As anticipated, the first day of the Third World War generated fierce engagements between NATO and Warsaw Pact forces at sea. From the North Cape to the mouth of the Persian Gulf naval and air forces clashed. Surface warships and submarines from both sides were damaged and destroyed. From the opening of hostilities in the early morning hours through to midnight, ships and sailors were dying in dreadful numbers. Heavy losses had long been expected by NATO and Pact admirals, and they were not disappointed. The lack of activity in the North Atlantic on D+0 did raise some eyebrows though. Swarms of Soviet torpedoes and anti-ship missiles were expected to converge on NATO convoys in the opening hours of hostilities. Yet on the first day of war, NATO’s convoys were either still forming or just getting underway on the east coast of the United States and the bulk of the Red Banner Northern Fleet’s submarine force was still positioned north of the GIUK barrier. In twenty-four hours, this would begin to change. But on the first day of World War III, the North Atlantic was fairly quiet.
Action in other theaters certainly picked up the slack. On D+0 thirty NATO surface warships and submarines were lost with a considerable number of others damaged to one degree or another. The shootout between NATO and Soviet surface groups and Backfire bombers in the Eastern Med early on accounted for almost one-third of the sinkings.
Soviet and Pact losses on D+0 were considerably heavier. We will examine those before mid-December.
NATO Naval Losses D+0
Eastern Mediterranean
Clemenceau R 98 France
Tourville D 610 France
Duquesne D 603 France
Dupleix D 641 France
Jean Moulin F 785 France
HMS Superb S109 United Kingdom
USS Pogy SSN-647 United States
USS Preble DDG-46 United States
Kriezis D217 Greece
Aegean Sea
Kostakos P25 Greece
Starakis P29 Greece
TCG Rüzgâr P-347 Turkey
TCG Terme M-531 Turkey
Arabian Sea
USS Duncan FFG-10 United States
Baltic Approaches
Suenson P45Denmark
Olfert Fischer F355 Denmark
Søhesten P513 Denmark
Beskytteren F304 Denmark
Lossen N44 Denmark
Geier P6113 West Germany
Habicht P6119 West Germany
Löwe P6148 West Germany
Northern Flank
HNoMS Rapp P981 Norway
HNoMS Rask P983 Norway
HNoMS Brask P977 Norway
HNoMS Storm P960 Norway
HNoMS Trygg P964 Norway
HNoMS Gnist P979 Norway
HNoMS Trondheim F302 Norway
HNoMS Utsira S301 Norway
Third World War 1987 
France got kicked in the crotch, HARD! OUCH!
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Yep, they took the first punch right in the face. Hard
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That’s Norways navy pretty much gone then?
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It hurt them but Norway still had a good deal of warships left after D+0, all things considered. Subs especially
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Wow. I remember the Clemenceau being sunk but I did not realize that the entire group was sunk as well.
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Yeah, D+0 was not a good day for the French Navy. In fact, they had a rough war overall
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Mike will you include losses of convoy ships moving for ReForGer or only warfighting vessels?
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Bill, I probably will at some point down the line. Warships first though, then merchies and such
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Please explain how the USS Duncan can be sunk in the Arabian Sea on D+0 and return to service in the North Atlantic on D+22. I know the US Navy can perform miracles when the chips are down, bringing back most of the battleships sunk in Pearl Harbor, but I doubt if Fifth Fleet had such capability in 1987.
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I just checked the North Atlantic entries for D+22. It was the USS Estocin, not the Duncan, Chief. 🙂
Seriously, thanks for picking up on that. I owe you a beer. 30+ frigates in the class and I somehow double-up on one. Damn
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