in the Pacific, and Kalinin and Irkutsk, both in the Baltic.
“The Krestas are smaller, seventy-six or seventy-seven hundred tons each,
but all three ships are designed for one thing–to engage and destroy enemy
surface vessels. And that, gentlemen, means the ships of this battle group.
Next.”
The next shot was a map of the Norway coast, and the waters north of
Great Britain. Aiken pulled a pointer pen from his shirt pocket, unfolded it,
and used it to touch the center of a large circle in the open sea, on the
upper half of the screen.
“Soyuz and her escorts were last tagged here. just below the Arctic
Circle and moving slowly east. Unfortunately, in the eight hours since those
sat photos were taken, we’ve lost them. They could be anywhere in this
four-hundred-mile circle. We’ve had numerous radar contacts, but fleeting …
and Soviet ECM is going full blast, as you can imagine. Neither our Hawkeyes
nor our radar satellites have been able to get a very clear picture, and just
to thoroughly screw us up, this whole region is now under a thick cloud cover.
Met says we can rule out satellite reconnaissance until a low east of Iceland
moves out and takes this dirty weather with it.”
The pointer touched several spots on the map, south of the circle and
along the Norwegian coast. “We have had several contacts here … here …
over here. Some solid, some partial. We think these are snorters, and we can
assume that plenty of their nuke-powered comrades are in the area as well. So
far, our SOSUS net hasn’t picked up much in the way of Soviet subs making for
the Atlantic. That could mean they’re restricting their ops to the Norwegian
Sea, or it could mean they’ve found a way to evade SOSUS surveillance. But it
is definite that a lot of subs are staying in Norwegian waters. In the last
forty-eight hours, this battle group has scored four definite sub kills, plus
seven probables. North of this battle group we’re beginning to encounter
something of a target-rich environment.”
Target-rich indeed. Snorters were conventional submarines–Kilos,
Tangos, and Foxtrots–using their snorkles to recharge their batteries while
staying underwater. Tombstone looked at the target locations and shook his
head slowly. Jefferson’s S-3A Vikings were already flying around the clock,
using their seven-hour-plus loiter times to extend the range of their ASW
patrols to the limit. The six SH-3H Sea King helicopters of HS-19 were
patrolling constantly as well, using dipping sonar to test every square mile
of ocean along the battle group’s course, searching for enemy subs.
The problem lay in the enemy’s numbers. Despite the kills already made
by the battle group’s ASW forces, sooner or later the Russians would get lucky
… and the Jefferson would be in their sights.
The pointer skipped up the Norwegian coast, tapping several isolated
surface contact symbols. “All of these are elements of the Soviet Red Banner
Fleet. After the battle three days ago, which, incidentally, we are now
calling the battle of Cape Bremanger, they scattered over this entire quarter
of the Norwegian Sea. Some managed to hide under the clouds, like Soyuz.
Others took shelter among the fjords. All together, we’ve counted nineteen
definite surface contacts, ranging from the Soyuz and the Kirov to small
stuff, survivors from the enemy amphib operation, even coastal patrol boats.
“The main body of the Soviet Red Banner Fleet almost certainly remains to
the far north, probably behind North Cape. Our adversaries seem to be playing
a fairly cautious game, possibly because they’re still working out the, ah,
political ramifications of open conventional war with the United States. It
is Washington’s assessment that they’re still working out a political strategy
that will force us to abandon Norway. Certainly that would be consistent with
Moscow’s primary goal, which is to gain control of all of Scandinavia with
minimum foreign intervention.”
The pointer slid down the coast to the south. “Down here, we have
several hundred scattered contacts. Most of these are civilian shipping,
Norwegian fishing boats and the like. Some are what’s left of the Norwegian
navy. We’ll be able to call on them for support, but the largest combat