
The room had grown quiet. Mack hadn't been the only one to notice that the Chinese hadn't gone after the recaptured prospecting ship as heavily as expected, and now many officers' suspicions were being confirmed.
Independence is currently sailing in the southwestern portion of the South China Sea,' Mack went on. 'She has been instructed to move slightly east in order to head toward deeper water where her weapons systems and aircraft can be used to the best advantage. We have been ordered to leave the Benthic Adventure convoy and head southwest. We are to meet up with the Independence Battle Group south of Vietnam. Our orders are to protect at all costs.'
Mack paused to let that sink in. The very idea that the carrier group herself could be in danger took some getting used to.
After a moment he went on, ''Independence will not be sitting still, waiting for our arrival. She has been ordered to close to within aircraft range of the Chinese task force. Once her aircraft are within range, they will begin a preemptive attack on the Chinese fleet. Our job then will be to assist in the ASW efforts.'
The executive officer spoke up then. 'Will we have other submarine assets in the area?' he asked.
'Yes,' Mack said. 'We will be assisted in our operations by our sister ships USS Columbia (SSN 771) and USS Bremerton (SSN 698). Columbia is currently operating with the Independence group. Bremerton will be running at flank speed and will be joining us from the Indian Ocean, where she had been sent to check on an unidentified submarine contact reported by the Australians.'
There were no further questions, and Mack dismissed his officers. They all had a lot of work to do before Cheyenne arrived on station.
This was not the first time Independence had been targeted by the Chinese, but Mack knew that this was by far the most serious threat yet. Several weeks earlier, Independence had come under heavy air attack by the Chinese air force. At that time, however. Independence had been operating at ranges far in excess of most Chinese tactical aircraft and had escaped unscathed. This time the Chinese would have learned their lessons and would be sending both surface and submarine forces to attack the carrier.
Cheyenne was running deep at flank speed in an attempt to reach Independence before the shooting started. Mack knew that the Battle Group commander would not just sit and wait for the Chinese task force to steam closer and closer to them. That was not the American style of fighting. Mack knew that Independence would take the initiative and attack as soon as the moment was right. He just hoped that he would be able to get Cheyenne there in time.
Hours later, Cheyenne proceeded to communications depth to receive the latest intelligence on the Chinese task force. The fleet was heading south in the direction of the Sprally Islands. The latest reports, which came from Independence herself, indicated that the Chinese task force was making every effort to close on the Independence Battle Group, but they were not very well organized.
As the sixty-odd Chinese surface and submarines sped south toward Independence, there was as close to zero coordination as a fleet could attain. Each Chinese ship was operating at what their captain felt was the optimal speed for his ship, with no attempt to maintain order or grouping with the other ships in die task force. The fleet consisted of nearly every type of vessel known to be operational within the Chinese navy, from fast attack craft to destroyers, and from reserve Romeo diesel submarines to the newly acquired Akula SSNs.
This battle plan was something of a desperation move on the part of the Chinese. The Americans were accustomed to more orderly warfare, but the Chinese group had not planned on attacking the Americans in an organized fashion. Instead, their orders were for each ship to slowly approach the Spratlys, refuel, and then head for Independence without waiting for support. As soon as any given ship was within maximum range of the Battle Group, it would fire its weapons.
Obviously, the Chinese were expecting to take terrific losses. If they failed, they would be facing a major action by the United Nations, who had ruled since the beginning of hostilities that the Chinese were to blame. The United States had begun rallying NATO members in favor of launching an offensive against the Spratly Island chain. If the Chinese failed here, they could face international humiliation if NATO or UN forces captured the islands. But if they succeeded, if they sank Independence, the entire operation would be worth any risk.
As Mack had predicted, the Chinese had learned from their previous attack on the carrier. Their last attempt had been a fiasco. They had flown sixty H-6 bombers, Chinese versions of the TU-16 Badger, against Independence, but the American F-14s had been able to attack the bombers long before any of them were able to launch their C- 601 antiship missiles. The Chinese had lost nearly fifty aircraft. The Americans had lost nothing but some AMRAAM and Phoenix missiles.
This time, however, things would be different. Since the failed attack on Independence, China had begun basing large quantities of tactical aircraft on several of the larger Spratly Islands. The Americans were unaware of
