During the operation, SEAL Team members didn’t speak to each other. All communication was by hand signal. Each member had a flash light on his waist belt with a dark red filter. The lights were being used to read numbers on the side of the equipment boxes and to signal when a task was completed. In less than fifteen minutes, their extensive supplies were on deck being loaded in a particular order into the slightly larger inflatable. The supply inflatable was covered in a dark camouflage pattern material similar to the team’s wetsuit and tied down on all sides. Two SEAL Team members closed the hatches as quietly as they had opened them.
The SEAL Team quickly boarded two of the inflatables, with men aligned behind each other on both sides. They began to paddle into the two-foot chop with the supply inflatable in tow. One SEAL Team member in the lead inflatable turned back and gave a hand signal to the captain.
The captain called out to the XO “Bravo Team deployed; what’s our time, Charlie?”
The XO replied, “27 minutes, sir.”
As Bravo Team pulled away, Hanna looked one last time through his binoculars. He focused along the line where the inflatables left the Prowfish. He saw only a foggy black night where SEAL Team Bravo was once visible. There was no sign of either the team members or the inflatables.
The captain ordered, “Lookouts below.” Glasses were quickly stuffed in the lookouts’ shirts, and Hanna, then Schneider, slid down the ladder into the control room, followed by the captain.
The XO was waiting to close the hatch behind them and declared, “Hatch secured.”
The captain said to Benson, “Take us out the same way we came in, then dive to 160 feet and resume prior course.”
The XO replied, “Aye, sir.” The XO immediately communicated the captain’s orders to the control room crew.
The captain said, “Charlie, send CNO a coded message: ‘Cutlass Deployed Sector 21,’ and our deployment time.”
“Yes, sir.”
The XO asked the captain, “How did it go up there?”
“Smooth as silk. We had good overhead cover, no moon, and we were on time.”
The captain continued, “That SEAL Team has enough ordinance to blow up half of Cuba. I think they’re going to stash the hot stuff tonight and meet up with a Ranger Team and await orders. It’s tense out there; you can feel it in the air. Something big is going to happen.” He went on, “Let’s recharge batteries after we clear the area between 0100 and 0400 hours while we still have this overhead cover. After that we go hunting for our Russian Target.”
Hanna returned to his bunk and reflected on the operation he had just witnessed. He looked at Cheryl’s picture again and felt concern for his friend Tom as he drifted off to sleep.
28
A couple of days after deploying SEAL Team Bravo for Operation Cutlass, life on board the Prowfish settled into a normal routine. Captain Hodges was following his search pattern according to intercept coordinates and orders given by Command. Hanna was about halfway into his watch when the sonar operator in the compartment behind him spoke out, “Captain, I have a sonar contact bearing 135 at 9,200 yards.”
The captain, who was in discussion with the XO about coordinates, stopped in mid-sentence and said, “Give me a broad band reading, and put the readings through the analyzer.”
The sonar operator confirmed and put the reading through the analyzer, which applied algorithms to the signal, providing much more detail. The resulting signal breakdown was displayed in several different graphic formats before him on two screens. The operator said, “Captain, this looks strange. You’d better come have a look, sir.”
Hodges replied, “I’m on my way,” as he headed to the sonar room. He and the sonar operator crammed in the small operator’s room for several minutes before the Captain commented, “This is very interesting. Call the XO over.”
Benson came over and also jammed into the already crowded sonar room. Hodges and Benson discussed several displays. Benson pointed at the screen and suggested, “If we change course to this direction we may be able to get a broadside reading.”
The captain agreed, and the XO gave the new order for a course correction to Hanna who immediately complied. The Captain also ordered the engine room to slow speed. For now, the captain was content to stay at long range and collect sonar readings from several angles.
At one point, the captain said, “I think this may be our Target. It’s not clear what she’s doing right now.”
The XO responded, “Do you think she can see us?”
“I don’t think so at this distance. She’s not acting like she does, and I don’t think the Russians have equipment with this range. For now, let’s just take our readings from a distance. As soon as we know more, we’ll send a message to CNO and see what they want us to do.”
After several more course changes and sonar readings, Wade finished his watch and was ready to head for the mess. His replacement assumed his helmsmen’s position and started his duty watch. As Hanna was leaving the control room, the captain told him, “When you finish chow come back here and check in with me, I’m working on something.”
Hanna replied, “Yes, sir.”
After his meal, Hanna returned and the captain explained, “Charlie and I are talking about getting closer to the Target, but I don’t want to do that until we get more sonar images from this distance. I’d like you to help the XO plot some of these approach angles so I have a better feel for our options. We have a number of ideas, but we want to first see if the target continues in the same direction for the next 4 hours.” He continued, “Why don’t you get some sleep and meet the XO here at 1300.”
Hanna replied, “Yes, sir,” and retired to his bunk and soon fell asleep.
Hanna was fresh when he met Officer Benson at the designated time. Benson explained, “The Target changed its pattern over the last four hours, and we’re trying to figure out if this is a new pattern or a variant of the old one.”
He showed Hanna the plotted patterns.
Hanna asked, “May I comment, sir?”
XO said, “Surely.”
“I think it is a variant of the old pattern, sir. You see the tail in this early pattern and the one here. I think they have just extended this tail for some reason,” he said, pointing at the chart.
The XO considered Hanna’s thoughts. “You may be right. Our next move will be to get closer for readings and see if we can find the Target’s sonar range, but we want to keep enough distance between us to stay out of effective torpedo range.”
The XO continued, “Assuming the Target maintains the same pattern, we can get 1,000 yards closer at this point. If we beat her to this spot we can run silent and wait for her to pass our stopping point,” pointing to one of the charts.
The XO asked, “Can you plot that scenario Hanna?”
“Yes, sir.”
The XO said, “I need direction, speed, depth, and time to get to this point before the Target turns on her next leg,” pointing to the chart.
Hanna answered, “Yes, sir. I will have that in few minutes.”
Benson said, “Good, I’m going to be working on a more aggressive scenario. The captain is getting shut eye right now and will be up in an hour.”
Hanna and the XO plotted their respective courses, and the captain soon joined them in Control. He looked at their work and decided to take the more aggressive course of interception. Just after ordering the new course change a coded message came in from CNO. This was the message prepared by Marks and Simon but sent through normal naval command channels encrypted for secure transmission. The unencrypted message read: