The Kingfisher Strikes....P&S at sea

USN vet

300px-USS_John_Young_DD-973.jpg



1358Z 21 FEB 1984. 350 MILES NORTHWEST OF LOS ANGELES, CA.


CAPTAIN’S IN CIC! This was the announcement as Commander Jeffery Hamilton, USN, the 39 year old commanding officer of USS John Young (DD-973) entered his ship’s Combat Information Center. He was met by the on-watch Tactical Action Officer, Lt. Walter James. “Captain, we’ve just gotten Flash traffic that there’s been a nuclear detonation in West Germany. So far there’s no info on whose it was.”

Hamilton’s jaw dropped. “What? They don’t know whose? How in the hell is that even possible?” After taking a moment to compose himself, Hamilton continued, “Well I guess this makes our job out here that much more serious. Anything else on that possible sub contact Smith said he had yesterday?”

“No sir,” James replied, “but we may know more when we can get the helo up. Air det says she’ll be ready to fly in about 15 more minutes. They’ve been working on the bird all night.”

“Good. I’ll feel a lot better once they can get some sonobuoys out there. What’s our sonar status?”

“Everything's in the green. I just wish we had one of those new towed arrays. That would help with this thermal layer.”

Hamilton was silent as he read the morning’s other message traffic. “Bagley reported a possible sub contact a couple of days ago not too far from here. If it’s a boomer, we may only get one shot at her before she launches. I want ASROCs and torpedos ready to fire at all times. Also, as soon as air det says it’s ready, I want the helo flying. If that subs out there, I want her.”


THE SAME TIME. 53 MILES NORTHWEST. ABOARD DELTA III CLASS SSBN K-506

Captain First Rank Anton Gallikov was truly worried. The submarine broadcast had been received moments before, and had contained nothing unusual. What was worrying him were shortwave news broadcasts also received when they’d come to antenna depth. A nuclear detonation in Germany. Had the world gone mad? Gallikov hoped not, only wanting this patrol to be over with so they could head home to Vladivostok.

“A moment, Comrade Captain?” It was the boat’s political officer, Captain-Lieutenant Pyotr Golovko. “The men have heard of the news from Germany and are worried. To be honest, I am as well.”

“I share the concern also, Petya.” Gallikov actually liked the young Zampolit. He seemed to actually care for the crew and was making the effort to learn the boat’s systems and operation. Golovko was much different from K-506’s previous Zampolit. That bastard did nothing but sit in the wardroom and quote Marx all the time. “I’ll be speaking to the crew shortly. For now though, we need to get to our new patrol area.”

Gallikov looked up. “Helm, new course, steer course 125. Make our depth 200 meters.” Silently Gallikov also thought “and may God help us all.”
 
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USN vet

1500 ZULU

“FLIGHT QUARTERS! MAN YOUR FLIGHT QUARTERS STATIONS FOR LAUNCH OF SEAHAWK 04!” This announcement meant that John Young’s SH-60B Seahawk helicopter was ready to fly. The Seahawk was technically not in operational service yet. One squadron, HSL-41, existed, for training and operational testing of the new aircraft. With the current crisis turned shooting war, it had been decided to place the SH-60’s on ships to help hunt Soviet submarines.

Lt. Commander David Morrison, the pilot and Aircraft Commander of Seahawk 04 was very confident in his mount’s abilities. He had been part of the SH-60 program’s initial testing at Patuxet River and was now XO of the first squadron of them. “Okay, Mikey, lets see if there’s anything out here” said Morrison to his co-pilot, Lieutenant Junior Grade Michael McFarland. Raising the collective, the big helicopter leapt off John Young’s small flight deck. Today, they were carrying a full load of sonobuoys in their ejector tubes on the aircraft’s left side, and two Mk. 46 lightweight antisubmarine torpedos. The sensor operator in the helicopter’s rear compartment, Petty Officer 2nd Class Doug Jameson would operate these along with the radar and the magnetic anomaly detector. If there was a submarine anywhere out here, Morrison was confident he and his crew would find it.



THE SAME TIME. ON BOARD K-506



Gallikov was speaking with his second in command, Captain Third Rank Yuri Orlov. “We should be in our new patrol area within the hour. I just wish I had more confidence with all that’s happening.”

“Captain, if I recall, wasn’t K-413 supposed to clear that area before we get there?” Orlov was referring to K-413, a Victor I class attack submarine assigned to protect the missile boats.

“That’s exactly why my confidence is low. I know his(1) captain all too well, Yuri. And I can tell you that Valery Drozhin is an idiot who could not find his own ass with both hands! The only reason he made it through the Kuznetsov Academy, let alone got a command, is because his father is a Politburo member. The man has no ideas of his own.”

“Perhaps he should have joined our comrades in the army then, eh Captain?’ The two men shared a brief laugh, then Orlov continued, “ we should keep sonar and torpedos in full readiness then. If this man is as incompetent as you say, Captain, we may have to watch out for ourselves.”




(1) Russians refer to a ship as a "he" rather than as a "she"
 

NoOneFamous

USN vet said:
1500 ZULU

“FLIGHT QUARTERS! MAN YOUR FLIGHT QUARTERS STATIONS FOR LAUNCH OF SEAHAWK 04!” This announcement meant that John Young’s SH-60B Seahawk helicopter was ready to fly. The Seahawk was technically not in operational service yet. One squadron, HSL-41, existed, for training and operational testing of the new aircraft. With the current crisis turned shooting war, it had been decided to place the SH-60’s on ships to help hunt Soviet submarines.

Lt. Commander David Morrison, the pilot and Aircraft Commander of Seahawk 04 was very confident in his mount’s abilities. He had been part of the SH-60 program’s initial testing at Patuxet River and was now XO of the first squadron of them. “Okay, Mikey, lets see if there’s anything out here” said Morrison to his co-pilot, Lieutenant Junior Grade Michael McFarland. Raising the collective, the big helicopter leapt off John Young’s small flight deck. Today, they were carrying a full load of sonobuoys in their ejector tubes on the aircraft’s left side, and two Mk. 46 lightweight antisubmarine torpedos. The sensor operator in the helicopter’s rear compartment, Petty Officer 2nd Class Doug Jameson would operate these along with the radar and the magnetic anomaly detector. If there was a submarine anywhere out here, Morrison was confident he and his crew would find it.



THE SAME TIME. ON BOARD K-506



Gallikov was speaking with his second in command, Captain Third Rank Yuri Orlov. “We should be in our new patrol area within the hour. I just wish I had more confidence with all that’s happening.”

“Captain, if I recall, wasn’t K-413 supposed to clear that area before we get there?” Orlov was referring to K-413, a Victor I class attack submarine assigned to protect the missile boats.

“That’s exactly why my confidence is low. I know his(1) captain all too well, Yuri. And I can tell you that Valery Drozhin is an idiot who could not find his own ass with both hands! The only reason he made it through the Kuznetsov Academy, let alone got a command, is because his father is a Politburo member. The man has no ideas of his own.”

“Perhaps he should have joined our comrades in the army then, eh Captain?’ The two men shared a brief laugh, then Orlov continued, “ we should keep sonar and torpedos in full readiness then. If this man is as incompetent as you say, Captain, we may have to watch out for ourselves.”




(1) Russians refer to a ship as a "he" rather than as a "she"
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I love this so far
 

USN vet

Thanks for the encouraging words! This is my first attempt at a TL, so I'm kind of winging it as I go. I chose USS John Young as the destroyer, as I served on her in 1992-94. I'm still working on deciding how far I want to go with it, but right now I'm leaning toward eventually having John Young join the Nimitz battle group in Washington state. That is if she's not sunk first. I'm open to any suggestions if anyone has any.
 

USN vet

1533 ZULU



“TAO, SONAR, SUBSURFACE CONTACT BEARING 010 TRUE. Classify contact Sierra 1!” STG1 Ronald Smith announced into his headset microphone. “Contact is weak so he’s a ways off yet. Request helo verify.”

Lt. Walter James thought for a moment. “Seahawk 04, Big John, we have a possible sub contact bearing 010 true from our location. Check it out please.” James then contacted Hamilton on the bridge. “Captain, we have a probable sub contact, bearing 010. I’ve sent the helo to verify.”

“Good call, Walt. Keep me advised. ASROC status?”

“All in the green sir. I just hope we don’t have to use either number 4 or number 8.”

“Amen to that.”

The two ASROC’S James was referring to had been onloaded just before John Young got underway from San Diego on 17 February. Instead of the usual Mk. 46 homing torpedo, they each carried a 10 kiloton nuclear depth charge.



SEAHAWK 04


The helicopter flew on, punching out sonobuoys in predefined patterns. So far, Jameson hadn’t picked up anything, but then one of the buoys signal showed a small spike.

“Pilot, ATO, buoy 7 is showing something strange, Request you fly course 330 for 4.”

“Roger that” replied Morrison, as he turned the helo while bringing it down to 50 feet above the water’s surface. It didn’t take long to cover the 4 miles to the vicinity of buoy 7. Morrison was surprised by Jameson’s excited voice.

“MAD MAN, MAD MAN, SMOKE AWAY!” This signified that Jameson had a reading on the Magnetic Anomaly Detector, and had dropped a smoke float marking the spot. Something metal, and big was down there. He also punched out another passive and an active sonobuoy. These began to transmit immediately.

“Pilot, I have a sonar contact. Classify as a probable Victor I!”

‘Big John, Seahawk 04, we are currently prosecuting a probable submarine. Classifying as a Victor I. Request instructions.”

“Seahawk 04, Big John. Weapons free. You are cleared to engage.”

“ATO, prepare to engage. I’ll be making our run east to west. Drop when ready.”

“3, 2, 1, release. Torpedo in the water and running normally.”

In Jameson’s headset, he could hear the sound from the target increase as it tried to escape the oncoming Mk. 46. It was not fast enough. The torpedo’s 96 lb. shaped charge detonated at the junction of the sail and hull at a depth of 450 feet. Several welds in the hull failed from the shock, splitting them apart and letting the cool Pacific water in. In addition, the submarine’s crew had left several interior hatches open. The flooding wasn’t complete, but it was more than enough to drag K-413 to the bottom even if the torpedo’s impact hadn’t killed everyone in the control room instantly, including Captain Second Rank Valery Drozhin. The last thought to occur to Drozhin was that he would not become an Admiral.

“Loud explosion and breakup sounds. Score that one as a definite kill!” Jameson was ecstatic. All the training had finally paid off. But then, he remembered one other thing. Victor I, 100 crew. He realized he’d just killed 100 men, but with the news from Germany earlier, he wondered if that would be just a very small drop in the bucket.



K-506

“Captain, loud explosion sounds bearing 120!” Gallikov froze. That was where K-413 was waiting for them. He had no way of knowing if the explosion was K-413 or something else. True, it could have been an American sub attacked by K-413, but Gallikov did not have that much faith in Drozhin. He would have to be very cautious.



1540 ZULU

Hamilton had called a meeting of department heads in the wardroom. “Latest news has Warsaw Pact forces initiaing numerous chemical attacks across West Germany. It’s been confirmed that the nuke at 1155 was one of ours. No details on how that happened though. The enemy retaliated with a nuke on NATO positions in Kassel. Needless to say, things aren’t looking too rosy just now”.

The XO, Lt. Cmdr. Paul Lewis spoke up. “Any new orders for us?”

“Not at this time, but with the way things are looking, I want us ready for the worst” leaving that unspoken. “The helo killed that sub, but I’m sure that wasn’t the only one out there. On another note, we’ve arranged an UNREP with the Sacramento an hour from now. Everyone get me a list ASAP of anything you might even think you need from them. Think long term, people. We’ll also be topping off with fuel and food. Any questions?”

There were none. Each officer knew what needed to be done. The ship was now in the position to plan for the worst, but hope for the best.
 

sloreck

Can't wait to see this develop. The CO of this ship has to know that the Victor was there to protect a boomer and should be looking for one. The one thing the boomer won't do is attack that destroyer, once they get in their patrol area they will do their best to be like a bubble - but even Deltas were noisy compared to our boomers. Although 2 nukes have been used on land now (breaking the "barrier") there was a lot cold war wargaming that saw first use or bigger use at sea first (well away from populations etc). IMHO at this point the CO will get the word that he is authorized to use those nukes, especially if he detects a boomer. For sure if they are close enough to see even one missile break the surface you know that nuke armed ASROC will be on the way.
 

USN vet

1600 ZULU K-506 CAPTAIN’S STATEROOM

Gallikov was at the same time in a meeting with Orlov and Golovko. “The latest news we have is that an American nuclear warhead hit our forces at the front. Losses are very heavy. We retaliated with a strike on American positions in Kassel. Since that time, chemical and biological weapons are being heavily used on both sides”. Gallikov paused to let that sink in. “I had hoped that after the two muclear blasts, both sides would stop and consider the path they are taking. Alas, this is not to be. Yuri, what is the status of our missiles? I fear we may be getting the call to unleash them.”

“Captain, all missiles were checked, finishing up 30 minutes ago. All are ready.” Orlov was referring to K-506’s 16 R-29R Vysota SLBM’s called the SS-N-18 Stingray by NATO. Each carried 3 200 kt nuclear warheads. Gallikov and his crew did not know their targets, but each missile was targeted on an American military base, all three warheads to hit in the same general area to maximize damage. The Delta III class was one of the few submarines in the world able to salvo launch all missiles at once. Gallikov preferred to launch one at a time, but the ability was there if necessary.

“Comrade Captain,” Golovko spoke up, “my training says that I should be rejoicing, and announcing to the men our imminent crushing defeat of the capitalists with our missiles, but I must admit I have no stomach for that. I fear what the future holds for the Rodina.”

“If there even is a future, Petya.” Orlov replied. “We have all seen the estimates for the damage the Rodina will suffer. And I think we can all agree that they are vastly optimistic.”

“I agree, Yuri. I do not know what Reagan or Ogarkov are thinking, or even if they are thinking. Petya, is Irina still in Vladivostok?” Gallikov asked Golovko about his young wife.

“Yes, Comrade Captain. You may think me a ghoul, but I would rather she be vaporized instantly than die slowly and horribly from radiation sickness.”

“Not at all, Petya. I believe that makes you a merciful man, and a loving husband.”




1650 ZULU USS JOHN YOUNG


Hamilton stared at the message form in his hand. The message was short, but the words on it carried weight he had never before seen.

ALL CINCPACFLT UNITS ARE DIRECTED TO MAKE ALL PREPARATIONS FOR EMPLOYMENT OF SPECIAL WEAPONS PENDING RELEASE AUTHORIZATION BY NATIONAL COMMAND AUTHORITY. COMMANDERS ARE DIRECTED TO TAKE EVERY NECESSARY ACTION TO ENSURE THE SURVIVAL OF THEIR COMMAND. ALL SHIPS AND SUBMARINES NOT ALREADY AT SEA ARE DIRECTED TO SORTIE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. GOOD HUNTING. FOLEY SENDS.

The message was from Admiral Sylvester Foley, commander of the US Navy’s Pacific Fleet. The world situation had reached the point to where all ships which were mechanically able were being sent to sea so they would survive a nuclear exchange. Hamilton doubted that would make much of a difference. Since before the shooting had started on the 18th, every ship that was even remotely mission capable was already at sea. Any still in port was in no condition to get underway for one reason or another.

The ship was currently alongside the replenishment ship USS Sacramento. If things were going to hell, Hamilton had wanted a full load of fuel and supplies. He had to get with the Chief Engineer and the Supply Officer to see what was the maximum time they could go without any resupply. Just in case.
 

Mumbles

USN vet said:
1358Z 21 FEB 1984. 350 MILES NORTHWEST OF LOS ANGELES, CA.


...THE SAME TIME. 53 MILES NORTHWEST. ABOARD DELTA III CLASS SSBN K-506
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Pardon my inexpert ignorance, but a lot of what I've read about cold war submarine operations (including material that has come to light post cold war) suggests that any Soviet SSBN that close to the US would have a USN SSN in trail, in peacetime at least. Any comment?
 

Mumbles

USN vet said:
1600 ZULU K-506 CAPTAIN’S STATEROOM

The world situation had reached the point to where all ships which were mechanically able were being sent to sea so they would survive a nuclear exchange.
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Known as a "scramble for survival" in Royal Air Force Germany at least - get everything that can fly off the base. From what I've seen that order unnerved even veterans at times when it was issued during exercises. It (and nuclear weapons release in general) also usually signalled that the exercise was about to conclude :).
 

Matt Wiser

When SAC dispersed its bombers in the GLOBAL SHIELD exercises, that meant the same thing....the day was about to come.
 

sloreck

Navy vet here as well..5 yrs ASW during Cold War. Pretty realistic so far. Am surprised special weapons release not happened at sea yet...and yes, you would an SSN to be in the baffles of that boomer. If that is true, the destroyer better know about it, because if they use a nuke ASROC it may take out the SSN as well.
 
Chipperback

Chipperback

This is some scary stuff. Out on the water, minutes from all hell breaking loose...and its just you, an enemy you cannot see...and the ocean.
 

USN vet

Mumbles said:
Pardon my inexpert ignorance, but a lot of what I've read about cold war submarine operations (including material that has come to light post cold war) suggests that any Soviet SSBN that close to the US would have a USN SSN in trail, in peacetime at least. Any comment?
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You're right, and this will be addressed in the next update. I must admit, I was surface Navy, so I'll mainly be concentrating on that aspect.
 

mudhead

USN vet
“We just extended the tail. It should be able to get us a little better picture below that thermal layer.”
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What tail? Was YOUNG fitted with SQR-18? Successor SQR-19 was on trials then, not yet operationally deployed. Didn't know 973 had the earlier system.
 
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