The Southern Flank D+3 (12 July, 1987) Part I

  NATO naval capabilities in the Black Sea were severely degraded by the morning of D+3. Turkish and Greek naval losses north of the Turkish Straits had been heavy. Surviving warships and submarines had been mostly redeployed to the Aegean, except for a single Turkish submarine, and a handful of fast attack craft. These units …

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The Southern Flank: D+2 (11 July, 1987) Part II

Commander 6th Fleet Vice Admiral Kendall Moranville, USN was anxious to unsheathe his command’s offensive sword and take the fight directly to the Warsaw Pact homelands. The Eastern Med was secure and Moranville wanted to turn his surface ships and submarines to the next phase of wartime operations. Two destroyers attached to the Saratoga battlegroup …

The Southern Flank: D+2 (11 July, 1987) Part I

Overall, D+2 was a quiet twenty-four hour period across the Southern Flank. Reinforcements continued moving into theater for both NATO and the Warsaw Pact as both sides continued their respective preparations for offensive and defensive operations. To be frank, neither side was ready to launch a major land offensive at the present time, though this …

The Southern Flank: 10 July, 1987 Part II

It was generally accepted that the Southwestern Theater of Military Operations (SWTVD) would constitute a secondary theater in the opening days of a war against NATO. The Western TVD (WTVD) was the theater of highest priority and understandably so. SWTVD objectives in the first 3-4 days of hostilities were to halt any NATO air or …

The Southern Flank: 9 July, 1987 0600-2359

Authors Note: I seem to have misplaced the original entry for this date somewhere. I thought I placed it on a flash drive but after scouring every one that I have, as well as my hard drive I cannot find it. So, instead of going back and rewriting it I decided to put it forward …

The Southern Flank: 9 July, 1987 0400-0600

Hostilities in Southern Europe and the Mediterranean began at 0400 CEST. The first clash between NATO and Warsaw Pact forces came in the southwest corner of the Black Sea off of Thrace. A combined force of Hellenic and Turkish navy fast attack craft was covering minelaying operations off Limankoy when they were attacked by Soviet …

The View From The Flanks: AFSOUTH 6 July, 1987 *

For the Commander-in-Chief Allied Forces Southern Europe (CINC-SOUTH) Admiral James Busey USN, the bulk of 6 July was spent on the telephone with Norfolk attempting to pry an aircraft carrier away from SACLANT for use in the Mediterranean theater. As it stood, the Sixth Fleet had only one carrier in the Mediterranean at present with …