Liberia by David E. Meadows

Author:David E. Meadows [Meadows, David E.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, General, (¯`'•.¸//(*_*)\\¸.•'´¯)
ISBN: 9781101220719
Google: ctM_r3ghjIEC
Amazon: B000O76OM2
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 2003-09-02T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 9

REAR ADMIRAL DICK HOLMAN LOWERED HIS BINOCULARS. “How many grenades has Spruance’s helicopter dropped?”

“Three, sir. One every fifteen minutes, but I don’t think that submarine has any intention of surfacing.”

He shook his head. “Leo, it’s either Russian or French. If it was British, we would have known about it, and if it was ours, it wouldn’t have been trapped so easily.”

“I would think if it wanted to get away it could, Admiral. All it has to do is go below the sound layer and ease off in any of three hundred sixty degrees.”

“Navigator,” Holman said. “What’s the depth here?”

“Shallow, sir. We have two hundred feet.”

“Should be deeper than that,” Leo said defensively. “We’re thirty miles out.”

“Yes, sir,” the navigator replied, her voice even. “But the current and wind from the mainland pushes the bottom up in this area. Makes a north-south-running ridge ten miles wide that separates the coastal current from the Atlantic Ocean.”

The faint sound of the SH-60 Lamps Mark III helicopter drew their attention.

“There goes the Spruance’s sixty again.” Upmann looked at his watch. “Right on time for the fourth grenade.”

“Wave them off, Leo.”

“Wave them off!”

“Yes, tell Spruance to hold up on the warning grenades. If the submarine was hostile, we would know by now. They’re friendly. Most likely French, and don’t want us to know they have been trailing us. The good news is we’ve done something that will give the captain of that submarine nightmares. We’ve embarrassed the shit out of him. Of course, could have been worse and we could have caught him on the surface, but it’ll be bad enough when his peers discover that he was caught by a surface unit. If Spruance hadn’t decided to conduct a man-overboard drill, it never would have detected him. The submarine was following in their baffles. We can assume it’s been following us for some time—probably a surveillance mission.”

“Don’t know why he would have nightmares. Current doctrine calls for two destroyers and four antisubmarine helicopters for every submarine you detect. Even then, you keep the destroyers out of range and fight it with the helicopters.”

“Did I say nightmares?” Holman chuckled. “The nightmares are the ridicule he’ll get when his fellow submariners find out. Submariners are like eccentric uncles. They want to be around the family, but they don’t want anyone to know they’re there or when they leave.”

Upmann lifted the handset of the sound-powered telephone plugged into the circuit on the starboard bridge wing. “Combat, this is Chief of Staff. Wave Spruance’s helo off and tell Spruance to quit dropping grenades for the time being. They are to remain ready, but hold off until told different.”

He held the telephone to his ear listening to the voice on the other end.

Upmann would be speaking to the Tactical Action Officer. The TAO would be Amphibious Group Two’s deputy operations officer, but knowing Captain Buford Green, his Operations Officer would be standing near the woman. The information revolution and the sweep of technological advancements in weaponry reduced the time for a warship to react to an attack from minutes to seconds.

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