On this day 25 years ago (Commentary Thread)

[Ursus Maior]

Originally Posted by Homer

FWIW, the bundesmarine’s envisioned main areas of operation would under land based coverage.

Yes, mostly that was the case. Germany was responsible for guarding the North Sea and the Baltic Sea, both marginal seas immediately bordering Germany. Missions here were differed a bit, but were similar. Additionally, Germany participated in NATO's permanent Atlantic presence Standing Naval Force Atlantic (STANAVFORLANT), usually vexilating a frigate or destroyer to it. STANAVFORLANT was tasked with keeping the North Atlantic approaches to Europe free from hostile forces, largely meaning anti-submarine duty against Soviet subs hunting US convoys, which participated in REFORGER, the return of forces to Germany.

The Baltic Sea theater was a very special one for Germany, though. Germany was, together with Denmark, responsible for guarding the North Atlantic against a break-out of Soviet forces from the Baltic Sea. Denmark was the lead nation in this task, always commanding Allied Forces Baltic Approaches (BALTAP), but the Bundeswehr was the much larger army, committing most of the naval force to the task. All in all, Germany committed all 40 of it's missile fast-attack craft and its 24 submarines to the task, plus the aforementioned two wings of Tornado IDS.

These forces shut the Baltic Approaches, the Kattegat, close for the Soviet Navy, forcing the USSR to base most of its attack strength in Northern Russia. Also, the 30 NATO submarines (24 German and six Danish) were crewed by less than 1,000 men, but forced Warsaw Pact forces to build up a anti-submarine force of 15,000 personnel in the Baltic Sea, including 75 anti-submarine ships, mostly Soviet. BALTAP forces were also multi-purpose. In addition to blocking sea-lanes for Soviet ships to harass NATO convoys in the North Atlantic, they also safeguarded Jutland and the Danish islands against an invasion by the Warsaw Pact.

Additionally, Jutland could be used as a base for additional forces, mostly aircraft, to support the defense of Norway as well as harassing Warsaw Pact shipping and striking against targets as far as Leningrad and as close as East Germany and Poland. This would have made it more difficult for Warsaw Pact forces to mass forces in harbors for an invasion or guard important command and logistics sites against airstrikes: NATO could approach from mainland Europe into Pact airspace, as well as from the sea and, should Sweden have joined (which was very likely in case of a major war), from the North.

[chico20854]

January 31, 1997

Greece declares war on Turkey and attacks Turkish forces in Thrace.

unofficially:

Colonel General Oleg Tulaev, Soviet defense attache in New Delhi, tells Commonwealth Defense Attache, UK Lieutenant General Sir Robert Owens that the USSR is willing to engage in the proposed dialog.

The Freedom-class cargo ship Michigan Freedom is delivered in Beaumont, TX and the South Carolina Freedom is delivered in Pascagoula, MS.

Commander Patrol Wings Pacific orders the deployment of Navy Reserve squadron VP-60, operating dated P-3B Orions, to deploy from its home station at NAS Glenview, Ill to the Cocos (Keeling) Islands Airport in the Indian Ocean, in response to increasing reports of Soviet raider activity in the Indian Ocean and to protect the anticipated deployment of troops and equipment to CENTCOM.

A patrol of 107th MRD's 660th Motor-Rifle Regiment clashes with Green Berets of the 10th SF Group. When the Soviet troops call in supporting T-86 tanks the Americans slip away into forested swampland.

TR-1 reconniassance aircraft loitering over the Inner-German Border detect the movement of tank transporters and trucks carrying 4th Guards Tank Army westward. CENTAF dispatches the deep strike aircraft that were mission ready (following the prior night's costly raids on the tank plants) to interdict the moving Soviet reinforcements. CINCEUR denies permission to use ATACMS deep-strike missiles against Polish territory, afraid (because there are conventional and nuclear variants of the missile in service in Europe) of provoking a Soviet nuclear response.

The hunt for the Kirov-class battlecruiser in the stormy North Atlantic is fruitless, with no sign of the ship.

A Soviet reconniassance satellite locates Convoy 112 in the Atlantic 750 miles northwest of the Azores. The Soviet Echo II-class SSGN (nuclear cruise missile submarine) K-35 fires a salvo of 8 P-1000/SS-N-12 missiles at the convoy from a range of over 200 miles. The escort's only ship equipped with area defense surface-to-air missiles, the frigate Talbot, intercepted two of the incoming missiles, and three of the remaining six missiles struck ships. The Coast Guard cutter Spencer and transports Cape Lobos and Seaboard Star were all struck, and the missiles' one-ton warheads sank the cutter and started fires on the transports, which ultimately were not able to be extinguished.

Turkish and Greek troops clash west of Limassol, Cyprus.

Soviet bombers change targets for the night's raids over the Balkans, switching to the explosives plant in Fagaras, Romania's only domestic source. The raid uses carefully route planning to avoid coming in range of the Patriot missiles and is spectacularly successful, detonating what was likely the largest non-nuclear explosion in the history of the Balkans.

The Romanian Ministry of Defense and the Israeli Defense Force sign a secret contract to purchase Israel's fleet of Tiran-5 tanks, which are T-55s captured during the Arab-Israeli wars, fitted with a NATO 105mm gun and otherwise modernized. Israel was in the process of retiring the tank from its reserve forces; the purchase was financed by US Foreign Security Assistance funds, authorized by the year-end appropriations act.

The German government requisitions the ro-ro ship Heralden upon delivery; the Finnish government protests on behalf of its owners despite the German government reimbursing the Finnish company the funds they had spent on the ship plus a 5% premium.

In the Yellow Sea, the carriers Abraham Lincoln and Constellation continue to fly close air support missions over the DMZ in Korea.

Pasdaran officials reach out to the IPA leadership, desperate for modern anti-tank weapons and air cover. They refuse to recognize the National Emergency Council's authority, however, so no such support is forthcoming.

[Homer]

Hmm… so is Advent Crown a product of Soviet recalcitrance, NATO overconfidence, or just coalition misunderstanding?

[Matt Wiser]

Could very well be all three.

[chico20854]

February 1, 1997

The final elements of the 7th Infantry Division (Light) arrive in Korea and are rushed to the front, under command of IX Corps.

Unofficially:

The 130th Tactical Airlift Squadron (West Virginia Air National Guard) is declared fully operational and begins deployment to Korea.

In Oakland, California the freighter Cape Byron is handed over to the US National Shipping Agency following its shipyard activation.

Naval aviators receive their first training against LSK (East German Air Force) MiG-29s attached to VF-43 at Oceana NAS and VF-126 at Miramar.

4th Guards Tank Army arrives in postions west of Świebodzin, Poland. Its artillery (down to regimental level) is ordered forward to reinforce 2nd Guards Tank Army. The forward movement is subjected to a hail of NATO interdiction fires.

On the Kola Peninsula, NATO resumes its offensive. The Canadian Special Service Force attacks northeast to isolate the Srednii Peninsula. The 10th Mountain Division attacks east out of Pechenga along the Kola Highway and the Norwegian 6th Division moves southeast to Titovka and the Koshka Yavr airfield. The US 6th Infantry Division's airborne battalion (the 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry) launches the first NATO parachute assault of the war, landing at dusk on the runway at Koshka Yavr. A fierce battle in the darkness ensues as American paratroops tangle with the airfield’s garrison of recovering Soviet paratroops, survivors of the 7th Guards Airborne Division.

photo
The aged Essex-class carrier Lexington is recommissioned in New Orleans, Louisiana and begins a short workup period with a scratch air wing culled from training squadrons along the Gulf Coast.

photo
A helicopter from a NATO Surface Action Group made up of of the US destroyers William V. Pratt and O'Bannon and the British frigate Cornwall sights the Soviet battlecruiser and, in a surprise, its escort, a single corvette. The task force breaks radio silence to report the sighting, prompting the Soviet force to immediately release a barrage of anti-surface missiles, with over-the-horizon guidance by one of Kirov's Ka-27 helicopters. The NATO group fires its Harpoon missiles, while Kirov downs the O'Bannon's SH-60 helicopter with a SA-N-6 missile. All three Allied ships are hit, and soon sink, while the battlecruiser's point defense missiles and guns shoot down the incoming Harpoons. The accompanying corvette is not targeted and is undamaged. Kirov and her escort depart the area, headed south at 30 knots.

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The Greek V Infantry Division lands at Paphos in western Cyprus, while Turkish troops secure Limassol. The area behind the front lines is a hotbed of civil conflict as armed gangs of Greek and Turkish civilians inflict atrocities on the other.

Greek troops of D Corps cross the Maritsa River in Thrace, facing Turkish Gendarmes and reserve infantry. Turkish commanders in Bulgaria are ordered to halt offensive action and dig in to their positons for "a temporary period".

The Turkish submarine Sakarya takes up station off the Bulgarian port of Varna in an attempt to interdict the flow of supplies to Bulgaria from the USSR.

Soviet bombers shift targets once again, launching their first raids against Jugoslavia. The night's effort is directed at suppressing the Jugoslav air defense force.

[chico20854]

Originally Posted by Homer

Hmm… so is Advent Crown a product of Soviet recalcitrance, NATO overconfidence, or just coalition misunderstanding?

Both of the first two, plus a lot of pressure from Western political leaders and pandering to the Polish Government in Exile, who are clamoring for liberation (yet, as Stalin liked to ask, "how many divisions does the Pope have?"). Stay tuned!!!

[chico20854]

February 2, 1997

Nothing in the canon for today, but unofficially:

The first informal meeting, hosted by the Swiss Embassy in New Delhi, occurs between Soviet and British delegations on war termination. Both sides agree that the war needs to be brought to a swift conclusion. The Soviet proposal is a return to prewar German borders, transfer of all Manchuria to the USSR, annexation of northwestern Iran to Azerbaijan, "regime change" in Romania, arrest of the Polish Government in Exile and their transfer to Poland for "Proletarian Justice" and neutral, demilitarized South Korea and Germany, accompanied by crippling reparations from Germany and a withdrawal of American troops and nuclear weapons from Europe and East Asia.

The Foxtrot-class submarine B-475 sinks the American freighter President as it sails unescorted from Okinawa to Guam.

A flare-up of fighting in Manchuria begins, as the Peoples Liberation Army sees an opportunity to take advantage of bitter cold weather to infiltrate Soviet front lines.

The 135th Field Artillery Brigade (Missouri National Guard) is declared ready for combat and begins moving to the front.

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V US Corps sends forward the 42nd Field Artillery Brigade to plaster the massing Soviet artillery opposite the Frankfurt-on-Oder bridgehead with MLRS rockets.

The German Army Combined High Command adopts the Kriegheerstruktur, a wartime army structure that establishes three Army commands, 12 Korps headquarters and 14 Jaeger divisions and integrates the East German Army into the Bundeswehr.

On the Kola, Norwegian troops of the 6th Division link up with Amerrican paratroops from the 6th ID(L) fighting to secure the Koshka Yavr air base. American, Canadian and Norwegian troops continue their advance to the east.

The Soviet battlecruiser in the Atlantic, now identified as the Kirov, sinks the American cargo ship American Reservist, sailing unescorted in the North Atlantic. The Soviet ship also uses its onboard SA-N-6 SAM battery to down two 42nd Bomb Wing B-52Gs sent to strike it with Harpoon missiles.

The Turkish high command commits the 28th Infantry Division to Cyprus and directs a number of reinforcement divisions to Thrace.

The British repair ship Assistance arrives in Gibraltar, aiding in repairs to the US carrier John F Kennedy while awaiting a convoy through the Mediterranean.

The Soviet Kilo-class submarine B-177 sinks the Romanian tranpsort Bazias 5 in the Mediterranean at the mouth of the Adriatic as the Romanian ship was bringing in vitally needed supplies to Jugoslav ports.

Soviet bombers continue their assault on Jugoslavia, attacking the Kragujevac ordnance plant complex.

The 2nd Battalion, 6th Special Forces Group deploys its first B-Team to Romania. The team divides its efforts into providing training and communications to Romanian Army units (allowing them to, for example, call in airstrikes from US and NATO strike aircraft) and improving the quality of Romanian reserve units and Patriotic Guards formations.

The American transport ship Marine Reliance arrives at the Israeli port of Haifa and begins loading Ti-67 Tiran-5 tanks for Romania.

The 4th Alabama Infantry Brigade is activated by the governor, consisting of the Headquarters & 3rd Battalion in Montgomery, 1st Battalion in Opelika, 2nd Battalion in Dothan with the 4th Battalion in Florala. The state defense force unit is assigned to protect the state capital and national guard facilities on a rotating basis.

[chico20854]

February 3, 1997

Nothing official today!

Talks in New Dehli continue between Soviet and British delegations. No immediate progress is reported.

The Victory ship Wayne Victory leaves the shipyard in Philadelphia, PA and loads cargo of scrap steel for Argentina; once there it will load munitions provided to Argentina under MAP (the Military Aid Program), whose return has been requested by the US.

The Victory ship transport PVT Fred C Murphy is activated in Mobile, Alabama and begins loading a cargo of general supplies for the US naval base at Guantanamo, Cuba.

The container ship Hanjin Hing Kong arrives in Charleston, SC for conversion to an escort carrier.

The US aircraft carrier Midway leaves the shipyard in San Diego, returned to service after several years in reserve.

Pro-NATO Latvian partisans led by American Special Forces advisors ambush a supply convoy of the 107th MRD.

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Despite the aerial and artillery bombardment of the prior days, 1st Guards Tank Army launches a fierce attack on the German bridgehead at Gubin. The attack drives the Germans back halfway to the Oder River by nightfall.

The 116th MRD counterattacks the NATO force at Koshka Yavr on the Kola Peninsula, suffering heavy losses as it was expecting only a single worn-down American battalion, not the reinforced Norwegian brigade (with armor) that it encountered.

The US 10th Mountain Division launches an air assault on the headquarters of the 45th Guards MRD, which results in command and control in the Soviet division breaking down and a chaotic retreat.

photo
The Kirov's "escort", the corvette Skola, has fallen nearly 100 nm behind the cruiser, unable to keep up with the battlecruiser's nuclear reactors. The hapless combatant is located by aircraft from the USS Enterprise and shortly receives a visit by F/A-18s of VFA-94, who sink the vessel with laser-guided bombs and cluster bombs. The Enterprise group, however, cannot locate the Kirov.

Turkish forces in Thrace fall back to a secondary defense line, consisting of concrete bunkers and pillboxes prepared long ago. The fortifications allow the otherwise outnumbered and outgunned Turkish troops to hold back the Greek invaders.

The Bucharest tank plant delivers its first TR-85 tank following the Soviet air raids of prior week; overall, the plant is operating at 40 percent of its capacity before the raids.

Soviet bombers strike the tank plant in Slavonski Brod, Croatia.

[lordroel]

Keep it up.

Question how do you come up with all the not-official stuff.

[chico20854]

Originally Posted by lordroel

Keep it up.

Question how do you come up with all the not-official stuff.

I've been amassing it for (many) years, several years before this board ever existed. Much of it was worked out with some friends from the DC area, some I've pulled together over the years with some unofficial campaign histories (Advent Crown, the Norwegian Campaign part 1 and part 2, the Summer 1998 Campaign) and an Illustrated History of the war. I also have a couple other folks here feeding me ideas; Olefin provided me a sketch of the Kirov's history which I'm adapting, for example and Stilleto69 has generously shared his unit history drafts with me.

Right now I have 9 Excel spreadsheets open feeding my master timeline document (Allied strategic sites, Pact strategic sites, US Navy ships, Soviet surface ships, Soviet subs, Allied transport ships, USN air units, USAF air units and the Pact ground forces. Don't have the Allied surface ships spreadsheet open today). Likewise I have 8 Word documents and 4 pdf's open.

A lot of it also is just coloring in the spaces between what canon has published. For example, the US Army Vehicle Guide says that the 26th ID deployed by air to Korea in February. I can break that down into several daily items, like beginning and end. A lot of the rest is pulling together bits of 1980s doctrine and various "what-ifs" or looking at instances from World War II that might be applicable.

I've been collecting images for most of this time, I have almost 41,000 Twilight:2000-related photos on my hard drive. At times like this (with tension between Russia and Ukraine) I can spend a few hours a day gathering more - for example I saw footage the other day of BMP-3s manuevering in the snow. That could come in handy!

I'm glad folks are enjoying this!

[chico20854]

February 4, 1997

Nothing in the canon today!

The NATO delegation informs the Soviet delegation in New Delhi that NATO cannot accept the Soviet proposal on war termination. Talks break down.

A shadowy company closes on the purchase of the former Bushkill Resort in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania, which had been closed for seven years.

photo
The Canadian Navy recommissions the "destroyer" (most would consider it a frigate) Saguenay, retired in 1990. The reactivation included modernized electronics and a Phalanx close-in missile defense gun system.

Convoy 208 departs San Francisco Bay for Korea. Its ships include the Cape Horn and Arabian Breeze, carrying the 264th Engineer Group; the John Lykes carrying bulk ammunition and containerized supplies for 8th US Army, and the Earlham Victory carrying bagged rice to help sustain the South Korean civilian population.

The 107th MRD's 379th Artillery Regiment launches a massive artillery bombardment on underdeveloped forested area suspected of hosting anti-Soviet partisans, while MVD troops arrest inhabinants of local villages suspected of supporting them.

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German reinforcements pour into the Gubin bridgehead, while 4th Guards Tank Army is thrown into the drive to force the German troops from Polish soil.

The Echo II-class submarine K-35, its missile tubes empty after attack on Convoy 112, arrives in the Orinoco River Delta for replenishment from the Soviet merchantman Suzdal, which has been anchored in a remote channel for several weeks and resupplying raiders.

The Kirov continues its rampage, sinking the Cypriot-flagged tanker Neptune Wave carrying crude oil from Nigeria to the US Gulf Coast with gunfire.

Soviet bombers attack Bucharest, targeting command and control facilities. They lose three aircraft to Jugosav SA-3 batteries which have been moved into the area in the prior day.

The Turkish submarine Sakarya sinks the Bulgarian training ship Nikola Vaptzarov leaving Varna with reinforcements for beseiged Burgas.

As the Pasdaran continues to crumble under relentless Soviet assault, CENTCOM commanders meet with their Saudi and Iranian counterparts, who urge rapid deployment of CENTCOM troops and combat aircraft.

The Chasov Yar truck rebuild plant in eastern Ukraine turns out its first rebuilt BTR-40 Armored Personnel Carrier, fitting a nearly 50-year old armored shell onto a newer production GAZ-3307 truck chassis. This is in response to reports of the unservicability of BTR-40s being activated by mobilization-only units.

The American transport Marine Reliance departs Haifa en route to Split, Croatia with Israeli tanks for Romania.

[chico20854]

February 5, 1997

4th Marine Division moved by sea from Pearl Harbor to Yokosuka, Japan. [I have this as the 3rd Division].

Unofficial:

The Swiss ambassador in New Delhi convinces both NATO and Soviet delegations to remain, although no future meetings are scheduled.

The Freedom-class cargo ship Pennsylvania Freedom is delivered in Portland, OR.

The US aircraft carrier Midway begins workups with its new air wing, CVW-16, composed of newly raised squadrons.

The fierce but static fighting near the DMZ continues.

For the third day, an intense struggle continues at the Gubin bridgehead. With the pontoon bridges and ferry landing sites under frequent heavy artillery bombardment, the German commanders commit the former East German 40th Air Assault Brigade, flown into the rear area on Bundeswehr CH-53 helicopters. Each of the brigades troops carries some sort of anti-tank weapon, predominantly RPG-16s.

The last TOW missiles in the Norwegian inventory are shipped to the front, leaving the nation reliant on US production.

Soviet Long Range Aviation in the Southwest TVD starts a 48-hour maintenance stand down, as fewer and fewer aircraft are available for the nightly raids over the Balkans.

Turkish troops in Thrace effectively halt the Greek advance after progressing 10-20 km. In Bulgaria the front is static, with Turkish troops besieging Burgas and deep into the Balkan Mountains but neither side able to muster the troops and supplies to launch an offensive.

The 73rd Tank Division in the Volga Military District is called up, formed out of the staff and student body of the Kazan Higher Tank Command School and local reservists.

[Homer]

[QUOTE=chico20854;90270]February 5, 1997

4th Marine Division moved by sea from Pearl Harbor to Yokosuka, Japan. [I have this as the 3rd Division].

It was always been a canonical head scratcher to me why 3d MARDIV (headquartered in Okinawa with a regimental combat team on Oahu) which trained extensively in Korea got deployed to CENTCOM after 4th MARDIV (a reserve formation) mobilized and deployed to Korea.

Maybe 3d MARDIV was held in reserve as the situation in Iran deteriorated due to their higher levels of equipment and proficiency as a regular formation? Or were they earmarked for a landing in support of a counterattack in Korea then released as Korea stabilized and the US committed forces to Iran?

If you look at other GDW sources, there’s not a lot of clues. Third World War doesn’t have them in the counter mix for any of the games. The Gulf War Fact Book mentions Task Force Taro but no one else from 3d MARDIV. Add in the fact that 3 MEF had an air wing and associated naval units and amphibious shipping assigned in Japan or in Hawaii and it really gets odd.

Easy to see why you have swapped the divisions. Makes sense.

[stilleto69]

@ Homer.

So true, that's why for my unit histories I switched it to the 1st MEB being sent from Hawaii to Japan, to either be used as an amphibious landing unit or to bring the 3rd MARDIV up to 3 regiment. I have them as having only 4th & 9th Marines.

[chico20854]

February 6, 1997

A shipment of Cadillac-Gage Stingray light tanks awaiting export to Pakistan is requisitioned by the US Army's Field Materials Headquarters Company 12.

Unofficially,

The Freedom ship Kentucky Freedom is delivered in Galveston, TX and the Alabama Freedom in Pascagoula, MS.

The 157th Infantry Brigade (M), US Army Reserve, completes its rotation at the National Training Center at Ft. Irwin, CA and is declared combat ready.

The 43rd Infantry Brigade (Connecticut National Guard) completes Rotation 97-3 at the Joint Readiness Training Center at Ft. Polk, LA and is declared combat ready.

The container ship Hanjin Keelung leaves the Charleston Navy Yard, having been converted to an escort carrier and commissioned as the USS Langley CVHE-1. The newest warship begins a quick workup period, embarking several SH-3, EH-3 and UH-1 helicopters and a flight of Marine Corps AV-8C Harriers.

Convoy 205 (troop ships carrying men and cargo ships carrying vehicles and heavy equipment of the 163rd ACR (MT and TX NG)) arrives in Pusan, Korea.

The Constellation and Abraham Lincoln conclude a period of air operations in the Yellow Sea and retire to the southeast, headed to Okinawa for a replenishment period and linking up with the Independence battle group, arriving in the theater.

The battlecruiser Kirov continues its rampage through the South Atlantic. It sets the Liberian-flagged ore carrier Jade Triumph on fire, then sinks the British patrol ship HMS Shetland, guard ship for Ascension Island, when it rushed to respond to the striken freighter's mayday calls. The cruiser finished the day's action with a close pass by the British Island, shelling the airfield and it's vital fuel supplies, igniting a blaze that shut down all operations on the island.

The arrival of East German elite paratroopers and clear skies over the Gubin bridgehead brings a halt to Soviet progress. Combat is fierce and artillery fire intense for another day.

The Dutch Red Army sets fire to trucks in the parking lot of the truck plant in Zwolle, damaging or destroying a week's worth of production.

Turkish troops on Cyprus face off against Greeks in the mountainous center of the island. With both sides taking advantage of the difficult terrain forward progress is measured in meters.

The Turkish government announces another round of reservists being recalled, this one for 24-year old men. Turkey enjoys vast pools of trained men but lacks modern weapons and equipment to send them into battle with.

CENTCOM commander General Barbaneri returns to the US after meeting the Saudi defense minister and Iranian defense officials. He lobbies for release of transportation assets to CENTCOM, noting the threat to his region and decreasing numbers of units ready for deployment to Europe.

[chico20854]

[QUOTE=Homer;90287]

Originally Posted by chico20854

February 5, 1997

4th Marine Division moved by sea from Pearl Harbor to Yokosuka, Japan. [I have this as the 3rd Division].

It was always been a canonical head scratcher to me why 3d MARDIV (headquartered in Okinawa with a regimental combat team on Oahu) which trained extensively in Korea got deployed to CENTCOM after 4th MARDIV (a reserve formation) mobilized and deployed to Korea.

Maybe 3d MARDIV was held in reserve as the situation in Iran deteriorated due to their higher levels of equipment and proficiency as a regular formation? Or were they earmarked for a landing in support of a counterattack in Korea then released as Korea stabilized and the US committed forces to Iran?

If you look at other GDW sources, there’s not a lot of clues. Third World War doesn’t have them in the counter mix for any of the games. The Gulf War Fact Book mentions Task Force Taro but no one else from 3d MARDIV. Add in the fact that 3 MEF had an air wing and associated naval units and amphibious shipping assigned in Japan or in Hawaii and it really gets odd.

Easy to see why you have swapped the divisions. Makes sense.

When we looked at it we came to the same conclusion. It makes ZERO sense to take a division with a forward-deployed brigade in Okinawa, whose whole orientation is towards Korea and the Pacific, and let it sit there while they ship in a reserve formation from the West Coast, and shortly thereafter load the whole unit up and send it to CENTCOM! So we switched out 3rd and 4th Divisions in our (the DC Group's) history, and have 4th MarDiv do a long voyage from San Diego to Bandar Abbas (around the south coast of Australia to avoid detection). This preserves strategic surprise - the GRU very well may know that they departed, but have no idea as the days and weeks pass whether they are going to show up in Korea, Europe, CENTCOM, the Kuriles, the Aleutians or even the Kamchakta Peninsula or cross the Bering Straits into eastern Siberia. But to be prudent, the Soviets have to divert reconnaissance assets to look for it and maintain forces on alert in all those locations to counter the threat it poses. Force multiplier!

[chico20854]

February 7, 1997

Nothing in the canon for today!

The FBI receives word of additional Spetsnaz teams' arrival in Mexico, having transited from India to Singapore to Panama to Nicaragua, then travelling overland to Mexico.

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The 130th Tactical Airlift Wing (West Virginia Air National Guard) and its subordinate 130th Tactical Airlift Squadron arrive in Sacheon, Republic of Korea.

2nd Guards Tank Army launches an attack on the British-held bridgehead opposite Frankfurt-on-Oder, in an attempt to draw off Allied airpower from the ongoing battle at the Gubin bridgehead.

Soviet General B.V. Rumyantsyev, commander of the 11th Guards Army, is killed in Poland when his helicopter crashes while evading a RAF Phantom fighter jet.

On the Kola Peninsula, the US 6th ID(L) crosses the frozen Titovka River to maintain X Corp's advance towards the next obstacle on the way to Murmansk, the Litsa River. The Norwegian 14th Brigade is attached to the American division, and the track (road is too generous a term to describe it!) serves as the dividing line between the American and Norwegian 6th Divisions.

The Soviet Victor III-class nuclear submarine K-412 attacks the American container ship Sea-Land Mercury, travelling unescorted to the Mediterranean at 23 knots. The ship is struck by a single torpedo and left dead in the water; the arrival of P-3 patrol aircraft prevents the submarine from finishing off the kill.

Soviet bombers return to the skies over the Balkans, returning to strike the Bucharest tank plant again. A Tu-16 is lost to defending anti-aircraft fire.

Pasdaran lines in central Iran continue to crumble under the relentless attack from three Soviet armies.

The USAF 149th Tactical Fighter Group, based in southeastern Turkey, launches another interdiction attack, blocking the northwestern road through the mountains between Tabriz and Azerbaijan when it catches a Soviet supply convoy in a narrow pass, a perfect target for the F-16s cluster bombs.

The battlecruiser Kirov exits the region near Ascension Island following its raid of the prior day. In doing so, it exhausts the last of its fuel oil supply, leaving it solely reliant on its nuclear power plant. This limits the ship's speed to 18 knots. The ship's main anti-ship missile battery has only three SS-N-19 missiles remaining and ammunition for the 100mm guns is also running low. Appraised of its status, the Naval command in Moscow orders the ship to link up with a hidden supply ship in South America.

The 60th Tank Division, a Category C unit from the Moscow Military District, is activated in the town of Dzerzhinsk, about 230 miles east of Moscow. The division is equipped with T-62 tanks and Second World War-vintage artillery.

[pmulcahy11b]

The Kirov is becoming the Moby Dick of the war.

[chico20854]

Originally Posted by pmulcahy11b

The Kirov is becoming the Moby Dick of the war.

I'm a little torn! I have an end in sight (thanks Olefin!) but we're not there yet. I am struggling to explain how NATO navies can just let this thing run amok on the high seas... they're straining to provide escorts for merchantmen moving troops and equipment and have little to divert to the hunt, the big-name (and capability) units are still recovering from the Battle of the Norwegian Sea, they're reluctant to commit aircraft to the hunt, fearful that more will get shot down like the B-52s did, it's a big ocean with a lot of neutral traffic out there and the Kirov is staying away from (or maybe hiding in) the usual transit routes?

Luckily canon gives us an answer of how this all ultimately ends!

[chico20854]

February 8, 1997

Greece begins a naval blockade of Turkey in the Aegean Sea. It would extend it to the Mediterranean coast but it's navy is insufficient to enfore it.

Unofficially:

The Victory ship PVT Fred C Murphy departs Mobile with cargo for the US Navy base at Guantanamo, Cuba. It is escorted by the Coast Guard cutter Resolute.

In Charleston SC, the escort carrier USS Langley's air wing reaches its full strength - six AV-8C Harriers, six SH-3H ASW helicopters, three EH-3I AEW helicopters and three UH/HH-1 helicopters.

The attack submarine USS Tunny discharges SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team One off Matua Island, one of the Kurile Islands north of Japan, shortly before midnight.

The American carriers Constellation, Independence and Abraham Lincoln launch a raid on the Nampho shipyard, port and naval base complex. Much of the strike force is dedicated to suppression of North Korean anti-aircraft artillery, and the raid is helped by the freezing-over of the harbor, which immobilized many of the craft present.

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The struggle to hold (or, from the Pact perspective, eliminate) the bridgeheads across the Oder in Poland continues, with repeated attacks and counter-attacks. The front lines are fluid but the Pact forces are unsucessful in driving NATO troops back to the river.

Frontal Aviation's 305th Bomber Regiment launches a low-level raid on the ELINT station on the Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea north of Poland. One aircraft is shot down by anti-aircraft artillery fire from the Home Guard and small Army garrison.

The last Soviet paratroopers defending the Boris Gleb power station on the Norwegian-Soviet border surrender after holding out in the underground halls for over a month.

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A Bulgarian Mi-14 helicopter, flying cover for a coastal convoy from Varna to Burgas, sights the submerged Turkish submarine Sakarya and attacks it. The attack is unsuccessful, but the Turkish submarine is hounded by a series of surface and air units, which drive it into a minefield which results in the submarine's sinking.

The American cruiser USS Virginia is damaged by the blast from a Soviet SS-N-12 missile (fired by the Echo II-class cruise missile submarine K-131) which detonated in the chaff cloud near the cruiser while it was escorting westbound Convoy 117.

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CENTCOM orders the sortie of the prepositioning fleet at Diego Garcia. The 22 ships there carry equipment and vehicles for an Army heavy brigade, a Marine Expeditionary Brigade, a Naval hospital, port development equipment and ammunition and supplies.

[chico20854]

February 9, 1997

France, Belgium, Italy and Greece legally leave NATO; their participation had ended 60 days earlier.

Unofficial:

The 123rd Army Reserve Command, from Indianapolis, Indiana and activated at nearby Fort Benjamin Harrison, is redesignated HQ, XI US Corps, receiving a new commanding general, Lieutenant General Albert Savage, former commander of III Corps.

SEAL Delivery Vehicle Team One makes a predawn raid on the Soviet air defense radar on Matua in the Kurile Islands. They subsequently engage the defenders of the island's small airstrip, overwhelming them with the volume and accuracy of their gunfire, and detonate demolition charges in the runway. They evacuate by SDV before they can be caught by the the remnants of the garrison or reinforcements flown in from nearby islands.

With the arrival of the 7th Infantry Division in Korea, I Corps is able to pull the 2nd Infantry Division off the front lines, where it has been fighting for over six weeks, for rest and to receive reinforcements. (The replacement system is now feeding over 1000 trained troops, both new draftees and recalled inactive reservists, into the Korean theatre each week.)

US Navy Patrol squadron VP-60 arrives at the recently improved Cocos Islands, Airport, Australia and begins flying patrols looking for Soviet raiders and submarines. Australian authorities impose a near-total communications blackout on the inhabitants to prevent news of American combat missions being launched from Australian territory from becoming public.

The Freedom ship Idaho Freedom returns to San Francisco Bay, calling at the Oakland Army Terminal to load its next cargo. The Pennsylvania Freedom, delivered on the 5th is ordered to Tacoma, Washington, from Portland, to load its first cargo.

photo
The Mainz Army Depot in Germany returns its 200th M1-series tank damaged in the Battle of Germany to 7th Army after repair, testing and certification as combat ready.

photo
Soviet Su-24 bombers strike Danish targets, including the Gedser port facility (terminus of a ferry to Germany).

Soviet forces make a maximum effort to eliminate the Gubin and Frankfurt-on-Oder bridgeheads, which once again fail.

US Marines of the 8th Marine Expeditionary Brigade raid the Libyan Gamal Abdul El Nasser Air Base and adjacent SA-5 missile regiment launch stations, destroying the missiles and radar, cratering the runway and collapsing many of the hardened aircraft shelters.

The Soviet destroyer Buliny, under the command of Captain 2nd Rank Mikhail Mischenko, sinks the Greek-owned bulk carrier Archimedes, expending the last of its complement of SS-N-22 Sunburst missiles.

A combined military and civilian force on Ascension extinguishes the fire in the island's aviation fuel tank farm that was ignited by the Kirov's shelling three days prior.

The American transport ship Marine Reliance arrives in Split, Croatia with a load of Ti-67 tanks for Romania.

The last aircraft of the Iranian 32nd Tactical Fighter Wing arrive in Iran and the F-20 Tigershark unit begins flying combat air patrols over the areas of Iran controlled by the Iran Nowin government. The 41st Tactical Figher Wing hands over its remaining F-5s to the 22nd Wing, its pilots and ground staff boarding Iran Air 747s bound for Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia to pick up new F-20s.

The US Transportation Command issues a warning order to airlift units and sealift planners, alerting them to an imminent need to deploy troops to Saudi Arabia and Iran.

[cawest]

Greece might not be in NATO anymore but the USSR is still going to sink your ships.

[chico20854]

February 10, 1997

Denmark declares war on the Soviet Union following the prior dayss (and weeks') attacks on Danish facilities and ships.

Unofficially:

The Freedom-class cargo ship Wisconsin Freedom is delivered in Beaumont, TX and the Indiana Freedom is delivered in Pascagoula, MS.

The 56th Brigade, 28th Infantry Division (Pennsylvania National Guard) completes Rotation 97-4 at NTC-2 at the Yakima Training Center and is declared combat ready.

The escort carrier USS Shangri-La (CVHE-3) is commissioned at the Charleston Navy Yard. A week prior it had been a Korean-flag container ship.

The Canadian Navy commissions the patrol-minesweeper Nanaimo in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She begins a transit through the Panama Canal to British Columbia, joining westbound Convoy 117 for the first part of the trip.

There's chaos in the North Sea as simultaneous explosions on five offshore oil platforms disrupt production from the Forties oil field, the largest in the British sector of the North Sea.

The Soviet 2nd and 4th Guards Tank Armies halt their offensive actions, while their reserve formations construct hasty field fortifications. For the first time in a week, the front lines of the Oder bridgeheads are quiet.

The Soviet 1077th Ski Regiment grows to five battalions of all-female volunteers, mostly from the Leningrad area. The new battalion joins the rest of the unit patrolling 18th Army's open southern flank southwest of Murmansk as NATO troops push eastward.

Naval clash in the Aegean between the Greek and Turkish navies, when the Turkish 3rd Assault Boat Flotilla sorties into the Aegean and engages a Greek Surface Action Group composed of the destroyers Kanaris and Lonchi. Both destroyers are overwhelmed by Turkish SSMs and sink, taking down the Turkish missile boat Pelikan with them. An air battle follows overhead, when Greek A-7s swoop in, sink the Turkish missile boats Sismek and Gurbet, and are subsequently set upon by Turkish F-4s. Two A-7s are lost, and when Greek F-4s intervened one of each nation's Phantoms are downed before the engagement finally ends, 45 minutes after the first shot was fired.

Soviet bombers strike Brasov, Romania, hitting the ordnance plant once again. US Army Patriot missiles down two more Backfire bombers.

In Kaliningrad, the KGB arranges a meeting of the East German Communist Party, including party officials who fled reunited Germany, party members who were travelling elsewhere in the USSR and Warsaw Pact, political officers of East German Army units fighting in China and a number of officials arrested by the KGB during the retreat from East Germany. Following a script written by the KGB in Moscow, the Party meeting expels all SED members who supported or participtated in the reunification campaign and called for the formation of "Liberation Armed Forces" to free all of Germany from revanchist imperialist NATO-allied German authorities.

[Olefin]

definition of a bar room brawl that keeps getting bigger

Naval clash in the Aegean between the Greek and Turkish navies, when the Turkish 3rd Assault Boat Flotilla sorties into the Aegean and engages a Greek Surface Action Group composed of the destroyers Kanaris and Lonchi. Both destroyers are overwhelmed by Turkish SSMs and sink, taking down the Turkish missile boat Pelikan with them. An air battle follows overhead, when Greek A-7s swoop in, sink the Turkish missile boats Sismek and Gurbet, and are subsequently set upon by Turkish F-4s. Two A-7s are lost, and when Greek F-4s intervened one of each nation's Phantoms are downed before the engagement finally ends, 45 minutes after the first shot was fired.

[chico20854]

Originally Posted by cawest

Greece might not be in NATO anymore but the USSR is still going to sink your ships.

The Soviets figured that the cargo moving on the world's oceans wasn't going to make it through the NATO blockades along the approaches to the USSR, so if it's moving it isn't for them and therefore possibly for NATO or neutral countries. Either way they aren't going to risk the possibility of being sighted and called in, so it's more or less a sink on sight (visual, radar or shipborne helicopter) policy.

And the Greeks were the largest owners of ships in the world at the time, so it was inevitable both that some of them would see the earning potential of carrying cargo to combatant nations and that some of their ships would get sunk. Most of their ships weren't even Greek flagged (which obligated them to use more expensive Greek crews and follow all kinds of pesky bureaucratic rules!).

So it's not really that the Soviets targeted the ship knowing it was Greek, it was more a case of "nothing personal, its just business"!

[chico20854]

February 11, 1997

A Spetsnaz team under Colonel Mikhail Tumanski arrives in the UK, landed in inflatable boats on a remote section of coastline.

Unofficial:

The order to deploy CENTCOM to Iran and Saudi Arabia is issued. Within hours, the 1st Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division is loading on transport aircraft for Saudi Arabia. The 24th Infantry Division (Mechanized) moves its equipment and vehicles to the port of Savannah, the 101st Air Assault Division to Jacksonville, Florida and the 9th ID(Lt Mech) to Tacoma, Washington. The Air Force hastily shuffles tankers to support the deployment of the highest priority aircraft, the F-15Cs of the 1st Tactical Fighter Wing and the F-15Es of the 4th Tactical Fighter Wing. (The F-15s are able to load maximum fuel tankage for their deployment flights since there are two ships - the Buffalo Soldier and the American Merlin - loaded with munitions and spares en route to the region from Diego Garcia.)

The 53rd Infantry Brigade (Florida National Guard) completes Rotation 97-5 at JRTC-2 at Fort Chaffee, AR and declared combat ready.

The front along the Oder River in Poland remains quiet for a second day. Soviet units pull back 500m or so to the fighting positions that have been prepared by their rear elements in the prior few days.

IV Corps headquarters is formed in Flushing, New York from personnel assigned to the 77th and 94th Army Reserve Commands (known as ARCOMs). When the mobilization support mission was completed, IV Corps assumes duties overseeing and supporting training units in the northeast, providing security in the New York Port of Embarkation, receiving and processing POWs arriving from overseas and coordinating the emergency and disaster relief planning efforts of civil authorities.

The Freedom ship Idaho Freedom is directed to Tacoma, Washington to prepare to load elements of the 9th ID (Motorized) from nearby Fort Lewis.

The Soviet raider Buliny, under the command of Captain 2nd Rank Mikhail Mischenko, attacks the Romanian-flag general cargo ship Trinity, using the ship's 130mm guns, setting it ablaze.

Soviet long-range aviation returns to Jugoslav skies, hitting the Čačak munitions plant in Serbia.

The American transport USNS Bob Hope loads the vehicles of the 169th Field Artillery Brigade (Colorado National Guard) at the Bayonne Army terminal in New Jersey for movement to Germany.

The 362nd Guards Assault Gun Regiment in the Odessa Military District is mobilized for service in the Balkans.

[chico20854]

February 12, 1997

Nothing official for today!

The US 11th Airborne Division is activated at Fort Dix, New Jersey from volunteers from throughout the Army.

The XI Corps Headquarters staff travels to Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas for a command post exercise.

A preliminary assesment of the damage to the Forties oil field infrastructure in the North Sea concludes that it will be out of service for the remainder of the year. A classified annex to the assessment discloses that the "incident" was likely the result of a Spetsnaz raid.

The Western TVD begins to rotate units on the front line in Poland, bringing fresher and stronger divisions up while withdrawing worn-out units for reconstruction. Among the many changes is bringing forward the 3rd GMRD, which enters action in Poland under command of the 22nd Army.

The escort carrier Shangri-La receives its air wing off Cherry Point, NC and begins transit to Jacksonville, FL.

The Chinese Peoples Liberation Army begins to amass an infantry-strong reserve force from the stream of light divisions that flow weekly from the interior. With Soviet resources stretched to the limit by the worldwide conflict, the upcoming thaw in Manchuria offers an opportunity to launch an offensive, one where the outnumbered Soviet forces will be unable to exploit their superior mobility due to the mud, and whose fire support has been weakened with the transfer of aircraft to other theaters and diversion of artillery ammunition to other fronts.

The Soviet battle cruiser Kirov, in the South Atlantic en route to a resupply, encounters the Brazilian-flagged freighter Rio Coari. It peppers the freighter's bridge with 30mm fire before landing a detachment from the ship's Ka-27 helicopter to seize the ship.

A detachment of the US Navy SEEBEEs Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 24 arrives on Ascension Island to install a temporary fuel system and repair the fire-damaged original system.

The 17th Guards Tank Division is withdrawn for reconstruction following nearly two months on the front line beseiging Galati, Romania.

The last tanks for Romania are unloaded from the American ship Marine Reliance, which departs for its next assignment.

Soviet bombers target the Romanian shipyards in Mangalia in a bid to prevent Romania from completing ships to contest Pact control of the Black Sea.

The Fast Sealift Ships Pollux, Antares and Denebola load the 151st Field Artillery Brigade (SC National Guard) in Charleston, SC.

The 6th Air Cavalry Combat Brigade, 14th Armored Cavaly Regiment, 48th Infantry Brigade (Mechanized), 18th Field Artillery Brigade, 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade and 20th Engineer Brigade are all placed on alert for deployment to the CENTCOM AOR. Movement of vehicles and equipment to load ports and arrival of ships and aircraft will take several days (or weeks) yet.

Following up on the East German Communist Party meeting on the 10th, the Red Army sponsors the creation, training and equipment of East German loyalist units. Many military veterans are assigned to Volkspolezei (VoPo) riot control units, which sided with the Soviets during the Battle of Germany, (organized into three independent regiments). Students attending schools in the USSR and Warsaw Pact nations and workers and tourists under age 30 are hastily rounded up from their locations and formed into two regiments of the Freie Deutsche Jugend, a party-allied youth political organization that was transformed into a party militia.

The mini-convoy of the Victory ship PVT Fred C Murphy and Coast Guard Cutter Resolute arrives in Guantanamo, Cuba.

[chico20854]

February 13, 1997

Nothing official for the day.

The 46th Brigade, 38th Infantry Division (Michigan National Guard) completes Rotation 97-3 at NTC-3 at the Yuma Proving Grounds in Arizona and is declared combat ready.

Air Force Systems Command concludes its test series of AGM-142 Have Nap missile drops from F-111s at Edwards AFB, CA and clears the missile for use from that aircraft.

The final former South Korean container ship, the Hanjin Kobe, arrives at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, CA, for conversion to an escort carrier.

The Iranian 43rd Tactical Fighter Training Squadron receives its complement of F-20s in Savannah, Georgia and flies them to Pensacola for conversion training.

RAF Mildenhall struck again (the first strike was on January 11th), this time by Tu-22Ms. This time 3rd Air Force was ready and very little damage was incurred.

Following the collapse of the drive to eliminate the NATO bridgeheads in western Poland, the Polish Communist Party declares a total national mobilization. The last manufacturing plants producing civilian goods convert to military production and the nation begins to prepare for the possibility of NATO invasion. Rationing is imposed nationwide as the government increases stockpiles of food, fuel and materials. The population is called out to assist in the war effort; each town, city and village forms a militia (mostly armed with Second World War-vintage rifles and submachineguns, if armed at all). A massive effort is launched to create defensive lines across the country. Pensioners are assigned duties digging trenches, and schools go to a half-day schedule, with classes (often on military subjects such as small-unit tactics or use of gas masks) in the morning and the afternoons spent working on defensive positions.

1st Brigade, 10th Mountain Division reaches the mouth of the Litsa River.

The Romanian freighter Trinity, set ablaze 2 days prior, sinks 200 miles west of Dakar, while the Soviet destroyer Buliny heads for Luanda, Angola for replenishment.

Cloudy weather over Jugoslavia results in Soviet bombers dropping their loads over rural Croatia, damaging several farms but having no real effect on the Jugoslav war effort other than to enrage a few more Jugoslav families.

The 38th Infantry Division (Indiana and Michigan National Guards) begins loading vehicles and equipment aboard ships in the ports of Wilmington and Philadelphia.

The US Coast Guard cutter Resolute begins a patrol of local area in the central Caribbean.

[chico20854]

February 14, 1997

Another day with nothing in the official canon.

The latest (and last) version of the US Nuclear warfighting plan, the Single Intergrated Operating Plan or "SIOP", known as SIOP 8, Revision 2 goes into effect. It has quite extensive changes from the prior version, as several targets located in East Germany are now under NATO control and many of the Red Army garrisons have been vacated when their tenant units deployed. This version also omits targets in the People's Republic of China.

A C-141 from the 30th Military Airlift Squadron loads a cargo of AGM-142 Have Nap missiles from K.I. Sawyer AFB, Michigan for transfer to F-111 units in the UK.

The British Army of the Rhine (BAOR) commander, refelcting on the difficulty controlling forces in the Frankfurt-on-Oder bridgehead and forces on the Czechoslovak border simultaneously, requests the establishment of a second corps headquarters in BAOR.

The 10th Special Forces Group in Poland and the Baltic States launches a series of coordinated strikes on Soviet supply lines, ambushing over a dozen trains and convoys over a three-hour period.

In the Pacific, American aircraft launch Operation Steel Hammer - four American carriers (the Abraham Lincoln, Independence, Constellation and John C. Stennis, making its combat debut with the US Navy Reserve Air Wing CVW-20 embarked), operating in coordination with USAF aircraft operating from Japan, all under the direction of an E-3 AWACS, carry out a raid on Vladivostok area naval bases. Most of the sorties are devoted to suppression of the PVO regional air defense network, so central Vladivostok is spared attack, several smaller outlying bases receiving devastating amounts of damage.

The Soviet battlecruiser Kirov enters the Orinoco River Delta in remote eastern Venezuela and meets the Soviet supply ship Suzdal, which has been hiding there for several weeks. The Suzdal provides Kirov with 12 fuel air explosive versions of the SS-N-19 Shipwreck missile for a special attack mission along with fuel, other munitions and supplies.

Soviet long-range aviation returns once again to the Bucharest tank plant, where the presence of American Patriot missiles and newly introduced jamming and electronic spoofing results in no damage to the plant.

The first formerly Israeli Ti-67 tanks arrive at the front in Romania. The front continues to remain largely static as Soviet forces try to amass sufficient manpower and supplies to resume the offensive and Romanian and Jugoslav forces try to conserve their resources and maintain a strong defense.

The final elements of the 2nd Battalion, 6th Special Forces Group arrive in Romania, and half of the 1st Battalion is in Jugoslavia, embedding in Jugoslav Army units and training territorial defense troops to communicate with NATO forces, including how to call in airstrikes and artillery fire.

[Homer]

The naval raider activity has me wondering about the MPA force. I know Keflavik got hit by a SSM strike early on (I’m asssuming they’ve reconstituted or developed a dispersed base), and Kirov bombarded Ascension with NGF. Bermuda, Azores, etc. seem to be up and running covering convoys and hunting raiders. Seeing Kirov load FAE warheads has me wondering if something isn’t about to be done to address that.