The attack center was deathly quiet when Commander Lamar Joiner stuck his head in, then continued to the submarine's cramped control room. A third-generation submariner, Joiner had followed his grandfather and father through the Naval Academy and straight into the submarine service.
An athletic and gregarious man by nature, the husky skipper with the ice-blue eyes was respected by his officers and crewmen. Some of his famous exploits, both ashore and at sea, rivaled those of his legendary father. The Captain knew his crew almost as well as he knew his three children. He took pride in remembering the names of their wives and most of their offspring.
Joiner looked at his watch. It was time for the next watchstanders to relieve the duty crewmen so they could get some chow and a few hours of sack time. Later, when Bremerton reached her patrol area near Kitty Hawk, the crew would have to operate with more vigilance.
Now level at 240 feet beneath the surface of the strait, Joiner was grateful to see the water getting deeper. The passage through the crowded and narrow southern end of the strait had been nerve-racking and time-consuming. His navigator had winced on a number of occasions when he thought they were going to plow into the bottom of the shallow areas.
Deeper water also meant more reliable acoustic returns because the convergence zones allowed the sonar to detect targets at much longer ranges. Shallow water has an adverse effect on convergence-zone propagation, and the scattering of sound across the bottom makes detections extremely difficult.
In the sonar room, fresh faces stared at the luminescent glow from their scopes, while the helmsmen in the control room guided the submarine with yokes similar to those in the cockpit of an airliner.
Joiner patiently waited until the new watch-standers manned their stations, then glanced at the seasoned officer of the deck. "I have the conn."
The OD nodded. "Captain has the conn."
Noting their current depth, Joiner decided to ascend to 150 feet and evaluate the boundary layer between the cold, deep water and the warm surface water.
"Make your depth one hundred fifty feet," Joiner ordered with a smile creasing his lips.
Unlike some skippers who descended to a certain depth and never deviated, Lamar Joiner enjoyed maneuvering the fast-attack boats and seeing the enthusiasm on the faces of the officers and men.
"One hundred fifty feet, aye," the young diving officer replied with an authoritative voice. "Helm five degrees up on the planes."
The petty officer at the diving controls acknowledged the command, and the submarine commenced a slow ascent.
Leveling at 150 feet, Bremerton was close to the thermocline layer. Below this nearly isothermal layer, the water temperature decreased rapidly with depth, forming a shallow thermocline.
The drastic temperature change, combined with the associated changes in salinity, causes sound waves to refract when they travel obliquely through the layer. This refraction of sound is important in the sonar detection of submarines, and Lamar Joiner was considered a master at using the properties of salinity and temperature variance to conceal his boat.
"Left ten degrees rudder," Joiner said evenly. "New course three-one-zero."
After his instructions were repeated, Joiner waited until the submarine was steady-on the hew course. "Engine room, conn. All ahead two-thirds."
"All ahead two-thirds, aye."
Lamar Joiner was proud of his crew and extremely confident in the reliable and redundant systems incorporated in his fast-attack submarine. From the sophisticated fire-control and weapons-launch systems to the propulsion and ship-control elements, Bremerton and her sister 688 boats were the best-built submarines in the world.
The only thing that bothered Joiner, and something he had never discussed at length with anyone, was the high-speed handling characteristics of the Los Angeles — class SSNs. It was common knowledge throughout the submarine community that the 688s were difficult to control at high speeds.
The stories were varied and colorful, but all of them had elements of the same troubling problems of significant pitching moments or tendencies to snap-roll like an airplane. Joiner had discounted most of the embellished anecdotes until his first cruise in Cincinnati.
After a series of high-speed evasive maneuvers during a routine training mission, the attack sub had suddenly pitched down while traveling at 27 knots. Joiner, along with a number of other crew members, had come to Jesus before the skipper regained control of the boat.
The frightening excursion had plunged the speeding submarine to a hazardous depth near the point where the creaking hull would have been crushed by seawater pressure. They also missed, by a margin of 110 feet, ramming the bow into the seafloor. When Cincinnati started ascending, everyone on board had a new sense of respect for the word luck.
From that horrifying moment, Joiner became a true believer in the instability factor and had not forgotten the incident. He often thought about the consequences of an uncontrolled pitch-up at high speed. In his dreams, Joiner could see a charter fishing boat being tossed through the air as his submarine shot out of the water.
"Conn, sonar," squawked the bulkhead-mounted speaker. "We have a contact bearing three-two-zero. Sounds like a freighter passing right to left… fourteen thousand yards."
"Very well," Joiner replied as he checked his course and speed. "Left ten degrees rudder. New course three-zero-zero."
Although Joiner felt no immediate threat, he reverted to the standard operating procedures that he had used for years. He would pass close to the freighter in order to mask the loud sounds of his fast-moving submarine. He didn't have the liberty of making a slow, quiet cruise to join the carrier battle group.
However, the Captain wasn't aware that the conventional submarine Harushio was directly behind Bremerton and accelerating in the attack sub's cone of silence.
Chapter 30
The President stood by the windows in the Oval Office and stared at the three groundskeepers who were working on a section of the freshly mowed lawn. The dreary, overcast gray sky matched his gloomy spirits.
The United States, according to the latest news reports from around the world, was being acclaimed with great enthusiasm by some, while the majority of people screamed epithets at the Americans for being a swaggering superpower bully.
In related news on the major television networks, the shipping traffic that normally used the Strait of Malacca had dropped dramatically. Many civilian vessels were heading to secure harbors until the waterway was deemed safe to traverse. Others continued to use the strait in spite of the obvious dangers.
The President finally turned and walked from his office, stopping briefly in his secretary's small compartment to wish her a happy birthday, then entered the Cabinet room and greeted the top officials in his Administration.
After everyone was seated, the President turned to his Defense Secretary.. "Bryce, I understand we have more complications in the South China Sea area?" The statement became a question.
"I'm afraid so," Mellongard reluctantly answered and donned his eyeglasses. "Our latest satellite-and photo-intelligence information indicates a large number of warships converging near the mouth of the strait, and many ships have entered the strait. These are in addition to the growing number of Japanese vessels that are spreading through the area."
No one made a sound while SECDEF took a drink of water, then continued the morning briefing.
"We now have confirmation — as of the past hour — that surface combatants from China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Taiwan, New Zealand, and Sri Lanka are in close proximity to the strait."