Cold Warriors: The Essex Class in the Cold War

[SSgtC]

I should also add that the US 5th Air Force has F-100s in Japan and the 13th Air Force in the Philippines has two squadrons of F-86s. Really, early 59 was the perfect time to attack for Indonesia. They had, at worst, parity with the West in terms of equipment and in some cases, clear superiority.

TAC also had their Composite Air Strike Force under the Nineteenth Air Force, could self deploy anywhere needed and carried 30 days worth of supplies.

This Air University Thesis has some insight to it.

That's a solid possibility for the US to send to Clark Air Force Base or maybe to RAF Kuala Lumpur or RAF Kuantan.

 

[Archibald]

Whatever happens, now that Indonesia draw the first blood, as we say in french

"ça va chier !"

 

[_Del_]

So I am doing some digging at lunch because my knowledge of Dutch naval aviation is ... Essentially zero.

Doorman is getting a rebuild/refit to get an angled deck among other things. The same yard in the Netherlands is refitting another Colossus-class for Brazil concurrently. The Minas Gerias was able to cross deck Super Etendards with Argentina later (though in what configuration, I don't know. I assume light). It later got upgraded cats to handle Skyhawks.

Doorman herself used Cougars and Panthers (and Skyhawks) after she was sold to Argentina in 1968.

It is entirely possible you know already know more of this than I, as I said haha

 

[SSgtC]

So I am doing some digging at lunch because my knowledge of Dutch naval aviation is ... Essentially zero.

Doorman is getting a rebuild/refit to get an angled deck among other things. The same yard in the Netherlands is refitting another Colossus-class for Brazil concurrently. The Minas Gerias was able to cross deck Super Etendards with Argentina later (though in what configuration, I don't know. I assume light). It later got upgraded cats to handle Skyhawks.

Doorman herself used Cougars and Panthers (and Skyhawks) after she was sold to Argentina in 1968.

It is entirely possible you know already know more of this than I, as I said haha

I'll need to do some digging. This era of naval aviation had such massive and continuous changes that it's hard to keep track of everything. I know that Australia never bombed up their Skyhawks, using them only in an A2A role (and in fact, theirs did not even have the hardware to use things like Bullpups). And IIRC, Argentina discovered that the Super Etendard was too heavy for use off their carrier when equipped with Exocets.

 

[GTX]

I believe the RAN ones did have the ability to use rockets as well.

 

[SSgtC]

I believe the RAN ones did have the ability to use rockets as well.

Lol, I always forget about those damn rocket pods.

 

[Archibald]

Those said "damn rocket pods" got a MIG kill in Vietnam.

And IIRC, Argentina discovered that the Super Etendard was too heavy for use off their carrier when equipped with Exocets.

Not really surprising when the same aircraft dragging an ASMP cruise missile could barely catapult from a much larger Clemenceau with BS-5A catapults and 30 kt instead of 22 kt for the 25 de Mayo.
I think they had to drop the guns to do that.

 

[SSgtC]

February 12, 1959
Over West New Guinea

The pilots of No 322 Squadron, flying obsolete Gloster Meteor fighters, take to the early morning sky to defend the airspace over West New Guinea. Following the events of the previous night, to a man the pilots of the Dutch fighters are all praying that they do not encounter Indonesian fighters, as Indonesia's MiG-17 and MiG-19 aircraft significantly outclass their own ancient fighters. They had been scheduled to convert to Hawker Hunter fighters nearly three months ago in December, but delays in shipping the new aircraft to the Far East in conjunction with higher priorities at home, had meant that 322 Squadron was left to soldier on with their museum piece Meteors.

 

[Archibald]

hmmm... RAAF Meteors already suffered greatly at the hands of MiG-15s... 8 years before over Korea. Enough said !

 

[SSgtC]

February 12, 1959
Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia

Throughout the government, alarm bells are ringing. The unprovoked attack on the Dutch patrol plane, combined with the naval battle that followed, had just increased the tension in the area to eleven. War was no longer merely a possibility. It had arrived. For their was no doubt in anyone's mind that the Dutch would have to meet force with force. But there were serious questions about what they could respond with. While that was a concern, the Department of Defense had much more serious concerns. Namely, defending their own territory on New Guinea and their broader commitments to defend other Commonwealth territories in the region, territories that Indonesia insisted were rightfully theirs.

In response to the clear provocation by Indonesia, No 3 Squadron at RAF Butterworth was ordered to a war footing and given authorization to respond to any hostile acts initiated by Indonesia with all appropriate force. No 75 Squadron at RAAF Williamtown was given orders to deploy to Darwin to defend Australian air space while No 77 Squadron was ordered to deploy Port Morseby to protect against any Indonesian incursions into Papua New Guinea.

HMAS Voyager was given warning orders to prepare for an emergency deployment to HMAS Tarangau on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea to prevent any seaborne attacks by Indonesia. Though concern was expressed that she would share the same fate as Eversteen, the Daring class destroyer was a much more modern vessel and was twice as big, hopefully making her more capable of resisting damage.

In addition to the deployment of Voyager to Manus Island, HMAS Melbourne and her escorts were ordered to prepare for a possible emergency deployment to reinforce the Far East Strategic Reserve. HMS Albion was currently serving as the assigned carrier battle group for the FESR, but should the situation escalate into a general war, she would need immediate reinforcement.

And finally, Second Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment in Terendak, Malaya was placed on a higher alert status, along with the rest of the 28th Commonwealth Infantry Brigade Group, to defend Malayan territory from Indonesian incursions. Alongside that, 1 RAR was alerted to a change in orders. Previously scheduled to replace 2 RAR in Malaya, they would now be sent to Port Moresby to ensure Indonesia could not seize Papua New Guinea.

 

[Archibald]

As long as HMAS Voyager stays far, far away from HMAS Melbourne, everything should be fine...

 

[Grey Havoc]

Fortunately for the RAN, KRI Irian is not on the board!

 

[lordroel]

Fortunately for the RAN, KRI Irian is not on the board!

The RAAF and the Fleet Air Arm (RAN) caan handle here if she was in service, i think.

 

[SSgtC]

Fortunately for the RAN, KRI Irian is not on the board!

The RAAF and the Fleet Air Arm (RAN) caan handle here if she was in service, i think.

If they find her without air cover. Melbourne's air wing is almost hopelessly obsolete. Trying to punch through a fighter screen composed of MiG-17s and -19s is just a real good way to get Australian pilots killed.

 

[lordroel]

Fortunately for the RAN, KRI Irian is not on the board!

The RAAF and the Fleet Air Arm (RAN) caan handle here if she was in service, i think.

If they find her without air cover. Melbourne's air wing is almost hopelessly obsolete. Trying to punch through a fighter screen composed of MiG-17s and -19s is just a real good way to get Australian pilots killed.

So how good are RAAF pilots and how good is a Sabra against the MiG-17s and -19s.

 

[Grey Havoc]

Another thing to take into account is that the Irian's anti-aircraft fit was quite decent.

 

[Archibald]

F-86s notably the Avon ones should hold their ground even against Mig-19s. Venoms... ugh...

 

[SSgtC]

RAAF pilots were very good. They had excellent training, lots of flight time and good equipment. The CAC Sabre was at least the equal of the Fresco. The FAA Sea Venom OTOH? Meat on the table

 

[GTX]

As long as HMAS Voyager stays far, far away from HMAS Melbourne, everything should be fine...

Ouch!

 

[GTX]

Hmmm, I wonder if an earlier acquisition by Australia of Bloodhound SAMs or even a HAWK SAM buy could be on the cards to bolster air defences in at least Darwin, Butterworth, Singapore and Port Morseby? Probably a tad early for Seacat to be fitted to ships or the contemplation of Tigercat. Perhaps also some M42 Dusters or equivalent?

 

[isayyo2]

Well on the plus side of all that's happening, the Darwin - Port Augusta railroad has a lot more strategic interest in it now.

Wouldn't mind some "Atoms for Peace" reactors being built either, desalination plants could be hooked up to them later...

 

[SSgtC]

Well on the plus side of all that's happening, the Darwin - Port Augusta railroad has a lot more strategic interest in it now.

Wouldn't mind some "Atoms for Peace" reactors being built either, desalination plants could be hooked up to them later...

Not to spoil anything, but yet another war on their doorstep will be making Australia look long and hard at acquiring a few cans of instant sunshine

 

[Archibald]

A good old TRIGA reactor...

 

[Archibald]

As long as HMAS Voyager stays far, far away from HMAS Melbourne, everything should be fine...

Ouch!

That was a lame / bad joke, admittedly. Lot of people died that day...

 

[SSgtC]

A good old TRIGA reactor...

By 1958, Australia already had the ability to build a weapon. They had the HIFAR reactor that used highly enriched uranium. The next step from producing nuclear fuel to a nuclear warhead is a small one.

 

[GTX]

Well on the plus side of all that's happening, the Darwin - Port Augusta railroad has a lot more strategic interest in it now.

Wouldn't mind some "Atoms for Peace" reactors being built either, desalination plants could be hooked up to them later...

Not to spoil anything, but yet another war on their doorstep will be making Australia look long and hard at acquiring a few cans of instant sunshine

Thought that might be the case...who needs to load up those A-4s when one just needs one bomb

 

[SSgtC]

Well on the plus side of all that's happening, the Darwin - Port Augusta railroad has a lot more strategic interest in it now.

Wouldn't mind some "Atoms for Peace" reactors being built either, desalination plants could be hooked up to them later...

Not to spoil anything, but yet another war on their doorstep will be making Australia look long and hard at acquiring a few cans of instant sunshine

Thought that might be the case...who needs to load up those A-4s when one just needs one bomb

Who needs A-4s when you can send a Vigilante over downtown Jakarta at Mach 2 to deliver a little midnight sun?

 

[GTX]

Well, of course there is that...

...I was just completing the loop re the limited load out of A-4s.

 

[isayyo2]

Well on the plus side of all that's happening, the Darwin - Port Augusta railroad has a lot more strategic interest in it now.

Wouldn't mind some "Atoms for Peace" reactors being built either, desalination plants could be hooked up to them later...

Not to spoil anything, but yet another war on their doorstep will be making Australia look long and hard at acquiring a few cans of instant sunshine

Sweet, I have been waiting for this day to come.

The Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and the very unknown Office of Saline Water (OSW) were pushing for "Nuclear Desalting" desalination plants throughout the 60s and 70s. With the standard light water reactors you could produce about 50 million gallons a day and a thousand megawatts per reactor. With a pair of very high temperature reactors it would be anywhere between 1 and 5 Billion gallons a day and around 5000 megawatts per reactor... The "Bolsa Island Project" almost got built in the 60s, but the growing costs and the anti-nuke people killed it off...

Anyways, if anyone is bored today here are some fun documents to read.

1968 - Nuclear Power and Water Desalting Plants for Southwest United States and Northwest Mexico: A Preliminary Assessment
This where the high temp reactors come from, a plan to augment the Colorado River and eventually provide surplus water for land reclamation. The Billion gallon/day plant would have been conceivable by the 1980s, which is also when Australia built heaps of coal power plants.

1971 - AEC Desalination Program update
Small overview of technical progress on the "Dual Purpose" plants, also talks about economics of water production. The eventual goal was to get the price of desalted water down to ten cents an acre foot, where irrigated water cost anywhere from one to twenty five cents an acre foot. Nuclear desalted is conceived thermally and the product water has a parts per million (PPM) darn close to zero and actually needs minerals to be re-added for human consumption.

 

[Archibald]

Well on the plus side of all that's happening, the Darwin - Port Augusta railroad has a lot more strategic interest in it now.

Wouldn't mind some "Atoms for Peace" reactors being built either, desalination plants could be hooked up to them later...

Not to spoil anything, but yet another war on their doorstep will be making Australia look long and hard at acquiring a few cans of instant sunshine

Sweet, I have been waiting for this day to come.

The Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and the very unknown Office of Saline Water (OSW) were pushing for "Nuclear Desalting" desalination plants throughout the 60s and 70s. With the standard light water reactors you could produce about 50 million gallons a day and a thousand megawatts per reactor. With a pair of very high temperature reactors it would be anywhere between 1 and 5 Billion gallons a day and around 5000 megawatts per reactor... The "Bolsa Island Project" almost got built in the 60s, but the growing costs and the anti-nuke people killed it off...

Anyways, if anyone is bored today here are some fun documents to read.

1968 - Nuclear Power and Water Desalting Plants for Southwest United States and Northwest Mexico: A Preliminary Assessment
This where the high temp reactors come from, a plan to augment the Colorado River and eventually provide surplus water for land reclamation. The Billion gallon/day plant would have been conceivable by the 1980s, which is also when Australia built heaps of coal power plants.

1971 - AEC Desalination Program update
Small overview of technical progress on the "Dual Purpose" plants, also talks about economics of water production. The eventual goal was to get the price of desalted water down to ten cents an acre foot, where irrigated water cost anywhere from one to twenty five cents an acre foot. Nuclear desalted is conceived thermally and the product water has a parts per million (PPM) darn close to zero and actually needs minerals to be re-added for human consumption.

Mind you, JFK very seriously considered it as an alternative to Apollo those days of April 1961...

"We chose to stay on Earth... we chose to stay on Earth solid ground, and desalting ocean water with nuclear power, and do many others things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard !"

 

[isayyo2]

Well on the plus side of all that's happening, the Darwin - Port Augusta railroad has a lot more strategic interest in it now.

Wouldn't mind some "Atoms for Peace" reactors being built either, desalination plants could be hooked up to them later...

Not to spoil anything, but yet another war on their doorstep will be making Australia look long and hard at acquiring a few cans of instant sunshine

Sweet, I have been waiting for this day to come.

The Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and the very unknown Office of Saline Water (OSW) were pushing for "Nuclear Desalting" desalination plants throughout the 60s and 70s. With the standard light water reactors you could produce about 50 million gallons a day and a thousand megawatts per reactor. With a pair of very high temperature reactors it would be anywhere between 1 and 5 Billion gallons a day and around 5000 megawatts per reactor... The "Bolsa Island Project" almost got built in the 60s, but the growing costs and the anti-nuke people killed it off...

Anyways, if anyone is bored today here are some fun documents to read.

1968 - Nuclear Power and Water Desalting Plants for Southwest United States and Northwest Mexico: A Preliminary Assessment
This where the high temp reactors come from, a plan to augment the Colorado River and eventually provide surplus water for land reclamation. The Billion gallon/day plant would have been conceivable by the 1980s, which is also when Australia built heaps of coal power plants.

1971 - AEC Desalination Program update
Small overview of technical progress on the "Dual Purpose" plants, also talks about economics of water production. The eventual goal was to get the price of desalted water down to ten cents an acre foot, where irrigated water cost anywhere from one to twenty five cents an acre foot. Nuclear desalted is conceived thermally and the product water has a parts per million (PPM) darn close to zero and actually needs minerals to be re-added for human consumption.

Mind you, JFK very seriously considered it as an alternative to Apollo those days of April 1961...

"We chose to stay on Earth... we chose to stay on Earth solid ground, and desalting ocean water with nuclear power, and do many others things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard !"

I honestly can't tell if that's a real quote or not

Heres another document I just dug up, its a nuclear desalting plan for NYC. Four standard 1100 Megawatt pressurized reactors coupled to six 125 million gallons/day desalting trains for a total of 750 MGD everyday, barring maintenance needs.

Study of Conjunctive Operation of Nuclear Dual Purpose Desalting NewYork City Metropolitan Region

 

[GTX]

Going back to the main story, I wonder if the more aggressive/better equipped Indonesia might have driven the Australian Government to step up its involvement in the Blue Streak IRBM program and thus possibly even avoid its cancellation in 1960.

 

[Archibald]

Now that would be something ! And it would directly impact on ELDO / Europa.

Australia and Canada were proposed a "Commonwealth space program" in 1959-1960 but rejected it. Except for Woomera launch base, of course. And Darwin later, as a competitor to Kourou for equatorial and polar launches. Also Cape York.

 

[Grey Havoc]

With such blatant Soviet involvement in the crisis, we could even see Australia invest in Violet Friend / Mk. III Bloodhound, as well as the truly mobile Mk. IV version of the Bloodhound. Wasn't a Centurion tank chassis one of the options studied for the Mk. IV?

 

[SSgtC]

With such blatant Soviet involvement in the crisis, we could even see Australia invest in Violet Friend / Mk. III Bloodhound, as well as the truly mobile Mk. IV version. Wasn't a Centurion tank chassis one of the options studied for the Mk. IV?

Keep in mind, the West "knows" that the Soviets were involved, but can't prove it. They also don't know that Soviet pilots were in the air that night. They're guessing that they might have been, but absent hard proof...

 

[Archibald]

In my TL circa 1961 the French and British gets a secret agreement to turn Coralie - Europa II second stage - into some kind of FOBS, launched from Kourou in 1965-71 (when plateau d'Albion and submarines IRBMs SLBMs become operational at least).
I have found tantalizing information that the creation of ELDO early 1961 also tempted the French to use Blue Streak - now Europa - as an interim missile for the Force de Frappe. On the British side Peter Thorneycroft had MacMillan tacit approval and on the French side, François Tricornot de Rose (De Gaulle éminence grise) was all for it. These two met regularly and discussed the matter many times. Main roadblock of course was Uncle Sam watcheful eye on Blue Streak tech, reentry, and nukes.
MacMillan was trying to bait the French with "bits of British nuclear deterrent" to bargain that against entry in the EEC. De Gaulle, the Americans and the Foreign Office were no dupe, however.
Despite it flaws (LOX) Blue Streak remained one of the most powerful missile in the world.

So the anglo-french get a secret agreement to build a trio of Coralie modified with nukes.
The idea is quietly tested on the Europa F3 - F6 flights in Woomera. Officially, they are ELDO flights testing the Blue Streak / Coralie combination, as per OTL.
The nuclear Coralies are stored at the LRBA in Vernon (Yvelines) only 30 km from Evreux (Eure) which happens to have the AdA Transport Command there (hint the French get a handful of Short Belfasts)

In case of [insert Cuban missile crisis / Suez here] the French will secretely ferry the stages to Kourou, load them with nukes on top of an Europa Blue Streak there, and erect that as a makeshift FOBS.
For the British, it is also a stopgap and backup in case Skybolt goes wrong (Nassau, cough, cough).

This is a one-shot, "silver bullet" crude strategic weapon: the goal is to surprise the Americans and Soviets in case of a crisis similar to Suez - where they put Cold War on hold just to screw the anglo-french.

 

[SSgtC]

February 12, 1959
Amsterdam, Netherlands

Reports from New Guinea were flooding in to The Hauge. The information was somewhat confused with conflicting reports in some cases being sent. Minister Staf had been in his office or in meeting rooms since yesterday evening. He had just arrived at his home after a long day in the office when his phone began ringing. Indonesia had launched an unprovoked attack against West New Guinea. He had rushed back to the office in record time. For the second time in twenty years, his country was going to war. For there was no question that they would have to respond to Indonesia's aggression with force.

But with what? That was the question that everyone was struggling with. The Netherlands was no longer that globe spanning empire that it had been just a few short years ago and the cupboard was very bare. Kees felt like he was standing on a knife edge. There were rumors that the Soviets may have "assisted" Indonesia in launching the attack against their patrol plane and frigates. If they had, that had dangerous implications for the rest of Europe. Despite numerous claims to the contrary, NATO was in no way, shape, or form ready to fight the Soviets on the ground. At least not without the heavy use of nuclear weapons. He should know, he'd just spend all of last night and today being briefed by his staff on the readiness of all Dutch military forces and that of their allies. He had also had numerous phone calls with his fellow Ministers and Secretaries of Defense in NATO trying to gauge their reaction to this wanton attack. Australia and The United Kingdom had voiced a cautious willingness to assist, as Indonesia also had claims to their territory in the region, while the United States had offered to assist in moving any men and equipment that the Netherlands could scrape together from Europe to the Southwest Pacific. Beyond that, there was not much support to be found. He had requested that the United States deploy the Nineteenth Air Force to West New Guinea in an effort to deter further Indonesian aggression. He was not encouraged by their reply. In his gut, he felt sure that the Netherlands would have to go it alone.

Pouring over the data his staff had worked tirelessly to prepare, Kees began to formulate the Netherland's response plan. Once he had the bones of the operation worked out, he would take the plan to the rest of the Cabinet for final approval. With luck, his colleagues in the Cabinet would see the urgency of the matter and not delay too long in approving it. But in the mean time, he could at least put a few selected units on alert and implement some previously approved contingency plans. Calling in his aides, he began to issue the orders.

 

[SSgtC]

February 12, 1959
Amsterdam, Netherlands

Aboard the Cannon class destroyer escorts Van Ewijk and De Zeeuw, the orders from the Ministry of Defense sending them to the Southwest Pacific were met with frantic activity. The two ships had been placed on alert two weeks earlier and their crews had been working nearly around the clock since then to fully provision and prepare their ships for a lengthy deployment to the Pacific. Now those warning orders had become real ones. The two ships were expected to be fully fueled, armed and underway within twenty-four hours.

Two weeks ago, both Captains had cursed the warning orders and the long hours that they had meant. Now they were blessing them. In the last two weeks, both ships had been brought to a state of readiness that they hadn't seen in years. Minor repairs that normally would have been left to the ship's crew to complete as time became available had been seen to by the veritable army of dockyard workers that had descended on the two ships. Their own contingency plans were now implemented to complement those of the Defense Ministry. Trucks full of perishable and canned foods began to appear along the pier followed shortly after by trucks carrying small arms ammunition and the final few rounds needed to top off the ship's 3" magazine. Other trucks brought additional depth charges and anti-submarine mortar rounds for the Hedgehog.

Across the harbor at the submarine piers, the Zeeleeuw had received similar orders. Unlike the two surface ships though, she was in all respects ready for sea. Within two hours of receiving the order sending her to the Pacific, Zeeleeuw was casting off her lines and getting underway. While by no means modern, the old Balao class submarine and her crew were determined to make their presence in the area felt. While her movement orders were public knowledge, the rest of her orders had been highly classified and were not to be opened until the old submarine was well out to sea.

Upon reaching the location specified in his orders, Zeeleeuw's Captain opened his orders in his tiny cabin and quickly sucked in his breath. Orders like these had not been seen outside of training operations since 1945. The words were terse and to the point. Zeeleeuw was ordered to conduct unrestricted submarine warfare against any Indonesian flagged vessel. However, strict instructions were given to ensure that no Soviet flagged vessel was targeted without prior authorization from The Hauge.

The Royal Netherlands Navy was going to war.

 

[SSgtC]

February 12, 1959

In Washington, DC, London, Canberra, and Wellington Indonesia's ambassadors meet with the heads of each country's diplomatic service. In nearly identical letters, Indonesia informs the four countries with interests in the region that they have no intention of engaging any of their military forces in combat. They stress that President Sukarno has full confidence that any territorial disputes that they may have with the four countries can be resolved peacefully and without bloodshed. Yet they are also clear that Indonesia is determined to see their territory and people on West Irian returned to them. And while they regret that the situation has devolved into a military confrontation, they insist that Indonesia is simply exercising their right to self defense, as in their view, the Dutch are an illegal occupying power and that West Irian is rightfully a part of Indonesia.

The message falls flat in all four capitols. However it does offer them a fig leaf to hide behind should they decide against aiding the Netherlands militarily. While not much, none of the countries involved has any real desire to fight yet another war in the Pacific so soon after the Second World War and Korean War had ended.

 

[Archibald]

How do you say "there will be blood" in Netherlands language ?