FISHING IN TROUBLED WATERS
A SUBMARINER'S STORY
by
Commander (IN) VS Agashe, VSM, A Veteran of the 1971 War
Not just my grand-children but people around me, view me as a useless old man who does not take anything seriously. I would not talk anything about what I did for my living while in the Indian Navy. Nevertheless, not too long ago, I was a soldier in whites with gonads charged with testosterone. The Official Secret Act has a shelf life of around 25 years and hence I could perhaps narrate an older story without inviting the wrath of 'Aye Bee Jee', simply to give you an idea of what the silent service routinely do to earn a living.
During June 1987 I was in command of INS/M Vagli, a diesel electric 'Foxtrot' class submarine, a vintage boat compared to the Nuclear submarines now. Submarine had exhausted all machinery hours, the electronic safety cut-outs were not reliable, the batteries had completed their life and the submarine could be operated only with extreme caution. VAGLI was sent from Bombay to Vizag to await for the Dockyard to take her for the long refit.
There was a Command Reception of some sort, on the lawns of Command Mess in Visakhapatnam and everyone was enjoying their drink. Someone came and told me that Capt. Suresh- the Captain (Submarines) was looking for me. As soon as I met Capt. Suresh, he told me to come along to C-in-C's office. In C-in-C's office there were Flag Officer Submarines and Chief of Staff. The C-in-C V. Adm. Chopra, asked me if I was ready to sail right away. I was briefed by the Chief of Staff and I left the party immediately and went on board Vagli. During the next 4 hours all personnel were recalled, fresh rations along with a team of 12 clearance divers with 4 Geminis (inflatable rubber boats) were loaded, torpedoes were armed, Vagli was prepared for sea and we silently left harbour; so silently that ships secured alongside our berth also did not come to know.
My sailing orders were to be 5 nms. west of Madras FairWay Buoy. No one on board including myself had any idea about the future plan except some big challenge was in the offing. That had electrified the entire submarine. The entire ship's company was in full josh,- most of all stewards Balu Sing and Antony scurrying around.
Next day at about 0400 hrs., while we were at anchor off Madras, OOW Lt. Mayank called me to say that there were visitors from the NHQ on board. In the next half an hour the Director of Naval Operations briefed me on an Admiralty chart about 80 years old which Lt. Jetley ( N.O.) had spread out. Seriousness was broken when Steward Balu Singh brought coffee with extra condensed milk for the visitors. Before the day break, the NHQ team departed and Vagli too dived to traverse to her operational area.
This particular mission was to snoop around for 30 odd days and we were to go close inshore, submerged as usual, and operate with acute risk and caution. We were to go into the territorial waters of a neighbouring country which at that time was neither at war with us, nor showed any hostility. But in the murky underworld of espionage, a friend today could be an enemy tomorrow and hence it was our job to keep a track of friends as well as foes, knowing fully well that if caught, surrender was not an option that we would be destroyed on sight, and no mercy would be shown to Peeping Toms. We had much in common with the slogan of the Gorkha Regiment of the army, 'Kafar Bhanda Marnu Ramro', or 'better to die than surrender and chatter like a coward'.
While on our way to the Operational area, I called a meeting of the Departmental Heads, Lt Cdrs Robin Pereira (Ex.O), PC Agarwal (EO.) and Lt. Srikant (LO), LCdr. Arun Sharma(O i/c Diving Team) to explain to them the mission, what was on my mind, how we were going to play the hide and seek game, and to seek their wise counsel. On a submarine we did team work, with everyone doing their share of the myriad tasks, with 'a-priori' knowledge and zestful cooperation, doing what needs to be done without being told or reminded.
Time and space for the task allotted did not give us the luxury of reconnaissance, study cross currents, movements of vessels close to shore. Everything had to be done on the spot. After discussion and deliberations it was decided that we would proceed with silent speed, at 100 meters depth, to take up position at the boundary of the territorial waters before sunset. Thereafter, during the dark hours, we would rise to a depth of 50 meters for the foray along the coast line, as close as we could get. Since the continental shelf was steep, the depth of water shown on our navigation chart of the target area as 'Bottomless' or more than 1000 meters.
After 3 days, as the sunset, we were in position at 100 meters depth, zero trim, running minimum machinery so as to remain silent. The sea-surface picture indicated 4 trawlers, 3 merchant ships and 2 hostile war ships- possibly frigates. We crawled past avoiding the hostile vessels, like a silent shark, closer and closer to the shore line. We rose to 50 mtr. depth as planned. Everyone went about silently doing their own independent tasks of surveillance and gathering a plethora of strategic and tactical intelligence. The clock ticked loudly and time flew at super speed. I handed over the control room (C/R), to the OOW Lt. Chikkar and retired to my cabin a few yards away to bring down tension in the C/R.
Around 2 in the morning, I instinctively sensed a slight change in the trim (the submarine was tilting nose up). Even before the OOW could switch on the intercom to report the changed situation, I rushed to the Control room. A quick glance at the instruments warned me that for some strange reason we were involuntarily losing depth and slowly rising to the surface'.
"Slow Ahead, Port and Starboard Motors, Both planes to Dive" I commanded. The OOW- Lt. Jetley repeated my command to the propulsion controller. I could feel the vibrations increase as the propellers increased thrust; still the submarine kept losing depth- it kept going up on its own gradually. ``Flood Comp-2, half ton"', I commanded. The OOW dutifully repeated my command to the Panel Chief Mahajani. After a while I ordered 'Flood Comp.2 half ton" I repeated the command rather superciliously. I could see that the Coxswain Patil had taken over from Planesman L/S Maruti Mekhale. Coxswain Patil was already struggling with the plane's control to get the submarine back to horizontal position. The normal laws of hydro-dynamics and submarine control systems did not seem to be working. Vagli was responding rather erratically and seemed sluggish. If this continued, if we surfaced involuntarily and got detected, the consequences were unthinkable. It was as dangerous a situation as I could get myself into. I began to sweat despite the air conditioning.
'Inspect Compartments'. My voice was hoarse with tension and perhaps too loud for the confines of the Control room. My command was dutifully repeated by the OOW. One by one they called from their individual stations to report 'All Correct'. The OOW used a check list till the last man called 'All compartments checked correct" OOW reported. Just a few minutes had elapsed since I took over the Con from the OOW. I could feel the sweat on my brows. I felt cold stares from those around me. I ordered, "Flood Comp-2, one ton" The Captain was expected to be ice cool in an emergency, and here I was in a cold sweat. I clenched my fists to take control of myself.
'Flood Comp-2 one ton", I croaked, trying to use my will power to stop the submarine from going up on its own. 'Vagli, sweetheart, listen to me', I spoke to the submarine silently. It seemed that Vagli actually heard my appeal; she started to very slowly come to heel. We stopped coming up.
'Go back to 50 mtrs depth', I ordered. The Ex-O repeated my order. In my consternation I had not noticed that Robin had come in quietly and taken over from the OOW. I exhaled slowly, it was very comforting to have Robin besides me.
It took about thirty odd minutes to go back and settle down at 50 mtrs depth, throttle down to our earlier silent speed. We had taken on board 25 tons of additional sea water. I could not figure out the reason for it. I noticed that Aggy and Srikant too had come silently into the C/R and were standing unobtrusively at the back. 'OOW take over the Con, I ordered and nodded to my team captains to follow me to the ward room. I gulped down two glasses of cold water, using the time to think, my team captains had the enquiring look that asked, 'What happened ?'I smiled. They smiled at me. It perhaps broke the tension. 'One of those things', I commented, shrugging my shoulders. 'Relax, let us wait and watch', I said with a confident wave indicating 'return to quarters'. I went back to my own bunk.
Exactly an hour later, Vagli started to misbehave again, this time in the opposite direction. She went into a nose down trim and started to dive. She was slowly gaining depth. Although I was in my cabin, I could sense this and came to the Control room. I ordered "Sound Action Stations". All crew members, even those sleeping, ran to their respective work stations.
The Exo- Robin had arrived at the Control room right behind me. From the corner of my eyes I could see that Aggy and Srikant too were standing in the corner, waiting and watching. I was the man in charge and every eye was focussed on me, everyone expected me to make Vagli behave. But Vagli was misbehaving. Immediately we went into a reverse routine, opposite of what was done an hour earlier. All pumps were started to pump out water from Comp -2, trying to make Vagli lighter. But despite these actions, Vagli kept going down, and further down, slowly but steadily.
Even if pumps were working at their rated capacity, in conditions like this one, every minute is like 10 minutes. Needle on the Depth Gauge kept surging towards the Red mark. The red mark indicated Maximum Permissible Diving Depth or Crushing Depth, "Death Beyond". Every pair of eyes in the C/R turned to the depth gauge. The needle kept surging downward, ever so slowly. Another 50 meters and Vagli would reach its 'Crushing Depth'. If it sinks any lower, we would be crushed by the water pressure around us. Vagli's pressure hull would get crushed like an egg giving us instant nirvana at the bottom of the ocean.
The situation was so tense that any word from my mouth would be taken as gospel truth and all would interpret and instantly act out of conditioned reflex, without thought, suggestion or dissent. I held the destiny of Vagli and its crew by a slender thread that could break if I were to be hasty or lack wisdom. Another 10 meters were left for the needle on Depth Guage to touch the red mark.
'Stand by to blow the Centre Group ', I ordered. My order was with as much calm as I could muster. It was the last trump card up my sleeve. 'Do it only when I say NOW', I told the Panel Chief-Mahajani, with a hand on his shoulder. In the small confines of the Control room my whisper sounded like a shout even in my ears. I glanced at Robin. But he was calm and steely, eyes bright and steady, no visible sign of any nervousness. He simply nodded his head, a few millimetres to convey 'I am with you Captain'. It gave me courage to do whatever that had to be done, gauged by my youthful experience and wisdom. If I blew the centre group ballast tanks, Vagli would shoot up to the surface and thereafter be a sitting duck without sufficient high pressure air- that too close to the enemy. It would be a disastrous and embarrassing situation for our country. I was now left with the 'Hobson's Choice'.
Every pair of eyes in the Control room were on the 'Depth-Gauge needle. I could imagine that every man on board, at their Action station out of sight from the Control room, would be experiencing the increased pressure. The crew would be praying silently to Varuna, the god of the sea, to make Vagli behave and to give the Captain wisdom and courage of conviction to save them from instant death in the vast depths of the ocean.
The Depth Gauge needle kept surging towards the red mark, ever so gradually now. Vagli was making strange noises of metal under extreme stress. I asked OOW to check from the Engine Room Ch. ERA Bola reported some minor leaks .All crew were at Actions Stations. I felt fear gnaw my guts, adrenalin was racing my pulse. In my heart I felt lonely and sad. I clenched my jaws and jutted out my chin, chest out stomach in, to project the external appearance of a 'hard hat' Captain to reassure the eyes on me. I was scared.
The depth gauge reached the red mark 'Crushing Depth'. My inner voice commanded me, 'Don't blow, wait'. Seconds that felt like hours ticked by. But Vagli did hear my inner voice. The depth needle came to an abrupt stop on the red mark. The submarine stopped descending at the danger mark. It stood like that for a minute, what looked like eternity. After a long time I took a deep breath; I felt I had not breathed for quite some time. Then Vagli began to rise. First very slowly and then with increasing rapidity she started coming up.
Frantic orders were shouted to flood the Comp tanks once again, to regain neutral buoyancy to get Vagli under control. By and by, after 15/20 minutes of hectic zestful activities by all hands on board, we were back at 100 mts depth and then to 50 mts. All of them perhaps were now smiling. Robin, Aggy and Srikant were god's gift to me, a very special breed of men, sailors born to lead.
The courageous men of Vagli were back as a fighting lot, ready to complete the mission, even though Vagli had just recovered from some terrible unknown sickness, which I could not fathom.
With hardly any Nav-aids available, charts so old that none of the land features matched, eyeball navigation from periscope was the only way. Aligning with the enemy watch tower in front southerly drift was noticed. Men in the watch tower had lit Bonn-fire and they could be seen around. LCdr. Arun Sharma, Lt. Sahani with two Geminis with 4 clearance divers each were clandestinely launched in the dead of the night, close inshore, at preselected beachheads to reconnoitre the water depth on the shore lines, soil conditions, tides, presence of habitation, pickets or enemy patrols, obstacles inland and so on. Time and place of retrieval was told to L Cdr. Arun Sharma and the submarine withdrew .
Retrieval was a nightmare. Submarine had gone as close to shore as possible to make L Cdr. Arun and his team are easy to embark on. S/M was in shallow waters almost sitting on sea bed waiting for the Geminies to show up. Time was ticking away. We had to clear away before day break leaving no trace of our job. Lt. Pantle was with me on a periscope in the conning tower. One trawler was heading towards us. There was nothing I could do – a collision was imminent. We waited with clenched fists and prayed for the trawler to alter course. For some unknown reason, just in time, the trawler did alter to starboard and went away. We were saved from a great catastrophe. LCdr. Arun Sharma, Lt. Sahni and the two Geminies along with all divers were retrieved uneventfully. We completed our mission with complete stealth and set sail for the open sea.
Once we were back in the open ocean, international waters away from shipping lanes, I radioed " Amethyst "- the code word for successful completion of tasks assigned. Having accomplished the task assigned everyone on board was relaxed. I was on the bridge, sitting on the hard steel plate (the Captain's chair), rewinding myself; how we were helped by supernatural force when we were at lord Varuna's mercy. Vagli was ploughing through a calm sea with the moon shining when I was struck with an almost mystical conviction that "Every man below was my brother."
Happy stories don't end abruptly in home port. There was the inevitable immediate Court of inquiry. All were questioned and statements taken from all, especially Robin, Aggy, Srikant and self to review our actions, strengths and weaknesses of character and decisions. Vagli's sensors were taken out and analysed. In addition there was the intelligence debrief, for the data we had collected. There were rumours of every kind including quirks of Poseidon. In the end it was revealed that the area was prone to volcanic eruptions. So it was the volcanic eruptions on the sea bed which threw Vagli upwards and to compensate we took in an unusual 25 tons of additional ballast water. As we went out of the volcanic area, the water temperature, salinity and density may have changed suddenly, making Vagli too heavy making us sink to the bottom uncontrollably.
Few years ago, though retired, I was invited by the Navy to attend the decommissioning ceremony of INS Vagli, the last of the Foxtrot class submarines. There was a parade by young, energetic and smartly dressed submarines to bid adieu to Vagli. She had grown too old like me, no longer fit to prowl around in the deep dark depths of oceans. Along with some of my old ship mates we went into the innards of Vagli, touching here, fondling there, my mind flooding with happy, rich and proud memories of our life and times together. Cheers to INS Vagli, it was a submarine to love and to cherish, to take us to the great depths, but bring us right back with flying colours, the 'Gin Pendant' on its periscope !!
All those brave men- all retired and settled all over the world now, some of them no longer alive except in my mind, where I could be with them again whenever I choose. I hope they get to read this soliloquy.
Later I worked in different capacities all over the world and it struck me that nowhere I could feel that intimacy, the spirit de corps, that spirit of romantic adventure, which I enjoyed in Submarine Service. We were singularly free of petty jealousy. Even to this day, when I see a man wearing a submarine badge, I stop him to wring his hand.
About the Author
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