It was one of the most dangerous secret missions of the War in the Pacific: a coordinated US submarine attack against a Chinese arms shipment rumoured to be bound for Pakistan.
But as USS Oklahoma City sails towards the Chinese coast she stumbles onto an even greater threat to the West. Outnumbered, isolated and alone, with tension aboard the submarine at breaking point, the OKC and her exhausted crew must battle to outwit the Chinese navy and then finally fight for their lives.
From the book...
βMatch sonar bearings and shoot tube one, Master Nine, aye!β
A second later the Oklahoma City seemed to tremble with a liquid pulse of energy that sent a tremor through the entire length of the submarine.
The Mk 48 ADCAP (Advanced Capabilities) torpedo surged from its tube and dashed towards its target. The Mk 48s were fast, deep-diving and highly maneuverable β widely regarded as the most advanced torpedoes in the world. Charged with a six-hundred-and-fifty-pound warhead of PBXN-103 explosive and an electromagnetic fuse, they were nineteen-foot-long lethal killers. Each torpedo was wire-guided to allow crucial targeting data to be relayed between the weapon and the BSY-1 fire control system aboard Oklahoma City up until the point where the torpedo reached the terminal stage of its attack. Then the Mk 48 became autonomous; using its powerful active seeker in the nose of the weapon to detect and close on the target.
Once the torpedo was racing across the dark ocean void the Combat Systems Officer reported both weapons had launched successfully.
The Mk 48 executed its wire clearance procedure and began to accelerate to its top speed of over fifty knots. The Sonar Supervisor relayed the information to Captain Coe. βConn, sonar. Weapon running normally. No target alertment.β