Vengeance

48 USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT

Seated in the Captain’s chair on the Bridge, Captain Ryan Noss’s first indication that Theodore Roosevelt was in jeopardy had been when the MH-60Rs on the port side of the ship had begun streaking outbound. Seconds later, a report from the strike group’s ASW commander emanated from the Bridge speakers, delivering the unwelcome news — incoming torpedoes.

Noss’s eyes were drawn to several thin streaks of light green water traveling toward the carrier strike group, one torpedo angling toward each ship. The situation coalesced quickly in Noss’s mind. The MH-60Rs had detected an enemy submarine and were en route to sink it. But the submarine had already fired several heavyweight torpedoes at the strike group.

Theodore Roosevelt’s Officer of the Deck, Lieutenant Commander Michael Beresford, assumed the Conn from the more junior Conning Officer and bellowed out, “Ahead flank! Right full rudder!”

The Helm acknowledged and Noss felt the vibration in the ship’s deck as the carrier’s four propellers accelerated. The ship’s rudders dug into the water, turning Theodore Roosevelt sharply to starboard. After assessing the torpedo’s approach angle, Beresford ordered, “Steady course one-zero-zero!”

Roosevelt steadied up on its new course and Noss watched as the torpedoes kept traveling on a straight path; they were still too far away and hadn’t detected the strike group’s ships with their built-in sonars. Unless new steer commands were sent to the torpedoes, the carrier strike group would easily evade all five torpedoes. Theodore Roosevelt’s four escorts were likewise turning to starboard, maintaining their formation around the aircraft carrier.

Through the Bridge windows, several bright flashes in the distance caught Noss’s attention. As he contemplated what they were, the ASW commander’s voice came across the Bridge speaker, confirming Noss’s fear. Three MH-60Rs had been shot down by submarine-launched anti-air missiles. His attention shifted to Theodore Roosevelt’s survival when the five incoming torpedoes veered sharply to the right. The enemy submarine crew had apparently detected the strike group’s evasive maneuver and steered the torpedoes onto a new intercept course.

Lieutenant Commander Beresford responded immediately, turning the carrier to a new course that would result in the torpedoes passing behind Roosevelt and her escorts. Noss shifted his Bridge speaker to the dedicated ASW channel just in time to learn that torpedo pings had been detected, with their frequency correlated to Futlyar torpedoes, the newest heavyweight torpedo in the Russian Navy’s arsenal. Noss’s concern increased when the ASW commander reported that two of the torpedoes had begun homing.

Roosevelt and its escorts began another round of evasive maneuvers, but the torpedoes altered course toward the strike group again, and a moment later on the starboard side of the carrier, a plume of water jetted two hundred feet into the air, whipsawing the destroyer USS Paul Hamilton like a rubber toy. Seconds later, another explosion engulfed the cruiser USS Chosin, seawater shooting upward, then falling like rain onto the stricken ship. Both ships lost propulsion and slowed, and as the mist cleared, it was obvious that the torpedo explosions had broken the keel of each ship. It was a gut-wrenching sight, watching each ship split in half and take on water, the stern and bow tilting upward as Theodore Roosevelt and her two remaining surface ships sped away.

Noss monitored the three remaining torpedoes, which drew steadily aft, with no sign of receiving another steer command. He breathed a sigh of relief before recalling that the Futlyar torpedoes had a wake-homing capability. As one of the torpedoes crossed the carrier’s wake, Noss watched tensely through the rear Bridge windows. The torpedo continued on, then suddenly turned back toward the turbulent trail of water. It snaked back and forth before settling into Theodore Roosevelt’s wake. It steadily closed on the carrier, and the ASW commander soon reported that the torpedo was homing.

Roosevelt was already at maximum speed and evasive maneuvers were far more complicated when dealing with a wake-following torpedo. As Noss considered his options, the bright trail through the water faded, and the ASW commander reported that the torpedo had shut down. It had been fired from a very long range and had finally run out of fuel. A visual check confirmed the other two torpedoes chasing the strike group had also shut down.

As the remaining strike group ships sped eastward, Noss evaluated the current scenario. They had lost two surface ships and three of their MH-60R anti-submarine warfare helicopters, and the remaining MH-60Rs aloft were being withdrawn until the tactical situation was better understood — why had the helicopters’ missile defense systems failed?

The inability to employ the strike group’s MH-60Rs was a significant concern. That there was an enemy submarine in the area was obvious, but how to sink it was the critical issue. It was inside the minimum range of the strike group’s ASROC rocket-launched torpedoes, and the MH-60Rs, at the moment, couldn’t approach close enough to drop their lightweight torpedoes within attack range. That left Theodore Roosevelt’s escort submarines — Asheville and Michigan — to deal with the assailant.