by Unknown
Task Group off North Korea
USS Ronald Reagan was operating just thirty miles off the Korean coast. Her F-14s and Intruders were conducting nearly round the clock operations against the North. Today’s mission had taken off just one hour before. They were attacking an arms plant discovered deep in the mountains of North Korea. This was the first time a carrier operated this close to shore, but the close proximity to targets made for faster turnarounds. Two F-14s were providing air cover for the carrier and were stationed along the coast. Two escorts were with the carrier while the others were in port refueling. USS Iowa was assigned the same sector to patrol and was coming up on her port side.
Many of the sailors came up on deck to see the battleship as she approached. Few had ever seen one before. Signal lights were flashing and signals being exchanged. Nearly everyone was impressed by the sight.
The pilots of the F-14s were keeping up a steady stream of banter on the radio. On three occasions the ship came on to remind them to keep their radio traffic to a minimum. At several sites inland, operators plotted the bearing of the radio transmissions. The information was relayed via telephone to a central location. The lines were plotted, giving the exact position of the American carrier. The position was called into two Silkworm missile batteries within range. It took only two minutes to launch the missiles.
“Silkworm launch!” cried one of the F-14 pilots as he saw one of the last ones leave the launcher. In all, eight missiles were in the air and he and his wingman banked hard to follow the missiles in order to shoot one down. Unfortunately the missiles were already streaking along at over 600 miles an hour. Even with full afterburner it would be almost impossible to catch up in time.
On the carrier the combat information center was tracking the inbound targets and designating them to the escorts. Two more planes were on the catapult and being readied for launch. There was no time.
USS Haliburton was stationed forward of the carrier. A white SM-1 shot onto the rail and rotated outward. It was immediately launched into the beam of the SPG-51 radar. A second one quickly followed it. The missile tracked outbound and headed for the lead Silkworm. In seconds the missile turned downward and exploded just four feet from the side of the missile, peppering it and detonating the warhead. The second of Haliburton’s missiles tracked outbound, striking the third missile and causing it to fly into the sea.
USS Semmes was on planeguard duty behind the carrier. Her missiles were sent against the second and fourth Silkworms. The first self destructed when it lost the beam signal. The second reached its target and exploded 10 feet from the Silkworm, knocking it out of the sky. A second missile was fired, but not before it passed within the minimum firing distance. There was no time for the next five missiles.
When the pilot called out the warning, Hammond reacted. “This is the Captain. XO, put this ship right next to the carrier at a range of about 300 yards. And do it fast!” Hammond shouted into the bitch box from Strike.
On the bridge, the XO took charge. “This is the XO, I have the deck and the conn, right standard rudder, all engines ahead flank indicated 999 for maneuvering combinations,” he shouted.
USS Iowa sped up along its track and turned in toward the carrier. The men on the bridge could hear the turbines for the forced draft blowers suddenly speed up and a froth of white begin boiling up from the stern. The bow pointed toward the bow of the carrier and the ship seemed to lurch toward her. Striking one of the swells, a huge plume of spray shot over the bow and was flung upward as the ship muscled her way through the seas ever faster. At a range of 500 yards the XO had the rudder swung back hard left and the ship turned to match the course of the carrier.
By now the battleship’s 5-inch guns were blazing away. The ship’s ancient systems had never been designed to hit targets going that fast, but as the director’s radars kept locked on, the guns threw out the rounds. Inside, the mount captains took control by hand and tried to lead the missiles as they came in. They were rewarded when they began to see the puffs as the variable time fuses in the projectiles began to sense they were near the target and detonated. Suddenly the second Silkworm disappeared in flame from a direct hit. The XO kept up the speed until the Iowa was in the direct path of the incoming missiles.
The crew had already moved inside the skin of the ship. The entire bridge crew ducked into the thick armored citadel and closed the big 17-inch thick doors. The ship’s guns continued firing rapidly though the chances of actually hitting a target were practically nil. The variable timed fragmentation rounds continued to fill the air and several went off near the incoming missiles without having any real effect. The 20mm PHALANX close-in weapons systems trained out and began to fire, but they had each targeted the same missile. It exploded within 100 yards of the ship. There was no time to retarget the rest.
The first Silkworm struck turret one on the port side. It’s 800-pound warhead detonating with a tremendous bang. A bright yellow flame engulfed the side of the turret as the remainder of the rocket fuel ignited. The second missile struck turret three’s barbette, blasting upwards, shredding the weather seal, and flinging bits of the missile across the deck. A third struck near the black cap of the after funnel. All three sent missile fragments and flames streaking skyward. The force of the explosions shook the old battleship violently, rocking the ship to starboard, knocking men off their feet and rupturing the eardrums of the closest men.
Immediately Hammond left Strike and headed to the bridge. He arrived on the port bridge wing to see smoke and flames pouring from the forward turret. Looking aft, there was a similar black cloud. Amidships he watched as the wind blew the smoke away.
The top of the after stack was gone. Turning back forward Hammond watched as a damage control team turned water hoses on the side of the burning turret. As the water hit the turret it hissed from the heat, but slowly the smoke cleared and the fire died away.
Hammond almost couldn’t believe his eyes. Turret one was still intact. The missile hadn’t even dented it. The thick steel designed to withstand the pounding from another battleship completely absorbed the blow.
There was a commotion on the bridge as reports were coming in and orders were issued. “Sir, damage control reports turret one and three still operational. There is some damage to the weather guards, but the turrets and crews are intact. Blast damage is restricted to light structures. They also report the after stack cap is not aboard the ship. It must have been blown overboard,” the OOD reported.
Hammond punched the engineering button on the bitch box. “Main Control, bridge. What’s your status?”
“We lost fires in one boiler of the after group, Captain. The explosion simply blew them out. Fires have been relit and we are capable of 27 knots. I have told the damage control teams to stop pouring water on the remains of the stack. The smoke you are seeing is stack gas and nothing more. There’s no real damage, Captain,” reported the Chief Engineer.
Hammond then punched in Damage Control Central. “DC Central, bridge, any word on casualties?”
“Captain, this is Blackie, Doc is headed up to turret one. It looks like there was some bleeding from the ears from some of the guys, but there are no reports of any real casualties. Doc said he’d call in a report when he got things sorted out. We still have a couple of small fires on the main deck aft. But they are being addressed. The repair party says there are missile fragments imbedded in the wooden deck. We’ll have to be careful around where the missiles hit.”
“I’ll pass it along. Thanks, Blackie.” Another button pushed. “Plot, bridge. What’s the weapons status?”
“This is Weaps, Captain, all guns operational, fire control systems operational. We are shutting down the Harpoons until we can check out the damage and we are also shutting down the Tomahawks on the after deck. Once we do a visual inspection I can give you an up or down check.”
“Thanks, Weaps. Keep me posted.”
Hammond leaned on his chair. No serious damage, he thought. The XO
and the rest of the watch had now joined him on the bridge. Hammond was smiling until the XO pointed out the window. The top of the stack was sitting on the flight deck of the Ronald Reagan.
“Now I’ve seen it all,” said Hammond. Then he turned to the XO. “Find out where those missile sites were,” he said. Then he grabbed the 1MC microphone. “This is the Captain. Before now, I thought it was a joke. Sweepers, sweepers man your brooms,” he said. “Good work people.”
Strike received the coordinates of the missile launchers from the F-14 pilot. USS Iowa turned sharply away from the carrier and began steaming at full speed toward the coast. The RPV was launched off the fantail.
Thirty minutes later turrets one and three turned outward and took out their revenge on those who tried to damage them. It took only ten minutes each to totally destroy both the sites and their magazines.
Washington, D. C.
Senator Williamson was sipping a good single malt when his private telephone rang. “Williamson.”
“Senator, I thought you might like to know something I just heard from my guy in the Pentagon,” said former Admiral Granger.
“Admiral! Good to hear from you. What have you got for me,” Williamson asked. He grabbed a pencil and a pad of paper at his desk.
“This is just off the wire and I have a guy who tries to keep me up on things. He just told me the battleship Iowa was hit by three cruise missiles,” Granger said.
“Damn!”
“You remember I told you it was foolish to put those antiquated ships out there. She probably couldn’t defend herself. I don’t have any more information, but I bet she’s about to hit the bottom of the sea. Just one of the things can sink a ship,” Granger began to pontificate. “Those ships just don’t have the technology to take on modern cruise missiles. But more importantly, the CO is that guy Hammond, his hatchet man. The President used his influence to get him a command and he blew it.”
“Hammond is the CO? That’s interesting. So you think she’s sunk?”
“Either that or very heavily damaged. I would figure they have lots of casualties too. All my man said was she had been hit and there was some damage.”
“Okay, let me get on this. I appreciate this, Admiral. Please let me know if you hear anything else,” Williamson said hurriedly. He hung up and thought a moment. This was hot and he needed to get on it right then. They’ll tell me to wait as usual, he thought to himself. No, this was one he would handle personally. He started making phone calls. After burning up the telephone lines for an hour he closed down his office and made his way home. He didn’t notice the light telling him he had a message.
It was late evening and President Steve O’Bannon was deep into the paperwork of a spending bill when his secretary told him of an incoming call from the CNO. “Yes, Admiral, what can I do for you?” he asked after picking up the telephone.
“Mister President, we just got word Iowa was hit.”
The words stung O’Bannon when he heard them. Not only did it involve his sailors and Marines, but also a good friend. “How bad?”
“Actually sir, not bad at all. According to the operational report, she was hit by three Silkworm missiles. One struck turret one, the second turret three and the third blew a funnel off. But the good news is there were no casualties.”
“You’re kidding me!”
“No, sir. Hammond got his people behind all that armor and they came out pretty much unscathed. I got a follow up from the carrier commander. Iowa took the hits by placing herself between the missiles and the carrier.”
“Son of a bitch. That’s damn near epic!”
“Yes, sir. But there’s even more news. The carrier had a helo up with TV news guys on it. There’s video of the whole thing coming over the satellite now.”
O’Bannon came up out of his seat. “Perry, I’m on my way over. Let’s get the PAO types on this. I should be there in a few minutes.”
“I figured so. We’ll be ready, sir.”
“See you then,” O’Bannon said as he hung up. He pressed the intercom. “Bev, get the Chief of Staff and the Press Secretary in my office right now. Then get the detail set up for a run to the Pentagon. Set it up fast, Bev.”
It took just seconds before Butler came through the door. “What’s up, Boss?”
“Jim, Iowa took some hits while defending a carrier. Perry called and says there’s video coming over the satellite. Wanna go see it?”
“Damn straight. Anybody hurt?
“Not a soul. The on-scene guy said Hammond placed his ship in a direct line between the missiles and the flat top. This needs to get out fast.”
“I agree. Looks like our friend is the best pick for the job,” he said.
The Press Secretary entered the room with his notebook in hand. “Anything up?”
“A ton,” the President said. “Let’s have us a trip to the Pentagon.” The men exited the Oval Office and picked up the detail. By the time they reached the front door the car and escort were waiting. Motorcycle police were always waiting at the gates and led the way out of the compound and down 15th Street to Constitution. The motorcade made its way to the Lincoln Memorial and Memorial Bridge. Crossing the Potomac, they followed Jefferson Davis Highway to the Pentagon. The Presidential Limo pulled right up to the steps. The CNO and members of the Joint Chiefs were there to greet him. All of them followed Johnson and the President to the Pentagon briefing room where the digital images had been transferred to a videotape and set up for viewing.
The President walked in and sat at the head of the table. Admiral Johnson started. “More news has come in. Some of the sailors were injured. Evidently the missile explosions ruptured some eardrums of sailors in turret one and near the other blasts. One guy broke an arm when it knocked him off his feet. The doctor aboard is treating them and there should be no lasting damage. They basically have to have cotton in their ears a few days until the eardrums heal. Also, right after the ship was hit, she transited to the area where the missiles were launched and took out both launch sites.”
“Shit!” said the Press Secretary.
“I agree. We really need this out ASAP, sir,” said the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs. “This is hot as hell. I am already getting written stories, voice, and now this video,” he said.
“Let’s see it,” the President said.
The lights were dimmed and a crisp image of the Ronald Reagan came into view. It was obvious she was trying to launch airplanes. There were sounds on the tape of the helicopter and some talking in the background. Suddenly someone said “Look at that!” The camera panned to see the Iowa making a mad dash toward the carrier. A huge plume of water shot over the bow as she cut through the waves. In the background they could see the planeguard destroyer launch one missile and then another as the battleship heeled over, turning to go in the same direction as the giant carrier. The 5-inch guns on the Iowa were firing continuously at some target. The CIWS opened up and an explosion was seen in the distance. As the Iowa came up closely alongside the carrier, there was a streak and a flash as the first missile hit the turret. The turret actually jerked around just a bit and the ship heeled slightly when it happened. Flames seemed to spread across the side of the turret and deck while black smoke lifted high into the air. The second hit was slightly obscured, but the gout of flame and smoke was the same. The hit on the funnel occurred while the ship was still heeled over about 10 degrees. The missile struck the funnel just below the black funnel cap and the explosion occurred inside the funnel structure. The men watched as the funnel cap was wrenched from the funnel and thrown up and to the right. The camera operator zoomed out some to see it land upright on the side of the Ronald Reagan’s flight deck.
In just a minute, men could be seen from a damage control team in their gear exiting the side of the Iowa and attacking the flames with water. As they sprayed the turret and fires, a plume of white steam began to rise along with the smoke. Farther aft a second and third DC locker emptied onto the deck to fi
ght the flames. Within just a few minutes, the fires were out and the smoke began to clear. It soon became evident that, aside from smoke and paint, no real damage had been done. That became even more evident as the massive turret began turning and its guns lifting. Pretty soon the hoses were stopped and the ship turned away from the carrier for some unknown destination. That was when the video ended.
Admiral Johnson stood. “Everything I have seen tells me that crew did it just right. Captain Hammond knew his ship and her capabilities and made a deliberate effort to protect that precious aircraft carrier and her 6,000 person crew. His actions saved lives and defeated the aims of the enemy. They are clearly above and beyond the call of duty,” he said using those magic words that rarely get uttered.
O’Bannon almost had tears in his eyes. “Does everyone agree this is a singular act of heroism?” They all nodded their heads. General Black looked like he would burst with pride.
O’Bannon nodded. “Then we are agreed. Admiral, write it up. Mister Secretary, I want this on every television station in the world by tomorrow. Everyone, and I mean everyone work together on this. Downplay the White House and the Defense Department and hit home this act of sheer bravery. Get word to the Reagan. I want that funnel cap. I want it saved and brought here to Washington to put on display. Next, I want a copy of that tape presented to the Mayor of San Pedro. Get whatever photos are out there on it and every story written. Make me up a nice little package we can have for the nation, the city, and the crew. Gentlemen, I know there are brave deeds done all over Korea, but this one was caught on tape and the evidence is clear. I know Hammond will probably hate this, but I want Iowa in the spotlight. The fact she is the music ship does not hurt. Put the video of that in the package too. As of now that ship has received the Presidential Unit Citation and anything else we can dream up. We’ll also need to make some briefings for the Hill. Let’s get the Iowa delegation in on it as well. Admiral Johnson, thank you for letting me see this first hand. Can we speak more in your office?”