Fighting Her Father's War: The FIghting Tomcats

by M. L. Maki

  The distinctive gong sounds throughout the ship, “General quarters. General quarters. All hands man your battle stations. Up and forward on the starboard side, down and aft on the port,” gong, gong, gong.

  Johnson picks up the 1MC, “Carl Vinson, this is your Captain. We have 48 Japanese fast movers inbound. This is not a drill, so I need everyone to stay sharp and remember your training. Time on top, 18 minutes.”

  Halsey, “They must have dog-legged out to seas to come at us from that direction. Can we send the F-14s north to intercept them?”

  “Excellent idea, sir,” then, “Filliator, inform the strike package about the raid. Direct all the F-14s with sufficient fuel to the north to intercept the raid as it returns.”

  RM2 Filliator, “Yes, sir,” and passes the order.

  USS LONG BEACH COMBAT

  When the alarm went out, Captain Tenzar ordered general quarters and ran to combat. As he walks in, “Captain in combat.” He looks over the displays showing the locations of all fleet units, then phones the bridge, “XO, take us outside the fleet ring and orient us broadside toward the threat.” On radio, “Horne, this is Long Beach actual.”

  “This is Horne actual, go ahead, Long Beach.”

  “I’m orienting outside the fleet, broadside to the threat to unmask batteries. I need you 1000 yards behind me.”

  “Understood, Long Beach.”

  Then, “Jarret, Long Beach actual. I need you outside the fleet 1000 yards in front of me to unmask batteries.”

  The Jarret, an Oliver Hazard Perry class frigate has SM-2 medium range missiles. LCDR Robert Hilton, “Roger, Long Beach. We are moving.”

  Tenzar radios, “Fife, Long Beach actual. I need you to orient 5 miles from the carrier on the threat axis. Your point defense weapons are the last-ditch effort. Keep your battery clear toward the threat.”

  Fife’s CO, CDR James Lamoure, “Understood, Long Beach, repositioning.”

  200 MILES WEST OF TASK FORCE, KNIGHT 1

  Knight Flight hears on radio, “Air raid from the north on the Task Force. All Knight and Felix with sufficient fuel are directed north to intercept the aircraft as they return.”

  Puck, “Gold Eagle, Knight Flight is turning north with nine aircraft. We may need fuel after the engagement.”

  “Knight Flight, Gold Eagle, understood. We are scrambling everything off our deck at this time. Tankers will be available.”

  Felix Flight responds, then, “Knight Flight, we are turning north on my mark, turn. State fuel state and load out.”

  Knight Flight squadron reports in with enough fuel for 40 minutes of loiter and a few Sparrows and Sidewinders, all of guns. “Knight Flight, Felix Flight, Gold Eagle, you are to form a picket line north to south with 30 miles of separation between each group, Knight north and Felix south. Once they show their exit vector, all flights close.”

  Puck, “Acknowledge, Gold Eagle, Knight Flight is the north group.”

  COMBAT AIR PATROL, 140 MILES NORTH OF THE TASK FORCE, BEEFEATER 1

  LCDR Jeremy ‘Frosty’ Winters, CO of the Fighting Red Cocks, is leading an augmented CAP, consisting of sixteen F/A-18s of the Red Cocks and the Blue Diamonds. As they close the enemy, “Okay, Hornets, lock your x-foils in the attack position.”

  Lt. JG ‘Jail Bait’ Funk, Beefeater 6, “Red 6, standing by.”

  USS CARL VINSON, CIC

  Halsey, puzzled, “X-foils. What is he talking about.”

  Johnson chuckling, “It’s a movie quote from ‘Star Wars’. We have it on board. Sorry, sir, he’s just trying to keep his guys loose.”

  CAP, 150 MILES NORTH OF TASK FORCE, BEEFEATER 1

  Frosty, “Illuminate.” Sixteen fighters turn on the AN/APG-65 radars, and Frosty says, “Tallyho 30 miles to our front.”

  A few seconds later, Jail Bait, “Frosty, they look like Foxtrot one fives.”

  “Frosty to Hornets, boys, we’re playing with the varsity today. We sold F-15s to Japan. Light burners,” and the F-18s accelerate past the speed of sound as they close in the merge. At 14 miles, they fire their missiles, “Fox 1. Fox 1.” Both the Hornets and theF15s are firing AIM-7 missiles. The missiles cross in the air, two hitting each other and exploding.

  As the missiles come in, the Hornets fire off chaff and flares, maneuvering violently to miss the missiles. Some of the Japanese AIMs lose radar lock. The F-15 is not as agile, due to the heavy Harpoon anti-ship missiles they are carrying. They’re automatic jamming system does spoof some of the missiles, but five Japanese F-15s are shot out of the sky.

  BEEFEATER 332

  Ensign Walt ‘Meat Head’ Jones, Beefeater 332, does a quick barrel roll, firing his counter measures and bores on, maintaining his lock. Three out of his four missiles hit, destroying one aircraft. As he smiles, he hears a loud thump against his Hornet. It pitches up, then tumbles. Meat Head calls, “I’m hit! I’m hit! Punching out!” His F-18, hit right between the engines near the tail, and going 600 knots, disintegrates quickly. The rockets under the seat fire off, and his straps tighten, forcing him into the correct posture for ejection. He blacks out as the 20 g’s of thrust launch him out of his crippled plane and into the 500 knot slipstream. They chair automatically rights itself, flying him up 500 feet, before it separates. The parachute controls know he’s too high to deploy the chute, so he falls until the air thickens.

  DIAMOND 928

  Ensign Tim ‘Water Boy’ Beckett, Diamond 928, shoots down to F-15s. His smile of satisfaction quickly changes to panic as he flies into the exploding cloud of shrapnel from a missile. He struggles to control his injured aircraft, “Water Boy is hit! Water boy is hit! Double flame out.” He gets his aircraft under control just as a F-15 rockets by, firing its guns.

  BEEFEATER 777

  “Skeeters hit! Skeeters hit! Punching out.” ENS Jeb ‘Skeeter’ McAllister, Beefeater 777, ejects into the slip stream. He comes to at 10,000 feet, floating under his chute. As he looks around, he can see a column of smoke rising from the water, all that’s left of his plane. He screams, “THIS SUCKS!”

  BEEFEATER 946

  Lt. Laramie ‘Six Gun’ Morrison, pulls up in a hard 9 g climb, trying to break the missile lock. He snap rolls right, pulls again, then snap rolls around to see the fight. There’s a missile heading straight for him. He rolls vertical and pulls again as he feels his aircraft buck in the exploding missile. All his warning lights flash and go out. The controls freeze and he can’t get the stick to straighten.

  Frosty, “Six Gun. Eject. Your left wing is gone!”

  Six Gun can’t hear, along with everything else, his radio is gone. At 5000 feet, with his aircraft falling out of control, he ejects.

  BEEFEATER 1

  To his left, Frosty sees Lt. Victor ‘Cat Catcher’ Bibb, Diamond 767, desperately maneuvering to miss a missile. He flies into a cloud of debris caused by a disintegrating F-15, and his aircraft explodes. He’s the fourth F-18 shot down. Water Boy is still fighting to save his plane.

  Then the fighters merge at a combined speed of 1400 knots. The Japanese light after burners and accelerate. The F-18s also light burners, and pursue. The Mach 2.5 top speed of the F-15 soon outstrips the American fighters, which cannot exceed Mach 1.8. “Gold Eagle, Beefeater 1, they are now supersonic. Be advised the Japanese fighters are carrying Harpoon missiles on their rails.”

  “Beefeater 1, Gold Eagle, acknowledge. Harpoon missiles. Stay clear, Beefeater. We will engage.”

  “Roger, Gold Eagle. All Hornets turn west and slow to most economical. Water Boy, what’s your status?”

  “Double flame out, multiple system failures. Hydraulics functioning. Two computers down. I have a fire in number 2 engine, restarting number 1. I pulled extinguishers on number 2 and fire is out.” Once Water Boy uses the fire suppression system, his number 2 engine can’t be restarted.

  “Understood, Water Boy, keep your head.”

  “Number 1 engine restarted, returning to base.”

  Frosty, “Gold Eagle, Beefeater 1, we l
ost Beefeater 3, Beefeater 7, Beefeater 9, and Diamond 7. Diamond 9 is on one engine. Sending coordinates. Did anyone see chutes?”

  Jail Bait, “Frosty, they punched out clean and their chutes deployed, all but Cat Catcher.”

  Frosty, “Water Boy, are you going to be able to loiter? Don’t think it’s a good idea to fly toward the ship right now.”

  “Frosty, Water Boy, my bird is stable right now, as long as I keep it slow. I can do it.”

  “Roger that, Water Boy. Jail Bait, stay with him. Gold Eagle, we got five with missiles and one with guns. Sorry, we couldn’t do more.”

  Forty-two F-15s continue to target with two Harpoon missiles each.

  JAPANESE F-15 FIGHTER GROUP

  Colonel Ichiro Nagasawa steadies his F-15 into a slow descent, increasing his speed. His Mach needle at 2.0. Looking out of his cockpit, he sees the forty-two planes left in echelon. This is the most important battle of the war. If he destroys the big carrier, all of its aircraft are lost, and the technological edge goes to Japan. Then, his beloved islands will never feel the touch of nuclear fire. He can see the American task force clearly on his radar at 120 miles, “All pilots, remember, hold fire until 60 miles.”

  CHAPTER 46

  THE WHITE HOUSE, OVAL OFFICE, WASHINGTON, D.C., 0032, 14 JANUARY, 1942

  RADM Ren, RADM Klindt, RADM Lee, CDR Richardson, CDR Warren, Lt. Hughes, Lt. Severn, Lt. Barr, and Lt. Denton are all standing, waiting, while the Secretary of War, Henry L. Stinson, Secretary of the Navy, Frank Knox, CNO ADM King, and President Franklin D. Roosevelt sit discussing the information they’ve received. Hughes leans over to Richardson, “Can you fucking believe this, Scott?”

  Richardson smiles, “I know.”

  Roosevelt looks up at them, “Is there any way to prove all this? It seems too fantastic.”

  Klindt replies, “You could call Prime Minister Churchill, Mr. President. I would assume he’d have been briefed in.”

  Roosevelt, “Yes, I suppose. Admiral, what time is it in London? I’m afraid I’m not up to the mental arithmetic right now.”

  All four admiral start to reply, then Ren, Lee, and Klindt fall silent as King continues, “About 5:30 in the morning, sir.”

  “An indecent hour, but it must be done.” He picks up his phone, “Joe, could you get Winston on the phone?” He turns to the standing group, “So, you want to re-invent our entire economy, Commander Richardson?”

  “Yes, sir, that’s the idea. After the war, the economy should soar. During the war, we would have the advantage over every enemy we face. The country that evolves fastest, wins.”

  The phone rings and FDR picks it up, “Yes?” then, “Winston, I have a rather curious question for you. Did a Doctor Heinlein create a time machine for your Ministry of Defense out in the Australian desert?” He pauses, then, “How do I know? Winston, my friend, I’m speaking right now with the results. That is how.” He smiles, “Yes, Winston, I’m quite certain. It seems we have received a 1990 American aircraft carrier out of the event.” He waits, “Hmmm, I see. Toyota? Just a moment,” and turns back to Richardson. “Did Australia fall to the Japanese? It seems they found a Toyota automobile at the site of the experiment.”

  The brain trust starts laughing, and Ren gets out, “No, sir.”

  SEAL SQUAD BAY, USS CARL VINSON, 1350, 14 JANUARY, 1942

  The SEAL team sits quietly working on equipment and talking when there’s a knock on the door. BM2 Steve ‘Mac’ Cook opens the door. Standing there is a gorgeous brunette in a flight suit, “Are you the SEALs?”

  Steve, tongue-tied, stares at her breasts, and she puts out a hand, lifting his chin, “My eyes are up here, sailor.”

  “Un, sorry, yeah, we’re SEALs. Got anything that needs killing? Ex-husband, um, anything?”

  “No, Petty Officer, I need swimmers today, not killers.”

  “Ensign Russel ‘Triage’ Jeremy walks up, “I apologize for BM2 Cook, he was just potty trained recently. What can we do for you, Lieutenant?”

  Cargo Britches “You know the Japanese are attacking, and we’re about to have a lot of sailors in the water. We need SAR swimmers.”

  Jeremy says, “Yes, ma’am, where do you want us.”

  CB, “I will have someone waiting for you at the island door out to the flight deck. Bring flippers and hustle.”

  “My boys live in flippers.” Then to Lt. Issa, “Abdul, we have a job. Saddle up boys, we’re going swimming.”

  AFT MARK 10 MISSILE LAUNCHER, USS LONG BEACH

  GMM1 Curtis George is in charge of mount 2. In the four years he’s been in charge, he’s actually fired a missile twice. The deck level hatch opens and hydraulic arms lift two white missiles into position, Gmm3 Franks, GMM3 Mont Blanc, GMM2, Wetten, and GMSN Kruger snap the fins into place, giving each a good tug to make sure they’re latched. Then, the two missiles slide forward, rotate up, and wait just outside the doors. FC2 Luke does a quick check, making sure the missiles are talking to the ship and the gyros are spun up. Then, he pushes a button to release the launch. The fire controlman in Combat also releases the missile, and the missile doors quickly open and the two short sections of track extend to connect the rail in the missile housing to each arm of the launcher. Then the missiles are pushed out and up on the launcher arms.

  After the missiles are safely on the arms, a latch moves down to lock them in place. The rail retracts, and the door closes. From initial order to battery ready to fire is supposed to take 30 seconds. Preparing the next two missiles, they hear and feel the shudder of the first two leaving the rails. When the door opens, the acrid smell of missile propellant wafts in. GMM1 George is listening to the combat on the sound powered phone, “Kick it is the ass, guys. We’re shooting down Japs just like Grandpa did.”

  JAPANESE FIGHTER FORCE, 95 MILES FROM THE AMERICAN TASK FORCE

  Colonel Ichiro Nagasawa picks up the targeting radar from the Americans. He recognizes the AN/SPG-55 radar that several 1990 Japanese ships also used. It’s only mounted on ships carrying the standard missile, extended range. “We are in range of their missiles. Dive now. Descent to 200 feet and watch for more fighters.”

  Lt. Koizumi, “I have a missile warning.”

  “As you dive, you will break lock. Watch and learn.”

  The SM-1 missiles fired from the Long Beach lose lock as the Japanese fighters dive below the radar horizon. At Mach 2, it doesn’t take the F-15s long to reach their launch point. They fire their eighty four missiles at 60 miles and turn west, staying on the deck.

  USS LONG BEACH, COMBAT

  Captain Tenzar can see the inbound track of the missiles separate from the turning Japanese fighters. Their only source of tracking information the E-2C Hawkeye in orbit over the task force. Because the planes are under the horizon, they cannot fire upon them. “BM2, announce it.”

  On the 1MC, “Vampire, vampire, missiles inbound. Time on to, 6 minutes. All hands stand by to brace.”

  Until the missiles clear the horizon, they cannot shoot, so they wait. Tenzar looks at the map, “Horne, Long Beach actual, you are out of position, close it up.”

  Captain Rogers of the Horne, “The attack is already on its way. I’ll have to fight where I am.”

  Tenzar, “Dunlap, Long Beach actual, you are exposed. Move to the other side of the Horne.”

  LCDR Sherman of Dunlap, “Roger, Long Beach. I will move.”

  USS CARL VINSON, COMBAT

  Halsey, “Why is the Horne out of position?”

  “Not sure, sir, looks like that destroyer is masking his batteries.”

  Halsey on radio, “Horne, this is Admiral Halsey, return to your assigned position.”

  “Sir, I can fight right here.”

  “Your batteries are masked by Dunlap.”

  “Acknowledged, I am moving.”

  USS JARRET, FFG-33, COMBAT

  The frigate Jarret is the smallest ship in the 1990 task force. It’s Mark 13 missile launcher is newer than the Mark 10 on Long Beach and Horne. It’s
capable of firing seven medium range missiles a minute. The incoming missiles are flying on the deck, and will be within Jarret’s range first. CDR Robert Hilton, CO of Jarret, “FC1, focus on the missiles headed to the carrier.”

  FC1 Dauntleroy, “But, sir, some of them are aimed at us.”

  Hilton, “I know, FC1, but our job is to protect the carrier. We’ve only thirty missiles, let’s make them count.”

  ON PICKET NORTH AND WEST OF TASK FORCE, KNIGHT 1

  Spike, hearing about the Harpoons, remembers Jedi and Papa, “Puck, have Stinky line up for a forward pass.”

  Puck, “Stinky, Puck, what is your position?”

  “Puck, Stinky, over the fleet. Papa is on final.”

  “Understood, do you remember how to forward pass?”

  “Yes! Will do, Puck.”

  LONG BEACH, COMBAT

  Tenzar watches the inbound missile tracks forwarded by the Hawkeye, but the Hawkeye cannot help with targeting. “Damn, four minutes until we can engage. Forty two aircraft, two missiles per plane, eighty four missiles, it’s going to be close.”

  Then, “Long Beach, Knight 916, standing by for forward pass.”

  Tenzar shouts, “Yes!” Finds the fighters location on the NTDS, and “Knight 916, come to course 352, slow to minimum speed and illuminate.”

  “Long Beach, Knight 916, I’m at 352, standing by to receive.”

  Tenzar, “Weapons officer, fire missiles on bearing 097 relative, 15 degrees above the horizon, maximum rate of fire.”

  Ensign Tyler ‘Stinky’ Lewis, Jedi’s RIO, targets the incoming missiles which are flying straight at them, 100 feet above the waves. The Long Beach fires her missiles at a bearing well in front of the F-14. The SM-1ER missiles go supersonic within seconds of firing, peaking at Mach3.5. It takes just seconds before they’re flying through Stinky’s guidance beam. As the missiles turn to follow the new radar guidance beam, Stinky sorts them out to individual targets and guides them in until they hit. At the same time, the F-14 is flying toward the targets at 160 knots.