USS Haddo Goes to War - Finale
Well, this proved to be an unexpectedly short tour of duty for the venerable Haddo.
If you recall, after successfully dispatching two Soviet subs in our previous patrol, we were tasked with sinking a Soviet carrier battlegroup. Now, even with a state-of-the-art submarine, which would be a Los Angeles class boat for this period, that would be a tough mission to accomplish alone. With a dated Permit-class boat, the odds were already stacked against us. To stack that deck even more against us, I would be taking Haddo into such a fight with damage to the hull, dive planes, rudder, and one inoperable torpedo tube. Yeah, I suspect the crew read the writing on the wall as well as I did...
Nonetheless, duty is duty. So, we took our position in our patrol corridor.
We had to wait a day or so, but the Soviet task force, which can be seen off of Norway above, finally arrived.
The initial sonar picture was busy, to say the least.
After deploying the towed array and doing some maneuvering, we soon identified what we were up against. It was not good.
That is a lot of firepower! The only bright side was that the Kiev-class carrier, Sierra 6, was quickly located at the group's center, right where it should be. But how do I crack this tough nut? Especially with just three torpedo tubes functional?!
I decided to go for broke: I would raise to periscope depth, take a quick ESM and periscope fix, and let fly with three Harpoon anti-ship missiles, two at the carrier, and one at the nearest Krivak I frigate.
With the plan formulated, such as it was, we began the ascent to the surface.
Unfortunately, the topside weather was stormy, so using the periscope was a useless endeavor due to poor visibility.
Nonetheless, I was confident of the position of the enemy task force based on my sonar readings and the few whisps of smoke I could discern on the horizon. Fire the Harpoons! With all three away, we dived to 350 feet at flank speed. It didn't take long for the Reds to fire back!
With the help of a Mobile Submarine Simulator (MOSS) decoy and regular decoys, we dodged both torpedoes.
Unfortunately, though, a prowling Victor III heard the commotion and took its own shot at us.
We heard the launch transients, so we returned the favor.
Our torpedo quickly acquired the Victor and dispatched it. However, the Victor's gift to us did likewise, but with less immediately deadly results.
This time, we took the hit to the bow, losing another torpedo tube, as well as triggering severe flooding in the bow which made the boat difficult to handle.
By this point, I knew we were toast. Haddo was being held together with duct tape by this point. Worse, we were almost out of decoys with the Soviet task force still tossing torpedoes at us, both ship-launched, as well as dropped from helicopters.
Sadly, all it took was one more Soviet torpedo to do in the crippled Haddo.
The boat sank with all hands.
The final accounting:
I'll join the army next time!
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