Sink the Nautica, 1977

USSR vs Canada, September 1977 During World War 2, German U-Boats carried their war well into the Gulf of the Saint Lawrence and even into the river itself, at one point sinking a merchant ship off Rimouski, just 150 nm downstream from Ville de Quebec. The Royal Canadian Navy at that time was hard pressed to prevent the depredations and this proved to be something of a embarassment in Parliament, the Ministry of Defence and the Naval Staff. More than thirty-years on, coastal defenses were again lacking. The major focus of the Atlantic Maritime Command was on blue-water convoy protection and ASW operations in the North Atlantic but the large force of aircraft and minor warships that eventually forced the U-Boats out of Canadian waters in 1944-45 are no more. The Canadian Forces at this time has seen some very lean years. All but four of the major surface warships are based upon designs more than two-decades old, the venerable CS-2F Trackers have lost their ASW capabilities and the CP-107 Argus LRMP’s are now long in the tooth and overdue for replacement. A Canadian version of the P-3 Orion is on order but delivery of the CP-140 Aurora is still some years away. However, even with the material shortcomings the personnel are well trained and the available “O” Class submarines are worked up and ready. Now there’s a general war against the Warsaw Pact and protecting Canadian waters has to compete with NATO tasks for scarce ships and planes. Into this unsatisfactory defensive situation sails an aggressive Soviet submarine. You are the captain of B-46, a Project 641 diesel-electric submarine and a unit of the 16th Guards Attack Submarine Brigade of the Red Banner Northern Fleet. Your boat has been on station the northwestern Atlantic between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland for some ten-days before the war broke out two weeks ago. In five days you will need to commence the long and dangerous transit back to base in Murmansk. So far Fleet Command has ordered your boat to continu