Their services would not be necessary tonight, nor the rest of the deployment. They were heading home to Bangor, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest, following a hectic deployment through the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean and Black Sea. Tonight’s journey to periscope depth was a welcome reprieve from the tense forays over the last month as Russia invaded Ukraine and Lithuania, and Michigan battled Russian frigates and launched Tomahawk missiles against America’s adversary.
As Michigan rose toward periscope depth, Bradley couldn’t see the submarine’s Commanding Officer in the darkness, but he felt his presence. Sitting on the starboard side of the Conn monitoring his submarine’s ascent was Captain Murray Wilson, the most senior captain in the Submarine Force. Having previously commanded the fast attack submarine USS Buffalo, Michigan was his second command.
Bradley continued his circular sweeps, peering up through the black water, spotting a small wavering disk of light in the distance; the moon’s blue-white reflection on the ocean’s surface. He gradually tilted the scope optics down toward the horizon. As the Dive called out eight-zero feet, the scope broke through the water’s surface and Bradley commenced his circular sweeps, searching for nearby contacts: quiet warships or deep draft merchants bearing down on Michigan as it glided slowly at periscope depth.
After completing his search, Bradley called out the report everyone in Control was hoping for. “No close contacts!”
Conversation in Control resumed, and Radio’s report over the speakers broke the subdued conversations. “Conn, Radio. Download in progress.”
Navigation followed with the expected report, “Satellite fix received.”
Bradley acknowledged Radio and Nav Center, then after the usual two-minute wait, Radio confirmed Michigan had downloaded the latest round of naval messages. “Conn, Radio. Download complete.”
They had accomplished the two objectives for their trip to periscope depth, so Bradley ordered Michigan back to the safety of the ocean depths.
“All stations, Conn. Going deep. Helm, ahead two-thirds. Dive, make your depth two hundred feet.” Michigan tilted downward, leaving periscope depth behind. “Scope’s under,” Bradley announced, then reached up and rotated the periscope ring, lowering the scope back into its well.
The lights in Control flicked on, shifting to Rig for Gray, allowing everyone’s eyes to adjust, then shifted to White. As Michigan leveled off at two hundred feet, a radioman entered Control, message board in hand, delivering the clipboard to the submarine’s Commanding Officer. Wilson flipped through the messages, reading two in detail.
When he finished, he ordered Bradley, “Have the Nav and Commander McNeil meet me in the Battle Management Center.”
Bradley acknowledged and dispatched the Messenger of the Watch while Wilson entered the Battle Management Center behind the Control Room. The former Navigation Center had been transformed during Michigan’s conversion from ballistic to guided missile submarine. It was now crammed with twenty-five multipurpose consoles, each with two color displays, one atop the other, plus several sixty-inch plasma screens mounted on the bulkheads. The ship’s Navigator, Lieutenant Charlie Eaton, was the first to arrive, followed by Commander John McNeil, in charge of the SEAL detachment aboard Michigan.
“Change in plans,” Wilson announced, handing the message board to McNeil. “Home is going to have to wait a while longer. We’ve been diverted for a scavenger hunt.” When McNeil finished reading the message, Wilson asked, “Do you have what you need to retrieve the torpedo?”
“Shouldn’t be a problem,” McNeil answered. “We have buoyancy devices for the heavier weapons. How are we going to find the torpedo, though?”
“If its end-of-run pinger is still working when we get there, it should be easy. We’ll pick it up on Sonar. If not, we won’t find it.”
Wilson turned to his Navigator. “We’ve also received our new waterspace message. They’re routing us into the Barents Sea by the most direct path.”
A perplexed expression formed on the Navigator’s face. Michigan was in the Pacific Ocean, and the most direct path to the Barents Sea was over the top of the world, under the polar ice cap. “They’re routing us under the ice?”
“Yep,” Wilson replied. “Our new track turns us north in an hour.”
CHAPTER 5
THE BERING STRAIT
Captain Wilson leaned over the navigation plot in Control as USS Michigan approached the hazardous Marginal Ice Zone. At the fringe of the polar ice cap, wave action and ocean swells broke off edges of the ice floes, creating a zone of broken ice extending outward over a hundred miles. However, it wasn’t the ice floating on the surface that concerned Wilson. It was the random icebergs scattered throughout the Marginal Ice Zone. Most of the icebergs were small, but the larger ones descended several hundred feet, occasionally deep enough to ground on the bottom of the shallow Bering Strait.
Wilson called to Lieutenant Jeff Porteous. “Officer of the Deck, set the Arctic Routine.”
By setting the Arctic Routine, Wilson had ordered additional sonar consoles manned and the Deck and Conn split, with Wilson and the submarine’s Executive Officer alternating as the Conning Officer. The additional watchstanders arrived and Wilson relieved Porteous of the Conn, announcing the turnover to watchstanders in Control.
“The Captain has the Conn. Lieutenant Porteous retains the Deck.”
The Quartermaster acknowledged and continued preparations for entering the Marginal Ice Zone. He energized the submarine’s topsounder and fathometer. The topsounder would send sonar pings up from one of four hydrophones mounted on top of Michigan’s hulclass="underline" two on the sail and one each on the bow and stern. The topsounder would detect ice above and provide warning if an ice keel descended toward them. To help avoid the occasional iceberg, Michigan would run deep, closer to the bottom than usual, using the fathometer to ensure they didn’t run aground.
One of the sonar watchstanders energized Michigan’s High Frequency Array, the forward-looking under-ice sonar mounted in the front of the sail. The array sent pulses out in front of the submarine and displayed the objects ahead as colored blotches. Different colors represented the intensity of the sonar return, with red indicating a large, deep, or dense formation.
Unfortunately, ice-detection sonars were not very good at determining the depth of the object, which is what ultimately mattered. The color of the ice was key. As Michigan closed on the object, shallow ice keels would recede upward and exit the ice-detection beam. As it receded, the color would change from bright red to darker, cooler colors until it faded to black.