***** Vol.1 Chap.13 Sonar search *****
The sonar team had already started the system as Kristin walked in. The officers gathered around the room trying to get a glimpse of the two large screen monitors displaying the sonar images. Jonas sat in a chair next to the sonar operator. She maneuvered herself behind him and stared at the monitors with the other officers.
Presently, there was not much showing up on the monitors. The old-style sonar display gave only two-dimensional display showing what was straight ahead and around the ship. The new sonar was a significant improvement over the ancient system, with a three-dimensional display of the environment from any perspective desired. Not only can one can see straight ahead, one can see at various depth levels as well. The computer auto-generated a three-dimensional picture to illustrate the ocean floor, obstacles, reefs, etc. in its proper perspective. The new display gave the impression that the water was absent and one had a bird’s-eye view of the entire ocean underneath the ship.
As with any new system, it took some time to adjust. But with a little imagination, she got the hang of the display and joined in with the other officers in hunting for the sunken boat. She tried to form a mental picture of the ocean floor around the vessel.
The search was understandably slow. From the last reported position with minor projections of where the yacht would be, Captain Jonas ordered the search to go in a spiral pattern, an efficient way to locate sunken objects. They circled round and round for a good half an hour. The ocean floor as flat as the plains showed nothing in sight at all. Certainly, no sunken yacht anywhere so far.
“Wait, something over there!” cried the first officer. Everyone leaned forward to look more closely at the monitor. Upon zooming in on whatever ‘something’ was, they realized that ‘something’ was just debris. After a couple more false alarms, the first officer stopped getting excited about any minor bumps on the ocean floor.
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Jonas went for another cup of coffee. Kristin took the opportunity and asked the sonar operator if she could try her hand on the display. The officer got tired and was more than happy to be relieved for a while. Once on the operator’s chair, she put her hand on the controls and instantly became a kid again, zooming and panning all over the ocean floor. On one scan, she thought what looked like a reef in the distance. She set the display on maximum zoom to inspect, but resolution limited them to make out for anything.
Just then, Jonas walked in with the coffee and Kristin thanked the officer profusely and quickly gave up the seat for the sonar operator again.
“Jonas, there was something like a reef west of us about five kilometers away. Do you think we can go in for a closer look?”
“Negative. We should not deviate from our prescribed search pattern. Besides, we should be there after another two more circles.”
“I panned around and saw nothing in our path for the next circle at least. That is why I thought we could save some time and head straight for the reef.”
“Again, let me repeat. We are not deviating from the prescribed search pattern.”
End of conversation. After all, he was the captain, and he had his reasons. Everyone stayed glued to the monitor screen.
Sure enough, after two more circles, a reef came into view.
“Officer Simon, mark our present location in the search pattern. And helm, let’s go around the reef for a closer look.” Jonas barked out an order.
As they got closer, the reef turned out to be a series of ridges.
This is going to be slow going. Kristin thought to herself.
After another fifteen minutes of frustration maneuvering Mayflower to crisscross the surface of the ridges, the sonar operator thought there appeared to be something like a boat in view.
“Look, there is something there.” Everyone leaned forward to look.
“Helm, get us closer for a better look,” Jonas ordered.
Sure enough, after they cleared the ridge, the silhouette of a boat appeared on the ocean floor.
“All engines stop.” Jonas barked. Then he turned to Kristin and said, “You are on!”
“Aye, aye, sir.” Not needing another word from Jonas, she flew out of the control room, dashing towards her sub. Her feet skipped on the stairs not because she wanted to save time, but she was too excited. Dodging around the people in the narrow hallway, she could not stop running till she finally got to the sub. At long last, she could play with her expensive toy.