NationStates Jolt Archive

Captain Ryan was new to his command. He had been an XO onboard a Seawolf Class for the past four years and was now finally given his own command. It was a Seawolf just like the one he had helped command. Assigned to the Atlantic Defense Fleet, based out of the Azores, he was tasked with a barrier protection route 150nm north of the Azores. His submarine was loaded with 24 Mark 55 ADCAP IIs, 10 UGM-176B Tomahawk II ASMs, 12 UGM-180H Harpoon IIs, 4 UGM-193B Relics, 4 UGM-198A Stallion ASMs, and 6 UGM-198C Stallion ASWs. All together, he was loaded with 60 weapons, 8 of them loaded. His loaded weapons were 4 Mark 55s, 2 UGM-180Hs, and 2 UGM-176Bs.

Captain Ryan had his submarine deep, at 800 feet, moving at 10 knots on a westerly course. The ocean was deep here, in excess of 4,000 feet. As he usually did, he sat in the CONN, sipping tea, and yawning. Radio traffic was quiet, sonar traffic was very quiet, and when they had gone to the surface to run a radar sweep, all they picked up as a P-8A Excalibur on patrol.

His XO was Commander Hogan. He had just recieved his promotion before the Seawolf set sail and this was his first assignment as XO. Although not new to submarines, he was new to the Seawolf and the position. Lucky for him, Captain Ryan was a patient and forgiving man.

"So, you married Commander?" The Captain asked as he sipped his tea. Both he and the XO were in the CONN, looking over charts.

"Wife and two daughters sir. Yourself?"

"She left me months ago. Apparently I spent too much time at sea and she wasn't happy about moving to the Azores either."

"Sorry to hear it sir."

"I'm not. She was a pain in the ass and she couldn't cook." He laughed. "But oh do I miss her." He smiled and looked back over the chart. "See this area here. We've had some faint sonar contacts, nothing like a submarine but nothing like a biologic. I want us to get into that area and see what it is. There's some mountains down there and it brings the depth to around 2,800 feet so we could have a possible boomer or something down there."

"Yes sir." He looked over the position, a position about 100nm north-northwest of Terceira, bearing 13° from the island. "Advise depth and speed."

"Let's get in there at 1,600 and 8 knots. Keep it quiet and slow. Listen for anything unusual."

"Yes sir." The XO looked around. "Helm, come to course 1-6-0, speed 8 knots, depth 1,600."

"Aye sir. Make my depth 1,600, come to course 1-6-0, speed 8 knots." The helmsman repeated and the submarine began a dive and a gradual turn to port. Inside, sailors picked up their drinks and watched as their glasses tilted but the liquids remained where they were.

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Captain Miller had been a 24 year veteran of submarines. He had been in command of his own boat for the past 4 years. He had served onboard every attack submarine in the ILN, starting out on a 688/I Class, graduating to a Seawolf, then a Virginia, and previously a Scythe. Now he was taking out a new boat, a very new boat. He had been given command of the latest attack submarine to set to sea. It was a hunter-killer, attack submarine, meant to sniff out and destroy enemy boomers, aircraft carriers, and destroyers.

Named the Hunter Class, she was big, not big for an attack submarine, but not small either. 400 feet long and 45 feet wide, she displaced 12,500 tons fully submerged and drafted 32 feet. On the surface she displaced 10,000 tons. The sub was powered by a brand-new type of reactor, a very experimental design. Classified as the SNR-6, the Hunter had two of them, putting out a total output of 80,000 shaft horsepower, driving a single screw, equipped with a pumpjet propulsor. The experimental design did not require refueling for twelve years and used a new, advanced type of design that made it quieter than any other nuclear reactor installed on a submarine. At 50% power, the reactor was undetectable through its plant noise past 2,500 yards. At 100% power, the reactor could not be heard past 4,800 yards. In addition, the submarine had a double hull, the spaces between filled with high density, soundproof rubber, that not only absorbed active sonar pings but also stopped sound from exiting the submarine. Nothing was bolted to the hull, it was bolted through high-density rubber, making her as quiet as the Scythe was though not as capable.

Her sonar suite was as advanced as well. The system consisted of a series of arrays. At the bow, the bow array was 125% more capable than the systems on the Virginia. The hull array was some 200% more capable. A towed array allowed for full information to the rear of the submarine, behind the propeller. Then, a series of external arrays, mounted on the hull, six in total, picked up both active and passive transmissions. She could, effectively, detect a submarine as far away as 45nm in ideal conditions. At 25 knots, she could still detect submarines within 12nm. Past 25 knots, detection was far more difficult. She had a top speed of 40 knots.

Equipped with 8 internal bow tubes, 660mm in diameter, she could fire Tomahawk IIs from her horizontal tubes. In addition, 6 external 660mm tubes were mounted and preloaded in port. Lastly, she was equipped with 16 vertical launch tubes. Internally, she could carry 52 weapons, in addition to the 8 preloaded weapons. 6 more weapons could be carried in the external tubes and 16 missiles loaded in the vertical tubes.

Standard loadout would be 26 Mark 55 ADCAP IIs, 8 UGM-176C Tomahawk II LAMs, 8 UGM-180H Harpoon IIs, 16 UGM-193B Relics, 8 UGM-198A Stallion ASMs, 4 UGM-198B Stallion LAMs, and 12 UGM-198C Stallion ASWs. When surfaced, she had a single MANPAD port for a Wizard launcher. 20 missiles were carried.

With 12 officers, 120 enlisted men, and a $1.8B price tag, the Hunter was sure to keep the Atlantic free of hostile traffic. The newest submarine, she was still top secret. 4 of 16 hulls planned were built. 3 were still in shipyards in Venezuela, South Carolina, and Maine. This one was on sea trials. The goal was to elude contact from a Seawolf, operating north of the Azores. The Hunter was to test out its capabilities against the Seawolf. In addition, the Hunter was to evade anti-submarine warfare aircraft, P-8 Excaliburs to be exact. Lastly, she was to test out the capabilities of the newly installed SOSUS net.

Captain Miller had his submarine moving easterly at 5 knots, around 40-14N / 026-45W. He was down at 1,900 feet as well, testing the SOSUS net. The reactor was barely at 20% power, keeping the submarine as quiet as possible. His XO was Commander Schmitke, a Germanian born sailor who became a Layartebian citizen some 10 years earlier. "Captain, sir, you know we should move towards the Azores a little."

"Aye, I understand your concern. I am assured the reactor is fine. I know we had some problems and some difficult readings prior to setting sail but we've gotten this far."

"Aye sir. Should I suggest that, perhaps, we scan the radio?"

"Good idea. Let's bring her up to 150 feet and stream the radio wire."

"Aye sir." The submarine drifted upwards, very slowly, its radio wire streaming as it moved slowly up to 150 feet, launch depth for the Tomahawk II and Stallion missiles. But things were happening in the reactor room, things that weren't about to make anything easy...

http://tok.severodvinsk.ru/pics/models/akula/ak400-5.jpg

"Sir, we're about six hours from the area. We should go to periscope depth and scan the radio waves." Commander Hogan said, sipping his coffee.

"Indeed. Helm, make your depth 6-8 feet. Raise the radio mast." Captain Ryan said.

"Aye sir. Make my depth 6-8 feet. Raise the radio mast." The submarine began its ascent. It was still at 1,600 feet, moving at 8 knots towards the area where they expected the submarine to be, where the Hunter stalked the waves. As the submarine ascended, the sound of pressurization changes echoed in the water. Any submarine for 4,000 yards would be able to hear them. Their ascent was gradual, slow, and meant to minimize the sound. It did so.

"Sir, what are we looking for?" Commander Hogan whispered. He wasn't sure if those around him knew what they were doing.

"We're looking for a possible contact. It could be something new or old. Who knows. No friendly submarines are to be in this area. Whatever is out there is probably a reconnaissance submarine, observing the Azores. We're about 95 nautical miles north of the Azores in that zone. Anything that is that close is there for no good."

"Yes sir." Command Hogan looked around. "What are our standing orders on hostile submarine contacts?"

"You know our orders."

"Sir, are we really going to sink a hostile submarine?"

"Yes. An unknown will be treated as hostile until properly identified."

"Aye sir."

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The Hunter was sitting at 150 feet, moving at 4 knots, trailing the floating wire. They were slowly recieving information from Atlantic Command on Pico, in the Azores. The transmission was encoded with 2056-bit encryption. It would take years to break the encryption, if it were even capable of being intercepted. The signal beamed down straight from a satellite to the Hunter. Like all ILN submarines, the Hunter was equipped with an encryption device capable of deciphering the code. They all carried a floating wire and a buoy, the former capable of depths up to 250 feet and the latter at depths of around 1,000 feet. The buoy was a stationary device whilst the floating wire worked best between 1 and 4 knots.

As the message downloaded, the submarine kept a straight course, not changing speed or depth. Finally, when it was downloaded, the wire was retrieved and the submarine dove to 800 feet, where it took up a patrol route position to wait for the Seawolf.

Coded Maximum
FR: AFAZSC
TO: S349

Friendly Seawolf recieving message at periscope depth 48nm north-northwest of position. Elude detection at all costs. Presence unknown to Seawolf. Mission - Hunt & Kill.

The message was eerie. "So, they are trying to kill us and they're on our side? They don't play around huh?" Commander Schmitke said as he looked at the message. His accent was mild but noticible.

"That's the way the game is played. It'll give us an edge."

"Aye sir." The submarine kept on course and slowly moved around as it tested the SOSUS Net, which had, thus far, not reported its position.

The Seawolf had finished skimming the surface and was back down at 800 feet. The radio message reported the presence of an unknown, submerged contact in the area of 40-14N / 026-45W, roughly 95 nautical miles north-northeast of Terceira. She had four Mark 55 ADCAP IIs loaded and four UGM-198C Stallion ASW missiles loaded as well. As they made course for the area, they increased to twenty knots, moving in so that they would not be detected.

Twenty knots was still silent for the Seawolf, especially at that depth. Furthermore, the captain dove her down to 1,600 feet, to make her even quieter. The thermal layer was 428 feet in the area so they were well away from surface detection. The contact they would be hunting would also be below the thermal layer, that was to be expected.

**********************************************************

Onboard the Hunter Class, 16 nautical miles east of 40-14N / 026-45W, the crew went about their daily routines. Moving at 8 knots at 1,800 feet, the submarine was quieter than anything else out there, especially the Seawolf hunting her. She was moving west, towards the location, her reactor running nominally, for now.

Then things began to go wrong, very wrong. Immediately, the reactor spiked to 180% power, driving the submarine forward, in a massive jolt. Everyone that was standing fell backwards and everyone who was sitting was immediately pinned. Then the reactor safeties kicked in, after ten seconds, and drove it back to 40% power. The submarine immediately slowed, throwing everyone forward and pinning all those who hadn't been. The Captain stood immediately and began barking orders. "What the hell was that! Damage control!" He picked up the microphone. "Propulsion, Conn. What the hell just happened?"

"Conn, Propulsion. Sir, the reactors just scrammed to 180% and the safeties kicked in to 40%. We're evaluating the problem right now. Recommend we get as close to the surface as possible and make way for base sir."

"Propulsion, Conn. Aye." The Captain put down the microphone. "Helm, make your depth 150 feet, set course to," he looked at the map, "2-3-0, make turns for 15 knots."

"Aye sir. Make my depth 1-5-0 feet, course 2-3-0, 15 knots." The submarine came about and sped up. Unfortunately, as it began an ascent things went further wrong.

The reactor scrammed again, to 180% and drove the submarine forward. Once again, the safeties kicked in and stopped it down to 40%. Unfortunately, it didn't stop there. The instant heat of the scram immediately cause the shaft to warp and melt in some areas. The propeller stopped immediately and the submarine tilted over, as everyone flew to the front. Then there was the explosion. The double hull of the Hunter would contain it and it would not spread past the compartment it was in but it was in one of the worst possible areas. Just behind the reactors, the turbine system exploded from the heat and from the warping. Shrapnel flew everyone, instantly killing four men who were tending to repairs. The locked doors prevent the explosion from going into either the reactor room or the aft weapons room but it was enough to cause serious damage. The submarine was crippled and it began to sink.

The explosion, echoing through the submarine and the water immediately alerted the crew that something was very wrong. "ALL STATIONS, REPORT DAMAGE." The Captain yelled as he looked at the propulsion control panel in the Conn. "The goddamn propulsion is gone. What the hell?"

"Propulsion, Conn. Reactor scrammed again. Turbine shaft-system is gone sir. The whole compartment is gone. We can't get access to it, it's on fire. Halon systems activating now sir."

"Son of a bitch!" The Captain yelled. "Seal off the compartment. Report reactor status!"

"Reactors at 40%. Recommend shutting them down sir!"

"Aye. Shut them down. We'll use emergency battery power for now."

"Yes sir. Shutting reactors down, activating emergency battery power."

The Captain looked over at the radio station. "Float the buoy, we're in trouble, serious trouble."

"Yes sir. Floating the radio buoy." The submarine drifted downward. The slated crush depth of the 2,400 feet and they were moving down, towards a mountain top, that had, as its highest depth, 2,843 feet. They were going to be under crush depth and they only hoped that it would hold, for now. Their slow descent was a good factor, it would allow the hull to pressurize a little better.

"Sir," the XO asked, "we're going down below crush depth aren't we?"

"Yes." He whispered. "We're double hulled though. It's called crush depth because that is what computer simulation data came too. They never actually went that deep. We have submarines capable of 3,000 feet so we have a fighting chance. My only hope is we rest on that mountain top." They were looking at the virtual map, scanning the area they were in for depths.

The Seawolf was close to the area now. Listening on their passive sonar, they came up with nothing. The water was quiet, no biologics, no submarines, no ships, no nothing. It was as quiet as space. After an hour of searching, they came up with absolutely nothing.

"Sir, you think they've gone?" The XO asked. He was worried they might have come into a trap.

"No, they're here, waiting, watching. If they have cruise missiles, this is a perfect place to fire from. The water isn't very deep, as opposed to the rest of the place. It's around 2,800 feet here, enough to set a deep-diving boomer down and hide."

"Aye sir. What do you suggest we do?"
"Maintain a patrol sector at 5 knots. Take us down deeper, to 1,800 feet."

"Aye sir. Helm, make your depth 1-8-0-0 feet, smartly."

"Aye sir. Making my depth 1-8-0-0 feet, smartly." The Seawolf lurched over and began a gradual descent, slow, to decrease the amount of creaking noises one would experience when diving deep. It took some time but they got down there, quietly, without a single sound.

**********************************************************

The Hunter came to rest, on its bottom, at a depth of 2,839 feet. The hull had taken a beating and it slammed down pretty hard. The doctor was tending to a pair of sailors who had serious concussions and there was a least two dozen more with bone injuries and lacerations.

As if things weren't already going wrong, now they had another problem. "Sir, we have a problem with the emergency buoy." The radio operator said as he eyed the winch screen. "It's jammed sir. The impact on the bottom has completely disabled it sir."

"Aye. Keep trying." The captain looked around. The Conn was dark, only emergency power was on now and any non-essential systems were off. "All stations, report damage." The captain shouted into the microphone.

"Conn, Weapons. Weapons stable."

"Conn, Sonar. All systems inoperable. Severe damage to spherical array. Moderate damage to hull array. Towed array cut."

"Conn, Radio. All systems inoperable. Buoy jammed. Radio shorted out."

"Conn, Radar. All systems operable."

"Conn, Propulsion. Reactors offline. Emergency power running."

The captain looked around the conn. "Alright we have to find some way to send a distress signal. First is first, we need to establish some power. I do not want to turn on the reactors yet, it's too unsafe right now, we need more information. If we can get our sonar working, we can use the active pings to send an SOS. We also need to get the buoy winch fixed. Temperature is going to be a problem, as is oxygen. Emergency power should give us enough to keep the filters running for at least two weeks. We cannot be sure of much though."

"Aye sir." They repeated and that was that. The submarine was down, sitting at the bottom of the ocean, without power, in water colder than they cared to imagine.

**********************************************************

SOSUS Control Station, Pico

The monitor echoed with the explosion and the operator was forced to throw his headphones off. "Holy shit!" He exclaimed as he turned around to the watch commander. "Captain, look at this." He was a mere sergeant and did not know what to make of it other than it was an explosion.

"Looks like an explosion? Can we get a location?"

"Not exactly. We can triangulate to an area here, about 95 nautical miles bearing 13° from Terceira. It's deep too sir, well below the thermal. We have a SOSUS listening post in that area and it is currently off line. The explosion noise must have damaged the acoustics."

"Good work. Print me out the data and I'll run it up to command." If only they had known just what was out there...

Captain Ryan looked over the virtual display chart. His boat was the only contact in the entire AO. "What have we got?"

"Sir, sonar reports absolutely nothing. We've combed the water both above and below the layer, nothing to report sir." Commander Hogan said as he looked over the maps. Little did either of them know but they were about a thousand feet above and six nautical miles away from the downed submarine. They were just so quiet. Even if those inside the downed submarine were yelling, they still wouldn't be heard, the double hull system made sure of that.

"Let's go back to periscope depth and report our findings."

"Aye sir." Commander Hogan looked over helm. "Helm, make your depth 6-8 feet."

"Aye sir. Make my depth 6-8 feet." The submarine began to ascend from it's depth of 1,800 feet.

**********************************************************

Onboard the Hunter, things were already getting cold. The crew were all trained not to panic and they hadn't. The lack of flooding obviously helped them out, in that respect. Everyone was hard at work, looking to do something, to keep busy, to feel like they had a purpose. Did anyone even know they were there?

"I need to speak with Colonel Anderson." The Watch Commander stood in the waiting room for Colonel Anderson, the Layartebian Commander of the Azores Military Complex. The entire island group was a massive military complex built in secret by the Layartebian and North Germanian governments. Satellite defeating mechanisms were in place to distort and jam signals from reconnaissance satellites and any intelligence gathering ships and aircraft were to be intercepted before they could get within visual or even long-range camera range of the islands. The liason for the Layartebian military was Colonel Anderson, a twenty-year veteran of the Imperial Layartebian Space Division. He, prior to his command here, was in charge of monitoring the skies over Layarteb City for its main MIM-196 AABMS site, an anti-ballistic missile site.

The Watch Commander, Captain Scully, had once had a fling with Colonel Anderson's secretary but it never worked out too well for them, so they called it off. Now he was standing in front of her, still a few feelings, asking her to buzz Colonel Anderson. "Is it an emergency Captain?"

"It is of the utmost importance. Yes."

"Very well." She pushed the buzzer. "Sir, Captain Scully is here to see you. He claims to have something urgent."

The intercom buzzed. "Send him in."

"Yes sir. Alright go ahead in."

"Thanks." He smiled and opened the door. The Colonel had a big office, something he earned, after all, he was in charge of all Layartebian operations in the Azores. "Sir," Captain Scully saluted. "I have something important. Approximately 16 minutes ago, our SOSUS net registered a large explosion north-northwest of Tercerica, approximately 95 nautical miles away, around 40-14N, 026-45W. Sir. Here is the data." He handed him the sheet and remained at attention.

"At ease. Any further events?"

"No sir."

"Any contacts?"

"We have a Seawolf in the area now. We were picking up faint signals from a possible contact in the area. However, nothing was substantiated. I dispatched the Seawolf to investigate."

"Very well. Thank you for the information. Report anything else you may find. That is all."

"Yes sir." He saluted and left, winking at the secretary as he went by. "Busy for dinner?" He asked her as he walked by.

"Depends..." She smiled and he kept walking, going back to his post.

Meanwhile, inside his office, the Colonel looked at the data and at a secret memo he had recieved only fourteen hours earlier. A new Layartebian submarine was to be in the AO, testing the capabilities of it, the SOSUS net, and the ability of advanced submarines to detect it. The planned patrol area was exactly where the explosion was detected. What are we to do now... He thought to himself as he pushed the intercom button. "Lieutenant, I need Naval Command on the line. Now."

"Yes sir." She fiddled with some pages in a book and dialed a number on the secure phone. When it went through, she connected it to the Colonel's office line. "Go ahead sir." She said as the line became clear.

"Yes, this is Colonel Anderson. ID 425-889-229-11092-2992B. I need to speak with the Director of Submarine Operations immediately. This is an emergency. Yes I shall hold." He looked around his office and sighed. And such is what will be. He graduated college with a Masters in philosophy, still he couldn't figure out how he managed to be based here, 2,400 miles from home. "Yes. I'm holding. Thank you. Sir. This is Colonel Anderson in the Azores. I understand. Yes this is an emergency. Yes it concerns the submarine test. Sir, we registered an explosion in the test site roughly twenty minutes ago. No sir, no contact. A Seawolf is in the area but we're waiting on it to come to periscope depth and report. Yes in fifteen minutes it is due. Understood. Yes sir. Goodbye." He hung up the phone and buzzed his secretary again. "Lieutenant, get me Captain Scully on the line, please."

"Yes sir." She buzzed the main SOSUS control room and got him on the line. "Go ahead sir."

"Captain Scully. This is Colonel Anderson. When is that Seawolf due to communicate?"

"Fifteen minutes sir. We have her on SOSUS track, going up to the surface now."

"Very well. Relay the communique to me immediately. I will have a communique to send to the submarine as well."

"Understood sir."

Colonel Anderson hung up the phone and immediately drafted a short memo. The network in the Azores ran by fiber-optics, at speeds of phenomenal capabilities. It was also highly secure. With a program on his computer he could effectively see what was going on in the entire island group. In addition, he could also dispatch messages where he wanted them to go. The one he was dispatching now would go to submarine communications.

This message is to be relayed immediately and without interruption.

To: Seawolf
Fr: Azores Command

Friendly submarine test being conducted in area of 40-14N, 26-45W. Further information classified. SOSUS registered explosion event in area 35 minutes ago. Investigate. Friendly submarine is of a new class. Information limited. Report findings every 30 minutes.

He sent it down to the submarine communications station and within 18 seconds, he had confirmation that it was recieved. He recieved a phone call, as per SOPs, to confirm the message and he did. Now it was just a matter of time until the Seawolf came to periscope depth and transmitted its findings.

82 Nautical Miles North-Northeast of Terceira Island, The Azores...

Unbeknownst to the crews of both the Seawolf and the Hunter, a Germanian U-313 Attack Submarine had been following the Seawolf, monitoring its activity. The U-313 had been too far away to detect the Hunter, that was, until the reactor exploded. The crew of the Germanian submarine were only interested in the Seawolf because it appeared to be following another submarine... and they right about that.

[Translated from German]

Admiral Hertzmann: "Sonar, any idea where that explosion came from?"

Admiral Hertzmann was a 22-year submarine veteran, and knew his way around them. After the report of what sounded like nothing else but an explosion, he had made his way to the sonar and was watching the projection screen. A red dot marked where the explosion occured.

Major König: "Herr Admiral, advanced sound mapping indicates 95.2 nautical miles North-Northeast of Terceira, bearing 13°. Under normal circumstances, such as if the Seawolf had been hunting this sub, I would say it was hit by a torpedo. But there are two holes in that theory, Herr Admiral.

The explosion wasn't loud enough to be a torpedo hit, even from this distance. That, and after the explosion, sonar picked up the creaking sounds that a submarine makes when it goes deep. It was the Seawolf, sir. It went down further, and now it's going back up. But, before it went back up, sonar detected a brief SOS call from a submarine bouy, but then it died."

Admiral Hertzmann: "How deep do our cameras work?"

Major König: "Down to 2,910 feet, sir. But the crush depth of the U-313 is-"

Admiral Hertzmann: "2,520 feet, I know. Thank you, Major."

The Admiral picked up the radio.

Admiral Hertzmann: "Helm, bring us down to 2,300 feet, slow. Maintain current heading North-Northeast, but change bearing to 13° and change speed to 18 knots."

"Weapons, arm Kretschmann tubes one through four."

"Visual, ready camera ship one."

A mantra of 'Jawohl!'s followed his orders over the radio.

After a good while of slowly diving and approaching the explosion site, the mapping system onboard the U-313 showed the underwater mountain. The Executive Officer of the U-313, Kapitän zur See van Atta joined Admiral Hertzmann by the sonar.

Kapitän zur See van Atta: "If it's down there, Herr Admiral, do you think it's on that mountain?"

Admiral Hertzmann: "There's a good chance."

The Admiral lifted the radio again.

Admiral Hertzmann: "Visual, release camera one. Aim it towards the peak of that mountain."

"Jawohl."

A hatch on the bottom of the sub retracted inside, and a propellar-driven camera attached to a steel cable inside the sub began a course downward. Inside the U-313, the monitor of the camera showed little for over two hours, until the propellers of a submarine suddenly appeared on the screen.

Kapitän zur See van Atta: "Good call, Herr Admiral."

Admiral Hertzmann: "Have the camera search for any exterior damage."

The Admiral lifted his radio once again.

Admiral Hertzmann: "Radiofunk, send a radio message to the submarine. It seems to me they've had some serious engine problems. Send the message in German -- in the Germanian dialect, then in English, then in Cottish."

"Jawohl."

The radio message was sent, and while the radio inside the Hunter may not have worked, perhaps they could receive radio messages.

Kapitän zur See van Atta: "If we hear no response, should we tow the submarine out of deep waters?"

Admiral Hertzmann: "Perhaps. The time will come for that decision. Until then, we stay here. They may need our help, and I will offer whatever help I can."

Kapitän zur See van Atta: "Herr Admiral, the Seawolf has left..."

Admiral Hertzmann: "Then they either know something we don't, or they don't care. In either case, we're staying here until we found out what happened to the crew of this submarine."

Kapitän zur See van Atta: "Jawohl."

-----------------------------------------------------

São Jorge Island, The Azores...

"Achtung!"

The explosion was heard on the island of São Jorge like the atomic bomb was heard when it hit Nagasaki.

[Translated from German]

Generaloberst Heinz Gritter: "What was that, and where was it?"

Oberst Schenck: "Herr General, an underwater explosion, roughly 95 nautical miles North-Northeast of Terceira, bearing 13°. We have the U-313 in the area right now monitoring the situation, under command of Admiral Hertzmann."

Generaloberst Heinz Gritter: "And I can see the Layartebians have a submarine of their own monitoring it. I'm sure they picked up that explosion on Pico, or some other island. At least we know the SOSUS system in the Atlantic works. This is excellent news. The Reichskanzler will be very pleased. In the meantime, we need to get in touch with Layartebian Command on The Azores and find out what they know.

Get me on the phone with Layarteb Command on Pico."

"Layarteb Command; Pico."

"This is Generaloberst Heinz Gritter; São Jorge. I need to speak with the Commanding Officer immediately..."

OOC: Few things. Brief SOS signal never went out because the buoy never deployed. Thats why my guys are so unsure of where the submarine is. That and it's just not that easy to find a downed submarine. They searched for the Scorpion for ages, for example. Also, don't we both have command in Pico or should I change another Command Center to Jorge?

"One moment." The secretary picked up the phone and buzzed the intercom. "Sir, we have General Gritter on the phone." The Colonels secretary buzzed.

"Thank you." Colonel Anderson picked up the phone. "Yes sir. This is Colonel Anderson."

The Seawolf finally reached periscope depth, 68 feet. Moving at 5 knots, she was quiet and trailing only a small wake behind her. The communique was recieved almost immediately and it began to download from the satellite. "Conn, Radio. New message traffic recieved."

"Radio, Conn. Aye. Bring it up here." The Captain looked around. "Helm, make your depth 1-5-0. Retract the radio antenna."

"Aye sir. Make my depth 1-5-0." The submarine descended as the Chief of the Watch pressed a button on a pannel.

"Lower the radio antenna, aye sir."

Within seconds, the message was in the hands of the Captain. "Bloody hell!" He whispered to himself as he looked at the message. He handed it to his XO and looked around. "Helm, make your depth 1-8-0-0 feet."

"Aye sir. Make my depth 1-8-0-0 feet."

"All Stations." The Captain said to the XO as he picked up the microphone. "Crew, this is your captain. We have just recieved a communique from our base that a Layartebian submarine is down in this area. Our mission is to find it and transmit its position to command." He unclicked the transmit button and switched it back to general. "Sonar, Conn."

"Conn, Sonar."

"Use high-frequency sonar to scan the bottom of the water. It should be near us, very near us. Prepare an active pinging system, if necessary."

"Aye sir."

***************************************

Onboard the Hunter, everyone was busy. The internal temperature was 62°F and dropping. The emergency power system would not turn on the heaters until the system went to 36°F and it would sustain between 36°F and 40°F. The key was minimum. So far, nothing had been fixed. They had not had any flooding, yet, so they were lucky, thus far. It was all a waiting game and a matter of time.

"XO, what's the situation?" The Captain asked.

"Nothing new sir. Getting dark and cold."

"Understood. Hang in there. I doubt we went down unnoticed. That explosion echoed for miles."

"Yes sir. Permission to go to propulsion and investigate."

"Granted. Report what you find."

"Aye sir."

"Conn, Sonar, I've got a high-frequency sound on the scope! Bearing 1-8-2, range 39 nautical!"

"Sonar, Conn, copy that. Designation?" The Cottish Seawolf class submarine with the hull registry 256 were on a normal Atlantic patrol some 200 nautical miles north of the Azores when she picked up the explosion from the Layartebian Hunter-class submarine. Right now, the control room (Conn) aboard the 256 were suddenly highly concentrated. The CO of the vessel, Commander David Holst were in his quarters sleeping, but he rushed to the Conn just in time to hear the answer from the sonar-operator.

"It sounded like an explosion sir. Submerged contact. I've lost it now."

Commander Holst took the command and the 1MC from his XO, Lt.Cmdr. Fred Dobson.

"This is the skipper. Copy that Sonar. Good job. Try to get it back."

He then returned the 1MC to its cradle before he started barking out orders.

"Captain has the conn. Sound general quarters, man battlestations. Helm, get me to the location of the explosion, ahead 2/3. If its someone in distress, its our duty as seamen to help, but I don't want to take chances."

The crew responded with the commitment and dedication Cmdr Holst had come to expect from them during his three years of commanding the 256. She carried 26 Mark 48 Mod 6 ADCAP torpedoes, 8 UGM-109 Tactical Tomahawk cruise missiles and 16 UGM-84F Harpoon Block II anti-shipping missiles for her eight 660mm torpedo tubes, as well as two FIM-154C Starstreak MANPAD short-range surface-to-air missiles for use when surfaced. A heavily armed vessel, well equipped to deliver some pain. Currently, four ADCAPs and two Harpoons were loaded in the torpedo tubes, ready for action. Every man aboard hoped that it wouldn't come to that, but they wouldn't take any chances. Right now, the 256 increased to 18 knots, still two knots below her maximum silent rating, and headed for the explosion site. ETA was 1 hour, 45 minutes.

SOSUS Control Station, Pico, Azores

"Sir, we've got a contact. It's a Seawolf class, not ours. It's about 100 nautical miles north of our position right now. It is below the layer and it could be anything. We're still trying to get an ID. We have the location and such."

"Roger that." Captain Scully said as he looked at the tasking order. "What have we got in the area?"

"Not much sir. We have our Seawolf and we have an Unforgiven about 32 nautical miles away from the contact. We also have a Verrazano ASW destroyer in the AO. It is currently 22 nautical miles to the south of the contact. Both are ordered to move towards the downed submarine sir."

"Aye. Alright transmit the situation and have both of them move to the contact and search. What is the status on a P-8?"

"We can have one airborne in twenty minutes and have it over the area in 20 to 30 minutes sir."

"Scramble one."

"Aye sir."

***********************************************************

São Miguel Airfield, São Miguel, Azores

The P-8A Excalibur was sitting on the tarmac. All that needed to be done was its crew to be scrambled and they were, immediately. Its 10 man crew jumped out of their bunks and to the plane immediately. It was already loaded, part of the requirement of being on alert. In its two internal bays it carried 14 Mark 50 Mod 2 Barracuda torpedoes. On its 10 wing pylons it carried 8 AGM-180D Harpoon II missile and 4 AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles for ships and aircraft, respecitvely.

The mammoth maritime patrol craft taxied to the runway and took off immediately, climbing to 10,000 feet and accelerating to 450 mph, where it would travel to the target area. Then it would drop to 2,000 feet, slow down to 400 mph, and begin to drop sonarbuoys.

The 256 sailed quickly and relatively silently towards the explosion site. She had travelled for less than 20 minutes when the sonar operator called out again. "Conn, Sonar, new contact bearing 0-0-6, designate contact Master fourteen. Two screws, the engine sounds like a Layartebian Verrazano class ASW destroyer. Estimated range eighteen nautical."

The Conn immediately became a flurry with silent action as the 256 slowed to 7 knots. The team were already busy trying to get a fire sollution while others prepared for action. If the Layartebians engaged, against all odds, the 256 would have no other choice than to fire their load of weapons against them. Commander Holst would rather go to the surface and explain himself rather than be forces to fire against allies. Just then the sonar called out again.

"Conn, Sonar, another contact bearing 3-1-1, range twenty-seven nautical. Designate contact Master fifteen. [a few seconds later] Three screws. Sounds like one of the new Unforgiven class cruisers that the Layartebians are introducing sir. Yep, records confirm Master fifteen as a Unforgiven class. Same engine sounds sir."

"Copy that sonar. Good job."

The situation had turned from bad to worse. The Cots hadn't encountered many Unforgiven class cruisers, but they had enough experience and intel on it to suggest that it was a capable boat when facing subs.

"Go to periscope depth, smartly. Let's get some photos for the scrapbook. We're detected anyways, and we don't have time to play cat and mouse."

"Go to periscope depth aye, smartly aye. Helm, make my depth nineteen meters, ten degrees up buble."

The submarine rose quickly to nineteen meters, upon which Holst ordered the periscope up, looked around, and ordered the periscope down again. The Layartebian surface vessels would be at their location in less than thirty minutes. The Verrazano would be there first, and the Cots were travelling straight towards it. It was in their way. When it was five nautical miles away, Holst would raise the periscope again and take some snapshots of the Verrazano.

The Verrazano Class came in at 10 knots, loud, but with her anti-submarine systems on it masked its signature ever so slightly. Using its passive sonar, it swept the ocean but came up with nothing in its immediate vacinity. Then it became time.

The destroyer immediately slowed to 5 knots, using its submarine masking systems with more efficiency now. It had a trailed sonar array, able to catch things behind it. At the same time, the destroy launched its helicopter, an SH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter. The ASW chopper was loaded with a pair of Mark 50 Mod 2 torpedoes, capable of tagging deep diving, fast moving, attack submarines. It also carried a dipping sonar and several sonobuoys, all of them advanced Layartebian designs. This design was a two part design. The main body would descend, meant to go below a thermal layer. It was attached to the top piece, a floating relay unit, by a half mile of cable. Once below the layer, the sonobouy could be either acitve or passive.

Two of them were dropped at 10nm and 15nm from the destroyer. The goal now was to get a sound and triangulate.

"Conn, Sonar. Splashes, four and nine nautical miles away. Master fourteen is fading, but I still have him faintly at fourteen nautical away. Unable to deternime speed without going active."

"Sonar, Conn. Copy, remain on passive for the time being," Holst said. "Up periscope, stand by to surface the boat."

The crew were stunned at the possibility of surfacing the Seawolf, since it was against all training and common sense to surface the vessel when a foreign warship was close. Commander Holst waited impatiently for the periscope to be raised, and when it didn't happen he turned to face the XO. "Mister Dobson, raise the periscope and prepare the surface the boat. That's an order."

"Sir, your orders are in violation of both training, standard operating procedure and common sense. We...."

"Goddamnedit, we don't have time to argue! The explosion we heard eminated from a submerged contact, and is most likely a manned vessel who needs assistance immediately. As for the foreign vessel, they're Layartebians and some of our closest allies! We are in minimal danger commander. Now raise the goddamned periscope and stand by to surface. I will not ask again."

"Sir, I will obey the order, but I will add my protest to the ships log."

"So noted. Cheif, get me the log."

The Cheif of the Boat fetched the leather-bound book which served as Ships Log, SSN-256, Imperial Cottish Navy, and wrote a quick entry.

18 July 2005 1148Zulu

I have ordered SSN-256 to be surfaced nine nautical miles away from a
Layartebian warship of Verrazano class configuration. This has been ordered
in order to get to location [classified] to investigate a mysterious explosion
and aide in a possible rescue operation. The XO, Lt.Cmdr. Dobson will enter
his official protest to my orders in this log. I will assume full responsibility for
the outcome of my orders.

Signed
Commander David Holst, commanding.

"There. Happy?"

"Yes sir. Cheif, raise periscope, stand by to surface the boat."

The crew slowly did as they had been ordered to, still nervous for the possible outcome of the actions. Then Holst issued another set of orders.

"Thank you commander. Please raise the ELINT and ULF antennas too. When we surface, I want lookouts and the Starstreak team up in the conning tower immediately. Let's show them that we mean business."

A chorus of "Aye sir" followed, and Holst looked into the raising periscope. The seas were choppy, and while the periscope could be seen from the air, it would be very hard for the Layartebians since the waves were in excess of 4 meters and the periscope were painted in a camoflage-grey color scheme, making it even harder to spot. Holst did however see the SH-60R flying overhead, and he got three good snapshots of it. Then he looked closer for the Verrazano class destroyer. Nothing yet.

Inside the fuselage of the SH-60R Sea Hawk, the men monitored the sonobuoy information panel. Both were in passive mode, listening, but nothing had come on their screens yet. Then the pilot, looking down caught something, "Down there, we've got a wake. Give me the binocs."

"Yes sir." The co-pilot responded, handing him the binoculars and the pilot looked down.

"Yes we've got a periscope and an antenna. Relay information."

"Aye sir." The co-pilot immediately sent the information to the destroyer.

The goal now was to attempt to signal the ship with morse code. The messge would go out: "Identify yourself immediately. Your presence is not authorized in this sector. Any hostile acts or failure to identify will result in immediate retaliation." The message was repeated five times.

S-67, a WW2-era Type 4(VIIIC U-boat) sub belong to the Republic Navy Reserve was surfaced, charging it's batteries, when it heard the blast on Sonar. Commander Roberts ordered the sub investigate the area.

"Ah, they're morsing. My morse is rusty, but I think they're telling us to identify ourselves." Commander Holst told the crew in the Conn. "XO, lower periscope and antennas and surface the ship."

"Aye sir. Lower periscope, ELINT and ULF antennas. Cheif of the Boat, surface the ship."

The orders were quickly relayed and within a minute of the order, the periscope were down and the conning tower of the 256 breeched through the surface. Virtually instantly, the lookouts were up the ladder and out looking, along with the Starstreak crew and Cmdr Holst, who ordered the Cottish ensign to be hoisted. The Starstreak crew rigged up the missile and pointed it in the general direction of the Seahawk while a lookout called out.

"Surface contact, eight nautical miles. Identification.... Destroyer. Layartebian Verrazano class."

"Understood. Establish radio contact with the Seahawk." Holst answered before he picked up the telephone from its watertight compartment. It was connected directly to the radio antenna, and contact was established quickly.

"This is Submarine 256 from the Imperial Cottish Navy. We are in international waters and you have no right to order us around. We are proceeding to investigate a mysterious explosion, which also occured in international waters. It is my belief that the explosion originated in a manned submersable, and we am enroute to investigate and offer assistance to an vessel in distress. Over."

"Sir, radar is picking up contacts on the sea and the air." The XO, 1st Lt.
Stevens said. Com. Roberts orders the vessel to dive to 250ft. The vessel heads to the area of the blast to investagate.

SOSUS Control Station, Pico, Azores

"Sir, we've got another contact. It appears to be a diesel-electric, old, very old. Classification puts it as a Type 4 VIIIC U-boat. Sir, it's pretty damn old. We know only one country using such vessels, Brydog sir."

"What the hell are they doing in this AO?" Captain Scully asked as he looked at the display.

"Don't know sir but that explosion went out for at least two hundred nautical miles."

"Indeed it did. Any word from the Verrazano?"

"Sir, coming in now."

"Roger that."

*******************************************************************

On the deck of the Verrazano destroyer, lookouts were busy. They had spotted the surfaced Seawolf and transmitted the information to the SOSUS control station. It was an active destroyer now. Another contact had appeared on scope, a World War II-era U-Boat, diving. The Verrazano was loaded with 24 ADCAP II torpedoes, 8 RGM-180F Harpoon II anti-ship missiles, 42 RIM-116B Rolling Airframe CIWS, 96 RIM-162B ESSM air defense missiles, and 40 RUM-139D VL-ASROC missiles, each equipped with a Mark 50 Mod 2 Barracuda torpedo. She was definitely ready to do business when the SH-60R reported dangerous news.

"This is Voodoo 1. We've got a MANPAD on the deck, probably tracking us sir. IR countermeasures on." The SH-60R pilot reported.

"Aye. Establishing contact. Wait 1."

The SH-60R Sea Hawk flew overhead and dropped flares as it banked away. Its two torpedoes were already programmed to attack the Seawolf if necessary and the instant a missile launch was detected, she would drop one into the water without fail. That was standard operating proceedure.

Upon recieving the reply, the Verrazano's captain looked at his orders. "Send this." He said as he turned back to the morse code operator. The message being sent back read: "Cottish submarine. We thank you for your assistance. The accident occured during a training exercise of a classified weapon system. The system has been recovered and the situation has been resolved. Thank you for your assistance." The message would, to make things easier, be sent three times.

"Understood. We will submerge now and return to our patrol. Be advised that the patrol will take us very close to the area of the explosion. We will not deviate from our course, which is in international waters. Any attempts to stop us will be met with swift retaliation. End."

Commander Holst looked around the choppy seas once more before he looked to the Starstreak crew.

"Clear the bridge!"

Immediately the seamen manning the conning tower bridge packed down their Starstreak, the binoculars and the Cottish flag and climbed down the ladder to the Conn, leaving the Commander alone on the bridge. He looked around for a moment, checking that everything was squared away before he climbed down the ladder and secured the hatch to the outside world for now. When he got down into the control room, he turned to the Chief of the Boat.

"Chief of the Boat, sound diving stations. Get me to four hundred meters, ahead one third."

"Aye sir. Passing the word," the Chief said before he sounded an alarm three times and called out "Dive, dive, dive!" Throughout the ship, sailors scurried to their diving stations while the Chief walked over to the helmsman and issued orders about making his depth 400 meters with fifteen degrees down on the diveplains. The reactor gave enough power for the 256 to be on 400 meters within three minutes, and down there she stabilized herself before heading to 2-9-9, away from the explosion site. Holst had, while they were standing off the Layartebians, sent a scrambled message to Atlantic Command.

Silently and completely without fuss, two KH-11 and a KH-12 intel satellites had flown over the location of the explosion site after and taken hundreds of pictures and radar scans. The next fly-by would be in three hours, and then it would be a KH-20 signal intelligence satellite, which would scan for radio traffic in the area. Twenty minutes after that one, another KH-11 would pass over and take even more pictures. Hopefully they would get some good intel from the satellites.

Satellite Uplink Station, Pico, Azores

The satellite uplink station was quiet and dark. The panels illuminated in colors and provided an accurate representation of the entire planet. The station was linked to main satellite control in Layarteb and North Germania. It monitored the atmosphere for debris, satellites, and anything else that might be up there. Advanced mapping systems had allowed them to plot and locate each and every piece of space debris in the atmosphere and every satellite. It took a lot of funds and time but it was done and updated every day.

Monitoring panels were some 40 men, each with a different sector to look after. Sergeant Jonas was in charge of the immediate sector over the Azores. He had not recieved his position easily but rather with a lot of testing. He had been in charge of the satellite sector over six Layartebian missile installations in the past and was responsible for keeping them hidden through sly tactics and expensive scrambling equippment. Such equippment was available for this tasking as well.

They had been overflown by several satellites, all Cottish. Most of them classified as reconnaissance birds, snapping pictures. Pictures were harmless, nobody possessed the capability to see 2,800 feet into the water. However, something else was on the way, a SIGINT satellite, classification KH20. Still three hours away, the satellite would have to be jammed and scrambled. It could monitor communications and other important and classified data.

Sergeant Jonas would be in charge of scrambling the satellite when it passed over. It would take serious calibration but that was what he did and he did it well. The systems they were using were based on all islands of the Azores, each one a small emitter that was able to send falsified and jarbled signals to satellites and confuse the living hell out of them.

*******************************************************************

"Sir, she's diving." The Seawolf drifted back underwater and the Verrazano resumed its patrol. However, now it was proceeding towards the other submerged contact, a U-boat. The SH-60R Sea Hawk would drop sonobuoys over it as well, after all, it wasn't that far away.

At the same time, the Unforgiven Class was making its way to the crash site. It was only 15 nautical miles away and steaming in at 20 knots, loud and fast. It had to get there in a hurry, it was surface defense for the operation.

S-79 resurfaced to charge it's batteries, the sub was ordered to return to base. S-79 turned around and headed to base at Relirey Naval Station.

OOC: Bry that's no fun LOL.

Sitting on the deep-sea mountain, the crew of the Hunter were having problems. Six of them had already died from their injuries, sustained from the crash. Another eight were wounded but going to make it. The rest were freezing cold. It was dark, quiet, and there was no hope of getting a signal out. The buoy was shot, the sonar beyond repair, the radio almost fixed but useless without a buoy, and the propulsion was done for. Emergency power wasn't enough to get it off the bottom and blowing the air tanks wouldn't do squat.

Search efforts, thus far, were failures. The Hunter was just too well built. When active pinging began, the sound was just absorbed by the foam between the hulls. Three submarines were there pinging, using their high-frequency sonar, two Scythes and a Seawolf. On the surface, two Unforgiven cruisers and a pair of Verrazano destroyers were available as well.

A submarine with a DSRV was inbound from Layarteb but it would be another day and a half before it arrived. A Seawolf Class as well, it would be on hand with other remote sensors, equipped with a remote IR and camera tracking probe in its torpedo tube. It was a new system, never tested, never used. Hopefully, it would save the lives of those onboard the Hunter.

A new sub enters the area, this one using a MHD system. The sub was a new Type-72, the first vessel of the new class. The sub was at 200ft depth listening to the sea.

OOC: What's an MHD and forgive me if I don't go into depth but yeah, a new sub enters the area, etc. Like err yeah...that's bad...Sorry but yeah..

[QUOTE=Layarteb]

"Conn, Propulsion. Sir, the reactors just scrammed to 180% and the safeties kicked in to 40%. We're evaluating the problem right now. Recommend we get as close to the surface as possible and make way for base sir."

"Propulsion, Conn. Aye." The Captain put down the microphone. "Helm, make your depth 150 feet, set course to," he looked at the map, "2-3-0, make turns for 15 knots."

"Aye sir. Make my depth 1-5-0 feet, course 2-3-0, 15 knots." The submarine came about and sped up. Unfortunately, as it began an ascent things went further wrong.


Urm layarteb for future reference SCRAM is an acronym for Safety Control Reactor Ax Man, a title given to the man responsible for cutting the rope holding the control rods in the first nuclear core under the stadium at the university of Chicago. On a nuclear sub it means to disable the reactor. So a reactor can’t SCRAM up to 180% its impossible. other than that good story line

[QUOTE=Layarteb]

"Conn, Propulsion. Sir, the reactors just scrammed to 180% and the safeties kicked in to 40%. We're evaluating the problem right now. Recommend we get as close to the surface as possible and make way for base sir."

"Propulsion, Conn. Aye." The Captain put down the microphone. "Helm, make your depth 150 feet, set course to," he looked at the map, "2-3-0, make turns for 15 knots."

"Aye sir. Make my depth 1-5-0 feet, course 2-3-0, 15 knots." The submarine came about and sped up. Unfortunately, as it began an ascent things went further wrong.


Urm layarteb for future reference SCRAM is an acronym for Safety Control Reactor Ax Man, a title given to the man responsible for cutting the rope holding the control rods in the first nuclear core under the stadium at the university of Chicago. On a nuclear sub it means to disable the reactor. So a reactor can’t SCRAM up to 180% its impossible. other than that good story line

Perhaps I should have said spiked. I have heard scram used as "reactor scram" but also interchangably with the word spike.

OOC: What's an MHD and forgive me if I don't go into depth but yeah, a new sub enters the area, etc. Like err yeah...that's bad...Sorry but yeah..
MHD= Magnetohydrodynamic, think Red Octobor(sp.)

OOC: October...

Sitting on the bottom of the ocean, the Hunter Class made progress. The reactor problem was identified, unfortunately there was no way they could fix it. The problem was not within the safeties, the cooling, or anything like that. The problem was actually within the design itself. The reactor was new, an experimental pebblebed design and that was the problem. The pebbles had a major problem with pressure, at this moment in time. When the reactor spiked the first time, the pressure jumped in the core and only created a further reaction.

The system problem pushed into the turbines and the excessive heat immediately warped the metal gears and turbines, which suffered catastrophic failure and exploded. They were crippled.

Above them, the Seawolf was sitting, not moving, just pinging away. The double hull of the Hunter was highly efficient, just absorbing the sound. Unfortunately, for them, the pinging wasn't working. What they needed was the system coming with the other Seawolf, which was finally coming into the area. The DSRV piggy-backed to it could rescue up to 24 people at a time and it could dive down to 5,000 feet. But before it was launched, the Seawolf flooded its torpedo tube, opened the door, and fired out a remote IR control sensor. It was attached to a tether and relayed what it found back to the Seawolf. The robot vehicle would move at 3 knots and scan with its area. It could, with its battery power, scan for up to thirty-six hours. It had an infra-red sensor and it had camera sensors. It had significantly powerful lights as well, which would allow it to see around the surface.

The Seawolf would come within six hundred yards of where the other was, given that that was the explosion area. At that time, the remote sensor would eject and it just had. Both Seawolfs were sitting at 1,900 feet, almost near their crush depth, which was around 2,200 feet.

Now began the search patterns...

8 hours of searching revealing nothing thus far for the team. Those aboard the Hunter were running out of oxygen, were running out of time. They were positive the submarine was where they were and they were right, sort of. The submarine was well below them and though they were searching as deep as 3,000 feet, they had yet to find anything. High-frequency sonar picked up very little thus far.

Onboard the Hunter, the captain was growing tired and weary. The crew were huddled into four compartments, struggling to stay warm. The captain had a plan and they were, at this moment in time, working on it. They planned to divert some power to the forward torpedo room. He figured that if he could launch a torpedo, it would alert someone to his presence. Unfortunately, for them, it was dangerous.

Six men were working to disable the warhead on an ADCAP II and they had planned to launch it in active mode, around their submarine, using the wire guidance to guide it within 100 yards of the submarine. It would not be active but rather just pinging away. They were about an hour away from being ready, working by flashlight. The amount of power needed for this single launch and the guidance would, more or less, deplete their emergency power to a mere 20%, dangerous levels.

But finally, after an hour, everything was ready, the tube was pressurized and flooded. the torpedo was ready and the doors were opened. Then, with a high pressure burst, the torpedo ejected from the tube and went active, pinging away.

Every submarine and ship in the area heard both the launch and the pinging. This was not a standard operating proceedure for a downed submarine but they imagined that the captain was desparate, he was low on air. The Seawolf guiding the remote search vehicle immediately moved the vehicle towards the pinging. They were 300 yards away and about 200 feet below the submarine. Then, as they moved up the vehicle, its cameras showed the hull of a submarine and with that, the search lights illuminated the hull.

Cheers went throughout all ships as the Seawolf radioed it had found the submarine. The exact coordinates were given and now came the hard part. The DSRV was ready and only 400 yards away. It could be there in less than a few minutes and it would be. The first delivery would bring oxygen tanks, fresh air, and then they would begin moving the crew off the submarine.

It's salvage would be handled by a special ship, coming in from Bangor, Maine. It was a massive, oil-drilling-type ship, capable of lifting a 50,000 ton submarine off the bottom of the ocean, to a depth of 6,000 feet. The system deployed 3 cranes with clamps that would, through the use of robotics and cameras, attach a harnass type system around the submarine and lift it up. The submarine would be pulled into the internal bay of the ship and hold it throughout its journey back, a journey made at 8 knots, maximum. It would take a long time but that was the plan.

OOC: Nice. Is that ship based on that special vessel Howard Hughes built for raising that Soviet Golf-class sub from the Pacific in the fifties/sixties?

OOC: Nice. Is that ship based on that special vessel Howard Hughes built for raising that Soviet Golf-class sub from the Pacific in the fifties/sixties?

Sources say yes.

"10 feet...8 feet...6 feet...3 feet...1 foot...dock!" The DSRV operator was a professional and a half. He had 200 hours in the simulator, practicing coupling with a submarine and he could do it quicker than anyone out there. Once the seal was engaged, the pressure blew the water out of the seal, and the DSRV crewmen opened the hatch. Two stood with their M33A1 Pistols at the ready, just in case. Then, with a lead pipe, they banged four times on the hatch of the Hunter and waited. Nothing happened so they banged again. Nothing happened again. Immediately, the DSRV reported that no contact had been made. The Hunter consisted of one more hatch, this one in the forward of the submarine. The driver of the DSRV lifted it off and they moved to that hatch. Perhaps the submarine was cut in two pieces, inside.

As they coupled with that hatch, the pressure mounted. If they didn't answer it meant only one thing, they were all dead. So, the seal was engaged, water ejected, and they banged four times on the hatch. This time, it opened.

"RESCUE!" The men shouted as they looked up at the DSRV. "THE CAPTAIN HAS DONE IT. WE ARE FREE!" Cheers and clapping rang through the submarine and men immediately began to climb towards the DSRV but were stopped.

"We've got plenty of space and oxygen for everyone. I need to speak with your captain immediately!" Silence fell upon the crew. He asked the question again.

"Captain is dead." The crew echoed and bowed their heads.

"Who is in charge?"

"Lieutenant Rivetti."

"Summon him."

"Aye sir." The man at the hatch called for the lieutenant and he came up to the hatch at the double.

"Lieutenant Rivetti. I am to understand you are the commanding officer?"

"Yes sir."

"How many men have you got alive?"

"Thirty-eight including myself sir. The rest died about half an hour ago when the rear of the ship flooded. We're the only compartment without water."

"Very well. Give me the 24 most critical and we'll be back to get the rest."

"Understood. What of the bodies?"

"Salvage vessel is coming. I will need the logs immediately."

"Yes sir. Here they are." He had them with him, anticipating rescue, anticipating SOPs.

"Very well. You have the option of leaving first."

"I will wait until I am the last man off."

"Understood. Here are oxygen tanks, food, and fresh water. It may be another four hours."

"Understood. Thank you sir."

The rescue operation went underway as the 24 most critical men, all of whom were able to walk on their own but wet and nearing hypothermia, climbed into the DSRV. Then it was gone, making its way back to the Seawolf with the logs, the news, and the memorial.

Within 9 hours, the rescue operation was completed. All living sailors were aboard the Seawolf, getting medical treatment. The location of the submarine was logged and the salvage vessel knew exactly where to go. The salvage vessel was about 38 hours away and until it arrived, cruisers, submarines, aircraft, and other surface ships would keep guard over the submarine. Anything coming within 20 nautical miles of the submarine would have to get through torpedoes, missiles, and bombs to get to the submarine.