Ssn (1996) Read online

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Acknowledgements

  Foreword

  Preface: Prelude to War

  Chapter 1. - First Blood

  Chapter 2. - South China Sea Station

  Chapter 3. - Four if by Sea, Six if by Land

  Chapter 4. - Dogfight

  Chapter 5. - Interdiction

  Chapter 6. - Ambush

  Chapter 7. - Target: Convoy

  Chapter 8. - Patrol

  Chapter 9. - The Fourth Patrol: From Russia with Love

  Chapter 10. - Rescue

  Chapter 11. - Battle Royale

  Chapter 12. - Strait Up

  Chapter 13. - Typhoon Hunt

  Chapter 14. - Hornets’ Nest

  Chapter 15. - Special Delivery

  Interview

  Glossary

  Bibliography

  THE BESTSELLING NOVELS OF TOM CLANCY

  THE BEAR AND THE DRAGON

  President Jack Ryan faces a world crisis unlike any he has ever known ...

  “INTOXICATING ... A JUGGERNAUT.”

  —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

  RAINBOW SIX

  Clancy’s shocking story of international terrorism—closer to reality than any government would care to admit ...

  “GRIPPING ... BOLT-ACTION MAYHEM.”—People

  EXECUTIVE ORDERS

  Jack Ryan has always been a soldier. Now he’s giving the orders.

  “AN ENORMOUS, ACTION-PACKED, HEAT-SEEKING MISSILE OF A TOM CLANCY NOVEL.”

  —The Seattle Times

  DEBT OF HONOR

  It begins with the murder of an American woman in the back streets of Tokyo. It ends in war....

  “A SHOCKER.” —Entertainment Weekly

  THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER

  The smash bestseller that launched Clancy’s career—the incredible search for a Soviet defector and the nuclear submarine he commands ...

  “BREATHLESSLY EXCITING!” —The Washington Post

  RED STORM RISING

  The ultimate scenario for World War III—the final battle for global control ...

  “THE ULTIMATE WAR GAME ... BRILLIANT!”

  —Newsweek

  PATRIOT GAMES

  CIA analyst Jack Ryan stops an assassination—and incurs the wrath of Irish terrorists....

  “A HIGH PITCH OF EXCITEMENT!”

  —The Wall Street Journal

  THE CARDINAL OF THE KREMLIN

  The superpowers race for the ultimate Star Wars missile defense system....

  “CARDINAL EXCITES, ILLUMINATES ... A REAL PAGE-TURNER!” —Los Angeles Daily News

  CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER

  The killing of three U.S. officials in Colombia ignites the American government’s explosive, and top secret, response....

  “A CRACKLING GOOD YARN!”—The Washington Post

  THE SUM OF ALL FEARS

  The disappearance of an Israeli nuclear weapon threatens the balance of power in the Middle East—and around the world....

  “CLANCY AT HIS BEST ... NOT TO BE MISSED!”

  —The Dallas Morning News

  WITHOUT REMORSE

  His code name is Mr. Clark. And his work for the CIA is brilliant, cold-blooded, and efficient ... but who is he really?

  “HIGHLY ENTERTAINING!” —The Wall Street Journal

  NOVELS BY TOM CLANCY

  The Hunt for Red October

  Red Storm Rising

  Patriot Games

  The Cardinal of the Kremlin

  Clear and Present Danger

  The Sum of All Fears

  Without Remorse

  Debt of Honor

  Executive Orders

  Rainbow Six

  The Bear and the Dragon

  Red Rabbit

  The Teeth of the Tiger

  SSN: Strategies of Submarine Warfare

  NONFICTION

  Submarine: A Guided Tour Inside a Nuclear Warship

  Armored Cav: A Guided Tour of an Armored Cavalry Regiment

  Fighter Wing: A Guided Tour of an Air Force Combat Wing

  Marine: A Guided Tour of a Marine Expeditionary Unit

  Airborne: A Guided Tour of an Airborne Task Force

  Carrier: A Guided Tour of an Aircraft Carrier

  Special Forces: A Guided Tour of U.S. Army Special Forces

  Into the Storm: A Study in Command

  (written with General Fred Franks, Jr., Ret., and Tony Koltz)

  Every Man a Tiger

  (written with General Charles Horner, Ret., and Tony Koltz)

  Shadow Warriors: Inside the Special Forces

  (written with General Carl Stiner, Ret., and Tony Koltz)

  Battle Ready

  (written with General Tony Zinni, Ret., and Tony Koltz)

  CREATED BY TOM CLANCY

  Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell

  Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Operation Barracuda

  Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Checkmate

  CREATED BY TOM CLANCY AND STEVE PIECZENIK

  Tom Clancy’s Op-Center

  Tom Clancy’s Op-Center: Mirror Image

  Tom Clancy’s Op-Center: Games of State

  Tom Clancy’s Op-Center: Acts of War

  Tom Clancy’s Op-Center: Balance of Power

  Tom Clancy’s Op-Center: State of Siege

  Tom Clancy’s Op-Center: Divide and Conquer

  Tom Clancy’s Op-Center: Line of Control

  Tom Clancy’s Op-Center: Mission of Honor

  Tom Clancy’s Op-Center: Sea of Fire

  Tom Clancy’s Op-Center: Call to Treason

  Tom Clancy’s Op-Center: War of Eagles

  Tom Clancy’s Net Force

  Tom Clancy’s Net Force: Hidden Agendas

  Tom Clancy’s Net Force: Night Moves

  Tom Clancy’s Net Force: Breaking Point

  Tom Clancy’s Net Force: Point of Impact

  Tom Clancy’s Net Force: CyberNation

  Tom Clancy’s Net Force: State of War

  Tom Clancy’s Net Force: Changing of the Guard

  Tom Clancy’s Net Force: Springboard

  Tom Clancy’s Net Force: The Archimedes Effect

  CREATED BY TOM CLANCY AND MARTIN GREENBERG

  Tom Clancy’s Power Plays: Politika

  Tom Clancy’s Power Plays: ruthless.com

  Tom Clancy’s Power Plays: Shadow Watch

  Tom Clancy’s Power Plays: Bio-Strike

  Tom Clancy’s Power Plays: Cold War

  Tom Clancy’s Power Plays: Cutting Edge

  Tom Clancy’s Power Plays: Zero Hour

  Tom Clancy’s Power Plays: Wild Card

  Tom Clancy SSN is based upon Tom Clancy SSN, an interactive submarine

  combat thriller available on CD-ROM.

  TOM CLANCY SSN

  A Berkley Book / published by arrangement with

  C.I. Entertainment, Inc.

  PRINTING HISTORY

  Berkley trade paperback edition / December 1996

  Berkley mass market edition / February 2000

  All rights reserved.

  Copyright © 1996, 2000 by Simon & Schuster Interactive, a division of Simon & Schuster, Inc., C.I. Entertainment, Inc., and Virtus Corporation. Photographs of the USS Cheyenne courtesy of Newport News Shipbuilding. Photographs of Tom Clancy and Captain Doug Littlejohns courtesy of

  Touchstone Media Group.

  Photographs from Tom Clancy SSN, the CD-ROM game, courtesy of

  Simon & Schuster Interactive.

  All other photographs copyright © Photri, Inc.

  This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form

  without permission. For information address:

  The Berkley Publishing Grou
p, a division of Penguin Putnam Inc.,

  375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

  The Penguin Putnam Inc. World Wide Web site address is

  http://www.penguinputnam.com

  eISBN : 978-1-101-00241-4

  BERKLEY®

  Berkley Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group,

  a division of Penguin Putnam Inc.,

  375 Hudson Street, New York, New York, 10014.

  BERKLEY and the “B” design

  are trademarks belonging to Penguin Putnam Inc.

  http://us.penguingroup.com

  Acknowledgments

  I’d like to thank my friend and colleague Captain Doug Littlejohns, Royal Navy (Ret.), for his invaluable contributions to the interactive game upon which this book is based. I would also like to thank Commander Craig Etka, U.S. Navy (Ret.), Eric Wertheim, and Mike Harris for their contributions to the creation of the manuscript and for their relentless fact-checking. I would like to acknowledge the assistance of James Adams, Martin H. Greenberg, Larry Segriff, Robert Youdelman, Esq., Tom Mallon, Esq., and the fine folks at The Putnam Berkley Group, including Phyllis Grann, David Shanks, and David Highfill. In addition, this book would not have been possible without the efforts of Elizabeth Mackey, Ken Gordon, and Keith Halper of Simon & Schuster Interactive, Paul Wirth of the Virtus Corporation, Bill Howe of Photri, Inc., and Steve Fahrbach of Magellan Geographix. And as always I would like to thank Robert Gottlieb of the William Morris Agency, my agent and friend, without whom this book and the interactive game would never have been done.

  And thanks to you, my readers, who have come to love submarines and the men who man them as much as I do.

  Foreword: Note to the Reader

  This book is based upon the CD-ROM game Tom Clancy SSN, co-published by Simon & Schuster Interactive, a division of Simon & Schuster, C.I. Entertainment, Inc., and Virtus Corporation. Developed by Tom Clancy with Captain Doug Littlejohns, CBE, British Royal Navy (Ret.), SSN is a groundbreaking, action-packed submarine combat game and a full-screen, live-action cinematic thriller.

  This book, however, is intended to serve as more than a faithful adaptation. While based on the game, this book is intended to serve as a strategy guide to submarine warfare, and as such it contains some minor variations from the CD-ROM game: an additional class of enemy submarines, a wider range of weaponry, and a broader spectrum of available tactics and strategies.

  Both the game and this book share a common goal: to put you, the reader, in charge of a United States nuclear attack submarine at war. If you come away with a taste of what life in the silent service is like, with a better understanding and appreciation of the efforts of those brave sailors who serve aboard boomers and attack submarines everywhere, and with an idea of the dangers these sailors face every day, then this book and the game upon which it is based have done their jobs.

  Life aboard a submarine is filled with hard work, close quarters, and the constant threat of silent enemies and the deep, dark pressure of the ocean. Slip into your naval uniform—the one with the golden dolphins on the collar—and step aboard one of the finest submarines in the United States Navy—the USS Cheyenne. But don’t forget your seat belt. There’s a war on, and it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

  Preface: Prelude to War

  Though the name may sound obscure, the Spratly Islands have been a cause of conflict in East Asia for quite some time. Sovereignty over all or part of this potentially resource-rich archipelago in the South China Sea is presently contested by Vietnam, China, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Taiwan. Although the Manila Declaration by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in 1992 promised to resolve this dispute peacefully, the nations involved have yet to arrive at a consensus about the future of this territory. In the past few months, tensions have mounted between the East Asian nations, and the need to have the United Nations serve as a mediating force has been suggested. At this point in time, many of the countries have stationed troops on the islands and some have begun to build their own infrastructures, causing further disagreements.

  “The dispute over the Spratly Islands has served as a further impediment to healing many of the rifts existing within East Asia. This issue needs to be addressed on an international level before it escalates into higher forms of conflict. The Special Political and Decolonization Committee will attempt to consolidate the interests of all parties involved and hopefully diminish a source of growing regional conflict in the world.”

  —The New American

  “China’s aggressive search for oil near the Spratly Islands of Vietnam’s coast has become the most serious threat of war along China’s frontier.”

  —Jim Landers, The Dallas Morning News

  Chinese leader dies, power struggle anticipated

  July 19, 1997

  Web posted at: 12:00 P.M. EST (1700 GMT)

  From Beijing bureau chief Julie Meyer

  BEIJING (TCN)—Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping died today at the age of ninety-two. Having suffered multiple strokes in the previous two years, Deng had reportedly been living in a military hospital for the past eighteen months and was said to have been barely able to speak for much of that time.

  Deng’s successor, President Jiang Zemin, was chosen by Deng himself over a year ago, yet could not assert full leadership rights until Deng, as “paramount leader,” had died. Now that Deng is dead, many experts feel that Jiang’s position will be challenged by his peers among the Chinese government, and that a power struggle will ensue.

  Among the suspected challengers to Jiang is Premier Li Peng, a Marxist conservative who played a major role in the quashing of the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations. Li is said to be intent on scaling back China’s economic growth, which he feels to be unstable, should he take control.

  Another possible contender is Zhu Rongji, senior vice premier and the liberal economist responsible for much of China’s economic growth under Deng. However, Zhu has alienated much of the Chinese bureaucracy with his infamous temper and acidic comments, and experts believe that he does not enjoy the support necessary to win the leadership battle.

  When asked for an opinion regarding the power shift in China, prominent Tufts University international relations professor and Asian affairs expert Adrian Mann stated that great “political instability” lay ahead and that “there is a very good chance that the power struggle may lead to a Soviet-style breakup of China,” a view shared by many senior White House political advisers.

  The President, who is currently vacationing at Camp David, issued a statement earlier today saying that “the United States offers her sincere condolences to the people of China on the loss of their esteemed leader” and that “we have every confidence that the new Chinese leadership will assume office with the minimum of disturbance.” When asked the President’s position on the possible power struggle within the Chinese government, a White House aide stated that “the President is watching with great interest.”

  United Fuels Corp. discovers oil, stock soars

  July 21, 1997

  Web posted at: 2:00 P.M. EST (1900 GMT)

  From New York financial correspondent Bill Mossette

  NEW YORK (TCNfn)—A spokesman for United Fuels Corporation stated today that the company had recently located a large and, until now, undiscovered oil deposit six miles from Mischief Reef, one of the Spratly Islands chain located in the South China Sea.

  The deposit is thought to be the largest of its type yet discovered, with a conservative estimated yield of close to one trillion barrels. This information caused a massive surge in United Fuels stock, which peaked today at eighty-nine dollars a share, up nearly 200 percent. Experts predict that the stock will continue to skyrocket if the find is fully substantiated.

  However, many financial advisers are wary of investing in United on the basis of this new find, due to the political instability surrounding the area in which the oil lies. The Spratly Islands have long been contested, with China, Vie
tnam, Taiwan and other neighboring countries all claiming sovereignty. Wall Street experts say that the oil find will be contested by the governments of the aforementioned countries, among others, and that it may be years before such disagreements may be resolved. During this time, of course, United Fuels Corporation will be unable to drill in the area.

  Nevertheless, United has already started to build a drilling platform at the site, staging construction from the prospecting ship that located the enormous oil deposit, Benthic Adventure.

  Coup in China, Li takes control

  July 23, 1997

  Web posted at: 3:00 p.m. EST (2000 GMT)

  From Washington chief correspondent Michael Flasetti

  WASHINGTON (TCN)—In a stunning development, Premier Li Peng has staged a coup d’etat and gained control of the Chinese government in the early hours of this morning. Aided in the coup by General Yu Quili, leader of the so-called Petroleum Faction, Li has apparently ordered the arrest of Jiang Zemin, president and successor to the late Deng Xiaoping, and Zhu Rongji, senior vice premier. Both political rivals in the struggle for control, Jiang and Zhu have yet to be located and are presumed in hiding.