The Dakuwaqa Class Submarine

[Uzb3kistan]

Description: Mobilizing; use of passive sonar systems.
Combat: No

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Dublin Bay
Naval Base; 0600 Hours

The LE Collins Battle Group, which LE Donn was assigned as a SSN(DS) (Direct Support), was now operating and pulling out of Dublin Bay Naval Base at approximately 0600 hours. The waters waked as the Dakuwaqa Class submarine tugged away and submerged under the crisp Irish waters. Captain Brandon "Pat" Patrick cut Donn's speed down to 10 knots as they fell back into her station in front of the Aircraft carrier LE Collins, Pat couldn't leave his moving search sector. Each escort submarine had their own positions of defending the group, to work along with the other vessels in unit harmony. A "synergism" that was the enemy's wost nightmare. Pat loved the idea of the surface vessels giving him support of the sky. The submariner's best friend is the aircraft carrier's patrol aircraft. Although Ireland wasn't enemies with any other nation in particular, if the concealment of the operation were to be detected, the Admirals of the Irish Navy understood that some may be pretty curious what an Irish fleet is doing in international waters. Pat didn't want any Anti-Submarine helicopters snooping around him and his men. The idea was to get to the destination without being detected. What that destination is, Pat didn't even know. They weren't going to be briefed on the mission until they're well out in the Atlantic, then the group would receive their orders by it being relayed over the floating wire. This helped keep secrecy of the mission.

The Donn was in her position, and the carrier group pulled out, tugging South to get out into the Atlantic. There her orders would be relayed. The anticipation was killing Pat, and he guessed that the rest of the group wondered the same. All he could do now is wait. Once his mind settled in that they would be riding the ocean for a pretty long while, Pat ordered the AN/SQR-74 Tactical Towed Array SONAR to be deployed for it's long-range detection of 300 Nautical Miles. Pat liked the new system, it now features three separate parallel lines, which are over a mile and a half, in which the individual hydrophones use fiber optic coils and lasers. Tiny changes in the behavior of the laser light will result when the coils are influenced by sound waves in the surrounding ocean. The new design promises to greatly increase the sensitivity of the array to the presence of enemy submarines and other targets, giving it the astonishing range loved by many Irish submarine Captains. The Carrier Battle Group watched and listend carefully as they crawled on.

[Uzb3kistan]

Description: Maneuverability ;use of sonar in maneuverability; use of communications systems
Combat: No

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Somewhere in the Atlantic
12:34 Hours; Five Days Later

As Pat had briefed his Admiral, he would be getting underway with exercise. The maneuvering was not unlike flying an airplane. During such maneuvers, the submarine's vertical position in the water column was even referred to as "altitude". The upward looking beams of under-ice sonar constantly gave the distance to the surface, with the fathometer displaying altitude information. The Donn was in her exercises when Pat heard the speaker, "Captain, radio, incoming message traffic!". Pat walked into the communications room where he could see the printer spitting away new orders.

They were traveling South in the Atlantic for some time now. Pat knew the time has finally came. With days of traveling South, he knew he should be checking for incoming orders pretty soon. With the long wait came the arrival of the anticipated orders of the Group. With the acknowledgment of the OOD, the Captain and the executive officer were summoned to the conn. A few minutes later Pat arrived with a manila folder in his hands containing the new briefing orders given out to each Captain of the Group, which were to be then described to their officers, and so on down the ranks. Pat called the meeting and invited the officers on deck into the meeting room. Pat emptied out the remains of the folder and began to pass them to the executive officer. "Well, we finally received the long anticipated orders," he said looking at his officers. "Naval Intelligence only released this bit of information. Not all of the mission has been given to us, not because of secrecy, but rather, I have it guessed, that not enough information has been collected, analyzed, and a professional operation compiled," he said to his Officers, "You know the typical bureaucratic stuff," He said looking around at his group of officers again.

A fine group he thought, the men were respectable, and they were some of the finest sailors in the Navy, Pat thought. Or perhaps that's the typical Captain's analyzation of his own, after all, everyone thinks they're the best. Either way, there was no room for error. "Our direct orders are to head for a South African Naval base and link up there. There our ships will be tendered and refueled; and we'll be rested. Perhaps even a glimpse of surface life. Moreover, that is where our detailed mission orders will be relayed, and the Admiral will brief us officers. Hopefully more detailed than this one," Pat said.

"Did it say anything about the final destination?" Said his weapons officer. Pat looked up surprised. Although the question seemed of normality and logical to a typical civilian, the question breached protocol, and Pat didn't like it. Pat only looked him in the eyes, silently. Until, he finished with a "..sir." Pat smiled.

"Well, glad you asked, Conaire. I was just getting to that. At the end, all it mentioned was our final objective," he said with a pause "we're taking the Spratly Islands," Pat said at last, and the Navy said at last, "and it seems as if anything other that looks potentially benificial to Ireland in the area". Although the men were pleased that they finally knew what they were mobilized for, but also disheartened that Ireland was taking aggression against someone. Or were they? Pat pondered. Old Intelligence says that the Chinese had somewhere around three-hundred men stationed on the Islands. However, that was before the invasion of China. Their best guess was that the Chinese pulled out to defend their homeland, but perhaps that was wishful thinking and the Irish government couldn't just show up with an oil contractor. They had to expect the worse, so they brought along an aircraft carrier Group. A small, professional fleet designed to take just that of equal size. Pat assumed that the Navy didn't want to chance it moving through the canals. It didn't cross his mind that the Navy would chance that, thus he understood their coarse of action. As the Group tugged South for Draka South Africa, the men pondered on whether they were going to see combat. Indeed an ill thought would be that if Ireland was forced into war, but the men were willing to give their lives for Ireland, and the progress toward a united Ireland.