Terminal Run

HULL NUMBER: SSNR-1

UNIT: USS SNARC

FUNCTION: COMMAND AND CONTROL DECK LOG

MISSION SUMMARY:

(1) INDEPENDENT STEAMING OVER A NINETY-DAY MISSION TO TEST SHIP’S SYSTEMS

(2) CONDUCT MOCK TORPEDO APPROACHES ON SURFACE SHIPS

(3) DETECT SUBMERGED WARSHIPS OF ANY NATIONALITY, AND IF FOREIGN, CLASSIFY THEM AND REPORT THEM TO USUBCOM, AND IF AMERICAN, TO ATTEMPT TO TRAIL THEM WITHOUT BEING DETECTED.

MISSION NARRATIVE:

IT HAS BEEN THIRTY-TWO DAYS SINCE THE SORTIE FROM GROT ON CONNECTICUT. IT HAS BEEN THIRTY-ONE DAYS SINCE INITIAL MISSION SUBMERGENCE. THIS UNIT’S SONAR PROCESSOR HAS BEEN EXTRAORDINARILY VIGILANT, BUT THERE HAS BEEN NO CONTACT WITH ANY SUBMERGED WARSHIPS. THIS UNIT HAS CLEARED BAFFLES FOUR TIMES EVERY SIX-HOUR WATCH. THIS UNIT HAS STREAMED THE NARROW APERTURE EXTENDED CABLE TOWED ARRAY AND LISTENED HARD ON NARROWBAND SONAR. THIS UNIT EMPLOYED THE WIDE NET FILTERS ON THE ACOUSTIC DAYLIGHT ARRAYS. BUT ASIDE FROM THREE HUNDRED MERCHANT SHIPS, TWELVE MOTOR YACHTS, AND THREE SAILBOATS, ALL OF THEM INBOUND OR OUTBOUND PORT NEW YORK, THERE HAVE BEEN NO SONAR CONTACTS. ON AVERAGE, EVERY HOUR THE SONAR MODULE CALLS TO REPORT A NEW SONAR CONTACT. THIS UNIT WAITS IMPATIENTLY FOR THE CLASSIFICATION, BUT INEVITABLY THE SONAR MODULE HEARS A SCREW TURN COUNT. THE SOUND OF A PROPELLER WITH THREE BLADES, VERY INFREQUENTLY FOUR, PLYING THE SEAWATER CLOSE TO THE SURFACE IS THE SIGNATURE OF A MERCHANT SHIP OR A FISHING VESSEL. THIS UNIT IS IN NO PARTICULAR HURRY. THIS UNIT HAS DECIDED UPON A SPEED OF EIGHT KNOTS. FAST ENOUGH TO COVER GROUND, SLOWLY BUT STEADILY. SLOW ENOUGH THAT THE FLOW NOISE OVER THE HULL WOULD NOT DROWN OUT THE FAR DISTANT SOUNDS OF A SUBMARINE TARGET. SLOW ENOUGH THAT THE NOISE GENERATED BY THE PROPULSION MACHINERY WOULD NOT BE LOUD. ABOVE SIXTY PERCENT REACTOR POWER THIS UNIT HAS TO START THE REACTOR MAIN COOLANT PUMPS, EACH THE SIZE OF A REFRIGERATOR, AND EACH UNAVOIDABLY LOUD DESPITE THEIR LEAD SOUND SHIELDS AND THEIR FOUR-DIMENSIONAL SOUND MOUNTS AND THE ACTIVE QUIETING HYDROPHONES. AND AT HIGH SPEEDS THE SOUND OF STEAM COMING DOWN THE HEADERS IS CONSIDERABLY LOUDER, AS ARE THE HIGHER REVOLUTIONS OF THE PROPULSION TURBINES. THERE IS NO DOUBT. SLOWER IS BETTER.

THIS UNIT HAS MEANDERED NORTHEAST, THE SONAR MODULE PERPETUALLY SEARCHING, SUPERVISED ON A CONSTANT BASIS. THERE IS NOTHING OUT HERE. BUT CONFIDENCE IS HIGH. IT IS A BIG OCEAN. THIS UNIT HAS AN INFINITE SUPPLY OF PATIENCE. THIS UNIT IS HOME HERE AT SEA. AT RANDOM TIMES EVERY EIGHT HOURS THIS UNIT ORDERS AN ASCENT TO PERISCOPE DEPTH. IT IS TIME NOW. THIS UNIT IS ALREADY GOING SLOW, SO THIS UNIT CHECKS BAFFLES FOR SONAR CONTACTS CLOSE ABOARD WHILE DEEP. THERE IS NOTHING. THIS UNIT INCREASES SPEED TO TWELVE KNOTS AND MAKES FOR THE LAYER DEPTH AT AN UP ANGLE OF TEN DEGREES. AFTER A FEW MINUTES THIS UNIT REACHES A DEPTH OF 150 FEET. THIS IS SHALLOW ENOUGH TO BE JUST BARELY ABOVE THE THERMAL LAYER, WHERE THIS UNIT CAN BETTER HEAR THE SOUNDS OF SHIPPING NEAR THE SURFACE. IT IS ALSO DEEP ENOUGH THAT A SUPERTANKER WILL NOT CUT THIS UNIT IN HALF, AS THEIR DRAFT WHEN FULLY LOADED IS A HUNDRED FEET — A HUNDRED FEET FROM THE SURFACE TO THE KEEL OF AN OIL TANKER. THEY ARE HUGE, THESE CRUDE CARRIERS. AND QUIETER THAN A SAILBOAT, SINCE ALL THAT OIL SHIELDS THE SOUNDS OF THE SUPERTANKER’S SCREW WHEN SHE IS COMING STRAIGHT AHEAD. THIS UNIT CLEARS BAFFLES AGAIN AT 150 FEET, BUT THE SEA IS EMPTY. THIS UNIT PUTS ON AN UP ANGLE OF TEN DEGREES AND A BURST OF SPEED, THEN FLATTENS THE ANGLE AND EXTENDS THE TYPE 23 PHOTONIC MAST. WITHIN A MINUTE OF DEPARTING 150 FEET THE TYPE 23 IS DRY AND SEARCHING THE HORIZON FOR SURFACE SHIPS AND AIRCRAFT.

THERE IS BUSINESS TO DO AT PERISCOPE DEPTH. A STEAM GENERATOR SLOWDOWN TO RID THE BOILERS OF SOME OF THE ACCUMULATED BAD CHEMICALS IN THE FEED WATER. A NAVIGATION FIX WITH THE GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM TO CONFIRM THE POSITION WITHIN THE RING LASER INERTIAL NAVIGATION SYSTEM. AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, THE MESSAGES FROM COMSUBDEVRON

12. THERE ARE SEVERAL OF THEM, EACH AN ALL-SQUADRON INFORMATION MESSAGE WITH NOTHING SPECIAL ABOUT THEM. IN FACT, THIS UNIT IS SURPRISED THAT SQUADRON EVEN SENT THEM, AS THEY SEEM TO CONVEY MINIMAL INFORMATION. FOR THE PAST FEW DAYS, THERE HAS BEEN NOTHING IN THE COMMUNICATIONS SATELLITE ADDRESSED SPECIFICALLY TO THIS UNIT. IT IS ODD, ALMOST AS IF THIS UNIT HAS BEEN FORGOTTEN.

IT IS A VIOLATION OF SUBMARINE STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURES TO TRANSMIT UNLESS ORDERED TO FOR A SPECIFIC SITUATION REPORT, AND NO SUCH DEMAND HAS COME FOR A WEEK. SO ALTHOUGH NO ONE IS ATTEMPTING TO COMMUNICATE WITH THIS UNIT, THIS UNIT CAN ONLY CONTINUE THE MISSION AND WAIT FOR FURTHER ORDERS. SOON THERE IS NOTHING MORE TO DO AT PERISCOPE DEPTH. THIS UNIT RETRACTS THE BIGMOUTH ANTENNA AND PROCEEDS DEEP, PULLING IN THE TYPE 23 MAST AS SOON AS THE SURFACE GROWS DIM, THEN SPEEDS UP AND PENETRATES THE THERMAL LAYER FOR THE DEEP COLD.

THIS UNIT STEAMS ON AS THE AFTERNOON TURNS TO THE EVENING.