“That’s torn it.” muttered his Number One.
“It helps with our solution though.”
The Xia’s helm went back over as soon as she detected the Hood. She came around to a course leading directly away from the Royal Navy submarine.
“Captain, we have solutions on both vessels.”
He nodded, pausing for a moment to question his own tactics before deciding that they were indeed correct.
“Bring us up to fifteen knots on a heading of zero one eight, assign one and two to the Chuntian, three and four to the Xia but do not cut the wires on three and four, we’ll guide as long as we can, however, reload one and two with Spearfish straight away.” In the background his orders were repeated aloud and he stood calmly, allowing the vessel to respond as ordered.
The deck tilted beneath his feet before levelling as the required heading was achieved.
“Captain, heading is now zero one eight at fifteen knots.”
“Very good, flood one through four, open outer doors and shoot.”
As soon as the weapons were away he turned his attention towards the engagement between the Chuntian and the Tucson, the US vessel was defensive and had launched two weapons at the Chinese vessel whilst running from the torpedoes that were homing on them. The Tucson’s weapons were not under guidance from the weapons operators, she had cut the wires and reloaded straight away so the weapons were pinging and therefore visible to the enemy vessel. It is far easier to avoid a threat you can see than one you cannot, as the case would have been had operators been guiding the weapon.
HMS Hood would guide her weapons in using the information available to the Royal Navy weapons operators, and although her captain doubted they could steer them all the way unseen it was the best he could do for the American vessel at present.
Ahead of them the Xia was still building speed when she released a whole series of noisemakers, the sound of her screw disappeared as the Hood’s sonar’s were drenched with the counter measures masking sound.
As the information on the boomers movements tailed off to nothingness the captain moved from the weapons operator’s positions to that of the sonar department.
“What’s she doing?”
Several minutes had now elapsed since the Xia had launched the first noisemaker and that device had just ceased to produce gas bubbles, it was now sinking silently toward the distant ocean floor.
“Sorry sir, too much racket.” The operator made some fine adjustments but then gave a half shake of the head.
“Nothing at all, she’s kept the noisemakers between us to hide, sir.”
That wasn’t too smart thought the captain, carrying on in a straight line wasn’t hiding because they knew her heading, unless…
“Come right to One Three Zero…standby countermeasures!”
The weapons officers turned in his seat to pose a question. “A hard turn might cut the wires captain, shall I do that anyway?”
“No, not at present Gavin, I am actually trying to prevent that from becoming necessary.”
His weapons officer did not understand, but then a sonar operator enlightened everyone except the captain who had already guessed correctly.
“TorpedoTorpedoTorpedo…high speed screws bearing zero one two. Two torpedoes just emerging from the bubble cloud!”
“Launch counter measures…bring us up to two hundred feet but keep this heading.” The captain looked over at his weapons officer who was wondering just how his captain had known the Chinese had launched weapons directly back the way they had come.
“It’s what I would have done in his shoes, Gavin.”
With Hood heading towards the noisy surface of the ocean the Chinese torpedoes went for the Hood’s noisemakers.
Hood’s own torpedoes stayed under their operators control as they entered the bubble cloud created by the Xia’s counter measure, the operators used the torpedoes as an extension of their hydrophones although the Spearfish systems were nowhere as sensitive as the submarines sensors. They waited in anticipation of regaining contact with the Chinese ballistic missile submarine but as the torpedoes emerged out of the bubbles into clear water once more they only detected another cloud of bubbles ahead.
“What speed was the Xia making when contact was lost?” the captain enquired.
“Twenty four knots, sir.” His Number One stated. “There was no indication that she was slowing or had finished accelerating.”
“Humph!” The captain exclaimed disparagingly.
“Our intelligence sources stated her top speed was only twenty two knots.”
The Hood was still making fifteen knots, a long way from her best speed but any faster would certainly ensure the control wires to the Spearfish would break.
“She’s drawing away captain, do we increase speed?”
With a shake of the head the captain dismissed the idea.
“I think perhaps that is what he wants.” Turning to the helmsmen he gave brief instructions.
“Come left again to Zero One Eight but maintain this depth and speed.” He was trying to put himself in the opposing captain’s head, trying to predict where the boomer would be in five minutes time but he couldn’t allow himself to get tunnel vision. “Sonar?”
“Yes, captain?”
“What’s going on with the Tucson and Chuntian?”
“Captain the Chuntian is bearing three one one, heading two eight four at twenty four knots, range six thousand three hundred metres, depth two four five, …the Tucson bearing three five zero, heading zero at thirty one knots, range twelve thousand, depth four zero zero sir.”
That was good, the Chinese attack submarine was running from the Spearfish but she would now know that her charge was in peril from the Hood.
The commanding officer of Her Majesty’s Submarine Hood had an easier job of putting himself in the place of the Chuntian’s captain, he’d be getting out of the way of the Spearfish and then coming after the Royal Navy submarine with all guns blazing.
“Are one and two reloaded?”
His weapons officer nodded and replied. “Yes sir, thirty seconds ago.”
It was another minute before their torpedoes entered the bubble cloud created by the last series of noisemakers the Xia had dumped in its wake, but this time on passing through to the other side the operators could hear distinct propeller noises, as blades churned away at the ocean at the same depth and heading as previously detected.
“Contact re-established captain, she’s making turns for twenty seven knots, bearing zero one eight, heading same, range four thousand two hundred!”
The captain felt a flush of relief; an awful doubt had existed in his gut that the big missile boat would simply have vanished. He glanced at the board, the range to the target that had been given was from torpedo number one and he added the distance from Hood to that weapon, six thousand nine hundred metres.
“Weapons, go active on both torpedoes, accelerate them and cut the wires.”
“Aye aye sir, going active on weapons one and two…accelerating and cutting the wires…closing bow doors for reload of tubes three and four captain.”
“Very good…keep this heading and give me thirty four knots for two minutes.”
“Aye sir, maintaining heading of zero one eight and making turns for thirty four knots for two minutes.”