[speed150mph]

So fellow captains, I decided to break out dangerous waters today and play around a little. I didn’t really feel like doing anything specific so I brought up a quick mission, Barents Sea ASW barrier in my trusty Akula III Gepard. I was in a mood to experiment and do some crazy stuff.

So I knew the mission was going well right away as it once again started an enemy sub within 3000 meters off my port bow. Turned out to be a Chinese improved kilo. All I know is I didn’t even have a chance to get my towed array streaming and I see my broadband sonar light up. Yu-3 torpedo close aboard. I do my favorite crazy evasion tactic, drop 2 noise makers, snapshot a Korand away from the shot fired at me, running away like most sub captains would and I go to flank speed into the torpedo to get behind it before it enables. (Usually I also counterfire but I held back this time.)

I’m successful, the yu-3 blows by me and goes after my mobile decoy. I know this guy is close, I slow to 5 knots and listen. Turns out these 636 boats are really quiet because I could not hear him doing 7 knots on my bow array at a distance now of 1600 meters. So I get creative, and I hit my foreword facing minehunting sonar. Sure enough there he is. Turned away from me and moving away, a little above me.

So now the hilarity really begins. I plant my boat less the a boat length off his stern and stay there, watching the image on my high freq sonar. We start a danger close underwater ballerina act, him trying to double back on me, speeding up, slowing down, reversing course. I stay glued to him.

And the torpedos! I didn’t even need sonar to tell me when he launched, I could see the torpedos leaving his tubes on my high freq sonar. Kicker was I was so close behind him that by the time his torpedos circled around, It was already behind me. Plus if any weapon did get behind me, I was ready to pop a noise maker, go to flank, and pass close enough to his keel to scratch it with my periscope, making his sub a very expensive torpedo decoy.

Then it got even better. I detected another launch from another bearing. The second sub in my engagement ended up being a Han class SSN, and he had joined the party. So now the kilo turns away from his partners torpedo, hits the flank bell, and starts dropping noise makers. I stay right behind and below him, matching his speed, ready to use him as a meatshield.

I decided that rather then sink the two, to challenge myself I broke contact with both subs trying to find me without firing a shot.

Thank you all for following my long winded Sea story, and hope some of you will get a laugh outta my crazy antics.