Rick Campbell
Ice Station Nautilus
To Lynne — our thirty-year journey together has been amazing. I couldn’t have chosen a better partner.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Many thanks are due to those who helped me write and publish this noveclass="underline"
First and foremost, to my editor, Keith Kahla, for his exceptional insight and recommendations to make Ice Station Nautilus better. To others at St. Martin’s Press — Hannah Braaten, Justin Velella, and Paul Hochman, who I relied upon in many ways as Ice Station Nautilus progressed toward publication. And finally, thanks again to Sally Richardson and George Witte for making this book possible.
To those who helped me get the details in Ice Station Nautilus right: to Navy Captain Tom Monroe, former Commanding Officer of PMS 391, Escape and Rescue Program Office, along with his deputy, Dave Wunder, who walked me through the submarine search and rescue process. To Commander Andrew Kimsey and Lieutenant Commander Jonathon Gibbs, Commanding Officer and Engineer Officer of the Undersea Rescue Command, who showed me the submarine rescue equipment and explained its operation.
To U.S. Navy public affairs officers Lieutenant Matthew Stroup, Lieutenant Ryan de Vera, Colleen O’Rourke, Brie Lang, Olivia Logan, and Stan Weakley, who arranged the meetings with the above organizations and assisted getting those sections of Ice Station Nautilus reviewed by the appropriate subject matter experts.
To Director Larry Estrada and ice pilot Howard Reese at the Arctic Submarine Laboratory, for walking me through Arctic ice camp operations and the unique differences in submarine operations while in the Marginal Ice Zone and under the polar ice cap.
To Lieutenant Commander Stephen and Nicole Hunt, for helping translate legacy submarine operations into how Virginia class submarines operate, as well as explaining the hardware differences between Virginia class and older submarines.
And finally, to the men and women who have served in our armed services. My heart and thoughts will always be with you.
I hope you enjoy Ice Station Nautilus!
MAIN CHARACTERS
CHRISTINE O’CONNOR, national security advisor
STEVE BRACKMAN (Captain), senior military aide
PAUL TOLBERT (Commander), Commanding Officer
MURRAY WILSON (Captain), Commanding Officer
JOHN MCNEIL (Commander), SEAL team commander
JAKE HARRISON (Lieutenant), SEAL platoon officer-in-charge
NED STEEL (Commander), Commanding Officer
PETER TARBOTTOM, lead contractor for Phoenix International
VANCE VERBECK, technical director
PAUL LEONE, ice pilot
YURI KALININ, president
BORIS CHERNOV, minister of defense
GEORGIY IVANOV (Fleet Admiral), Commander-in-Chief, Russian Navy
OLEG LIPOVSKY (Admiral), Commander, Northern Fleet
NICHOLAI STEPANOV (Captain First Rank), Commanding Officer
MATVEY BACZEWSKI (Captain Second Rank), Commanding Officer
JOSEF BUFFANOV (Captain Second Rank), Commanding Officer
JULIUS RAILA, Chief of Search and Rescue Services
JOSEF KLOKOV (Captain First Rank), Commanding Officer
GLEB LEONOV (Captain Second Rank), Executive Officer
PROLOGUE
“Torpedo in the water, bearing two-five-zero!”
Captain Murray Wilson acknowledged Sonar’s report, then examined the geographic display on the nearest combat control console. A red bearing line appeared, radiating from Sierra eight-five, forty degrees off the port bow. He needed to turn away.
“Helm, ahead flank. Right full rudder, steady course three-four-zero. Launch countermeasure.”
The Helm rang up ahead flank and twisted his yoke to right full, and the Officer of the Deck launched one of Michigan’s decoys. Wilson turned his attention to getting a torpedo into the water. His crew was still at Firing Point Procedures, but his Executive Officer hadn’t determined an adequate target solution. With Michigan increasing to ahead flank, they would likely lose Sierra eight-five due to the turbulent flow of water across Michigan’s sensors. They needed to launch a torpedo soon.
Wilson stepped from the Conn and stopped beside his Executive Officer, examining all three consoles. With the frequent maneuvering by both submarines, the target solutions were all over the place, failing to converge on a similar course, speed, and range. As Wilson evaluated his options, he was interrupted by another announcement by the Sonar Supervisor.
“Torpedo in the water, bearing two-four-five!”
A purple bearing line appeared on the geographic display. Their adversary had launched a second torpedo. Wilson responded immediately.
“Check fire. Quick Reaction Firing, Sierra eight-five, tube One.”
Wilson canceled their normal torpedo firing process, implementing a more urgent version that forced his Executive Officer to send his best solution to the torpedo immediately.
Lieutenant Commander Sparks shifted his gaze between the three consoles, then tapped one of the fire control technicians on the shoulder. “Promote to Master.”
Sparks announced, “Solution ready.”
The Weapons Officer followed up, “Weapon ready.”
“Ship ready,” the Officer of the Deck reported.
“Shoot on generated bearings,” Wilson ordered.
Wilson listened to the whirr of the submarine’s ejection pump impulsing the torpedo from the tube. Inside the sonar shack, the sonar techs monitored the status of their outgoing weapon.
“Own ship’s unit is in the water, running normally.”
“Fuel crossover achieved.”
“Turning to preset gyro course.”
Michigan’s torpedo was headed toward its target.
Wilson examined the red and purple lines on the geographic display, with new lines appearing every ten seconds. The red torpedo bearings were marching slowly forward, which eased Wilson’s concern until he evaluated the purple lines. The bearing to the second torpedo remained constant. The Russian captain had fired a torpedo salvo, with a lead torpedo fired slightly ahead of Michigan and a lag torpedo fired behind. When Wilson turned away, he had unwittingly put Michigan on an intercept course with the second torpedo.
“Helm, right standard rudder, steady course zero-seven-zero. Launch countermeasure.”
Michigan turned toward the east as the Officer of the Deck launched another torpedo decoy. Wilson watched intently as the second torpedo closed on Michigan.