Traveling underwater at forty-eight knots, the Captain had concluded they were some type of small miniature submarine.
"Captain, they are continuing on their current course towards us at forty-eight knots. Range now...just under 10,000 yards.Wait ! There"s a change in aspect ratio.Wow ! Something new here, new propulsion, very loud! Speed increasing. ... Captain! These two targets are now approaching at 600 knots!"
The Captain was stunned for an instant. 600 knots! Unbelievable. No, it couldn"t be! There was no time. He didn"t ask the Lieutenant if he was sure; he knew full well the import of that speed and what had happened.
Grabbing the phone set, he called to his executive officer.
"Steve, Emergency stop! Blow all ballasts!"
Since the Lieutenant had voiced the warning that the incoming targets were approaching at 600 knots, the Captain had reacted quickly. He had issued his orders to his executive officer in just under ten seconds. The executive officer had issued those same orders within another five seconds, now fifteen seconds after the Lieutenant"s warning. The ship actually began to slow and rise at the nineteen second mark, six seconds before impact.
Given the nature of the information they were presented with, it was remarkable that the captain and crew reacted so quickly. It was a testament to their training. But nothing they had been trained for as a crew prepared them for this, and it wasn"t fast enough.
At 06:35 a.m. on March 16, 2006 in the Western Pacific, as the Jefferson City rose through a 400 foot depth, the pair of LRASD weapons arrived almost simultaneously. One hit just under the sail; the other struck amidships. Each LRASD carried a 2,000 kilogram (4,400 pound) high explosive warhead. The resulting, almost simultaneous explosions, tore the Jefferson City into three pieces. The center section was pushed another 100 feet higher in the water before joining the fore and aft sections in sinking.
Captain Wellington, his executive officer, the lieutenant in the sonar s.p.a.ces and the entire crew only had enough time to briefly stare one another in the eye in the closing seconds as they heard the onrushing sound of their doom. They had to accept their deaths in whatever means that were left available to them in those brief seconds. Then they, and their boat, were committed to the deep. A few moments later a small emergency buoy rose to the surface to announce the news to listening satellites, while the explosion itself announced the deed to closer ears.
The 142 officers and crew of the USS Jefferson City (SSN 759) thus became the first casualties of a war with Red China that would prove to be the longest and most costly conflict in American history.
March 16, 2006, 06:38 local time 385 Miles ENE of Okinawa Bridge, USS Jarrett (FFG 33) Western Pacific "Whoa! Sir, sonar reports a very large underwater explosion, could have been two almost simultaneous explosions of some type, bearing 31 degrees. Must be twenty to twenty-five miles out."
Commander Carlson considered the report from the duty officer.
"That would be in the Jefferson City"s patrol zone. Are we getting anything else?"
The duty officer paused momentarily and then responded.
"No Sir, just that large explosion. Had to be very large to come across the way it did."
Carlson considered the information. He was a sonar and missile picket, about twenty miles in advance of the main body of Carrier Group Seven of CBT 77.2. The Jefferson City was the vanguard, doing ASW work along the primary threat axis.
"Okay, have our Sea Hawk immediately investigate and pa.s.s the report back to the battle group commander. As soon as the Sea Hawk is within ten miles of the area, get them on the line for me. I want to personally talk to them as they approach."
March 16, 2006, 06:44 local time 402 miles ENE of Okinawa Admiral"s Cabin, USS Lake Chaplain (CG 57) Western Pacific After his morning walk up on the bridge, and breakfast, Admiral Patterson had just finished a quick shower and was almost done dressing when the knock at his door came. As he took a couple of quick steps to the door and opened it, he answered.
"Yes, what is it?"
The young ensign quickly saluted and reported.
"Begging the Admiral"s pardon Sir, Commander Lewis requests your urgent presence in the CIC Sir regarding reports from the Jarrett concerning explosions in the Jefferson City patrol area, Sir!"
The Admiral listened attentively.
"Okay Ensign, I"m coming right now. Let"s get down to CIC."
As they quickly made their way, the Admiral finished b.u.t.toning his shirt. He also thought about the import of the information he"d just received. It must be serious or Lewis would have waited. Lewis was an "on the ball" officer and had the knack of knowing precisely when something needed to be pa.s.sed up the line, and when more information was warranted before doing so. That is precisely what made him such an excellent Chief of Staff. As they walked into the CIC, things were extremely hectic. It was clear something serious was developing. On entering the CIC, he acknowledged Lewis, and then approached the Captain of the Lake Chaplain, Captain Merrill, who was in an animated conversation with the CO of Carrier Group Seven, Admiral Flynn.
"Admiral! The Jarrett has reported multiple inbound submerged targets approaching this task force from his position! He is now reporting explosions from both the Jefferson City and the Salt Lake City patrol areas!"
After a pause, the Captain continued.
"I know that Sir, but I believe we are..."
The Captain turned and consulted briefly with another of his officers who handed him a note.
"Excuse me, Sir, we have just received word from the Jarrett. He is reporting he is under attack, I repeat, he is under attack. Submerged contact has turned towards him on a collision course and is approaching at-my G.o.d, approaching at 600 knots!"
Admiral Patterson digested the information. As the CINC of the entire CBT 77, he could wait no longer.
"Captain, please give me the phone."
The Captain informed Admiral Flynn that CINC CBT 77 was going to speak to him and handed the phone to Admiral Patterson.
"Jim, yea, this is Reg. Look, we are clearly under attack. Get on the horn with your PHIBRON and then patch me through to Ben over at CBT 77.3 and then to the Kitty Hawk.
"I want you all to immediately execute a turn back to the southeast on an axis directly away from the reports of these contacts. That should be a heading of about 220 degrees. Make sure your S3"s lay out patterns between this task force and the oncoming threat. Yes, I know that it will take some time, but we have to put more s.p.a.ce between us and what"s coming. Also, launch your ready alert birds and augment both your anti-air and anti-surface birds.
"I"m not sure who it is yet, but there can only be a couple of possibilities. Clearly someone has developed and fielded a supercavitating weapon and is using it against this task force. Please patch Troy and the Kitty Hawk through to me right here."
After giving the commanders of Task Force 77.3 and 77.1 the same orders, the Admiral got the attention of Captain Merrill.
"Captain, how many contacts were there reported by the Jarrett and what speed were they approaching at?"
The Captain cupped his hand over the phone for a moment.
"Admiral I am on the line with the Commander of the Jarrett right now. He"s in trouble, Sir. He indicated in excess of twenty in-bounds moving at 50 knots initially, but they have now increased their speed to 75 knots. Just one moment, Sir."
The Captain uncovered the phone and then spoke briefly. In the middle of a sentence he stopped, called urgently and loudly for Commander Carlson several times, and then, turning to the Admiral, he spoke in a now surprisingly quiet CIC.
"Sir, Commander Carlson was cut off in mid sentence. This...threat was approaching and then, right in the middle of describing the unbelievable speed of the approaching track, nothing. We lost radio contact with the Jarrett."
Turning to one of his officers in CIC, the Captain asked "Radar, what do you have on Jarrett?"
The radar officer, gazing closely at the display answered.
"Sir, rapidly weakening signal at Jarrett"s last reported position."
Admiral Patterson reacted quickly in the stunned silence.
"Okay, Commander Lewis, get the following SITREP off to CINCPAC and to Washington: CBT 77 under attack. Multiple inbound threats detected, probable supercavitating devices of some type. USS Jarrett lost, USS Jefferson City and USS Salt Lake City presumed lost. Taking evasive action. Send it now !"
The Admiral had already done the math, it would be ten minutes before all of the ships in the task force could turn in an orderly fashion. At 75 knots these weapons would be amongst them in those same ten minutes. That would be too late.
"Captain, on my authority, you are to turn this vessel around to the southeastimmediately while continuing to cover for the John Stennis. Patch me through to the Task Force commanders, and the Captains of the John Stennis, the Constellation and the Kitty Hawk. I intend to order all vessels in all task forces, meaning all ships in the Carrier Groups and PHIBRONS to immediately turn and egress at maximum speed away from these threats."
March 16, 2006, 12:45 Naval Headquarters, CINCPAC Honolulu, Hawaii "Sir, we are now picking up emergency distress signals from four LA Cla.s.s attacks submarines in the western Pacific. We have the USS Jefferson City and the USS Salt Lake City with Carrier Group Seven attached to CBT 77.2, we have the USS Santa Fe with Carrier Group Two attached to CBT 77.3 and we have the USS Pasadena with Carrier group Five attached to CBT 77.1. All within the last ten minutes."
Commander Banks digested this sobering information. Distress signals from attack submarines on station meant one thing: that the boat had gone down and the buoy had been released after the hull pa.s.sed crush depth. But to have four at once-and from a task force standing into combat.
"Okay, Lieutenant, work on exact fixes for each and continue trying to contact CBT 77 for a situation report. I have to contact the CINC."
Before Commander Banks could finish entering the emergency number for the CINC of Pacific Naval Operations, the SITREP from CBT 77 came in.
"...CBT 77 under attack. Multiple inbound threats detected, probable supercavitating devices of some type. USS Jarrett lost, USS Jefferson City and USS Salt Lake City presumed lost. Taking evasive action."
The Commander finished keying in the number. Almost immediately, Admiral Sullivan, CINCPAC, picked up.
"Admiral Sir, sorry to disturb you, Sir, but this is Commander Banks in operations. Between 23:37 and 23:45 we picked up four, that is four, emergency distress beacons from attack submarines attached to CBT 77. At 23:49, we received a SITREP from Admiral Patterson NE of Okinawa indicating that the Task Force is under attack, that several vessels were lost, and that he was taking evasive action."
The Admiral listened in stunned silence...but just for an instant.
"Okay commander. I will be in operations within ten minutes right about midnight. I would like to speak directly with Admiral Patterson at 00:10 if at all possible.
"Please immediately contact Admiral Crowley and arrange to conference him into to that call. Sullivan out."
March 16, 2006, 06:55 local time Approximately 400 nautical miles ENE of Okinawa Western Pacific Admiral Patterson"s orders were prudent given the information he had at the time. They would also have been more effective except that two other LSRAD strikes were approaching his task force as well. A total of seventy-five LRASDs had been launched at the sixty-two ships in CBT"s 77.2 and 77.3. One group of these was approaching from the southwest, which diminished the effectiveness of Patterson"s retreat to the southeast.
As the ships of the two Carrier Groups and three augmented PHIBRONS, now having lost the semblance of an orderly formation, completed their turns, the LRASD devices, moving at 75 knots, entered the target area. As they did so, they slowed and surveyed their surroundings.
The lead LRASD units, upon detecting and identifying targets that fit their programmed profiles, aligned themselves on those targets and activated their rocket engines. From distances ranging from 6,000 yards to 12,000 yards, 2,000 kilogram high explosive underwater missiles began attacking their targets at 600 knots, a closure rate equal to approximately one mile (1,700 yards) every five seconds.
March 16, 2006, 06:56 local time 404 nautical miles ENE of Okinawa Bridge, USS Lake Chaplain (CG 57) Western Pacific Admiral Patterson had decided to join Captain Merrill who had gone to the bridge to observe the action.
Commander Lewis had accompanied the Admiral there.
Seconds after their arrival on the bridge, there was a tremendous flash off to the north, just over the horizon, but producing flames that must have reached hundreds of feet into the air to be seen at this distance. The Admiral, still looking to the distant explosion, asked "What was that?"
Captain Merrill, who had been monitoring the attack while the Admiral made his way to the bridge from CIC, took the phone from his ear and answered.
"That was the Elliot. One of those submerged devices had just lit up and was bearing down on her as you came in Admiral."
After listening to his phone for just a few seconds, a look of disillusionment pa.s.sed over his face and he said, "Dear G.o.d, the Decatur is reporting that the Elliot has broken in half and is sinking rapidly. Few, if any survivors."
A sober moment pa.s.sed, then closer in, Commander Lewis got their attention and pointed to the south.
"Sir, there in the PHIBRON group!"
As the Admiral and the Captain turned to the south, they could see that Carrier Group Seven and PHIBRON One, one of the two PHIBRONs that they were escorting, were beginning to mix. Off to the south, perhaps four miles out, the LHA Peleliu, a Tarawa cla.s.s amphibious a.s.sault ship, had completed its turn to the southeast.
As they watched, the large, carrier-like ship began to lean into a hard turn to starboard. While this was occurring, two faint streaks in the water approached at unbelievable speed and struck the Peleliu. Two tremendous geysers of water accompanied by two tremendous explosions obscured and then hid the entire ship. When the water fell and the smoke began to clear a few seconds later, the great ship had completely capsized, revealing two horrendous gashes in her side, the lower ends of which were already below the water line. Clearly, the ship was sinking rapidly and would be gone in just a few more moments.
Admiral Patterson could only exclaim "Dear G.o.d in Heaven, there were over 3,000 sailors and marines on that ship!"
The horrors were far from over. As they were absorbing the shock of the loss of the Peleliu, two S3B"s flew over them at very low alt.i.tude and continued not far above the waves for approximately a mile before turning to and lining up on two more streaks approaching from that quarter. Admiral Patterson immediately a.s.sessed the threat.
"Those two are headed for the John Stennis."
As they watched, each S3B released a Mk-50 torpedo in front of the rapidly approaching streaks. One was clearly too late and hit the water hundreds of feet behind and to the left of its intended target/streak.
But the second S3B managed to lay its Mk-50 a good quarter mile on front of its streaking target.
Almost immediately, the streak converged with the place where the torpedo had entered the water and there was an explosion. That streak did not continue past the point of impact.
Captain Merrill was exuberant.
"Yes! Did you see that? That S3 drivernailed that SOB!"
But the remaining streak covered the mile-and-a-half to the John Stennis in just under eight seconds, far too quickly for the big carrier to avoid it. As the three men on the Lake Chaplain watched in shock, another huge geyser erupted; followed by a tremendous explosion and what appeared to be a literal "lurch" in the ship"s aft section. The big ship immediately lost headway as tremendous amounts of smoke and fire poured out of her aft, port elevator where a jagged gash, extending down below the water line had appeared above the point of impact.
For several seconds, the three men sat in disbelief, stunned into silence, as they watched one of the very symbols, the essence of American military projection, slow in the water and then begin to stop. Fires and large secondary explosions attested to the damage inflicted upon the John Stennis.
Commander Lewis spoke first.
"She"s. .h.i.t bad Admiral, real bad."
As they watched the drama play out, a crack extended above the gash, right though the elevator and onto the flight deck. Presently, the entire aft end of the great ship tore away from the fore section. That aft end began to sink quickly. The forward three-fifths of the ship began to settle in the water by the new aft end. Although it would be longer in suffering, it was clear that the fore section of the USS John Stennis, nuclear powered super carrier, would share the fate of the smaller aft section.
The silence was broken by more reports coming in to Captain Merrill. As he reported on the status of CBT 77.2 and CBT 77.3, Admiral Patterson ordered Commander Lewis to send a FLASH SITREP to CINCPAC and Washington.
"FLASH: From CINC CBT 77. Continuing to evade large numbers of supercavitating weapons. USS Elliot sunk, feared lost with all hands, USS Peleliu capsized and sinking rapidly with heavy loss, USS John Stennis broken in two and sinking. No contact with Constellation."
AsCommander Lewis returned to the bridge after sending the flash message, the Lake Chaplain, began to turn extremely hard to port. All three men had to hold to railing to remain upright. Captain Merrill continued to issue orders while the Admiral and Commander looked on. They then noticed and followed the horrified gaze of the Captain well off to the starboard side of the ship.
There, coming directly at them with astonishing speed, was a streak like the others they had seen over the last few minutes. It appeared that Captain Merrill"s violent maneuver was going to cause the weapon to miss. Then, at its closest approach, a mere twenty feet from their hull, the 4,400 pounds of high explosive detonated according to its proximity programming.
The force of the explosion caused the Lake Chaplain to lean over drastically. Right at the moment when the men on the bridge who were still capable of sensing it, having been thrown violently to the floor and injured, felt that the ship must capsize, she righted herself.
Captain Merrill was the first up and he immediately helped Admiral Patterson up. The Admiral had broken a shoulder in the fall and was in great pain. Nonetheless, they went over to the fallen form of Commander Lewis to help him up; but he was beyond help. The fall had violently thrown him into a bulkhead and broken his neck.
Captain Merrill attempted to get damage control on his phone, but communications were out. He and the Admiral walked over to the starboard side and looked over the side of the ship. Smoke was pouring out of a rent to their aft. Clearly, the hull had been compromised by the explosion.
"We"d best get you to sick bay, that shoulder looks broke to h.e.l.l."
Turning to an uninjured officer, the Captain gave some orders.
"Ensign, get the Admiral here below to sick bay. I will be here on the bridge coordinating damage control as we establish communications."
The admiral, in great pain and holding his arm close to his body to keep it immobile, could only nod in a.s.sent.
As the Ensign led the way into the ship, the Lake Chaplain began to list to the starboard. It began relatively slowly, but the further they went, the worse it became. By the time they had arrived at sick bay, it had gotten so bad, that again, they began to feel they would surely capsize.
They were right. At 07:08, the USS Lake Chaplain, an Aegis guided missile cruiser, rolled over and sank. Along with 90% of her crew, Admiral Patterson and Captain Merrill went down with the ship.
March 16, 2006, 07:00 local time Western Pacific The LRASD attacks were not just centered on CBT 77.2 and CBT 77.3, nor were the LRASD attacks the only portion of the attack on American forces and her allies conducted by the Chinese in the Western Pacific that day. But, they were an important part, because neutralizing American carrier power in the western Pacific was critical to the overall success of the operation.
With the initial attack on the Jefferson City, two Han cla.s.s Chinese attack submarines, that had been sitting quietly and pa.s.sively, and would not actively partic.i.p.ate in the fighting, monitored the explosions well out in front of CBT 77.2 and CBT 77.3. They had been told to expect it, and they had very specific orders regarding it. As soon as the explosion was detected, a single communications buoy was released by both subs. The buoy rose to the surface and transmitted a single code word in Mandarin: "Breath."
Units throughout eastern China, on the high seas in the South China Sea, in the China Sea, in the Yellow Sea and in the Sea of j.a.pan had been awaiting this transmission. When received, they all began countdown to attack sequences. It had been planned that within twenty-five minutes of any LRASD attack on any escorting American attack submarine, the other LRASD units would arrive and begin decimating the American fleets. Therefore, twenty-five minutes after that attack on the USS Jefferson City, at 07:00 hours, other Chinese forces began unleashing their attacks as well.