The Bin Laden Plot

Resor acknowledged and passed the report to Wilson, who announced, “This is the Captain. I have the Conn. Lieutenant Resor retains the Deck.”

Wilson would manage the tactical situation and control the submarine’s movements, while Resor monitored the navigation picture and handled routine ship evolutions.

“Designate Sierra eight-five as Master one,” Wilson said. “Track Master one.”

The process from this point was straightforward: develop a firing solution for the target, proceed to Firing Point Procedures, and shoot. What was not entirely straightforward was what the UUV would do in response or even before Wilson sent their torpedo on its way.

The UUV clearly had the ability to track and identify targets of interest, and a submarine in its waterspace would definitely meet that criterion unless it was informed a friendly unit was passing through. Based on what happened to Stethem, that safety feature could not be relied upon. If the UUV detected Michigan, it could easily attack it.

Wilson assumed the UUV would attack Michigan at some point, either before or after Wilson launched a torpedo. Regarding that endeavor, the first step was to determine which of the towed array bearings was the real contact and which was the false one.

Michigan’s towed array detected contacts at longer ranges than the submarine’s other acoustic sensors. However, the array was an assembly of hydrophones connected in a straight line, which meant it could not determine which side of the submarine the sound arrived from, resulting in two potential bearings to the contact — one on each side of the array. The way to resolve that question was to maneuver and evaluate what happened to the contacts on each side of the array. The correct bearing would remain relatively constant, while the false bearing would shift to a wildly different bearing to maintain the same relative position on the other side of the array.

“Helm, left twenty degrees rudder. Steady course two-seven-zero.”

After completing the ninety-degree turn, Wilson waited for the towed array to stabilize, its snaking motion gradually dissipating. After a few minutes, the array straightened out and Sonar made the awaited report.

“Conn, Sonar. Bearing ambiguity has been resolved. Master one is to the northwest.”

Lieutenant Commander Tom Montgomery, the submarine’s Executive Officer and in charge of the Fire Control Tracking Party, announced, “Set maximum speed to five knots.”

Although the UUV was capable of high-speed, short-duration bursts, it normally traveled at very low speed to extend the time between battery recharges. According to the specifications provided by Secretary Verbeck, the UUV normally transited at three to five knots, depending on the ocean current — just enough to maintain steerageway.

Montgomery stopped briefly behind each of the combat control consoles, examining the target solution on each one, eventually tapping one of the fire control technicians, who pressed a button on his console, sending an updated target solution to the torpedo.

Montgomery announced, “I have a firing solution.”

Wilson called out, “Firing Point Procedures, Master one, tube One.”

Lieutenant Ryan Jescovitch, Michigan’s Weapons Officer, acknowledged Wilson’s order and relayed it to the fire control technician at the Weapon Launch Console, who sent the engagement presets to the torpedo.

Montgomery stopped briefly behind each of the combat control consoles, examining the target solution on each one, verifying that the best target solution had been promoted to Master.

“Solution ready!” he announced.

“Weapon ready!” Jescovitch called out, verifying that the torpedo presets matched those in combat control and that the target’s solution — its course, speed, and range — had been sent to the torpedo in tube One.

“Ship ready!” Resor reported, ensuring the counterfire corridor from the UUV had been identified and that Michigan’s torpedo countermeasures were ready to deploy.

Wilson was about to order the torpedo launch when a report from Sonar came across the Control Room speakers.

“Conn, Sonar. Hold a new contact on the towed array, designated Sierra eight-six, ambiguous bearings three-five-five and one-eight-five, classified submerged. Analyzing.”

Wilson examined the sonar display on the Conn. The new contact was moving much faster than the UUV. If it was submerged, it was likely a submarine. But Michigan was the only U.S. submarine in this waterspace, which meant they had detected a foreign submarine. Firing a torpedo in this situation was perilous since the torpedo could lock on to the submarine instead of the UUV.