The Third World War: The Untold Story

Taking the Norwegian Sea first, it will be recalled that the heavy cruiser Kirov was sunk on her way back to base in Murmansk after sinking merchant shipping in the Atlantic. Another operation of special interest in progress at the same time involved the carrier Kiev. She had sailed from Murmansk on 23 July, nearly a fortnight before war broke out, accompanied by the two Krivak-class frigates. The group arrived in Cork in the Irish Republic on the 27th for what was presented as a courtesy visit. The ships were reported to be on a training cruise to the Caribbean. The group had of course been tracked by NATO surveillance forces since leaving its home waters as a matter of routine, and it remained under observation after sailing from Cork to the south-westward on 2 August. Contact with the Kiev group was lost, as a result of effective Soviet electronic deception measures, on the night of the 3rd. Luckily, owing to the use of Shannon air base, the subsequent air search was successful in relocating the Kiev on the 5th.

Shannon extended the search radius of French anti-submarine Atlantique Nouvelle Generation (ANG) aircraft, and furnished an invaluable staging point for a squadron of Tornados of the Marine-flieger (the Federal German Naval Air Force) which had been pulled out from Schleswig-Holstein to Lossiemouth and redeployed by Joint Allied Command Western Approaches (JACWA). Accompanied by two RAF Tornado interceptors, with a VC-10 for refuelling, the German Tornados homed on to the Kiev at noon on 6 August. The Forgers from the Soviet carriers had already shot down one of the ANG and one of the Tornados, while SAM from the frigates and the carrier destroyed two more. But the remainder managed good attacks and the Kiev was crippled. One of her frigates was badly damaged also. In the meantime, one of the British fleet submarines, the Splendid, had been sent to intercept. She sank both the Kiev herself and the damaged frigate. The second frigate, having picked up survivors, set off for Cuba but was eventually found by a US Orion operating from Lajes. She did not last long after that.

The main activity in the Norwegian Sea began on 5 August. The British fleet submarine Churchill, on ASW patrol north of the Shetland Islands, sank a Soviet diesel submarine of the newish Tango class (SS) which was on its way to lay mines in the Firth of Clyde. During the next three days there were several submarine encounters with hostile submarines as the first wave of Soviet boats to be sailed after hostilities began reached the Greenland-Iceland-UK gap. The exchange rate was favourable to NATO, as was to be expected given the quieter running of US boats and those of the European allies. But seven more Soviet SSN had got through to the Atlantic.

The US Strike Fleet Atlantic, consisting of two carrier battle-groups, entered the Norwegian Sea on 10 August in order to support the Norwegian forces ashore and the British and US Marines who were about to land, in their task of holding the airfields. This was of high importance. There should have been three carrier battlegroups engaged, but when the news came that the Forrestal had been badly damaged in the Mediterranean it was decided to detach the Saratoga, with her group, from the Strike Fleet Atlantic and send her to support CINCSOUTH.

The Strike Fleet’s operations were also intended to give distant support to the first major reinforcement operation across the Atlantic. This consisted of a group of fast military convoys which sailed from US east coast ports on 8 August, heavily escorted. Diversionary convoys were sailed on other routes, and there was a comprehensive deception plan. Even so, the convoys were heavily attacked by Soviet submarines firing missiles from ranges of up to 250 miles. In mid-Atlantic they were also attacked by Backfire bombers from Murmansk, the attacking aircraft launching their missiles from a distance of up to 180 miles. The running battle that developed occupied a tremendous area of ocean. Fortunately counter-measures were not unsuccessful. The number of transports put out of action would otherwise have been much higher. Losses were nonetheless severe. Only thirty-six out of the forty-eight transports which sailed from the USA docked safely in the Channel ports, but the reinforcement they brought was just in time to play a major part in stabilizing the position on the Central Front.

We come now to the end of Admiral Maybury’s presentation to the US National Defence College in Washington and offer some comments of our own.