Harrelson went on to explain that modern heavyweight torpedoes had thin guidance wires attached to the torpedo while they pursued their target, over which the submarine crew could send new commands and the torpedo could send back target and torpedo data.
“Which gets me to the exciting part,” Harrelson said. “We believe Russia has developed a new torpedo, and we know where it smashed into the target submarine and went to the bottom, which means…” Harrelson paused for effect, and Christine ventured a guess.
“We can retrieve it.”
“Exactly,” Harrelson replied. “We’re coordinating with COMSUBFOR staff, arranging a pickup. USS Jimmy Carter has the requisite equipment, but just entered dry dock for a three-month-long maintenance period. A viable alternative is USS Michigan. The water depth where the Russian torpedo exercise occurred is shallow enough for the SEAL Delivery Vehicle aboard, and the SEALs have buoyancy devices they can use to lift the torpedo from the bottom. The only challenge is finding the torpedo. Fortunately, Russian exercise torpedoes, like American ones, have end-of-run pingers which help locate the torpedo if it goes to the bottom or starts to float away on the surface while it’s waiting to be retrieved. USS Pittsburgh returned to the area where the Russian torpedo went to the bottom and verified that its pinger is operating.
“Michigan should receive orders today. We’re hoping the Russians aren’t interested in retrieving their smashed torpedo or aren’t in a hurry to do so. Once we have it, we’ll send it to one of our undersea warfare centers for analysis.”
Harrelson finished with, “Any questions, Miss O’Connor?”
Christine looked up from her notepad as she finished adding a comment. “I think I understand everything.” She queried Colonel DuBose, who shook his head.
Harrelson turned to Mason. “Eric will discuss a more perplexing issue.”
Eric Mason handed copies of his brief to Christine and Colonel DuBose. “The target submarine in the Russian torpedo exercise took everyone here by surprise. It’s Alexander, the third Yasen class submarine.”
“Why were you surprised?” Christine asked.
“Because Alexander hasn’t been completed yet, or so we thought. Our latest intel indicated she’s at least a year away from completing construction. Then we spotted her pulling into port with her sister ship, Kazan, the day of the torpedo exercise. The Russians must have gone into around-the-clock shiftwork at least two years ago, and they apparently implemented a firm security lockdown because none of our sources near the Sevmash shipyard where Alexander was being built gave us a heads-up. Alexander was also launched in complete secrecy, pulled out from the covered construction facility and launched at night, so we wouldn’t detect the launch via satellite. That begs the questions — why the accelerated construction schedule, and why the secret launch?”
Mason flipped a page on his presentation, revealing a satellite picture of a submarine tied to a pier. “What’s even more interesting is Alexander itself. At first, we didn’t know which class of submarine we were looking at, because it’s sixty feet longer than the two previous Yasen class submarines. Upon close examination, however, we realized it is a Yasen class, except it’s got an extra sixty-foot-long hull section inserted between the reactor and forward compartments.”
“Like Jimmy Carter?” Christine asked, referring to the Seawolf class submarine and its secretive additional compartment.
“That’d be a good analogy,” Mason replied. “But it’s unlikely Alexander is Jimmy Carter’s counterpart. That honor belongs to Podmoskovye, a modified Delta IV. Alexander’s extra compartment isn’t long enough to handle the equipment the Russians have developed for use with its Jimmy Carter version. So why was the hull extended?”
Mason added, “We’ve requested additional reconnaissance satellites be brought to bear on the issue, and we’re pressing on the human intelligence front. The CIA has their hooks into several high-ranking Russian Navy officials, and they’re going to see what they can find out.”
Carmen informed Christine, “This concludes our briefs. Is there anything else we can help you with today?”
Christine spent a few minutes reviewing what remained of the Russian surface navy, which had been devastated by the American task force two weeks earlier, as well as the status of the five aircraft carriers and their escorts participating in the attack. All five carriers had been heavily damaged and only two were currently operational, with the other three on their way back to shipyards for repair.
After the update, Christine asked Colonel DuBose, “Do you have any questions?”
DuBose shook his head. “None from me.”
Christine thanked Harrelson and Mason, along with the others around the table, then turned to Carmen. “Inform me if you discover anything significant about Russia’s new torpedo or modified Yasen class.”
CHAPTER 4
USS MICHIGAN
USS Michigan was headed east across the Pacific Ocean, approaching the end of its communication broadcast window. Standing on the Conn in the submarine’s Control Room, Lieutenant Clif Bradley lifted his hands in the darkness, rotating the periscope ring above his head.
“Raising number two scope.”
As the periscope slid silently up from its well, Bradley held his hands out near his waist on each side of the scope barrel until the periscope handles hit his palms. When the scope finished its ascent, he snapped the handles down and pressed his face against the eyepiece, checking the periscope settings. With a flick of his left wrist, he tilted the scope optics skyward. But there was only darkness.
Bradley called out to the microphone in the overhead, “All stations, Conn. Proceeding to periscope depth.” Sonar, Radio, and Nav Center acknowledged, then Bradley ordered, “Dive, make your depth eight-zero feet.”
The Diving Officer directed the two watchstanders in front of him, “Stern planes, ten up. Helm, full rise fairwater planes.”
Five hundred feet behind them, the control surfaces on the submarine’s stern rotated, pushing the stern down until the ship was tilted upward at a ten-degree angle, while the control surfaces on the submarine’s sail shifted to full rise.
“Passing one-five-zero feet,” the Dive called out as Michigan rose toward the surface.
Peering into the periscope, Bradley scanned the dark water, looking for evidence of ships above, their navigation lights reflecting on the ocean’s surface. As Michigan ascended, it was silent in Control aside from the Dive’s reports. There would be no conversation until the periscope broke the surface and Bradley called out No close contacts or Emergency Deep. Submarines were vulnerable during their slow ascent to periscope depth, unable to move quickly out of the way if there was a nearby surface ship Sonar hadn’t picked up or its position was incorrectly calculated by Combat Control.
With a submerged displacement of eighteen thousand tons, Michigan was less maneuverable than the nimble fast attacks. The former ballistic missile submarine was almost two football fields long, seven stories tall, and as wide as a three-lane highway. Converted into a guided missile submarine, Michigan now carried 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles loaded in twenty-two of its twenty-four missile tubes, with the remaining two tubes converted into access hatches to two Dry Deck Shelters (DDS) attached to the submarine’s missile deck. Within one shelter rested a Swimmer Delivery Vehicle — a mini-sub capable of transporting Navy SEALs for clandestine operations — while the other shelter held two Rigid Hull Inflatable Boats for quick transport ashore. Aboard Michigan tonight, in berthing installed in the Missile Compartment during its conversion, slept two platoons of Navy SEALs, ready should their services be required.