The conversation turned to typical topics of football and basketball standings, family stories, and movies. Hanna and Schneider seemed to be eating faster than normal. Tom had been there longer and noticed they were finishing their meal at the same time he was. Tom was about to say something about their unusually fast eating when the captain came on the intercom.
“This is the Captain. We just received orders from CNO to deploy Cutlass at 2300 hours. We are about two and a half hours to launch point. Bravo members check with your team leader and prepare for deployment.”
Tom jumped up from the mess table and briefly stared at Hanna and Schneider but didn’t say anything. Hanna broke the uncomfortable silence by asking, “You guys ready?”
Tom replied, “We’ve been ready.” Tom left their table to return his tray while Hanna took a last bite of mashed potatoes. When Wade looked up, Tom had turned back from the hatch waving his hand for Hanna to come over to him.
He asked Hanna, “Look, can you do me a favor? We can’t deploy with any personal effects. I have this picture of my wife Cheryl. I wrote her phone number on the back. When you get onshore would you please give her a call? You have been a friend and I want her to know that we were shipmates and you saw me just before I deployed — just in case anything goes wrong. It’s kind of code between us — she’ll understand.”
Hanna said, “Sure, I’ll see you onshore when all this is over.”
Wade put the picture in his shirt pocket and returned to the control room with Schneider. Captain Hodges and XO Benson were discussing deployment procedures. The captain looked up when he saw Hanna and Schneider, “You guys can get some shut eye now, be back here at 2200 hours. We’ll call you if we need you before.”
Both replied “Yes, sir,” and went back to their respective bunks in different parts of the boat. Hanna laid in his bunk thinking about the SEAL Team Bravo and their mission. He didn’t know exactly what their mission was except that Tom had mentioned they were meeting up with a Ranger team on shore.
All Hanna knew was they had a hell of a lot of what looked liked explosives, underwater gear, and weapons going with them. He also knew these guys were tough and had rehearsed their departure procedures at least three times a day and several times live at sea. Hanna thought these guys knew their stuff and hoped they would make it.
Hanna looked at the picture that Tom had given him. Cheryl was beautiful. He wondered what it must be like being married and in this situation. Tom told him they had been married eight months and were expecting their first child. Hanna’s heart was pounding as he thought about what Tom would be going through. He tried to lay back and get some sleep, but that was not going to happen.
Hanna and Schneider arrived in the control room five minutes early and reported. The captain said, “Get your glasses and stand by.” Lookout binoculars kept in a control room cabinet were passed to the two lookouts. The captain said, “Hanna take the starboard, and Schneider take the port.” The captain turned to the XO, “Are we close, Charlie?”
Benson replied, “We’re almost there” and ordered the helmsman to turn two degrees starboard.
The captain, looking at his watch, asked for a sonar report.
The sonar operator replied, “All clear, sir, both screens.”
A few seconds later the captain said, “Charlie, let’s bring her to periscope depth; I want to take a look around.”
The XO responded by giving the order to bring the boat to periscope depth at a five degree bow angle. Within 30 seconds the XO said, “At depth, sir.”
The captain ordered, “Up periscope,” and turned his hat around to view the periscope optics. The captain rotated in a slow 360 degree turn and asked for sonar and radar readings.
The operators indicated, “All clear, sir, both screens”.
After he carefully viewed the surface, the captain commented, “We have a good overcast night with no moonlight. It’s like a tar pit out there.” Then he asked, “What’s our time, Charlie?”
The XO replied, “We are on coordinates now, 20 minutes early, sir.”
The captain grabbed the intercom mike and said, “This is the Captain, Bravo Team. We are on coordinates getting ready to surface. The XO will give you the signal when we’re on the surface. Report your readiness to deploy.”
He said to the XO, “Give me a low profile on the surface, like we discussed.” He questioned, “Lookouts ready? I want sonar and radar readings, short bursts, every twenty seconds.”
The operators acknowledged.
The captain replied, “Keep your signals very short. I don’t want to telegraph our arrival.”
The operators replied “Aye sir” confirming the captain’s order. Hanna and Schneider tucked their binoculars in their shirts as standard procedure so they wouldn’t be hit going up the ladder and through the hatch. When the hatch is opened sometimes the captain wants to go up first and other times he wants the lookouts to precede him. The boat surfaced, and the XO opened the hatch, bringing a small amount of sea water into the control room. The captain said, “Lookouts above.”
Hanna went first and assumed his position on the starboard side followed by Schneider on the port side. The lookouts immediately started searching the horizon as they had been trained and done many times before. The captain came right behind the lookouts and assumed his position in the center of the conning tower below them. He turned to the lookouts and said, “I want full 180 degree sweeps from the hull to the horizon and the air space above. Call out any floating objects. We may have mines in the area.”
Both replied confirming the order. Each lookout carefully searched the ocean from the hull to the horizon in ten degree increments, adjusting their binoculars as they moved to different distances. While the lookouts were scanning, the captain picked up the com mike and said, “Charlie, I need more air under us. We have a two foot chop.” The captain wanted the lowest possible surface profile, but not at the expense of compromising the deployment.
The XO knew what the captain needed and immediately ordered seawater expelled from the boat’s diving tanks. The vessel rose a little higher in the water.
The captain said, “We’re fine now, Charlie.” He asked, “Are the lookouts clear?”
Both replied “All clear, sir.” as they continued their visual search pattern.
Next the captain asked, “Charlie, is Bravo ready to deploy?”
The XO replied, “Yes, sir.”
The captain said, “Lights out in compartments below deployment hatches.”
Charlie replied, “Yes, sir.”
The captain said, “Bravo can deploy when ready; mark our time.”
While maintaining his sweeps of the horizon, Hanna couldn’t help but notice the SEAL Team in action on the deck below him. He kept one eye in the binoculars and the other on what was going on below. Two hatches quietly opened, one forward and one midship. Two SEAL Team members dressed in black wet suits, their heads covered with blackened faces and wearing black gloves, appeared on deck. The dark overcast night provided a small reflection of light off the shiny diving suits. The two team members each carried a large package with a black compressed air canister. They did not run but moved in a hurried walk.
The team members positioned themselves at two previously designated places on deck and began unfolding their black packages. Air canisters were released and the packages expanded into two black rubberized inflatable boats. When the boats were filled, they were secured to the hull at predetermined locations. A third inflatable was passed to the men on deck and its canister released. As the three inflatables took their positions, additional men appeared on deck. Equipment boxes were passed through the hatch and placed at predetermined specific locations on deck in a choreographed ritual.