Preface: Prelude to War
 Though the name may sound obscure, the Spratly Islands have been a cause of conflict in East Asia for quite some time. Sovereignty over all or part of this potentially resource-rich archipelago in the South China Sea is presently contested by Vietnam, China, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Taiwan. Although the Manila Declaration by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in 1992 promised to resolve this dispute peacefully, the nations involved have yet to arrive at a consensus about the future of this territory. In the past few months, tensions have mounted between the East Asian nations, and the need to have the United Nations serve as a mediating force has been suggested. At this point in time, many of the countries have stationed troops on the islands and some have begun to build their own infrastructures, causing further disagreements.
 "The dispute over the Spratly Islands has served as a further impediment to healing many of the rifts existing within East Asia. This issue needs to be addressed on an international level before it escalates into higher forms of conflict. The Special Political and Decolonization Committee will attempt to consolidate the interests of all parties involved and hopefully diminish a source of growing regional conflict in the world."
 —The New American
 "China's aggressive search for oil near the Spratly Islands of Vietnam's coast has become the most serious threat of war along China's frontier."
 —Jim Landers, The Dallas Morning News
 Chinese leader dies, power struggle anticipated
 July 19, 1997
 Web posted at: 12:00 P.M. EST (1700 GMT)
 From Beijing bureau chief Julie Meyer
 BEIJING (TCN)—Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping died today at the age of ninety-two. Having suffered multiple strokes in the previous two years, Deng had reportedly been living in a military hospital for the past eighteen months and was said to have been barely able to speak for much of that time.
 Deng's successor, President Jiang Zemin, was chosen by Deng himself over a year ago, yet could not assert full leadership rights until Deng, as "paramount leader," had died. Now that Deng is dead, many experts feel that Jiang's position will be challenged by his peers among the Chinese government, and that a power struggle will ensue.
 Among the suspected challengers to Jiang is Premier Li Peng, a Marxist conservative who played a major role in the quashing of the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations. Li is said to be intent on scaling back China's economic growth, which he feels to be unstable, should he take control.
 Another possible contender is Zhu Rongji, senior vice premier and the liberal economist responsible for much of China's economic growth under Deng. However, Zhu has alienated much of the Chinese bureaucracy with his infamous temper and acidic comments, and experts believe that he does not enjoy the support necessary to win the leadership battle.
 When asked for an opinion regarding the power shift in China, prominent Tufts University international rela-
 tions professor and Asian affairs expert Adrian Mann stated that great "political instability" lay ahead and that "there is a very good chance that the power struggle may lead to a Soviet-style breakup of China," a view shared by many senior White House political advisers.
 The President, who is currently vacationing at Camp David, issued a statement earlier today saying that "the United States offers her sincere condolences to the people of China on the loss of their esteemed leader" and that "we have every confidence that the new Chinese leadership will assume office with the minimum of disturbance." When asked the President's position on the possible power struggle within the Chinese government, a White House aide stated that "the President is watching with great interest."
 United Fuels Corp. discovers oil, stock soars
 July 21, 1997
 Web posted at: 2:00 P.M. EST (1900 GMT)
 From New York financial correspondent Bill Mossette
 NEW YORK (TCNfn)—A spokesman for United Fuels Corporation stated today that the company had recently located a large and, until now, undiscovered oil deposit six miles from Mischief Reef, one of the Spratly Islands chain located in the South China Sea.
 The deposit is thought to be the largest of its type yet discovered, with a conservative estimated yield of close to one trillion barrels. This information caused a massive surge in United Fuels stock, which peaked today at eighty-nine dollars a share, up nearly 200 percent. Experts predict that the stock will continue to skyrocket if the find is fully substantiated.
 However, many financial advisers are wary of investing in United on the basis of this new find, due to the political instability surrounding the area in which the oil lies. The Spratly Islands have long been contested, with
 China, Vietnam, Taiwan and other neighboring countries all claiming sovereignty, Wall Street experts say that the oil find will be contested by the governments of the aforementioned countries, among others, and that it may be years before such disagreements may be resolved. During this time, of course, United Fuels Corporation will be unable to drill in the area.
 Nevertheless, United has already started to build a drilling platform at the site, staging construction from the prospecting ship that located the enormous oil deposit, Benthic Adventure.
 Coup in China, Li takes control
 July 23, 1997
 Web posted at: 3:00 p.m. EST (2000 GMT)
 From Washington chief correspondent Michael Flasetti
 WASHINGTON (TCN)—In a stunning development, Premier Li Peng has staged a coup d'6tat and gained control of the Chinese government in the early hours of this morning. Aided in the coup by General Yu Quili, leader of the so-called Petroleum Faction, Li has apparently ordered the arrest of Jiang Zemin, president and successor to the late Deng Xiaoping, and Zhu Rongji, senior vice premier. Both political rivals in the struggle for control, Jiang and Zhu have yet to be located and are presumed in hiding.
 Li, a conservative with broad support from both the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese military, issued a statement to the effect that Deng's liberal economic policies were causing ruin within China, destroying the socialist ideals that the Communist Party has been striving to maintain. He also stated that rampant capitalism and greater economic ties to the West threaten to undermine the "national focus of China" and that "it was time that the people of China stood together in a common
 cause." Precisely what that cause is remains to be seen.
 However, Taiwan has requested aid from the United Nations, fearing that Li may attempt an invasion of the country, which China has regarded as a renegade province since 1949. If such an invasion was to take place, it would probably be masterminded by General Yu Quili, the one-armed army veteran who led the Petroleum Faction, a group of engineers that developed the rich Daqing oil field in Manchuria with the aid of then Chairman Mao Ze-dong.
 The Petroleum Faction wielded enormous power over China's economic policy until Deng consolidated his own power base within the government in the early 1980s. Now, with Li and other allies, including Wang Tao, chairman of the China National Petroleum Corporation, General Yu seems poised to take a place among the executive elite of China.
 East Asia political expert Adrian Mann commented today on the current radical shift of government power. "Energy production seems to have become the engine for a neoconservative upheaval in China. Politically, those who control the means of energy production can control the country. It's a very strong position." Doubly strong, Dr. Mann went on to argue, in a country with a well-documented shortage of raw power.
 The White House has so far been unresponsive to the developments in China, as the President wishes to confer with UN chiefs before making any official statement, which is expected later today. Sources report that the President will need full support from the UN before action, if any, is to be taken, in light of America's historically rocky relationship with China.
 President reacts to Chinese coup, UN sanctions expected
 July 23, 1997
 Web posted at: 12:00 p.m. EST (1700 GMT)
 From Washington chief correspondent Michael Flasetti
 WASHINGTON (TCN)—After conferring with other permanent members of the UN Security Council for most of the day, the President made a statement condemning the Chinese coup, led by Li Peng. In addition, both the U.S. and UN have officially refused to acknowledge the new Chinese government, demanding instead that Jiang Zemin, chosen by ex-paramount leader Deng to be his successor, be restored as China's new leader. However, many believe Jiang to be dead, killed by troops under Peng during the coup. Senior vice premier Zhu Rongji is also missing.
 Li Peng responded to the demands by stating that both Jiang and Zhu were wanted for "crimes against the state" and that he would not give up his new position, which is supported by the leaders of China's industrial-military complex. He went on to decry the UN mandates as yet more "interferist Western meddling in China's interior affairs" and that China would not submit to any of the UN's requests.
 Deadlocked, the UN is convening immediately to analyze the situation and discuss the possibility of sanctions against China.
 China invades Spratly Islands, nil ship seized
 July 26, 1997
 Web posted at: 12:00 P.M. EST (1700 GMT)
 From Beijing bureau chief Jutie Meyer
 BEUING (TCN)—In a show of military might, China has occupied the long-contested Spratly Islands. Both Vietnamese and Philippine forces, which had established a presence on the islands, were quickly overrun by the Chinese navy in the course of the two-day campaign. Leading the ten-ship attack fleet, the Chinese destroyer Haribing quickly and utterly eliminated all threats in the
 area, and the islands now look to be completely under the control of the Chinese.
 The rationale for such an overtly aggressive act, at a time when the current Chinese leader, Li Peng, faces opposition to his leadership by the United Nations, is made clearer in light of the discovery of a massive oil field last week by the United Fuels Corporation prospecting ship Benthic Adventure. The ship, which has been seized by the Chinese, is moored six miles from Mischief Reef, the island nearest the position where the oil deposit is suspected to be situated. This is seen as a very serious act, say military experts, especially in light of the fact that Benthic Adventure is a U.S.-flagged ship, and was seized in international waters. "The President would be 100 percent justified calling the seizure of Benthic Adventure an act of war," said one top aide today, apparently echoing the thoughts of many chiefs within the Pentagon.
 In addition to the massive resource boost the Spratly Islands may provide China, many analysts feel that the invasion has significant tactical motivations, as well as economic, "Control over the Spratly Islands provides a staging ground for the South China Sea," a senior Pentagon aide commented today. "China understands the true value of these islands."
 The Spratly Islands may also be utilized to mount an invasion of Taiwan, which China has never recognized as a sovereign nation. Experts say that although China has considered reclaiming the country since 1949, up-to-date military plans for such an action were drawn up last year. The Chinese Foreign Ministry calls such plans "completely groundless," reiterating their comments to similar accusations leveled last year. Nonetheless, the Taiwanese president Lee Teng-hui has appealed to the United States for military support, echoing requests made in 1996.
 The President has made no statement on the situation, preferring once again to confer with the UN Security Council before passing comment. Sources say that the proceedings continue with much tension on all sides.
 President announces military response to China
 July 27,1997
 Web posted at: 3:00 P.M. EST (2000 GMT)
 From Washington chief correspondent Michael Flasetti
 WASHINGTON (TCN)—The President, after a round-the-clock session with UN chiefs, made a statement announcing America's military commitment to opposing China's claim to the Spratly Islands. Having received no concessions from Beijing, the President feels that conflict is inevitable unless the Chinese withdraw.
 The secretary-general of the United Nations has also pledged the support of the world organization in ousting Chinese presence from the disputed islands. She stated that the Chinese have clearly violated the Manila Declaration of 1992, a treaty signed by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, of which China is a member, that resolved to settle the Spratly Islands dispute in a diplomatic manner. In response to this violation of international law, the U.S. Navy will begin mobilization immediately, with the aircraft carriers Nimitz and Independence entering the area within the week.
 Chinese reaction to today's announcement was one of diplomatic indignation. "We have every right to the Nan-Sha Islands," said the Chinese ambassador, referring to the Spratlys by their Chinese name, "and we will defend them as we would any other part of our homeland."
 Russia selling arms to China, U.S. Navy concerned
 July 30, 1997
 Web posted at: 12:00 P.M. EST (1700 GMT)
 from Washington chief correspondent Michael Flasetti
 WASHINGTON (TCN)—As tensions mount in the South China Sea, a confrontation between the Chinese
 and UN military, led by the U.S. Navy, seems inevitable. Adding to the danger of the situation is the news, reportedly obtained by the CIA, that Russia has been arming China with advanced weapons, among them nuclear attack submarines that may be deployed into the waters surrounding the Spratly Islands.
 The news that Russia has been selling arms to the Chinese is not new. Over the past two years, China has taken delivery of" four Russian Kilo-class diesel submarines, which are considerably less advanced than Russia's nuclear submarines. However, the possibility that Russia has sold more advanced submarines to the Chinese is of great concern to White House military advisers.
 A source close to the Joint Chiefs of Staff has disclosed that the Russians have even collaborated with the Chinese on a prototype nuclear attack submarine, and that the submarine may see action in the Spratly conflict. If true, this presents a possible shift in the balance of naval power in the region, and a great concern to the recently downsized U.S. Navy.
 Russian president Gennadi Zyuganov, himself a conservative Communist like Chinese leader Li Peng, refused to comment on the possibility of advanced weapons sales to China, yet did say that Russia enjoys a balanced trade agreement with China on the sales of certain weapons, including Kilo class submarines. Russia, cash-poor since the breakup of the Soviet Union, clearly depends on submarine sales to China to help fund social and economic projects, as well as the upgrading of its own navy.
 Chinese submarine sunk, war expected soon
 August 2, 1997
 Web posted at: 1:00 P.M. EST (1800 GMT)
 From Beijing bureau chief Julie Meyer
 BEIJING (TCN)—Fighting began today in the South China Sea between the UN-backed United States Navy
 and the Chinese navy in and around the Spratly Islands. The first skirmish occurred when the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz was attacked by a Chinese submarine, suspected to be an aging Han class attack submarine. When the submarine came within striking distance of the Nimitz, it was sunk by an American Los Angeles class submarine that was escorting the carrier. All hands are reported lost.
 In response to today's conflict, the Chinese navy appears to have adopted a more aggressive posture in the area and more conflict lies ahead. In fact, China is officially expected to declare war against the United States of America within the week.
 "This isn't going to be over as quickly as the Falkland Islands conflict fifteen years ago," says international relations professor and China policy specialist Dr. Adrian Mann. "China is much stronger than Argentina, and they hold considerable tactical advantages over the U.S. Navy forces in the area." Other experts are telling a similar story. However, in the face of lengthy combat, the use of nuclear weapons is a great concern to many, including Dr. Mann. "I doubt that the Chinese will consider the possibility, and I think it likely that all sides will agree to keep the fighting localized to the South China Sea." Indeed, the President and the secretary-general of the UN are said to be drafting an offer to Chinese leader Li Peng proposing just that.
 In the meantime, U.S. and UN sanctions against China continue, with the General Assembly of the UN signing a broad package of economic restrictions of trade with China. The effects of these sanctions should be felt immediately, as they ban the import of all goods into China, with the exception of food and medical supplies. In addition to economic sanctions, the President said today that he is fully committed to expelling China from the Spratly Islands and aiding in the restoration of Jiang Zemin to power.
 1. First Blood
 The USS Cheyenne, a Los Angeles class nuclear attack submarine, cast off the tugboat's lines at precisely 0100 on 12 August 1997, and moved under its own power into the dark waters of San Diego Bay. Astern of Cheyenne, the lone tugboat hauled in the lines and headed back to its berth at the San Diego Naval Base, headquarters of the Third Fleet.
 The atmosphere aboard Cheyenne was taut with pre-mission tension. Her crew had performed admirably during her abbreviated shakedown cruise, but now she was on high alert and headed into almost certain conflict.
 A few years earlier, as a result of the post-Cold War defense drawdown, the Third Fleet had relocated from Pearl Harbor to San Diego Naval Base. With the Chinese moving on the Spratly Islands, Cheyenne had been ordered to ready for deployment. She was now on her way from her berth at the Ballast Point Naval Submarine Base to the Pearl Harbor Naval Submarine Base to complete her outfitting. From there she would take up station in the South China Sea.
 Cheyenne was the newest attack submarine in the U.S. Navy. She was also the last of an era. Given the hull number SSN-773, Cheyenne was the last of sixty-two Los Angeles class nuclear attack submarines to be funded by Congress. Built by Newport News Shipbuilding in the Virginia town of the same name, Cheyenne was 360 feet long and displaced 6,900 tons. She was equipped with the latest advanced weapons and sensor systems.
 Cheyenne's pressurized-water, S6G General Electric reactor had been critical for some time and the OOD (officer of the deck) had earlier passed the word, "Rig Ship for Dive." When she was farther away from land, reaching the water west of Point Loma, where it was deep enough for the submarine to dive, sailors on board Cheyenne completed readying the submarine for submergence. From the sonar room to the torpedo compartments, sailors hurriedly confirmed that all was well in their compartments. The final message came back to the OOD, "Cheyenne is now rigged for dive."
 Captain Bartholomew "Mack" Mackey was pleased with both his ship and his crew. A big man, Mack had been engineering officer of an earlier 688, and executive officer and plank owner (new construction crew) of an improved 688-like Cheyenne—the 6881 USS Greenville (SSN 772), Cheyenne's predecessor at Newport News. Mack was a rising star, two years deep selected for O-5 (Commander) and two years deep selected for O-6 (captain). Mack was a real captain, not just in terms of the Navy tradition of referring to a commanding officer as "captain," but in pay grade as well.
 Mack knew his crew had heard the rumors of a possible war with China. The recent Chinese actions concerning the U.S.-flagged Benthic Adventure, a United Fuels Corporation prospecting ship sailing in international waters off the Spratly Islands, had been considered by many in the United States to be an act of war. Even more blatant was the Chinese invasion of the long-contested Spratly s.
 But Mack knew the rumors were true. As of 2 August, a virtual state of war had existed between the United States and China. On that date a Chinese Han class nuclear attack submarine came within striking distance of the U,S. aircraft carrier Nimitz with what appeared to be hostile intentions. In defense of Nimitz, an American escort submarine sank the Han, killing all aboard the Chinese vessel.
 The story had saturated the news. There had been no
 further hostile action taken by the Chinese military, which led many experts to speculate whether they could have learned their lesson. That was, however, one nice thing about being on a submarine. One didn't have to worry much about news. Attack submarines often stayed out on missions for as long as six months, surfacing for food and supplies when they were needed or visiting the various ports to which they had been assigned.
 News was not the job of Cheyenne—theirs was a much more important mission: proceed to Pearl Harbor and ready herself for potentially imminent hostilities with mainland China.
 The submarine submerged when she was ready, slowly at first and then more and more quickly. When she was underwater, the OOD began the transit by turning the submarine in a southwesterly direction—the most direct route for Pearl Harbor.
 With the ship underway submerged, Mack was able to concentrate on the main obstacle to his mission, the possibility that Chinese nuclear attack submarines might be lurking along his path. His orders were clear: If Cheyenne were to come into contact with a Chinese vessel, she was to proceed with the utmost caution and attack only in self-defense. In other words, Mack knew, Cheyenne was free to fire only if she was fired upon first. The United States was not at war yet—"yet" being the operative word. When Cheyenne arrived at Pearl she was to load up on weapons and food needed for the possibility of a long cruise—one that could turn into a combat operation.
 There was not much room on a submarine for storing food, so crates containing the canned goods that the crew needed to eat were loaded into the passageways, one on top of the other, making a temporary floor upon which sailors would walk until the food was ready to be eaten. As the crew consumed the food, the floor would grow shorter. Until then, the passageways would be a very dangerous place for taller members of the submarine crew. They would have to walk with their heads hunched down to avoid hitting overhead pipes and wireways.
 As Captain Mackey walked toward the tiny wardroom he'd be using as the briefing room, he grinned at the thought that everything from canned tomato sauce to string beans was stored beneath his feet.
 Cheyenne was two hours from San Diego Bay. Travelling at twenty-six knots, this put her fifty-two nautical miles from home.
 Entering the wardroom, Mack motioned to his officers to sit. "As you are all aware," he said, "we are currently in a highly tense environment due to the recent hostile actions taken by the Chinese military." He was careful to point out that these aggressive actions were by the military—not, as the media often claimed, by the people or the politicians. "I would just like to inform all of you that we received a message that a Canadian P-3 Orion operating on a training mission out of San Diego thinks that they may have picked up a submarine 237 miles southwest of our current position. They even got positive MAD (magnetic anomaly detection) contact, but they lost contact after tracking the submarine for about twenty minutes. The P-3 crew is pretty confident that what they found was an SSN. Naval Intelligence thinks it may even be one of the Chinese Han class of nuclear attack submarines, but up to this point they haven't been able to confirm anything. We have been instructed to keep our ears open for this possible contact while at the same time proceeding as fast as we can to Pearl so that we can arrive safely on station in the South China Sea. We are to avoid taking any actions against the submarine—unless, of course, he tries to kill us."
 The officers took this news in stride, and while the meeting was not as rousing as the captain had hoped, it had gotten his point across. Word would soon be buzzing throughout Cheyenne that they would be on the lookout for a nuclear attack submarine, possibly Chinese, lingering far too close to United States waters for comfort— even if being in international waters was within the legal realm of international law.
 For her transit to Pearl Harbor, Cheyenne was given a
 small loadout of torpedoes. The full capability of her torpedo room was twenty-six weapons, including four in the torpedo tubes, consisting of a combination of Mk 48 torpedoes, Tomahawk cruise missiles (land-attack and anti-ship varieties), Harpoon antiship missiles, and sometimes, though rarely, Mk 67 submarine-launched mobile mines. However, for this transit, Cheyenne was given only 12 Mk 48 ADCAP torpedoes. With a top speed of over fifty knots while running deep, and a range in excess of 30,000 yards, the Mk 48 ADCAP was arguably the best heavy torpedo in existence. Its only real competition came from the British Spearfish, which was carried by the submarines of the Royal Navy.
 The Mk 48 ADCAP, which stood for Advanced Capability, was a heavy wire-guided torpedo weighing over 3,000 pounds. Nearly 20 percent of its weight, or 650 pounds, consisted of PBXN-103 high explosive. One of the advantages of the Mk 48 was that it could be used against both submarine and surface targets, which made it much easier on logistics. It also pleased many submarine captains who still preferred the thrill of launching a torpedo over the newer, vertical launch Tomahawks or encapsulated Harpoon missiles.
 Each Mk 48 was wire guided so that targeting data during the initial stages of the torpedo launch could be transmitted back and forth from the Mk 48 to the BSY-1 fire-control system on board the attack submarine. During the terminal stages of the attack, the Mk 48 would use its powerful active seeker to detect, home in on, and then destroy its target. As long as the wire was intact, information from the torpedo was constantly relayed to Cheyenne until detonation.
 After the meeting, Mack returned to the control room. Knowing that there might be a nuclear attack submarine in the area, he ordered that instead of running at twenty-six knots for much of the way to Pearl Harbor, as he had originally planned, Cheyenne would now slow more frequently in order to listen to her surroundings. This "sprint and drift" technique was one of the best methods of arriv-
 ing at a destination quickly while also allowing the submarine's passive sonar to search for any possible sonar contacts.
 Cheyenne was now at an ordered depth of four hundred feet. At this depth, she was in her own element, that of the depths of the ocean. If necessary, she could still be reached by the relatively new, albeit slow, ELF, or extremely low frequency, band of communications. If there were a dire emergency, or a change in her orders, Cheyenne would be instructed by a short, coded ELF message to come to communications depth in order to receive important message traffic.
 Running at twenty-six knots was not always quiet. The screw, known to those outside the Navy as a propeller, was working feverishly to propel the submarine at this speed. If too shallow, this created tiny air bubbles, which made a popping noise when they collapsed. This noise was known as cavitation and could give away a submarine's presence in the area. At this moment, Mack did not care as much about his stealth capability as he did about two other concerns: locating the submarine that was lurking dangerously near the West Coast, and arriving at the Pearl Harbor Naval Submarine Base with Cheyenne intact.
 All aboard Cheyenne were aware that they were making slight cavitation noise and that anyone who was close enough and quiet enough could determine their location. The frequent slowing and so-called clearing of the baffles, the normally "sonar blind" area astern of submarines, evened the score somewhat.
 At 1100 on 12 August, just ten hours after leaving San Diego, the OOD ordered Cheyenne to slow to one-third. Exactly eleven minutes later the sonar room came alive as Cheyenne slowed and her course was changed toward the north.
 "Tonal contact, center bearing 187 on the end-fire beam," called one of the young sonar operators. The consoles, which looked like computer screens with green
 lines running through them, were often the sonar operator's most important ally.
 An instant later the sonar supervisor, who had been paying close attention to the goings-on in this important center of the submarine, called to the captain, "Conn, sonar, we have a possible submarine contact bearing 187. We're only receiving blade rate information so far."
 Mack entered the sonar room, joining the five other men already there—including the sonar supervisor and the sonar officer. Everyone in the room knew that there was the possibility of encountering a Chinese submarine, but also knew it was highly unlikely. Chinese naval vessels rarely ventured this far away from home waters. This was especially true of the Chinese submarine fleet, which consisted largely of older-model diesel boats with just a few very noisy nuclear-powered attack submarines of the Han class.
 If there was a Chinese submarine patrolling off the West Coast of the United States, however, Mack was fairly sure that it would have to be a Han class. Naval intelligence reports had repeatedly explained that only one type of submarine was capable of travelling this far from Chinese home waters and operating—without surfacing—for an extended period of time. That type was a nuclear submarine, and the only Chinese SSN currently in service was the Han class.
 Captain Mackey was, as were all experienced submariners, at least slightly familiar with the Han class of submarine. In addition, when word was passed of a possible war with China, the intelligence officer assigned to SubRon 11 from SubGroup 5 had quickly prepared a brief report of what was known of the Han class in the U.S. intelligence community. According to that report, construction of the Han class had stopped after only five submarines due to extremely high internal radiation levels, and all of those were currently in service with the Chinese navy. They carried the pennant numbers 401, 402, 403, 404, and 405 painted on their sail. One of the
 class had, of course, been destroyed earlier that month by a U.S. SSN. Naval intelligence was still unsure which number it was, but they reported that it was probably number 402, the second of the class. They were assuming this because it had been tracked since leaving Ningbo Naval Base in China's East Sea Fleet four days prior to the actions involving Nimitz.
 The torpedo complement fitted to the Han class was reported to be a mix of the older straight-running types as well as some of the newer Russian homing varieties. According to the reports, numbers 401 and 402 carried only torpedoes, but the last three submarines of the class, numbers 403 to 405, carried the Ying Ji. Also known as the Eagle Strike, this antishipping missile was a sea skimmer and caused great concern in the eyes of naval commanders. The most recent intelligence reports stated that while these missiles could be a significant threat to warships, the submarine needed to surface in order to launch them. And submarine commanders knew all too well that a surfaced submarine was an easy target.
 Unlike the USS Seawolf, Cheyenne did not have a wide aperture array, or WAA, so she would have to triangulate the position of her passive sonar contacts in order to determine their exact bearing, speed, and range. The ship maneuvers to accomplish this would have to be done very quietly, especially if the contact, TKVW designated Master 1, was a direct-path contact. But it was a painfully slow process.
 "Captain," the sonar supervisor said, "it's possible the submarine was tracking us but lost us when we slowed. With these convergence zones out here in deep water, it could be in excess of 75,000 yards away. My guess is that he thinks we passed him, and based on its blade rate, is running full speed in an attempt to catch up with us and regain contact."
 That was a good guess, Mack thought, but it was still just a guess. He wanted something more than that. Proceeding to the conn, he ordered the OOD to station the section fire-control tracking party so the BSY-1 comput-
 ers could be used to determine the solution on the target. The OOD would maneuver the submarine in order to change the bearings received by the towed arrays.
 Mack also ordered the OOD to house the TB-16 towed array and deploy the TB-23 towed-array. Unlike the 240 feet of TB-16 hydrophones, the TB-23 towed-array sonar measured over 900 feet in length, mounted nearly 100 hydrophones, and was towed at the end of a 2,600-foot cable. Then he returned to the sonar room.
 "Captain, blade rate indicates Master 1's speed is steady at eighteen knots," reported the sonar supervisor. "We're getting more tonals now, including one from the conformal array. She's definitely not American. The tonals compare to those listed in the sonar intelligence manuals as unique to Chinese Han class, number 402."
 That stopped Mack. "I thought 402 was sunk by the submarine escorting Nimitz" he said.
 "So did naval intelligence," the sonar supervisor replied. "I guess they got their numbers mixed up. Wouldn't be the first time."
 The captain called to the OOD, "Begin retrieving the TB-23.1 don't want to get tangled up in case we have a fight on our hands." The towed-array sonar was valuable for quietly listening to passive sonar contacts, but Mack, like many submarine captains, preferred to retrieve it before engaging in close combat with an enemy submarine.
 Mack left the sonar room and went back to the conn to see how the fire-control solution was coming.
 "Conn, sonar, our contact, Master 1, just stopped his shaft."
 Seven more minutes passed, Cheyenne''s sonar operators carefully monitoring the tonals from the Chinese submarine's reactor coolant pumps. These had to be run constantly in order to avoid destroying the reactor, one of the few drawbacks of a nuclear-powered submarine. A conventional, or non-nuclear, submarine could stop dead in the water, running entirely on her battery power, and be completely silent. A nuclear submarine, however,
 such as Cheyenne or Han number 402, had to constantly pump reactor coolant in order to keep the reactor critical and prevent its overheating. That difference meant that it sometimes could be easier to hunt an SSN than a regular diesel boat—especially when the SSN was an old, 1970s-vintage Han with reactor plant problems.
 The silence ended when the sonar supervisor called, "Conn, sonar, single active pulse from Master 1." Moments later there was a second sonar pulse.
 Mack ordered the chief of the watch to "Man battle stations torpedo," then took the conn from the officer of the deck.
 With battle stations manned, the executive officer, in his role as the fire control coordinator, reported to the captain, "Master 1 is now bearing 169, BSY-1 range is 22,000 yards. He was not in a convergence zone."
 Aboard Han 402, the Chinese commander felt as if he had little choice but to give his position away. His sonar had acquired only intermittent contact on the American submarine maneuvering in this area, and he needed to locate it in order to accomplish his mission: sink the submarine and then continue on against American merchant ships. He knew an American submarine was out there, but didn't know where, and didn't know it was Cheyenne. Unfortunately for him and his crew, however, he had thought that he was much closer to the Americans than his active sonar told him he was, 22,000 yards was out of torpedo range for his submarine, but not for Cheyenne's Mk 48s.
 Those two active "pings" were a calculated risk on the Chinese captain's part. He knew his submarine was as noisy as a bull in a china shop and he suspected the Americans had been tracking him. Once he'd figured out that the American submarine had passed him he knew they could not be far off. If he waited too long, he would miss his chance to attack.
 Aboard Cheyenne, Mack was trying to outguess the Chinese captain. He knew that Chinese submarines were
 notorious for having very poor sonar outfits, but he didn't think they were bad enough that the captain of number 402 would have no choice but to use his active sonar, giving away his own exact location. No, Mack thought. This does make sense. If the Chinese captain knew we were tracking him, he probably had figured that we knew his location, so all he was really doing was leveling the playing field—giving away information we already had in order to learn our location as well.
 What this amounted to was that the Chinese submarine had gone active on the American submarine and both submarines now had an accurate firing solution. Mack didn't expect the Chinese captain to let this opportunity slip away. The Han was currently outside its own torpedo range, but that could change rapidly.
 "Conn, sonar, the Han just started up again. It's making turns for twenty-five knots, sounds like she's really straining. They are closing quickly."
 Captain Mackey reversed course to minimize the range closure white he ordered tubes one and two made ready in all respects.
 "Torpedo room, fire control, make tubes one and two ready in all respects and open the outer doors."
 When the outer doors were open, Mack turned back toward the Han and increased speed to full. Both submarines were headed straight for one another in an underwater game of chicken that could potentially ignite a third world war.
 "Conn, sonar, we have a torpedo in the water! Type SET-53, bearing 163. It's active, Captain."
 "Range to Master 1 is 21,000 yards," reported the fire control coordinator.
 Mack looked around his control room. There was a look of horror in the eyes of the young sailors who had not yet been in the Navy for six months. "All stop," he ordered.
 "All stop, aye, sir," the helmsman repeated. Seconds later he added, "Maneuvering answers all stop."
 The normal procedure for countering a torpedo was turn and run, flank speed, in the opposite direction. This was not, however, a normal situation.
 The U.S. intelligence community had managed to secretly buy three of the Chinese type SET-53 homing torpedoes from the Russians in a not-so-friendly transfer of technology. From their various tests, they had determined that the maximum range of the SET-53 was five nautical miles, or 10,000 yards. Even building in a large margin of error by doubling that range to ten nautical miles, or about 20,000 yards, Mack knew that there was simply no way that the Chinese torpedo could hit Cheyenne.
 It did, however, make Captain Mackey furious, and not just because this was an act of war against the United States by a Chinese submarine. More than that, this was an aggressive action against him, his submarine, and his crew.
 Cheyenne was not in any immediate danger—not yet, at least. Just in case, however, the captain calmly ordered, "Rig ship for depth charge."
 The Chinese captain had put his submarine in a very bad position. The Chinese leaders, wanting to demonstrate their power to the Americans, had given Han 402 orders to attack American submarines and surface ships operating in the area. The 402's captain was following his orders faithfully . .. but he didn't believe those orders included suicide. And he knew all too well that attacking a Los Angeles class submarine was tantamount to suicide. If he could manage to get in close enough to attack Cheyenne, he would do so. If not, he would follow his orders and launch at whatever range he felt he could without getting himself killed, and then he would dive deep and hunt for American merchant ships.
 When the active "pings" revealed Cheyenne's location, the Chinese captain realized that he had given away their location much too far away to effectively attack the Americans. With their own location revealed, closing with Cheyenne would put the Han at serious risk, which
 meant that his only real choice was either to simply turn and run or to first shoot at the Americans and then turn and run. The first option appealed to him the most, but the second option was what his orders demanded.
 The Han captain gave the command to release a single torpedo and then began turning to his right. His only plan was to make a turn to the east and get away from the now-angry American submarine. *
 Mack thought about that torpedo in the water and what it meant. The Han had fired upon him witfiout provocation, which meant that China had decided to escalate. They would be starting hostilities at any moment, and all submarines would by now have been tasked by the Chinese navy to sink any American warships, merchant ships, or submarines as they exited their home ports.
 All around the world, wherever Chinese vessels came in contact with American ships, there would be bloodshed. Some of them would get lucky. Some would win, and some would lose. But this particular Chinese captain had gotten unlucky when he decided to attack Cheyenne rather than a defenseless merchant vessel. And it was too late to change his mind. Mack immediately saw what the Han was doing. It was turning and running—in the direction of San Diego, which could only mean one thing. China was at war with the United States.
 "Conn, sonar, the Chinese torpedo just settled dead in the water," the sonar supervisor reported. "Based on run time, it didn't even make it 6,000 yards."
 Mack nodded. The Chinese had had their turn. Now it was Cheyenne's.
 The Los Angeles class attack submarine began to pick up speed rapidly, rushing to get behind the Han. The Chinese submarine was running from them in an attempt to escape the American submarine and return to a safe haven, hiding somewhere off the West Coast, but Cheyenne wasn't about to allow that.
 The Han's top speed was twenty-five knots; Cheyenne
 was doing thirty-one knots, and the range to Master 1 closed rapidly. Both commanding officers knew it would only be a matter of time before the Americans were within firing range.
 Aboard the Han, the Chinese captain's options were limited once again. He could continue to run, prolonging things for a short while longer, or he could turn and fight.
 His orders were clear, and so was his choice. At his command, his submarine came around in another slow turn and bore down on Cheyenne.
 It was a noble gesture, but a futile one. The Han captain was racing to get within torpedo range, knowing that the effective range of the American Mk 48 ADCAP was more than double that of his Chinese SET-53.
 "Conn, sonar, two torpedoes in the water, more SET-538, bearing 165."
 The fire control coordinator reported the range to Master I as 18,000 yards.
 Mack wasn't worried. Clearly, the Chinese had done this out of desperation. They wanted to go down fighting, and their only hope was to get lucky—and a torpedo in the water was a chance to get lucky; a torpedo unlaunched was nothing.
 Cheyenne had closed to within striking range, but Mack didn't give the orders to shoot yet. There were still two chances for the Chinese to get lucky, if those SET-53s really had a range of 20,000 yards. Captain Mackey once again gave the orders to prepare for a possible torpedo hit, and also to take evasive action by launching two ADC (Acoustic Device Countermeasure) Mk 2 decoys.
 The decoys, which were launched out of what were in effect mini-torpedo tubes, accomplished exactly what they were intended to do and decoyed the torpedoes in a direction other than that of Cheyenne. The Chinese torpedoes ran out the length of their course without hitting anything solid. Their momentum spent, they settled to the ocean floor, taking Han 402's hopes with them.
 Though Mack had trained nearly his entire career for
 firing on an enemy submarine, he had never really expected it to happen. But Mack, like the others aboard Cheyenne, was a professional. He was calm as he gave the command, "Firing point procedures, Master J, tubes one and two."
 A BSY-1 operator reported the relevant target data to the captain.
 "Match sonar bearings and shoot, tubes one and two," Mack said, his voice cool and steady.
 "Match sonar bearings and shoot, tubes one and two,
 aye," the fire control coordinator repeated the command.
 The Mk 48s were launched from the weapons control
 console and were ejected from their tubes. Their Otto
 fuel engines came to life, powering their pump jets.
 "Tubes one and two fired electrically," said the combat systems officer at the weapons control console.
 As soon as the torpedoes entered the water, the Chinese submarine began to turn. Mack guessed that they were going to try a ninety-degree turn away from the Mk 48s, but the seeker heads on the ADCAPs were doing what they had been designed to do: hunt down an enemy submarine. They stayed with the Han as it twisted and turned.
 "Both torpedoes have acquired Master I," reported the combat systems officer. Both Mk 48s had found the enemy submarine with their own sonars and no longer needed to be guided by Cheyenne's fire-control system via their guidance wires.
 "Cut the wires, shut the outer doors, and reload tubes one and two," ordered Captain Mackey.
 "Conn, sonar, two explosions, bearing 162." A cheer erupted in the control room, but Captain Bartholomew Mackey did not join in. The sailors were celebrating the fact that Cheyenne had just achieved her first blood, but Mack knew that more than that had just happened.
 War with mainland China was now a fact of life. A short time later, Mack secured from battle stations and ordered Cheyenne to proceed to periscope depth.
 Using SSIXS (Submarine Satellite Information Exchange System), Mack communicated their actions to the higher-ups in the Department of Defense and the Navy. As Mack had suspected, message traffic indicated that their encounter had not been an isolated incident and Cheyenne soon learned that what seemed like an all-out war had been started by China in an attempt to assert its position in the new world order.
 Cheyenne'1 s orders were again confirmed and she was to remain on course, sprinting and drifting until arriving at Pearl Harbor so that she could resupply and join other American units in the South China Sea. There was one important change in her orders, however: she was now allowed to attack any Chinese naval vessel she encountered so long as her trip to Pearl would not be overly delayed.
 The remainder of the trip to Pearl was a tense one. Every moment that passed increased the likelihood that they would once again face combat. Running at four hundred feet toward the submarine safety lanes southwest of the Big Island of Hawaii, the OOD brought the submarine shallow to copy over the floating wire any news that might have occurred since their last venture toward the surface. The news was not good.
 Two Spruance class destroyers, the USS Fletcher (DD 992) and the USS John Young (DD 973), were operating in conjunction with the Coast Guard cutter Midgett (WHEC 726). One of the SH-60 Seahawks from Fletcher had dropped a line of sonobuoys about 150 miles south of Honolulu and detected a possible sonar contact. All vessels had been told of the friendly submarine traffic in the area, but the contact the Fletcher''s Seahawk detected did not match any of the sonar profiles of the submarines expected to be operating nearby.
 Another Seahawk from John Young was en route to
 the area. Its orders were to assist in determining what type of contact the sonobouys were tracking.
 Cheyenne went to periscope depth. Word came to them over the periscope communications antenna, on the "Navy Red" encrypted circuit from one of the helicopters, that there was a possible enemy submarine operating in the area, which turned out to be forty-two nautical miles north of Cheyenne's current location. The message also indicated that Cheyenne's assistance would be greatly appreciated. Mack acknowledged the pilot's request, and then ordered Cheyenne to return to operational depth and proceed toward the reported datum.
 Forty-seven minutes later Cheyenne's towed-array sonar detected the sonar contact. They were still out of range and could not tell much about the contact. They knew only that it might be a submarine, and that, if it was a submarine, it was attempting to be as quiet as possible. The sonar supervisor designated this new contact as Cheyenne's Master 2.
 On the surface, the two U.S. destroyers and the Coast Guard cutter were hunting the sonar contact. The surface ships were attempting to keep their distance from the contact, wary of a possible torpedo attack. The Seahawks did not have to worry about that, and at 1340, moments after the surface ships had confirmed that the contact was indeed another Chinese nuclear submarine, Cheyenne heard the sounds of two Mk 50 torpedoes entering the water.
 "Conn, sonar, torpedoes in the water... Mk 50s, bearing 017. The Seahawks just dropped weapons on the submarine contact, Master 2."
 A short time later the small helicopter torpedoes went active. Cheyenne heard two noisemaker decoys being launched, followed by the loud cavitation of the Chinese submarine as it attempted to outrun the Mk 50s—to no avail.
 "Conn, sonar, two explosions, bearing 023." • "Radio, Captain," Mack said. "Send congrats to the
 helo pilots over Navy Red; they just sank themselves an enemy submarine!"
 Cheyenne's crew was justifiably jubilant at having witnessed the destruction of a second Chinese submarine. Perhaps it had not been as exciting as their initial taste of combat, but it had boosted their confidence in their naval brethren hundreds of feet above them.
 More than that, though, they were buoyed by the fact that every aspect of their first mission had gone off without a hitch. Mack ordered Cheyenne to proceed to Pearl, Once there, they would complete their mini-refit and prepare Cheyenne for her next operation: her transit to the home waters off China—the South China Sea.
 2. South China Sea Station
 Captain Mackey looked around the small wardroom, meeting the gaze of each of the officers assembled before him. "The price of success," he said. "The Navy was so pleased with our operations while en route to Pearl that they decided to send us directly into harm's way. Cheyenne has been ordered to rendezvous with the USS Independence (CV-62), which will be heading in the direction of the recently occupied Spratly Islands. Independence is currently steaming in the Indian Ocean. We are to meet up with her one hundred miles northwest of Natuna Island. Upon crossing the Pacific Ocean we will chop (change operational commander) to the Seventh Fleet."
 Mack kept his voice and his gaze steady. Such transfers were common between fleets, but this one carried the connotation of an increase in risk. The Third Fleet was remaining on station closer to home; the Seventh was on the front lines of this new war.
 "Naval intelligence reports that there are large numbers of enemy warships operating in the area," Mack went on. "We will, without a doubt, come into contact with many of these. Our first priority, however, remains meeting up with Independence. We will take this dangerous mission one step at a time. Remember, they have the home-court advantage."
 He looked around the wardroom one last time. "We'll depart as soon as our refit is complete."
 If only that were true* Mack thought. But the truth
 was, they would be leaving before they were completely outfitted. As was always the case during peacetime, materiel was never ordered in large enough quantities to satisfy the demands of wartime operations. There were too many ships steaming into Pearl for supplies, and not enough weapons and ammunition to go around.
 More was on order, of course, and it wouldn't be long before Pearl was fully stockpiled, but by then Cheyenne would be halfway to the South China Sea.
 Cheyenne's loadout included sixteen Mk 48 ADCAPs, six Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles, and four Harpoon antiship missiles for medium-range attacks on surface ships. The loading was a long process. The Mk 48s had to be slowly and carefully lowered into the loading hatch one at a time, and the Tomahawks in their loading canisters were loaded directly into Cheyenne* s vertical launch tubes.
 If Mack had had his way, though, the loading process would have taken even longer. He'd take Cheyenne out as soon as she was ready, of course, but he would have been happier if she'd had a full complement of weapons. The transit to the rendezvous with Independence would take Cheyenne in a southwesterly direction through the Pacific Ocean and past the Marshall and Solomon Islands, both sites of grisly combat operations over fifty years ago. She would then pass by the Caroline Islands and cut through the Celebes Sea before entering the Sufu Sea and, finally, the South China Sea.
 Naval intelligence had confirmed that Cheyenne had sunk the second of the Chinese Han class of nuclear attack submarines, number 402, and that she had been witness to the destruction of what turned out to be Han number 404 south of Honolulu. These two confirmed kills, along with the Han destroyed earlier by the submarine escorting Nimitz, meant that the Chinese navy had only two remaining nuclear powered submarines. Or at least, Mack reminded himself, only two that the United States knew about.
 Addressing that lack of intelligence was a part of
 Cheyenne^ mission. Once in China's home waters, Cheyenne's orders were to gather intelligence on Chinese naval operations while making her way south in the direction of Indonesia. There, 100 miles northwest of Natuna Island, their old friend USS Independence would be waiting for them.
 Thinking about their mission and the tools they'd have available to complete it, Mack adjourned the meeting. The loadout would be complete in less than two hours, and he wanted his officers and sailors ready for imminent combat operations.
 Somewhere in the central Pacific, a Chinese Luda class destroyer sat quietly, dead in the water. One hundred meters below it lay its partner in crime, a Romeo class diesel attack submarine. Their mission was simple: sink as many American vessels as possible. They had heard the news of China's losses in the Pacific Ocean, so they were pleased to detect a merchant ship, The Southwest Passage, an American merchant vessel two days out from Japan, en route to one of the Hawaiian Islands.
 The merchantman was not a big ship, but she was flying the American flag, and that made her a target. As soon as The Southwest Passage came within eighty miles, the destroyer captain launched one of his two Harbin Z-9A helicopters in order to confirm the identity and nationality of the ship.
 The merchantman did not, at first, realize the danger she was in, and her captain kept her on course. When the Chinese helicopter finally buzzed the bridge, however, he radioed their observations in to the U.S. Navy and received orders to alter their course to avoid, as the Navy radioman described it, "a possibly life-threatening situation."
 Unfortunately for the merchant ship and her crew, it was already too late. Without warning, three Chinese HY-2 missiles, variants of the Silkworm surface-to-
 surface missile family, came streaking across the sky, directly into the hull of The Southwest Passage. All three impacts came within seconds of one another, two in the aft section of her hull, the third closer to the bow.
 The Southwest Passage went down like a rock, not even pausing to break up. All hands were lost, most of them dying in the explosions.
 Aboard the Chinese destroyer, the captain was well pleased with the results. They had struck back successfully at the Americans, Even better, he had used only his destroyer in the attack. With luck he would be able to keep his submarine a secret, saving it as a surprise for a bigger fish, perhaps even a U.S. warship.
 Having just passed Midway Island, Cheyenne was about to begin turning southward when she received word of the attack on The Southwest Passage. Since getting underway submerged from Pearl, Mack had maintained the floating wire communications antenna streamed to get any information that the Navy might wish to pass along to them. He had expected intelligence updates, and information on the latest developments, but he hadn't been expecting news like that.
 According to the message, the attack had occurred due south of Cheyenne's current position. The coordinates were located approximately one day's travel at full speed—or about a day and a half at their current rate of twenty knots. Mack didn't hesitate. His orders allowed him some latitude, and he was prepared to take full advantage of that.
 Reading the message a second time, he gave the order to turn Cheyenne and head full speed toward the destroyer's reported position. In the absence of a formal declaration of war, the Chinese government would undoubtedly brand the destroyer a renegade. Which was fine with Mack. He intended to bring them to justice . . . American style.
 Twenty-six hours later Cheyenne received her second surprise. They had picked up a target, but it wasn't the
 destroyer. Instead, there was another signal masking the one they'd expected.
 Sonar quickly identified it as a diesel submarine, Romeo class. The Chinese submarine must have been having a problem with her snorkeling system because she was recharging her batteries on the surface—and making a tremendous amount of diesel noise in the- process. It was another two hours before they picked up the Luda destroyer running at about thirteen knots.
 Mack ordered battle stations manned. "Quite a day for going hunting, don't you think?" he said to the diving officer.
 "Sure is, Captain. It's not often you find an enemy submarine on the surface with its pants down like this one."
 For targets such as these, the Harpoon surface-to-surface missile—or, in this case, submarine-to-surface missile—was without a doubt the weapon of choice, especially since both the Chinese submarine and the destroyer were operating so noisily. Cheyenne was able to determine their positions precisely and easily, something that was highly uncommon at this distance.
 "Conn, sonar. Master 11 is bearing 013. Master 12 is bearing 002." Master 11 was the Romeo-class submarine; Master 12 was the destroyer. Neither of them had any idea what was about to be sent their way.
 Over the next ten minutes, the BSY-1 computers were able to determine rough ranges of forty-three nautical miles to Master 11, and forty-two nautical miles to Master 12. Cheyenne didn't need the actual range. As long as the targets were within reach of the Harpoons, it was the accurate bearings that counted.
 Mack was pleased with the target acquisitions. "Torpedo room," he called from the conn. "Remove the torpedoes and reload tubes two, three, and four with Harpoons. Leave an ADCAP in tube one."
 The response was immediate. "Remove the torpedoes and reload tubes two, three, and four with Harpoons, leave an ADCAP in tube one, aye, sir."
 Mack would have loved to shoot off all four of his Harpoon missiles, but that was cowboy tactics. The two known targets were making so much noise that he had to keep in mind the possibility that there was a third—and much more quiet—enemy in the area. He needed to keep one torpedo ready to shoot in case he ran into one of the remaining Han class attack submarines they knew about—or, worse, an enemy they didn't know about and weren't prepared for.
 The Luda destroyer was the bigger target, and it was more mobile than the surfaced Romeo class submarine. Mack decided to target two Harpoons to the Luda and only one to the submarine. At his command, Cheyenne decreased speed and began to creep silently through the water.
 "Tubes two, three, and four are loaded with Harpoons," reported the combat system officer. Cheyenne was now ready to fire her missiles.
 The UGM-84, the submarine-launched variant of the Harpoon, came "wrapped" inside a buoyant capsule that was shaped to fit inside a torpedo tube. Upon firing, the UGM-84 would rise to the surface and, after ejecting the nose to the capsule, would ignite its rocket booster. Then, after dropping its booster, the Harpoon's turbojet engine would light off and the missile would accelerate on course toward its target. As the UGM-84 neared its target, the radar seeker head would switch on and the Harpoon would commence its final approach.
 For this mission, Mack ordered each Harpoon programmed to make a "pop-up" maneuver before attacking its target. This would confuse any antimissile systems the enemy destroyer might have on board. Cheyenne was only going to have one easy launch window at these two Chinese vessels. Mack wanted to make sure that his shots counted.
 "Firing point procedures," Mack ordered, "tube two, Master 11; tubes three and four, Master 12."
 He gave the order to fire the Harpoons two minutes later. They were launched to the surface by the weapons
 control console and the sonar man heard the rocket boosters ignite. "Reload tubes two, three, and four with Mk 48s," Mack commanded.
 Flying at just under the speed of sound, the missiles found their marks in less than five minutes. This time it was the Chinese who never had a chance.
 Three large explosions marked the success of Cheyenne's attack. The Romeo was hit first. The Harpoon came from its cruising altitude, performed its popup maneuver, and slammed into the top of the Romeo's afterdeck while the submarine was recharging on the surface. The Chinese navy had tried to save money by not repairing the damaged snorkel system. That decision cost them their submarine.
 The missile's 510-pound high-explosive warhead detonated on impact, tearing a large hole in the hull and sending the force of its explosion down into the belly of the submarine. The thin steel hull burst apart, splitting the submarine into two pieces. Both halves quickly filled with water and sank, opposite ends first, into the sea.
 Twelve seconds later, it was the destroyer's turn. The first missile hit its front end, directly under the 130mm gun. There was a horrific explosion and the entire fore section of the destroyer was bent in a downward direction, bringing a large amount of water into the ship. The second Harpoon hit the ship's bridge, killing the captain and all in its command center.
 The 3,400-ton destroyer did not sink right away. It didn't break up quickly enough for that. It would be three long hours before it sank into the depths of the Pacific. Instead, it sat, dead in the water, a spreading pool of oil and diesel fuel marking what would become its watery grave.
 Aboard Cheyenne, the captain and crew knew only that they should have hit their targets, but they had no way of determining how well the missiles had done their job. As soon as the Harpoons were launched, Cheyenne descended to 375 feet and immediately departed the area. If there were any other enemy vessels nearby, they would
 undoubtedly be looking for her at this very moment. Mack waited for nearly an hour before he secured from battle stations.
 Cheyenne had done her job extremely well, Captain Mackey thought. Mack's grandfather had served in the "Silent Service" of World War II, and Mack thought the old man would be very proud of their accomplishments, if only he were still alive.
 Cheyenne was the newest operational attack submarine in the entire U.S. submarine force. She had been on active duty for only a short while. But already she had been directly responsible for two kills of enemy submarines and one kill of an enemy destroyer. Mack didn't know it, but Cheyenne was well on her way to becoming one of the most decorated submarines of the entire Pacific Fleet.
 Life aboard a submarine was often a lonely existence in which sailors had little personal space and almost zero privacy. The newest sailors were often required to "hot bunk"—sharing bunks on a rotating sleep schedule. As soon as one sailor rolled out of bed, another crewman would take his place in the same bunk. The uncomfortable feeling of climbing into an already warm bed gave rise to the term "hot bunking."
 After their most recent encounter, however, life aboard Cheyenne was anything but lonely. Every sonar contact seemed to signal an enemy, every noise from their reactor or propulsion plant threatened to expose them to the Chinese, and every incoming communication held the promise of action. Running at twenty-six knots in the same "sprint and drift" mode they had employed in their transit to Pearl, Mack wanted to reach Independence as quickly as was practically possible.
 As time passed, however, with no further encounters, the tension levels on board gradually returned to normal, and before the crew realized it they were approaching the
 Celebes Sea. Once through this, they would have only the Sulu Sea between them and their rendezvous in the South China Sea.
 Cheyenne had received word that Independence was on station and awaiting her arrival. Mack and his crew were currently a little over 1,200 miles from Independence's location. At flank speed, Cheyenne could be there in a little over two days, but travelling that fast could prove to be too noisy. At the slower but safer twenty-six knots, running in sprint-and-drift mode, Cheyenne would still make her rendezvous in less than four days.
 Midway through the Celebes Sea, Mack received an update. Cheyenne was instructed to use extreme caution once she passed through the Celebes and Sulu seas and into the South China Sea. Naval intelligence was reporting that mines might have been laid there, and they could pose a danger to Cheyenne.
 That was news. China typically deployed coastal and moored contact minefields—technology that certainly wasn't obsolete, but which would not seriously threaten Cheyenne. Recent intelligence reports, however, indicated that the cash-strapped Russian military had sold the Chinese an unconfirmed number of "Cluster Bay" and "Cluster Gulf antisubmarine mines, the latter of which could be used in 2,000 meters of seawater. That meant that Cheyenne would have to be on guard against the older, less advanced mines, and they would also have to watch out for the very real possibility that they might "come into contact" with these deep-water mines as well.
 Mack was not pleased with this news, and he liked the next bit of intelligence even less. An extremely large Chinese surface and submarine fleet was currently forming, and naval intelligence expected them to leave Guangzhou Naval Base sometime within the next thirty-six hours. Naval intelligence assumed—and Mack agreed—that the Chinese force's mission most probably consisted of two parts; hunting for any U.S. naval vessels
 in the area and, more specifically and more immediately, attempting to sink the U.S. carrier Independence.
 Once they reached the eastern entrance to the Sulu Sea, Mack cut Cheyenne's speed to ten knots. She would travel through the Sulu Sea slowly and quietly until she reached the Balabac Strait, south of the relatively tiny island of Palawan. That would be her last opportunity to listen carefully before entering hostile waters.
 As planneds Cheyenne stayed slow and listened for any danger signs before entering the South China Sea to her southwest. The recently invaded Spratly Islands lay several hundred nautical miles away in the center of the South China Sea. These were reportedly heavily guarded by a large Chinese contingent intended to prevent another invasion of the islands.
 After Cheyenne passed silently into the South China Sea, Mack ordered, "Deploy the TB-23," calling for his crew to stream their passive "thin-line" towed-array.
 Designed to detect very low-frequency noise at long distances, the TB-23 was one of the newest additions to the improved Los Angeles class submarines. Cheyenne was also one of the first submarines to receive this new system.
 The TB-23, which was reeled into the submarine's main ballast tank instead of being housed internally and running down the side of the pressure hull like the TB-16, was so long that even with Cheyenne running at twenty knots, she would still be able to detect distant sonar contacts.
 The towed-array worked beautifully, and its dozens of hydrophones detected more sounds than the submarine's computers often knew what to do with. Everything from large fish to fishing trawlers had been detected on their submarine's TB-23 since their abbreviated shakedown cruise and they were now very confident in its operation.
 Almost immediately, the TB-23 detected a large number of contacts. Distance was hard to gauge with the TB-
 23; the signals it picked up could be coming tnrougn a convergence zone, and without the sea room to maneuver very much, precision bearings and ranges were very difficult.
 From the initial detections, Mack guessed that these contacts were from surface contacts very far away—over 100 miles. If he was lucky, these tonals would turn out to be from the Chinese task group sent to attack the Independence Carrier Battle Group that had entered the South China Sea south of Borneo.
 Creeping along at five knots in a westerly direction, Mack took Cheyenne farther into the South China Sea.
 The TB-23's detections were correct, and so was Mack's guess. The contacts were the Chinese task group, and it was very large indeed. It consisted of seven fast attack craft, four Jianghu class frigates, three Ming class attack submarines, and two Romeo submarines. The Chinese task group had two primary missions to accomplish: mine the South China Sea and sink Independence.
 American carriers had been a thorn in the Chinese government's side since the very beginning of this conflict. They had lost their first Han class submarine to a U.S. submarine accompanying Nimitz, but Nimitz herself was not currently a target. She waited outside the South China Sea, just south of Taiwan, ready to enter if the need arose. The danger of mines in the South China Sea was a serious one and was one of the major reasons that Nimitz waited out of harm's way, at least for the time being. But the aircraft carrier Independence (CV-62) had now been in the South China Sea for over one month, and for the Chinese she was a big, attractive, and highly desirable target. After laying their mines, the Chinese task group headed directly toward Independence.
 With the aid of overhead imagery, U.S. naval intelligence quickly guessed the Chinese task group's mission, but they had no immediate way to inform Cheyenne. Since ELF coverage in the South China Sea was sporadic, the submarine was essentially out of contact until
 she came shallow enough for the floating wire to be able
 to copy traffic.
 At 1000 hours on the day after entering the South China Sea, Cheyenne's floating wire antenna reached close to the surface and stayed there just long enough to copy recent traffic. An S-3 from Independence relayed the latest intelligence on this rather large Chinese surface and submarine group. The message relayed through the ASWC (anti-submarine warfare commander) to CTF 74—Commander Task Force 74, also known as Commander Submarine Group 7, located in Yokosuka, Japan, also included Cheyenne's new orders.
 Cheyenne was instructed to pass silently near the Chinese task group and find out exactly how many submarines were operating in cooperation with this group.
 Most Chinese surface vessels had only a limited ASW (antisubmarine warfare) capability, and so the main threat to Cheyenne would come in the form of attack submarines and maritime patrol aircraft such as the Chinese versions of the Russian 11-28 Beagle known as the Harbin H-5. These aircraft carried bombs and torpedoes, and could pose a serious threat to Cheyenne. Captain Mackey was counting on Independence's F-14s to handle at least some of these aircraft.
 In addition, there was also a shorter-range threat from Chinese helicopters that many of their surface combatants carried on board. Similar in concept to the American LAMPS program, the Chinese had dozens of Chinese models of the French Dauphin helicopter equipped for ASW operations. Once Cheyenne got close to the surface fleet, she would have to be extremely cautious.
 Cheyenne picked up speed in order reach her objective. The Chinese fleet could only move as fast as their slowest vessels, and their overall speed was less than ten knots. They were currently positioned a little over six hundred miles away from the American Carrier Battle Group, just at the edge of the Independence's aircraft range, but outside of normal CAP (Combat Air Patrol)
 search sectors. Cheyenne was seventy-five miles east of the Chinese task group.
 After a brief run at 12 knots, Cheyenne cut this distance to less than fifty miles. Then the fleet of enemy warships slowed even further. At first glance, it appeared that one of their destroyers was having trouble with its power plant and, wanting to keep the fleet together, they had all stopped. But Mack wasn't fooled. What the Chinese were doing was laying mines.
 Their intent, as Mack saw it, was to lay a minefield in case one of the nations that claimed the Spratlys attempted to invade them. In fact, Mack was willing to bet that all available Chinese naval vessels were now tasked with laying mines at every access to the South China Sea.
 Mack figured that after seeing the disastrous loss the Iraqis suffered in the 1991 Persian Gulf War, the Chinese had realized that the only way to defeat the American Navy was by the use of naval mines. This was the American weakness, and the South China Sea—China's home waters—would be where they would exploit it.
 Within an hour, the Chinese task group had come to a complete halt, but that didn't bother Mack at all. The stoppage of the Chinese fleet allowed Cheyenne to close the remaining distance quickly.
 Half an hour later, with battle stations manned, Mack was within range to attack the closest vessel in the fleet, a lone Romeo class submarine that had wandered to the east, away from the group, in an attempt to detect possible enemy operations. As Cheyenne crept closer to the group, at a cautious speed of four-and-a-half knots, it was clear that the Romeo was not aware of her silent presence.
 "Conn, sonar, we now have five submarine contacts, all diesels on the surface, operating with this group," the sonar supervisor advised the captain. "It looks as if they have three Mings and two Romeos. I think the submarines are patrolling the area while the surface vessels lay their mines."
 Mack acknowledged the report and ordered the Mings designated Masters 15, 16, and 17, and the Romeos designated Masters 18 and 19. His assessment of the situation matched that of the sonar supervisor.
 As Cheyenne closed on the Chinese task group, Mack was faced with the difficult decision of whether or not he should attack any units in this enemy force. His orders had been to find out how many submarines were operating with this group. He had done that. His obligation now was to convey that information to Independence, but with that first Romeo, Master 18, sitting solidly on his track, Mack's instinct was to blow that Chinese submarine out of the water.
 Mack shook his head and let the Romeo slip away. He had something better in mind. What Cheyenne would do, he decided, was to wait until she had passed outside the range of the Romeo. Then she would use her Mk 48s to attack one of the Jianghu frigates and one of the Ming submarines, since the Ming was the better of the two submarine classes. Cheyenne would then race away and silently head for Independence.
 That was Mack's plan. No battle plan, however, he reminded himself, survives first contact with the enemy.
 He got his chance to test that maxim exactly ninety-three minutes later. Cheyenne had reached the outer ring of the rest of the submarines, and the only danger to her now was the ASW helicopters that might be patrolling the area.
 The submarine and frigate Mack had targeted were operating within three thousand yards of each other. This would be a perfect Mk 48 shot. He had decided to target the Ming submarine, Master 15, first, and the Jianghu frigate, Master 20, second, because the Ming posed a more serious threat to Cheyenne.
 Mack announced firing point procedures for an attack on the Ming, Master 15. "Make tubes one and two ready in all respects, including opening the outer doors!"
 Confirmation of his command was almost immediate.
 Tubes one and two were ready, with their outer doors open.
 "Match bearings and shoot, tubes one and two, Master 15."
 Again, confirmation was almost immediate. The first torpedoes were away.
 "Cut the wires, shut the outer doors, and reload tubes one and two," Mack ordered, his voice brisk and efficient.
 With their wires cut, the Mk 48s would have to find their target without the help of their guidance wires, but they were close enough to their target that they were virtually certain of acquiring.
 Mack put the first two torpedoes out of his mind. They were gone and on their own, and would fail or succeed without his help. Now he had to worry about their next target.
 "Make tubes three and four ready in all respects, including opening the outer doors," he said, beginning the procedure once again. Within moments, the second pair of Mk 48s was headed straight for Master 20, the 1,500-ton frigate.
 Aboard the Ming submarine there was little time for reaction. The Chinese captain ordered flank speed in the opposite direction of the torpedoes, but the two Mk 48s continued to close the gap.
 The Ming reached its maximum speed quickly, but it simply did not have the ability to outrun the speeding ADCAP torpedoes, cutting through the water at over fifty knots.
 The frigate was encountering a similar type of panic. Its first reaction was to begin dropping ASW mortars into the water in an attempt to throw the torpedoes off course. These mortars, which carried the designation RBU 1200, were unguided but still dangerous. They essentially threw small bombs out to a range of slightly more than 1,200 yards. Since each mortar "shell" carried seventy-five pounds of explosive, their effects were spread
 out over a large area. There was always the danger that the explosion might damage Cheyenne, even though she was out of their direct range and path.
 "Rig ship for depth charge," Mack ordered.
 The mortars were a bad idea. Their explosions did not reach Cheyenne—in fact, they posed a greater risk to the Ming patrolling closer to the frigate. What's more, rather than harming Cheyenne, they actually helped her. With the loud explosions masking all other sounds—including preventing Cheyenne from learning whether her torpedoes had found their marks—Mack ordered flank speed as he turned to run from the Chinese task group.
 Two hours later, with Cheyenne clear of the area and out of danger, her floating wire confirmed that her presence in the area was no longer a secret—but she had announced herself in fine fashion. Three of her four torpedoes had hit their targets, costing the Chinese a frigate and a Ming class submarine.
 Along with this information came Cheyenne's previous orders: continue with the rendezvous with Independence, still some six hundred miles from Cheyenne's current position.
 Mack was pleased with both the intelligence and the orders, but he knew that they'd have to be even more cautious from now on. Cheyenne was no longer a secret, and she was wearing the enemy's blood. Every available Chinese ASW asset would be hunting for Cheyenne and attempting to kill her.
 But they'd have to find her first, and then they'd have to catch her. And Cheyenne ran fast. Her mission was now to reach Independence—which, at her current speed of twenty-five knots, and allowing for the sprint-and-drift technique, would take about fifteen hours.
 Mack secured from battle stations and the rig for depth charge, and then settled in for the transit to Independence,
 With Cheyenne running at twenty-five knots four hundred feet beneath the surface of the South China Sea, Mack had time to wonder about his decision to attack the
 Chinese frigate and submarine. Had he been too aggressive? The captain suddenly felt both guilt and vulnerability for attacking the task group. There had been other, more stealthy alternatives, and perhaps he should have taken them.
 This was one of the dangers of post-action letdown. Too many people used that time to play the "what if?" game and to second-guess their own decisions. What if Cheyenne had been damaged? he thought to himself. After all, his main objective was to reach Independence safely, not attack enemy warships. Independence could easily have handled that task group herself.
 In addition to the risk of the encounter. Mack knew that he had cost Cheyenne the element of surprise. She was known, now, and being hunted. Perhaps it would have been a better idea to silently drift alongside the Chinese task group, obtain the required intelligence, and then head for the carrier.
 These questions troubled him as he prepared to proceed to periscope depth to get information concerning Independence.
 "Conn, sonar," the sonar supervisor reported, "the towed-array picked up a helicopter overhead. We can tell it's a helo because of the high turbine rpm."
 Hearing this, Mack ordered an immediate excursion to 325 feet, He soon heard the ping of the helicopter's active dipping sonar through Cheyenne's hull, and the sound sent chills up his spine. He began to worry, once again, about the wisdom of his earlier decision to attack the Chinese task group.
 "Conn, sonar, we just detected a submarine on the surface. It's beginning to submerge!"
 Mack remanned battle stations. The atmosphere in the sonar room grew very tense as everyone waited for the next contact evaluation. It wasn't long in coming, and it wasn't good news.
 "Conn, sonar, we've got another contact," reported the sonar supervisor. "This one sounds like a Romeo. It must have been waiting for us, playing dead in the water,
 because we didn't hear it before the active sonar from that helo."
 Sonar designated the helo as sonar contact Sierra 179. Mack designated the Romeo as Master 21.
 Antisubmarine helicopters were always a danger. They were hard for submarines to detect, and their dipping sonars and sonobuoys could provide enemy forces with valuable data on the location of Cheyenne. And that was exactly what this one seemed to be doing.
 And if the helicopter was within its torpedo range, Mack realized, they could also drop a torpedo in the water. That would definitely ruin our day, he thought.
 "Range to the Romeo, Master 21, is seventeen thousand yards, bearing 025," the fire-control coordinator reported.
 "Sonar, conn, what's the classification on the one that just submerged?" Mack asked.
 "Conn, sonar, it sounds like another Romeo. It sounds closer, bearing 027, sir. Designate Master 22?"
 The BSY-I operators quickly determined that two enemy submarines were five thousand yards from one another. Cheyenne, it turned out, was on a bearing directly between them, the reciprocal bearing 206 if they detected her.
 At that moment, the helicopter's dipping sonar was active again, and this time it was directly overhead.
 Mack smiled. That helo pilot had just done them a favor. The two Chinese submarines may have already acquired Cheyenne—which meant that the latest "ping" didn't help them at all. But the sound energy reflecting off their hulls into Cheyenne's waiting sonars and the BSY-l computers gave her accurate firing solutions for both Romeo class submarines.
 "Make tubes one and two ready in all respects," Mack ordered. "Open the outer doors. Firing point procedures, tube one, Master 21, and tube two, Master 22," Mack wanted the first torpedo going after the closer submarine and the second torpedo aimed at the other.
 His orders were confirmed quickly and efficiently.
 Match sonar bearings ana snoot, tune one, Master zi and tube two, Master 22," he ordered.
 "Match bearings and shoot, tube one, Master 21, and tube two, Master 22, aye, Captain."
 Both torpedoes quickly acquired.
 Mack acknowledged the reports. "Now, let's get the heii out of here before we get attacked by that helo. Cut the wires, shut the outer doors, and reload tubes one and two. Ahead flank, right full rudder, make your depth 800 feet, steady on course 180." Mack was calm as the directed commands were repeated by the persons intended for them. Cheyenne had become a fine-tuned fighting machine. Each man knew what was expected of him.
 Above them, high in the sky, a lone F-14 flying from the aircraft carrier Independence saw the target blip on its radar long before the Chinese helicopter had any idea what was about to happen. With permission of the flag watch officer aboard Independence, the 000-045 sector F-14 pilot was allowed to advance his sector since he had radar contact on the Chinese helo that was harassing Cheyenne. After he cut in his afterburners and approached the target at supersonic speed, permission to fire was passed from the TAG (tactical action officer). With a thumb push on Ihe pickle, the pilot reported "Phoenix 1 away."
 Behind him, in the backseat, his RIO (radar intercept officer), who had done all the targeting work, said, "Phoenix is locked on. That submarine captain sure owes us one."
 Aboard Cheyenne, the sonar supervisor couldn't explain his latest detections to Mack. "Conn, sonar," he said, "the helicopter, the one above our position ... I think she just crashed! Something fell in the water and the TB-23 is not picking up any helo turbine noise anymore."
 "I guess we just broke Murphy's law," Mack replied, his voice as calm and efficient as ever.
 Mack had decided not to designate the helo with a Master number. He would leave that to the aviators. However, the helo would find itself in the history of submarine warfare, in Mack's patrol report, by virtue of Cheyenne's "Sierra" designation assigned to the helo as one of Cheyenne's many sonar contacts.
 The remainder of their transit into the southern end of the South China Sea proved, to the delight of both the captain and the crew, to be entirely uneventful. Mack had not realized how enjoyable an uneventful stretch of time could be when the alternative was someone shooting at his submarine.
 When they met up with Independence northwest of Natuna Island, Mack and his crew learned that both Mk 48s had found their marks and the Chinese were now down another two submarines. Mack had also discovered the true story behind the "crash" of their Chinese helo.
 Mack sent a message to the SEC (submarine element coordinator) on board Independence, requesting a special "thank-you" for the F-14 pilot—a thank-you that, whenever they got a chance to get ashore to buy one, would include a very nice bottle of wine.
 3. Four if by Sea, Six if by Land
 Come to periscope depth," Mack said. "I want to have a quick look around before proceeding." Cheyenne moved slowly from her current depth of three hundred feet beneath the surface of the South China Sea, pausing at one hundred thirty feet to clear baffles. When the sonar supervisor reported no contacts to the OOD, Cheyenne completed her excursion to fifty-nine feet. Before arriving, the OOD, Mack, and the crew members who were trying to eat could feel the effects of the sea state.
 Mack had raised the Type 18 periscope while the OOD rode the leaner, less detectable, Type 2 attack periscope. Two sets of eyes were better than one, especially since the sea state could easily mask quiet surface contacts. Once they were near ordered depth, the tops of both periscopes were intermittently awash an the four-foot swells, which were frequently topped with significantly higher waves.
 In order not to broach, Cheyenne had to take the swells, caused by a distant storm, no more than forty-five degrees forward of the beam. Otherwise, she would have a tendency to pitch with a ten-second period due to the ninety-foot wavelength of sea state four. Pitching up or down with Cheyenne^s forward momentum could result in an uncontrollable angle, causing either the sail to be exposed during an up angle or the stem to be exposed during a down angle. Exposing the stem was more dangerous because the seven blades of Cheyenne's screw would pass through the air-water interface, causing unwanted high-torque jolting of the
 shaft as each exposed blade once again encountered the water. The weather on the surface was terrible, with violent thunderstorms breaking over the entire region. The power and majesty of the storms were breathtaking, but Mack found himself thinking more about how much they might be affecting flight operations on board independence. He knew how much bad weather could degrade surface ship operations. That was just one of the many reasons he loved working far beneath the turbulent surface. Unlike their surface counterparts—and especially pilots and land-based soldiers—submariners were rarely affected by the weather, except when they needed to go to periscope depth.
 On behalf of the crew, Mack decided to keep the time at periscope depth to a minimum. After copying the SSIXS broadcast and verifying that there were no surface contacts in the vicinity, Mack ordered the OOD to proceed deep beneath the storm, which unfortunately had eroded the first thermal layer, causing an isotherm (constant temperature) from the surface to over six hundred feet.
 Six hours earlier, Cheyenne had arrived safely at her rendezvous point with the carrier Independence one hundred miles northwest of Natuna Island. The entire Independence Battle Group was now heading in the direction of the Spratly Islands. Cheyenne's current assignment was to patrol the nearby waters in search of any enemy submarines that might try to sneak up on the Battle Group.
 In a way, Cheyenne was operating like a fighter pilot assigned to air cover. She was Independence's first line of AS W defense, 130 miles ahead where the noise of the Battle Group's ships would not degrade Cheyenne's sonars, and where the F-14s from Independence could, in better weather, provide about a ten-hour heads-up to Cheyenne on approaching surface targets.
 Mack was looking forward to the escort duty, a chance to be the SSN(DS) (direct support) for which the Los Angeles class was originally buiit. Not only would it be a
 nice change of pace but, more important, it meant he could have assistance from the carrier if and when he
 needed it.
 The only problem was that Cheyenne was alone. Instead of sharing the 180 sector forward of the Battle Group with two other SSNs, Mack had it all. That was fine for the prevention of mutual interference, especially in a shooting war, but it was an impossibly large area of responsibility for a single SSN.
 Independence was the last active member of the For-resla! class of aircraft carriers. These vessels, the first real "supercarriers," were built during the 1950s. By 1997 they all had been decommissioned except independence. At one point, there had been plans to turn "Indy's" sister ship, Forrestai, into a training carrier, but those plans had been scrapped due to budget cuts. Independence herself had been scheduled for decommissioning in October of this year, but Mack suspected that this war might change
 things.
 All aircraft carriers' strength lay with their aircraft, and CV-62 was no exception. Independence's aircraft were as good or better than any combat aircraft in the world. Her current complement of aircraft included twenty F-14 Tomcats for long range interceptor missions. With their new precision strike capability, the F-14s were sometimes referred to as the "bomb cat." Independence also carried F/A-18 Hornets, which were perhaps the best dual-capable (fighter/attack) aircraft in the world. The Independence air wing commander, now an aviator O-6 major command billet, could use them to defend the carrier or to attack far-off targets on land or at sea. Also on board were four E-2C Hawkeyes and four EA-6B Prowlers. The Hawkeyes were early warning planes and each one carried the APS-145 radar in a large disk connected to the top of its fuselage. The Prowlers specialized in radar jamming and other forms of electronic warfare.
 Perhaps her most valuable aircraft, at least as far as Mack was concerned, were the S-3B Vikings, the submariner's favorite. This was one of the world's great air-
 craft designs, combining an extremely long range and an excellent ability to hunt "enemy" submarines. During several exercise encounters with S-3s, Mack had learned to respect them greatly, and he was glad that they were on his side.
 The only aircraft that could possibly compete with the Viking was the SH-60 Seahawk helicopter. It lacked the range of the S-3, but Cheyenne had seen for herself just how effective the Seahawks could be. This was the aircraft that had earlier destroyed the Chinese Han submarine while Cheyenne tracked their actions by sonar, and Independence carried six of them. Because of her immediate locality to the war zone and the risk from Chinese submarines, Independence had been designated as the test ship for the new SH-60Rs—the newest type of Sea-hawk. This was the first to carry both the new airborne low-frequency dipping sonar, usually referred to as ALPS, and sonobuoys. It also had two torpedoes on board—either the powerful Mk 50 or the older Mk 46. These factors combined to make the SH-60R the most dangerous short-range ASW platform hovering over the seas.
 Even with all this firepower on board, the carrier still had her serious vulnerabilities. She needed to be escorted by surface vessels, and her entire group was vulnerable to modern enemy submarines. And that was where Cheyenne came into play. She would act as an advance party for Independence, proceeding well ahead of the Battle Group and either clearing a safe path or warning them of possible dangers that the F-14 radars couldn't detect. This combination of surface ships, aircraft, and submarines resulted in what Mack referred to as "syner-gism," where the end result of operating together would be far more devastating to the Chinese than if each warfare community operated alone.
 Unmindful of the weather, the Independence Battle Group got under way, steaming northward in the direction of the Spratlys. Travelling at flank speed, Cheyenne executed a quick sprint to regain her station in front of
 the Battle Group. If Mack fell behind the trailing edge of his moving search sector, Cheyenne would be free game, the so-called friendly fire problem that was a sad reality of warfare. When she was near the leading edge of her moving, haven slightly over an hour later, Cheyenne slowed and waited.
 After slowing. Mack ordered the OOD to deploy the TB-23 towed array for its long-range tonal-detection capability. The report came back exactly as he'd hoped— no contacts on the towed array. The sonar room watch slanders watched their consoles and waited for Mack's next orders.
 "Officer of the deck, prepare to come to periscope depth," Captain Mackey ordered. Mack wanted to relay information about the safety of their route back to the Independence Battle Group.
 "Prepare to come to periscope depth, aye, sir," the OOD replied.
 But Mack didn't get the chance to report to Independence. Before Cheyenne came shallow enough to transmit, she began to receive message traffic over the floating wire.
 "Sir," the communicator reported, "it looks like we just got new orders!"
 Mack went to the radio room, grabbed the sheet of printer paper, and quickly read the message.
 "Looks like a strike mission to me," the communicator said, with a note of eagerness and brashness. "What do you think, sir?"
 That annoyed Mack. It was a breach of protocol, and not smart. He looked at the communicator and shook his head. "Call a meeting in the wardroom in ten minutes," he said, putting an edge in his tone. "I want the executive officer, the combat systems officer, the operations officer, and yourself there."
 The communicator knew he'd screwed up. "Ten minutes, in the wardroom, aye, sir," he said. The cocky note was gone from his voice.
 Cheyenne returned to a patrol depth of 247 feet since
 the first thermal layer was gone, and within eight minutes all requested officers were waiting for Captain Mackey to arrive in Cheyenne's wardroom. Mack came in five minutes late. He carried a plain manila folder in his hand.
 "Gentlemen," he said. "I have called this meeting in order to pass on our new orders. From our present position in the South China Sea, we are to proceed to the north of the Chinese-held Spratly Islands. Once there, three hundred miles north, we will launch six Tomahawk land-attack missiles at the Chinese submarine base that has recently been set up near Cuarteron Reef, one of the islands in the Spratly chain."
 He paused to see how the others would react. He was pleased to see that, while there was some tension, it was mostly excitement, with only a touch of healthy caution. He was also pleased that the communicator kept his mouth shut.
 "As you all know," Mack continued, "naval intelligence has reported large numbers of Chinese submarines operating in this area. We've confirmed this with our own detections. Our new orders are to do something about that." He paused again, making sure that everyone was paying full attention. "We are going to enter the belly of the beast," he said. "We will launch our Tomahawks as ordered, and then we will meet up with the submarine tender USS McKee in order to rearm." He grinned and added, "Maybe we'll even get a quick glimpse of life on the surface."
 His lighthearted joke helped to ease the tension slightly. The assembled officers had a few questions. They discussed their options, and then Mack dismissed them to return to their duties. When he had returned to the conn, he used the 1MC to inform the crew of their new mission. From there on out, Cheyenne would use sound-powered phones instead of general announcing systems.
 Forty-five minutes later Cheyenne once again went to periscope depth. The seas had abated somewhat, but copying SSIXS required the use of the long, multi-
 purpose communications mast to preclude the loss of synch caused by waves slapping over the Type 18 periscope communications antenna.
 Mack stayed at that depth just long enough to receive preliminary Tomahawk targeting data. This information, which they would confirm when they got closer to their launch position, would be fed to their cruise missiles prior to launching the Tomahawks. Mack hoped the weather would be better north of the Spratlys.
 When the data transfer was complete, Cheyenne detached from the Independence Battle Group without report and proceeded on her own. Mack had enjoyed having the carrier nearby for backup and air defense, but now Cheyenne was going back to doing what she did best: operating on her own, sneaking up on the enemy, and blowing them to hell,
 Three hundred fifty miles southwest of Cuarteron Reef, running at four hundred twenty-five feet, Cheyenne picked up her first contact. Mack was in the sonar room.
 "Captain," the sonar supervisor reported, "we have a sonar contact bearing 020 on the spherical array. The contact's intermittent, so I think we're receiving the sound source via a convergence zone. We pick her up loud and clear, then we lose her and don't hear anything
 for a while."
 While normal sound traveled through water in waves that gave at least some predictability, there were some areas in which sound waves were turned up toward the surface and then often bounced back into the sea. These were called convergence zones, and they could allow sonar to detect these sound waves at far greater ranges than would otherwise be possible. If the water was deep enough and the sound velocity excess was present at depth, these zones commonly occurred about every thirty miles. In a way, the ray paths of the acoustic energy were much like AM radio transmissions, which could travel in a straight line, then bounce off the ground and up into the atmosphere, and then come back to earth. This allowed
 man rm,
 AM rrequencies 10 oroaucasi muuii
 though beyond their immediate range they could be
 picked up only in pockets and were more affected by
 weather.
 "My guess," the sonar supervisor added, "is that it's in the second convergence zone from us." That would put the signal's source at a range of more than sixty nautical miles, or 120,000 yards.
 "Keep an eye on that contact," Mack said. If the sonar supervisor was right and Cheyenne's operators had indeed heard their sonar contact through a convergence zone, then the signal's source was far out of Cheyenne's weapons range. It also meant that the thermal gradients in the deeper waters of the South China Sea had not been eroded by the storms. But if the sonar supervisor was wrong, Cheyenne could be in for some very dangerous close combat.
 Sixty-three miles away, 200 feet below the surface of the South China Sea, crept one of the newest additions to the Chinese fleet, and one of China's best submarine captains. The Chinese Kilo submarine had been in service for less than two years and had made its crew very proud.
 The first Chinese Kilo submarines had been bought from Russia in 1993 and delivered in February 1995. The Chinese had planned to buy up to fifteen of these powerful diesel submarines and had hoped that they would be able to build five more themselves, under license from Russia.
 This particular submarine had excellent equipment, with the exception of her passive sonar outfit. That was the problem with all Russian submarines, as its captain knew. The Russians could not make a decent passive submarine sonar — at least not one that his country would be allowed to buy.
 And that was a problem. At any given moment, there might be an American Los Angeles class submarine sneaking up on his position, and he would never know it until it was too late.
 The captain of the Chinese submarine wasn't too wor-
 ried about it, though. His was the lead ship of three. Below the waves, his Kilo was working in tandem with an older Romeo class diesel submarine. Above them, Jinan, a Luda class destroyer, patrolled the surface. Their mission was to hunt down and destroy any American ships and submarines. In addition, there was another Kilo well off to the side—not part of his task force, but it could provide assistance if he needed it.
 The captain of the Kilo welcomed Jinan more than he did the Romeo. For one thing, the destroyer's two turbines were loud, which would hopefully distract any enemy's sonar from any noises his Kilo might make. Even more important, however, Jinan, like all Luda type II destroyers, carried two French ASW helicopters. Those would be very useful if the Kilo needed help while engaging an American submarine.
 As pleased as the Kilo's captain was with the surface ship, he was equally displeased with the Romeo. It was an old attack submarine that had been reactivated from the naval reserve, and, in his opinion, it was more of a threat to his own submarine than it was to the enemy. It was too noisy, for one thing. That could be desirable when the noise came from the surface, but down below it would only serve to alert the Americans to the presence of one or more Chinese submarines in the area.
 Worse, the farther he tried to get from the Romeo, the more it tried to stay close to him. The Romeo captain was no fool. He knew he stood a better chance under the protection of the Kilo than he did on his own.
 Assuming, that is, that the Kilo captain didn't sink the Romeo himself.
 Back on board Cheyenne, sonar was trying to reac-quire contact. Mack had gone back to 247 feet to continue the search, while at the same time maintaining copy over the floating wire.
 In the control room, Mack was looking at the BSY-1 fire-control console, which he liked to keep online for
 himself. "Sonar, conn, have you regained contact on Master 24?"
 "Conn, sonar, we're working on a possible contact," the sonar supervisor said, "but I'm not sure it's the same convergence zone one. This one may be a surface ship, Master 24 was tentatively classified as a submerged submarine,"
 Several minutes later, the sonar supervisor reported that he had not one contact, but two, one Romeo submarine and one Luda destroyer, both bearing 020. They were both given new Master Numbers, designated Masters 25 and 26 respectively, since the sonar supervisor was not sure if either one was Master 24. Reconstruction would have to sort it out later. Without hesitating, the OOD ordered his section fire-control tracking party manned, Mack went to the sonar room.
 "Good job," Mack said, unaware that they had failed to detect the Kilo that was in the area of Masters 25 and 26. "Anything else out there?"
 "Not that we can tell yet, Captain," the sonar supervisor said, "but those two contacts are loud. We can hear them aurally, so there could be more ships operating in the area."
 Mack left the sonar room and went back to the control room. The BSY-1 operators had a rough solution on range, about 30,000 yards.
 At Cheyenne's current speed of ten knots. Mack would soon be within range to launch his Mk 48 ADCAPs at the Chinese contacts. When he got closer, he would slow. No need as yet for long-range shots. Cheyenne was currently running with the TB-23 towed-array fully deployed and, with the OOD's maneuvers, the section fire-control tracking party at the BSY-1 computers was getting better and better solutions on the Chinese destroyer and submarine.
 "Conn, sonar, the TB-23 just picked up a helicopter overhead," the sonar supervisor announced. "Probably flying from the Chinese destroyer."
 'Take her down fast, to five hundred feet!" Mack ordered the OOD. This was another helo "Sierra" addition to his patrol report.
 Throughout Cheyenne, sailors grabbed for whatever they could as the submarine headed down at standard speed with a twenty-degree down angle. The diving officer, helmsman, and planesman had all buckled their seat belts as soon as they heard "take her down fast."
 Above them, the Chinese Z-9A helo hovered and began to tower its powerful French HS-12 dipping sonar via the hydraulic winch. The winch was touted to be "high speed," but it didn't seem fast enough for the helo pilot as it slowly lowered the HS-12 toward the water.
 "Conn, sonar, we just received a sonar pulse from the helicopter's dipping sonar. It's a French type, HS-12— the same kind they sold to China. The transmission came from the opposite direction of the Romeo. I don't think they could have detected us, sir. Signal level of the pulse was low." Which probably meant the helo was quite a ways off or else it hadn't dipped its sonar beneath the layer.
 Mack acknowledged for the OOD. "Very well, sonar, we have it out here on the WLR-9 as well," he said. "Were we able to pick up any other information from the transmission?"
 "Sonar, conn, negative," the sonar supervisor answered. "It wasn't a very strong pulse. Let's hope she ran out of batteries."
 Mack smiled at the joke. Unlike the communicator's earlier gaffe, this comment was well timed, and helped to ease the tension slightly.
 One hour and fifteen minutes later Cheyenne had closed to within 20,000 yards of her targets, Masters 25 and 26. Mack ordered battle stations manned.
 A few minutes later the helo was active again. The WLR-9's acoustic intercept receiver at the conn picked that one up also, even though it was near the baffles.
 "Conn, sonar, that was a loud one, sir," the sonar supervisor said.
 Mack smiled. "She must have recharged, ne saia, in a deadpan voice. "Designate the helo Master 27."
 "Conn, sonar, she got us on that one, sir—but that's not all she painted! Captain, we've got another submarine out there, a Kilo class, one six-bladed screw, making turns for ten knots. It's bearing 025, near the same bearing as the Romeo. It's been hiding from us all this time."
 All humor was gone from the conn. Considering their situation, Mack was pleased with how well his officers and crew were handling the sudden tension. Not aware they had regained old Master 24, the Kilo was designated Master 28.
 Cheyenne had just been pinged on by a directly overhead Chinese ASW helicopter, which had undoubtedly received an exact fix on their present location five hundred feet below the surface. The helo would now probably be making an MAD (magnetic anomaly detection) pass to confirm Cheyenne^ position. Mack was concerned that they would follow that up by dropping a torpedo directly on top of Cheyenne.
 "Conn, sonar, the Kilo, Master 28, just picked up speed. It's heading directly at us, making turns for seventeen knots. It must suspect that the helo gave their position away."
 "What's the range to the Kilo?" Mack asked the fire-control coordinator.
 'Twenty-four thousand yards. Captain. We're within ADCAP range for the Kilo—it's making lots of noise at seventeen knots. Recommend making tubes one and two ready."
 Mack nodded and initiated Firing Point Procedures on Master 28. "Torpedo room, fire control, make tubes one and two ready in all respects. Open the outer doors."
 The order was acknowledged. One minute later it was confirmed. "Tubes one and two are ready in all respects, sir. Outer doors have been opened." "Sonar, conn, stand by." "Conn, sonar, standing by."
 "Match sonar bearings and shoot tube one, Master 28."
 "Match sonar bearings and shoot tube one, Master 28, aye, sir."
 Mack then came right to clear the datum.
 "Tube one fired electrically," the combat system officer reported. That was as far as he got. Before he could report on the torpedo's status, the sonar supervisor spoke up.
 "Conn, sonar, torpedo in the water bearing 180! It's a Chinese Mk 46 copy, Mod 2." Mack had been correct in assigning the helo a Master number, which were usually reserved tor potential threats to Cheyenne herself, or to targets of significant intelligence value.
 "Cut the wire and shut the outer door," ordered the captain. "Reload tube one." Mack was throwing away his torpedo, and he knew it. The Kilo was too far away and maneuvering. The Mk 48 would probably not be able to acquire on its own, but right now Mack had a different torpedo to worry about.
 "Left full rudder, all ahead flank, steady course 305," Mack ordered. "Cavitate. Make your depth 750 feet." He waited for acknowledgment and then added, "Rig ship for depth charge."
 Cheyenne's power plant was now running at peak capacity in an attempt to get away from the deadly torpedo racing their way.
 "Conn, sonar, another torpedo in the water. Master 27 just dropped a second Mk 46 on us, bearing 245."
 "Release a noisemaker," Mack ordered.
 Confirmation was quick. "Noisemaker away."
 Cheyenne^ top speed was nearly forty knots. The two torpedoes chasing her were knifing through the water at forty knots, but Mack wasn't worried. Not yet, anyway. Sonar reported the Chinese torpedoes bearing 268 and bearing 187. If Mack maintained his course and speed, the torpedoes would both run out of fuel before they closed the distance.
 The problem was that, at flank speed, Cheyenne was
 maKing more noise, one was annum mug 11^1 i,Aavi iwu-
 tion to every nearby sonar device. On top of that, she was making enough noise that she could barely hear anything around her.
 Mack knew that in order to outrun the torpedoes, they would need to keep running at this speed, blind to anything but the noisy torpedoes, for at least another five thousand yards.
 That was when Cheyenne caught her first break. "Conn, sonar," the sonar supervisor reported, "the first torpedo just fell for the noisemaker. It's off our tail."
 "Sonar, conn, what about torpedo number two?" Mack asked.
 "Conn, sonar, it's at the edge of our port baffle." There was a brief pause and then the sonar supervisor added, "It just went active. Captain."
 "Release another noisemaker." "Releasing noisemaker, aye, sir." The tension level slowly mounted. "Conn, sonar," the sonar supervisor announced, "the Mk 46 just latched on to the noisemaker decoy . . . lost the torpedo in our baffles!"
 Mack nodded. The Mk 46s were fast, but they were easily fooled.
 "I guess those noisemakers reaily do work," one of the sonar operators said to the operator sitting beside him.
 "Ahead one third," Mack ordered. He wanted to run slower until he knew what was going on around him.
 It took several moments for Cheyenne to slow down enough to start listening once more. Mack slowly turned to the northeast to clear his baffles.
 "Sonar, conn, report all contacts," Mack said, once they had slowed enough. He wanted to know who was out there and exactly where they were.
 "Conn, sonar, report all contacts, aye, sir," the sonar supervisor acknowledged.
 Less than five minutes had passed since the first Chinese Mk 46 had been fired at them, but to the officers and crew on board Cheyenne it seemed like only five sec-
 onds. It was ironic, Mack thought. The minutes it took for their own torpedoes to acquire and complete their runs seemed to stretch into hours, but when hostile torpedoes were coming toward Cheyenne, time passed much faster.
 "Conn, sonar, we've got three contacts, Captain," said the sonar supervisor. "One Kilo class submarine bearing 278, making turns for fifteen knots. One Romeo class submarine bearing 020, making turns for about six and a half knots. The third contact is a Chinese Luda class destroyer, which is probably where that helo came from, bearing 350. The destroyer is also heading in our direction. The TB-23 doesn't hold the helicopter above us, which may be because we're too deep, but my guess is that it's rearming on board the destroyer." Mack would be sure to mention his battle stations sonar supervisor in his patrol report.
 The BSY-1 operators confirmed the sonar supervisor's expert calls. The Romeo was previous Master 25 and the Luda was previously Master 26. However, the Kilo's bearing was too far to the left for it to be the previous Master 28, which Cheyenne shot at earlier. Master 28 was added to the kill list and the new Kilo was designated Master 29.
 "We'll take out the Kilo, Master 29, first," Mack said. It was the closest target, and potentially the quietest, and Mack wanted it out of the picture. He gave the orders to prepare tube two in all respects, including opening the outer door. As soon as his orders were acknowledged and confirmed, he gave the command to match sonar bearings and shoot tube two, Master 29.
 Seconds later, the combat systems officer reported, "Tube two fired electrically, sir."
 "Conn, sonar, unit from tube two running hot, straight, and normal."
 The Kilo knew the moment the torpedo entered the water. It tried to turn and to run in the opposite direction, but the Chinese submarine had little chance. The Kilo had been closing on Cheyenne at top speed, and with a
 torpedo heading its way, it didn't have mucn room 10 maneuver.
 The Kilo zigged and zagged, tossing its crew about as the Chinese captain tried to confuse the torpedo at the same time that he tried to reverse his heading. The Chinese submarine released a noisemaker decoy to buy time, but Mack, listening to the reports from sonar, didn't think it would work this time. He was right.
 "Conn, sonar, the Mk 48 passed right by their noise-maker. It's still on course, bearing 275."
 Several minutes later sonar reported hearing the explosion. The 650-pound explosive warhead literally peeled open the Kilo's back end, beginning with its screw. The Chinese Kilo roamed the sea no more.
 "Reload tube two with a Harpoon," Mack ordered. There was no time to relish the victory. He wanted the destroyer, Master 26, next. With luck, the helo would still be on board. "Diving officer, make your depth one hundred feet." Mack needed to get closer to the surface so that they could launch the missile.
 "Reload tube two with a Harpoon," acknowledged the fire-control coordinator.
 "Make my depth one hundred feet, aye, sir," the helmsman finished the round of repeat backs, acknowledging the diving officer's order.
 The Luda II class destroyer was a fairly large target, so Mack was going to fire two weapons at it. He would have preferred to make them both Harpoons, but Cheyenne had already fired three of her four antishipping missiles in previous actions. He would have to attack the Luda with only one Harpoon and one Mk 48. The torpedo had a bigger warhead, but it also had a much shorter range.
 "What's the current range to the destroyer?" "Range to Master 26 is 30,500 yards, bearing 354," the fire-control coordinator answered. "And what's the range on the Romeo?" "BSY-1 computes 28,000 yards, sir. Master 25 is not
 moving. I think they figure that if they move, we'll hear them and kill them."
 Mack ran through the situation in his mind and quickly made his decision. "Make tubes one and two ready in all respects, including opening the outer doors," he said. "Firing point procedures, tube two, Master 26; tube one, Master 25."
 He waited for those orders to be acknowledged and executed and then said, "Match sonar bearings and shoot tube two, Master 26 and tube one, Master 25."
 Torpedo tube two, containing Cheyenne's last remaining UGM-84 Harpoon, fired first. Tube one was fired as soon as the ejection pump ram had returned to battery.
 "Conn, sonar, the Harpoon's on her way, sir, and the Mk 48 from tube one is running hot, straight and "— there was a brief pause, and then the sonar supervisor said—"normal!"
 The Romeo wasn't as quick as the Kilo. It took them two minutes to realize there was an enemy torpedo coming through the water at them, and several minutes longer to increase their speed. And by then, it was simply too late.
 "The Mk 48 has acquired the Romeo, Master 25, Captain."
 "Cut the wire, shut the outer doors on both tubes, and reload tubes one and two with Mk 48s."
 It would be several minutes before the torpedo reached the Romeo, but its fate was sealed. The Romeo had nothing on board that would fool the Mk 48 once it had acquired.
 The Luda, however, was a different matter. The Harpoon was very fast, covering the seventeen miles to the Chinese destroyer in less than three minutes.
 The Chinese sailors launched a cloud of chaff to try and decoy the missile away from the ship. When that failed, and the Harpoon began its final descent, Jinan fired its twin 25mm guns into the air, putting up a "wall of steel" in front of the UGM-84,
 Years earlier, Saddam Hussein had tried that unsuccessfully around Baghdad against U.S. Tomahawk land-attack missiles. It didn't work any better for the Chinese sailors. The Harpoon slammed into the vessel directly underneath its antiship missile launchers, impacting downward and tearing a large hole in the hull.
 "Conn, sonar, we just heard an explosion on the surface. We hit the destroyer bad, sir. I'm hearing breaking-up noises already."
 "What about the Mk 48?"
 "Impact in four minutes, Captain, but it's a lock. That Romeo's not doing much to get out of the way."
 The combat systems officer knew his weapons well. A Romeo-class submarine could do thirteen knots at top speed—but only if it was in good condition. This one did not seem able to get above nine knots.
 Mack was pleased, but he wasn't satisfied. He ordered tubes three and four readied, and then initiated firing point procedures against the damaged destroyer. When that had been done, he ordered, "Match sonar bearings and shoot tube three, Master 26."
 "Match bearings and shoot tube three, Master 26," acknowledged the fire-control coordinator.
 Tube three was fired electrically, but sonar didn't have the chance to report on the torpedo's status before the Romeo was hit. The old, antiquated reserve submarine had tried to evade, tried to flee, but Cheyenne had it outgunned and outmaneuvered.
 "Conn, sonar, we have the sounds of a submarine filling with water. Master 25 is sinking, sir."
 Mack acknowledged the report and asked, "What's the status on the second Mk 48?"
 "Conn, sonar, it's running hot, straight, and normal, sir."
 The combat systems officer announced acquisition. When the Mk 48 acquired its target Mack ordered the wire in tube three cut, tube four secured, and tube three reloaded with an Mk 48. When that had been done, he
 gave the command to take Cheyenne deep once more. Moments later a loud explosion marked the death of the already damaged Chinese Luda II destroyer-Mack was satisfied. The Harpoon might have been enough to sink it. Now, however, the destroyer went down with all hands and both helicopters on board. Mack gave the order to secure from battle stations.
 Ten hours later Cheyenne was approaching her launch point north of the Spratlys.
 "How long until we arrive at the launch point?" Mack asked.
 "We should be at our launch point within seven minutes," the navigation officer replied. With Cheyenne currently 2.5 nautical miles south of her launch point and running at twenty knots, Mack manned "battle stations missile."
 Mack ordered Cheyenne brought to periscope depth to confirm her location by GPS and receive any new orders. This also gave them a chance to verify the targeting information they'd downloaded earlier.
 With everything confirmed, Cheyenne proceeded to her launch point and prepared to launch six land-attack missiles at the Cuarteron Reef Submarine Base. Two of the Tomahawk missiles were the UGM-109D varieties, each of which carried 166 BLU-97/B combined-effects munitions. These would be able to take out soft targets and destroy electronic sensors and early-warning systems protecting the base. The remaining four were fitted with a 1,000 pound "bull-pup" warhead that was designed to take out the base headquarters and the piers where the submarines were being rearmed and refueled.
 One by one, Cheyenne launched her missiles, and then slipped deeper into the sea. She would now have to wait on word from naval intelligence to determine if her mission was a success.
 "Diving Officer, make your depth five hundred feet. Let1 s get out of here before they know what—and who— hit them."
 Mack was pleased. His crew had performed well, Cheyenne had carried out her mission, and now they were heading toward the Sulu Sea. McKee would be there waiting for her, and Cheyenne would get a mini-refit. Mack secured battle stations once more, hoping it would be the last time this trip.
 Mack didn't know what his next orders would be, but he was sure Cheyenne was going to need all the weapons McKee could give her.
 4. Dogfight
 Mack walked through officer country on board the submarine tender McKee, accompanied by his combat systems and operations officers, his navigator and communicator, and his sonar officer. Cheyenne was just completing her mini-refit, and Mack and his officers were on their way to their final briefing. The refit had taken several days, and for each of those days the officers from Cheyenne had taken their meals in the vast wardroom on board McKee. This day, the final day of their refit, Mack had elected to take his breakfast with his own officers rather than in McKee'& flag mess.
 Mack was pleased that the refit had gone smoothly. On the first day, his executive officer and his chief yeoman, along with the communicator and officer-in-charge (OIC) of the naval security group (NSG) detachment on board Cheyenne, had been responsible for transferring numerous boxes from Cheyenne to McKee. Those crates and boxes had contained the myriad logs, data sheets, and sonar and radio and ESM tapes that Cheyenne had amassed during the period of time from when she departed Pearl Harbor until she arrived in the Sulu Sea alongside McKee.
 Among this, carefully stored in box 1, was the three hundred-page "Patrol Report of Cheyenne, Pearl Harbor to Sulu Sea," which Mack had signed earlier. This was a running narrative of events and tactics employed, along with a written guide to the rest of the items in the boxes. Mack always enjoyed looking back through this
 report. It was compiled four times a day by the off-going officer of the deck and his assistant, the junior officer of the deck. As soon as it was compiled, the ship's yeomen typed it up on the high-speed PCs in the ship's office. The color printer and color scanner made the patrol report an interesting novel, complete with color pictures of the tactical encounters experienced.
 This report, with all the details of Cheyenne's first adventures, would remain on board McKee for some time. Eventually, couriers from Independence would transfer the materials from McKee to the carrier, and from there they would travel by C-2 aircraft to the Yoko-suka Naval Base.
 The pilots of these C-2 Greyhounds, called "COD" for "carrier onboard delivery," were used to making 3,000-mile flights. They had already completed numerous deliveries to and from Independence and the island of Diego Garcia while Independence steamed south of the Arabian Sea.
 Not that Cheyenne's successes were being kept secret. Interim reports had been submitted as required, and as soon as she had surfaced inside Mindoro Strait, Mack had released a long message containing a condensed version of the patro! report and a tabulation of the contents of the boxes to be shipped. This message was already in the hands of Cheyenne's superiors. Picked up and relayed by one of the numerous SSIXS satellites, this one perched high in its equatorial synchronous orbit over the Indian Ocean, the message had been printed out and copies had been distributed all the way to the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Washington, D.C.
 On that first day alongside McKee, while some of Cheyenne's people dealt with the patrol report, the engineer officer's people had been busy with the details of taking on shore power. This was vital to Cheyenne's taking steam out of the engineering spaces and shutting down the reactor for the duration of the refit.
 They were also responsible for some of the more delicate procedures. The engineering laboratory technicians
 a quajuiiy ui nuvicai waaic inaimaii
 generated during their periodic sampling of the reactor coolant to ensure its purity. Once this transfer was complete, they would assist in refilling the coolant charging system's pure water tanks with CPW. This "controlled pure water" was generated on board McKee by passing SSN discharged coolant from start-ups through the submarine tender's massive ton beds. The coolant was no longer radioactive, yet it was controlled because of its source. This way the water from the SSNs alongside was constantly recycled rather than discharged to the environment.
 While all this was going on, with the executive officer supervising the transfer of the patrol report and the engineering officer overseeing the power plant, the combat systems officer and his people had their hands full. The combat systems officer was responsible for readying the vertical launch tubes for removal of the spent Tomahawk loading canisters so that the tubes could be reloaded. Others of his crew had to ready the three decks between the weapons-loading hatch and the torpedo room.
 Mack smiled to himself, remembering how well it had all gone. Those activities had mainly been Cheyenne's responsibility, and they had all occurred on their first day alongside McKee. After that, Cheyenne's officers and crew had been able to rest while the refit crew took over the rest of the normal operations.
 After the rigors of their contested ingress and transit of the South China Sea and the relatively simple TLAM-C and TLAM-D attack on the Chinese submarine base at Cuarteron Reef, the officers and men of Cheyenne appreciated this rest a great deal. Even more, they appreciated the assistance of McKee's crew. In peacetime, a tender like McKee would not have been employed for such a short refit. But this was war now, and peacetime rules did not apply. Especially since it appeared that Cheyenne would be the only U.S. submarine in the South China Sea for a good while.
 Cheyenne's officers and crew understood this. "No
 rest for the weary," as the saying went. It was simply an extension of a policy established for returning war patrol crews in Pearl Harbor during World War II. The only difference was that this time there was no relinquishment either of command or of the individual officers' responsibilities. Refits like this one were merely opportunities for rest and recreation, unlike the twenty-four-hour refit/repair periods that so many submarine crews had experienced during peacetime.
 All of which meant that the policy was logical and intelligent—but policy was generally not made by the people it most directly affected. Cheyenne's officers and crew agreed with the policy, and they appreciated it—but they appreciated the hard work and extra effort put forth by the sailors and engineers from McKee even more.
 McKee was good, with a seasoned crew, and the refit had gone well. Cheyenne was restocked and resupplied. The executive officer, engineer officer, the remaining junior officers, and their leading petty officers would attend to the final details of turnover from the refit crew. As soon as this briefing was over, Mack and his officers would be ready to return to active patrol.
 Entering the war room, Mack immediately noticed that the eagles (captain's insignia) on the collar of the Commander Submarine Group Seven (CSG 7), also known as Commander Task Force Seventy-four (CTF 74), had been replaced with single stars. Mack had expected that. With war declared in his theater of operations, it was standard procedure for the commodore, as he was addressed during peacetime, to be frocked to rear admiral, lower half.
 After exchanging greetings with the captain of McKee and CTF 74, Mack and his officers quietly took their seats in the front row as the briefing officer dimmed the lights for his presentation of the bomb damage assessment at Cuarteron Reef.
 The satellite photography provided clear evidence that each TLAM-C and TLAM-D, which had been launched from Cheyenne's vertical-launch tubes at a comfortable.
 uncontested datum nortft or tne apratiy isiana cnam, nau reached a mark. Not necessarily the intended mark, but at least damage enough to put the Chinese submarine base out of business for a while.
 Mack had seen the smoke and fire from the explosions through the high-power, 16X magnification of the Type 18 periscope, but, because the Chinese submarine base was beyond the horizon of the periscope's height of eye, he hadn't been able to discern the actual targets that were hit. He listened carefully as the briefing officer said that the main repair facility and weapons stowage buildings had been hit as planned, with 1,000 pounds of explosives per Tomahawk.
 The national command authority and the USCINC-PAC target staff had done a nice rush job in providing both the terrain contour matching (TERCOM) data for the entire length of the Philippine Island of Palawan, and the final, more accurate, digital scene-matching area correlation (DSMAC) data, especially since Palawan was not previously a high-priority digital terrain-data-collection effort. With the Tomahawk Block III Global Positioning System (GPS) providing updates to the missiles, the three hundred-nautical-mile flight from the last DSMAC update on the southwest tip of Palawan had not degraded the targeting accuracy.
 As the briefing officer went over this, Mack found himself thinking that the last-minute sighting of missiles arriving at Cuarteron Reef from the east must have been totally confusing to the Chinese. Moments later, the briefing officer confirmed that guess. If the Chinese had known Cheyenne^ position, they would have sent some of their assets after her. But that hadn't happened. Although the base infrastructure was essentially out of commission, satellite imagery showed that a number of Chinese submarines and a few surface ships remained in port, still moored to only slightly damaged piers.
 Mack knew that the Chinese would be able to make some guesses about Cheyenne's position. Because the missiles had not arrived from the west, the Chinese
 remaining in port would assume that Cheyenne was lingering in the safety of deep water to the north of the Spratlys. And they'd be right. . . but only to a point.
 Cheyenne had indeed launched from the north, but she was not fingering in the area, having entered the Sulu Sea from the north via the Mindoro Strait. Mack knew that the delay in the Chinese exodus from Cuarteron Reef should give Cheyenne the opportunity to reposition from her safe haven alongside McKee in the Sulu Sea. They should end up in their prime location west of Cuarteron Reef before the Chinese decided to deploy their submarines and surface ships to the safety of the sea. Attacks from Cheyenne off Cuarteron Reef also might make the Chinese believe they had more than Cheyenne with which to contend, a ploy which the submarine force had used in previous conflicts.
 The briefing officer continued with the latest status of the location of the USS Independence Battle Group and background on the Battle Group transit into the South China Sea. Prior to Mack's rendezvous and reporting in as the SSN(DS), Independence had steamed to the southern coast of Borneo, having passed through the Lombok Strait with her AO (oiler) and AE (ammunition ship), while several of her surface ships, including the two Ticonderoga class cruisers Gettysburg and Princeton, had slipped through the Sunda Strait to the west under the cover of darkness the night before.
 The CVBG admiral had wisely split his forces to ensure that all his eggs were not in the same basket should the Chinese have sympathizers, or even their own soldiers, on Java, Sumatra, or Bali. Both the Lombok and Sunda Straits were narrow enough that even small-arms fire from the cliffs overlooking the straits could inflict damage to personnel on deck.
 At any rate, the no-longer-covert show of force from the CVBG, which rendezvoused in the Java Sea near Belitung Island, was intended to flush the Chinese at Cuarteron Reef to sea for attacks on the Battle Group.
 The briefing officer went on to explain that once Inde-
 pendence had recovered the S-J aircraft, which ftad provided air cover of both straits, the Battle Group steamed north to a position northwest of Natuna Island. There they maintained position until Cheyenne had rendezvoused and notified the submarine element coordinator (SEC) and the anti-submarine warfare commander (ASWC), co-located on board Independence with the SEC's submarine advisory team (SAT), that the time was right for the Battle Group to continue safely to the Spratly Islands without fear of Chinese submarine attacks.
 The orders for Cheyenne at this stage of the naval war against China were clear and simple: unrestricted submarine warfare on Chinese submarines and surface warships, with the main targets expected to be those departing Cuarteron Reef.
 Mack had known this, of course. Because there was a strong possibility of encountering Chinese warships, Cheyenne had taken on four UGM-84 Harpoon missiles instead of a full load of twenty-six Mk 48 ADCAP torpedoes. In addition, a mix of TLAM-C and TASM had been reloaded into the twelve vertical-launch tubes: TLAM-C in case another land attack would be authorized while Cheyenne was at sea, and TASM in case they needed their longer range against the Chinese surface ships. The TASM had an extra two hundred nautical miles of range over the Harpoon. Either way, for those long range shots, over-the-horizon targeting from Battle Group aircraft would be necessary unless the Chinese surface ships themselves provided enough radar targeting information to Cheyenne's ESM antenna for bearing-only launches.
 So far, there was no need for TLAM-N, which would be a waste on the relatively tiny islands. Besides, the digital terrain data of the Chinese mainland itself, which met the Tomahawk TERCOM and DSMAC data requirements, more fully supported TLAM-N. Unlike the Spratlys, data on the mainland had been accumulated and processed years earlier, in less of a rush, against the possibility of future U.S. nuclear bomb attacks on China,
 The briefing was professional and highly detailed. Mack came away with all his questions answered, and a clear sense of Cheyenne's mission. But no briefing was ever absolutely complete. The briefing officer could not pass along information he didn't have, and on the last day of Cheyenne's refit naval intelligence had not discovered—or, as sometimes happened, had somehow neglected to pass on—the fact that there was a new player in the area. The Chinese already had a large fleet of submarines purchased from the economically ailing Russians, and that fleet had just gotten bigger. The Chinese had recently acquired a Russian Alfa class SSN, and the Alfa was now on patrol in the South China Sea.
 Mack didn't know about the Alfa yet, but he did know that his submarine and his crew were ready for anything the Chinese cared lo throw at them, though with the sheer numbers of assets the Chinese had hunting them, Cheyenne would have to be cautious. The Chinese had the advantage of being used to dealing en masse; Cheyenne had the advantage that their enemy obviously had no coordination of surface and subsurface forces— something Mack had noted in his previous encounters.
 After the briefing, Mack's officers went back to Cheyenne to get her ready for departure. Mack stayed behind for a little while longer.
 Mack met with the McKee captain and CTF 74 in the admiral's sea cabin. Cheyenne was facing the possibility of shallow water operations, and her crew needed to prepare for that. Shallow water operations were difficult and dangerous, and there had simply been no opportunity to practice before Cheyenne was ordered to ready herself
 for deployment.
 In the admiral's sea cabin. Mack reported to the other two officers that after departure, Cheyenne's crew would practice shallow water, high speed maneuvering, and shallow water towed-array operations first. That way, if the TB-16 array were to touch bottom before their proficiency had peaked, the soft bottom of the Sulu Sea would ensure that the array would be undamaged. Mack needed
 to ensure that his diving officers, helmsmen, and planes-men were ready so that they would not overreact during high speed, shallow water maneuvers, and either broach the ship or drag the propeller and lower rudder through the bottom. Mack knew that it didn't take much angle for a 360-foot submarine in 20 fathoms of water to subject itself to the dangers of the surface or the ocean bottom.
 In addition, Mack requested and received permission to use the McKee captain's gig in their exercises. This would provide an adequate surface target for active sonar detection and tracking in the irregular contours and the varying wind driven thermal gradients. Mack would use the gig to practice active sonar tracking with the BSY-1 spherical array at low power and short pulse lengths and with the higher-frequency MIDAS under-ice and mine-hunting sonar as they approached the Balabac Strait south of Palawan.
 Cheyenne would have to wait for the rocky bottom and shoals off Cuarteron Reef to once again be their proving grounds should the Chinese submarines decide not to venture forth into deep water. The Captain hoped MIDAS would be able to distinguish between the coral reefs and the anechoic coatings of the Chinese submarines. But then, active sonar would be used only if Cheyenne's presence were otherwise known.
 There was one other point Mack had to bring up. He liked to assume that the Chinese had equivalent overhead satellite imagery capability, and he was concerned for McKee's safety.
 The admiral advised him not to worry, however, since they intended to weigh anchor shortly after Cheyenne's departure and would periodically relocate outside the Chinese intelligence satellites' footprints. The actual location of the next rendezvous would be provided to Cheyenne as soon as it was decided upon. It might even be in port in Brunei, or off that coast, where carrier air protection could be afforded both McKee and Cheyenne during their next reload period.
 Mack was pleased to hear that—and doubly pleased to
 know that chances for another reload were good—but he also knew that it would only be true if he could keep the Chinese submarines away from the basically defenseless McKee before the Independence Battle Group arrived to relieve him of the burden of protecting the tender.
 Shortly after getting under way from alongside McKee, Cheyenne quietly submerged. They weren't scheduled to come to the surface again for quite some time—and, depending on how much action they saw and how well they fared in Cheyenne^ next war patrol off Cuarteron Reef, it might be even longer before they saw McKee
 again.
 As he had briefed his admiral. Mack made sure that they practiced the shallow water, high speed maneuvering en route. This maneuvering was not unlike flying an airplane—even some of the terminology was similar. In deep water, where the automatic depth-control system would frequently be used, the submarine's vertical position in the water column was referred to as "depth." During these maneuvers, however, the term was "altitude," with added emphasis on maintaining a comfortable safety margin or altitude in the water column above the ocean bottom. To help with this, the upward-looking beams of the under-ice sonar, MIDAS, continually displayed the distance to the surface, while the secure fathometer, with its narrow sonar beam, provided the altitude
 information.
 As Mack had hoped, the McKee captain's gig turned out to be a useful target for active sonar tracking. In addition, it provided a source of sonar passive tonal information. In shallow water like this, the TB-16 towed array's entire 2,600-foot tow cable, with its 240 feet of hydrophones at the end, could not be totally deployed. Instead, it would be deployed at a "short stay," an optimum length for all hydrophones to be at some distance away from its own ship tonats, yet short enough to
 ensure that it remained off the bottom during maneuvers, its own "towed-array altitude."
 The longer TB-23 thin-line array, with its 960 feet of hydrophones, would remain stowed for these war patrol shallow water operations, thus ensuring its availability for deepwater tracking operations when—and if—the Chinese ventured into the deeper waters of the South China Sea. The depths northwest of the Spratly Islands, ranging to over 15,000 feet, were ideal for convergence zone tracking of the noisy Chinese submarines while they were running at high speeds.
 Cheyenne had nearly completed her exercises when Mack heard over the speaker at the periscope stand, "Captain, radio, incoming flash traffic!"
 Proceeding quickly to the radio room, he arrived in time to see the printer spitting out new orders. Cheyenne was to proceed at best speed to a location west of Cuarteron Reef. Overhead imagery had shown that the Chinese were stirring, probably preparing to deploy under cover of darkness, which was only hours away.
 Mack was ready. Before beginning the high speed, shallow water maneuvers, he had decided that Cheyenne should not dally inside the Sulu Sea. Instead, he had decided to continue west while conducting the proficiency training, and now he was doubly glad that he had made that decision.
 Cheyenne had earlier released the captain's gig to return to McKee. Now, having already cleared Balabac Strait, deep water was nearby, so the captain used the radiomen's microphone to pass the order, "Officer of the deck, Captain, shift main coolant pumps to fast speed and then proceed to flank speed. Make your depth four hundred feet."
 The OOD repeated the captain's order verbatim, then ordered maneuvering to shift the main coolant pumps to fast speed. The OOD could have accomplished the same thing by ordering flank on the engine order telegraph, a "jump bell," but that method, which was faster than ordering maneuvering to shift the coolant pumps, was
 saved for when speed was of die essence ... as in torpedo
 evasion.
 Cheyenne arrived northwest of West Reef shortly after nightfall, remaining outside the 100 fathom curve for the time being. Upon receiving the report from the officer of the deck that they were on station, Mack proceeded to the control room.
 "Make preparations to come to periscope depth," he
 said.
 After acknowledging the captain's order, the OOD slowed to two thirds and brought Cheyenne up to 130 feet, above the layer, and cleared baffles. He then advised the captain that he had no sonar contacts and was ready to proceed to periscope depth.
 "Very well," Mack replied. "Come to periscope
 depth."
 "Come to periscope depth, aye, sir. Sonar, radio, conn,
 proceeding to periscope depth."
 "Conn, sonar, aye. No contacts," replied the sonar
 supervisor.
 "Conn, radio, aye . . . manned and ready." That acknowledgment came from the communicator.
 "Diving officer, make your depth six zero feet smartly," ordered the OOD as he raised the Type 18 periscope and started his underwater visual sweeps to make sure there were no dead-in-the-water underwater hulls for Cheyenne to run into during this last, most tenuous part of the trip to periscope depth.
 "Make my depth six zero feet, smartly," answered the diving officer. "Smartly" meant that the diving officer would maintain the two-thirds bell as he ordered the helmsman to fifteen rise on the bow planes and ordered the planesman to a fifteen degree up bubble. Using the stern planes to control Cheyenne's angle, the bubble would be eased as Cheyenne was nearing eighty feet for the final glide to sixty feet.
 "Seven zero, six five, six four, six three, six two," the diving officer said, counting down their depths.
 When the count hit six two, the OOD called out,
 "Braking," and quickly swung the periscope through a 360-degree arc. A moment later he said, "No visual contacts, Captain." There were a number of radar contacts chirping over the Type 18 ESM receiver, but the periscope wasn't picking up any visuals.
 "Ahead one third," Mack ordered quietly to the OOD, not wanting to be entered in the deck log as having assumed the conn.
 "Conn, ESM, I have five ESM contacts, one a Chinese radar, and four Russian radars. HULTEC indicates a Han class, three Kilo class, and one Alfa class. The closest is the Han at signal strength three and increasing."
 Captain Mackey and the OOD looked at each other with surprise.
 Mack turned to the microphone. "ESM, Captain," he said, "are you sure about that Alfa?"
 "Yes, sir, Captain," answered the voice of the NSG QIC. "It's an Alfa. We've seen him, this particular one, in the North Fleet numerous times. No mistaking it, sir. He's well registered in our computer database."
 "Executive officer," spoke the captain calmly as he turned to the executive officer standing aft in the darkness of the rig for black. "Are you back there?"
 "Yes, Captain. Should I draft a message report on the Alfa?"
 "Please do so. Release it when ready. We need to find out what gives." The Alfa was designated Master 31, the Han Master 32, and the three Kilos Masters 33, 34, and 35.
 In less than half an hour, Cheyenne's flash message report had been sent and answered by the communicators at CTF 74 headquarters in Yokosuka.
 Mack read the CTF message and filled in his executive officer on what he'd learned. "ESM is right. It seems the 'friendly' Russians have sold a North Fleet Alfa to the Chinese," he said, "who then crewed it and overhauled it, apparently at Cuarteron Reef. How many more Alfas are being transferred to China is anybody's guess at this time. Naval intelligence is working on the problem.
 They're paying special attention to the recent lack of openness of the Russian submarine bases at Vladivostok and Petropavlosk."
 Mack chose this method of informing his executive officer, rather than filling him in during a private briefing, because he'd made a policy of ensuring that all his crewmen were knowledgeable about any enemy they were likely to encounter.
 Because of this, the messenger of the watch—who had heard the initial ESM report but not the follow up— knew, or thought he knew, the implication of an Alfa, a Russian submarine, in the immediate area, The messenger of the watch quickly spread the word through the crew's mess as he stood there with his red goggles on, drawing coffee for the control room watch slanders. The movie operator even shut down the movie and turned on the lights so they could all discuss the new information.
 But for all Mack's openness, the crew was never as well informed as the officers. In this case, because the messenger of the watch had been sent for coffee before hearing Mack's final report, none of the crew on board Cheyenne knew that the Alfa was manned not by Russians but by Chinese sailors.
 The captain called for an immediate meeting of all officers in the wardroom to share with them the new intelligence on the Alfa, manned by Chinese, and its current exodus with a Han and three Kilo SSKs. He expected the SSNs to wait for deep water before diving, but anticipated the Kilos would dive in twenty fathoms.
 That was as far as Mack got before the OOD called him on the sound-powered phones, allowing the mess specialist to sneak out of the wardroom galley and pass the word on the Chinese crew to the already buzzing crew's mess.
 "Captain, ESM reports the Kilo radars and the Han radar have shut down. They were drawing left while the Alfa radar is still drawing right."
 "Okay, men. We have our work cut out for us. The
 three Kilos and the Han have probably submerged. Ana the Alfa may be trying to do an end around to get behind us. It's time to man battle stations."
 Mack's reading of the situation was correct. Sonar had just finished reporting tonals from the Han SSN to the conn as the captain arrived and ordered the OOD to man battle stations torpedo. There was still nothing from the Kilos acoustically, but the Alfa had also shut down its radar—last bearing due south of Cheyenne.
 As directed by the captain, who was now the conning officer, the executive officer, in his role as the fire control coordinator, passed the order to the torpedo room over the sound-powered phones, "Torpedo room, fire control, make tubes one and two ready in all respects, including opening the outer doors." He wanted to get the tubes ready as early as possible and as far from the enemy submarines as possible.
 The order from the captain, carried by the open microphone at the periscope stand, alerted the sonar operators that noisy evolutions would be taking place near the BSY-) spherical array so they could attenuate the sound level reaching their sensitive ears.
 The torpedo room crew acknowledged the order. "Make tubes one and two ready in all respects, including opening the outer doors, fire control, torpedo room, aye." Moments later, the torpedo room reported completing the ordered evolution with the torpedo tubes. The executive officer relayed the information to Mack. "Captain, tubes one and two are ready in all respects. Both outer doors are open."
 "Very well, fire control," answered the captain. The Han was drawing left and closing. It was not quiet by any means, and was easily tracked by the TB-16, spherical, and conformal arrays at the same time. The inputs to the three BSY-1 computers made the solution a snap for the fire-control party.
 When the BSY-1 operator and the fire-control coordinator were satisfied with the TMA (target motion analy-
 sis) solution on Master 32, the Chinese Han class attack submarine, the captain ordered, "Firing point procedures, Master 32."
 The combat systems officer reported the target course, speed, and range.
 "Sonar, conn, stand by," ordered the captain.
 "Conn, sonar, standing by."
 "Match sonar bearings and shoot, tubes one and two, Master 32."
 "Match sonar bearings and shoot, tubes one and two, Master 32, aye."
 After the large piston of the torpedo-ejection pump ram drove home, the Mk 48 ADCAP torpedoes were ejected from their resting places at the same time that their Otto fuel engines were coming up to full speed. "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 rapidly to fifty knots en route to convergence with the Chinese submarine.
 "Very well, sonar," Mack said. Then, a moment later, he asked, "Time to acquisition?"
 "Eight minutes, Captain," answered the combat systems officer.
 To Mack, it seemed like an eternity before he heard, "Unit one has acquired . . . Unit two has acquired."
 "Cut the wires, shut the outer doors, and reload tubes one and two," Mack ordered now that the Chinese submarine's fate was in the hands of the Mk 48s. There was no escaping their relentless attack. The subsequent reverberations and breaking up sounds were deafening.
 "Conn, sonar, we have a torpedo in the water, SET-53, bearing 089!" The sonar supervisor's excited report came just as the ocean started to quiet. Apparently the Han CO had launched a snap shot at the bearing of the incoming torpedoes as pan of a last-ditch effort prior to his certain death.
 "Right full rudder, all ahead flank. Cavitate. Make your depth one thousand feet," Mack said, followed rapidly by his calm, but forceful words over Cheyenne's 1MC, "Rig ship for depth charge."
 With the ship already at battle stations, the reports from Cheyenne's various compartments came in quickly to the chief of the watch at the ballast control panel. The engineering officer of the watch (EOOW) had ordered main coolant pumps shifted to fast speed, and the throttle man answered the ordered bell as soon as the pumps were reported in fast speed by the reactor operator.
 In fact, the throttle man was a little quicker than the EOOW had expected. With the precision of his training, he had acknowledged the engine order telegraph backup to the captain's orders and was already nearing 50 percent steam flow. Now he was just waiting for the chance to complete his spinning open the main engine throttles, which he couldn't do until the steam generator automatic level controls allowed him to. The safeguards were there to prevent excessive level swell, which might result in carry-over of water into the steam piping.
 Within minutes, Cheyenne was at flank speed, on course 185, and at one thousand feet. The bearing rate presented to the Chinese torpedo made no difference as the SET-53 locked on to the knuckle created by Cheyenne's powerful maneuver. That was a direct result of Mack's order to cavitate, and had formed over a thousand yards away from Cheyenne's current position.
 "Conn, sonar, two explosions, bearing 055, range 8,540 yards." Knowing the depth of water and the sound velocity profile, sonar could determine the range by the difference in time between the direct path and the bottom bounce path of the incoming explosion noises.
 Above the cheers in the control room, Captain Mackey ordered, "Chief of the watch, over the 1MC, secure from rig ship for depth charge."
 When the word was passed, Mack picked up the 1MC microphone and spoke to the officers and men of Cheyenne. "This is the captain. Gentlemen, Cheyenne has
 sent another enemy submarine to its fiery grave. Excellent work. You can be truly proud of your teamwork, each and every one of you. Cheyenne is you. Carry on."
 Replacing the microphone, he added, "Chief of the watch, secure from battle stations." Mack knew that the stand-down from the tension could easily be short lived, especially if the Han had been accompanied by quieter Kilo class diesels running on their batteries.
 The officers adjourned to the wardroom for the captain's standard critique of the attack. Mack also had every battle stations sonar man there. This review was very positive, but Mack added a note of caution about not allowing their guard down. This was war, he pointed out, and the Chinese shouldn't be expected to sit back and watch their submarine force be devastated. Cheyenne and her crew needed to proceed with caution back to an interdiction point so that they could detect and attack some of those Kilos.
 Mack's plan was a good one, but it was circumvented by events. Even as he was critiquing their most recent battle, sonar reported regaining contact on the Alfa, Master 31. The Alfa was proceeding north toward the sounds of the Han's demise, and Cheyenne's turn toward the south during the torpedo evasion nicely closed the range.
 Mack's attack on the Alfa started out the same as the attack on the Han, except that this time Captain Mackey elected to exercise torpedo tubes three and four. But that was as far as the similarity went. The Alfa, with its forty-knot speed, was able to evade both torpedoes.
 The Chinese had learned to drive the Alfa, Mack realized, but fortunately they still had things to learn about their submarine. If that had been a Russian crew on board that submarine, Cheyenne might have had to contend with their torpedoes.
 Mack wasn't ready to take on the Kilo SSKs, which were probably lurking in the shoals while communicating with the Alfa, so he decided to withdraw to the deep water to the northwest. From there he could report the Han and Aifa attacks to CTF 74. He didn't need to return
 to McKee yet since Cheyenne still had sixteen torpedoes. And he had to clear the area before Independence could steam north to the Spratlys.
 His message was quickly acknowledged by CTF 74, who passed traffic from the SEC and ASWC on board Independence. Cheyenne turned to the southwest and prepared herself for shallow water operations.
 "Conn, sonar, sonar contact bearing 195. Sounds like the Alfa, Master 31, coming back for more."
 The captain ordered the towed array to short stay as Cheyenne ventured inside the 100-fathom curve south of Fiery Cross Reef. He intended to confuse the Chinese by operating in the shallow water. The Alfa SSN, he knew, would remain outside the shoals, unable to hear Cheyenne until—if things went according to plan—it was too late. A shorter range attack would preclude the Alfa from responding and evading the torpedoes.
 Battle stations were manned once again as the range to the Alfa closed to inside 40,000 yards—and none too soon, as sonar reported transient noises bearing 125 and 135. Mack nodded. As he'd expected, the Alfa was out in deeper water, but the Chinese Kilos had remained in the shoal waters, massing for guerrilla operations against Cheyenne.
 They could have been a problem, but Cheyenne was ready with two outer doors already open.
 "Snap shots, tubes one and two, bearings 125 and 135 respectively," Mack ordered. That order meant that the Mk 48s would have to do their own thing in detecting, tracking, and sinking two of the Kilos, but Mack didn't have the luxury of assisting them.
 It worked. The two torpedoes quickly acquired the Kilos. The two SSKs tried to flee, increasing speed and cavitating heavily, but to no avail. Both torpedoes found their marks and destroyed the SSKs, but Mack wasn't satisfied. Where was the third Kilo? he wondered.
 He didn't have long to wait before finding out.
 "Conn, sonar, we have transients bearing 180 that sound like Christmas balls falling off a tree and breaking . . . like a tinkling sound. Seems that the third Kilo was spooked by our torpedoes and ran into a coral reef."
 Mack grinned. He was happy to take the kills any way he could. Only the Alfa remained, and Cheyenne had lost contact after the first explosion against the Kilos.
 Sonar was not able to reacquire the Russian submarine, and Mack gave the orders to take Cheyenne out of the area. They'd have another chance at the Alfa, he hoped, before he had to submit the next patrol report.
 The only question that was bothering him was how the Alfa had slipped away. He hadn't expected that from a Chinese crew on a Russian submarine.
 Then Cheyenne moved into deeper waters. As she resumed her patrol, Mack found himself wondering whether the Alfa had acquired a Russian adviser, or, worse, a full Russian crew.
 A few days later, Cheyenne had been ordered to head to the south to meet up with McKee, anchored near Brunei, for a quick reload and resupply. Then she was to rendezvous with the Independence Battle Group and await further orders from CTF 74. Mack didn't know it yet, but they would not have the chance for a briefing in McKee's war room for some time to come.
 5. Interdiction
 The Independence Battle Group, to which Cheyenne was assigned as the sole SSN(DS), was operating south of the Spratly Islands. Having completed a quick reload and resupply, Cheyenne was with them, patrolling around their position, keeping the surface ships safe. Only this time, Mack's patrol area was not the forward 180 degrees, which he preferred. Instead, it was an area the shape of a donut: a full 360-degree annulus, centered on Independence, with an inner diameter of forty nautical miles and an outer diameter of eighty nautical miles. Mack didn't like being reined in like that.
 "Radio, conn, stream the floating wire," the OOD ordered.
 "Conn, radio, stream the floating wire, aye, sir."
 Cheyenne's floating wire communications antenna was functionally similar to the communications buoys carried by Ohio class Trident ballistic missile submarines. Cheyenne could deploy this wire from depth, without having to raise a communications mast above the surface.
 "Incoming message traffic," the communicator said. He'd learned his lesson from their previous patrol and did not speculate on their new orders.
 The OOD acknowledged and summoned both the captain and the executive officer to the conn.
 Mack arrived in a few minutes along with the executive officer. Captain Mackey read the message, passed it
 to the executive otncer, and tnen called a meeting in tne wardroom. He requested that the communicator, the executive officer, the combat systems officer, and the engineer officer be present.
 "We have our new orders," Mack said as the briefing began. "Naval intelligence has determined that a large Chinese surface task group has been sighted leaving Zhanjiang Naval Base, China. Satellite reconnaissance has confirmed this information. The task group is expected to form in the Mandarin Sea south of that base. All information indicates that they are headed in the direction of the Spratly Islands. Normally, they would be taken care of by aircraft and surface units. However, the Navy doesn't want to send the carrier too far north as yet, or to divert any of the carrier's defensive escorts away from their protective zone. They are worried about a Chinese air attack on the Battle Group."
 Mack looked around at his officers. They were a good group, and getting better with every mission. His last post-attack critique had reinstilled the need for redundancy, the formal repeat backs, during the attack phase. There was no room for error.
 "Our orders," he went on, "are to detach from the Battle Group and proceed north of the Spratly Islands to attack the Chinese task group."
 Cheyenne was currently deployed south of the Spratly Islands chain. Her new orders would send her on a voyage of over 660 miles.
 She had completed her mini-refit with McKee only a few days earlier, and the weapons she had taken on board during the load-out should serve nicely in the upcoming battle. She had twenty Mk 48 torpedoes and six Harpoon missiles ready for loading in her torpedo tubes, and six Tomahawk antishipping missiles (TASM) in her VLS tubes.
 This was the time when some submarine commanders delivered a pep talk to the officers and crew, but Mack didn't believe in that. His men were all professionals, and he wanted them to act that way. They didn't need to be
 pumped up to do their jobs. They simply needed to carry out their duties in a calm and proficient fashion.
 Mack smiled to himself at mat thought. He'd leave the rah-rah speeches for cheerleaders and football coaches, who dealt with million-dollar prima donnas. Mack much preferred being able to rely on the competence and professionalism of the sailors on board Cheyenne.
 Over a thousand miles away, the Chinese naval base at Zhanjiang was bustling with activity. The surface group had finally left port and was now headed in the direction of the Chinese Spratly Islands. They were going to position themselves between the American Carrier Battle Group and their islands in order to prevent the U.S. Navy from taking any actions against the Spratlys.
 This surface group was one of the most powerful surface-action groups ever to be assembled by the Chinese navy. Consisting of two of the new Luhu destroyers, three Luda I destroyers, and three Jianghu frigates, the group totaled eight ships in all, and they were all heavily
 armed.
 The two new Luhu destroyers carried two French Z-9A helicopters apiece, and each surface ship carried a substantial quantity of surface-to-surface antiship missiles. Many of their vessels also were equipped with the French naval Crotale SAM system, which could take out any American helicopters that might stray too close to the
 Chinese force.
 The fleet had been rushed to sea, and though they were well armed, their commander couldn't help wondering how well prepared they were. The Chinese People's Liberation Army (Navy) had made great strides in gaining new equipment and training since he had graduated from the Canton Surface Vessel Academy, yet there were great strides remaining.
 The thing that bothered the Chinese commander the most was that, for ail the strength and numbers of his sur-
 face group, he did not have the support of many submarines. The military, he knew, was strong in numbers, but much of their equipment was old and antiquated. Were the submarines in such a poor state of disrepair that they were unable to go to sea?
 This bothered him in part because of its implications for the Chinese armed forces as a whole. More important, however, like most of the officers in the navy, he had heard rumors of American submarines wreaking havoc on the Chinese forces in this area. If those rumors were true, without many SSNs or SSKs of his own, his surface group was a large, heavily armed, sitting duck.
 On board Cheyenne, Mack and his officers and crew were doing everything they could to substantiate those rumors—and maybe add a few new ones.
 Four hundred feet below the surface, Cheyenne picked up her next sonar contact.
 "Conn, sonar," the sonar supervisor reported, "we're getting a sonar contact, sounds like a Chinese merchant ship. It's heading toward Swallow Reef."
 Mack thought the situation over quickly and decided to ignore the merchant vessel. Cheyenne had a mission to perform, and he didn't want to be delayed by taking out a noncombatant. He also didn't want to alert the Chinese task group that Cheyenne was heading their way.
 Mack went to the conn. "Proceed at full speed, course 316," he ordered the OOD. "Let the merchant go."
 The OOD acknowledged his captain's order.
 Slowly the Chinese merchant vessel steamed out of sonar range as Cheyenne continued on her way, not knowing that it had been a target and was saved by the graciousness of Captain Mack Mackey.
 Eighty-five miles southwest of the Spratlys, Cheyenne turned and headed northwest to bypass the Chinese-occupied Spratlys. Naval intelligence had reported a high probability of mines in the area, and Mack had opted to avoid the risk.
 The Chinese task group was still being tracked by the U.S. satellites. In addition, the carriers Independence and
 Nimitz—which were currently sailing in the Pacific— were monitoring radio traffic and electronic signals for any indications of the Chinese fleet's plans.
 Cheyenne continued the "sprint-and-drift" technique during her long transit, but she also periodically went to periscope depth to communicate via SSIXS and to obtain better information on the position of the Chinese fleet. She also received a refinement of her orders—a refinement that Mack approved of, even though it carried an
 element of risk.
 Cheyenne was scheduled to arrive on station a full day ahead of the Chinese task group. Within twelve hours, Chinese helicopters would come within range of Cheyenne's position, dropping lines of sonobuoys all around them. Cheyenne would have to stay like this, deep and silent, until the task group came within fifty miles of her position. Depending upon Mack's assessment at the time, his SSN was then supposed to proceed to shallow depth and launch her Harpoon aniiship missiles. If there were more targets than Harpoons, Cheyenne was instructed to attack the remaining ships with her Tomahawk antiship missiles (TASM).
 The TASM was a longer range missile than the Harpoon, and it carried a warhead with nearly twice the explosive. The Harpoon, on the other hand, was smaller and about fifty knots faster and thus much harder to destroy. The alternative was for Cheyenne to use only her Tomahawks and attack the Chinese task group from more than 250 miles away. But that would require external targeting information from either a U.S. aircraft or a
 satellite.
 That would be safer for Cheyenne, at least initially, but with only six Tomahawks on board, Cheyenne had no chance to destroy the entire task group from such a distance. Mack would then have to decide between allowing at least two Chinese ships to get away, or waiting for those ships to close to within Harpoon range before he could attack them.
 Mack didn't want to do that. In the long run, it put Cheyenne more at risk. Launching the Tomahawks would give away their genera! bearing, and every helicopter and surface ship in the area would be coming after Cheyenne.
 No, Mack liked the other plan better. He'd wait until he could release a large number of missiles all at the same time. Cheyenne would then dive deep and head back to the Sulu Sea and the waiting submarine tender McKee in order to rearm and resupply for another mission.
 Mack had the OOD slow and come shallow enough for the floating wire to copy.
 "Conn, radio, we're receiving important traffic on the floating wire. It seems there may be some submarines operating at our planned launch point. The reports indicate that they might even be Alfas."
 "Maintain your present course and speed," Mack said totheOOD.
 "Maintain my present course and speed, aye, sir," the OOD replied.
 Cheyenne was making ten knots at 247 feet, close to the point of inception of cavitation. Mack made his best selection of speed versus depth for continuous broadcast copying.
 The American frigate Ingraham (FFG-61) was nearly five hundred miles from Independence, and she was alone. She had been ordered to an area north of the Spratiy Islands so that her two SH-60B Seahawk helicopters could help Cheyenne's target missiles. Her captain was pleased with neither her mission nor the reasoning behind it.
 Ingraham, an Oliver Hazard Perry class frigate, had been selected for this mission for two simple reasons: she could do the job and she was expendable. The 3,500-ton
 Ingraham was cheap, inexpensive, and had about 150 fewer sailors on board than did the more powerful Ticon-deroga class cruisers.
 The captain had received word of this mission three days ago when his ship was dispatched from the Nimitz Carrier Battle Group into the South China Sea. He knew that Nimitz could have sent one of the more powerful Aegis cruisers or destroyers, but that would have left the carrier more vulnerable to attack.
 Ingraham's captain didn't like being thought of as expendable—but he couldn't really argue with the logic. And it didn't matter anyway. He would carry out his orders to the best of his ability, whether he liked them or
 not.
 He didn't know much about Cheyenne, the submarine he would be supporting. He knew that, like Ingraham herself, Cheyenne was the last of her class. He also knew that Cheyenne, though commissioned less than a year earlier, had already become one of the most successful submarines in American naval history. And he knew that her skipper, Captain Mackey, was a good man and a highly respected commanding officer. He hoped that this mission would put his own selection board jacket on the top of the pile when the O-6 selection board was next in
 session.
 For this support mission, Ingraham was equipped with a full loadout of weapons, which had both pleased and surprised her Captain. He guessed that the full loadout was his admiral's way of compensating for sending Ingraham on such a mission, without any support. Ingraham's armament included thirty-six Standard SM-1 surface-to-air missiles, four Harpoon missiles, and a full load of Mk 46 torpedoes for their Mk 32 torpedo tubes, plus lots of ammunition for both their Mk 75 gun and their 20mm Phalanx CIWS. The frigate also carried two SH-60B Seahawks, each of which was equipped with a powerful APS-124 surface-search radar under its nose. This radar would be invaluable in providing mid-course guidance to the antiship missiles launched from Cheyenne.
 Ingraham'K job was to support Cheyenne. If any of the submarine's missiles failed to hit their mark, Ingraham had permission to fire her Harpoon missiles at the Chinese task group. She was also permitted to fire on any enemy vessels or aircraft with which she came into contact, but the emphasis of her mission was to support Cheyenne.
 On board Cheyenne, the communicator had an update for Mack. "Captain," he said, "we just received word that Ingraham has arrived in position. She relayed a message for you. Captain. It reads, 'all quiet on the northern front.'"
 Mack smiled at that. "Funny," he said. "How long until we reach our launch point?"
 The OOD conversed quickly with the QMOW (quartermaster of the watch) and determined that Cheyenne was currently ninety-two miles southwest of where she needed to be. "If we increase speed to full, our ETA will be in four hours, Captain," answered the OOD.
 Mack acknowledged that. "Come right to course 045, speed full, depth four hundred feet," he ordered.
 Two hours later the sonar room began buzzing with action.
 "Conn, sonar, we have two convergence zone contacts on the spherical array, classified as probable Alfa class SSNs, bearing 010 and 014."
 As the sonar supervisor continued the basis of his classification, a picture emerged that Mack didn't like— and one that Ingraham's captain was going to like even less.
 The frigate was supposed to be on station forty-three miles northeast of Cheyenne. Mack didn't know it yet, but the two sonar contacts, Masters 37 and 38, were traveling next to each other forty miles northwest of Ingraham, which put them at the third point of an almost equilateral triangle, approximately forty-two miles from Cheyenne.
 Making turns for 12 knots, the Alfas were running at a depth of fifty meters, not knowing that Cheyenne was
 approaching the area. They were heading toward Ingraham, closing in for what they thought would be an easy
 kill.
 "Come to periscope depth," Mack ordered the OOD.
 "I want to alert Ingraham."
 Within minutes, Cheyenne was at sixty feet and the "flash" message was sent via satellite to the lone frigate. The message included Cheyenne's estimated position and bearing to the two Chinese submarines and the fact that Cheyenne had tentatively classified them as Alfas.
 "Conn, sonar. Masters 37 and 38 have increased speed. Blade rate indicates they're running at thirty-eight—make that forty knots, sir. It looks like they're
 making their move."
 Mack frowned. That wasn't what he'd wanted to hear. He'd wanted to remain silent until he launched his missiles, but that was no longer an option. Not with two Chinese Alfas racing to destroy Ingraham. There were few circumstances where Mack would have stood by and watched an American ship come under fire, and this wasn't one of them. He needed Ingraham. He needed it to guide Cheyenne's missiles over the horizon. Without Ingraham, Cheyenne's mission was likely to fail.
 "Increase speed to flank," he ordered. "I want to intercept those Alfas. Come right to course 025."
 "Increase speed to flank and come right to course 025,
 aye, sir.1'
 Cheyenne's message, rapidly turned around at CTF 74 headquarters, galvanized Ingraham's officers and crew. The SH-60 crew members ran toward their helicopters, strapping their gear to their flight vests as they ran.
 "Launch both helos," the Ingraham captain ordered.
 In the operations center on the frigate the sonar room was silent, listening. They had detected the two Alfas, bearing 310 and 320 from them, as soon as the Chinese submarines increased their speed to flank.
 "Captain, sonar, we just detected what must be Cheyenne, bearing 235. She's running at flank speed
 also. It looks like she's trying to put herself in between us and the Chinese submarines."
 "Way to go, Mack," Ingraham's captain said softly.
 But the frigate wasn't out of the woods yet. The Chinese Alfas could accelerate up to forty-three knots submerged. On a good day, with a clean hull, Cheyenne maxed out at nearly forty knots which meant that the Alfas were going to arrive first.
 Not if I can help it, the Ingraham captain thought to himself. "Helm," he ordered, "come left to 235, all ahead flank." He planned to head toward Cheyenne at his frigate's top speed. With luck and a strong tail wind, Ingraham just might have a chance, -•.-. -. :-., -^.- ..
 Even running at flank speed, Cheyenne's sonar was able to detect Ingraham's maneuver. The bearing indicated to Mack that she was on station where she was supposed to be. It didn't take Mack long to figure out what her captain had in mind. On the 1MC, Mack himself ordered, "Man battle stations."
 According to the BSY-1 computers, the range to the Alfas was closing fast. The Chinese submarines were heading southeast at forty-two knots, and Cheyenne was heading northeast at 38 knots. Mack would have liked to stay silent, but flank speed was Cheyenne's only hope of heading off the Alfas. Besides, at forty-two knots, the Chinese submarines had no chance of hearing Cheyenne's approach.
 When the range to the closest Alfa, Master 37, reached 30,000 yards, Mack ordered tubes one and two made ready in all respects. He also ordered the outer doors opened. The range to the second Alfa, Master 38, was just under 33,000 yards.
 "Sir," the fire-control coordinator reported, "we're in range of the first Alfa, Master 37. We'll be in range of Master 38 in three minutes."
 Mack nodded, but he did not give the command to shoot. "I want to wait until they are within 28,000 yards," he said. "Tell me when Master 37 comes within that range. Firing point procedures, tube one, Master 37."
 Travelling at this speed, Cheyenne was relying on her BSY-! computers to give her any information she required on the positions of the sonar contacts. Because of her speed, sonar was not able to hear much beyond the water rushing by the hull.
 As Cheyenne's BSY-1 computed range neared 28,000 yards, and the Ingraham's CIC (combat information center) reported the range to the Chinese submarines as 25,000 yards, the SH-60 Seahawks from Ingraham came into play, laying down lines of sonobuoys one after the other in an effort to determine the exact location of the Alfas. Once they had that information in their onboard computers, they could drop their own torpedoes on the
 Alfas.
 The fire-control coordinator informed Mack the moment the range had decreased to 28,000 yards. Without hesitating, Mack ordered, "Back full. Match sonar bearings and shoot, tube one, Master 37."
 With Cheyenne'?, headway quickly killed by the backing bell, Mack ordered, "Ahead one third."
 "Conn, sonar, unit one running hot, straight, and normal."
 If the Alfa continued on its present course and speed, the torpedo would reach it in seven and a half minutes.
 The crew of the lead Alfa was excited. They had been chasing their quarry for some time now and were finally closing in for their first kill—against an American warship, no less. For all their excitement, though, they had no idea that there was an American Mk 48 headed their
 way.
 A hundred feet above the surface, one of Jngraham's SH-60 LAMPS III helicopters detected Cheyenne's first torpedo within moments of its launch. The helos each had a single Mk 50 on board, which were smaller than Cheyenne's torpedoes. The Mk 50's hundred pound war-
 head was less than a sixth the weight of the explosive packed into Mack's Mk 48.
 A quick communication flashed between the two helos, and moments later both pilots launched their Mk 50s—but not at the lead Alfa. Cheyenne wasn't likely to need their help with that one. Instead, they targeted the second Chinese submarine, Mack's Master 38.
 Below the surface, Cheyenne was now comfortably within range of both submarines and was steering the Mk 48 into the lead Alfa, Master 37.
 "Conn, sonar," the sonar supervisor reported, "Ingm-ham's SH-60s just dropped two torpedoes, sounds like Mk 50s, on the bearing to the second Alfa, Master 38." There was a pause and then the fire-control coordinator added, "It looks like they're going to hit, too, sir. BSY-1 shows they dropped them right on top of it."
 Neither of the Chinese submarines had any idea that they had been targeted by any American torpedoes. The lead Chinese Alfa never would.
 The 650-pound warhead of Cheyenne's Mk 48 detonated directly aft of the Alfa's single screw and blew off the stern of the submarine. Running at four hundred feet, the crew on board the lead Alfa never had a chance. Those that didn't drown immediately as water rushed into the engine room were crushed by the pressure of the deep sea.
 The second Alfa, still running at top speed, was unable to hear either Cheyenne or the two Mk 50s heading toward it, but its crew heard the explosion from the Mk 48 on the bearing of their sister ship. The second Aifa's captain slowed immediately to assess the situation—which was the worst thing he could have done. By stopping directly in the path of the American Mk 50s, he had sealed his own fate.
 "Conn, sonar, two explosions, sir," the sonar supervisor said to Mack. "The Mk 50s just hit their mark." A moment later he added, "But she's not breaking up, sir,"
 That didn't surprise Mack. The Alfa class SSNs had always been thought of as one of the hardest types of sub-
 marine to kill. Unlike most other submarines, the Alfa had a hull constructed not of steel, but entirely of titanium. This allowed it to dive extremely deep, probably 3,000 feet, and it also made her a very hard target to destroy. Alfas were almost as hard to sink as the double-hulled Typhoon.
 The Alfa had gotten lucky, but she hadn't come away undamaged. The two American light weight torpedoes had hit the Alfa on its starboard side, damaging the starboard ballast tanks. To make matters worse, their reactor had automatically shut down when the control rods came unlatched as a result of the torpedo concussions. Without its reactor, the Alfa could not run away.
 The officers and crew of the Alfa had just begun to get a grip on their problems when Cheyenne fired her second torpedo at Master 38, and things suddenly became much worse.
 "Conn, sonar, unit 2 running hot, straight, and normal," the sonar supervisor said.
 There was nothing for the Chinese submarine to do except wait and die. If it tried to surface, it would list heavily to starboard. With their sonar barely working, the Alfa's sonarmen listened as Mack's torpedo came closer and closer to their submarine. One minute before impact, the Chinese captain did try launching a noisemaker, but the Mk 48 ignored it and continued to close on the helpless submarine.
 The torpedo detonated on the same side as had the smaller Mk 50s, but it had more of an impact. The titanium hull had already been weakened by the earlier explosions. This one cracked it clean through, flooding the Alfa and killing ail forty-seven men on board. From the moment Cheyenne's torpedo had acquired, they never had a chance.
 That didn't bother Mack at all. This was war, and he knew the Chinese hadn't planned on giving Ingraham any chance, either.
 The Alfas were gone, and now Cheyenne and her crew had to focus on their mission once more. The Chinese
 task group was still headed her way, but there was little time left for Cheyenne and Ingraham's helos to prepare for the quick but deadly upcoming attack. Mack allowed his crew a short respite from battle stations.
 Nineteen hours later, Cheyenne came to periscope depth with battle stations remanned. She received word that one of Ingraham's helicopters had detected the Chinese task group 150 miles to the north of Cheyenne's position. Ingraham had relocated about fifty miles to the south of Cheyenne, but her Seahawks were flying as rotating radar pickets to detect the enemy fleet. As soon as the Chinese task group was discovered, the second Seahawk, freshly fueled and armed, was sent to relieve the first one and allow it to return to the frigate for refueling.
 The Seahawk's powerful surface-search radar allowed the helicopter to stay out of Chinese SAM (surface-to-air missiie) range while she painted the task group with radar waves. This data would be used to guide Cheyenne's Harpoons into their targets.
 Cheyenne proceeded back down to her normal patrol depth and increased her speed to twenty-five knots. Two hours later she was well within Harpoon missile range of the Chinese task group, with Harpoons in ail four torpedo tubes and "battle stations missile" manned.
 Mack's orders were unchanged, and so was his plan. He intended to fire his six Harpoons in salvos and then launch his TASMs at the remaining targets. His biggest concern was the speed with which Cheyenne would have to operate—both for her own sake and because, if they took too long, the Seahawks risked entering SAM range and being engaged by Chinese missiles.
 Cheyenne had trained for this kind of mission, and Mack had always felt that this type—striking at unsuspecting surface ships—was very much the same as that of a waiting sniper: get in position, wait for an opportunity, fire, and slip away.
 Cheyenne came to one hundred feet and within minutes had launched all her Harpoons. Without missing a
 beat, Mack ordered VLS tubes five through ten fired. The Tomahawks were launched one by one as the hatches on each tube opened in sequence and the missiles were
 ejected skyward.
 When the last TASM was away, Mack ordered Cheyenne back down to four hundred feet and headed toward the submarine tender McKee. They had fired off many of their weapons and needed to rearm in order to remain effective.
 Battle stations were once again secured while the torpedo tubes were reloaded but, as was always the case when attacking distant targets, Cheyenne's crew would have to wait to learn how well they had performed, They knew only that twenty-five minutes after the attack, sonar had reported twelve very large primary and secondary explosions. This was a good sign, especially considering that there were only eight vessels in the Chinese task group, but official confirmation of the kills would have to wait.
 McKee, like all submarine tenders, was an auxiliary vessel with little weaponry and no sonar. Which meant that, ironically, though she had spent nearly all her life servicing submarines, she was virtually defenseless against them and had no way of knowing if one was sneaking up on her. The McKee's captain was not known for his sense of irony. He would not have been amused to know that, even as his ship was operating quietly off Brunei in wait for Cheyenne, a lone Ming class submarine was stalking her. He had weighed anchor after Cheyenne left the last time in order to conduct sea training for his crew.
 Thirteen hours after launching her missiles, Cheyenne came to periscope depth to catch up on the latest intelligence and to inform McKee that they were en route and
 would arrive in about twenty-five hours. Cheyenne was at periscope depth for as short a time as possible. She was soon on her way to the southern portion of the South China Sea once more, unaware of the enemy submarine that was heading toward McKee.
 The Chinese submarine captain had closed to within twenty-six miles of McKee. He would maintain his speed of five knots until the American tender came within range of his SAET-60 homing torpedoes with their 400-kilogram warheads. The maximum range for these torpedoes was 16,400 yards, or a little over eight nautical miles, so the Ming would have to move in close.
 Three hours later, the Ming had closed the gap. McKee was at the extreme edge of the torpedo's range, and the Chinese captain began preparing his submarine for firing.
 Mack was in the control room talking with his watch slanders when the report came from sonar.
 "Conn, sonar, we just picked up a sonar contact bearing 173; it's opening its torpedo tube doors. The bearing is to the west of McKee's reported position."
 "Come to periscope depth," Mack said. "Radio, Captain, contact McKee and ask her if any friendly submarines are expected near her location." Mack had to ask the question, but he would have been surprised if the answer was yes. That would have meant that CTF 74 was losing control of submarine mutual interference.
 Battle stations were quickly manned as sonar reported Master 47 to be a probable Ming class SSK. Then the response from McKee came back.
 "Conn, radio, that's a negative, sir, they're only expecting us. We are the only submarine that should be in the area."
 "Radio, conn, tell McKee to get under way at best speed, course 090." That would take McKee directly away from the enemy submarine.
 Cheyenne sent the message and then Mack headed deep. Moments later, the sonar supervisor reported contact on McKee and that McKee had started to move on course 090 and was picking up speed.
 "Ahead flank, steer 173," Mack ordered.
 That would serve two purposes, he knew. First, and most important, it would get them within range to fire on the Chinese submarine. Second, and almost as vital, it would serve notice to the Ming, warning them that if they didn't back off from McKee they were going to be facing a big, angry American submarine.
 The Ming heard Cheyenne cavitating, but it didn't alter course. Instead, it increased speed in the direction of McKee and fired two torpedoes. Only then did the Chinese submarine change course, but by then it was too
 late.
 Mack had already slowed and, with the BSY-1 computer solutions, had fired two Mk 48s at the Ming. Minutes later, the torpedoes acquired their target and homed in on the enemy submarine. The sonar supervisor reported two explosions, followed by the sounds of the Ming filling with water. The Ming was dead.
 "What about the Chinese torpedoes?" Mack asked, "How's McKee doing?"
 He didn't have to worry, though. McKee was running away from the SAET-60s as fast as she could. At twenty knots, she wasn't able to outrun the torpedoes, but she was able to stay ahead of them until they ran out of gas.
 When sonar lost contact on the second Chinese torpedo. Mack ordered Cheyenne to periscope depth. "Radio, conn, tell McKee we're coming in."
 He was going to be glad to reach the tender. Cheyenne needed to rearm and resupply. But he had the feeling that the captain and crew of McKee would be glad to see them, too.
 6. Ambush
 Cheyenne^ crew was well rested after their relatively relaxing stay on board the submarine tender McKee. Cheyenne had been rearmed and their food and supply stocks had been replenished. Captain Mackey was even looking forward to his next mission.
 According to naval intelligence, that mission was going to be a "breeze" compared to his last several—and Mack hoped they were right. By now, his officers and crew were combat-hardened veterans who had more than paid their debt to their country. If Mack had his way, he'd give each and every one of them a medal and a promotion for their service.
 The captain called the executive officer into his small stateroom. This was one of the few places where the captain could have a quiet moment to himself. He had asked the executive officer to join him because he didn't always trust naval intelligence and he wanted a second opinion on the orders Cheyenne had received.
 When the executive officer arrived, Mack handed him the message. He didn't say a word. He didn't have to.
 The orders called for Cheyenne to enter into the Chinese-claimed Spratly Islands and patrol several of the now-abandoned oil rigs in the area, including the partially built rig bordering on Swallow Reef.
 The executive officer studied them for two minutes and then looked up. The look on his face made it clear that he wasn't any happier than Mack was. A week earlier, naval intelligence had proclaimed those waters too
 dangerous to enter. Now they were claiming that they'd been deloused and were clear of all enemy submarines.
 Mack had gotten what he'd wanted—confirmation of his suspicions. Cheyenne had her orders, and she would carry them out, but she would be expecting trouble, no matter what those intel guys said.
 "Gather the officers," he said. "I want them all in the wardroom in fifteen minutes." .
 Ever since he'd first met the executive officer, Mack had liked him and trusted his opinion. During wartime, Mack knew, one couid never be too reliant on intelligence reports from thousands of miles away. The executive officer had agreed with his feelings on their orders and that made Mack trust him even more.
 Fifteen minutes later, the wardroom was quiet when Mack entered. He looked around at the assembled officers and decided to get right to the point.
 "We've been ordered to enter the Spratly Islands chain and patrol several oil rigs in the area that are believed to be possible locations for submarine supply depots," he said. "Naval intelligence doubts this finding, but they have sent us to investigate nonetheless."
 Because the intelligence analysts didn't think that they would find anything in the area, CTF 74 had decided it would be cost efficient to load Cheyenne with only twenty Mk-48 torpedoes; no Tomahawks and no Harpoons. So even if Mack did find a remote Chinese operating location, he couldn't attack it with Tomahawks as he would have liked to. He was ordered to report back, and then the Navy would order an air strike. He hated this kind of thinking.
 The assembled officers were silent, waiting for him to continue. "Naval intelligence reports that due to our successful actions during the past several weeks, as well as the actions of the rest of the Navy, the Chinese units in the area are running low on supplies and morale. They expect that, at the most, we will come into contact with only a handful of submarines in these waters."
 Mack looked around the room, assessing his officers.
 "This mission is supposed to be an easy one," he said, "but you all know what that means. It just means we have to be extra careful and keep on our toes. I don't like being that close to Chinese-occupied waters any more than you do. But we have our orders."
 After the usual number of questions, the wardroom was cleared and the captain went back to his stateroom, where he again examined his orders. He still didn't like what he was reading.
 Mack looked at the chart he normally kept in the wardroom. It was one of the few good charts he'd ever seen of the Spratly Islands. The chain was oval, shaped roughly like a football, with four islands that Cheyenne needed to patrol.
 As Mack examined the chart, he decided he would steam silently from the north into the waters surrounding Discovery Great Reef. From there, he would proceed in a counterclockwise direction, continuing west and south until he arrived near Cuarteron Reef, right in the center of
 the oval.
 From there, Cheyenne would travel to Swallow Reef, near the southern border of the islands, and then sail northeast until she arrived at her last search area, Car-natic Reef. Assuming that intel was right—an assumption Mack was not prepared to make—and the area was clean, Cheyenne would then continue on to the north to await further orders.
 Cheyenne was now passing the island of Palawan to the east. Navigating the remaining 200 miles in the narrow but deep channel leading to Mindoro Strait would require a number of GPS fixes en route. The submarine lender McK.ee, from which he had just finished rearming, would remain on station in the Sulu Sea until ordered by CTF 74 to relocate.
 After the recent submarine attack on McKee, the Independence and the Nimitz Battle Groups had each decided to part with one ASW helicopter, and the two LAMPS III helos were now being flown to McKee's position.
 The SH-60s would be operated from McKee's landing
 pads in order to protect the tender from any possible future submarine threats. The SH-60Bs were also equipped to carry the Penguin antiship missile, which would offer McKee an antisurface defense as well. The Navy would not be taking any more chances by sending a defenseless tender into the line of fire.
 One other good thing came out of that attack on McKee—at least from Mack's point of view. McKee's captain was very appreciative of Cheyenne's timely rescue and had provided as much fresh fruit as Cheyenne's storage spaces would allow. Fresh fruit was scarce on board a submarine and stocks often ran out quickly. This gesture on the part of McKee's captain was greatly appreciated, and while the fruit would not last long, it would help ensure that the beginning of Cheyenne's cruise would be enjoyable.
 Having found a Ming SSK in the Sulu Sea, Mack could not afford the luxury of running on the surface until clear of Mindoro Strait. Still, the channel out to the Sulu Sea was narrow and treacherous, so Mack decided to supplemenl the GPS fixes with occasional active sonar. The threat of other Chinese submarines was real, but so was the threat of running into the side of the channel.
 Once past the shallow waters of Mindoro Strait, Cheyenne accelerated to twenty knots, on course 300 toward the start of her counterclockwise search of the Spratly Islands. Upon arrival, Mack ordered the OOD to run at four knots until they determined that the area was clear before continuing on their way.
 The TB-23 towed array was streamed to help in the search of the deep water in case there were Chinese SSNs trying to slip in from the north. After a careful sonar search, Cheyenne increased speed to full and altered course for Discovery Great Reef.
 The more Mack thought about this current mission, the less he liked it. He was all too aware of how easy it would be for a diesel submarine like a Kilo to hide in the island waters near the oil platforms. An enemy submarine could lie in wait near the bottom of the shallow
 water, hiding until Cheyenne came within torpedo range. They could even bottom without damage, since the Chinese diesel submarines didn't have a GRP (glass-reinforced plastic) sonar dome or seawater cooling for a steam propulsion plant to worry about. Captain Mackey didn't like that thought at all.
 Mack decided that once he was within twenty-five miles of each search area, he would reduce Cheyenne's speed to eight to ten knots and that once he was with ten miles he would slow to four to seven knots. He didn't want anyone sneaking up on them, and running slow was the best way to keep Cheyenne quiet.
 When Cheyenne was twenty-five miles north-northeast of the Sprattys, Mack proceeded to the control room, looked at Cheyenne's position on the quartermaster's chart, and then ordered the OOD, "Slow to ten knots."
 "Slow to ten knots, aye, sir."
 The change in the speed of the submarine, while sudden, was not overly drastic for the crew. They had gotten used to the rough riding of a submarine in close combat.
 Hours before, Cheyenne had shifted from the TB-23 to the TB-16 towed array. The sonar operators were listening quietly, but heard nothing on the towed array or the spherical and conformal sonars, and the sonar supervisor soon reported that there were no contacts. Mack was pleased with that report. He knew that if they were to encounter an enemy submarine, they would be in for a dangerous, shallow water fight.
 Cheyenne was not at home in coastal waters like these. The Los Angeles class submarines were designed for blue water operations. Cheyenne and her sister ships performed best in the open ocean. While they still performed well in areas like the South China Sea and, more specifically, the Spratly Islands, their superiority gap was narrowed markedly.
 A Los Angeles class SSN was 360 feet in length— nearly 100 feet longer than an Alfa submarine, and the
 Chinese and Russian Kilo submarines were smaller still. The Kilo was a perfect weapon system for these dangerous waters. Measuring 229 feet, it could weave in and out of tight spots that Cheyenne would not even want to venture into.
 As Cheyenne approached Discovery Great Reef, Mack decided to remain relatively shallow. That would allow Cheyenne to copy any radio traffic that might be broadcast to them. In addition, he didn't trust the water depths in this area. He figured he had a better chance of running aground than he did of being detected by the enemy.
 When Cheyenne crossed the 100 fathom curve inbound for Discovery Great reef. Mack ordered, "Come to periscope depth."
 Cheyenne had already been running shallow at 200 feet. Now, however, Mack would use the periscope to check out the notorious "oi! platforms."
 "Conn, sonar," the sonar supervisor called a short time later. "I think we've got a contact on the towed array. It sounds faint, but it may be a submarine . .. although the computers haven't been able to confirm a thing."
 The contact was currently too weak for Cheyenne's sonar operators to do much with. Mack made a mental note to keep checking on it, though. He was sure that if this was a submarine they were picking up, Cheyenne would be going after it soon.
 Mack was also sure that whatever they were picking up had not yet detected their own presence in these waters. Cheyenne was currently running at only three knots to minimize the periscope "feather," the wake caused by the periscope barrel as it moved through the air-water interface, and she was nearly as quiet as she could be.
 "Captain, we are currently seventeen miles northeast of the first oil rig," the navigator reported.
 "Sonar, Captain, do you have any additional information to report on that contact?" Mack asked.
 "Conn, sonar, we classify Master 48 as a probable
 submarine contact to the southwest. It appears that it's on the other end of the abandoned oil rig from our position. It's barely making a sound, though."
 Mack acknowledged the report and ordered battle stations manned and the towed array housed. He still didn't know for sure what that contact was, but he had the feeling that Cheyenne was about to go into battle once more.
 Southwest of Cheyenne, at the other end of the abandoned oil rig, a Chinese Kilo submarine was getting into position near Discovery Great Reef. The Kilo was running silently, and its captain was confident that they could not be detected. But then, based on estimates from Chinese intelligence, he did not expect any American SSNs to be near his position for at least another day.
 The Chinese intelligence machine was very different from its American counterpart. The Chinese focused their intelligence on the human aspect, or HUMINT, while the Americans focused their intelligence on ELINT—electronic signals interception and satellite
 photography.
 These differences made sense in terms of the backgrounds of the two countries. China had a massive population, with citizens and former citizens scattered around the world. America, on the other hand, had massive quantities of money that they could use to invest in their defense industry.
 These differences came into play off the Spratlys. Cheyenne, with her advanced technology and sophisticated sonar equipment, was able to pick up traces of the Kilo. The Chinese boat, however, was relying more heavily on human observers—but Cheyenne's submerged transit of the Philippine Islands area had precluded any HUMINT by Chinese observers on the
 islands.
 The captain of the Chinese Kilo finally arrived in his position slightly more than one nautical mile west of the
 oil platform. He planned to wait there in silence for passing American naval vessels, hoping for some to venture close enough for him to strike.
 He didn't know it, but he was about to get his wish.
 "Conn, sonar," reported the sonar supervisor, "we just . lost contact on Master 48."
 "What was the last position of Master 48?" Mack asked the fire-control coordinator.
 The executive officer, who was acting as fire-control coordinator for this watch, said, "Captain, Master 48 was about nineteen thousand yards west of the Discovery Great Reef oi! rig. Do you think she heard us?"
 The question was a good one.
 Could they have heard us? Mack wondered. The most probable reason that they would lose contact with a submarine was either that the enemy submarine's noise was being shielded from Cheyenne's sonar, possibly by a thermal layer or the surf noise, or that the submarine had detected Cheyenne's presence and had either stopped or was running silently. The silence indicated that if there was a submarine out there, it was probably a Chinese diesel boat, running on its batteries.
 Slowly, Cheyenne approached the oil rig, which lay within one mile of Discovery Great Reef. The water was extremely shallow in this area and the huge rocks surrounding the now dilapidated oil rig served to shield the diesel's sounds.
 Cheyenne's passive sonar suite was severely degraded in the shallow environment of the littorals. In this environment, active sonar would work almost as well as passive, if they used MIDAS to discriminate between rocks and a submarine's longer hull, but Mack didn't seriously consider the idea. He knew that using his active sonar would give away Cheyenne's exact position. He'd rather have both submarines blind than give away his position to the enemy.
 Through the periscope, Mack could see the Discovery Great Reef oil rig. At a glance, he could tell that it had been destroyed during the Chinese occupation of the island. But he needed to give it more than just a glance. He was supposed to get some accurate photographs of the rig for intelligence back in Washington. In addition, he needed to ensure that the rig was not being used as a Chinese submarine depot that could rearm or refuel Chinese
 SSKs.
 He made another quick circle as he "danced" Ihe periscope around the surface. He could find no evidence that the rig was being used for anything—or that it was even in the process of being repaired—but still he was cautious. This was a very dangerous place for Cheyenne to be running at periscope depth.
 Six nautical miles away, or about 12,000 yards from Cheyenne's current position, the Chinese Kilo submarine was operating in its silent mode—running on its batteries. With no noise coming from their own ship, the Chinese sonar operators listened carefully to their low frequency sonar, searching the waters for the sound of any American vessels.
 They heard nothing.
 The Chinese had been loitering here, running silently on their batteries, for seventeen hours, keeping their depth shallow at 45 feet and their ears open. The captain was waiting for the Americans to walk into his trap.
 After seventeen hours, however, the captain of the Kilo grew impatient. He'd had enough of this waiting. Slowly the Kilo pulled out of its hiding spot and began to pick up speed. Its captain had decided to make a run at six knots, slowly and quietly circling Discovery Great Reef, searching for any American naval vessels.
 As soon as the Kilo moved, it lost its protection against American sonars, and Cheyenne heard it.
 "Conn, sonar, we just reacquired Master 48. It's a Kilo, single six-bladed screw. It just increased speed to six knots and it's heading north."
 A short time later a BSY-1 operator reported the
 Kilo's range, and Mack knew Cheyenne was in trouble. The Chinese submarine was only 11,000 yards away, which meant that Mack had unknowingly brought Cheyenne well within weapons range of the Chinese Kilo and her TEST-71 homing torpedoes.
 "Make tubes one and two ready," Mack ordered. "But do not open the outer doorsV He emphasized that. They were too close, and he didn't want to give the Kilo any chance of detecting their location.
 "Make tubes one and two ready but do not open the outer doors, aye, sir."
 Mack had a problem. He had the drop on the Kilo, but he didn't have much maneuvering room. If the Kilo got off a return shot, Cheyenne could be in trouble.
 And that was the least of his worries. His bigger problem was his lack of intel. Were there other Chinese submarines out there? Naval intelligence said no—but they'd missed one already. Who was to say they hadn't missed more?
 This was a problem because he would give away his position as soon as he fired on the Kilo—and even if that submarine didn't fire back, there could be others hiding in the shallow water waiting to pounce.
 Captain Mackey ordered Cheyenne rigged for ultraquiet. He wanted every effort made to ensure that nothing alerted the Kilo to their location. Word was quickly passed to all compartments over the sound powered phones. Non-vital equipment was quickly secured. The crew whispered when they spoke, wondering what would be next.
 On board the Chinese submarine, the captain was growing frustrated. He was assigned to keep watch for American submarines, but he knew that he would never hear them unless they were close enough to fire their Mk 48s. Even under ideal circumstances his passive sonar was never up to par with the American BSY-I system, but in these shallow waters his Russian passive sonar performance was even worse.
 Frustrated, he ordered his sonar room to use their
 active sonar and ping the area, hoping to even out the playing field and get a better fix on his surroundings. He had no idea that the USS Cheyenne was attempting to close in on his position.
 "Conn, sonar, the Kilo just went active on its fire-control sonar. He painted the entire area for us."
 Mack knew immediately that this was good news as well as bad. It was bad because the Kilo now knew where Cheyenne was and had also received a firing solution. The good news, however, was that the active ping had given the same data to Cheyenne. Even more important, that one ping had lit up the murky waters of Discovery Great Reef like a flashlight. Thanks to that ping, Mack now knew that the Chinese Kilo was all alone.
 Mack had the upper hand, but he wouldn't have it for long. He had to act fast—and act first.
 He initiated the firing point procedures to attack the Kilo, Master 48. "Open the outer doors on tubes one and two," ordered Mack.
 "Open the outer doors on tubes one and two, aye, sir."
 "Match sonar bearings and shoot tubes one and two."
 "Match sonar bearings and shoot tubes one and two,
 aye, sir."
 Cheyenne'5 torpedo tube muzzle doors opened and two Mk 48 ADCAPs knifed through the murky water toward the enemy submarine.
 On board the lone Chinese Kilo, the captain was furious with himself. He had been tasked with waiting quietly for any American target, but he had lost his patience, and it had cost him.
 He would have liked to blame it on timing and bad luck—that American submarine showing up just when he decided to take a stroll around the reef was unbelievably bad luck—but he knew he couldn't shrug it off that easily. After all, he had no idea how long the Americans had been out there. No, the simple truth was he'd made a mistake. Now he could only hope that the American captain would make one, too.
 That hope died almost immediately. He had barely
 formed the thought when his sonar room alerted him to their discovery. The American captain had not made a mistake. He'd beaten the Chinese captain to the punch, launching not one but two deadly ADCAP torpedoes before the Kilo had even gotten their tubes ready.
 Within minutes the two Mk 48s had acquired the Kilo and their wires were cut. The Mk 48s were on their own as they entered the terminal phase of their "flight."
 The Chinese submarine launched a series of noise-makers, one after another, and began twisting through the shallow water in an effort to decoy the two torpedoes. It was no use, though. The Kilo had no more room to maneuver than Cheyenne did, and no time to run.
 The Mk 48s were now using their powerful active seekers and they simply ignored the noisemakers. They stayed with the Kilo as it tried to evade.
 Within minutes, two nearly simultaneous explosions announced to Cheyenne's crew that their weapons had found their mark. The two Mk 48s had impacted, one next to the other, into the port side of the Kilo.
 The explosion caused the Chinese boat to split in half after both sides had filled with water. Cheyenne had destroyed another boat—and not just any submarine. This was another Kilo, the pride of the Chinese navy.
 "Conn, sonar, I don't hear anything else in the area," the sonar supervisor reported to the captain after the situation was under control.
 "It looks like this area has been 'deloused,'" the captain said. "I don't think that there are any other vessels operating in the area, but just to make sure let's make a quick check around and then head to our second search area."
 Battle stations and the rig for ultraquiet were secured, and the reconnoiter around the reef came up empty. Cheyenne turned up no signs that there was a submarine depot operating in this locality. There was also no sonar indication of any other submarines that may have been operating with the Kilo.
 Mack was not surprised, but he couldn't help feeling a
 little relieved. "Plot a new course for Cuarteron Reef, search area 2, that takes us outside this shallow water," Captain Mackey said to the navigator.
 "Aye, Captain, We've already begun to plot the course," the navigator replied.
 Discovery Great Reef was close to Cuarteron Reef, but the trip itself would take several hours. Mack could have covered it in far less time, but he wanted to remain silent and chose to keep Cheyenne's speed between five and ten knots. Once again, Mack was frustrated with his passive sonar performance in these shallow waters, but he was not going to risk giving away his position, so he kept Cheyenne quiet and hoped that if something was out there they would hear it.
 As Cheyenne approached closer to the abandoned oil rig, Mack got more photographs of the oil platform. Less than three months ago, this area had been crowded with oil workers who were attempting to extract oil from the bottom of the islands. Now, however, there was not a soul on the rig, and the neighboring islands were completely occupied by Chinese troops who would have loved to attack Cheyenne if given the chance. But Mack wasn't about to give them thai chance. Not if he could help it, anyway.
 "Sonar, conn, have you picked up any contacts yet?" Mack asked of the sonar supervisor.
 "Conn, sonar, nothing at all, Captain."
 Mack acknowledged the report, but he wasn't sure if this was a good sign or a bad one.
 At three knots, Cheyenne crept around the entire length of Cuarteron Reef but found no sign of enemy submarine operations in the area. That was definitely a good sign, Mack thought.
 "Next stop, Swallow Reef," Mackey said to the executive officer before turning the conn back over to the waiting OOD.
 The captain, satisfied with Cheyenne's search, went back to his stateroom for some rest. He gave specific
 orders to the executive officer not to have him disturbed unless there was an emergency.
 Several hours later the executive officer walked quietly into the captain's stateroom and roused him. As soon as Mack opened his eyes and saw his executive officer standing over him, he knew something was up.
 "What happened?" Mack asked. "Did you run us aground?"
 But the executive officer was in no mood for humor. "We've got numerous contacts near Swallow Reef, Captain," he said. "I think we found their submarine depot."
 Mack was on his feet and heading back toward the control room before his executive officer finished speaking.
 In the control room, the OOD was examining the plotting tables. Mack glanced over at the OOD, then headed straight for the sonar room and looked at the sonar supervisor. "What have we got?" he asked.
 "Sir, it looks like the abandoned Swallow Reef oil platform is the submarine depot we were sent here to find. So far, we've heard two submarines surface in the area. Both submarines then slowed, heading north. They have since begun to recharge their batteries on all diesefs and we can hear lots of activity going on out there."
 "Do you have any classification on those two that surfaced?" Mack asked.
 The sonar supervisor nodded. "We just picked up the contacts three minutes ago, sir. We've positively identified two submarine contacts, both old Romeos. But there might be more of them out there."
 This situation was exactly what Mack had hoped to avoid. He had detected a major submarine operation at Swallow Reef, but he had no permission to attack the targets. He wasn't even sure that his Mk 48s could do a job that was best suited to Tomahawks.
 Thinking it over, examining the few possibilities available to him, Mack came up with a plan. It might not have been on the same level of innovation and inspiration as some of his earlier ideas, but it was the only thing that occurred to him.
 He knew that Cheyenne would eventually be in position to attack both submarines, now designated Masters 49 and 50. He also assumed that there were probably more than two submarines rearming and refueling at this depot. What Mack wanted to do was to attack the depot itself and put it out of commission.
 The question was—in addition to whether or not Mack and Cheyenne could pull it off—would CTF 74 grant him such leeway? Mack was pretty sure that the answer would be no, but just in case he called his combat systems officer and his communicator in for a meeting in the wardroom.
 "Would it be possible," the captain asked the combat systems officer, "to destroy that Chinese depot by hitting them with Mk 48s?"
 The combat systems officer scratched his head before looking up at Mack. "I guess we could do it, sir. The oil platform acts as shelter to the submarines beneath it and we could target those submarines. That would, at the very least, severely disrupt operations at the mini-base." He paused and looked at Mack. "But, sir," he went on, "have we been granted permission to attack the platform and the submarines in it?"
 "Not yet," Mack said, glad that his officers were both involved and aware of what Cheyenne's orders were. Turning to the communicator, he added, "Which is where you come in. I want you to draft a message to CTF 74, tell him what we've found, and request permission to engage the submarines in the depot and hopefully bring down the entire platform."
 "Yes, sir," the two officers replied. They were dismissed and both went about their work. The combat systems officer went to the quartermaster to find the best
 locations from which they could launch their attack. The communicator went straight to the radio room.
 "Make preparations to come to periscope depth," Mack said to the OOD.
 "Make preparations to come to periscope depth, aye, sir."
 Minutes later, Cheyenne was brought from two hundred feet to periscope depth. Once the safety sweep revealed no surface contacts, the radio communications mast was quickly raised, and the message sent and receipted for. Several minutes later, after an extremely rapid response from CTF 74, the mast was lowered and the captain entered the radio room, one of the most highly classified places on the submarine.
 The radio room dealt with encrypting devices and top-secret messages, and the message Cheyenne had just received was no exception. As Mack entered, the communicator handed him a computer printout.
 Mack glanced at the message, paused, and then read it again.
 USS INDEPENDENCE UNDER HEAVY CHINESE AIR ATTACK. AIRCRAFT WILL BE UNABLE TO ASSIST CHEYENNE IN DESTRUCTION OF OIL PLATFORM/SUBMARINE DEPOT. PERMISSION GRANTED TO DESTROY SWALLOW REEF SUBMARINE DEPOT.
 The executive officer came in just as Mack was finishing reading the message for the second time. The executive officer had completed a tour of the engineering spaces with the engineer officer. "The combat systems officer told me what's going on," he said. "Anything I can help with?"
 Mack showed him the message, and then the two of them headed for die wardroom to work out the plan for attacking the Chinese submarine depot. When they had reached an agreement on the best plan of attack, Mack instructed the executive officer to provide the appropriate
 details to all the areas of the ship that would play a part in the execution of the operation.
 The plan they had come up with was for Cheyenne to head north at a speed of eight knots. Once they were past Royal Charlotte Reef, and as soon as they came within 35,000 yards west of the depot, they would slow to five knots and approach the depot quietly at a depth of one hundred feet. That depth would allow the top of Cheyenne's sail to clear any of the shallow draft vessels that might be loitering overhead. They would listen for any signs of submarine or surface ship activity and then they would close in for the kill.
 Once they were within 30,000 yards of the transformed oil rig they would launch eight Mk 48s at the vessels being refitted under the platform. They would then head southeast until they had exited the waters of the Spratly Islands. Once clear, they would proceed northeast along the one hundred fathom curve until they were ready to re-enter the islands chain and investigate their fourth search area—Carnatic Reef.
 That was the plan. Now it was up to Mack, his officers, and the crew to execute it.
 With battle stations once again manned, Cheyenne slowed to five knots as they approached weapons range.
 "Conn, sonar, we just detected two Huangfen missile patrol boats," the sonar supervisor said. 'They sailed underneath the depot platform and pulled in next to the Romeos. I'll bet they're refueling, sir."
 "Sonar, conn, anything else? Any other surface ships in the area?" asked the captain.
 "Conn, sonar, it's hard to tell. This shallow water has turned our passive sonar inside out. Sometimes it gives us what we want. Other times it's anyone's guess,"
 "Sonar, conn, aye," Mack said. He thought for a moment, then said, "Okay, how long until we are in firing
 position?"
 The fire-control coordinator answered him. "It should
 be three more minutes, Captain."
 Tubes one and two were readied for firing. Because
 they had the exact location of the noisy Romeos, and because the Romeos were directly below the platform, they also had the exact location of the platform. They would launch all eight Mk 48s in succession as rapidly as possible, cutting the wires immediately after they had left the tubes. This left t