Vengeance

76 STRAIT OF HORMUZ

Two black mini-subs sped through the murky water, passing shadowy mines on each side, plus above and below, as they traveled through a tunnel carved through the minefield. In one SDV, Senior Chief Russ Burkhardt sat beside Kurt Hacker, while the other SDV transported Michael Keller and Dave Narehood toward their destination — the final four mines that needed to be cleared, which would open a path large enough for the waiting fast attack submarines to pass through. Both SDVs were traveling at maximum speed, and it wasn’t long before the last four mines materialized in the distance.

By now, the process of clearing the mines had become routine: attach a limpet to a mine, set the timer, then retreat a safe distance before the limpet detonated. A safe distance had been determined to be about one hundred yards, but that wasn’t what occupied Burkhardt’s thoughts as they approached the remaining four mines — they had only two limpets left.

After mapping the minefield at the beginning of the effort and identifying how to most efficiently cut through the barrier, then assessing their inventory of limpets, they had determined that they would be two limpets short and had prepared for the final challenge. The remaining four mines were the last to clear because they were arranged in pairs, one above the other. While the SEALs cleared the previous mines, working their way toward the final four, the machinist mates aboard Michigan had fabricated two unique hand winches, one for each SEAL team.

Burkhardt shifted propulsion to neutral and let the SDV coast to a halt near the bottom of one pair of mines, while Keller stopped his SDV near the bottom mine in the other pair. In the back seat of each SDV, alongside a limpet, was a manual winch that had been modified, adding a third hook. After setting the SDV buoyancy to neutral, letting it hover in the water nearby, Burkhardt and Hacker slipped from the front seat, retrieved the modified winch, and kicked their fins, sending them toward the lower mine in their pair. Nearby was a thick anchor chain rising through the water toward the higher mine they would need to destroy.

Hacker connected one of the winch hooks to a link in the anchor chain and a second hook to another link farther up, then cranked the winch. Slowly, the upper link was pulled down until it reached the winch. The third hook, which served only to keep the chain link in its new position, was slipped into the upper link and the winch was relaxed, allowing Hacker to remove the original hook from the link, extend the winch, and slip the hook into position several links higher again.

It was a painstaking process, pulling the higher mine down link by link, and Hacker and Burkhardt took turns with the manual labor. Soon, a dark bulbous shape took form above, and Burkhardt and Hacker kept at it until both mines were at the same height, about ten feet apart. After releasing the upper hook this time, Hacker connected it to the anchor chain of the mine beside them, then began cranking the winch, pulling the mines toward each other.

While formulating the plan to destroy two mines with one limpet, the SEALs had been concerned that bringing two mines so close together would set one or both of them off. After the mines had been described to the Navy’s mine experts and been identified, the SEALs had been assured that neither mine would detonate due to proximity to another. It would take a reasonably large surface ship or submarine to trigger a mine’s magnetic field fuze. However, the SEALs had been cautioned not to depress a contact spike as the mines were brought together.

Burkhardt monitored the mines as Hacker slowly pulled them toward each other, and the process was stopped when the two mines were about three feet apart. With the contact spikes extending about twelve inches, that left a one-foot gap between the two. Not far away, Keller and Narehood were completing the same process, running just a few minutes behind.

Hacker swam back to the SDV and retrieved the limpet while Narehood did the same. Next came the real challenge — or question. What was the best strategy for using a single limpet to destroy two mines? These limpets had shape-charge warheads, designed to blow a hole deep into a ship when attached to the bottom of its hull. After deliberating the issue, the SEALs had decided to attach the limpet to one of the mines, with the second mine in the line of fire, attempting to kill two birds with one stone. Hopefully, the limpet shape charge, combined with the detonation of the first mine, would be sufficient to destroy the second.

Burkhardt helped Hacker attach the limpet to the mine, slipping it carefully between the nearest contact spikes, then fastened a strap around the mine, holding the limpet in place. Hacker set the limpet timer, then the two SEALs waited until Keller and Narehood finished their preparations and provided the awaited signal. Hacker activated his timer, as did Keller, and the four SEALs swam back to their respective SDVs.

After retreating in their SDVs a safe distance away, they waited as the timers counted down and both limpets detonated.

It took a while for the water to clear, and it was a welcome sight when it did. The last four mines blocking the path through the minefield had been destroyed.

Both SDVs turned and sped back toward Michigan to deliver the news.