AndrewJ
Matrix Elite Guard

Posts: 2318
Joined: 1/5/2014 Status: offline
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I had a chance for a few hours of play, so here's how it's starting out for me. SITUATION The war rages on in the major theatres around Europe, but that doesn't mean there isn't significant work to be done here at home. Cargo ships are cris-crossing the Carribean, forming up to make eastbound convoys, and arriving from overseas. Although Cuba has been dealt with sternly, Russian submarine forces are still active in the region, and will need to be tracked down and dealt with before they can cut up the defenceless merchant traffic. This could probably be handled with reasonable confidence, but there is a big complicating factor in the form of Venezuela, which looks like it is contemplating a grab on nearby islands of Trinidad and Tobago or the Dutch possessions of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao. Venezuela is powerfully armed for its size, with a respectable navy and air-force. While it could be stomped by the US front-line units, those front-line units are busy elsewhere. What we have is a series of small surface task groups scattered throughout the region, typically an older cruiser with a frigate or destroyer escort, and number of single ships performing ASW patrol duties in the choke-points in the island arc from Cuba to Trinidad. We also have two older SSNs, one north of Aruba, and one south-east of Grenada. Our air-forces consist of a mix of British, French, and American ASW planes based throughout the region, some lesser fighters (mostly Sparrow-toting F-16 ADVs) and strike planes (A-4s), and an assortment of minor utility and patrol aircraft. No carriers, no AWACS, no AEGIS, no Phoenix. With this we are expected to guard the transiting shipping, and forestall any invasion of the islands. THE PLAN My first consideration is for ASW operations. Orders are given for the ships among the islands to use active sonars to clear their patrol zones, looking for the quiet SSKs that are expected to be sneaking into the area. TG Radford, my best ASW group with two Knoxes and a Spruance, is ordered to spread out (very unusual for me - I usually pull in tight) and hunt actively in the center of the AO. The active searches with powerful sonar should work well against normal torpedo-firing attack subs, but I am worried about meeting something like a Charlie, where my sonar will just be a beacon for a missile attack. My Sturgeon-class SSN will continue to patrol the Piracy Passage, while the Greenling, an old Permit, will continue east, about 100 miles north of the Venezuelan cost, hunting for any Soviet subs coming up from being resupplied in Venezuelan ports. MPA are assigned to lay sonobuoy corridors in front of our merchant shipping, hoping to find any subs lurking in their path. Unfortunately, I don't have enough planes to cover them all simultaneously. The Venezuelan situation is complicated by the fact that we're not at war yet, and we're not certain which direction the Venezuelans will go - if they go at all. TG Albany, with its ancient Talos-wielding heavy cruiser, is ordered south towards Curacao and Bonair, to interfere with any moves on the Dutch Antilles. TG Dale is ordered SE towards Trinidad and Tobago, to cover any moves there. The other two groups, South Carolina and Long Beach, are ordered to continue towards the center of the AO, until we can assess the situation. In the meantime, recce assets, mostly P-3s and local patrol aircraft, are sent to hunt for the Venezuelan navy, so we can better direct our forces. F-16s are sent out with tanker support to patrol about 150 miles from their coast, in case our recce planes need sudden support. INITIAL RECONNAISSANCE As my planes spread out, we start getting a picture of what the Venezuelans have out there. They've got a little HMG-armed patrol boat off Curacao and off Bonair, and my two patrol boats start shadowing them, staying outside of gun range for now and watching them on radar. Radar surveillance from the small patrol aircraft and helicopters on Curacao soon picks up the main body of the Venezuelan navy. They're operating in three-ship groups, with three groups coming from the Puerto Cabello region. The two outer groups are composed of a pair of LSTS and an old gun destroyer, and the central group is a set of modern Lupos. There's another group of three Lupos further east, and also two pairs of missile boats, one SW of Aruba, and one east of Bonaire. This is almost their entire navy, with the exception of their subs and two more missile boats which are still unaccounted for. The LSTs are on course for Bonaire and Curacao at 10 knots, and it's clear that any landing they make in the next day would have to be here, rather than in Trinidad. We also see signs of their air forces. There's an MPA doing radar reconnaissance off their coast, well within SAM range of the Albany, but officially not hostile, so we can only grit our teeth as he radios back the position of all our ships in the area. They've got a tanker up too, and a recce Foxbat, which is quite a surprise, and a few more slow movers who are presumably listening for our emissions. About this time we get a detailed intel briefing on the state of their armed forces, and it contains some sobering updates. In addition to the forces we knew about (F-16s, Mirages, F-5s), they've apparently been adding Soviet assets, including MiG-25 fighters and recce planes to their formation, plus some airborne jammers. They've also recently taken delivery of all-aspect IR AAMs, and 30 airborne Exocets, which could be a real problem. NEW ORDERS Based on this information, several new orders are sent out. First, and the easiest decision, the USS Greenling is ordered to hurry south between Bonaire and Curacao, to intercept the oncoming LSTs. With their outdated DD escorts they should be largely defenceless against submarine attack. The second order goes to TG Albany specifically, and to other southern TGs as an advisory. The enemy navy is equipped with Otomats, which have a 100-mile range. My Harpoons only have a 75-mile range, which means we can get shot long before we can return fire. Since the Albany has obsolescent SAM defences which cannot engage sea-skimmers, and the enemy already has me on radar, any further advance could be suicidal. Her escort, the Westminster, has some Sea Wolfs left, but not enough to ward off a determined attack. Therefore, TG Albany is ordered to turn back before it gets into range, and stay out of the enemy missile envelope. It's infuriating. Here we are, the mighty US Navy, and we're outgunned and being pushed away from the islands we need to defend by the missile boats of the Venezuelan navy! TG South Carolina does have effective SAM defences, but she's still well over 200 miles away, and it will be a long time before we can hope for her assistance. The third order is for TG Dale, which is steaming towards Trinidad. We know the LSTs are all closing on the Dutch Antilles, 500 miles away from Trinidad, so there won't be an amphibious invasion here. But what about paratroopers? The Venezuelans have half a dozen C-130s. Could they try to coup-de-main facilities on the island? Or some other trick with cargo vessels? Our intel suggests not, and recce runs have shown no ships hiding in harbour next door in Guiria, so after some debate TG Dale is turned around and sent west. That leaves Trinidad with no significant naval support, but that's probably an acceptable risk. SIGHTED SOMETHING, SANK SAME The Soviet sub presence makes itself known when the Banckert, a Kortenaer class FFG, gets a strong active sonar contact in the Guadeloupe Passage. It's coming in at a steady 5 knots, but since it's an active contact, I have no idea what it is, and no way to find out unless I get extremely close. The captain decides to risk an engagement, and the Banckert's helicopter runs in, drops a torp, and sinks something. The breakup noises are unmistakable, but we're still not sure what it was. Moments later, a Nimrod patrolling the Piracy Passage gets a deep moving contact 13 miles directly ahead of the inbound Amazon Vista, but fortunately it's only a biological. The same is not true of the contact the Ouellet gets in the Anageda passage. Once again, it's an active contact, 5 kts, -40m, and the helicopter prosecutes and sinks something solid. Then it's the turn of the Greenling, which has a passive contact while approaching Curacao at full speed to intercept the LSTs. The captain immediately orders the throttles reduced to creep, and as the sub slows the sonarman suddenly calls out that it's fast and close: 16 knots, and less than two miles. "Snapshot! Both tubes! Cut the wires!" orders the captain, and two Mk48s launch towards the target, before the Greenling turns away, dives, and runs at flank speed, certain that Soviet torpedoes will be closing on them at any moment. Their only hope is that the enemy will turn away to flee, lose contact with them, and then they can dodge the torpedo with a sudden course change. But at this range? Faint hope... Then there's a thud of a distant explosion. A hit? The Greenling keeps running, before turning and slowing to listen. There are ongoing breakup noises, the distant sound of one Mk48 running off into the deep, and nothing else. No enemy torpedoes. They didn't fire! As for what it was, we never did get a definitive ID. (Postwar analysis shows that this was not a Soviet sub at all. This was one of the Venezualan Type 209s, presumably manoeuvring at high speed to try and close on the transiting Greenling. Who started the war with Venezuela? Well, technically, we did...) STEALTHY SUB SINKS SPRINTER Three subs down are good work, but we're not having our own way everywhere. At 12:53 local the container ship Sprinter, out in the middle of the Caribbean, starts making urgent radio calls that it's been hit. The transmission cuts off moments later, and our MPA report the loss of a radar surface contact in the corresponding location. The Sprinter was heading east, and although there were P-3s and ships proofing paths in the area, there just weren't enough of them to assign to every single merchantman. The Sprinter was one of the ones which was unprotected, and it was lost as a consequence. Multiple assets are directed to the area. TG Radford is ordered to hurry to the area, and three P-3s and a helicopter are diverted from other searches to hunt for the elusive enemy. It takes over two hours, but the sub is finally detected and sunk. This time we know what it was. Passive sonobuoys showed it to be a Victor III, presumably the same one that sank the other container ship near Puerto Rico several days ago. ONGOING SURVEILLANCE For the moment, things seem to be going about as well as can be expected. We’ve traded one merchant ship for four (well, three) enemy subs, which should significantly improve our chances of success. Meanwhile, we’re keeping a sharp eye on Venezuela, as their forces continue to close on Bonaire and Curacao. Will they turn back? It seems unlikely…
< Message edited by AndrewJ -- 8/21/2021 3:05:39 AM >
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