B018R79OOK EBOK

by Unknown

  “Damn! We heard some explosions. Are you sure she isn’t damaged?” the captain asked.

  “Does not sound like it at all. Her engine noises have increased.”

  “Ready another four missiles. Move us in closer. Do you hear any other ships?”

  “Just her escorts. They are following her,” the sonar officer reported.

  “Then we must complete the job. Make course for intercepting. Make our speed thirty,” the captain ordered.

  “Captain, it will mean we make some noise,” said the sonar officer.

  “Our task is to sink that carrier. Since we have heard no other ships but her escorts, we may be safe to take that risk. Give me thirty knots!” he demanded. The submarine increased speed toward the carrier.

  Aboard USS Texas

  “Bridge, Sonar. I have cavitation noises from target 12. He’s heading our way,” the chief called out.

  “How close will he get?” the Captain asked.

  There was a snicker over the bitch box. “Almost right on top of us. But at that speed, I guarantee he won’t hear us,” the chief said.

  “Must not be too bright. Do we have a solution?” Jacobs asked.

  “We have a solution, Captain. It’s long range, but we have a green light,” said the fire controlman.

  “Are there any other submarine contacts?”

  “None within fifty miles, Captain,” said sonar.

  “Then let’s show him the error of his ways. Fire control, match bearings and shoot,” Jacobs ordered.

  The Mark 48 ADCAP torpedo swam out of its tube and increased its speed to nearly 50 knots. The Texas fire control team could hear the oncoming submarine through the torpedo’s system via the wire still attached to the ship. The torpedo tracked straight in.

  USS John F. Kennedy

  A member of the crew saw the explosion as it erupted through the surface of the water and reported it to the bridge. The Captain turned to his OOD. “I hope that was a bad guy,” he said.

  Within a few minutes USS Texas reported the target sunk. After a few minutes of deep breaths, the Captain ordered the ship to reduce speed and deploy more ASW assets. The Russians had started a war and the Kennedy would be ready.

  Chapter 8

  Picking up the Pieces

  The White House

  Hammond was in a deep sleep when the Secret Service agent stepped in and woke him. “Admiral, you need to get in uniform and come down to the situation room,” he said.

  Somehow Hammond didn’t hesitate or question. He knew something had happened. Grabbing his uniform and quickly getting dressed, he followed the agent down to the bottom floor of the White House into the West wing basement, where the President was sitting in front of a large screen monitor, talking to someone in the Pentagon. He motioned for Hammond to take a seat. The room was already full of the White House military staff.

  “What was hit?” he asked.

  “Sir, it’s still early, but we are receiving reports from everywhere of our ships being targeted. As of now, the Lincoln has been hit and has settled onto the floor of Naples Bay, the Eisenhower was hit by four missiles and is heavily damaged, the Iwo Jima is sunk, the Stennis is heavily damaged, the Nimitz has light damage, the Vinson was struck by two torpedoes, the Truman was hit by a missile, the Washington was struck in Yokosuka, and the Bush was caught at sea and struck by six missiles. She is sinking,” the watch officer said.

  “So they went after our carriers,” the President sighed.

  “Not just the carriers. It appears they also targeted our battleship memorials. The New Jersey was hit three times and sustained some damage; the Alabama was hit four times, the Missouri once, the North Carolina was shot at, but the missiles hit the Memorial Bridge crossing the river. Same with the Massachusetts. The missiles fired at the Wisconsin hit the Nauticus museum instead. The Iowa was also shot at, but the missiles struck a Disney cruise liner which had just entered port with over 5,000 passengers. We don’t know how many were killed there,” he reported.

  The President sat back in his seat and let out a deep breath. “Okay, get everyone up. I need the Joint Chief’s here in half an hour. Package everything you can and get it over to my people. Put everything at DEFCON One. Keep all the nukes safe and in their bunkers. Let me know if anything new comes in. Thanks for the brief,” he said as the screen shut down.

  The President turned to Hammond. “They crossed the Polish border along a 50 mile front. Went right through the defenses and kept going. They are doing the same in Slovakia. You remember that thing you said about shock and awe? Well, they just did it to us. It looks like I have about a quarter of our carriers and Europe is in a tailspin.” He looked at Hammond. “You were right in all respects. Every carrier in port was hit. Those at sea were mostly okay. They even hit the battleships. Now we have to fight with a hand tied behind our backs again,” he sighed.

  A phone rang and one of the staff answered it. He then turned to the President. “Sir, a Mr. Brad Freeman is on the line from CBS. He says it’s urgent.”

  “Here it comes,” the President said. He picked up the phone and pressed the button. “Yes, Mr. Freeman.”

  “It’s coming in from all over. How do you want to play this,” he said.

  The President sat up in his seat. A look of determination grew on his face. “Brad, report it. Report it all. It appears the Russian Government has declared war on Europe and the United States. Let people know what happened, and tell them we are not backing down.”

  Mayport, Florida

  Four missiles had entered the harbor in the small town of Mayport, Florida. Fortunately, since the Eisenhower was currently in Norfolk, there was no carrier in port. The missiles locked in on the largest target they could find in the area. All four struck the Mayport water tower. Immediately the ships in the harbor began to ready themselves for sea. The first out of port was USS Gettysburg, an older AEGIS cruiser. Captain Chuck Flank had rushed from his home in base housing and took charge. With the crew he had, he would take his chances at sea.

  General Quarters had already been sounded and the ship was prepared when he dashed across the ship’s brow. The Command Duty Officer was there to meet him. “Captain, the ship is at GQ stations and we have the engines online and ready. We have a little over half the crew aboard. I ordered the officers to prepare to get the ship underway,” the young lieutenant, junior grade reported.

  “Good work. Do we have a bridge crew?” the Captain asked as they nearly ran forward.

  “Enough to get the job done, Captain. But it will be tough fighting the ship,” the officer said.

  “That’s okay. I just want my ship out of danger,” Flank nearly shouted.

  When they reached the bridge, there was a Chief Quartermaster at the helm and a First Class Bo’sn’s mate next to him. Two seamen were at the lookout positions and a First Class Quartermaster at the chart. Looking back at the pier, Flank watched as several cars screeched to a halt on the pier only to be abandoned by the drivers as they rushed up the brow.

  “It’ll have to do,” said Flank to the people around him. “How do we stand on the electric, water and sewer lines?” he asked.

  A young woman wearing a set of sound powered phones responded. “The ship is on internal power and the lines were just pulled to the pier. Sewer line is disconnected and water line is being worked on, sir,” she said.

  “Are our people on the pier?” he asked.

  “Yes, sir, they’ll come over as soon as the brow gets in. If we need to, one will stay on the pier to remove the lines,” said the officer.

  Captain Flank nodded and punched a button on the bitch box. “Engineering, bridge. Are you guys ready to go?” he asked.

  To his surprise, the Chief Engineer answered. “Ready in all respects, Captain. Four turbines on line, ready to answer all bells.”

  “Good, standby.” Flank punched another button. “Damage Control, Bridge. How are we manned?”

  “Captain, we have two full teams ready to g
o, and a partial to fill in if we need them,” reported the Chief in Damage Control Central.

  Another button was pushed. “CIC, Bridge. What’s our status?”

  “All systems online and in standby. All weapons stations are manned and ready. We are ready to get underway. We will have to run short staffed, but we can get the job done,” said the assistant CIC officer.

  “Very well. Bring the systems online. I don’t know what to expect once we get to sea, but be ready for anything,” Flank ordered.

  The ship’s Executive Officer suddenly appeared on the bridge along with several others, including a harbor pilot. He looked at the Captain. “Didn’t think I’d make it. You want me here or in CIC?”

  “Go to CIC for now. Let’s get her underway,” Flank said. He turned to the Command Duty Officer. “Lieutenant Justice, you now have the deck and the con. Single up all lines,” he ordered.

  Along the deck, several groups of people suddenly began disconnecting the lines that held the ship to the pier until only one line at each station remained. Flank turned to the pilot. “You don’t know how glad I am to have you here,” he said with a grin.

  “I kinda thought you might need a little help. I’ll get the tug to tie up aft. Let’s back her around and then take off,” he said.

  The pilot barked a few orders over his radio and a tug pulled up alongside the stern of the ship and passed over a line. When all was ready, the last of the mooring lines were cast off and the brow simply shoved over the side so that it would be on the pier. The tug pulled the ship’s stern toward the center of the harbor and the ship began to slowly make her way backward until she had plenty of clearance. Then the tug cast off and swung around to push the bow around. Within minutes, USS Gettysburg was around the corner and into the St. Johns River.

  Captain Flank had the ship’s systems turned up full. The AEGIS system was pumping out 6 million watts of power to try and detect any missiles or ships which may be coming towards them. On the bridge, things were tense as the CIC watch began calling out contacts, their bearings, courses and speeds. Most were inbound airliners headed toward Jacksonville International Airport, but each new contact raised the sweat level of the people doing their jobs. The ship had made it into the channel when a gigantic explosion gripped the old ship and lifted the bow out of the water.

  Almost immediately the electricity on the bridge went out and she began to settle by the bow. Flank and the rest of the crew were thrown from their feet. The Captain immediately sprang up and looked out over the bow to see that it was no longer lined up with the rest of the ship. “Do we have steering control?” he shouted.

  Spinning the wheel and seeing the rudder change, the Chief reported, “Yes, Captain, I have steering control.”

  Flank hit the damage control button and shouted. “DC Central, report!”

  “Captain, we have reports of flooding all the way back to frame 100. I have guys going out, but it’s not good. Sir, the ship is going down,” came the report.

  Flank knew it had to be done, but he nearly wept at the idea he had to do it. “Steer right. Put the ship up against the breakwater,” he said painfully.

  Slowly, USS Gettysburg inched right, away from the center of the channel and toward the heavy rocks that formed the breakwater leading out to sea. Within a few minutes there was a great shudder as the bow ground into the rocks. There was a loud groan and a bang as the forward part of the ship snapped and moved to the left. The ship came to a halt.

  “All stop,” the Captain ordered. He looked back at the pilot. “Is the stern clear?”

  The pilot went to the port bridge wing and looked aft. “Yes, Captain, you’re clear. People can get around you,” he said sadly.

  “You better get on that radio and tell the tower not to let anyone come out. Either we were hit by a torpedo or the channel has been mined,” he said. Flank looked around at the faces on the bridge. The shock was reflected in each of them.

  Slowly, despite all their efforts, USS Gettyburg settled in the water until her main deck was awash. The engineers restored power to parts of the ship, but the Gettysburg wasn’t going anywhere.

  The White House

  “Mines too?” the President said in exasperation. “How the hell did they get mines in our harbors?” he asked.

  “Mister President, if you recall, we had posed that possibility in our report,” said the CNO. He, along with Hammond, the other Joint Chiefs, National Security Advisor and several cabinet members were sitting around a large table in the situation room. “It’s awfully hard to detect one of their mines until it comes up from the bottom. That’s why we tried to get as many of our ships underway as we could,” he said.

  O’Bannon sighed and put his hands on the table. “What a mess,” he sighed. A phone rang and an assistant answered. He turned to the President. “Sir, it is the German Chancellor.”

  The President pressed the speaker on the phone, “Chancellor, I believe we have just witnessed the start of World War Three,” he said solemnly.

  “Yes, Mister President, I believe this is the case. I have just ordered my army across the border to help. I am also seeing that you have been hit as well,” the Chancellor said.

  “Yes, Chancellor, we have taken some serious blows. I am getting updated about it even now. Shall I implement our joint plans now?” the President asked.

  “I have been contacted by the Poles, the Dutch, the Slovakians, Czechs and the Belgians. Since I doubt the British would object, I recommend we do.”

  The President took a breath. “Very well, I agree. We begin operations immediately. I shall inform the new staffs and we will get things started as soon as possible,” he said. “If I may, I will get some things done here and contact you again later this morning,” he said. “Do you have any news from Slovakia?” he asked.

  “President Jenej told me his air forces were nearly wiped out in an early morning raid. It appears they are following the main highways. He dispatched his forces, but he is certain it is hopeless. They are making plans to pull his forces back to the Czech Republic and form a government in exile. I told him I agreed with his decision. There’s just no way to stop them down there. I’m hoping that the combination of both the Slovak and Czech armies, we might be able to stop them at the Czech border,” the Chancellor said.

  “I agree. There’s not much they can do. Looks like we have a mess on our hands. Let me check on a few things and call you back,” said O’Bannon.

  “Thank you, Mister President. And please relay our support and our sorrow for the losses you have sustained. We shall talk later,” the Chancellor said, ending the conversation.

  “The British Prime Minister is holding, Mister President,” said the assistant again.

  O’Bannon activated the speaker again. “Mister Prime Minister, I just got off the line with the Chancellor of Germany. He wants us to implement the plans we made. Do you agree?”

  “Most certainly. I am sending assets now. When do you think the commander will be on his way? I want to have at least a rudimentary staff up and ready,” said the Prime Minister.

  “I’ll have him there within seventy two hours. How bad were you hit?”

  “Devonport and Portsmouth were hit but not too badly. Both our carriers, the Queen Elizabeth and the Prince of Wales, were spared. We had them up near Iceland. You might want to check for mines. One of our submarines caught one on the Clyde. I have a feeling where there’s one, there will be many more,” the Prime Minister said.

  “I agree. We just lost USS Gettysburg to one in Mayport. Until I can make sure the area is clear, we can’t deploy any more ships. Let me get fully briefed and I will contact you later this morning,” the President said.

  “Very good. Between us, we should be able to get some order out of this muck,” he said.

  “I will get back with you as soon as I can,” said O’Bannon as he hung up the phone. He turned to the others. “Well, you heard it. We implement Plan Alpha immediately. As the first part of that pl
an, the allied leaders have all decided on who will be the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe. That individual will be packing his bags and getting over there pronto. There’s a lot to set up and a lot to get going.” He turned to Hammond. “Admiral Hammond, you have been unanimously selected to be that commander. I need you to set up your staff and get over there. I also want you to pass along your recommendations for who your American commanders will be. You will then need to begin making plans on how we will all get through this war. Normally, I would ask you to do something like this, but in this case, it’s an order. I just need it to happen. Do you have any questions?”

  Hammond looked like he had been run over by a truck. After a moment he questioned, “Are you sure?”

  It was General Black who responded. “Damnit man, of course we’re sure. We don’t need some pasty faced flunky over there, we need someone to command. Hell, even the French recognize this. Roger, you have the trust and confidence of everyone in this room. Just do the best you can and we’ll back you up,” Black expounded.

  The CNO almost laughed, “Hell, Roger, I’m sure you caught wind of this by all those interviews. It can’t be that much of a surprise,” he said.

  “I know, but I’m an admiral. I know the sea, not large scale battlefields. Surely you can’t…”

  The President held up his hand. “Roger, put the modesty away. You will have plenty of people hanging around to make sure you don’t make those kinds of mistakes. Just make your plans and get the job done,” he said.

  “I think your plan is made anyway,” said Black. “I read over that plan you gave me. I like it. Like it a lot. It’s daring and should scare the bejesus out of the Russians. Yes, there needs to be a little polish and some more details, but you have my vote. It goes along with what the President wants and should take the heat off the Eastern Front. Why not go with it?” Black said.