Ride of the Valkyries

by Stuart Slade

  Still, the warship screen had increased as well, reinforced by three more Project 22 frigates that had escorted the troop ships in. One of those, plus the two that had escorted the first wave, had been added to his division of the Flying Squadron. So he now had his cruiser, three gun destroyers, two anti-aircraft missile destroyers and three general-purpose frigates. More importantly, each of the frigates carried a Fairey Defender Mark 52B Rotodyne, equipped as antisubmarine and anti-ship platforms. His two Project 21 destroyers had a Defender Rotodyne each as well, a Mark 52C equipped as an airborne early warning and surveillance system. They'd been offloaded to Pattle and now took turns watching out for the intruding Harry bombers.

  "Admiral, Sir!" The Sparker barged on to the bridge without waiting for formalities. "Message just come in from base. On the secure channel. The Chipanese are at sea. Their fleet's out."

  "Where? When? How many?" Dahm was irritated. Not by the lack of formality since the urgency of the message justified that, but by the lack of hard information.

  "From Haiphong, Sir. Four cruisers, eight destroyers. Set sail at noon."

  Six hours ago, the fleet could be 200 miles closer by now. The message had to come from the Viet Minh. The Thais were sitting out this confrontation, they had to, the Americans had seen to that, but that didn't mean they were supplying all the covert assistance they could. Intelligence from the Viet Minh was vital. Dahm gazed at the charts flattened out before him. The direct course from Haiphong to Pattle was already marked.

  "They hold cruising speed, 18 knots, they'll be here by now." The pencil ticked the point. "That means they'll be here" another pencil tick "by dawn. 200 miles short of us. That means they'll be ready to hit Pattle by noon."

  "Sir, if they go to battle speed, they could be right on top of us by dawn." Mysore's Captain was concerned. The Chipanese had already sprung one nasty surprise.

  "They won't do that. They can't, they're measuring oil with an eyedropper out there. They'll hold cruising speed to save fuel. Anyway, they want us. They want to take this squadron out so they can flatten Pattle at their leisure. Come charging in and it's a dawn dogfight around the Atoll and they must know we're landing anti-ship missiles. Or think they know. They'll assume we're landing Jabirus as well and they know that's got an anti-ship mode. So has MOG come to that. All at once, it's a messy battle. The Chimps will want to take us out far north then deal with the Island later."

  "But they may think we think that Sir and come straight in, assuming we'll be heading North. That way they can take the Island out behind us."

  Dahm sighed. We think, they think, we think they think, they think we think they think. And so on into infinity. The hall of mirrors.

  "I know, but I don't think they will. They want us first. These are Navy remember, Chipanese Navy, everything about their doctrine is to seek out a decisive battle with the enemy fleet. That's us. We set out now, we'll hold 28 knots. We'll take Nilgiri, Himgiri and Udagiri with us. Dunagiri and Taragiri will stay with the amphibs. They'll act as picket ships and extra anti-aircraft protection. Damn. If the Chimps had waited another day, the land-based SAMs would be operational. I don't know if the missileers have got the systems calibrated yet and we can't take the chance. One more day and we could take all five frigates.

  "OK, we'll hold an intercept course. At midnight, we'll put a Defender up to spot for the incoming Chimps. When the fighting starts, all three frigates to get their Defenders up and out of the way. If this goes right, we'll intercept the Chimps at dawn. Range will be about 100, 150 miles. Perfect for our Sagarikas. Order Ghurka and Ghanri to get Jabiru-2s up on their rails. That gives us one long range shot at anything inbound before we switch over to Jabiru-1 s"

  The Sparker left to send the orders while Dahm drummed his fingers on the chart. Only his Project 21 destroyers had Jabiru 2s and they only had them for the first shot of the engagement. The problem was that the Indian ships all loaded their missiles vertically, the twin-rail launchers swinging up to 90 degrees elevation and the missiles sliding up from underneath. It was compact and it was fast. Vertical loading allowed the launchers to get three salvoes off per minute. The problem was that vertical loading couldn't handle Jabiru-2s, not easily at any rate. The -2 was too long with its booster fitted. The Jabiru-1 had to be loaded onto the rails, then the interstage manually installed, then the booster loaded up from underneath and fitted to the interstage. It took at least ten or 15 minutes and the whole launcher was out of action while it was being done. The Australian Wellington class destroyers loaded their launchers horizontally so they could have multiple salvoes of long-range missiles, but that solution was expensive in terms of ship length and weight. For the Indian Navy, the long-range Jabiru-2s were one-shot only, then it would be back to the medium range Jabiru-1s.

  "Sir, the frigates are calling in." The Sparker was back. "Do you want them to load Jabiru-2s ready on their rails as well?"

  "They don't have them." Dahm was irritated.

  "No Sir, but their Weaps says he can make them up. They have the right interstage on board and they can take the boosters off Ikaras."

  Dahm kicked himself. Jabiru had been designed as a modular system with a variety of upper stages and a common booster system. Jabiru 2 was simply a Jabiru 1 mounted on the booster used by Ikara using a special interstage.

  "Tell them yes, immediately. And pass my commendation to the Weaps responsible.." It was easy to forget that the weapons could be reconfigured at will. Now, he had a really potent long-range antimissile punch. Underneath his feet, he could feel the vibration as Mysore picked up speed.

  HIJMS Aoba, Flagship, South China Sea Squadron, Dawn, South China Sea

  "Enemy task force closing Sir, range 250 kilometers. Read nine contacts."

  Kurita's face was impassive. Nine enemy ships to his twelve. He had the numbers and the quality. He had his two rocket cruisers ready to fire and eight missile destroyers. Three of the Indian ships were gun destroyers, obsolete in the age of missiles. Three were frigates, slow and lightly armed. The odds were good. He'd guessed the Indian navy would seek a decisive battle, that they would try and face down their enemy, the way the old battle-cruiser Hood had faced down her enemies fifteen years earlier. The Navy had never really recovered from that humiliation. Only, now they wouldn't get the chance. The rocket cruisers would see to that.

  "Yashima and Asahi report they have locked their missiles onto the enemy positions, Sir. They're ready to open fire as soon as you give the word."

  "Very well. Order Yashima and Asahi to open fire on the enemy formation. Full salvo."

  The four cruisers were in a line abreast now, the two rocket cruisers in the center, the gun cruisers on either side. Six destroyers formed a line in front of them with one more on each side. Across from Aoba, Yashima suddenly erupted into flame forward, looking for all the world as if she had exploded. The roar of the Kabuto missiles leaving their tubes penetrated even the bridge of Aoba. Beyond Yashima, Asahi's bows were covered by the same ball of red flame as her forward bank of missiles discharged. Then, the fireball elongated as the second rank fired, the Kabutos screaming away through the dying flames of the first group's launch. The third rank fired, then the fourth, the fire spreading back along the ship's bows until it seemed the whole ship was in flames. Yet, the smoke and fire died away to leave the two rocket cruisers intact except for the blackening of their paint.

  "Missiles away Sir. All 32 heading for the enemy formation."

  Thirty two missiles Kurita thought, about three and a half per enemy target. Enough to wipe out the Indian ships completely. For a brief moment he wished that the Kabuto missiles had pilots like the strategic Ohkas. A pilot could look at the enemy formation, see which ships had been hit, which had not, and plan his attack accordingly. The Kabutos had a radar guidance system with a datalink back to the firing ship. That allowed the crew there to see which missiles had locked in on which ships and transmit go or reselect orders as needed. A substitute but no replacement
for a pilot in the loop. But it would have to do.

  INS Mysore, Flagship, First Division, The Flying Squadron, Dawn, South China Sea.

  "Enemy have opened fire Sir. Raid count, 32 Vampires inbound. Closing high and fast."

  Thirty two missiles Dahm thought to himself. That made his own counter-salvo seem puny. Still, Sagarika flew lower and faster than the Chimp Kabuto so its survival odds were better. Time to let

  "Open fire, all eight Sagarika's in the tubes. Aft mount, reload with four more long range Sagarikas and fire. Bow mount, reload with the four short-range Sagarikas and stand ready."

  The two quadruple launchers were already trained and elevated. The aft mount fired first, its four tubes exploding onto a ball of flame as the missiles streaked out and away. As the bow mount fired, the aft mount quickly retracted into its hangar, the four additional long-range Sagarikas sliding out into the tubes, then the mount elevating once again and firing. It had taken less than a minute and the last of the twelve Indian long-range anti-ship missiles were on their way. That left Mysore with just her four remaining short-range missiles and her guns.

  Dahm glanced at his display. Deep in the ship, the Combat Direction Center was well equipped to show what was happening. The positions of the two formations was shown on the big vertical situation display: long red fingers reached from the Chimp group towards his formation. Soon, his own green fingers would reach out in return. It would take seven minutes for the missiles to cover the distance between the ships but the battle would be over a long time before that. He paced the bridge, snapping his fingers with impatience as the clock ticked by. Soon, the enemy missiles would be within range of the Jabiru-2s.

  "Air defense ships firing, Sir." Mysore's Ops officer spoke quietly.

  The two missile destroyers and the three frigates had fired. The balls of flame were smaller and less impressive than the big anti-ship missiles but the white trails the Jabirus left behind them were oddly reassuring. What was less so was that two of them fell out of the sky within a second or two of launch. Malfunctions, two out of fourteen, leaving twelve on their way. The green tracks of the Jabirus ate up the space, making the anti-ship missiles seem lethargic in comparison. Dahm ground his fingers into the palms of his hands. In the Mediterranean, off Gaza, the American Terriers had an abysmal hit rate against anti-ship missiles. Would the Australian Jabirus do any better? He'd know soon enough, the tracks were converging.

  A roar of cheers went up in the CDC. The tracks had converged and the Jabirus had vanished - but so had eight of the inbound Chimp missiles. Twenty four left. The air defense ships should have three salvoes, fourteen Jabiru-1 missiles in each. If they scored as many hits as they had with the Jabiru-2s, then the attack would fail. The rails on the air defense ships would already be vertical, the missiles sliding into place.

  "Air defense ships firing again, Sir." That would be the Jabiru-1s going off. The destroyers and frigates would be firing as fast as they could now, to get as many missiles in the air as possible. The green lines of the outbound missiles were blurred into one mass, too many for the resolution of the screen.

  "One hit, Sir." There was an appalled gasp around the compartment. One hit out of fourteen? What was going on? Why had the Jabiru-1s done so badly? That was as low a hit rate as the Terriers. The confidence that had been growing evaporated. There were still twenty three missiles inbound.

  "Twelve hits Sir." Another cheer, an uneasy one but still there. Eleven missiles left and there was still the third salvo of Jabirus to score.

  "Six hits, Sir." Another cheer, half-hearted. Five of the 32 enemy missiles had got through the Jabiru screen and it was down to the point defense systems to save the Indian ships.

  Two of the Kabutos had selected Mysore as their target. Although their electronic brains could not take pride in the achievement, those two missiles had done well. They'd picked the most valuable ship in the formation and also the one with the weakest air defenses. Before her refit, Mysore would have been almost helpless. That refit had given her MOG short-range missiles and twin 35mm BOER guns. The midships MOG quadruple launcher started firing off its missiles, the first three missed the diving targets but the fourth exploded just underneath the leading Kabuto. The blast didn't destroy it but the big warhead flipped the anti-ship missile up, out of its dive path. The homing head lost acquisition and the missile made a ballistic arc, over Mysore to explode some five hundred yards away.

  The other missile was confused. Mysore was firing chaff and the echoes from the strips of aluminum foil falling behind her seemed to make the ship grow longer. The missile shifted its aim aft, trying to keep the center of the ship in its sights. At the last second, it realized how it had been fooled and tried to correct, but the sudden change tumbled its gyros and the missile went out control. Yet, it almost made it. The Kabuto crashed into the sea about 30 yards short of its target and the explosion of its 2,200 pound warhead cracked open seams and sent white-hot splinters flying through Mysore's side. The cruiser lurched and black smoke poured upwards as the fire and damage control parties got to work, sealing compartments, plugging leaks and bringing the fires under control before they could take hold.

  The two Kabutos that had selected Ghauri as a target had made a mistake. She was regarded as the best anti-aircraft ship in the fleet and her performance proved it. She got off two more Jabirus from her aft launcher as the attacking missiles started their dive and got one Kabuto with them. Her MOG crew amidships got the other, hitting it twice with their missiles. The 55 pound warheads reduced it to scrap in mid-air. That scrap showered down on the destroyer but did little damage.

  The fifth missile scored big. It picked the frigate Himgiri as a target and its dive was precise. The frigate was designed as an escort for convoys and other support roles, not to take part in a fleet engagement. She'd already done more than her share, and this was just that bit too much. Himgiri's MOGs missed, not by much, but they missed and the ship's EW fit wasn't adequate to beat the Kabuto's homing head. The missile struck almost exactly amidships. The warhead blasted the engine rooms open and sent a fireball rolling through the ship's structure. Just aft of the point of impact were the MOG magazines and the fireball opened them up with little effort. The missiles exploded and initiated a chain of ammunition detonations that ripped through the heart of the frigate. When the smoke of the eruptions cleared, she just wasn't there anymore.

  It was over. Dahm looked up from the display, grief at the loss of Himgiri and the damage to his flagship mixed with relief that the rest of his squadron was intact. "What's happened to our missiles, then?"

  HIJMS Aoba, Flagship, South China Sea Squadron, Dawn, South China Sea

  The cheering echoed around the bridge: the officers ostentatious in their delight, the enlisted seamen restricting themselves to the satisfied smiles their status imposed. "Five enemy ships hit, Sir. They're heavily damaged at the very least. Five of our missiles got through to strike the enemy, and destroyers cannot take a hit from a Kabuto. Perhaps their cruiser survived, but four of the destroyers must be sinking. A great victory. Sir!'"

  Admiral Kurita looked unconvinced. The rocket cruisers were the pride of what was left of the Japanese Navy so their promoters, which included virtually everybody, assumed the best of them. Kurita wasn't so sure; he'd seen too many exaggerated claims, too many assumptions that had proved to be false. Still, the radar trace showed that five of the Kabutos had got through. If they ‘d had their nuclear warheads, there would be nothing left of the Indian fleet. They didn‘t though, and the conventional warheads were hardly in the same league as ship killers. Five missiles though didn't mean five hits. One, perhaps. Kurita was dispirited. The salvo from the rocket cruisers was supposed to be the battle-winner, the devastating first punch that would leave the enemy shattered and the survivors ready to be mopped up. That wasn‘t happening.

  "Where are the enemy missiles? Did they launch a salvo?"

  "‘Not yet, Sir.... Wait one.... Negate that, enem
y anti-ship missiles, probably Sagarikas, crossing the radar horizon now, three groups of four......destroyers opening fire."

  ‘Negate that', Kurita ran the words around in his mind glumly. The Americans might be too weak to turn their immense power into world dominance but SAC-speak was infecting the whole world. The delay in spotting the Indian missiles made sense though, Kurita reflected as he watched the sterns of the six destroyers ahead of his cruisers erupt into flame. The Nodachi missiles leaped from their storage boxes towards the incoming weapons. The Japanese Kabuto flew a high, arcing trajectory intended to allow its radar homing system to detect its targets as early as possible. That increased their vulnerability but made them independent of outside aid. The Indian Sagarika flew much lower but was steered to its target by information from the airborne Fairey Defender Rotodynes. That made them less vulnerable but dependent on outside assistance. Now, the Indians would see if their concepts worked.

  Ahead of Aoba, the six destroyers were firing rapidly, one full salvo at each group of four. Another difference in style, Kurita reflected. The Japanese had four missiles ready to go on each launcher but it took time to reload, the Nodachis had to be manually pulled from their reload hangar in the base of the superstructure and fitted to the rails. This gave a very heavy defense against a first strike but a long time before the launchers would be ready to engage a follow-up strike. The Indian, Australian really, Jabirus had a twin rail launcher that only took seconds to reload, suited to a prolonged engagement. That was why Kurita was holding the Nodachi launchers on his two remaining destroyers and the two rocket cruisers in reserve.

  "First group, three hits!" Cheers on the bridge again as only a single Indian missile penetrated the first salvo of Nodachis.

  "Second group, four hits!" The cheering redoubled as the second group of Indian missiles, only a split second behind the first group, vanished in a welter of explosions that stained the horizons black. "Sir, two of our missiles flew through the wreckage of Sagarikas that were hit a split second earlier!" The warfare officer broke off as the third group of missiles, a few seconds behind the first two groups, was intercepted.