Dragon Fire

Kilo-class submarine 0821, type 877EKM, Bay of Bengal

The sonar operator on the Chinese Kilo-class submarine picked up the signature of a Delhi-class destroyer, but could not determine its exact identification as the Bombay. At 0207, the submarine came close enough to the surface to raise the satellite communication (SATCOM) mast, timed to catch signals from the Dong Feng Hong 6 Chinese military satellite passing overhead. The satellite was beaming down a constant brief message which was picked up by all Chinese military shipping and at the Menwith Hill Station in Britain and Pine Gap in Australia. Both were American-controlled facilities, run by the highly secretive National Security Agency (NSA), which eavesdropped on communications throughout the world. The order came as just one two-syllable word, Houzi, translating as ‘monkey’.

Almost a thousand people worked at Pine Gap, near Alice Springs, intercepting telephone, radio and data links as well as satellite communications. The computer room alone was 5,600 square metres and there were more than twenty other service and support buildings. Yet when the Chinese satellite instruction made its debut in the massive Western listening station machine, there was nothing anyone could do to know what it meant. Only the senior Chinese army staff knew, together with the submarine commanders. Not even the communications officers who sent the message from the northern naval headquarters in Tsing Tao were aware of the significance of the signal.

It was luck more than anything that submarine 0821 had to surface to pick up the twice-daily signal less than an hour after identifying the Delhi-class destroyer. It meant the Chinese could track the Indian warship for a minimum amount of time, lessening the risk of detection. The commander took the submarine just below the surface again, but within periscope depth. He verified the destroyer’s position on the sonar and headed for the kill. Because it was dark and visibility was low, he decided to confirm the target with Electronic Surveillance Measures. He surfaced again using the ESM mast to absorb the electronic spectrum of the ship, taking in the destroyer’s navigation radar, encrypted tactical communications and satellite communications. The data was cross-checked on the Kilo’s tactical weapons systems computer, giving the commander a near certain classification of the target. He verified that no unique signature had ever been taken of the Indian Delhi-class destroyers Bangalore and Mysore, deducing that his target must be one of those two ships.

She was sailing south-west on a course towards the Andaman Islands, her speed just under 20 knots, probably slowed because of the unsettled weather. There would be about four hundred men on board the ship, which was part of the cream of India’s fleet. Unlike the Indian-designed and built Arjun battle tank or Light Combat indigenous fighter aircraft, the Delhi was considered a world-class warship and she sailed like a dream.

When he was 440 metres from the target, the submarine commander opted to go for an ‘eyes only’ attack using the periscope. Unlike the Americans, the Indians’ skills at antisubmarine warfare were limited. The Kilo had been tracking the destroyer for more than an hour undetected. The two Westland Sea King helicopters remained strapped to the deck, indicating that the crew was not even suspecting an enemy presence.

When the submarine was 30 degrees on the bow of the target, the torpedo doors were opened. He would create a classic gyro-angle shot with a spread of three torpedoes to counteract the target speeding up or suddenly turning away. He waited until he was 900 metres from the destroyer, then he released the first torpedo at a bearing of 90 degrees to the target course. The second torpedo was fired at 5 degrees ahead of the bearing, and the third at 10 degrees behind.

As the 533mm torpedoes sped towards the target, the Indians had less than thirty seconds to react, which is why the commander had taken his vessel so dangerously close. The torpedoes did have a range of eight nautical miles and were wire-guided with active and passive homing at a speed of 40 knots. But the Kilo commander trusted little of that. He wanted to sight his target and fire.

The first torpedo, with an impact fuse, struck the destroyer aft, cutting the engines almost immediately. The second, with a proximity fuse, blew a hole amidships, sending uncontrollable litres of water streaming into the ship. If the destroyer had not been slowed immediately by the explosions, the third torpedo would have missed. As it was it clipped the propeller casing, blowing another hole in the stern. This decided the Bangalore’s fate. Within minutes the ship was sinking. She was lost with all hands. The only distress signal received was sent out after the second impact. Then the radio went dead.

In Zhongnanhai, President Tao was told of the success and hoped he had delivered China her victory with one strike, her yizhan ershang.