The North Atlantic D+2 (11 July, 1987) Part III

Authors note: Beginning with this entry, the form of calendar date presentation will be altered. 9 July will be referred to as D Day, 10 July- D+1, 11 July D+2 and so forth. I’ll begin making corrections to previous entries over the weekend and explain the main revisions underway sometime next week in a separate …

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The Southern Flank: 10 July, 1987 Part I

The destruction of the Soviet surface action groups in the Eastern Mediterranean marked the end of the 5th Eskadra. Every major surface combatant belonging to the Soviet Navy’s Mediterranean squadron was at the bottom of the sea, along with their escorts, and a number of submarines. The squadron’s commander, Rear Admiral Vladimir Yegorov had perished …

The North Atlantic: 10 July, 1987 Part III

Of the twenty Backfires that made up the Iceland strike group four were shot down by F-15s before reaching their launch points. A further three were destroyed  after launching their air-to-surface missiles. Another pair suffered battle damage but managed to return safely to their bases on the Kola Peninsula. Of the sixteen ASMs launched by …

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 North Atlantic 9 July, 1987 Part II

The Russian attack on Keflavik accentuated the importance of the facility, and of Iceland as a whole, to both sides. The Russians were not going to be able to successfully fight a naval war without Iceland being knocked out of action for an extended period of time. For NATO, mounting a successful defense of the …

The North Atlantic: 9 July, 1987 Part I

Senior NATO commanders understood and accepted the fact that they would, in all likelihood, be forced to spend the first twenty-four to thirty-six hours of the war reacting to Soviet moves and intentions. NATO was, after all, a defensive alliance, and this conflict had been precipitated  by the Kremlin. For at least one day, the …

Strategic Considerations: Red Banner Northern Fleet 8 July, 1987*

Commander of the Soviet Red Banner Northern Fleet Admiral Ivan Matveyevich Kapitanets looked down at the stack of yellow message forms on his desk and shook his head tiredly. He did not bother to even glance at them when they'd arrived, already aware of the disappointing news they carried. Each one was a report detailing …