“A very long trip, sir,” Dretzski said, knowing that the admiral had, indeed, gotten his message.
As Donchez watched from his office window, a black staff car pulled up to the parking section behind the stone walk to the Stingray monument. A man in Navy blues got out of the car and limped on crutches to the wall of the monument. The monument was a large black marble slab twelve feet tall and eight feet wide. At the top of the slab was a submarine carved from the solid marble, the hull shape of the Skipjack class. In letters on the marble hull were the words USS STINGRAY SSN-589. The wall went north-south. Almost. The length of the wall pointed to bearing zero one four, the exact bearing to the location of Stingray’s wreck under the polar ice cap. On the wall were inscribed the names of the men lost in the Stingray, Commander Anthony “Patch” Pacino’s name at the top. Surrounding the monument, at the four points of the compass, were Mark 37 torpedoes mounted on marble bases, the torpedoes painted a gleaming black to match the marble.
Donchez watched as Michael Pacino slowly made his way to the marble wall, stopping at the base and looking up at his father’s name. After a while he pulled a small black bundle from his pocket and slowly bent and placed the bundle at the base of the marble slab. He straightened, as much as possible with crutches, and saluted the monument, his arm and fingers straight as a ruler. Finally Pacino dropped the salute and limped slowly back to the staff car, which sped off.
Donchez grabbed up his cap and left his office, then walked out into the cold February sunshine, around the corner and across the street to the monument. He went by one of the black torpedoes to the face of the wall and stared up at it, looking for a moment at the sleek marble hull in the shape of the Stingray, then down at the base of the monument at the bundle Michael Pacino had left there. He picked up the bundle. It was a black fabric triangle, a folded flag. He unfolded the flag and saw the white form of a grinning skull above the crossbones. A Jolly Roger pirate flag. Pacino’s tribute to his father, and a long-ago conversation with Patch Pacino replayed itself in his mind, about flying the Jolly Roger after a big OP. That was why Mikey had always flown the pirate banner from the Devilfish.
Donchez felt an intense desire to do something to honor both Pacinos. It seemed wrong that Devilfish did not have her own monument. He searched for an idea, and as he made his way back to COMSUBLANT headquarters in the February gloom, the obvious came to him. He walked up to the flagpole and grabbed the halyard of the COMSUBLANT flag, a boring emblem on a dingy blue field. He hauled it down, unlatched the hook and dropped the COMSUBLANT flag to the pavement. He attached the Jolly Roger to the halyard, and slowly hauled the pirate flag to the top of the pole. He stepped back to look at it flying in the sky, then snapped to a smart attention and saluted it. That day, and every day thereafter while Admiral Richard Donchez was Commander Submarines U.S. Atlantic Fleet, the Jolly Roger flag flew from the flagpole high overhead at the entrance to the COMSUBLANT building, the skull and crossbones flapping in the wind beside the Stars and Stripes.
GLOSSARY
ACCELEROMETER An instrument that measures acceleration ing’s.
ACQUISITION A torpedo being convinced that the signals from its sonar gear, active or passive, indicated a confirmed target.
ACR (ANTI–CIRCULAR RUN) A torpedo interlock that prevents the torpedo from acquiring on the firing ship. When the torpedo turns more than 160 degrees from the approach course to the target, the onboard gyro sends a signal to the central processor to shut down the unit. It then sinks.
ACTIVE SONAR The determination of a contact’s bearing and range by pinging a sound pulse into the ocean and listening for the reflection of the ping from the target. The time interval between transmission and reception gives target range using the speed of sound in water. The direction of the return pulse indicates the target bearing. Generally not used by submarines since it gives away the ship’s position. Used by some Russian units for a confirming range check immediately prior to shooting a torpedo.
AFT GROUP The main ballast tanks aft — four are aft of the engineroom, and four surround AMR 2. During an emergency blow, all six of these ballast tanks are blown dry simultaneously.
AKULA One of the newest classes of Russian attack submarines. Similar in appearance to a VICTOR III with the bulbous bow and stem pod on the rudder. Believed to be as quiet as an American Piranha class.
ALFA One of the recent Russian submarine classes. Very small and, until the appearance of the OMEGA class, the fastest nuclear submarine in the world. Also one of the loudest. Manned by a tiny crew of officers, the ship is totally automated. ALFA Unit One apparently suffered a massive reactor accident in the late 70s.
ALPHA RADIATION A positively charged panicle emitted by heavy elements undergoing radioactive decay. Essentially a helium nucleus.
AMINES Chemicals used in C02 scrubber, a bed of amines over which air is blown. Eliminates carbon dioxide, a byproduct of human respiration.
AMP-HOUR A unit of electrical energy that measures the capacity of a battery.
AMP-HOUR METER Digital indicator on the Electric Plant Control Panel that measures the discharge of the ship’s battery in amp-hours.
AMR 1 (AUXILIARY MACHINERY ROOM l) (Piranha class) A mechanical equipment room in operations compartment lower level aft of the torpedo room. Contains the bomb (oxygen generator), forward auxiliary seawater pumps, air compressors, and other ship systems.
AMR 2 (AUXILIARY MACHINERY ROOM l) (Piranha class) A two-deck-high compartment aft of the reactor compartment. Only two decks since it is surrounded by ballast tanks. The upper deck contains electrical switchgear and the reactor control cabinets. The lower deck is home to the main feed pumps, reactor auxiliary systems, and the second bomb.
ANALOG As opposed to digital — an analog instrument has a gage face and a pointer. An analog signal is smooth and continuous, while a digital signal is either on or off.
ANECHOIC COATING A thick foam coating attached to the outside of the hulls of Russian submarines. It absorbs incoming active sonar pulses without reflecting them back while damping out internal noises before they can get outside the ship. Analogous to stealth radar absorptive material on a stealth aircraft. Not used on American submarines since it is bulky and easily torn, and American ships are internally quieter.
ANGLE ON THE BOW The angle between an observer’s line of-sight to a target ship and the target’s heading. A ship coming dead on has an angle on the bow of zero degrees. If the contact is going on a course at a right angle to his bearing from the observer, the angle on the bow is port (or starboard) 90 degrees.
ARRAY A collection of sonar hydrophones or transducers that work together to track a contact.
ASH (ANTI-SELF HOMING) A torpedo interlock that measures the distance from the firing ship. If the torpedo comes back toward the firing ship, at 80 % of the return trip, the ASH interlock will shut down the unit, and it floods and sinks.
ASROC Antisubmarine rocket. A depth charge in the nosecone of a solid rocket fueled missile carried by ASW surface ships. The missile puts the depth charge in the water miles away from the firing ship, allowing the depth charge to be a nuclear warhead.
ASW (1) Antisubmarine warfare. (2) Auxiliary seawater system.