Match sonar bearings and shoot, tubes 1 and 2, aye

Just finished a book by Tom Clancy titled SSN.

SSN stands for nuclear-powered attack submarine and the novel is based on a game of the same name.

Since it's based on a computer game, the chapters are according to the missions in the game, with increasingly difficult encounter.

image source

The story described the encounters of a USA submarine called Cheyenne in a fictional war between the USA and China regarding a petroleum rich island (it's always about the oil, like in real life *cough*Iraq*cough*).

Written by an American, it's a no brainer to figure out who were the "bad guys" and who were the "good guys". ;)

Engaging story line and educational for me. I didn't know that torpodoes are wire-guided and I am still trying to imagine a long wire trailing behind a fired torpedo until it acquires its target and the submarine cuts the wire.

Guess I am just ignorant to weapons.

Probably due to my ignorance, things like Mk 48 ADCAP torpedoes, Tomahawks, and Harpoons intrigued and fascinate me.

Anyway, in the novel, there was such a huge technology gap between the two countries in war that the Cheyenne always detected the enemies while the Chinese was unable to detect it. Also, counter-measures or decoys launched by the Chinese never worked while the ones launched by the Cheyenne always worked.

When Cheyenne went 1 versus 7 submarines simultaneously and still got away unscratch it became a bit hao siao (unbelievable). By the end of the story, Cheyenne had destroyed 60+ enemies and suffered no damage.

Yea, only in American movies and books. =P

tentative next read: Four Blind Mice by James Paterson