[Mohoender]

As the Twilight War builds up, NATO constantly monitors naval activities outside of Kronstadt, Murmansk and Polyarny. Everything remains quiet until November 4th of the year 2000 and the two nuclear submarines kept on patrol have not even been threatened.

However, on November 3rd, these two ships, the SSN-615 “Gato” and the SSN-700 “Dallas”, are reported missing. Two days later, a communication, reporting the loss of Gato and structural damages on the Dallas’ hull, is received from Dallas which barely escaped after playing a cat and mouse game with Soviet submarine chasers for more than 24 hours.

On November 4th, the satellites show the putting under steam of the Northern Fleet and on the next day, most of the fleet has left the harbor, sailing to the North Cape under bad weather conditions. On the same day, further analysis of the pictures taken reveals that most submarines stationed at Polyarny are also leaving their docking facilities. At this, time NATO naval command is already on full alert and several Task Forces are rushed to the Norwegian Sea. While the Soviet Northern Fleet is impressive, NATO forces sent in pursuit are even more so: three US Task Forces (2 aircraft-carriers each with accompanying ships), the NATO Response Force from the UK (an additional carrier), the French Atlantic Fleet (3 more carriers joined by the cruiser “Colbert”) and the Deutsche Marine Atlantic Fleet. In addition, five Norwegian frigates and a German Flotilla are sent as an advanced force with the mission to probe Soviets Forces. In the meantime, the Royal Netherlands Navy and the Canadian Maritime Force Atlantic are moved to the Thames river in order to provide escorts to the slower assault ships that are due to bring troop reinforcements in Norway.

As a result, NATO is sending more than 100 surface ships and about 50 attack and conventional submarines to the Northern Atlantic in order to meet the threat of about 50 Soviet surface ships and more than 100 submarines of all types. However, the entire fleet is not yet engaged and, as 50 more combat ships provide support for a large invasion force to be send to Norway with much needed reinforcements and supplies, work is pushed in every naval yards to get the remaining ships ready in the shortest time.

The first action takes place on November 7th, when the small scouting force led by the Norwegian engage a Russian flotilla composed of a cruiser and several destroyers. The engagement is short but brutal and the Norwegian loses a frigate while another one is so damaged that it is forced to withdraw to Bergen. That second frigate is so badly damaged that after entering the harbor it sinks and still lies there today. The Soviet cruiser has been lightly damaged while one of the destroyers leaves the area for Murmansk. This date is now considered to mark the true beginning of the battle and fighting will last until November 26th when the surviving Soviet vessels finally withdraw to their northern ports.

During the week following that first action, both fleets seem to be looking for each other and very little fighting takes place. No major vessels are sunk outside of a few submarines, some destroyers and a handful of frigates. As the week is marked by an awful weather, the few engagements taking place between the opposing forces are no more than limited skirmishes. However, favored by the bad weather on the North Atlantic, several submarines (SSBN, SSGN and SSN alike) as well as a few surface ships get through the NATO fleets and their escape will put a heavy weight on future war developments.

Toward the end of the first week, two major events take place, slightly accelerating and alterating the course of events. While the soviets are threatening Narvik on November 12th, landing forces as far down as Bodo, the first NATO reinforcements reach that famous port. As in 1940, the French Foreign Legion is leading the counter attack but, unlike the past, reinforcements keep coming and the balance is quickly tipped. In addition, on the following day, several NATO ships, originally dispatched as escorts to the troop carriers, intercept the Soviet invasion force as it is returning from its third landing. Again, the engagement is short but the result is one that needs no comments: A Dutch frigate is heavily damaged and withdraws to Portsmouth but Soviets losses are important: they have lost a frigate, 3 corvettes and two-third of their landing force, including one of the Ivan Rogov LPD. This action put an end to any further soviet landing in the region and, 2 month later, the last isolated troops surrender. A single attempt at some evacuation is attempted on December 17th but meets with only partial success and results in the loss of a dozen hovercrafts to air strikes.

On the very day that sees the neutralization of the Soviet North Atlantic invasion force, an attack is conducted on the German harbor of Rostock. This sudden and successful attack is conducted by the elite Spetnaz team: “Vympel Group”. The 280 men strong “Vympel Group”, specialized in base infiltration and sabotage, is brought on target by two Orlyonoks. As two other Ekranoplans of the “Lun-class”, launch a hit and fade missile attack on the harbor, the Spetnaz team slips trough the base defenses and set up numerous destruction charges. A brief fighting occurs, nevertheless, as they retreat to the Orlyonoks but it’s already too late and the demolition charges start to explode. When everything is over ”Vympel Group” has lost only 11 men while the Deutsche Marine counts more than 500 casualties, 22 surface ships and 8 submarines destroyed (with several more damaged) as well as valuable harbor installations.

On November 13th, as NATO high command is focusing on the situation in the Norwegian Sea and on what has happened at Rostock, the Soviet Baltic Fleet shows up near Denmark. NATO high command should have noticed this earlier but something went wrong in the chain of command and this move has gone unnoticed. Nevertheless, the Deutsche Marine is ready and four Hamburg-class destroyers, supported by a flotilla of small missile boats leave Kiel to meat the Soviets. Quickly, it becomes obvious, that Kiel is not on the Soviet plan. Most of the Baltic Fleet steam up toward Norway and the North Sea as accompanying corvettes and missile boats change course to meet the German vessels. The German destroyers can only draw on their guns and, despite fighting bravely they are all destroyed: two are sunk, another one is left burning and the last one is so damaged that it runs aground. The small boats, however, are doing much better and losses among Warsaw Pact ships are important. Whatever, the main formation of the Baltic Fleet escapes unchallenged until it hits the Skagerrak.

Upon leaving the Jutland, the Warsaw Pact Fleet is met by a flotilla of fast attack boats from Germany and Norway. The ensuing fight seems unequal as NATO is outnumbered and outmatched but, this time, the Baltic Fleet doesn’t escape intact. The German attack boats score a number of hit while the Norwegian Sjkold-class corvettes* perform very well. At last, surviving NATO ships have to fall back and the Baltic Fleet pursues to the North Sea but it has suffered some significant losses. A Soviet destroyer and a Polish frigate are sunk, a Krivak-class frigate is damaged and sent back toward her homeport, the venerable destroyer “Zorkiy”, suffering from engine fatigue, is sent back as well but the most important loss is that of the cruiser “Admiral Zoluya”. The ship has suffered severe damages and she is again harassed on her way back to St. Petersburg. Damages are so important that she will never be repaired, being instead sunk in Kronshtadt and serving as an anti-air battery to the military port. Its torpedo launching tubes and its missiles are taken out and integrated in the expending St. Petersburg coastal defense network while an additional anti-air missile system and several anti-air guns are added to the hull. Nowadays, the ship is still there.
As the Baltic Fleet joins the battle, the weather gets better and both fleets engage in several major exchanges. On November 17th two major battle groups start to hammer each other in a fight that will last until November 20th. The Soviet aircraft carriers “Kiev”, “Tblisi”, “Ulyanovsk” and about 25 accompanying ships are spotted East of Iceland. They are met by two US Task Forces including the aircraft carriers “America”, “Dwight D. Eisenhower”, “George Washington” and “Harry S. Truman”. The Soviets fight bravely, damaging and sinking many US ships, but the US crews are better trained to this kind of engagements and the US Navy, receiving support from several German and British vessels, finally comes up on top. The “Tblisi” is sunk on the first day, swarmed by the Ike’s naval group and hit by missiles from at least two approaching destroyers. The Soviet aircraft carrier goes down in less than five hours but most of the crew is saved and shipped back to Murmansk.

The biggest surprise to the US Navy comes as the sun rises on the horizon on the second day. Several soviet subs (including a Yankee and three Deltas) hunting in packs quickly approaches the Harry Truman fighting group. As aircrafts and helicopters are sent to deal with the approaching subs, the radar officer on the bridge signals that several Soviet squadrons are also approaching on two new vectors with more aircrafts flying at a higher altitude. As the escort fighters are sent to meet the incoming squadrons the anti-sub force is attacked by a number of Yak-141 “Freestyle” that have escaped detection and most US birds are destroyed. Several submarines have been destroyed as well but many are still approaching; a few minutes later they fire dozens of torpedoes and missiles in hanger at the US battle group. Three of the accompanying ships are sunk as a result of the initial attack and, in the following confusion, the incoming squadrons fire many more missiles. These aircrafts had been intercepted of course but the covering force, composed of Flankers sent by the Ulyanovsk, does a real good job in taking the US fighter at bay. As a result, most Soviet aircrafts get through while these few that are shot down fell victim to the Tomcats as the Hornets proved somewhat outmatched by the Flankers.

At last, the “Harry S. Truman” has been hit badly by no less than 7 torpedoes and at least 16 missiles resulting in numerous casualties. Two of these missiles penetrated in the under deck and fire is everywhere on the giant carrier. Plague with bad luck the “Harry Truman” experiences several security systems malfunction that allow the fires to spread faster. Fourteen hours later, the ship is burning from stern to bow but the crew is still fighting as the captain orders her out of the area to Reykjavik. On November 21st at 2:12 all fires seem under control but one has not been located, is still running and, due to more security malfunctions, finally reaches the aircraft fuel tanks. The ship is shaken by a massive explosion and as the exhausted crew tries to fight that new fire, the captain orders to abandon ship: the Harry S. Truman goes down at about 6:00 that day. When, the first survivors reach Reykjavik, three hours later, they learn that the Ulyanovsk and the Kiev have been destroyed a couple hours earlier.

On November 22nd, off the Norwegian island of Smola, another major engagement involves the surviving Soviet carriers, the last US Task Force and the French Atlantic Fleet. Relying on a similar strategy, the Soviets use a combination of surface ships, submarines and aircrafts to swarm the NATO fleet. However, in the light of what happens off Iceland, NATO has already been able to design better tactics and the initial attack is not that successful. Losses are somewhat more severe for the Soviets, at least among their submarines and aircrafts, but they meet with success on several occasions. The most impressive of these successes is the sudden apparition of brand new Lada-class conventional submarines in the middle of the NATO fleets. All these ships are destroyed but they score a fair number of hits before it is done, damaging part of the J.F.K’s propelling system. As a result, the J.F.K leaves the line for Trondheim but as she is about to enter the Fjord, the J.F.K. is again hit by several missiles shot by three Bears naval bombers. Unable to maneuver properly, the big ship is put ahsore to the South of Afjord and she has been rusting there ever since. For their parts, the Soviets lose the “Admiral Gorshkov” and the “Admiral Nakhimov” but the aircraft carrier “Kuznetsov” and the battle cruiser “Pyotr Velikiy” escape to the North with what appear to be extensive damages. As these two ships withdraw, aircrafts from the Kuznetsov spot the French aircraft carrier “Clemenceau” and attack her. Hit several time on this occasion and two hours later by five torpedoes from a wandering submarine, the aging carrier brakes in two before sinking to the bottom of the Norwegian Sea.

The last three days of the battle will see mostly skirmishes and petty engagements as the weather gets worse again and as most Soviet surviving ships stream north to Murmansk. Nevertheless, it is during this time that the last NATO aircraft carrier is lost on November 25th toward noon. As the HMS Illustrious and his group are conducting a routine patrol they are caught by the battle cruiser “Admiral Ushakov” leading a small group of destroyers covering the retreat of the Soviet Northern Fleet. The Ushakov is spotted as she is getting in range and the accompanying British destroyers immediately face her while the HMS Illustrious tries to escape to the south. However, within a matter of minutes, the Ushakov fires several missiles at long range, damaging the Illustrious’ bow and destroying her ramp, forcing her to reduce speed and seriously limiting her launching capability. A few more minutes later the Ushakov launches more missiles to the Illustrious while the destroyers take care of the approaching ships. The Illustrious is hit again and a breach is open on her side. Water quickly gets in and she sinks 45 minutes later. From her combat group, only two ships survive while the Soviets escape with only minor damages. However, before nightfall, the Ushakov comes under air attack from the Ike’s flying group and sinks as she closes on the North Cape.

When the Battle finally heat down on November 26th, there is no doubt that NATO is victorious as the Russians have lost 70% of the surface vessels engaged (sunk or damaged). In addition, Moscow has lost almost 50% of the submarines normally based at Polyarny but, despite these impressive figures, this is in no way a decisive victory and NATO is left with many subject to be concerned about. First of all, it is reported that at least 15 Soviet surface ships (including a cruiser and two destroyers) have gone through to the high seas and they will soon prove to be a serious threat to NATO shipping in the Atlantic, a threat that will mobilize valuable naval forces for several months. Second, many submarines remain unaccounted for (anywhere between 25 and 40), including 7 of the 8 Typhoons and all the brand new Boreys. At last, NATO has lost four aircraft carriers (John F. Kennedy, Harry S. Truman, HMS Illustrious and Clemenceau), about fifty of her surface ships are put out of commission (sunk or damaged), and a dozen of its attack submarines have been lost. There is nothing to be happy about these losses and the remaining Soviet ships at Murmansk and Polyarny remain a threat not to be neglected.


* Skjold-class corvettes are commissioned only in the second half of the 1990’s but a few Royal Navy units dispatched from these attached to “Fleet Flagship” (Home Fleet in my OOB) should do the trick.