On my first patrol we detected a soviet nuke headed home. She was doing a flank bell. She slowed down and did a crazy Ivan baffle clear and came within 1000 yards of us (fire control solution). We were rigged for ultra quiet and she never heard us. After she cleared baffles she cranked it back up and continued her way.VMI77 wrote:Soviet nukes in the old days were notoriously noisy....I don't know about the new ones. That said, if true about the P-3s (and I have reason for skepticism), there may have been other reasons for that success that may still be classified, so I'm reluctant to mention them. Diesel boats are another story. But your active sonar wasn't just good for messing with whales, it would be a big help to any sub wanting a good fire control solution before releasing torpedoes.ScottDLS wrote:Weren't the P-3 squadrons pretty good at finding Soviet subs? And the Helos with the dipping sonar? When I was in the Navy the sub guys told us the only ones that ever had a chance of finding our SSBN's were our own attack boats and even that was rare. My first ship was a guided missile destroyer. Only thing our active sonar was good for was messing with whales!
On another patrol there was another soviet nuke attack boat operating in our area. There was one of our attack boats tailing the soviet boat. The US attack boat exited the area and transmitted their intelligence to SUBLANT. When she went back down from periscope depth and went to a flank bell to find the soviet she ran into an unmarked undersea mountain. She had to limp to Sardinia for temporary repairs and then back to the US on the surface. Years later I found out that a coworker was on that boat when she hit the mountain. Small world.
