Operation white out, p.1
Operation White Out, page 1
Praise For Operation White Out
The fourth in Robert G. Williscroft’s Cold War submarine adventures, Operation White Out, picks up with Mac McDowell still hurting, physically and emotionally, from the events at the end of Operation Arctic Sting. That doesn’t stop him from taking up the XO position on the USS Teuthis on a trip to the other side of the world from his previous adventures, to Antarctica.
This time, in addition to their scheduled clandestine duties, Mac’s dive team and the DSRV Mystic exercise what until now had just been a cover story: rescuing crew from a downed sub. Of course, this being a Mac McDowell story, it’s a little more complicated than just that. Fast action, enemy and allied subs, attractive women, spies, and (Ant)arctic exploits—Operation White Out has all the hallmarks of another great Williscroft novel.
—Alastair Mayer
Author of the T-Space Series
I was mesmerized by this remarkable tale of derring-do.
—Captain George W. Jackson USN (Ret.)
Author of the Sheppard alternate history novels
Operation White Out may be the best novel in the outstanding Mac McDowell Missions series. Now the Executive Officer of the USS Teuthis, Mac is at the center of a sweeping adventure story. He travels to Falkland Island where his ship completes an acoustic array designed to identify passing Soviet ships. From there he and the crew continue on a “7,800 nautical mile trek” into the Antarctic that leads to Thurston Island and back. Along the way Mac encounters danger, romance, spies, betrayal, deep-sea rescues on the ocean floor, hostile Chinese submarines as well as a Taiwan sub, cat-and-mouse strategic duels with enemy ships, and a lovable, six-ton Orca named Borysko, who follows them and keeps popping up unexpectedly in the most surprising places. Ultimately Mac’s mission leads north to Taiwan where it builds to a shattering climax and a final surprise.
As with previous novels in the series, Operation White Out offers the closest literary approximation to real submarine experience during the Cold War. If you want to know what it was like, read this book, and consult the excellent maps, glossary, and submarine pictures for clarification. At times I almost felt I was onboard the Teuthis and the Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicle Mystic. This experience is enhanced by the author’s often stripped-down style. Going light on adjectives, he skips transitional passages, bringing the reader closer to actual submarine activity. It’s an adventure not to be missed.
—Professor John B. Rosenman, Norfolk State University
Former Chairman of the Board, Horror Writers Association
Author of The Inspector of the Cross Series
Operation White Out is a fascinating adventure inside a nuclear submarine, including international political intrigue and life-and-death undersea conflict, punctuated with humor and a splash of romance. A thoroughly entertaining read and highly recommended, particularly for fans of military drama and anyone who ever served on a sub.
—Kevin G. Chapman
Author of Lethal Voyage
Winner of the 2021 Kindle Book Award.
Operation White Out
A Mac McDowell Mission
Copyright © 2023
By Robert G. Williscroft
All rights reserved
Fresh Ink Group
An Imprint of:
The Fresh Ink Group, LLC
1021 Blount Ave. #931
Guntersville, AL 35976
info@FreshlnkGroup.com
FreshInkGroup.com
Edition 1.0 2023
Cover art by Anik / FIG
Artwork by Robert G. Williscroft
Book design by Amit Dey / FIG
Covers by Stephen Geez / FIG
Names, characters, and incidents in this story are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locations, names, and people, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of the author and publisher.
Except as permitted under the US Copyright Act of 1976 and except for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, no portion of this book’s content may be stored in any medium, transmitted in any form, used in whole or part, or sourced for derivative works such as videos, television, and motion pictures, without prior written permission from the publisher.
BISAC Subject Headings:
FIC032000 FICTION / War & Military
FIC03105 FICTION / Thrillers / Military
FIC036000 FICTION / Thrillers / Technological
Library of Congress Control Number: 2022921561
ISBN-13: 978-1-947893-69-6 Papercover
ISBN-13: 978-1-947893-70-2 Hardcover
ISBN-13: 978-1-947893-71-9 Ebooks
ISBN-13: 978-1-947893-72-6 Audiobook
USS Teuthis Tracks to Antarctica and back to Taiwan
Ebook Readers: All ebook editions (Kindle, Nook, Kobo, GooglePlay, iBooks, etc.) have the Cast of Characters, Dedication, and Acknowledgements moved to the end of the story where you will find a Glossary and a lot more.
Table of Contents
Praise for Operation White Out
USS Teuthis Tracks to Antarctica and back to Taiwan
Prolog
ComSubPac—Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
National Naval Medical Center—Bethesda, Maryland
National Naval Medical Center—Bethesda, Maryland
Part One
Chapter One—Return To USS Teuthis
USS Teuthis—General Dynamics, Electric Boat
USS Teuthis—General Dynamics, Electric Boat
USS Teuthis—General Dynamics, Electric Boat
The Oasis—New London, Connecticut
Chapter Two—Sea Trials
General Dynamics, Electric Boat—Fast Cruise
USS Teuthis—Sea Trials
USS Teuthis—Hudson Canyon
USS Teuthis—Encounter with Cameroceras— Hudson Canyon
The Oasis—New London, Connecticut
Chapter Three—North Atlantic
USS Teuthis—Underway through Block Island Sound
USS Teuthis—Underway on the Surface
USS Teuthis—Transit to the Equator
USS Teuthis—Crossing the Line
USS Teuthis—Transit to the Fauklands
Chapter Four—Falklands
USS Teuthis—33 NM East of Kelp Point
USS Teuthis—Surface Transit to Mare Harbour
USS Teuthis—Mare Harbour
The Pub—Mare Harbour, Falkland Islands
Chapter Five—DSRV Ops
USS Teuthis—Mare Harbour
USS Teuthis—Transit to DSRV Ops
USS Teuthis—DSRV Ops with Splendid
USS Teuthis—Transit to Mare Harbour
USS Teuthis—Mare Harbour
Chapter Six—Transit to South Georgia Island
USS Teuthis—Underway from Mare Harbour
USS Teuthis—Surfaced Transit to Open Ocean
USS Teuthis—Transit to South Georgia
Chapter Seven—South Georgia Island
USS Teuthis—South Georgia Island—40 NM off Cape Douglas
USS Teuthis—South Georgia Island—King Edward Point
USS Teuthis—DSRV Ops East of King Edward Point
Chapter Eight—Subsunk
USS Teuthis—East of South Georgia Island
USS Teuthis—DSRV Ops With ARA San La Muerte (S-43)
USS Teuthis—Mare Harbour, Falkland Islands
USS Teuthis—Underway for Thurston Island
Part Two
Chapter Nine—Bellingshausen Sea
USS Teuthis—Bellingshausen Sea
USS Teuthis—North of Thurston Island
USS Teuthis—Finding Kearns & Starr Peninsulas
USS Teuthis—Potaka Inlet
Chapter Ten—Thurston Island
USS Teuthis—Potaka Inlet Polynya
Divers—On the Seafloor & Ashore, Potaka Inlet
Chapter Eleven—Potaka Inlet
USS Teuthis—Potaka Inlet
Mystic—Potaka Inlet Head
USS Teuthis—Bottomed in Potaka Polynya
Dive Team—Smith Peak
Chapter Twelve—Whiteout
Dive Team—Descending Smith Peak
Dive Team—Transit to Glacier
Dive Team—Trench Shelter
Chapter Thirteen—Glacier
Dive Team—Trench Shelter
Dive Team—Potaka Glacier
Chapter Fourteen—Leopard Seal
Dive Team—Potaka Inlet
Mystic—Potaka Inlet
USS Teuthis—Potaka Inlet
Chapter Fifteen—Chángzhēng 3A & Hi Bào
USS Teuthis—Glacier Bight
USS Teuthis—Wagoner Inlet
USS Teuthis—Bottomed in Wagoner Inlet
Wagoner Inlet—Diving Ops on Bottom
Chapter Sixteen—ROCS Hi Bào
ROCS Hi Bào—Wagoner Inlet
Mystic—Wagoner Inlet
USS Teuthis—Wagoner Inlet
USS Teuthis—Oil Extraction Facility
USS Teuthis—Wagoner Inlet
ComSubPac—Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
Part Three
Chapter Seventeen—ROCS Qiántng Yóuchuán Èr
USS Teuthis—Wagoner Inlet, Northern Edge
USS Teuthis—Bottomed Under the Ice, Wagoner Inlet
Chapter Eighteen—Rendezvous
USS Teuthis—Underway with Hi Bào at North End of Wagoner Inlet
USS Teuthis—Underway in the Southern Ocean
&nbs
USS Teuthis—International Date Line
USS Teuthis—Campbell Island
USS Teuthis—Auckland Island, the General Grant Wreck Site
USS Teuthis—Auckland Island, the General Grant Wreck Site
Chapter Twenty—Solomon Islands
USS Teuthis—Tasman Sea
USS Teuthis—Coral Sea
USS Teuthis—Solomon Islands
Chapter Twenty-One—PacEx89
USS Teuthis—Rendezvous Point
USS Teuthis—Cat & Mouse
USS Teuthis—Consequences
Chapter Twenty-Two—Micronesia
USS Teuthis—Aftermath
USS Teuthis & USS Pigeon—DSRV Ops
USS Pigeon & ROCS Hi Bào—DSRV Ops
USS Teuthis—Micronesian Waters
Chapter Twenty-Three— Philippine Sea
USS Teuthis—The Final Leg
USS Teuthis—Off the Southern Coast of Taiwan
USS Teuthis—DSRV Ops off the Southern Coast of Taiwan
USS Teuthis—Kaohsiung City Harbor
Epilog
epi1National Naval Medical Center—Bethesda, Maryland
epi1Mare Island Naval Station—Vallejo, California
Post a Review
Dedication
Foreword
Disclaimer
Cast of Characters & Ships
USS Teuthis (SSNR 2) Organizational Chart
Cast of Characters
USS Teuthis Underway Watch Sections
Section One—0600 to 1200
Section Two—1200 to 1800
Section Three—1800 to 2400
Section Four—2400 to 0600
List of Ships and Submarines
USS Teuthis—Cross-section
USS Teuthis—Cutaway
A Note about Saturation Diving
Excerpt from Operation Ivy Bells by Robert G. Williscroft
About the Author
Other Works by Robert G. Williscroft
Connect with Robert G. Williscroft
Glossary for Operation White Out
Acknowledgments
Prolog
COMSUBPAC—PEARL HARBOR, HAWAII
Commander Archibald Desmond focused on two semis speeding across a high bridge with a Corvette sandwiched between them, surrounded by traffic front, back, and left, with railing on the right. Suddenly, the front semi braked and turned sharply left. The trailer twisted right, slamming through the bridge rail. The Corvette braked hard, skidding toward the broadsided trailer as the semi behind the Corvette slammed into its left rear, spinning the little sports car to the right. Despite the grittiness of the monochrome satellite image on the RCA KP-5040 projector TV, Desmond saw the second semi push the Corvette through the broken railing of the Gold Star Memorial Bridge, 135 feet above the Thames River, in Connecticut.
“Rewind, please,” Desmond said softly.
Rear Admiral Austin B. Scott, Jr., manipulated a control on his desk and glanced at R. Adm. Jack Darby, who was there to relieve him as Commander, Submarine Force Pacific—ComSubPac.
After watching the Corvette for the second time plunge off the bridge into the river 135 feet below, Desmond uttered softly, “I’ll be a sonofabitch! Those fucking assholes deliberately forced them off. It wasn’t Mac’s fault. They killed my Kate!”
In the ensuing silence, Scott said, “You might want to mention that to Mac.”
NATIONAL NAVAL MEDICAL CENTER—BETHESDA, MARYLAND
“It’s me, Jack,” Master Mariner Jack Petrikoff said as Mac opened his eyes and squinted at the sunlight flooding into his hospital room through the upper floor window. “Jack Petrikoff…I come as soon as I hear—red-eye, Kodiak, Seattle, DC.” Petrikoff looked at Mac warmly. “You alive, my friend. You alive!”
“Wha’ happened? Where am I?” Mac asked weakly.
“Don’ know, Mac, don’ know. Just got here from Kodiak, but you in the Bethesda Naval Hospital, Washington, DC.”
“Where’s Kate?”
As Mac struggled to sit up, a white-uniformed nurse with lieutenant bars on her collars hurried into the room. “Easy does it, Commander. You can sit up, but you have to be careful. You suffered two broken legs, three broken ribs, and a chipped vertebra.” She smiled while adjusting his IV drip. “Push the call button if you need me.” She placed the console in his left hand and departed.
Mac’s blue eyes focused on Petrikoff’s. “What the fuck, Jack? Where is she?”
A knock on the door, and R. Adm. Scott entered, followed by Cmdr. Desmond. Mac lifted his right hand in an attempted salute.
“You’re uncovered and indoors, Commander, so knock it off!” Scott said with a chuckle. “You know Archie, and I know Master Mariner Petrikoff. So much for the preliminaries.”
Desmond stepped to the foot of Mac’s bed, wondering how the admiral would handle this.
Scott pulled up a chair and turned it around, straddling it while leaning forward against its back. “Glad to see you’re still with us and conscious.” Scott’s demeanor turned serious. “I’ve got some bad news for you, Son, and there’s no way to soften this.” He cleared his throat and swallowed. “You got pushed off the Gold Star Memorial Bridge by a couple of semis—part of a sleeper cell in New London. Borysko pulled you and Kate from the wreck on the bottom, but Kate didn’t make it.”
“What…?”
Desmond felt his own stomach drop…again.
“I am terribly, terribly sorry, Mac, but Kate’s gone.” He turned to Desmond with a slight nod.
“I watched the satellite video, Mac. You were sandwiched between two semis with no way to get away because of the traffic. Your DIA2 escort was stuck behind the second semi the whole time. They deliberately crashed the front semi and pushed you off the bridge.” A catch filled his voice. “The water impact broke Kate’s neck; it’s a miracle you survived.” He paused to regain his composure. “Borysko brought both of you back to EB.3 You’ve been in a coma until just a short while ago.” His voice trailed off.
“I’m working with DIA Director General Gene Tighe,” Scott said. “We’ll get those bastards, I promise you.”
Petrikoff remained in the background during Scott’s and Desmond’s conversations with Mac. So, that’s how it happened. Oh, Kate, my poor wonderful girl. He felt himself tearing up, sniffled, and blew his nose. At least you had some happiness before the bastards got you. He stepped to the bed and gripped Mac’s right hand.
“I’m here for you, Diver Boy. You know that.” He peered through his lashes at the look the two naval officers exchanged.
Mac squeezed his hand.
“Thanks, Jack.”
Scott cleared his throat. “I still have some official business with the commander.”
“Sorry, Admiral, we been through a lot together, me and Mac.” Petrikoff stepped to the side of the small room.
“I understand.” Then Scott turned his attention to Mac. “Commander McDowell, you are being assigned as Executive Officer to USS Teuthis.”
“Commander…?”
The admiral placed a set of silver oak leaves on Mac’s pillow.
“TOG…,” Mac started to say, referring to his old team, the Test Operations Group.
“Is being assigned to newly commissioned Warrant Officer Hamilton Comstock,” Scott interrupted with a smile. “Teuthis has a new, complex assignment, and CNO wants to keep the team together,” referring to the Chief of Naval Operations.
“Nuclear Power School…?” Mac started to ask.
“I’m getting to that. Admiral Kinnaird McKee has replaced retiring Admiral Rickover as Naval Reactors. He’s tentatively agreed to let you do the classwork here at Bethesda while you recover. Somewhere along the process, he will personally visit you to assess your progress. That’s when the final decision will be made.” Scott stood up and shook Mac’s hand. “Good luck, Son. I wish I had a couple dozen officers like you.”
Desmond leaned across the bed and took Mac’s hand. “Kate was not your fault, Mac. You gotta believe that.” He placed his left hand over their clasped right hands. “We’ll get the bastards, I promise!”
NATIONAL NAVAL MEDICAL CENTER—BETHESDA, MARYLAND
“You are eligible for a medical retirement with full pay and benefits,” Mac’s Navy detailer, a captain, told him by phone. “You’ve given more than just about anyone. You’re a genuine hero whose exploits are already a legend here at BUPERS.4” The caller paused. “Hell, Commander, I outrank you, but I’ll come to my feet any time you enter a room.”
