The Third World War: The Untold Story

It was known in CINCUSNAVEUR on 1 August that this ship had sailed from the Kola inlet a day or so before and headed south-west towards the middle of the Greenland-Iceland-UK gap at moderate speed. From time to time, in the past, the Kirov had proceeded into the Atlantic, west of Iceland, and appeared to be acting as target for Backfire strikes from airfields in the Murmansk area; it was good training, also, for the Soviet maritime reconnaissance aircraft and for satellite surveillance. What was not known, on this occasion, was that the Kirov was accompanied by an Oscar-class nuclear attack submarine, keeping station beneath her, so that her noise signature could not be distinguished from that of the surface ship.

By 3 August the Kirov was about 350 miles south of Cape Farewell. Suddenly the US Navy Orion that had been trailing the cruiser detected another echo close to her. The echoes then merged, and after a short while separated. The Orion continued to trail what she felt sure was the cruiser, while the other echo headed south at 20 knots; both echoes were now observing radar and radio silence. It was the Kirov, however, that was heading south. Early on the 4th the cruiser intercepted the British container ship Leeds United, the exact position, course and speed of which had been transmitted to the Kirov by Moscow. The Leeds United never knew what hit her — two SS-N-19 conventionally-armed tactical missiles fired from over the horizon. During the next three days the Kirov destroyed, in the same way, no less than seven Allied ships, all valuable. As none of them managed to transmit an SOS, let alone a raider report, these losses went unnoticed. Kirov’s orders were to continue south towards the Cape Verde Islands where she could replenish with missiles at the Soviet base at Porte Grande. Having already used up all her surface-to-surface missiles (SSM), her capable Captain Fokin decided instead to make all speed back to Murmansk, passing through the Denmark Strait. He knew that the US airfield at Keflavik had been put temporarily out of action by bombardment with submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM) specially developed for the purpose, fitted into the old but still operational Golf-class boats. In the event, the Kirov was located by a Canadian Orion, which managed to keep just out of range of the cruiser’s SAM. On 9 August the Kirov was severely damaged by Harpoon attack from the US submarine Dallas, and later sunk by torpedoes from the submarine’s squadron mate, the Groton.

In the Mediterranean, on 2 August, the Soviet Fifth Eskadra came to its regular anchorage in the Gulf of Hammamet, off the coast of Tunisia; that is to say, the surface ships and their auxiliaries did. The submarines — two Charlie II SSGN (submarine, guided missile, nuclear powered), and two Victor SSN — remained in deep water, a pair consisting of one of each type patrolling to the east and to the west of Malta. On 2 August the Commander-in-Chief Allied Forces Southern Europe (CINCSOUTH) and the Commander, Sixth Fleet, agreed that it would be advisable for the carrier battle group, which was already at short notice for sea, to sail from Naples and proceed to exercise south-east of Malta. The Soviet Eskadra was, of course, kept under surveillance. However, the electronic deception of the Soviet force was successful, in so far as the guided-missile cruisers Admiral Drozd, Sevastopol and Admiral Golovko with their accompanying missile destroyers were able to weigh anchor after dark on 3 August and proceed eastwards at high speed without immediately being trailed.

The force was located at about 0300 on 4 August by one of CINCSOUTH’s reconnaissance aircraft about 150 miles to the westward of the Forrestal and her battle group. Admiral Lorimer, commanding the Sixth Fleet, immediately ordered reconnaissance to be flown off and a strike readied. At this time both the Soviet submarines of the eastern group were in contact with Forrestal’s battle group and had received orders to commence hostilities at 0400. Sonar conditions, with the warmer surface water typical of the Mediterranean in summer, greatly assisted the submarines to remain undetected. A few minutes after 0400, and before the American admiral had received the order to open hostilities, his flagship was struck by two guided missiles which started fires in the hangar and among the aircraft ranged and armed for the strike. The AWACS aircraft, which had been airborne since 0300, was able to report the incoming missiles as submarine launched, and shortly afterwards