Lone Wolf - A Submarine Adventure

This story was based on mission two of Lone Wolf. It can be played out in much the same way as the story is told.

The Signals Officer was crouched over the radio, one hand holding a pencil, the other pressed against the right ear of his head set.

"Sir!", he exclaimed, " Message coming in from COM SUB PAC. I should have it decoded in a minute."

A short while later, Cassidy stood up, "Its ready, Sir."

The Captain nodded as he took the message from the Signals Officer.

"Thanks, Cassidy.", he said while walking past him over to the First Officer, "John, read this."

The first officer took the paper from the Captain's hands and read,

"Urgent! You must locate all oil platforms in the Boot Strait. It is strongly suspected that the area is mined. A Destroyer has been spotted patrolling the area. Boot Strait is nestled in the south of the three island grouping located in area C-3."

The captain frowned, "I think there are three possible ways to tackle this mission. And I don't like any of them. First, we could attack through the unprotected strait in the north. This would add a day to the mission and the Destroyer would be on top of us immediately after we hit the first platform. The second option isn't much better. We could slip under the Destroyer by diving to three hundred feet and run the engines at one-quarter speed. We probably wouldn't be detected, but it would be slow going and we would still be hunted by the Destroyer once we hit the first oil platform. I think the only way is take the Destroyer out immediately."

John grimaced, "This is not going to be easy."

"I know, but it's probably our best option."

Turning to the helmsman, the Captain barked, "Ahead full, set course to mark 0 degrees."

The sun reflected dully off the surface of the gun barrel grey submarine as it made its way north towards its target. Like the wolf it emulated, its main advantage was its stealth and its element of surprise.

"Sir! Destroyer detected on radar at 9500 yards."

"Good. Dive to forty feet and let's take a peek through the periscope. Switch to battery and slow down to one-quarter speed."

"Destroyer at 7500 yards, bearing 270 degrees."

"Destroyer at 6400 yards, running at six knots."

"Destroyer at 5400 yards."

The Captain started raising the periscope. "Full stop! Open torpedo tube doors!"

The captain peered intently through the viewing piece. The Destroyer was twenty-four degrees off port and closing. In the bottom right corner of his periscope view was a red light. Keeping his concentration shared between the Destroyer, the Firing Solution light, and the compass lines, he watched anxiously for the right moment. At fourteen degrees off port, the Firing Solution light turned a pale green and in quick succession he immediately slapped the red plungers labelled one and two.

"Torpedoes away!", yelled the captain. "Give me a constant distance read-out of the torpedoes from sonar and set engines to reverse."

"yes sir! Torpedoes at 1500 yards bearing true."

"Torpedoes at 3000 yards, still on course."

"Torpedoes at 4500 yards still running true."

The captain paled as he realized the torpedoes were going to cross the bow of the Destroyer and enter the submerged mine field protecting the mouth of the strait. There was a distant sound of an explosion as the torpedo found and detonated one of the submerged mines. The Destroyer immediately spotted the small rooster tail caused by the periscope and started turning in the direction of the submarine.

"That cooked it! Full ahead! open ballasts! close torpedo tube doors! full right rudder! Dive! Dive!"

"Diving planes down full, sir. Currently at seventy-five feet bearing 43 degrees."

"Good, continue turning and blow ballasts at 200 feet."

"Sir, Destroyer at 900 yards and closing. Depth 157 feet."

"Depth 190 feet, Destroyer starting to drop depth charges."

The submarine shook as the depth charge detonated uncomfortably close to the hull.

"Sir, detonation at 210 yards!. We have just reached 200 feet. Centering rudder and levelling out. Equalizing ballasts."

The captain pulled a hanky out of his pocket and impatiently mopped his face. "Okay, wait until our speed is at 8 knots and cut engines. Rig for silent running."

"Sir, detonation at 170 yards."

"Sir, 130 yards."

"50 yards."

The sound of the Destroyer was easily heard through the hull of the submarine as the ship passed overhead, otherwise, everything was silent. Intermittently the submarine rocked from the force of the detonations, but each one was slightly less than the previous. The crew held their collective breaths as they waited for the danger to pass.

"Sir, detonation at 1500 yards, I think they've lost us."

The captain gave a slight smile. "Good, I guess we'll just sit here and wait until they forget about us."

Several hours passed as the crew waited until the Destroyer resumed its regular patrol. The submarine slowly moved back into position and tentatively raised its periscope.

"Okay, we learned something on that last go-round.", sighed the Captain. "The Firing Solution light gives a three degree lead time. That's fine if the Destroyer was travelling at its regular speed, but at six knots I should have waited a second or two. This time we will do it right."

The Captain sighted the Destroyer through the periscope and watched for the Firing Solution light. The light turned green, and as the targeting light brightened, the Captain counted to two before slapping the firing plungers.

"Torpedoes away! Let's cross our fingers this time. Give me a read-out on the status of the torpedoes."

Cassidy, who shared his time between radio and sonar, called out the increasing distances of the torpedoes. Through the hull of the ship the crew felt the impact as the torpedo found its target. The relief in the control room was palpable.

The Captain leaned back on the periscope's housing. "Okay, it should be a piece of cake from here. Surface and ahead full. Cassidy, start pinging the active sonar and guide us through those mine fields.

With no opposition the submarine and its crew made short work of the three oil platforms, using its deck guns.

Suddenly, an omnipresent voice was heard, "Congratulations, you have completed your mission successfully. Would you like another game? Y or N".