SSN

    A quick communication flashed between the two helos, and moments later both pilots launched their Mk 50s-but not at the lead Alfa. Cheyenne wasn't likely to need their help with that one. Instead, they targeted the second Chinese submarine, Mack's Master 38.

    Below the surface, Cheyenne was now comfortably within range of both submarines and was steering the Mk 48 into the lead Alfa, Master 37.

    "Conn, sonar," the sonar supervisor reported, "Ingm-ham's SH-60s just dropped two torpedoes, sounds like Mk 50s, on the bearing to the second Alfa, Master 38." There was a pause and then the fire-control coordinator added, "It looks like they're going to hit, too, sir. BSY-1 shows they dropped them right on top of it."

    Neither of the Chinese submarines had any idea that they had been targeted by any American torpedoes. The lead Chinese Alfa never would.

    The 650-pound warhead of Cheyenne's Mk 48 detonated directly aft of the Alfa's single screw and blew off the stern of the submarine. Running at four hundred feet, the crew on board the lead Alfa never had a chance. Those that didn't drown immediately as water rushed into the engine room were crushed by the pressure of the deep sea.

    The second Alfa, still running at top speed, was unable to hear either Cheyenne or the two Mk 50s heading toward it, but its crew heard the explosion from the Mk 48 on the bearing of their sister ship. The second Aifa's captain slowed immediately to assess the situation-which was the worst thing he could have done. By stopping directly in the path of the American Mk 50s, he had sealed his own fate.

    "Conn, sonar, two explosions, sir," the sonar supervisor said to Mack. "The Mk 50s just hit their mark." A moment later he added, "But she's not breaking up, sir,"

    That didn't surprise Mack. The Alfa class SSNs had always been thought of as one of the hardest types of submarine to kill. Unlike most other submarines, the Alfa had a hull constructed not of steel, but entirely of titanium. This allowed it to dive extremely deep, probably 3,000 feet, and it also made her a very hard target to destroy. Alfas were almost as hard to sink as the double-hulled Typhoon.

    The Alfa had gotten lucky, but she hadn't come away undamaged. The two American light weight torpedoes had hit the Alfa on its starboard side, damaging the starboard ballast tanks. To make matters worse, their reactor had automatically shut down when the control rods came unlatched as a result of the torpedo concussions. Without its reactor, the Alfa could not run away.

    The officers and crew of the Alfa had just begun to get a grip on their problems when Cheyenne fired her second torpedo at Master 38, and things suddenly became much worse.

    "Conn, sonar, unit 2 running hot, straight, and normal," the sonar supervisor said.

    There was nothing for the Chinese submarine to do except wait and die. If it tried to surface, it would list heavily to starboard. With their sonar barely working, the Alfa's sonarmen listened as Mack's torpedo came closer and closer to their submarine. One minute before impact, the Chinese captain did try launching a noisemaker, but the Mk 48 ignored it and continued to close on the helpless submarine.

    The torpedo detonated on the same side as had the smaller Mk 50s, but it had more of an impact. The titanium hull had already been weakened by the earlier explosions. This one cracked it clean through, flooding the Alfa and killing all forty-seven men on board. From the moment Cheyenne's torpedo had acquired, they never had a chance.

    That didn't bother Mack at all. This was war, and he knew the Chinese hadn't planned on giving Ingraham any chance, either.

    The Alfas were gone, and now Cheyenne and her crew had to focus on their mission once more. The Chinese task group was still headed her way, but there was little time left for Cheyenne and Ingraham's helos to prepare for the quick but deadly upcoming attack. Mack allowed his crew a short respite from battle stations.

    Nineteen hours later, Cheyenne came to periscope depth with battle stations remanned. She received word that one of Ingraham's helicopters had detected the Chinese task group 150 miles to the north of Cheyenne's position. Ingraham had relocated about fifty miles to the south of Cheyenne, but her Seahawks were flying as rotating radar pickets to detect the enemy fleet. As soon as the Chinese task group was discovered, the second Seahawk, freshly fueled and armed, was sent to relieve the first one and allow it to return to the frigate for refueling.

    The Seahawk's powerful surface-search radar allowed the helicopter to stay out of Chinese SAM (surface-to-air missiie) range while she painted the task group with radar waves. This data would be used to guide Cheyenne's Harpoons into their targets.