novelraw #397 - Crossing the Bering Strait
#397 - Crossing the Bering Strait
The alarm from the passive sonar suddenly blared, sending a jolt of tension through the crew of nuclear submarine 001.
"Active sonar detected!" A red warning flashed on Liu Wensheng's command screen.
Liu Wensheng shot to his feet, his eyes glued to the information on the screen.
In this era, most active sonar systems had a detection range of no more than 6 kilometers. This was the current physical limit, considering the energy loss of sound waves in seawater. Because active sonar needed to receive a return signal, the effective range was effectively doubled, meaning the target was likely within a 12-kilometer radius.
The question was whether this active sonar originated from a standalone device or a vessel equipped with active sonar!
Normally, these were the only two possibilities. Submarines lurking underwater wouldn't readily activate their active sonar and expose their position.
Therefore, the immediate task was to determine whether it was an underwater sonar detection device or a ship.
If it was just a device, it wouldn't be much of a concern. After all, nearly all of these devices lacked the ability to transmit information to the rear in real-time. Aside from Dongda, which now had satellite communication, other countries were still in the primitive stages of radio telegraphy and wired telephones. Therefore, even if a sensor in this remote location detected the presence of nuclear submarine 001, the information would only be relayed when someone came to collect the data from the sensors and take it back for analysis.
However, a ship was a different story. There might be a destroyer patrolling the surface!
While destroyers and submarines were often seen as being in a cat-and-mouse relationship, it was hard to say for sure who had the upper hand.
Based on Liu Wensheng's experience serving on Jianghai-class destroyers, he felt that if nuclear submarine 001 revealed a weakness and was caught by a Jianghai-class destroyer, it would be difficult to escape the destroyer's search and attack.
Jianghai-class destroyers were equipped with both torpedoes and depth charges. Especially now, if the latest JK-1 torpedoes were paired with a Jianghai-class destroyer, there would be virtually no chance of escape. It would be a deadly showdown to see whose torpedo hit first!
"Sonar has detected a surface vessel!" Soon, the passive sonar system determined that the active sonar originated from the surface, indicating the presence of a surface vessel.
However, due to a lack of sonar signal characteristic data in the database, the passive sonar system couldn't identify the type of surface vessel, or even its country of origin.
This would ensure the success of their mission. Otherwise, moving forward in such shallow waters would almost certainly lead to detection. Currently, they were about 12 kilometers away from the opponent, giving him another option: change course and evade the enemy.
Liu Wensheng made his decision after three seconds of contemplation. "Full rudder to starboard, evasive maneuvers to the rear!"
Being cautious, Liu Wensheng decided to play it safe for now.
Although he had been authorized to act expediently during the voyage, prioritizing the safety of the nuclear submarine, eliminating the opponent was also an option if necessary.
However, in this location, attacking without knowing the full situation could lead to being surrounded.
Moreover, engaging in combat was a major decision.
Liu Wensheng didn't yet possess the domineering aura of a captain from a superpower.
"Jim, there's a signal here. Did we miss something?"
In the sonar room of the Rogue Eagle's Norfolk destroyer, Donald Ripp said to Jim Hede with a strange look, "I saw a faint echo, but it disappeared in an instant."
"Don't worry too much about it. Maybe it's a pod of whales. Here, whales are the masters of the ocean, we're just outsiders," Jim replied nonchalantly.
"Or what if it's the Great Bear's submarine? We can't just take them out directly. Compared to the chase that follows confirming a submarine, I'd rather watch whales here."
Although their duty was to monitor and pursue any targets passing through the area, ensuring maritime security, they didn't take it seriously.
The Norfolk was the newest destroyer, based on the hull of the Atlanta-class light cruiser, but with adaptations for destroyer duties. Its length was reduced by 3 meters compared to the Atlanta-class, the freeboard was increased by 0.7 meters, and the beam was increased by 0.55 meters. The end result was a decreased length-to-beam ratio, allowing for more compartments and equipment. The power system inherited the Atlanta-class's power system, enhanced with postwar technology. The power plant included four Babcock \u0026 Wilcox two-drum steam boilers, with pressure increased to 84.4 kg/cm² (compared to the 43.3 kg/cm² boiler pressure on the Fletcher-class). The main engines were also two sets of geared steam turbines provided by General Electric, with a total output of 80,000 horsepower, giving a maximum speed of 32 knots.
As this destroyer was primarily designed for anti-submarine warfare, quiet operation was a high priority. It incorporated a new six-bladed propeller to reduce operating noise, making it the Rogue Eagle's original postwar effort to create an anti-submarine destroyer. The main anti-submarine weapons were four RUR-4 Alpha anti-submarine rocket launchers. As new torpedoes had not yet been successfully developed, the Norfolk, like the Atlanta-class, was equipped with two quadruple 553mm torpedo launchers.
However, after its completion, the Rogue Eagle Navy found this destroyer rather underwhelming. The hull was large and expensive, but its key functions weren't significant. As a result, plans to build subsequent ships were canceled, making the Norfolk a one-off.
It originally served in the Atlantic Fleet as a destroyer flagship, but since the rise of Dongda and the expansion of the Great Bear's Pacific Fleet, the Rogue Eagle transferred this anti-submarine destroyer to strengthen its Pacific forces. With its larger hull and long endurance, it carried out patrol and monitoring missions in the Bering Strait.
Unexpectedly, it encountered nuclear submarine 001.
Donald's vigilance didn't last long, as he no longer saw any similar echo signals. Therefore, he gave some credence to Jim's whale theory.
They were traveling from north to south. After turning, Liu Wensheng reduced speed and continued to track the mysterious active sonar signal, quickly understanding the opponent's movements and speed.
Liu Wensheng decisively ordered nuclear submarine 001 to turn towards the northeast. If his calculations were correct, they would pass the opponent at a distance of about 10 kilometers!
"Damn it, that intermittent signal appeared again, but strangely, it's now on our port side," Donald said with some annoyance, looking at the less-than-precise signal on the sonar display.
"Donald, relax a little. We've been out here for half a month. I can understand your inner anxiety. We can return to base for rest and recuperation in two days," Jim comforted.
"If I were you, I wouldn't pay attention to that dogshit signal anymore. As long as the system doesn't alarm, we don't need to do too much."
"But, there really is a strange signal over there," Donald said, holding his head in his hands. He had a bit of obsessive-compulsive disorder, and he wanted to understand anything unknown, or he wouldn't be able to sleep at night.
"Okay, you've defeated me. I'll see what's going on. Maybe we can adjust the position of the active sonar and increase the transmission signal to the maximum!" Jim began to cooperate with Donald in a final effort to understand the mysterious signal.
When the active sonar's transmission power was increased to the maximum, sure enough, a trace of anomaly appeared in the signal on the port side. Although it wasn't strong, there were clearly traces of a moving object.
After several minutes of confirmation, the two men verified that there was indeed an unusual echo. Only then did they report to Captain Smith. After a brief moment of consideration, Captain Smith decided to pursue it and see what it was. The Norfolk turned its bow and began to pursue the suspicious target!
Liu Wensheng didn't expect that he had been so careful to avoid the opponent, but they still noticed and pursued him.
Faced with an unfamiliar opponent, Liu Wensheng didn't think too much and directly ordered to accelerate forward!
They were now about 10 kilometers apart. When the 001 nuclear submarine entered full speed, the speed suddenly soared to 30 knots!
The large commotion formed by the high speed made the Norfolk even more suspicious. However, seeing that the speed of the signal source far exceeded the submarine speed of this era, judging from the pursuit of the signal, the speed of the unidentified object had probably exceeded 30 knots!
"Shit, we might really be chasing a group of whales!" Captain Smith looked at the fact that he had already increased to maximum speed, but the distance to the unidentified object remained relatively consistent, with basically no significant change. He couldn't help but curse in his heart.
At such a slow closing speed, they might not be able to catch up even after five or six hours of chasing. After all, if it were whales, they could turn at any time and have flexible movement characteristics in the sea.
And the Norfolk's huge hull did not have such flexible maneuverability.
After chasing for more than half an hour, Liu Wensheng finally realized that the distance between the two sides was closing. If this continued, they would enter the relatively precise positioning range of the opponent's active sonar in another two hours. Therefore, Liu Wensheng looked at the nautical chart and satellite positioning and decisively ordered the submarine to change direction!
Entering the so-called 12 nautical mile territorial sea baseline of Great Bear!
As a result, the Norfolk, which was following the 001 nuclear submarine, immediately fell into a difficult multiple-choice question.
To figure out the mysterious object, it was necessary to enter the territorial waters of Great Bear to get within a range of 6 kilometers. However, entering the territorial waters of Great Bear could lead to an encounter with Great Bear's patrol ships and fall into a war of words. Although the rogue eagle now does not recognize the concept of the 12-nautical-mile territorial sea put forward by Great Bear, and requires countries that have declared 12-nautical-mile territorial sea rights to "must allow innocent passage of ships of all countries."
However, Great Bear has always been very tough on this issue. As long as they encounter something entering what they consider a 12-nautical-mile range, they will directly ram their ships!
Ramming is a cold and violent method consistently adopted by Great Bear.
Because Great Bear has always believed that their things are thick-skinned and not afraid of head-on collisions.
Although Captain Smith did not recognize the so-called 12-nautical-mile territorial sea baseline, from the current situation, it seemed a bit uneconomical to clash with Great Bear for the sake of an unidentified object. Therefore, at the beginning, Captain Smith ordered his Norfolk to continue chasing along the 12-nautical-mile boundary!
From this moment on, Captain Smith realized that this was not a whale.
No whale knows the concept of territorial waters. If he was not mistaken, this should be Great Bear's new type of submarine!
For Captain Smith, this was bad news, because it meant that Great Bear had a powerful submarine with a speed that his own submarines could not match. From the current pursuit situation, the speed was at least 30 knots!
This was an amazing achievement, knowing that most submarines are still at the level of about 20 knots.
However, as a destroyer captain with long-term accumulated experience, Captain Smith knew that even if the opponent's speed was very fast, maintaining such high-speed travel would have serious consequences, that is, the submarine's range would be greatly reduced.
Therefore, as long as he kept a close watch on the signal, he would eventually be able to exhaust the opponent's oxygen and force them to surface. He wanted to see what kind of new stuff the other party was, and it actually had such excellent underwater speed!
Although he wouldn't sink the opponent, taking photos as souvenirs was unavoidable.
What is the opponent's submarine configuration? Even the tip of the iceberg may have great reference significance. At the same time, he can also accumulate the sonar emission data of the opponent's new type of submarine, providing a basis for finding this type of submarine in the future.
Captain Smith suddenly became excited. This was a great achievement, no different from defeating the enemy without going to war.
"Still not giving up?!" Liu Wensheng looked at the destroyer signal chasing him on the passive sonar. While directing the 001 nuclear submarine to continue north, he was pondering the gains and losses of new tactics.
Now they are sailing side by side in opposite directions, with a horizontal distance of 10 kilometers and a longitudinal distance of about 10 kilometers. In fact, the actual distance between the two ships is about 14 kilometers, completely within the attack range of the JK-1 torpedo.
If he launches a surprise attack, there is a high probability that he can take out the opponent!
Now he needs to assess whether taking out the opponent will trigger any chain consequences? The most important thing is whether it will attract the opponent's fleet to encircle and suppress him!
Liu Wensheng weighed the pros and cons of this decision and could not make a decision for a while.
If he doesn't attack, with the current speed difference of 2 knots, the opponent will approach 3.7 kilometers every hour, and will catch up in about three and a half hours.
At that time, what means will the opponent use to deal with him?
Liu Wensheng didn't know. Faced with an unknown nationality, if he let the opponent's sonar tightly bite him, would they launch an attack on him.
For Liu Wensheng, this was a difficult decision.
However, after half an hour, he finally made up his mind, turned the submarine around, and drove the submarine quickly towards the chasing ship. After entering the 6-kilometer range, Liu Wensheng ordered the active sonar to be turned on to lock on the opponent. While Captain Smith was still unaware, two JK-1 torpedoes were proudly launched!
Start accelerating straight to the opponent locked by sonar! When the torpedoes were launched, the distance to the opponent was less than 6 kilometers. The JK-1 quickly reached a high speed of 40 knots! Under normal circumstances, this 6-kilometer distance would take no more than 4 minutes, less than 5 minutes to kill!
When the 001 nuclear submarine approached within 6 kilometers, the Norfolk was still unaware. When the torpedoes were launched and entered the 6-kilometer sonar detection range of the Norfolk, Donald and Jim were stunned by the alarm suddenly emitted by the sonar.
"It's a torpedo attack! Alarm, torpedo attack! Alarm, torpedo attack!" Donald sounded the alarm and began to report into the intercom with a hoarse voice!
However, it was already a bit late. After the first stage of acceleration, the JK-1 began to activate the second stage of acceleration, increasing the speed to 45 knots/hour!
Even if Captain Smith received the alarm and started to turn to starboard to avoid it, it was too late! Judging the turn, the Norfolk lost most of its speed. To complete a 180-degree turn, it would take at least 2 minutes. Then, to re-accelerate to 32 knots, it would take at least another 2 minutes or more, and with so much time, the JK-1 torpedoes had already approached the Norfolk.
So, unsurprisingly, both torpedoes hit the Norfolk. One hit the stern of the Norfolk, creating a huge hole in the propeller and the rear, while the other hit the port side, causing the Norfolk to lose power all at once, and then two large holes were broken open. Although it was not about to capsize for the time being, it had completely lost its ability to move.
After confirming the success of the torpedo attack, Liu Wensheng did not dare to waste any more time at the scene and directly opened up the horsepower and headed north! (End of this chapter)