Cardinal Virtues (War of the Submarine Book 1) by R.G. Roberts

Author:R.G. Roberts [Roberts, R.G.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: R.G. Roberts
Published: 2022-02-22T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

Mistaken Identity

13 April 2038

John’s eyes burned with fatigue. He tried to nap earlier and failed, catching only an hour or so before the sun went down. Sleeping on a submarine was never hard, no matter the time; John was out like the proverbial baby and could sleep through anything short of Armageddon or a phone call. Here on the carrier, however, John couldn’t catch a wink when it was light out. Or when the carrier conducted flight ops. Daylight and aircraft. Two things that really make me feel at home.

Who the hell wanted a bed where jet engines roared at odd hours, anyway? This surface stuff was for the birds. Returning to the flag bridge didn’t make him less tired, but at least being useful was an option.

“COS, we just got a message from Seventh Fleet. A Chinese helo buzzed Jeremiah Denton and Michael Monsoor,” the battle watch captain reported from her station to his right. “Monsoor illuminated the helo and warned it off, but it shot a pair of C-802s. Denton shot the missiles down and they splashed the helo. No American casualties. Both ships are undamaged. Ford CSG is now in the East China Sea”

“God.” John rubbed his eyes. Both Denton and Monsoor were part of the Ford Strike Group. “Any change to ROE?”

“No, sir. Rules of Engagement remain unchanged. Weapons tight, warning yellow.”

“Aye.” John grimaced. “Forward the message to the boss, please.”

He tuned out Lieutenant Andrea Rubino’s call to Admiral McNally. McNally would be cranky; it was just past four in the morning local time, and chiefs of staff existed so admirals could sleep. But news of a China helo taking potshots at American warships couldn’t wait for morning.

Minutes ticked by like hours while John doodled the math on his console. Once the Ford and Enterprise strike groups joined up—plus the amphibious strike group under Admiral Rodriquez—they’d have two carriers, three cruisers, nine destroyers, a helicopter carrier, and an amphib whose purpose John couldn’t remember. And three attack submarines. The combined force was bigger than anything America fielded since the Cold War, but compared to China’s order of battle, it was miniscule.

Someone back in Washington thought their little show of power would deter the Chinese, but what if it wasn’t enough? John swallowed.

“Belleau Wood reports a narrowband contact on her tail,” Rubino said.

John straightened so fast his back cracked. “Submerged?”

“Sounds like. Bearing either one-two-five or three-zero-five. They’re requesting to maneuver to prosecute.”

John checked a sigh. He failed to convince McNally to swap Fletcher out for one of the other destroyers, but at least Enterprise dropped back to 2,000 yards behind Belleau Wood so that the cruiser could stream her own tail. Now that effort bore fruit.

Unfortunately, even the most advanced passive sonar arrays had difficulty determining what direction a sound came from. That was why submarines had multiple arrays programed to work in concert.

Unfortunately, a surface ship just had their sonar dome and (usually) a towed array, which was just a string of hydrophones travelling underwater on a very long wire.

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