“Control room, sonar…explosion bearing one nine seven, weapon four has destroyed the decoy…captain please be advised the weapons from the Xia appear to be steering independently on a heading of zero three zero, and we are currently outside of their detection sphere.”
That at least was some good news; they would not have to risk losing contact in manoeuvring to avoid the Xia’s torpedoes.
“TorpedoTorpedoTorpedo…two weapons in the water bearing three one zero, range seven five zero zero, heading one six five, speed forty five knots…Chuntian has opened fire on us captain.”
The captain acknowledged the last report before commenting.
“If he was trying to put us off our stroke he’s left it a bit late, and travelling at that speed they will have precious little fuel left when they get close.” There was no way that the Chinese attack submarines weapons could influence the outcome now he thought, but they would eat up the intervening distance so he would have to keep a close eye on them.
“Captain, permission to accelerate weapon three and cut the wire?”
“Granted.”
The Xia began to reverse its turn once more but feinted, turning even harder to starboard and pumping out noisemakers as fast as it could but the Spearfish was too close for them to have generated enough sound in time to register on the weapon.
The Hood’s captain watched the plot, the tight turn the boomer was performing and the Spearfish closing at fifty knots, closing until both tracks merged…and then diverged.
“What the…”
“Captain, weapon three has failed, sir.”
That damn red light earlier the captain thought, cursing himself for not cutting the wire at the time and launching another weapon instead, but it was too late now to waste effort in self-recrimination. The Spearfish continued unwaveringly onwards without any attempt to reacquire its target.
Had the captain been alone he would without doubt have lashed out at some inanimate object, but now was not the time or place.
“Aspect change on the Xia, target is now making turns for ten knots, bearing two zero zero, range four nine five zero on a heading of one eight three, depth six eight zero…six seven zero, she’s heading up captain.”
“Captain, Chuntian’s torpedoes have acquired us…impact in two minutes, sir?”
He took a deep breath and dismissed the feeling of unfairness that had briefly invaded his thoughts.
“Thank you…reload tubes three and four with Spearfish, come left to one eight eight and give me turns for twenty knots…standby countermeasures.”
“Aye sir, reloading three and four with Spearfish…heading is now one eight eight…making turns for two zero knots…countermeasures loaded and ready, sir.”
“Captain, wires have broken on one and two…sonar reports weapon two has acquired the Chuntian…Chuntian launching countermeasures and accelerating but maintaining her course and depth.”
The captain felt a tinge of respect for the Chuntian’s captain, his job was to protect the boomer and he was obviously intent on just that. Heading towards a weapon in the vain hope that noisemakers launched into his vessels wake would distract that weapon was a plan doomed to failure. The attack submarine moving at full speed was far noisier than any gas-generating countermeasure could ever be, but despite this the Chinese commander was trying because there were no other options open to him.
The captain looked towards the weapons board, seeing red lights still shining on the status boards for tubes three and four but he made no comment, knowing that the forward torpedo room troops were the best there was and nobody could do it any faster right now.
“Sonar, status on Xia please?”
“Sir, her forward speed is down to five knots but she’s going up fast. Depth now two six zero, course same.”
“Weapons, reload One and Two with Spearfish as soon as you can, and do you still have a solution on the Xia?”
“Yes sir, constantly updating it captain.” His weapons officer looked slightly puzzled.
“Is she trying to hide in the surface noise clutter or something, sir?”
The captain gave him a tight smile but one that was totally devoid of humour as he answered with a question of his own. “Think about it a moment Gavin, what would a boomer’s launch profile be?”
“Er, probably maintaining an even keel, making no headway at a depth of between sixty and one hundred feet, captain…he’s going to launch his missiles, isn’t he sir?”
The captain did not answer because just then the red lights on the board turned to green. “Flood Three and Four, open outer doors, match bearings with the Xia and shoot.”
The torpedoes were launched, and even as they left the tubes every member of the crew heard the first solid Ping from one of the Chuntian’s fast approaching weapons.
“Launch countermeasures, come left to one five zero at thirty knots, make your depth two zero zero!”
“Control room, sonar…explosion at bearing three one eight…very faint breaking up noises.”
On the plot the tracks of the Chuntian and Hood’s Spearfish had met head on. No one cheered.
The Chuntian’s crew may have lost the battle but the Xia could still win the war for them.
Hood’s captain took hold of the back of the coxswain’s seat for support as the deck canted to one side and tilted as the Hood headed up to the surface, turning out of the Chinese torpedoes path as she went.
The Xia reached one hundred feet below the surface and came to a dead stop. Her bow doors opened and she launched three torpedoes towards the Hood, which could plainly be heard now.
In her current stationary state discharging noisemakers would be a futile act, and as she carried no more of the Ghost Lamp decoys it was a race against the Spearfish she could also hear in order to launch her ICBMs.
On a count of three, he and the ships political officer’s keys turned in their respective secure weapons panels and initiated a fully automated launch routine. He knew exactly which target each missile was allotted to and what their place was in the launch sequence. If only one missile was launched before the torpedoes struck, the second attack in history on Pearl Harbour would be a thousand times more devastating than the first.
The vibrations resounded through the big Chinese submarine as the outer doors of the launch tubes opened two by two and seawater began to fill the voids around the missile launch canisters sat within.
Aboard the USS Tucson they listened to the sound of the battle in full knowledge of what it would mean should HMS Hood fail to kill the Xia before she launched. They had tracked every torpedo from each vessel from the time they themselves had outrun the weapons Chuntian had sent after them. Every twist, turn and feint of the combatants had been recorded and plotted. And never before had the crew of the US submarine felt so totally impotent as when the Xia came to a dead stop and opened her launch tube doors.
They heard the distant, double ping of torpedoes own sensors as they acquired and the sound of the weapons propellers become shrill as they drove them at their targets at maximum acceleration. Finally the hammer blows as warheads detonated, followed by the gut churning sound of bulkheads buckling and the sea rushing in.