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have weapons aboard, including long range ballistic missiles.
He felt his High Endurance Cutter (WHEC) was up to and capable of tracking
down and prosecuting such a target if he got the chance. With his seventy-six
millimeter dual-purpose deck gun, his twenty millimeter Phalanx (CIWS) and
particularly his eight Harpoon missiles, he was ready to catch up with any
vessel that had attacked his nation and either take it down, or put it down.
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Right now, he was prosecuting one such lead. A single Chinese container ship
had been waiting for clearance into the Chesapeake when the attacks occurred
and several other ships that were also waiting had named this ship, the
Guizhou, as the shooter. He had a track on it now, about seventy miles in
front of him.
 Jake, get Lieutenant Ross on the horn for me.
Less than thirty seconds later, the Captain was handed the hand set.
Lieutenant Ross was the pilot of the
HH-35 Dauphin helicopter that was embarked on the Gallatin. The Dauphin was a
good design, perfect qualities for the multiple roles required of the Coast
Guard of search and rescue, interdiction, and potential combat. The Captain
keyed his hand set.
 Mallet, this is Cut-base, how do you copy? State your situation
A clear signal came immediately back.
 Cut-base, I read you loud and clear. I am about thirty miles from the
tango-01 and have him on radar.
You should be getting the feed. A single ship, looks like a container ship
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from here, but I am going in for a closer look.
The Captain talked briefly with his Combat Information Center. They did indeed
have the radar track and already had four Harpoons targeted on the vessel.
 Ross, we have the digital feed and all targeting is already programmed. Try
and get a positive ID, then get back to me. Be careful, Cut-base out.
The line was silent for a several seconds, then  I roger that Cut-base. We are
closing to twenty-five miles now and reducing altitude& wait one
, we are being illuminated, I say again, vessel has lit us up.
Missile launch, I have a missile launch& two, three launches. Evading.
The abrupt nature of the change stunned the Captain and everyone on the bridge
momentarily, but only for a second or two.
 Ross, get down on the deck and get the hell out of their range!
 CIC, fire! I say again,Fire
! Engage the target with Harpoon missiles!
 Ross? Mallet?
Radar, what do you have on Mallet?
The radar officer looked at his scope and then at his screen.
 Captain, he s off radar and we have lost the data feed.
Just then, from forward of the bridge, massive gouts of flame kicked out of
launch canisters as one after another, four RGM-84A Harpoon missiles were
launched. They accelerated to near 600 knots and after an initial climb, they
arched over and descended to about fifty feet above the water, continuing on
their track towards the target.
Eight minutes later, when it was clear that at least three of the missiles had
been shot down before they could reach the target, the Captain ordered another
four missiles launched. He also ordered max speed
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of thirty knots and continued on towards the Guizhou.
This time, only two of his missiles were definitely shot down, but the radar
image of the Guizhou was still on the screen and moving, although now the
speed had slowed from twenty to eight knots. Smoke could be seen over the
horizon as the Gallatin continued to close.
At a range of twenty miles, the masts and upper super structure of the Guizhou
could just be seen over the horizon, with smoke still billowing up from
forward of the super structure, but still below the horizon.
The Captain ordered the Gallatin to close to within firing range of their
seventy-six millimeter dual-purpose gun, another twelve miles.
But they were never going to make it.
At a range of eighteen miles from the Chinese vessel, the sonar operator
shouted a warning of an object in the water coming at them at unbelievable
speed from off the starboard bow. The Captain ran to the starboard side of the
bridge just in time to see an unbelievably fast streak, trailing a fearsome
wake close on his ship and explode almost directly beneath where he was
standing. It was the last thing he saw on this earth.
The USCGS Gallatin (WHEC 721) stopped dead in the water as the sea flowed into
the gaping rent.
Very quickly, she settled then sank four minutes and twenty-eight seconds
later at 22:07. Only thirty-three members of the crew, out of total of one
hundred and seventy-seven, escaped alive.
The Guizhou, damaged by two Harpoon missile hits from the Gallatin, continued
to limp further south, where she was located at 23:25 hours by a flight of two
P3-C Orion s out of Oceana Naval Air Station.
Each Orion employed very powerful surface search radar and carried four
Harpoon missiles. Eight missiles were launched at the Guizhou from well
outside of anti-aircraft missile range. Of the eight, five got through her
KS-2 and CIWS defenses and scored hits on her. One of the hits produced a
massive secondary explosion in the forward section of the ship as reloads for
the VLS missile system detonated.
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This explosion literally blew off the Guizhou s bow and at 23:52, she too sank
beneath the waves.
The position of the Guizhou s sinking was painstakingly noted by circling US
aircraft as rescue ships were dispatched. American intelligence agencies,
shocked and stinging from the day s events, were already anxious to gather as
much information regarding the new Chinese technologies and weapons systems as
possible. They intended to accomplish this in whatever manner they could, from
surviving crew, from wreckage floating on the ocean surface or from a deep-sea
salvage operation if necessary.
As far as they were concerned, and given the gravity of the situation, the
sooner that information was recovered, the better.
Epilogue
March 16, 2006, 10:00 local time
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Government Conference Center
Beijing, The People s Republic of China
Jien Zenim stood resolute before the cameras. In a few seconds he would
deliver a historically momentous statement to the people of China and to the
world. That statement would be direct. It would announce in fact what the [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]