Captain Wilson addressed his submarine’s senior leadership. “We need to get our arms around the situation. Determine the structural status of the hull and piping, life support systems, food and water, power, etc. Department heads, check on the systems within your purview. COB, put together a team and check every space in the Operations Compartment and Engine Room for structural integrity. Any leaks, hull deformations, etc. XO, get with everyone who evacuated the Missile Compartment and determine what kind of damage we’re dealing with. Once we better understand our predicament, we’ll discuss how to proceed.”
The Engineer interjected, “Sir, I assume the reactor is still critical. Without main seawater and a vacuum in the main condensers, there is nowhere to send the steam. I recommend we shut down the reactor and secure unnecessary equipment throughout the ship, including all tactical systems. There’s no need for sonar or fire control right now.”
“I concur,” Wilson said. “Shut down the reactor and all unnecessary propulsion plant equipment.” To the Nav and Weps, Wilson directed, “Secure everything except atmosphere monitoring and minimum lighting. We need to reduce the drain on the battery to buy as much time as possible while we sort things out.”
67
WASHINGTON, D.C.
Secretary of Defense Bill Dunnavant entered the Oval Office, accompanied by Colonel Dubose and Chief of Staff Kevin Hardison for the unscheduled afternoon briefing. All three men wore grim looks as they settled into chairs facing the president.
“What have you got, Bill?”
“I’ve got good and bad news, Mr. President. I’ll start with the good news. Kalinin was rescued by Michigan’s SEAL team.”
“That is good news. So what’s the bad news?”
“We monitored communications between the SEAL team and Michigan, and the first piece of bad news is that only one RHIB returned. It’s likely we lost several SEALs during the mission.”
“Why don’t we know?”
“This is where the news gets really bad, Mr. President. We haven’t received a message from Michigan with the mission details, and SOSUS arrays in the Black Sea detected two torpedo explosions, with the bearings intersecting near Michigan’s rendezvous with the SEAL team. Based on acoustic analysis, one explosion was a U.S. MK 48 torpedo, while the other was a Russian torpedo. It looks like Michigan was engaged by a Russian submarine and both were likely sunk.”
“When will we know for sure?”
“Michigan has been ordered to provide a mission status within the next four hours. If we don’t hear anything by then, it should confirm our assessment.”
“If Michigan was sunk, could some of the crew be alive?”
“Yes, Mr. President. It’s likely many survived; whoever escaped to intact compartments. The water depth near the explosions is four hundred feet, so the other compartments wouldn’t have imploded.”
“Where do we stand on a rescue effort?”
“The Undersea Rescue Command in San Diego is preparing to transport its equipment and personnel to Turkey, where they’ll load onto a support ship at one of their Black Sea ports. We’ve got two issues to deal with, though.
“The first issue is that it appears Russia has attacked the United States, and you’ll need to consider our response. We can retaliate unilaterally or consider this one facet of Russia’s aggression in Eastern Europe, tying our response to a coordinated NATO effort.”
The president replied, “War hasn’t broken out yet, and if we can force Russia to withdraw their troops without resorting to military conflict, we should do so. At this point, I’m inclined to delay a direct military response, but give me some options by tomorrow morning.” The president paused, then shifted topics. “What’s the second issue?”
“We believe the Russians sank Michigan because President Kalinin is aboard. They aren’t going to sit around while we rescue him. The Russian Navy has already proclaimed the Black Sea off-limits to NATO forces, declaring they will sink any ship that violates their decree. Although the Undersea Rescue Command is on its way, it’s unlikely the Russians will give us the opportunity to rescue Michigan’s crew and President Kalinin.”
“Continue with rescue preparations and develop a plan to put pressure on the Russians. Let them know we’ll hit them hard if they interfere with the rescue effort. Maybe a plan to destroy their Black Sea military and commercial ports. Something that gives us leverage.”
Colonel DuBose took notes as the president continued. “Where do we stand on a full-scale NATO offensive against Russia?”
Dunnavant replied, “First Armored Division is the last division we’re waiting on. Its equipment is aboard transport ships crossing the Atlantic. It’ll be a few more days before they offload in Europe and are staged for battle. I’ll provide an update on the timeline once I receive additional details from SACEUR.”
The president nodded his understanding. The meeting was about to conclude when he commented, “You said Kalinin was rescued by the SEALs. Any word on Christine?”
“No, sir,” Dunnavant said. “All we know is that she wasn’t aboard the RHIB. We presume she shared the same fate as the SEALs who didn’t return.”
After a short moment, the president said, “I understand.”
68
USS MICHIGAN
Murray Wilson stepped into the Officers’ Wardroom, settling into the Captain’s chair at the head of the table. The Wardroom was dimly lit, with only one-half of the submarine’s lighting energized. Joining Wilson and already seated were his Executive Officer, four department heads, and Chief of the Boat. Also present were Commander McNeil and Doc Aleo, plus Russian President Kalinin and his executive assistant, Lieutenant Victor Clark, who had been assigned to “Kalinin’s hip” to ensure the Russian stayed out of Sonar, the Radio Room, and the Engine Room, areas that were off-limits for foreign nationals.
Wilson went around the table, getting updates. The COB went first.
“The pressure hull in the Operations Compartment and Engine Room appears uncompromised, as are the piping systems. We didn’t find any issues, sir.”
The inspection result was welcome news. Now that their immediate survival wasn’t a concern, Wilson focused on the long-term outlook. The submarine’s Engineer, Lieutenant Commander Bill Harwi, went next.
“From an atmosphere perspective, we should be good for at least ten days. We’ve got a week of oxygen in the banks, plus another week of oxygen candles. Carbon dioxide is a bigger concern, as we have only a week of carbon dioxide curtains. Doc Aleo,” the Engineer nodded in the medical officer’s direction, “recommends we keep carbon dioxide level below one percent, so we can let it rise a bit. We’re probably looking at ten days by the time we’ll need to turn on a carbon dioxide scrubber.
“Power, on the other hand, is more of a concern. The good news is that the electrical grid hasn’t been compromised by the flooding in the Missile Compartment. The battery is supplying the Engine Room without any grounds or electrical shorts. The bad news is the load on the battery. We’ve secured everything except partial lighting and intermittent propulsion plant equipment to keep the reactor cool.