entered within 120 miles of the F-14s, the first wave of AIM-54C Phoenix missiles were launched at the oncoming Chinese aircraft.
The success of Independence and her aircraft was, ironi-; cally, making things more difficult for Cheyenne. Relying i solely on her sonar, she was having a difficult time attempting to grasp what was going on above her. Explosion after explosion from the direction of the Chinese task force told Mack that the American aircraft had begun their attack, but he would have to wait until the noises died down to figure out how many ships were left and which submarines he would target.
Mack had just begun what he thought would be a long wait when sonar reported active sonar from a submarine contact. The continuing loud explosions made it nearly impossible to determine the range. The underwater sonar environment was difficult to interpret using only passive sonar-but Mack refused to use his active suite; he knew it would give away his position.
'Conn, sonar, we just got the classification of that submarine that was active,' the sonar supervisor said. 'It's an Akula!'
That got Mack's attention. ' Within minutes, the fire-control coordinator reported, 'Range to the Akula, Master 105, is 33,000 yards; she must have snuck up on us during the air attack.'
He was probably right, but that didn't make Mack feel any better. Letting the Akula get that close was a mistake, and Mack knew he had to make up for it. To do that, he had to maneuver Cheyenne closer to the Akula.
Overhead, the barrage of explosions continued, indicating that the immense carrier attack had still not ended.
Slowly Cheyenne increased speed to six knots and; began proceeding in the direction of the Akula, the quietest non-friendly submarine in the world. The only good thing, from Mack's perspective, was that the Chinese Akula was still pinging away. Their Russian-made passive sonar was worthless in the current underwater environment, and the only way they could detect contacts was to use their active sonar.
'Range to Master 105 is now 28,000 yards,' reported the fire-control coordinator.
'Firing point procedures, tubes one and two, Master 105,' responded Mack.
Both tube outer doors were already opened and ready, and because the Akula was using her active sonar they now had an accurate firing solution on the Chinese submarine.
'Match sonar bearings and shoot, tubes one and two, Master 105,' ordered Mack.
The two Mk 48s were fired in the direction of the Akula and Mack kept the guidance wires attached for as long as possible. He didn't want these torpedoes to miss.
As the Mk 48s left their tubes and closed the distance to the enemy submarine, the sonar room and combat systems officer provided continuous updates on their status. The final updates came after ten minutes.
'Conn, sonar, two explosions in the water, bearing 079. The Mk 48s just detonated.'
Mack acknowledged the report, but he wasn't as elated as he'd have liked. He'd made a mistake, and against a better opponent that mistake could have been deadly.
He wondered how things were going on the surface, and whether any of the other American captains had made similar mistakes.
They hadn't. Not a single shot had gotten through Independence's defenses.
Of the attacking Chinese fleet, not a single surface ship remained undamaged. The few surviving Chinese sailors had been forced to abandon their sinking warships and drifted in lifeboats. Around them, strewn in an unorganized pattern in between many of the small ships, lay the remnants of the Chinese fighters and their air defense effort, which had attempted to stop the American anti-shipping attack. The Chinese action had failed- miserably.
The Americans attacked the Chinese ships and aircraft so effectively that not one American fighter had been lost. Thirty-four high-performance Chinese aircraft were destroyed in the battle, along with eighteen surface ships. Now the hope of the Chinese navy lay with their six remaining submarines: three Romeos, two Mings, and one Kilo.
The explosions had stopped and, with the exception of the occasional Chinese ship sinking beneath the waves, the water was again quiet beneath the South China Sea. As the background noise faded, Cheyenne was once again able to use her passive sonar and to begin to build a picture of what they faced.
'Conn, sonar, we've got numerous sonar contacts- probable submarines. We can't tell quite how many at this point, but it's definitely more than two. The contacts sound like they may be operating close together.'
'Sonar, conn, aye.'
Mack had made one mistake based on overconfidence. He wasn't about to do that again.
'Okay,' he said to the communicator, 'let's get some help here. Draft a message to Bremerton and the SEC (submarine element coordinator). Ask them if they could give us a hand with these numerous submarine contacts.'
Fifteen minutes later, word was sent to Bremerton. Cheyenne's sister submarine, upon receipt of the message over her floating wire and concurrence of the SEC, began running at flank speed in an effort to meet up with Mack and his crew.
The Chinese diesel submarine captains knew that they were in trouble. Once their refueling points were destroyed, they'd lost all hope of striking a significant blow against the Americans. Without the chance to fully fill their diesel fuel tanks at their base in the Spratiys, each of the submarines was running low both on fuel and on battery power.
Communicating with each other as quietly as possible, they all agreed that their best chance now was to simply try to survive. A slow, quiet run for their home waters might get them back to mainland China. If they were lucky. But, as Mack had found out earlier, luck was a fickle, fragile thing, and never to be counted on.
Once Bremerton arrived on the scene in her assigned depth zone, she established communications with Cheyenne via underwater telephone. That allowed Mack to pass the word that a large Chinese submarine group had been detected some distance away and that the Chinese group had begun to head back in the direction of China, bearing 010.
Bremerton and Cheyenne conferred and laid their plans. Then they separated, Bremerton on course 300 and Cheyenne on course 040. The two American submarines had begun stalking their prey.
One by one, Cheyenne and Bremerton found the fleeing diesels. The Chinese submarines, however, were so low on battery power that they could put up no fight at all. Mack found it almost like shooting at anchored ships. All the Chinese could do in defense of their lives was to launch a few decoys. The decoys failed, and after they had run out there was nothing left for the Chinese captains to do but just wait, one by one, until they were destroyed by the American submarines.
The last submarine to be attacked by Cheyenne was the venerable Kilo, and her captain gave it all he had. In a last-ditch, desperate attempt, he tried to surface after Cheyenne had launched her torpedo.
His efforts were noble, but they were doomed. The Mk 48 followed the Kilo, Master 111, all the way up before blowing a hole in the boat's stern and sending it straight back to the bottom.
Mack and his crew on board Cheyenne had never had a mission like this. Three submarines had been destroyed by Bremerton and four by Cheyenne in this one action alone. Independence and her Battle Group had, during this battle, destroyed over sixty ships and submarines, more than thirty aircraft, and inflicted irreparable damage on the military installations on the Spratly Islands. The tide in the war against China had now turned completely in America's favor.
But Mack didn't take much satisfaction in that. He knew that glory faded quickly, and tides had a way of turning when you least expected it.
