Chapter 43
Singapore, Changi Naval Base
Nov 13, 2006, 02:30 local time
The two guided missile destroyers slowly made their way out of the Changi Naval Base into the Singapore Strait. The main shipping channel was just four kilometers away to the south. The normally busy waters of the Singapore Strait were almost empty of boats and ships. Two Singapore Navy Patrol boats were close to the maritime border with Indonesia, just beyond the main westbound shipping channel.
Captain Jakob could see a large fire burning in the Singapore Roads ten kilometers west of them. The Hanjin Sun's bulk loomed in the distance, illuminated by the fire just behind it, and by the many lights on surrounding ships, as well as on buildings and facilities not far away along the shoreline.
The only other vessels in sight were in Indonesian waters well to the south of them. The radar confirmed there were no other vessels in their vicinity. Captain Jakob ordered their speed increased to ten knots.
The mission of the USS Fitzgerald and the USS Lassen was to act as blocking force, protecting the Seventh Fleet's capital and supply ships from any threats approaching from the west, while they exited Changi Naval Base into the Singapore Strait. When those ships were in the Strait they would head east at maximum speed toward the open waters of the South China Sea. It would take them just two hours to reach international waters.
Captain Jakob inspected the Hanjin Sun through a pair of high-powered binoculars. The LNG carrier's mass would be fifty to a hundred times greater than his destroyer's. In a collision between ships, the one with the greater mass had the most kinetic energy, and the other ship would sustain the most damage. The worst-case scenario was if the LNG carrier hit his destroyer amidships. It would likely break his ship in half, and hardly slow the progress of the massive gas carrier. He had to avoid a collision at all costs.
Whoever had chosen to use the Liquefied Natural Gas Carrier as a weapon had made a good choice. Captain Jakob had no idea how he was going to stop it.
He ordered the launch of an unmanned aerial vehicle to take a closer look at the ship up ahead. Perhaps a close up aerial view would provide some useful piece of information.
Captain Jakob used the break in the video conference, to deal with an issue brought to him by two of his officers. As he listened to them describe the problem, his eyes were drawn to the view through the bridge's forward windows. The LNG carrier was now only five kilometers away, only five minutes at the two ships combined speed. His destroyer was almost in the blast range of an LNG explosion if the last expert they heard from was right.
The video conference restarted, and the man on the screen identified himself as an Air Force officer. He started to describe the effect of a MOAB fuel air explosion.
“It sends out an overpressure wave that is most intense at ground level and just above. It will flatten most structures up to three hundred meters away and kill people through blast out to the same distance.”
The Admiral asked, “What effect would it have on a ship?”
“I'm really not qualified to answer that question definitively, but in general terms, the overpressure wave is over a wider area and has a longer duration than that from a conventional high explosive. I'd say if the ship was within two hundred and fifty meters of the blast, it would suffer some structural damage and anyone out on deck would be at risk of death or serious injury. The ship should provide substantial protection to the people inside.”
“Could it sink the ship?”
“I can't say. If the ship were close enough, the blast could capsize it.”
“One final question. What would be the effect of a MOAB a hundred times larger than the one the Air Force has built?”
“You must be referring to the hijacked Liquefied Natural Gas Carrier. You need to remember that a MOAB is engineered to produce the right mixture of air and aerosol to explosively ignite. I think it highly unlikely that puncturing a vessel filled with liquefied natural gas would produce a cloud of any size with the right mixture of liquid, gas and air. The containment vessel would need to be partially destroyed, resulting in a very rapid release of a large quantity of liquefied gas, to have any chance of producing a sufficiently large aerosol cloud to result in an explosion as large or larger than a MOAB. Even then, I think it unlikely the right mixture would be achieved.”
The Air Force Officer continued, “But to answer your question, an explosion a hundred times larger than a MOAB, would increase the diameter of the blast by a factor of ten, perhaps more. So, rather than causing deaths and structural damage up to three hundred meters away, it would produce the same effects up to three or more kilometers away. Of course, the destructive effects closer to the blast would be much more severe.”
Captain Jakob heard the Admiral conferring with his officers, then announce, “We have concluded that we must avoid holing the liquefied gas containment vessels at all costs. We now have to determine the best way to disable the vessel, without risking a release of gas. Captain's Jakob and Smith, do you have anything to say at this point.”
Captain Jakob responded, “My ship is just two kilometers from the LNG carrier. Time is very short and we must decide how to stop it immediately.”
The Admiral said, “We are aware of that, Captain Jakob. We also need to be aware that Singaporean Special Forces will shortly attempt a helicopter borne assault on the Hanjin Sun. In addition, there are US Army and Navy Special Forces already on board. We hope and pray some combination of those forces is able to take control of the ship. However, we have to prepare for the possibility that they don't and we have to use Seventh Fleet assets to stop it, in a way that doesn't result in a potentially catastrophic release of its cargo.
“We concluded during the break in the video conference that the only means of stopping the ship is to disable its propulsion and steering mechanisms. These are below the waterline at the ship's stern, well away from the liquefied gas containment vessels in the center and forward areas of the ship."
The destroyers were now almost level with the oncoming LNG carrier. Captain Jakob gave orders for his destroyer to turn and come in behind the LNG carrier and shadow it from fifteen hundred meters away. The Fitzgerald began to perform the same maneuver on the other side of the LNG carrier.
Captain Jakob tried to at least partially focus on the discussion about means to disable the LNG carrier's propulsion system, as his ship turned and came in behind the huge ship.
“Captain, the UAV is over the ship. I have the feed here on this screen.”
Jakob looked over at the screen, his officer was pointing at. All it showed was a white painted deck and part of the curved surface of one of the containment vessels.
“Tell me if it finds anything interesting.”
When Captain Jakob returned his attention to the video conference, the Admiral was summarizing their conclusions on how to disable the LNG carrier's propulsion system.
“Aircraft are out of the question, for the simple reason bombs fall downward and we need to hit the underside of the ship. Cruise missiles can't be used against moving targets. Once a torpedo is launched, we don't have enough control over it, to guarantee it doesn't strike the ship in the region of the liquefied gas containment vessels. Our helicopters don't have a weapon with sufficient destructive force to cause enough damage to the ship's propulsion system, which leaves naval gunfire as our only weapon with sufficient accuracy and destructive force. Does anyone dissent from this assessment?”
No one dissented.
Captain Jakob was acutely aware they would use the Lassen's five-inch gun, not because it was the best means of damaging the ship's propeller, but because they had no alternative means. He was far from confident the shells would penetrate far enough underwater to do sufficient damage.
One person on the bridge looked almost pleased. His Gunnery Officer would get to fire the destroyer's main gun against a moving ship at sea. Most people in his position never fired on another ship in an entire career spent at sea.
The Gunnery Officer said, “Permission to leave the bridge, Captain.”
“Permission granted.”
Chapter 44
Nov 13, 2006, 02:30 local time
The two guided missile destroyers slowly made their way out of the Changi Naval Base into the Singapore Strait. The main shipping channel was just four kilometers away to the south. The normally busy waters of the Singapore Strait were almost empty of boats and ships. Two Singapore Navy Patrol boats were close to the maritime border with Indonesia, just beyond the main westbound shipping channel.
Captain Jakob could see a large fire burning in the Singapore Roads ten kilometers west of them. The Hanjin Sun's bulk loomed in the distance, illuminated by the fire just behind it, and by the many lights on surrounding ships, as well as on buildings and facilities not far away along the shoreline.
The only other vessels in sight were in Indonesian waters well to the south of them. The radar confirmed there were no other vessels in their vicinity. Captain Jakob ordered their speed increased to ten knots.
The mission of the USS Fitzgerald and the USS Lassen was to act as blocking force, protecting the Seventh Fleet's capital and supply ships from any threats approaching from the west, while they exited Changi Naval Base into the Singapore Strait. When those ships were in the Strait they would head east at maximum speed toward the open waters of the South China Sea. It would take them just two hours to reach international waters.
Captain Jakob inspected the Hanjin Sun through a pair of high-powered binoculars. The LNG carrier's mass would be fifty to a hundred times greater than his destroyer's. In a collision between ships, the one with the greater mass had the most kinetic energy, and the other ship would sustain the most damage. The worst-case scenario was if the LNG carrier hit his destroyer amidships. It would likely break his ship in half, and hardly slow the progress of the massive gas carrier. He had to avoid a collision at all costs.
Whoever had chosen to use the Liquefied Natural Gas Carrier as a weapon had made a good choice. Captain Jakob had no idea how he was going to stop it.
He ordered the launch of an unmanned aerial vehicle to take a closer look at the ship up ahead. Perhaps a close up aerial view would provide some useful piece of information.
Captain Jakob used the break in the video conference, to deal with an issue brought to him by two of his officers. As he listened to them describe the problem, his eyes were drawn to the view through the bridge's forward windows. The LNG carrier was now only five kilometers away, only five minutes at the two ships combined speed. His destroyer was almost in the blast range of an LNG explosion if the last expert they heard from was right.
The video conference restarted, and the man on the screen identified himself as an Air Force officer. He started to describe the effect of a MOAB fuel air explosion.
“It sends out an overpressure wave that is most intense at ground level and just above. It will flatten most structures up to three hundred meters away and kill people through blast out to the same distance.”
The Admiral asked, “What effect would it have on a ship?”
“I'm really not qualified to answer that question definitively, but in general terms, the overpressure wave is over a wider area and has a longer duration than that from a conventional high explosive. I'd say if the ship was within two hundred and fifty meters of the blast, it would suffer some structural damage and anyone out on deck would be at risk of death or serious injury. The ship should provide substantial protection to the people inside.”
“Could it sink the ship?”
“I can't say. If the ship were close enough, the blast could capsize it.”
“One final question. What would be the effect of a MOAB a hundred times larger than the one the Air Force has built?”
“You must be referring to the hijacked Liquefied Natural Gas Carrier. You need to remember that a MOAB is engineered to produce the right mixture of air and aerosol to explosively ignite. I think it highly unlikely that puncturing a vessel filled with liquefied natural gas would produce a cloud of any size with the right mixture of liquid, gas and air. The containment vessel would need to be partially destroyed, resulting in a very rapid release of a large quantity of liquefied gas, to have any chance of producing a sufficiently large aerosol cloud to result in an explosion as large or larger than a MOAB. Even then, I think it unlikely the right mixture would be achieved.”
The Air Force Officer continued, “But to answer your question, an explosion a hundred times larger than a MOAB, would increase the diameter of the blast by a factor of ten, perhaps more. So, rather than causing deaths and structural damage up to three hundred meters away, it would produce the same effects up to three or more kilometers away. Of course, the destructive effects closer to the blast would be much more severe.”
Captain Jakob heard the Admiral conferring with his officers, then announce, “We have concluded that we must avoid holing the liquefied gas containment vessels at all costs. We now have to determine the best way to disable the vessel, without risking a release of gas. Captain's Jakob and Smith, do you have anything to say at this point.”
Captain Jakob responded, “My ship is just two kilometers from the LNG carrier. Time is very short and we must decide how to stop it immediately.”
The Admiral said, “We are aware of that, Captain Jakob. We also need to be aware that Singaporean Special Forces will shortly attempt a helicopter borne assault on the Hanjin Sun. In addition, there are US Army and Navy Special Forces already on board. We hope and pray some combination of those forces is able to take control of the ship. However, we have to prepare for the possibility that they don't and we have to use Seventh Fleet assets to stop it, in a way that doesn't result in a potentially catastrophic release of its cargo.
“We concluded during the break in the video conference that the only means of stopping the ship is to disable its propulsion and steering mechanisms. These are below the waterline at the ship's stern, well away from the liquefied gas containment vessels in the center and forward areas of the ship."
The destroyers were now almost level with the oncoming LNG carrier. Captain Jakob gave orders for his destroyer to turn and come in behind the LNG carrier and shadow it from fifteen hundred meters away. The Fitzgerald began to perform the same maneuver on the other side of the LNG carrier.
Captain Jakob tried to at least partially focus on the discussion about means to disable the LNG carrier's propulsion system, as his ship turned and came in behind the huge ship.
“Captain, the UAV is over the ship. I have the feed here on this screen.”
Jakob looked over at the screen, his officer was pointing at. All it showed was a white painted deck and part of the curved surface of one of the containment vessels.
“Tell me if it finds anything interesting.”
When Captain Jakob returned his attention to the video conference, the Admiral was summarizing their conclusions on how to disable the LNG carrier's propulsion system.
“Aircraft are out of the question, for the simple reason bombs fall downward and we need to hit the underside of the ship. Cruise missiles can't be used against moving targets. Once a torpedo is launched, we don't have enough control over it, to guarantee it doesn't strike the ship in the region of the liquefied gas containment vessels. Our helicopters don't have a weapon with sufficient destructive force to cause enough damage to the ship's propulsion system, which leaves naval gunfire as our only weapon with sufficient accuracy and destructive force. Does anyone dissent from this assessment?”
No one dissented.
Captain Jakob was acutely aware they would use the Lassen's five-inch gun, not because it was the best means of damaging the ship's propeller, but because they had no alternative means. He was far from confident the shells would penetrate far enough underwater to do sufficient damage.
One person on the bridge looked almost pleased. His Gunnery Officer would get to fire the destroyer's main gun against a moving ship at sea. Most people in his position never fired on another ship in an entire career spent at sea.
The Gunnery Officer said, “Permission to leave the bridge, Captain.”
“Permission granted.”
Chapter 44
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