The result of the additional four torpedoes exploding beneath the Typhoon caused major seawater system flooding. The ensuing scene was similar to the devastation experienced by the Yankee class SSBN southeast of the Bermudas years before. Only this time there was no capability to protect and remove the crew.
Life rafts were put over the side, only to be attacked by the South China Sea shark population, so the crew watched helplessly from the huge, flat missile-tube deck. The oversized submarine started settling slowly deeper, the water level rising to within meters of the missile- tube deck, with the crew topside.
The captain-the admiral-to-be-had already sent a message to his North Fleet Headquarters concerning the impending demise of his capital ship and the lack of help from his Akula escorts by name, two of which had been sunk. He had not been given any means to communicate with the Chinese, so he resorted to calling home. After that he went topside to be with his men, sat down, and held hands in a circle as their submarine slid beneath the surface of the sea, sailors to the end, for eternity. The sharks did the rest.
Cheyenne's Type 18 periscope had taped the entire sinking of the Typhoon, but Mack had no intention of showing it to the crew as their evening movie. He had confiscated the tape, ensuring that it would be seen again only in a closed audience as part of his patrol debriefing to a higher authority.
When the Russian North Fleet Headquarters received the message from the Typhoon, the commander-in-chief wn?; astounded, and not just at the loss of one of his strategic assets. He was also furious and astonished at what seemed to be a refusal to follow orders by one of his Akula captains.
The scathing CO-Eyes Only message sent to the remaining Akula was clear. Its meaning was well understood by the Akula's captain, because it made reference to his family-his wife and two daughters-who had been taken into 'protective custody' by the Russian secret service.
Mack was nearing the periscope stand when sonar reported low-frequency tonal contact to the north. The tonals were classified by the sonar supervisor as coming from an Akula. They were weak, but closing.
The Akula captain, intimidated by his own chain of command, had decided to take on Cheyenne. He'd had no choice. Even without the threat to his family, returning to his homeland without being successful during war, even if it was a Chinese war, was tantamount to certain death.
He made two torpedoes ready for his own snap shots, in case they stumbled upon the quiet Cheyenne at close range. The Russian sonar operators were poised, carefully searching for any sign of Cheyenne with their towed array. They had all listened to the sounds of the deaths of their comrades on board the Akulas and the Typhoon, and they were eager to defeat Cheyenne.
Mack wasn't about to let that happen. He wanted no more close-range encounters for Cheyenne. He intended for this battle to be like the earlier long-range attack on one of the earlier Akulas, Master 74.
The Akula was nearing the outer weapon range of both the U.S. and the Russian torpedoes when Mack manned battle stations torpedo. He had already expended eleven torpedoes, including the dead round he'd used as the off-board sensor. Thirteen Mk 48s and one lonely Harpoon remained, and the Harpoon would be of no use unless he could force the Akula to the surface. If it was damaged enough for that, it could be finished as Cheyenne had earlier done with the Romeo near Midway Island.
But Mack didn't want it to come to that. The Typhoon's death had been bad enough. Submariners, even the enemy, deserved to die with their ship rather than at the hands of the creatures of the sea.
Once battle stations were manned, Captain Mackey passed the order for the torpedo room to 'make tubes one and two ready in all respects, including opening the outer doors.' In addition to making Cheyenne's tubes ready as early as possible, he intended to launch two Mk 48s in the quiet 'swim-out' mode as he had done with the off-board sensor, but this lime they would be armed as weapons.
The remaining Akula, with its own towed array, had shown that he could be a quiet adversary. Naval intelligence still had not learned much about that sensor capability, so Mack decided to play it safe. He elected to follow the same plan he had used successfully earlier, steering the torpedoes off target so they would be attacking from bearings other than Cheyenne's location.
'Make tubes one and two ready in all respects, including opening the outer doors, fire-control, torpedo room, aye.'
After the torpedo room reported completing the ordered evolution with the torpedo tubes, the executive officer informed Mack, 'Captain, tubes one and two are ready in all respects. Both outer doors are open.'
'Very well, fire control,' answered the captain.
The Akula was tracking to the southwest. Cheyenne was closing the range, intending to intercept with a fire- control solution before the Akula could reach detection range on Cheyenne.
The Akula continued drawing left as Cheyenne closed. It, too, was otherwise quiet, with no contact on the spherical or conformal arrays. Because of this, the BSY-1 operators had to rely on the readings from the TB-23, assisted by Mack's course changes, to make the solution possible for the fire-control party. When both they and the fire-control coordinator were satisfied with the TMA (target motion analysis) solution on Master 127, the Russian Akula II SSN, the captain ordered, 'Firing point procedures, Master 127.'
The combat systems officer at the weapons control console reported the target course as 200, speed four, and range 27,250 yards.
'Sonar, conn, stand by.' 'Conn, sonar, standing by.'
'Match sonar bearings and shoot, tubes one and two.' 'Match sonar bearings and shoot, tubes one and two, aye.'
'Tubes one and two fired electrically,' reported the combat systems officer.
'Conn, sonar, units from tubes one and two running hot, straight, and normal,' came the report from the sonar supervisor as the two torpedoes executed their wire clearance maneuvers and accelerated to slow speed for the long inbound run.
'Very well, sonar,' responded the captain. 'Take charge and steer the weapons. Unit one off course ten degrees to the right and unit two off course forty-five degrees to the left.' When the torpedoes were close enough for passive acquisition, they would be steered back in the opposite direction.
'Time to turn the units?' asked the captain. 'Twenty minutes for unit one, captain,' answered (he combat systems officer. 'Seventeen minutes for unit two.'
The torpedoes were turned on cue. One was leading the target while the other was slightly lagging. 'Time to acquisition?' Mack asked. 'Ten minutes for unit two, Captain,' the combat systems officer replied. 'Twelve minutes for unit one.'
Exactly on schedule, the combat systems officer reported, 'Unit two has acquired.' Two minutes later he added, 'Unit one has acquired.' This time both torpedoes had acquired their original target. There were no more Russian submarines left out there.
'Cut the wires, shut the outer doors, and reload tubes one and two,' ordered the captain.
'Conn, sonar, we have two torpedoes in the water, bearing 205 and drawing right!' the sonar supervisor called out. The Russian captain had launched his snap shots, but not at the bearings of the incoming torpedoes. He was wilier than the other Akula captains, and had read the report of Cheyenne's earlier tactic, which had been sent by the Akula that got away and made it to the Paracels. Guessing correctly that the captain of Cheyenne would try it again, he had launched on a bearing halfway between the oncoming torpedoes.
Mack's ploy hadn't worked. The Russian torpedoes were headed for Cheyenne.
'Right full rudder, all ahead flank,' Mack ordered. 'Do not cavitate. Make your depth one thousand feet.' He wasn't sure if the Akula had detected Cheyenne on its towed array or if the Russian captain had guessed at Mack's earlier tactic. If the Akula had heard them, it knew Cheyenne's location, but if its captain had just made a lucky guess, then Mack didn't want to reveal Cheyenne to its sonar. Not unless the inbound torpedoes acquired Cheyenne and he had to. Having been deep beneath the second layer, Cheyenne was at flank speed in less than a minute, on course due east, and at one thousand feet. Mack was keeping the torpedoes at the edge of his port baffles so sonar could continue to relay bearing information.
A short while later, the sonar supervisor reported that the torpedoes were speeding up and drawing right
