Hodges and the XO immediately went to the sonar room to confirm the reading. The big question Hodges and the XO had to answer now was whether this was a clever tactical move on the part of a Russian captain or whether it was a merely coincidental, believing he had lost his adversary.
Hodges didn’t believe in coincidence, but he also wasn’t going to turn down a gift horse staring him in the face. His gut instincts told him to remain absolutely silent and let the Target continue to come toward him. The Target was now approaching the Prowfish at 5,500 yards and closing. Hodges wondered why the Prowfish’s presence had still not been detected by the Russian sub. If he had been detected the Russian sub would not have made this last move.
Captain Hodges knew his disappearance wouldn’t last much longer. In a few seconds the entire outline of the Prowfish would be displayed on the Russian sonar screen. The Russian sub was now approaching close torpedo range, with less than 5,000 yards between them.
It was tense in the control room. Suddenly the sonar operator called out to the captain, “Sir, the Target has stopped in her tracks.”
Hodges told the XO, “I want to maneuver slowly, to always be at right angle to her midship and below her, Charlie.” Because of the Target’s sudden reaction, Hodges believed the Target had been caught completely off guard. The Prowfish moved into the position Hodges wanted. The Target also started slowly moving slightly in a circular motion to the Prowfish, and the Hodges followed to maintain his more favorable position. The slow motion dance was like to predators walking around each other before one decided the next move.
The two boats were in a slow circular dance at close torpedo range only 3,500 yards away from each other. The Prowfish came to the ordered position and at right angle to the Target.
The captain said, “Charlie, let’s stop engines and remain silent and see what she does.”
Hodges knew the Russian captain knew the Prowfish’s angle was more favorable. The Target’s more vulnerable position gave fewer tactical options. The sonar room operator said, “Sir, the Target has now come to a complete stop.” Hodges knew he had the Russian’s sub underbelly exposed but remembered his orders.
Hodges said to the XO, “Charlie, let’s find out if she has those orders not to engage” The captain ordered, “Open forward torpedo doors 1 and 3.”
The XO relayed the order. In the silence of the boat, the expulsion of air could be heard as the forward torpedo doors opened.
Chief Wilks in the forward torpedo room confirmed. “Torpedoes set ready to fire on your command, sir.”
Hodges, turned to Charlie and said, “They now know we mean business. Let’s see what she does. If she so much as flinches, we’ll blow her ass out of the water.”
From the sonar room came, “Sir, two forward doors on Target have just opened.”
The two subs were now in a deadly stare down, each waiting for the other to make a move. Captain Hodges’ mind was racing. He was thinking that, because of his more favorable position, if the Prowfish fired first, there would be certain destruction of the Target. If both fired at the same time, the Target’s torpedo would have to turn before it reached the Prowfish, losing a couple of valuable seconds before her torpedoes made contact. He also considered that if both fired seconds apart, it would mean assured mutual destruction at this distance.
Minutes seemed like hours.
Wade Hanna stood his watch at the helm, drenched in sweat, believing his life would soon end and he would rest in an undersea grave. He didn’t know how he would stay alive in the next moments, much less what he might do if he survived. Wade’s mind would not allow him to consider the possibility of another day. His tormented childhood, near-deadly undercover encounters, a dying mother and now this unbelievable undersea confrontation had taken their emotional toll.
Wade’s face always showed a strong constitution, but at this time his nerves were at their edge. He looked around the welded steel frame and saw the pipes and gages that would line his coffin. He imagined the rounded outer hull becoming his last cathedral, bellowing hymns made by the sound of twisting metal as it sunk to crushing depths. As he searched his soul for a spiritual voice, he began humming quietly to himself. He was humming the haunting melody of “Saint James Infirmary.”
The captain ordered, “Close forward torpedo doors.”
A few seconds later sonar reported,
“Sir, Target has closed forward torpedo doors.”
Sonar reports, “The Target is making a slow turn to port and headed into a deep angle dive.”
Captain Hodges explained to his XO, “She wants us to follow her now.”
Looking at the sonar screen the XO commented, “From her angle, it looks like she’s going deep.”
Hodges ordered, “Charlie, stay above her and to either side; don’t track behind her. She’s got that wicked ass.”
Hanna was at the helm all this time, covered in sweat from the stress and from the air system being off during silent running. His hands felt numb and weak from the sudden drop in adrenalin. Captain Hodges and the XO were also covered in sweat.
After three hours, the Prowfish still had the Target on sonar deep below them. The Target was now at a depth well below where the Prowfish’s hull could survive the pressure.
It was evening in the natural world above, and the Prowfish had to surface to recharge batteries after the long day of underwater races. The captain ordered the XO to send a coded message to CNO covering the events of the day and to ask for orders.
A reply message was quickly returned from CNO,
“MAINTAIN TRACKING OF TARGET UNTIL KEY WEST SQUADRON ARRIVES AT YOUR LOCATION. EXPECTED AWS ARRIVAL TIME WITHIN THREE HOURS. KEY WEST TO ASSUME COMMAND OF ALL AREA AWS ACTIVITY. AFTER COORDINATING KEY WEST TRANSITION RETURN TO PORT, BILOXI, MISS. CONTACT KEY WEST COMMAND ON FREQUENCY 1276.46, JOB WELL DONE.”
While still on the surface recharging, Captain Hodges received a radio call from AWS squadron leader, Captain Lamar Henley. Captain Henley was from Texas and had the accent to prove it, “Henley here. I have your surface position; we’re less than an hour away.” The two spoke quite a while. Captain Hodges transmitted the coordinates of the Target’s location and depth as they were speaking. They spoke about the day’s maneuvers.
Henley said, “Yea, she’s deep right now, but she’s not nuclear and has to come up for air. We’ll be waiting to give her a Caribbean surprise party.” Henley continued, “Depending on her movements, we may try some of our new low pressure depth charge explosives to get her attention. These will give a jolt to her navigation and sonar electronics. CNO wants me to see if we can get the Target to the surface. They want a close look at this heifer.”
Captain Hodges now had a visual of the approaching Key West vessel. As he looked closer through his binoculars, he was surprised to find that it was not a single vessel but an armada of ships. He made out two destroyers, one baby helicopter carrier, and a light cruiser which was Henley’s command ship. Hodges knew from prior briefings that every inch of the underbelly of Henley’s cruiser was covered with electronic sonar detection devices. This AWS squadron protected the entire fleet when they were on maneuvers. Hodges thought the Navy’s response was overkill for one submarine but, said to himself, That’s the way the Navy sometimes does things. He also thought to himself, and the armada may have other business in the area