Cold Warriors: The Essex Class in the Cold War

[lordroel]

Speaking about the Douglas A-3 Skywarrior, sadly this happened 62 years ago. 

[ssgtc]

March 4, 1959
South China Sea


Captain Blackburn looked over his evening reports with mild concern. Midway was supposed to have started for home over a week ago. Instead, they had been ordered to remain in WESTPAC and shadow a Red Navy surface fleet. He had hoped that the fleet would head straight for the Philippine Sea and Indonesia. There were four other carriers operating down there and the strain on his own command would have been lessened considerably. At least until the shooting started, which was likely in that scenario. But by then, no one would care about the strain since they would have been locked in on performing their missions.


But they hadn't. Instead, they had conducted gunnery exercises in the Sea of Japan, exercised with the Chinese Navy, such as it was, in the East China Sea and were now conducting more gunnery training in the South China Sea. He had a sneaking suspicion that the Soviets were doing their damndest to draw the attention of the NATO navies away from Indonesia. He had a pretty good idea why, but then, so did everyone else above and below him in the chain of command. That was why he was all out here on his lonesome instead of with other decks to back him up.

Though truth be told, his mission wasn't what had him worried this evening. His main concern at the moment was Soviet submarines. He had seen the fleet message that had been sent out this morning. A Red Fleet boat had managed to penetrate the screen of Task Force 77.1 and conduct a successful simulated torpedo attack on Albion. And that was with Yorktown and the planes of her dedicated anti-submarine air group with the fleet. He had no such protection.


The surface forces he was shadowing, he wasn't overly concerned with them. He had the air assets to kill any Soviet attack in the cradle and the speed to keep enough distance between them to prevent the Reds from mobbing him. Well, he had the means to prevent it as long as he could keep at least one of his Guppys in the air and monitoring their movements. He only had four of the heavily modified Skyraiders on board and keeping one on station monitoring the Soviets full time was becoming difficult. The maintenance situation of the Early Elevens was even worse when you considered the fact that they often had to keep a second aircraft and crew airborne in the other direction to watch for Soviet snoopers and raids using his ship for training.


Already the Crusaders of the Fighting Checkmates had seen off more than half a dozen snoopers. They had also made sure they were in every photograph of his carrier by positioning themselves between the Soviet recon planes that had shown up and his own ship. He smiled when he thought of how frustrated the Soviet intelligence officers must be when a Crusader showed up in every one of their photos of his ship. His photo recon Crusaders had been busy too. He had some excellent shots of the Soviet Cruisers and Destroyers at sea. His own intelligence analysts were pouring over those photos to glean any information that they could from them.


While playing games with the Soviets was certainly fun, he was ready to head home. His ship was ready to head home. And his crew was ready to head home. They were unhappy at their cruise being extended. He couldn't blame them. But at least they weren't the poor bastards on Ticonderoga that had been turned around damn near in sight of Alameda. He would have a quiet word with the XO later this evening about keeping the men on their toes through some extra training.

[ssgtc]

March 7, 1959
Alameda Naval Air Station, CA, USA


USS Oriskany recommissions after completion of her SCB-125A refit. She had two months of sea trials and post trials shipyard availability ahead of her before she could once again claim her place in the fleet. Once she had been passed her sea trials and any issues discovered were repaired by the shipyard, Oriskany would head south to her new homeport at North Island Naval Air Station. She would have ten months to work back into fighting trim before she was scheduled to deploy in May, 1960.

[lordroel]

Jul 17, 2022 3:48:43 GMT ssgtc said:

March 7, 1959
Alameda Naval Air Station, CA, USA


USS Oriskany recommissions after completion of her SCB-125A refit. She had two months of sea trials and post trials shipyard availability ahead of her before she could once again claim her place in the fleet. Once she had been passed her sea trials and any issues discovered were repaired by the shipyard, Oriskany would head south to her new homeport at North Island Naval Air Station. She would have ten months to work back into fighting trim before she was scheduled to deploy in May, 1960.

Would she look like this.

[ssgtc]

Jul 17, 2022 6:25:33 GMT lordroel said:

Jul 17, 2022 3:48:43 GMT ssgtc said:

March 7, 1959
Alameda Naval Air Station, CA, USA


USS Oriskany recommissions after completion of her SCB-125A refit. She had two months of sea trials and post trials shipyard availability ahead of her before she could once again claim her place in the fleet. Once she had been passed her sea trials and any issues discovered were repaired by the shipyard, Oriskany would head south to her new homeport at North Island Naval Air Station. She would have ten months to work back into fighting trim before she was scheduled to deploy in May, 1960.

Would she look like this.

No. The SCB-125A was a major refit that saw her original H-8 catapults replaced by C11 steam cats. Her forward elevator was enlarged. Her aft elevator was moved to the starboard desk edge. She was given nuclear weapons handling capability. Her bow was enclosed. She was given an angled flight deck. And finally, her flight deck was given an aluminum cladding.

[lordroel]

Jul 17, 2022 8:59:04 GMT ssgtc said:

Jul 17, 2022 6:25:33 GMT lordroel said:

Would she look like this.

No. The SCB-125A was a major refit that saw her original H-8 catapults replaced by C11 steam cats. Her forward elevator was enlarged. Her aft elevator was moved to the starboard desk edge. She was given nuclear weapons handling capability. Her bow was enclosed. She was given an angled flight deck. And finally, her flight deck was given an aluminum cladding.

A my mistake, seems i posted a older picture of here.

This one is here after the refit, thanks to CV 34 / CVA 34 - USS Oriskany

[ssgtc]

March 5, 1959
In the South Atlantic


Karel Doorman cast off the last line from the TS Mijdrecht and began to accelerate back to eighteen knots. The chartered oiler had been ordered to meet the task force at the halfway point between Las Palmas in the Canaries and Cape Town in South Africa. The plans for this deployment to the Far East had changed multiple times since the orders were first cut, and Captain van Es did not like how often things had changed. It gave him a bad feeling for this mission. Even if he did think this latest change made the most sense.


Nine more days to Cape Town, then another dash to Fremantle to offload the Hunters that were clogging up his deck. Please God let this crises blow over, he prayed.


Author's Note: apologies for the out of order update, but I missed this one when I post the 3/7/59 update on Oriskany.

[lordroel]

Aug 14, 2022 14:46:37 GMT ssgtc said:

March 5, 1959
In the South Atlantic


Karel Doorman cast off the last line from the TS Mijdrecht and began to accelerate back to eighteen knots. The chartered oiler had been ordered to meet the task force at the halfway point between Las Palmas in the Canaries and Cape Town in South Africa. The plans for this deployment to the Far East had changed multiple times since the orders were first cut, and Captain van Es did not like how often things had changed. It gave him a bad feeling for this mission. Even if he did think this latest change made the most sense.


Nine more days to Cape Town, then another dash to Fremantle to offload the Hunters that were clogging up his deck. Please God let this crises blow over, he prayed.


Author's Note: apologies for the out of order update, but I missed this one when I post the 3/7/59 update on Oriskany.

First no apologies needed, nice to see a update, secondly i hope Doorman makes it on time to kick some ass.

[ssgtc]

March 13, 1959
Hollandia, West New Guinea


HNLMS Zeeleeuw eased through the inky waters of the harbor. She had made a fast passage to New Guinea. Overhead, the stars sparkled in the sky with a brilliance rarely seen so close to land. Captain Hordijk was relieved by that, for it meant that the blackout was actually being enforced. His goal was to take on fuel and fresh supplies for his first war patrol in fourteen years. With luck, he would even be able to give his crew a little shore leave to stretch their legs.


From his submarine's high sail, Roel watched as one of his junior officers conned the ship and ordered the proper evolutions to bring his boat safely up to the fueling pier. He was proud of his crew. He had worked them very hard on the voyage from Amsterdam and they had all shown the same grit and zeal that his comrades in World War Two had. But he was also worried. His boat had been built in that same war and was now nearly obsolete. The refit the Americans had given her prior to transferring her to the Koninklijke Marine was a basic one, with none of the advanced equipment that their own war built submarines had received. Would his crew be able to overcome that obstacle? Or would they find a watery grave in the Philippine Sea?


He suspected that he would soon find out. And if the nervous looking man standing on the pier and clutching a thick envelope was any indication, he would find out sooner than he expected. Even as the lines were being made fast to secure Zeeleeuw to the fueling pier, the nervous looking man jumped onto his boat's deck, proffered a short salute to the flag, and hurried toward the open hatch on the deck. The lack of decorum was interesting and a likely indicator of how urgent the man must feel his mission was.


Roel would have to see what news the man carried with him. Giving his men on the conning tower a well earned "good job," he climbed down into his submarine's cramped control room. There he was met by a man wearing the uniform of a Luitenant ter zee der 1st klasse. After a quick greeting, the man suggested that they talk privately in the Captain's cabin. Roel couldn't help but smile and stifle a chuckle. The man was obviously not a submarine officer. There was no privacy, nor any secrets, on a submarine. Especially not one as small as Zeeleeuw. But he would humor the man for the moment.


Once they were ensconced in his closet-sized cabin, the man wasted no time getting right down to it. He said, "Captain, please forgive my abruptness and lack of formality. But I was ordered to meet with you the moment you arrived and not one second later. Our radio intelligence units and some selected human intelligence assets have reported a number of disturbing signs. Based on radio intercepts and reports from some of our people on the ground, it is the opinion of military intelligence that the Indonesians are planning to launch an amphibious assault against West New Guinea within the next seven to ten days.


"Your submarine is not only the best asset we have to stop this planned invasion, it is our only asset after the loss of Eversteen and our ordering of Kortenaer to leave the area and reinforce the Doorman's escort screen. Based on our best estimate, we believe that the invasion is planned to land on Biak in order to take the airfield there and serve as a forward staging area to then invade the rest of West New Guinea."


Roel could only nod along as he listened intently. He had suspected that this would happen, and that it was the real reason for his boat being sent halfway around the world. Though he would be lying if he said that he thought that the invasion would be coming so soon into his boat's deployment.


The intelligence officer continued, "In this envelope, you will find the relevant reports that have led us to this conclusion, minus of course any information that could identify the sources. You will also find a list of the ports that we believe the invasion force will be departing from, the units we think are being tasked to this mission, and perhaps most critically for you, the naval assets that we have identified as being tasked to escort this force to our shores.


"Captain, I dislike dramatics, but you and your crew are all that stands between us and certain invasion. Though I would not speak of it outside of this hull, our Air Force here has been destroyed and their base has been bombed constantly. They will not be able to stop any force that is heading towards us. The senior surviving officer at Mokmer has said that they will attempt to launch maritime patrols using our remaining Neptune aircraft, but he is not confident in their ability to do so reliably.


"It is a shit situation, Sir. Doorman and her escorts are coming, but they are still more than two weeks away. We must hold the line until they arrive. How quickly can you head back to sea, Captain?"


Captain Hordijk considered the condition of his boat and the state of his crew. But he knew that there was only one acceptable answer to give. He said, "I need to top off my fuel tanks before we head back out. I have enough stores on board for at least a thirty day patrol. That should be more than enough to get us through the danger period, with a comfortable margin for error. We can head back to sea as soon as fueling is complete."


"Very good, Sir. A patrol box is included in your orders, Captain. Please remain within it so that any maritime patrol planes that we do manage to launch will not attack you in error. And Captain, thank you."


"No need to thank us. This is our duty. Now if you will excuse me Commander, I need to ensure my boat is ready for a war patrol."

[lordroel]

Aug 14, 2022 15:04:21 GMT ssgtc said:

March 13, 1959
Hollandia, West New Guinea


HNLMS Zeeleeuw eased through the inky waters of the harbor. She had made a fast passage to New Guinea. Overhead, the stars sparkled in the sky with a brilliance rarely seen so close to land. Captain Hordijk was relieved by that, for it meant that the blackout was actually being enforced. His goal was to take on fuel and fresh supplies for his first war patrol in fourteen years. With luck, he would even be able to give his crew a little shore leave to stretch their legs.


From his submarine's high sail, Roel watched as one of his junior officers conned the ship and ordered the proper evolutions to bring his boat safely up to the fueling pier. He was proud of his crew. He had worked them very hard on the voyage from Amsterdam and they had all shown the same grit and zeal that his comrades in World War Two had. But he was also worried. His boat had been built in that same war and was now nearly obsolete. The refit the Americans had given her prior to transferring her to the Koninklijke Marine was a basic one, with none of the advanced equipment that their own war built submarines had received. Would his crew be able to overcome that obstacle? Or would they find a watery grave in the Philippine Sea?


He suspected that he would soon find out. And if the nervous looking man standing on the pier and clutching a thick envelope was any indication, he would find out sooner than he expected. Even as the lines were being made fast to secure Zeeleeuw to the fueling pier, the nervous looking man jumped onto his boat's deck, proffered a short salute to the flag, and hurried toward the open hatch on the deck. The lack of decorum was interesting and a likely indicator of how urgent the man must feel his mission was.


Roel would have to see what news the man carried with him. Giving his men on the conning tower a well earned "good job," he climbed down into his submarine's cramped control room. There he was met by a man wearing the uniform of a Luitenant ter zee der 1st klasse. After a quick greeting, the man suggested that they talk privately in the Captain's cabin. Roel couldn't help but smile and stifle a chuckle. The man was obviously not a submarine officer. There was no privacy, nor any secrets, on a submarine. Especially not one as small as Zeeleeuw. But he would humor the man for the moment.


Once they were ensconced in his closet-sized cabin, the man wasted no time getting right down to it. He said, "Captain, please forgive my abruptness and lack of formality. But I was ordered to meet with you the moment you arrived and not one second later. Our radio intelligence units and some selected human intelligence assets have reported a number of disturbing signs. Based on radio intercepts and reports from some of our people on the ground, it is the opinion of military intelligence that the Indonesians are planning to launch an amphibious assault against West New Guinea within the next seven to ten days.


"Your submarine is not only the best asset we have to stop this planned invasion, it is our only asset after the loss of Eversteen and our ordering of Kortenaer to leave the area and reinforce the Doorman's escort screen. Based on our best estimate, we believe that the invasion is planned to land on Biak in order to take the airfield there and serve as a forward staging area to then invade the rest of West New Guinea."


Roel could only nod along as he listened intently. He had suspected that this would happen, and that it was the real reason for his boat being sent halfway around the world. Though he would be lying if he said that he thought that the invasion would be coming so soon into his boat's deployment.


The intelligence officer continued, "In this envelope, you will find the relevant reports that have led us to this conclusion, minus of course any information that could identify the sources. You will also find a list of the ports that we believe the invasion force will be departing from, the units we think are being tasked to this mission, and perhaps most critically for you, the naval assets that we have identified as being tasked to escort this force to our shores.


"Captain, I dislike dramatics, but you and your crew are all that stands between us and certain invasion. Though I would not speak of it outside of this hull, our Air Force here has been destroyed and their base has been bombed constantly. They will not be able to stop any force that is heading towards us. The senior surviving officer at Mokmer has said that they will attempt to launch maritime patrols using our remaining Neptune aircraft, but he is not confident in their ability to do so reliably.


"It is a shit situation, Sir. Doorman and her escorts are coming, but they are still more than two weeks away. We must hold the line until they arrive. How quickly can you head back to sea, Captain?"


Captain Hordijk considered the condition of his boat and the state of his crew. But he knew that there was only one acceptable answer to give. He said, "I need to top off my fuel tanks before we head back out. I have enough stores on board for at least a thirty day patrol. That should be more than enough to get us through the danger period, with a comfortable margin for error. We can head back to sea as soon as fueling is complete."


"Very good, Sir. A patrol box is included in your orders, Captain. Please remain within it so that any maritime patrol planes that we do manage to launch will not attack you in error. And Captain, thank you."


"No need to thank us. This is our duty. Now if you will excuse me Commander, I need to ensure my boat is ready for a war patrol."

Thanks for the cameo.

[stevep]

  ssgtc ,

  Just to clarify please does Captain Loel have clearance to attack Indonesian ships in international waters?  I.e. while they might be able to claim it wasn't an invasion mission?  I expect so but the Dutch authorities might still be seeking to avoid a further escalation.

  Also I would assume that the primary targets would be any troopships rather than the warships because with only one, elderly sub he's not likely to get more than one shot and probably be lucky to get one at all.  It sounds rather like a suicide mission and he probably knows it but in the current positions there's little he can do but make the best of it.  Hopefully the sub is successful and survives but it sounds pretty long odds.  Unless of course the allies chip in, in which case what does the Soviets do?  Possibly sit back and make political capital about this imperialist intervention by the west.

  Anyway some good updates. 

  Steve

[lordroel]

Aug 16, 2022 17:49:34 GMT stevep said:

  Just to clarify please does Captain Loel have clearance to attack Indonesian ships in international waters?  I.e. while they might be able to claim it wasn't an invasion mission?  I expect so but the Dutch

At least get my name right stevep , ore do you blame auto correct for this major mistake.

[stevep]

Aug 16, 2022 18:00:33 GMT lordroel said:

Aug 16, 2022 17:49:34 GMT stevep said:

  Just to clarify please does Captain Loel have clearance to attack Indonesian ships in international waters?  I.e. while they might be able to claim it wasn't an invasion mission?  I expect so but the Dutch

At least get my name right stevep , ore do you blame auto correct for this major mistake.

  No its just straight-forward senility unfortunately.

[lordroel]

Aug 16, 2022 18:33:15 GMT stevep said:

Aug 16, 2022 18:00:33 GMT lordroel said:

At least get my name right stevep , ore do you blame auto correct for this major mistake.

  No its just straight-forward senility unfortunately.

You need to lease one of my trolls, you can blame them easy and punish them for mistakes you make yourself.

[ssgtc]

Ok, so first off, yes. He is authorized to attack any and all Indonesian ships he encounters. His orders are to conduct unrestricted submarine warfare against Indonesia.

As for Roel Hordijk, he was a real WWII Dutch Submarine Officer. He served on the O-20, was captured by the Japanese after O-20 was sunk/scuttled, escaped from a POW camp by crawling through the sewer (shades of the Shawshank Redemption there), was found by members of the anti-Japanese Resistance, helped train them on their weapons, then fucking WALKED to Beijing from HONG KONG. From there he was sent to Columbo, and was back on a submarine by April, 1942. Total badass. He was a junior officer at that time, so I figured it wouldn't be stretching the bounds of reality for him to still be a submarine officer 17 years later in his late 30s/early 40s. Probably a senior Commander/about to be promoted to Captain.