Ingraham’s NTDS symbol. “I don’t know, sir,” the chief said.
“It looks like they did, but … maybe Ingraham’s Gremlin isn’t one of the subs. Maybe it’s a fishing boat, or something too small to give a decent radar return. We need to find out if they’ve got any narrowband frequencies we can use to classify this guy.”
The XO looked at the TAO. “Brian, ask Ingraham if they’re getting any narrowband.”
The TAO nodded. “Ingraham, this is SAU Commander. Interrogative narrowband tonals, over.”
The reply came back a few seconds later. “SAU Commander, this is Ingraham. Negative narrowband tonals at this time, over.”
“How about small craft?” the chief asked.
The TAO went out over Navy Red again. “Ingraham, this is SAU Commander. Interrogative surface small craft in the area of Gremlin Zero One, over.”
“SAU Commander, this is Ingraham. Negative small craft in area of my Gremlin. My radar did show one motorboat near the initial bearing of my contact, but I am now seeing over thirty degrees of bearing separation.
Do not believe my Gremlin is a small craft, over.”
The XO said, “That’s it, then. I say we let them break formation, Captain. If those subs have gotten past us, they’re either going to slip away or jam a torpedo up our ass. We need to jump on this sucker before it gets away.”
The captain nodded. “Looks like we just proved Patton’s old adage: No plan ever survives contact with the enemy. I hate to throw this one out the window, but we can’t take a chance on even one of those subs getting by us. Let Ingraham go, Brian. And tell them we’re standing by to assist.”
The TAO said, “Yes, sir.” He keyed up Navy Red. “Ingraham, this is SAU Commander. You are cleared to break formation to pursue your Gremlin. Towers is standing by to assist, over.”
“Wait a second,” Chief McPherson said. “Ask them what their contact looks like, sir.”
The TAO’s eyebrows went up. “What?”
“What it looks like,” the chief said. “Is it strong or weak? Fuzzy or discrete? What are its acoustic characteristics?”
The TAO cocked his head to one side. “Uh … Ingraham, this is SAU Commander. Interrogative acoustic characteristics of your Gremlin, over.”
The reply took nearly a minute. “SAU Commander, this is Ingraham. My Sonar Operators describe the contact as strong and discrete broadband, with diffused swaths of narrowband that are too broad and indiscrete to track or classify. Target is showing a tightly packed cluster of frequencies up around 550 hertz, but it’s too muddled to process, over.”
Chief McPherson slapped the CDRT. “I knew it!” She looked up. “Captain, that’s a decoy!”
“Where the hell did it come from?”
“I don’t know, sir. Maybe that motorboat launched it; they don’t weigh more than fifteen or twenty pounds. But what they’re tracking sounds like a perfect description of the one we had earlier — the one that suckered Antietam out of the formation.”
Captain Bowie snapped his fingers and pointed to the TAO. “Tell them! Do it quick!”
The TAO keyed up Navy Red. “Ingraham, this is SAU Commander. Gremlin Zero One evaluated as a mobile decoy. Return to formation immediately, over!”
“Ingraham, aye!”
On the CDRT, the Ingraham’s NTDS symbol began to swing back toward the hole it had left in the formation. She was almost back in position when the net crackled with an incoming message from the Sensor Operator aboard Firewalker Two-Six. “USWE — SENSO, buoys five and six are hot. We hold narrowband tonals consistent with Type 212 diesel submarines. Initial classification: POSS-SUB, confidence level high!”
Immediately afterward, a call from the pilot came over the HAWK-Link. “SAU Commander, this is Firewalker Two-Six. Request permission to break hot-pump.”
The TAO keyed his mike. “Firewalker Two-Six, this is SAU Commander. Break hot- pump. Stand by for green deck.”
He turned to the captain. “Request permission to launch the helo, sir.”
The captain nodded. “Do it.”
The TAO keyed up again. “Firewalker Two-Six, this is SAU Commander. Your contact designated Gremlin Zero Two. You have green deck. Launch when ready.”
Less than a minute later, the helo keyed the HAWK-Link again. “SAU Commander, this is Firewalker Two-Six. I am up for Towers control. My fuel state is three hours plus four zero minutes. Three souls aboard. My load-out is one Mark-54 torpedo and a mixed rack of sonobuoys, over.”
“Roger, Firewalker,” the TAO said. “Break. Ingraham, this is SAU Commander. Alert status of your aircraft, Gunslinger Four-One upgraded to Ready Five, over.”
Ingraham acknowledged.
Captain Bowie said, “Tell Firewalker to clear to the east until we get our VLAs off. Then prep us a couple of ASROCs, and let’s take this show to town.”
“TAO, aye.”
“USWE, aye.”
“Keep an eye out,” the captain said. “There are two more subs out there.”
As if in answer to his words, the speaker rumbled again. “SAU Commander, this is Firewalker Two-Six. New contact! Buoys nine and ten are hot. I hold narrowband tonals consistent with Type 212 diesel submarine. Initial classification: POSS-SUB, confidence level high! Looks like another one is trying to run the barrier, sir.”
The TAO answered immediately. “Firewalker Two-Six, this is SAU Commander. Your new contact designated Gremlin Zero Three, over.”
The chief keyed the net. “TAO — USWE. Recommend we target both Gremlins with ASROC, and assign Benfold to target both subs as a backup.”
The TAO looked at the captain. “Sounds like a good call to me, sir.”
The captain nodded.
“USWE — TAO. Good call. Target both Gremlins with VLAs and inform me as soon as you have a firing solution.”
“USWE, aye.”
Chief McPherson scanned the unfolding tactical picture on the CDRT.
Towers, Benfold, Ingraham, and Firewalker Two-Six were shown in blue.
The contacts designated Gremlins Zero Two and Zero Three appeared as red V-shaped hostile-submarine symbols. To the northwest, behind the formation, was the symbol for the motorboat that might or might not have launched the acoustic decoy. It was shown in white, for neutral. The boat appeared to be loitering harmlessly, but they couldn’t count on that. The chief clicked on the motorboat symbol and upgraded its status from neutral to potentially hostile. Its color changed to a lighter shade of red than the submarines. That done, she spoke into her mike. “UB — USWE. I need the status of your firing solutions on contacts Gremlin Zero Two and Gremlin Zero Three. ”
“USWE — UB. Just a second, Chief. My processors are updating now.” There was a brief pause, and then, “USWE — UB. I hold an excellent firing solution on Gremlin Zero Two. I am just starting
