Western Pacific D+24 (2 August, 1987)

The time zone differences between Greenwich, UK (GMT/Zulu) and the Western Pacific in 1987 was 9-10 hours. This meant that as the NATO retaliatory chemical attacks were underway and GSFG headquarters at Wunsdorf was struck by an air-delivered nuclear gravity bomb in the opening moments of midnight D+24, it was mid-morning in Tokyo and Seoul. …

Western Pacific D+20 (29 July, 1987)

The ballistic missile submarines belonging to the Red Banner Pacific Fleet were fully deployed in the Sea of Okhotsk by 0600 local time on D+20. With the Pacific Fleet’s SSBN bastion now established there, fortifying it became nothing less than a vital priority. A line of attack submarines was positioned in close proximity to the …

Western Pacific D+19 (28 July, 1987)

By the early hours of D+19 the military and geopolitical ramifications from the nuclear exchange had taken hold in the Western Pacific. The nuclear-capable forces in the region went to high alert and remained there as tensions ebbed and flowed through the day. The ballistic missile submarines assigned to the Soviet Red Banner Pacific Fleet …

The Western Pacific D+14 (23 July, 1987)

Tension along the Sino-Soviet frontier continued to lessen on D+14. The periodic exchanges of small arms and mortar fire that were so common on D+12 disappeared. Chinese and Soviet troops remained vigilant, but their aggressiveness seemed to have plateaued by late morning. Unbeknownst to the soldiers on the ground at the time, Beijing and Moscow …

The Western Pacific D+12 (21 July, 1987) Part I

Fighting on the Korean peninsula intensified throughout the day. The strategy for the North Korean offensive was quite apparent, and the same held true for the defensive plans of the Combined Forces Command (CFC). There was little room for subterfuge, or deceit on the ground. South Korea’s geography shaped the respective battle plans, and was …

The Western Pacific D+7-D+9 (16-18 July, 1987)

D+7 A series of skirmishes break out between ships, submarines, and aircraft of the Soviet Red Banner Pacific Fleet and the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force throughout the day. Two Japanese destroyers, and an attack submarine are sunk, and at least four other ships of various classes damaged. Soviet losses are estimated to be three …

The Western Pacific D+1-D+6 (10 July-15 July, 1987)

D+1 (10 July, 1987) Skirmishes erupt on the DMZ in Korea between ROK and North Korean forces. The clashes are brief, and limited to exchanges of small arms fire.   US B-52 bombers based at Andersen AFB, Guam are dispersed to alternate airfields in the Northern Marianas.   North Korean leader Kim Il-Sung gives a …

Gaming World War III: War at Sea Part I

Naval wargaming has held an important place in the US Navy for over a century. Alfred Thayer Mahan, when he became president of the Naval War College (NWC) in 1886 supported the use of wargames modeled on the German games known as Kriegsspiel. Naval Kriegsspiel, as the NWC variant beame known, consisted of cardboard ships …

The Western Pacific D+0 (9 July, 1987)**

World War III arrived in the Western Pacific with an anticlimactic whimper, not the violent crescendo that had been widely anticipated for days. It was 12:00 PM in Seoul and Tokyo when the first official reports began making their way to the region from Europe. Hostilities were breaking out from the northern reaches of Norway …