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Cold Warriors: The Essex Class in the Cold War

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Story Post 129
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    • February 17, 1959
    Den Helder Naval Base, Netherland

    A dozen Hawker Hunter aircraft from 323 Squadron are flown to the Naval Air Station and prepared for shipment to West New Guinea. The aircraft are to be loaded onto the Karel Doorman for a rapid redeployment to the air base on Biak in West New Guinea. Along with the fighters, spare parts for the fighters are crammed onto the overloaded carrier in every nook and cranny that can be found. Everyone was nervous about this arrangement. While the planes of 323 Squadron were embarked, the carrier would be unable to conduct any flight operations of it's own. The Americans and British had agreed to try and provide some air cover for the battle group during their transit, but promises between nations were rarely worth the paper they were written on.

    With the Air Force squadron embarked, the carrier and her her crew found themselves overcrowded. What that meant for the pilots and ground crew of 323 Squadron was that they will have to hot bunk with the Doorman's own personnel. Though no one is happy with the berthing arrangements, they are only temporary. As part of the deployment to the Southwest Pacific, a port visit is hastily arranged for Freemantle, Western Australia. While in port, the Hunters and their air crew will be offloaded and flown to New Guinea to augment what remained of the Gloster Meteors of 322 Squadron. The spare parts and ground staff will be delivered directly to Biak by the Doorman once the remains of 322 squadron combined with the freshly arrived 323 Squadron establish air superiority over Biak. It is hoped that the carrier will only need to be in port for twelve hours to unload the equipment needed by the squadron. Getting caught in port by a hostile enemy force was not a situation any Navy wanted to find itself in.
     
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    • ToothMaker said:
    Foreshadowing! :D

    But seriously, this has bad idea written all over it. :rolleyes:
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    It may be a bad idea, but the Netherlands doesn't really have any good options at the moment. They either try a risky mission to reinforce their colony, or they admit that they can't do it, accept that they were defeated, and enter negotiations with Indonesia to surrender West New Guinea to them. They've decided they're going to fight.
     
    Story Post 130
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    • February 18, 1959
    Den Helder Naval Base, Netherlands

    Karel Doorman's air group, along with the planes of 323 Squadron, are craned aboard the aircraft carrier. While the air group would normally fly out to their ship and trap aboard the carrier, the addition of the dozen Hawker Hunters tied down on every open inch of her flight deck made that impossible. Doorman will deploy to New Guinea with ten Grumman TBF Avengers and fourteen Hawker Sea Hawks with two Sikorsky S-55 Helicopters providing ASW and SAR. Though the Sea Hawks are considered obsolete, they are newly equipped with American Sidewinder infrared guided air-to-air missiles.

    An urgent request to the United States for an emergency purchase of Douglas AD Skyraiders or A4D Skyhawks is declined, as the United States Navy does not have enough spare airframes to part with and still meet their own operational needs considering the increasing tensions in the South West Pacific. The United States does offer to provide a squadron's worth of FJ-4Bs to the Netherlands as that aircraft type is being retired from the fleet. But after looking at the weight and performance of the aircraft, the Royal Netherlands Navy is forced to decline, as Karel Doorman would be unable to launch the Fury with a useful bomb load.

    Several objections are made to deploying the Doorman with strike aircraft that first saw service in World War Two, but political considerations overrule the operational concerns. The Netherlands has to be seen to respond to Indonesian aggression in the region, and the best, and indeed only, way to do so was by deploying a carrier battle group to the region.
     
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    • Story Post 131
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    • February 20, 1959
    Den Helder Naval Base, Netherlands

    After the inevitable delays, the HNLMS Karel Doorman departs Den Helder Naval Base bound for the Pacific. Along with the Doorman, the Royal Netherlands Navy was also sending the light cruiser De Ruyter and the Friesland class destroyers Limburg, Groningen, Drenthe and Utrecht. The light cruiser would provide heavy shore bombardment and anti-surface firepower if needed while the four destroyers would use their 120mm guns to provide anti-air defense, along with their heavy anti-submarine armament to defend the carrier from underwater attacks.

    After much discussion, it was decided to send the carrier around the Cape of Good Hope instead of through the Suez Canal. Serious concerns had been aired that the Egyptians may refuse them use of the canal. However, the added distance would cause issues with the endurance of the ships of the force. A decision had to be made with regards to the speed at which the task force would sail.

    The Doorman had a normal cruising speed of fourteen knots, and at that speed, she could sail easily steam from Amsterdam to Fremantle nonstop. However, the voyage would take more than thirty days at that speed. Several options had been considered to solve the issue. The first option that had been brought up was to steam at eighteen knots, make a port visit at Cape Town in South Africa to top off the ships of the task force, then steam at twenty-five knots to Fremantle. Including the twenty-four hour stop in Cape Town, the task force could reach Australia in twenty-three days.

    The second option would be to employ the turbine tanker Mijndrecht, which the Navy had been planning to charter anyway for the goodwill cruise to the United States, and use her as an underway replenishment ship. The task force could then sail at twenty-five knots all the way to Fremantle, only slowing to conduct refueling operations, and reach the Southwest Pacific in only twenty days.

    Ultimately, operational considerations won out and the ships would steam to Cape Town in South Africa first, followed by a a high speed transit to Fremantle. The primary reason for the decision was concern over Indonesian submarines in the area. Indonesia had recently purchased several Whiskey class boats from the Soviet Union and the first had just entered service. By sailing first to Cape Town, it would allow the two Cannon class ships that had deployed on the thirteenth time to sanitize the approaches to Fremantle and join up with the carrier after to improve her anti-submarine defenses even further.

    As an added precaution, the tanker Mijndrecht was also hired to sail with the task force to Fremantle to ensure none of the destroyers would run dry on fuel during the high speed transit. The entire task force would arrive in Fremantle on March fifteenth.
     
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    • lordhen said:
    Good they do a stop over at South Africa to refuel ore is it one single trip with no stops.
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    They are having to stop enroute. And I'll have to change the sailing times. The tanker can only make 15 knots, so the task force won't be able to run quite as fast as I thought they could. And other than Doorman, all the ships are rather short legged. The destroyers can manage 4,000nm at 18 knots, the cruiser can only do 7,000nm at 12 knots and the Doorman can do 12,000nm at 14 knots. The task force will have to tank at least once on the way down to South Africa, and the destroyers will have to top off at least once on the way to Australia after leaving Cape Town.
     
    Clicked in here on a lark. I like war stories, I like naval stories especially. Yeah, I'm here for this. Keep up the intriguing work.
     
    SSgtC said:
    They've decided they're going to fight
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    In my view, this is absolutely the right choice.

    Indonesia has had some very good luck in this conflict thus far, which is not to detract from how dedicated their pilots and sailors have been to date, especially in the aftermath of the shellacking those Dutch fighters gave them early on. Bluntly, those Dutch pilots were more capable, and it showed.

    Indonesian training efforts will certainly have an impact, but even then they will be at a disadantage for experience and stick time for the immediate future, helpful Soviet "advisers" or not. Moscow is likely only willing to let the Indonesians lean on their pilots and crews so much before they object. They can only hope the Dutch deficiency in modern aircraft continues. If it does not...

    On that point, I would personally have urged the Dutch to accept that FJ-4B squadron. Even if the Doorman can't use them, they can operate from land and help keep the Indonesians looking over their shoulders. That said, I can see why they did not.

    Realistically the Dutch need to find some way to leverage one or more of their potential allies into the fight directly. Ideally all of them can be convinced to help, but if it's only one, the Americans are the best choice, followed by the British as they would more or less bring Australia and New Zealand by default.

    If the Dutch are serious about winning this war, and not losing face? The Hague needs to instruct their ambassadors in D.C. and London to politic like mad.
     
    Story Post 132
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    • February 18, 1959
    Vladivostok, Russia, USSR

    The fleet made a fine sight as it steamed out of the main Pacific base of the Soviet Navy. Three destroyers came out first, with every one of them blasting the depths with active sonar to drive off any lurking American or British submarines. After them came the cruisers. While a gun cruiser was no match for a carrier in a straight up fight, the force steaming out to sea was more than enough to make the American and British navies sit up and pay attention.

    Admiral Fokin had decided that he would command this force himself. His orders from Moscow were clear: conduct anti-surface and shore bombardment exercises in the East and South China Seas, draw the attention of the American and British carrier forces in the area with actions that may be deemed threatening, but above all, do not start a war. His political masters may like having the little yellow bastards in Indonesia dance to their tune, but they were not willing to go to war for them. He wondered in the Americans would know that and if they would take his little demonstration seriously? He would find out soon enough.
     
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    • Story Post 133
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    • February 19, 1959
    Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan

    Alarm bells were ringing in offices all across the base and on every ship in the harbor. The Soviets were sending a major fleet to sea from Vladivostok. A report had been radioed in by a Martin P5M Marlin conducting a routine patrol over the Sea of Japan. While the Soviets putting to sea would not normally be cause for extreme alarm, this situation was somewhat different.

    The Soviets were sending almost their entire Pacific Fleet to sea. Nearly every major surface combatant that they had was sortieing. The Marlin crew reported that they had visually identified four light cruisers and ten destroyers as part of the fleet. That was a serious amount of firepower. The flying boat was immediately ordered to shadow the fleet and continue reporting back on their course and speed. Meanwhile, a second Marlin was prepared to relieve the first with a Neptune and its crew alerted to a change in their mission orders for their evening flight.

    In the harbor, ships began preparing for a possible emergency deployment to counter the Soviets. This would largely entail topping off fuel tanks, taking aboard additional stores and munitions and putting their crews on warning orders to be prepared to have their leaves cancelled with little or no notice. In his headquarters ashore Vice Admiral Fredrick Kivette, the Commander of 7th Fleet, reviewed his options to deal with the Soviets should they decide to stick their noses into the brewing crises in Indonesia.

    The heady days of the Fast Carrier Task Force of World War Two were long gone. No longer could he call on nearly a dozen fleet carriers at once and deliver overwhelming firepower onto his enemies. At present, he had Midway, Bon Homme Richard and Yorktown in the area. And only Midway and Bonnie Dick had attack wings onboard. Ticonderoga and Ranger were both heading towards him, but until they were in the area he couldn't rely on them. Worse still, his carriers were spread out over hundreds of thousands of square miles of ocean.

    Yorktown was down in the Banda Sea with plans to steam around New Guinea before steaming into the Philippine Sea to meet up with Bon Homme Richard, which was just leaving Subic Bay, and HMS Albion, en route from Singapore, for a hastily thrown together exercise. Ticonderoga would join them there when she arrived in theater a few days after the rest of the carriers joined together, but until then the task force would be woefully underarmed with only Bon Homme Richard shipping a full attack group. Admiral Kivette had gotten a look at what Albion had on board and nearly had a stroke at what the Royal Navy considered to be a front line air group. The planes the Brits were supplying were filler to his own air groups, nothing more. Added to that, he couldn't keep Tico on station for long. In the last year and a half, she had spent eleven months deployed and was in dire need of a refit. He could only keep her for maybe a month, two if she was lightly used. Ranger was only two days behind Ticonderoga, but she was being sent towards Japan to relieve Midway who was scheduled to begin her voyage back to Alameda in less than five days. That wouldn't be happening now.

    After spending hours evaluating his options, Admiral Kivette made his decision. He would order Midway into the East China Sea to be in a position to intercept the Soviet fleet if needed. After the joint exercise with the Brits concluded, and assuming the Indonesian's showed signs of deescalating the crises, he would send Ticonderoga to Subic Bay for some much needed shore leave before detaching her to resume her journey back to CONUS with a stop in Hawaii along the way. Yorktown would stay with Bon Homme Richard and the two of them would join up with Midway if the Soviets were still playing games. He would keep Ranger in his back pocked just in case.
     
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    • AFAICT, the US Navy only has a single cruiser in the area, USS Rochester. Plenty more cruisers made WESTPAC deployments that year, but mostly after February.

    So, yeah, four Soviet cruisers is a significant force.
     
    CV12Hornet said:
    AFAICT, the US Navy only has a single cruiser in the area, USS Rochester. Plenty more cruisers made WESTPAC deployments that year, but mostly after February.

    So, yeah, four Soviet cruisers is a significant force.
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    Yeah, Rochester was normally the Flagship of Seventh Fleet at this time, but IIRC, she was sailing as an escort for Midway right now. There might be one other in the theater, there are a couple of cruisers that I don't have firm dates for when they were in WESTPAC, but it's doubtful it would be anywhere useful just then. My best guess would be that, if there was one in theater, it would be with Bon Homme Richard in the Philippines
     
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    SSgtC said:
    February 18, 1959
    Vladivostok, Russia, USSR

    The fleet made a fine sight as it steamed out of the main Pacific base of the Soviet Navy. Three destroyers came out first, with every one of them blasting the depths with active sonar to drive off any lurking American or British submarines. After them came the cruisers. While a gun cruiser was no match for a carrier in a straight up fight, the force steaming out to sea was more than enough to make the American and British navies sit up and pay attention.
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    First nice to see a new update this year, secondly, did British submarines operate of the coast of Vladivostok that we know of.
     
    Story Post 134
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    • February 21, 1959
    East China Sea

    The droning of the Pratt & Whitney R3350 was nearly enough to lull you to sleep. Or at least it was in the opinion of Ltjg John Tunnel. Flying reconnaissance and surveillance missions like this was one of the most boring missions he could ever imagine flying. His radar operator however, couldn't disagree more. He was completely and totally focused on the screen in front of him. Lieutenant Tunnel could barely make heads or tales of what the screen showed, not with it being so full of spots, blotches and lines. But Ltjg Albertson seemed to perk up the more he watched the screen.

    "John, stay on this heading for another five minutes," John Albertson said. "I know we're supposed to turn in two, but I think I've got something here."

    "Rog," he replied.

    The modified Skyraider they were flying continued on into the dark night sky, shuddering and bumping slightly as they flew through a patch of turbulence. Beside him, John was muttering back and forth with their radar technician, Chief Petty Officer Scott Moscoe, as they worked to pull every last scrap of information they could out of their radar system. Finally, he heard John say, "Gotcha."

    With a soft click, the radio came alive and Ltjg Albertson called out, "School Boy, this is Controller 4. Radar contact one-five-zero miles north-north-east of my position. Multiple large surface contacts operating in formation. Course one-six-zero, speed twelve knots."

    As the radio clicked off, he heard the Chief in the back seat chuckle and proclaim, "You can run, but you can't hide Ivan."

    Well, at least tracking a Soviet fleet would keep his crew busy, Tunnel thought. He'd be just as bored driving the bus in a slow, lazy circle around them as he would be flying a patrol track.
     
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    • Story Post 135
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    • February 23, 1959
    Mokmer Airfield, Biak, West New Guinea

    The raid came in at dawn. Six Badger bombers had dropped full bomb loads all over the airfield. Compared to this, the raid on the thirteenth was just a pinprick. The runway, which had painstakingly been repaired after the previous attack had been hit hard with no fewer than a dozen bombs impacting along its length. The maintenance hanger had been leveled, the flightline had taken a string of bombs and wiped out four Neptunes but worst of all, one of the aircraft shelters had taken a direct hit and destroyed one of their last four fighters.

    When the raid alert came in, the decision had been made not to launch their last three airworthy fighters. No one would ever know exactly why that decision had been made since the squadron CO, Lieutenant Colonel Guido Schols was killed in the attack. Cas Bass could only curse at his enforced impotence. He had begged to be allowed into the air. But he had been refused. He was on the verge of saying, "fuck it" and going up anyway when the first bombs began to fall. He wouldn't be flying anywhere now. At least not until the runway could be repaired. If it could be repaired.

    It wasn't long before he received even more unwelcome news. After this latest attack, he was now the senior surviving officer left in the squadron. In effect, he had just been promoted to command what was left of 322 Squadron. God save us all, he thought.
     
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    • Story Post 136
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    • February 24, 1959
    Philippine Sea

    On the Flag Bridge of Bon Homme Richard, Rear Admiral Schoech read over the latest radio messages from Seventh Fleet. The Soviets had put to sea nearly a week ago from Vladivostok. Damn near their entire Pacific Fleet had sortied. The fleet had been tracked by Marlins and Neptunes out of Japan before a Guppy from Midway had made contact with the formation a few nights ago. They were still steaming towards the Southwest Pacific area of operations. No one was entirely sure what they were up to either. Moscow had been entirely too tightlipped for his tastes about what seemed to be an unplanned deployment.

    Glancing at the plotting board, he noted the positions of the other three aircraft carriers in the formation. Yorktown was positioned to the southwest, where her anti-submarine group could shield the formation from Indonesian submarines. He would have to order her to the north shortly though. It was unlikely that the Soviets would send out their entire surface fleet and overlook sending a few submarines their way as well. Ticonderoga and Albion were also out here with him, with Ticonderoga sailing two miles off his port beam and Albion positioned to the northeast in what Admiral Schoech judged to be the least likely attack axis. Her small air group could never hope to seriously disrupt a determined attack on the fleet. But they could drive off any snoopers that came around.

    For a thrown together exercise, things had actually gone fairly well. There had been some grumbling from the crew of Ticonderoga of course. Captain Coleman had advised him of it when he came aboard after Ticonderoga joined up with the rest of the formation. He could sympathize with her crew. Being turned around and sent back to the Western Pacific when you're only a few days from home must have been a punch to the gut of every man onboard. With a little luck, he'd be able to detach her from the formation in another few days for a little R&R at Cubi Point. Until then though, she still had a job to do and, as he informed her skipper, he expected her to perform up to his exacting standards regardless of how long she'd been deployed. To his credit, Captain Coleman had assured him that his ship and his crew would exceed those expectations. And then they had proceeded to do just that.

    Unfortunately, their presence in the area didn't seem to be discouraging the Indonesians in the slightest. They had launched a devastating raid on Biak just the day before. Early reports of the damage seemed to suggest that the airfield had been knocked almost completely out of commission. He was aware that the Dutch were sending a task force of their own centered on a light carrier to the area in order to enforce their claims to the island. But he really didn't know what they could do. They were supposed to fly in a squadron of more modern fighters to defend the base, but given the level of destruction being caused there, he didn't think that would be entirely possible. But that wasn't his call to make. He had told Admiral Kivette of his concerns regarding the Dutch carrier though. If the Indonesians had acquired Kennel missiles, and the bombers to launch them, the Dutch could be in for a rude surprise. Admiral Kivette shared his concerns and had sent them up the line, but it remained to be seen what, if anything, the Dutch would do with them.
     
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    • lordhen said:
    Did the 3 surviving fighters survive the bombing.
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    They had 5 total at the base. The one Cas Bass crashed on the runway (all usable parts stripped from the aircraft before pushing it off to the side), one with a crack in the wing and is being used for parts, and three that had various operational issues. All 3 had been returned to service prior to this last attack, but the knee with hydraulic issues was iffy. And that one was destroyed when it's shelter collapsed on it
     
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