SSN

    Ingraham, an Oliver Hazard Perry class frigate, had been selected for this mission for two simple reasons: she could do the job and she was expendable. The 3,500-ton Ingraham was cheap, inexpensive, and had about 150 fewer sailors on board than did the more powerful Ticonderoga class cruisers.

    The captain had received word of this mission three days ago when his ship was dispatched from the Nimitz Carrier Battle Group into the South China Sea. He knew that Nimitz could have sent one of the more powerful Aegis cruisers or destroyers, but that would have left the carrier more vulnerable to attack.

    Ingraham's captain didn't like being thought of as expendable-but he couldn't really argue with the logic. And it didn't matter anyway. He would carry out his orders to the best of his ability, whether he liked them or not.

    He didn't know much about Cheyenne, the submarine he would be supporting. He knew that, like Ingraham herself, Cheyenne was the last of her class. He also knew that Cheyenne, though commissioned less than a year earlier, had already become one of the most successful submarines in American naval history. And he knew that her skipper, Captain Mackey, was a good man and a highly respected commanding officer. He hoped that this mission would put his own selection board jacket on the top of the pile when the O-6 selection board was next in session.

    For this support mission, Ingraham was equipped with a full loadout of weapons, which had both pleased and surprised her Captain. He guessed that the full loadout was his admiral's way of compensating for sending Ingraham on such a mission, without any support. Ingraham's armament included thirty-six Standard SM-1 surface-to-air missiles, four Harpoon missiles, and a full load of Mk 46 torpedoes for their Mk 32 torpedo tubes, plus lots of ammunition for both their Mk 75 gun and their 20mm Phalanx CIWS. The frigate also carried two SH-60B Seahawks, each of which was equipped with a powerful APS-124 surface-search radar under its nose. This radar would be invaluable in providing mid-course guidance to the antiship missiles launched from Cheyenne.

    Ingraham's job was to support Cheyenne. If any of the submarine's missiles failed to hit their mark, Ingraham had permission to fire her Harpoon missiles at the Chinese task group. She was also permitted to fire on any enemy vessels or aircraft with which she came into contact, but the emphasis of her mission was to support Cheyenne.

    On board Cheyenne, the communicator had an update for Mack. "Captain," he said, "we just received word that Ingraham has arrived in position. She relayed a message for you. Captain. It reads, 'all quiet on the northern front.'"

    Mack smiled at that. "Funny," he said. "How long until we reach our launch point?"

    The OOD conversed quickly with the QMOW (quartermaster of the watch) and determined that Cheyenne was currently ninety-two miles southwest of where she needed to be. "If we increase speed to full, our ETA will be in four hours, Captain," answered the OOD.

    Mack acknowledged that. "Come right to course 045, speed full, depth four hundred feet," he ordered.

    Two hours later the sonar room began buzzing with action.

    "Conn, sonar, we have two convergence zone contacts on the spherical array, classified as probable Alfa class SSNs, bearing 010 and 014."

    As the sonar supervisor continued the basis of his classification, a picture emerged that Mack didn't like- and one that Ingraham's captain was going to like even less.

    The frigate was supposed to be on station forty-three miles northeast of Cheyenne. Mack didn't know it yet, but the two sonar contacts, Masters 37 and 38, were traveling next to each other forty miles northwest of Ingraham, which put them at the third point of an almost equilateral triangle, approximately forty-two miles from Cheyenne.

    Making turns for 12 knots, the Alfas were running at a depth of fifty meters, not knowing that Cheyenne was approaching the area. They were heading toward Ingraham, closing in for what they thought would be an easy kill.

    "Come to periscope depth," Mack ordered the OOD.

    "I want to alert Ingraham."

    Within minutes, Cheyenne was at sixty feet and the "flash" message was sent via satellite to the lone frigate. The message included Cheyenne's estimated position and bearing to the two Chinese submarines and the fact that Cheyenne had tentatively classified them as Alfas.

    "Conn, sonar. Masters 37 and 38 have increased speed. Blade rate indicates they're running at thirty-eight-make that forty knots, sir. It looks like they're making their move."