“Just her escorts. They are following her,” the sonar officer reported.
“Then we must complete the job. Make course for intercepting. Make our speed thirty,” the captain ordered.
“Captain, it will mean we make some noise,” said the sonar officer.
“Our task is to sink that carrier. Since we have heard no other ships but her escorts, we may be safe to take that risk. Give me thirty knots!” he demanded. The submarine increased speed toward the carrier.
“Bridge, Sonar. I have cavitation noises from target 12. He’s heading our way,” the chief called out.
“How close will he get?” the Captain asked.
There was a snicker over the bitch box. “Almost right on top of us. But at that speed, I guarantee he won’t hear us,” the chief said.
“Must not be too bright. Do we have a solution?” Jacobs asked.
“We have a solution, Captain. It’s long range, but we have a green light,” said the fire controlman.
“Are there any other submarine contacts?”
“None within fifty miles, Captain,” said sonar.
“Then let’s show him the error of his ways. Fire control, match bearings and shoot,” Jacobs ordered.
The Mark 48 ADCAP torpedo swam out of its tube and increased its speed to nearly 50 knots. The Texas fire control team could hear the oncoming submarine through the torpedo’s system via the wire still attached to the ship. The torpedo tracked straight in.
A member of the crew saw the explosion as it erupted through the surface of the water and reported it to the bridge. The Captain turned to his OOD. “I hope that was a bad guy,” he said.
Within a few minutes USS Texas reported the target sunk. After a few minutes of deep breaths, the Captain ordered the ship to reduce speed and deploy more ASW assets. The Russians had started a war and the Kennedy would be ready.
Chapter 8
Picking up the Pieces
Hammond was in a deep sleep when the Secret Service agent stepped in and woke him. “Admiral, you need to get in uniform and come down to the situation room,” he said.
Somehow Hammond didn’t hesitate or question. He knew something had happened. Grabbing his uniform and quickly getting dressed, he followed the agent down to the bottom floor of the White House into the West wing basement, where the President was sitting in front of a large screen monitor, talking to someone in the Pentagon. He motioned for Hammond to take a seat. The room was already full of the White House military staff.
“What was hit?” he asked.
“Sir, it’s still early, but we are receiving reports from everywhere of our ships being targeted. As of now, the Lincoln has been hit and has settled onto the floor of Naples Bay, the Eisenhower was hit by four missiles and is heavily damaged, the Iwo Jima is sunk, the Stennis is heavily damaged, the Nimitz has light damage, the Vinson was struck by two torpedoes, the Truman was hit by a missile, the Washington was struck in Yokosuka, and the Bush was caught at sea and struck by six missiles. She is sinking,” the watch officer said.
“So they went after our carriers,” the President sighed.
“Not just the carriers. It appears they also targeted our battleship memorials. The New Jersey was hit three times and sustained some damage; the Alabama was hit four times, the Missouri once, the North Carolina was shot at, but the missiles hit the Memorial Bridge crossing the river. Same with the Massachusetts. The missiles fired at the Wisconsin hit the Nauticus museum instead. The Iowa was also shot at, but the missiles struck a Disney cruise liner which had just entered port with over 5,000 passengers. We don’t know how many were killed there,” he reported.
The President sat back in his seat and let out a deep breath. “Okay, get everyone up. I need the Joint Chief’s here in half an hour. Package everything you can and get it over to my people. Put everything at DEFCON One. Keep all the nukes safe and in their bunkers. Let me know if anything new comes in. Thanks for the brief,” he said as the screen shut down.
The President turned to Hammond. “They crossed the Polish border along a 50 mile front. Went right through the defenses and kept going. They are doing the same in Slovakia. You remember that thing you said about shock and awe? Well, they just did it to us. It looks like I have about a quarter of our carriers and Europe is in a tailspin.” He looked at Hammond. “You were right in all respects. Every carrier in port was hit. Those at sea were mostly okay. They even hit the battleships. Now we have to fight with a hand tied behind our backs again,” he sighed.
A phone rang and one of the staff answered it. He then turned to the President. “Sir, a Mr. Brad Freeman is on the line from CBS. He says it’s urgent.”
“Here it comes,” the President said. He picked up the phone and pressed the button. “Yes, Mr. Freeman.”
“It’s coming in from all over. How do you want to play this,” he said.
The President sat up in his seat. A look of determination grew on his face. “Brad, report it. Report it all. It appears the Russian Government has declared war on Europe and the United States. Let people know what happened, and tell them we are not backing down.”
Four missiles had entered the harbor in the small town of Mayport, Florida. Fortunately, since the Eisenhower was currently in Norfolk, there was no carrier in port. The missiles locked in on the largest target they could find in the area. All four struck the Mayport water tower. Immediately the ships in the harbor began to ready themselves for sea. The first out of port was USS Gettysburg, an older AEGIS cruiser. Captain Chuck Flank had rushed from his home in base housing and took charge. With the crew he had, he would take his chances at sea.
General Quarters had already been sounded and the ship was prepared when he dashed across the ship’s brow. The Command Duty Officer was there to meet him. “Captain, the ship is at GQ stations and we have the engines online and ready. We have a little over half the crew aboard. I ordered the officers to prepare to get the ship underway,” the young lieutenant, junior grade reported.
“Good work. Do we have a bridge crew?” the Captain asked as they nearly ran forward.
“Enough to get the job done, Captain. But it will be tough fighting the ship,” the officer said.
“That’s okay. I just want my ship out of danger,” Flank nearly shouted.
When they reached the bridge, there was a Chief Quartermaster at the helm and a First Class Bo’sn’s mate next to him. Two seamen were at the lookout positions and a First Class Quartermaster at the chart. Looking back at the pier, Flank watched as several cars screeched to a halt on the pier only to be abandoned by the drivers as they rushed up the brow.
“It’ll have to do,” said Flank to the people around him. “How do we stand on the electric, water and sewer lines?” he asked.
A young woman wearing a set of sound powered phones responded. “The ship is on internal power and the lines were just pulled to the pier. Sewer line is disconnected and water line is being worked on, sir,” she said.
“Are our people on the pier?” he asked.
“Yes, sir, they’ll come over as soon as the brow gets in. If we need to, one will stay on the pier to remove the lines,” said the officer.
Captain Flank nodded and punched a button on the bitch box. “Engineering, bridge. Are you guys ready to go?” he asked.
To his surprise, the Chief Engineer answered. “Ready in all respects, Captain. Four turbines on line, ready to answer all bells.”
“Good, standby.” Flank punched another button. “Damage Control, Bridge. How are we manned?”