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Scorpion II (mid-flight) :
SEA OF SHADOWS 247
The two missiles streaking through the night were beam-riders,
German-built Scorpion II laser-guided anti-tank missiles. Both were
targeted on Benfold, and they closed their target at just under threequarters
the speed of sound. They had been fired from well inside the
minimum range of Benfold’s SM-2s, so the luckless destroyer would not
have the option of launching her own missiles to intercept.
The target began launching chaff. A half-dozen blunt projectiles
rocketed away from the ship. Four of them exploded at predetermined
distances, spraying clouds of aluminum dust and metallic confetti into the
air to create clusters of false radar targets. The remaining two projectiles
were torch rounds: self-igniting magnesium flares designed to seduce heatseeking
infrared guided missiles.
The Scorpions blew past the expanding chaff clouds with zero
hesitation. Aluminum dust could fool radar, but the Scorpion missiles had
no radar. The missiles ignored the torch rounds for the same reason. With
no infrared sensors, the Scorpions couldn’t even see the heat signatures
from the flares, much less be distracted by them. In fact, the Scorpions
couldn’t see anything but the narrow beams of their laser directors. Their
seeker heads were amazingly simple, and—in this situation—that made
them amazingly effective.
The target ship’s Close-In Weapon System opened fire. The sixbarreled
Gatling gun spewed a fusillade of 20mm tungsten bullets into the
darkness, cutting the first of the incoming Scorpions into bite-sized
chunks. The defensive Gatling gun spun to cover the other incoming
missile, but it was too late. The second Scorpion had reached its target.
USS Benfold:
The missile slammed into the destroyer’s starboard bridge wing,
passing through an inch-thick window before detonating. The expanding
cloud of shrapnel and fire ripped through the pilot house like a tornado,
killing everyone in the bridge crew except the Helmsman. Badly burned,
deafened by the concussion, and blinded in one eye, the twenty-two-yearold
deck seaman struggled to his feet and stood amongst the wreckage and
the smoldering bodies of his shipmates.