But by that time, the helo had positioned itself on the starboard beam of Lenin. Normally, there are two pilots and a systems man to coordinate the search-and-weapons section in the helo, but this time Steve Young had been selected to pilot the craft with his torpedoman flying shotgun. Lenin brought the 76-mm. guns to bear, but the fire-control radar could not isolate the helo. The mount captain put the gun in local control, and his crew began the process of firing short bursts to pinpoint their target.
The first torpedo was released for a straight run at the after section of the ship at a fifteen-foot depth. The helo then shifted its position slightly to direct the next one at the bow. That caused the gun crew to shift their own sights slightly, and allowed that extra second to release the second fish. The helo was in hover. Ensign Young pushed open his door, nodding to the other man to do the same, and together they jumped.
As they came to the surface, the two Americans found their attention divided. The first torpedo had struck about one hundred feet from the stern of Lenin, sending a tower of water skyward. At almost the same time, Lenin's guns found the helo. The 76-mm. shells caused the machine to falter for a moment before it began to dip. Then the Galling guns found their target, tearing it apart before it hit the water. The explosion of the second torpedo, just forward of Lenin's superstructure, riveted their eyes on the big ship. Lenin was definitely heeling to starboard. What they didn't know was that the first fish had exploded inside the after engine room, buckling the giant shafts. Her motion was simply the movement of a ship coasting. Afraid to inflate their life raft yet, they watched fascinated as more secondary explosions racked Lenin's hull. She was beyond saving.
In Lenin's flag plot Alex Kupinsky felt the torpedoes through the deck before the sound ever reached him. He no longer was in contact with Captain Scherensky, and he did not know where the torpedoes had come from. He simply knew that today he and David had exchanged carriers.
It was too dangerous for Rezvy to put a line over to Lenin. She stood off a few hundred yards and put her whaleboat in the water, Alex Kupinsky departed his flagship in the same manner as David Charles. He leaped from the lowest non-burning deck into the Indian Ocean, inflating his life preserver as he surfaced. The whaleboat was quickly beside him, and Admiral Kupinsky was hauled aboard just as soaking wet as Admiral Charles had been. As the boat made a wide turn away from the burning ship, it was Alex Kupinsky who sighted the two men in the water and directed the boat to them, assuming they were Soviet sailors. It was also Alex who was the first to offer a hand to the youth, whom, he noted immediately, was wearing American pilot's gear.
The ensign had no idea who the man was who had offered him a helping hand, just that he had seen him recovered from the water also. In English, Alex inquired, "Where is your aircraft?"
"Shot down."
"You are from the Nimitz?" "U.S.S. Capodanno." The Admiral shook his head curiously. "I do not know that ship."
"FF — 1093."
"A frigate?" Curiously, he asked, "You are a helicopter pilot, out here?"
The ensign simply nodded.
"What was your mission before you were shot down?"
Again no answer. The young man simply pointed at Lenin, now dead in the water, smoke pouring from every section of the ship.
"Those torpedoes were yours?" Kupinsky asked in awe.
The ensign's head again bobbed up and down a few times, agreeing with the Russian's questions.
Kupinsky turned to Svedrov. "We have both learned something today, my friend. That boy flies American helicopters off the fantails of those little frigates. Today, Lenin was sunk by a tiny helicopter." He halted his thoughts momentarily, then looked back to his Chief of Staff. "Just as we sunk their capital ship with tiny little boats, they sunk Lenin with a helicopter."
They were speaking in Russian, and the ensign had no idea what they were saying or who they were. Then the older of the two turned back, pointed at him, and said something else before taking a seat in the bow of the boat. He thought perhaps they were sealing his fate, but what Admiral Kupinsky had said was, "See that they are well taken care of, Svedrov. They are both brave men, just as our small-boat captains were."
The midday BBC report in London was somber.
Today, [the commentator began] has been a day of carnage in the Indian Ocean. Two powerful task forces, both with greater firepower than the world has ever seen, confronted each other head on. The reasons for this sea battle are as yet uncertain. Claims and counterclaims from Washington and Moscow have fallen on deaf ears at the U.N. Both countries have been implored by the Secretary General of the U.N. to impose a cease-fire. The earlier claims by the Party Secretary at the Kremlin yesterday concerning land-based American offensive weapons in the Indian Ocean have been denied in Washington. While the President has said little, the Secretary of State, Thomas Jasperson, has stated unequivocally that the island of Islas Piedras is a Trident supply base only, and that the missile system that has been established on the island is only for security of those countries in the Indian Ocean sphere who wish an umbrella of security to allow them to go about their ways peaceably. The Soviets still claim the island's missile system has not yet been completed and that their intentions are to halt aggression in the Third World, before the United States forces these poor countries into an untenable position. Lack of communications between the two countries, apparently as a result of satellite destruction by both sides, has brought all members of the U.N. to beg for a ceasefire. The Secretary General claims that only world pressure on the two superpowers will avoid many other countries being drawn into a world war as a result of treaty obligations.…
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
There was absolute silence in the Oval Office. They had been entranced by the words of the newscaster who stared back out of the screen, seemingly at each of them. The President and the men about him were visibly tired, their faces drawn, pouches expanding under their eyes.
… and we still have no direct statement from the White House concerning this apparent slaughter of American sailors in the Indian Ocean. The Pentagon remains quiet also. It is known that the Chief of Naval Operations has remained with the President and that Secretary of State Jasperson has been commuting between the White House and the office of an Assistant Chief of Naval Operations.
The information that has come from the Indian Ocean remains spotty at best. No commercial flights have been allowed over the area. Available reports have come from merchant shipping already in that part of the ocean. They indicate that sporadic aerial duels, unlike anything since World War II, have taken place with heavy losses on both sides. Huge forces of American and Soviet military ships have maneuvered back and forth between the Seychelle Islands to the east and the Maldives to the north, with the controversial Islas Piedras as a pivot point. These reports also indicate vast amounts of wreckage and oil in the ocean and some downed pilots from both nations have been picked up, although none of them have as yet been able to explain satisfactorily what is happening.
To this reporter, it seems time that the American people were given a report by the President they elected. Not since the Battle of Leyte Gulf in October 1944 have there been any naval forces of this magnitude in opposition to each other. From what we can gather, perhaps there has never been such loss of American fighting men — and for a reason that none of us knows.…