“Bridge, aye!”
The raucous growl of the General Quarters alarm began to blare from every 1-MC speaker on the ship. After a few seconds, the alarm was replaced by the amplified voice of the Officer of the Deck, “General Quarters, General Quarters. All hands man your battle stations. Set Material Condition Zebra throughout the ship.”
The alarm and announcement were repeated, and as soon as the speakers fell silent, the TAO keyed into Navy Red. “All units, this is SAU Commander. Post-mission analysis of every encounter with the hostile submarines shows that the Germans have attacked during scheduled watch turnovers on every single occasion. I say again — the Germans have shown a preference for attacking during scheduled watch turnover. Recommend all units set General Quarters and prepare for USW action, over.”
The ship’s standard for manning battle stations and setting material condition Zebra (all watertight doors and hatches closed) was seven minutes. It was just a few minutes before taps, and a goodly portion of the crew would be asleep already. They’d be lucky to do it in twelve or fifteen minutes. The TAO decided to try to speed things up by getting the crew’s attention. He keyed into the 1-MC and spoke to the entire ship. “This is the Tactical Action Officer. We have reason to believe that the ship will be attacked by hostile submarines within the next ten to fifteen minutes.
This is the real thing, people. Get to your stations now! The safety of this ship depends on it.”
The XO made it to CIC in about two minutes, followed by the captain about three seconds later. They were both still zipping coveralls and tying shoes as they gathered at the CDRT. The XO rubbed his left eye. “What have you got, Brian?”
The TAO nodded toward Chief McPherson. “Chief? It was your idea, you tell them.”
Chief McPherson pointed to the flat screen display. “The Germans always attack during watch turnover, sir.”
The CO ran a hand vigorously over his hair several times. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, sir,” the chief said. “They’ve done it every single time. With us and with the British Navy.”
Seats were filling all around CIC, as watchstanders in various stages of battle-dress took their stations. Over the 1-MC, the Damage Control Assistant’s voice said, “This is the DCA from CCS. General Quarters time — plus four minutes. All stations expedite setting Zebra.”
The captain looked up at the battle clock. It read 21:31. “Well, Chief, we’ll know if you’re right in the next fifteen minutes or so.”
CCS reported that all stations were manned with material condition Zebra set at 2135. The TAO nodded. Eight minutes was not bad, considering the circumstances.
A couple of minutes later, Benfold reported ready for battle, followed by Ingraham a minute or so after that.
The critical moment, 2145, came and went with no sign of the submarines. By 2155, everyone was stealing glances at the clock. At 2158, Chief McPherson said, “Come on … I know you’re out there …”
Another minute passed. The chief was about to say something when a message came in over Navy Red. “SAU Commander, this is Ingraham. Contact report to follow. Time, twenty-one fifty-nine Zulu. My unit holds passive broadband contact, bearing three-one-five. Initial classification: POSS-SUB, confidence level low, over.”
Chief McPherson looked at the CDRT. “Three-one-five? That’s on the other side of the formation. How in the hell did they slip past us?”
The TAO keyed up Navy Red. “SAU Commander, aye. Your contact designated Gremlin Zero One. My unit standing by to launch Firewalker Two-Six when contact is localized. Request you confirm your Gremlin is northwest of formation, over.”
“SAU Commander, this is Ingraham. Affirmative. Gremlin Zero One is behind the formation and outside the straits. Believe contact has penetrated our barrier. Request permission to break formation to pursue, over.”
“Ingraham, this is SAU Commander. Stand by, over.”
The TAO looked at Captain Bowie. “What do you think, sir? Do we let Ingraham break formation?”
The captain turned to Chief McPherson. “How about it, Chief? Did those subs sneak by us?”
Blue lines of bearing were beginning to appear on the CDRT, angling away from Ingraham’s NTDS symbol. “I don’t know, sir,” the chief said.
“It looks like they did, but … maybe Ingraham’s Gremlin isn’t one of the subs. Maybe it’s a fishing boat, or something too small to give a decent radar return. We need to find out if they’ve got any narrowband frequencies we can use to classify this guy.”
The XO looked at the TAO. “Brian, ask Ingraham if they’re getting any narrowband.”
The TAO nodded. “Ingraham, this is SAU Commander. Interrogative narrowband tonals, over.”
The reply came back a few seconds later. “SAU Commander, this is Ingraham. Negative narrowband tonals at this time, over.”
“How about small craft?” the chief asked.
The TAO went out over Navy Red again. “Ingraham, this is SAU Commander. Interrogative surface small craft in the area of Gremlin Zero One, over.”
“SAU Commander, this is Ingraham. Negative small craft in area of my Gremlin. My radar did show one motorboat near the initial bearing of my contact, but I am now seeing over thirty degrees of bearing separation.
Do not believe my Gremlin is a small craft, over.”
The XO said, “That’s it, then. I say we let them break formation, Captain. If those subs have gotten past us, they’re either going to slip away or jam a torpedo up our ass. We need to jump on this sucker before it gets away.”
The captain nodded. “Looks like we just proved Patton’s old adage: No plan ever survives contact with the enemy. I hate to throw this one out the window, but we can’t take a chance on even one of those subs getting by us. Let Ingraham go, Brian. And tell them we’re standing by to assist.”
The TAO said, “Yes, sir.” He keyed up Navy Red. “Ingraham, this is SAU Commander. You are cleared to break formation to pursue your Gremlin. Towers is standing by to assist, over.”
“Wait a second,” Chief McPherson said. “Ask them what their contact looks like, sir.”
The TAO’s eyebrows went up. “What?”
“What it looks like,” the chief said. “Is it strong or weak? Fuzzy or discrete? What are its acoustic characteristics?”
The TAO cocked his head to one side. “Uh … Ingraham, this is SAU Commander. Interrogative acoustic characteristics of your Gremlin, over.”
The reply took nearly a minute. “SAU Commander, this is Ingraham. My Sonar Operators describe the contact as strong and discrete broadband, with diffused swaths of narrowband that are too broad and indiscrete to track or classify. Target is showing a tightly packed cluster of frequencies up around 550 hertz, but it’s too muddled to process, over.”
Chief McPherson slapped the CDRT. “I knew it!” She looked up. “Captain, that’s a decoy!”
“Where the hell did it come from?”
“I don’t know, sir. Maybe that motorboat launched it; they don’t weigh more than fifteen or twenty pounds. But what they’re tracking sounds like a perfect description of the one we had earlier — the one that suckered Antietam out of the formation.”