Naval Losses In World War III: Introduction

Until recent times, the Third World War was widely considered to have been the final war where control of the oceans was a critical prerequisite for victory. NATO and Warsaw Pact naval strategies were focused on the North Atlantic. The mission for NATO was to maintain control of the North Atlantic and its sea lanes. …

Southern Flank D+24 (2 August, 1987) Part II

0500-1230 Zulu- As the tactical nuclear exchange in Europe and its aftermath gripped world attention through the rest of the morning and early afternoon and the fate of the entire world seemed to hang in the balance, the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was motoring obliviously towards final dissolution.  Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina had already declared …

The Southern Flank D+21 (30 July, 1987)

AFSOUTH planning for offensive operations accelerated when word was received from Brussels that the NATO counterattack in Northern German was underway. Debate raged in Naples over what shape NATO’s counterblow on the Southern Flank would take. Sixth Fleet was pressing for a campaign against Soviet ports and airbases on the Black Sea coastline while officers …

The Southern Flank D+16 (25 July, 1987) Part I

The start time for Sixth Fleet’s planned airstrikes on the Soviet amphibious group in the Black Sea had been pushed to 0500 in order to coincide with other NATO air attacks set for the early morning hours. Kennedy’s airwing, with it’s two A-6 Intruder squadrons, was tasked to hit the Soviet amphibs. CVW-17 off Saratoga …

The Southern Flank D+15 (24 July, 1987) Part II

Kennedy and Saratoga’s airwings went to work in the pre-dawn darkness of D+15. From midnight until 0500 CVW-3 and CVW-17 aircraft struck army-level headquarters, airbases, and fuel reserve sites in Bulgaria. They were augmented by a small number of US Air Force F-111s flying from bases in Turkey. Opposition was weaker compared to the previous …

The Southern Flank D+13 (22 July, 1987) Part II

Kennedy and Saratoga had moved into the Eastern Mediterranean on the previous night, later than originally planned. COMSIXTHFLT had held them back following their UNREP to goad the Soviets into thinking the two carrier battle groups were going north to the Adriatic instead of deeper into the Med. The enemy, however, did not take the …

The Southern Flank D+8 (17 July, 1987)

The tug of war over control of the Southern Group of Forces (SGF) continued into D+8. On one side, Western TVD wanted the bulk of the four Soviet divisions and attached air army based in Hungary to be committed to the Central Front without delay. The battle in Germany hung in the balance and the …

The Southern Flank D+6 (15 July, 1987) Part II

The massing of Libyan warships in the Gulf of Sidra late in the day on D+5 did not go unnoticed by NATO. Aircrews returning from missions had noted the presence of Libyan warships tucked into the coastal waters and reported the findings when debriefed. ELINT aircraft flying missions far to the north had also picked …

The Southern Flank D+5 (14 July, 1987) Part I

Saratoga’s air wing went back into action in the pre-dawn hours. The morning’s target list included POL facilities and staging areas in southern Bulgaria. CVW-17s airstrikes were not preceded by cruise missile strikes as they had been twenty-four hours earlier. The Los Angeles class attack submarines that had fired most of the TLAMs against targets …

The Southern Flank D+4 (13 July, 1987) Part I

At 0125 hours EEST, the Sixth Fleet went to work. Less than an hour before, twenty TLAMs (Tomahawk Cruise Missile Land Attack Variant) were launched from a trio of Los Angeles class attack submarines, and the single TLAM-armed destroyer in the Saratoga’s battlegroup. The missiles approached the Greek-Bulgarian frontier in a staggered pattern, less than …