Post by lordroel on Sept 29, 2024 11:47:16 GMT
Thanks to this website (The Twilight War Royal Navy), here are what the Royal Navy had left after the end of World War III in 2000 and my own.
Destroyers
Type 42-destroyer or also known as the Sheffield-class destroyer
HMS Birmingham (D86), Sunk during the GIUK Campaign by Soviet subamarine-fired missile.
HMS Newcastle (D87), Served with distinction during the Battle of the Norwegian Sea (1) and GIUK Campaigns (2). Crippled by a submarine fired torpedo and sunk by FAC SSM during the North Cape Campaign (3).
HMS Glasgow (D88), Engaged Soviet Backfire missiles, submarines and destroyer. Glasgow ran out of Sea Dart during this action. Sunk by Soviet submarine torpedoes after the Battle of the Norwegian Sea had ended.
HMS Cardiff (D108), Sunk by a Backfire strikes during the Battle of the Norwegian Sea whilst providing AAW cover for the Anglo-Dutch ATG. Cardiff was overwhelmed by the number of missiles fired.
HMS Exeter (D89), Served in SE Asia. Fought with RAN and USN in the Battle of the South China Sea. Sunk by air strikes, along with HMAS Adelaide and HMAS Canberra.
HMS Southampton (D90), In deep cycle refit, served in the last phase of the war, survived the war and decommissioned in 2015.
HMS Nottingham (D91), In routine maintenance refit at start of war. Served in all three phases of the war, survived the war and decommissioned in 2020.
HMS Liverpool (D92), Part of Persian Gulf Armilla Patrol (4). Hit mine and beached to prevent sinking.
HMS Manchester (D95), Sunk in the North Sea by a Soviet diesel submarine, before the start of the Battle of the Norwegian Sea.
HMS York (D98), Fought in the Battle of the Norwegian Sea and undamaged in that action. Operated very successfully as North Sea Guardship and was responsible for destroying or turning back numerous Soviet Su-24 strikes. Sunk in GIUK Campaign by Soviet surface raider of the Sovremmenyy II class.
HMS Gloucester (D96), Escorted HMS Ark Royal during the Battle of the Norwegian Sea, sunk during North Cape Campaign performing Naval Gunfire Support.
HMS Edinburgh (D97), Served as HMS Illustrious escort during the Battle of the Norwegian Sea, sunk by Soviet torpedo during GIUK campaign.
Frigate
Duke-class frigate ore also known as the Type 23 frigate
HMS Argyll (F231), Hit by Backfire missiles during the North Cape Campaign. All on board killed.
HMS Lancaster (F229), The victim of a prepared ambush by Soviet SSGN during GIUK Campaign.
HMS Iron Duke (F234), Missed the Battle of the Norwegian Sea, as she was in the Mediterranean. Escorted damaged USN carrier back to the US. Sunk by Backfire strikes during a Norway resupply run.
HMS Monmouth (F235), Sunk during the North Cape Campaign after being caught by an array of Soviet tactical aircraft when close inshore. With her compliment of Sea Wolf rapidly exhausted the ship was soon overwhelmed and later abandoned. The suspected presence of a soviet submarine in the area seriously hampered rescue efforts and few of the crew were saved.
HMS Montrose (F236), Served in all three phases of the war, survived the war and still in service as of 2024.
HMS Westminster (F237), Hit by Soviet FAC SSM during the Battle of the Norwegian Sea.
HMS Northumberland (F238), Slightly damaged by missile fragments during the Battle of the Norwegian Sea, went on to fight in GIUK Campaign and North Cape Campaign. Hit a mine on return from North Cape. Crippled ship limped into harbour before sinking. As the ship had broke its back, it was assessed as non-repairable, but used for spares.
HMS Richmond (F239), Sunk by Soviet Tactical Air during the Battle of the Norwegian Sea. Richmond was caught providing the outer ASW screen for the ATG and gave the Soviet frontal aviation fighters their first taste of Sea Wolf. In the space of 60 seconds the Richmond shot down six of an eight plane attack formation, but was hit by two 500lb bombs in the confusion. The ship was crippled and finished off later the same day.
HMS Somerset (F82), Served in all three phases of the war, survived the war and still in service as of 2024.
HMS Grafton (F80), A survivor of the Battle of the Norwegian Sea, later flagship for Anglo-Dutch ASW efforts in the North Sea where she was hit by Soviet Su-24 air strikes during GIUK campaign. Grafton was too badly damaged by fire to be repaired, towed to UK and used as spares.
HMS Sutherland (F81), The first Royal Navy victim of World War III, sunk by a Soviet diesel submarine on sailing for Norwegian Sea. The majority of the crew were rescued.
Broadsword-class frigate ore also known as the Type 22 frigate
HMS Broadsword (F88), Struck by a missile that failed to explode whilst attempting to protect HMS Invincible, she would also later survive the sinking of HMS Ark Royal. However her luck ran out days later when using her Lynx helicopter to screen Soviet FAC from the remaining ships and she was sunk by a flotilla of FAC off North Cape.
HMS Battleaxe (F89), Sunk during a Norwegian resupply run by Backfire strikes.
HMS Brilliant (F90), Deployed to Armilla Patrol, were she participated in the successful action against the Soviet Indian Ocean Flotilla. Whilst operating inshore, deploying UK SF teams, sunk by Soviet air strikes in early 1998.
HMS Brazen (F91), Operated as HMS Illustrious 'goalkeeper' during Norwegian Sea action. Sacrificed as torpedo decoy. However a second torpedo crippled the carrier.
HMS Boxer (F92), During North Cape, Boxer had the misfortune of being detected before the Soviet shore SSM batteries were destroyed. As the Soviets had not detected any other targets a massive launch of SSM gutted the ship with no survivors.
HMS Beaver (F93), Sunk by Soviet Frontal Aviation strikes whilst operating inshore hunting submarines, during Norwegian Sea. Despite Beaver sinking, here Lynx helicopter continued prosecuting the submarine, eventually sinking it with Stingray torpedoes, assisted by Sea King helicopters.
HMS Brave (F94), Operated in Far East during 1995 and fired on by Chinese aircraft by mistake. Brave survived the attack destroying her attackers, and returned to the UK in 1996. Sunk by Soviet submarine during a Norwegian resupply run.
HMS London (F95), Operated as Falklands guardship and in the South Atlantic. Returned to the UK in early 1999. Survived the war, but sunk by a unswept Twilight War mine in 2012.
HMS Sheffield (F96), Sheffield was operating alone during Norwegian Sea, was surprised and sunk by Soviet FAC.
HMS Coventry (F98), During Norwegian Sea she shot down a Soviet missile with the 114mm gun. Shrapnel from the exploding missile showered the ship in fragments. Out of service until the beginning of the North Cape Campaign. Survived till after the war. decommissioned in 2012.
HMS Cornwall (F99), Served in all three phases of the war, survived the war and decommissioned in 2013.
HMS Cumberland (F85), Sunk by a nuclear tipped torpedo in 1998. The torpedo was actually decoyed, but the warhead detonated anyway, also killing the launching Soviet submarine.
HMS Campbeltown (F86), Sunk during the North Cape Campaign.
HMS Chatham (F87), Served as Hong Kong guardship during the World War III. Ran out of missiles during combat operations. Whilst being reloaded, destroyed in nuclear strike on HK.
Nuclear-powered fleet and Diesel attack submarines of the Royal Navy of 1997
Swiftsure-class submarine
Ships in class
HMS Sovereign (S108), Out of service from 1988 refit with reactor problems. These problems were considered beyond economical repair. Used as spares for the rest of the class.
HMS Superb (S109), Operated off the Falkland Islands and in the South Atlantic. Sovereign had a quiet war deterring Argentina. Later sank two Soviet submarines which had been operating against merchant ships in the south India Ocean. Returned to UK mid 1998. Sunk by mine in North Sea, late 1998.
HMS Sceptre (S104), Operated in China Sea and South East Asia. Sank Soviet, Chinese, Vietnamese and Indonesian ships and submarines. Hit a mine in Chinese waters. As this was in shallow water 60 crew escaped and made their way to Hong Kong.
HMS Spartan (S105), After a successful kill on a Soviet Typhoon SSBN, was counterfired by an Akula II SSN.
HMS Splendid (S106), survived the war, decommissioned in 2010.
Trafalgar-class submarine
Ships in class
HMS Trafalgar (S107), Operated on the fringes of the NATO Attack Fleet during the Battle of the Norwegian Sea. Sank two Soviet ships as they passed to hit the fleet. Sank another 3 as they returned. She successfully evaded at least 6 Soviet torpedoes and escaped. Hit a mine during a later patrol and sank with all hands.
HMS Turbulent (S87), Whilst deploying mines off a suspected SSBN transit point, she vanished with all hands.
HMS Tireless (S88), Survived the war, decommissioned in 2015.
HMS Torbay (S90), Survived the war, decommissioned in 2020.
HMS Trenchant (S91), Whilst stalking a Soviet SSBN she was detected, The resulting hunt lasted 36 hours. After she killed the SSBN, the escorting SSN, elements of a bastion ASW group she hit a mine (laid three hours beforehand). Survived the mine blast and in a herculean effort returned to the UK. Damaged beyond repair, but used as spares.
HMS Talent (S92), Sunk by a Soviet mobile mine off the North Cape early in the war whilst trailing a Soviet boomer. An escorting Tango SS had been killed by Talent the day before, in a very close range action.
HMS Triumph (S93), Sunk by a combination of a Tu-142M MPA and surface ships.
HMS Triton (S940, Survived the war, still in service as of 2024.
HMS Traveller (S95), Damaged whilst on her third patrol by a grounding, she returned to the UK. Was dry-docked Rosyth and destroyed by the nuclear strike on Edinburgh.
Upholder-class submarine
Ships in class
HMS Upholder (S40), After operating as a GIUK ASW barrier submarine, used as a forward SF operations boat. Hit a mine whilst landing SF during the North Cape Campaign. Some of the crew rescued. The remainder of the SAS team continued with the mission.
HMS Unseen (S41), Sunk by Soviet submarine in GIUK gap early during the Battle of the Norwegian Sea .
HMS Ursula (S42), Survived the war, decommissioned in 2018.
HMS Unicorn (S43), Whilst on patrol in the North Sea, sunk by RN ASW surface group or Norwegian P-3 (both use UK Stingray torpedo).
HMS Undaunted (S44), Operated as GIUK ASW cover during GIUK Campaign, sweeps off Norway and the North Cape Campaign. During North Cape torpedoed attacking Soviet destroyer and landed SBS team 'Somewhere in the Soviet Union'. survived the war, decommissioned in 2020.
HMS Upright (S45), Sunk by Soviet ASW surface group in Barents Sea during GIUK Campaign.
HMS Undine (S46), Entered service just before the North Cape Campaign. Sailed directly into this action, and torpedoed Soviet destroyers and landed SF teams. survived the war, decommissioned in 2022.
HMS Unity (S47), Hit a mine in a Norwegian fjord whilst recharging batteries in the GIUK campaign.
Notes
(1): The Battle of the Norwegian Sea
The NATO Attack Strike Fleet consisted of the USN aircraft carriers USS America, Eisenhower, Enterprise, and Washington with escorts and support ships. After a week in operations off Norway, Washington was sunk by Backfire strikes on December 15th and Enterprise was heavily damaged. Along with the USN carrier aircraft being slowly but surely lost in air battles against Soviet land-based aircraft, strikes against Soviet Naval Infantry and Airborne forces and against the Soviet Northern Fleet. At this time the RN was providing ASW cover and striking against any inshore naval forces. Norwegian, Dutch, Canadian and UK naval and air forces destroyed the reinforcing Soviet amphibious Task Group, in a hard fought inshore action. After 3 weeks, 80% of the Soviet Northern Fleet had been sunk and NATO was left in possession of the Norwegian Sea. The air threat from Backfire bombers, supported by land based air cover, was considered too high and NATO surface fleets retreated behind the GIUK, until additional USN carriers could join the Atlantic Strike Fleet. The remainder of the Soviet fleet settled in behind minefields and the 'bastions' and waited. Their mission was to protect the SSBN.
(2): GIUK Campaign
The USN had 2 USN carriers left in operation after the Norwegian sea action. USS Kennedy joined from the Mediterranean but shortly afterwards USS America is sunk by an Akula SSN. As the GIUK SOSUS sea bed sonars had been destroyed by WP actions, the NATO Attack fleet settled into air defence role along the GIUK gap. Soviet submarines (and amazingly one surface raider) sortied. NATO ASW operations were effective against second line units, but enough first line boats penetrated to seriously disrupt convoys. A period of attrition ensured over a couple of months. The RN provided ASW cover along with US, Canadian, Dutch and other NATO groups. During this phase of the war NATO ventures north to Norway in resupply runs. Vicious air/sea battles attritted both sides over a period of months. Soviet Backfires, with long range air cover from MiG-31 and Su-27 fighters, made numerous probes towards the UK and GIUK gap. Few serious attacks were attempted (in some cases the Backfires have no missiles fitted!). This kept the crews proficiencies up the valuable aircraft in reserve for when the NATO returned north, during the Norwegian resupply runs.
(3): North Cape Campaign
USS Enterprise returns to service (along with other damaged units) and NATO returns north. The last remaining Backfires with their last missiles take out enough of the surface escorts to let fast attack missile boats and a few Soviet destroyers finish off the NATO fleet. The last units of the Soviet Northern Fleet are sunk also.
(4) Armilla Patrol
Liverpool (Type 42 DDG), Brilliant (Type 22), Hermione, Scylla (both Sea Wolf Leander) involved in actions in Red Sea, Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean. The Soviet Indian Ocean Flottila was sunk by a combination of US and UK forces.
Destroyers
Type 42-destroyer or also known as the Sheffield-class destroyer
HMS Birmingham (D86), Sunk during the GIUK Campaign by Soviet subamarine-fired missile.
HMS Newcastle (D87), Served with distinction during the Battle of the Norwegian Sea (1) and GIUK Campaigns (2). Crippled by a submarine fired torpedo and sunk by FAC SSM during the North Cape Campaign (3).
HMS Glasgow (D88), Engaged Soviet Backfire missiles, submarines and destroyer. Glasgow ran out of Sea Dart during this action. Sunk by Soviet submarine torpedoes after the Battle of the Norwegian Sea had ended.
HMS Cardiff (D108), Sunk by a Backfire strikes during the Battle of the Norwegian Sea whilst providing AAW cover for the Anglo-Dutch ATG. Cardiff was overwhelmed by the number of missiles fired.
HMS Exeter (D89), Served in SE Asia. Fought with RAN and USN in the Battle of the South China Sea. Sunk by air strikes, along with HMAS Adelaide and HMAS Canberra.
HMS Southampton (D90), In deep cycle refit, served in the last phase of the war, survived the war and decommissioned in 2015.
HMS Nottingham (D91), In routine maintenance refit at start of war. Served in all three phases of the war, survived the war and decommissioned in 2020.
HMS Liverpool (D92), Part of Persian Gulf Armilla Patrol (4). Hit mine and beached to prevent sinking.
HMS Manchester (D95), Sunk in the North Sea by a Soviet diesel submarine, before the start of the Battle of the Norwegian Sea.
HMS York (D98), Fought in the Battle of the Norwegian Sea and undamaged in that action. Operated very successfully as North Sea Guardship and was responsible for destroying or turning back numerous Soviet Su-24 strikes. Sunk in GIUK Campaign by Soviet surface raider of the Sovremmenyy II class.
HMS Gloucester (D96), Escorted HMS Ark Royal during the Battle of the Norwegian Sea, sunk during North Cape Campaign performing Naval Gunfire Support.
HMS Edinburgh (D97), Served as HMS Illustrious escort during the Battle of the Norwegian Sea, sunk by Soviet torpedo during GIUK campaign.
Frigate
Duke-class frigate ore also known as the Type 23 frigate
HMS Argyll (F231), Hit by Backfire missiles during the North Cape Campaign. All on board killed.
HMS Lancaster (F229), The victim of a prepared ambush by Soviet SSGN during GIUK Campaign.
HMS Iron Duke (F234), Missed the Battle of the Norwegian Sea, as she was in the Mediterranean. Escorted damaged USN carrier back to the US. Sunk by Backfire strikes during a Norway resupply run.
HMS Monmouth (F235), Sunk during the North Cape Campaign after being caught by an array of Soviet tactical aircraft when close inshore. With her compliment of Sea Wolf rapidly exhausted the ship was soon overwhelmed and later abandoned. The suspected presence of a soviet submarine in the area seriously hampered rescue efforts and few of the crew were saved.
HMS Montrose (F236), Served in all three phases of the war, survived the war and still in service as of 2024.
HMS Westminster (F237), Hit by Soviet FAC SSM during the Battle of the Norwegian Sea.
HMS Northumberland (F238), Slightly damaged by missile fragments during the Battle of the Norwegian Sea, went on to fight in GIUK Campaign and North Cape Campaign. Hit a mine on return from North Cape. Crippled ship limped into harbour before sinking. As the ship had broke its back, it was assessed as non-repairable, but used for spares.
HMS Richmond (F239), Sunk by Soviet Tactical Air during the Battle of the Norwegian Sea. Richmond was caught providing the outer ASW screen for the ATG and gave the Soviet frontal aviation fighters their first taste of Sea Wolf. In the space of 60 seconds the Richmond shot down six of an eight plane attack formation, but was hit by two 500lb bombs in the confusion. The ship was crippled and finished off later the same day.
HMS Somerset (F82), Served in all three phases of the war, survived the war and still in service as of 2024.
HMS Grafton (F80), A survivor of the Battle of the Norwegian Sea, later flagship for Anglo-Dutch ASW efforts in the North Sea where she was hit by Soviet Su-24 air strikes during GIUK campaign. Grafton was too badly damaged by fire to be repaired, towed to UK and used as spares.
HMS Sutherland (F81), The first Royal Navy victim of World War III, sunk by a Soviet diesel submarine on sailing for Norwegian Sea. The majority of the crew were rescued.
Broadsword-class frigate ore also known as the Type 22 frigate
HMS Broadsword (F88), Struck by a missile that failed to explode whilst attempting to protect HMS Invincible, she would also later survive the sinking of HMS Ark Royal. However her luck ran out days later when using her Lynx helicopter to screen Soviet FAC from the remaining ships and she was sunk by a flotilla of FAC off North Cape.
HMS Battleaxe (F89), Sunk during a Norwegian resupply run by Backfire strikes.
HMS Brilliant (F90), Deployed to Armilla Patrol, were she participated in the successful action against the Soviet Indian Ocean Flotilla. Whilst operating inshore, deploying UK SF teams, sunk by Soviet air strikes in early 1998.
HMS Brazen (F91), Operated as HMS Illustrious 'goalkeeper' during Norwegian Sea action. Sacrificed as torpedo decoy. However a second torpedo crippled the carrier.
HMS Boxer (F92), During North Cape, Boxer had the misfortune of being detected before the Soviet shore SSM batteries were destroyed. As the Soviets had not detected any other targets a massive launch of SSM gutted the ship with no survivors.
HMS Beaver (F93), Sunk by Soviet Frontal Aviation strikes whilst operating inshore hunting submarines, during Norwegian Sea. Despite Beaver sinking, here Lynx helicopter continued prosecuting the submarine, eventually sinking it with Stingray torpedoes, assisted by Sea King helicopters.
HMS Brave (F94), Operated in Far East during 1995 and fired on by Chinese aircraft by mistake. Brave survived the attack destroying her attackers, and returned to the UK in 1996. Sunk by Soviet submarine during a Norwegian resupply run.
HMS London (F95), Operated as Falklands guardship and in the South Atlantic. Returned to the UK in early 1999. Survived the war, but sunk by a unswept Twilight War mine in 2012.
HMS Sheffield (F96), Sheffield was operating alone during Norwegian Sea, was surprised and sunk by Soviet FAC.
HMS Coventry (F98), During Norwegian Sea she shot down a Soviet missile with the 114mm gun. Shrapnel from the exploding missile showered the ship in fragments. Out of service until the beginning of the North Cape Campaign. Survived till after the war. decommissioned in 2012.
HMS Cornwall (F99), Served in all three phases of the war, survived the war and decommissioned in 2013.
HMS Cumberland (F85), Sunk by a nuclear tipped torpedo in 1998. The torpedo was actually decoyed, but the warhead detonated anyway, also killing the launching Soviet submarine.
HMS Campbeltown (F86), Sunk during the North Cape Campaign.
HMS Chatham (F87), Served as Hong Kong guardship during the World War III. Ran out of missiles during combat operations. Whilst being reloaded, destroyed in nuclear strike on HK.
Nuclear-powered fleet and Diesel attack submarines of the Royal Navy of 1997
Swiftsure-class submarine
Ships in class
HMS Sovereign (S108), Out of service from 1988 refit with reactor problems. These problems were considered beyond economical repair. Used as spares for the rest of the class.
HMS Superb (S109), Operated off the Falkland Islands and in the South Atlantic. Sovereign had a quiet war deterring Argentina. Later sank two Soviet submarines which had been operating against merchant ships in the south India Ocean. Returned to UK mid 1998. Sunk by mine in North Sea, late 1998.
HMS Sceptre (S104), Operated in China Sea and South East Asia. Sank Soviet, Chinese, Vietnamese and Indonesian ships and submarines. Hit a mine in Chinese waters. As this was in shallow water 60 crew escaped and made their way to Hong Kong.
HMS Spartan (S105), After a successful kill on a Soviet Typhoon SSBN, was counterfired by an Akula II SSN.
HMS Splendid (S106), survived the war, decommissioned in 2010.
Trafalgar-class submarine
Ships in class
HMS Trafalgar (S107), Operated on the fringes of the NATO Attack Fleet during the Battle of the Norwegian Sea. Sank two Soviet ships as they passed to hit the fleet. Sank another 3 as they returned. She successfully evaded at least 6 Soviet torpedoes and escaped. Hit a mine during a later patrol and sank with all hands.
HMS Turbulent (S87), Whilst deploying mines off a suspected SSBN transit point, she vanished with all hands.
HMS Tireless (S88), Survived the war, decommissioned in 2015.
HMS Torbay (S90), Survived the war, decommissioned in 2020.
HMS Trenchant (S91), Whilst stalking a Soviet SSBN she was detected, The resulting hunt lasted 36 hours. After she killed the SSBN, the escorting SSN, elements of a bastion ASW group she hit a mine (laid three hours beforehand). Survived the mine blast and in a herculean effort returned to the UK. Damaged beyond repair, but used as spares.
HMS Talent (S92), Sunk by a Soviet mobile mine off the North Cape early in the war whilst trailing a Soviet boomer. An escorting Tango SS had been killed by Talent the day before, in a very close range action.
HMS Triumph (S93), Sunk by a combination of a Tu-142M MPA and surface ships.
HMS Triton (S940, Survived the war, still in service as of 2024.
HMS Traveller (S95), Damaged whilst on her third patrol by a grounding, she returned to the UK. Was dry-docked Rosyth and destroyed by the nuclear strike on Edinburgh.
Upholder-class submarine
Ships in class
HMS Upholder (S40), After operating as a GIUK ASW barrier submarine, used as a forward SF operations boat. Hit a mine whilst landing SF during the North Cape Campaign. Some of the crew rescued. The remainder of the SAS team continued with the mission.
HMS Unseen (S41), Sunk by Soviet submarine in GIUK gap early during the Battle of the Norwegian Sea .
HMS Ursula (S42), Survived the war, decommissioned in 2018.
HMS Unicorn (S43), Whilst on patrol in the North Sea, sunk by RN ASW surface group or Norwegian P-3 (both use UK Stingray torpedo).
HMS Undaunted (S44), Operated as GIUK ASW cover during GIUK Campaign, sweeps off Norway and the North Cape Campaign. During North Cape torpedoed attacking Soviet destroyer and landed SBS team 'Somewhere in the Soviet Union'. survived the war, decommissioned in 2020.
HMS Upright (S45), Sunk by Soviet ASW surface group in Barents Sea during GIUK Campaign.
HMS Undine (S46), Entered service just before the North Cape Campaign. Sailed directly into this action, and torpedoed Soviet destroyers and landed SF teams. survived the war, decommissioned in 2022.
HMS Unity (S47), Hit a mine in a Norwegian fjord whilst recharging batteries in the GIUK campaign.
Notes
(1): The Battle of the Norwegian Sea
The NATO Attack Strike Fleet consisted of the USN aircraft carriers USS America, Eisenhower, Enterprise, and Washington with escorts and support ships. After a week in operations off Norway, Washington was sunk by Backfire strikes on December 15th and Enterprise was heavily damaged. Along with the USN carrier aircraft being slowly but surely lost in air battles against Soviet land-based aircraft, strikes against Soviet Naval Infantry and Airborne forces and against the Soviet Northern Fleet. At this time the RN was providing ASW cover and striking against any inshore naval forces. Norwegian, Dutch, Canadian and UK naval and air forces destroyed the reinforcing Soviet amphibious Task Group, in a hard fought inshore action. After 3 weeks, 80% of the Soviet Northern Fleet had been sunk and NATO was left in possession of the Norwegian Sea. The air threat from Backfire bombers, supported by land based air cover, was considered too high and NATO surface fleets retreated behind the GIUK, until additional USN carriers could join the Atlantic Strike Fleet. The remainder of the Soviet fleet settled in behind minefields and the 'bastions' and waited. Their mission was to protect the SSBN.
(2): GIUK Campaign
The USN had 2 USN carriers left in operation after the Norwegian sea action. USS Kennedy joined from the Mediterranean but shortly afterwards USS America is sunk by an Akula SSN. As the GIUK SOSUS sea bed sonars had been destroyed by WP actions, the NATO Attack fleet settled into air defence role along the GIUK gap. Soviet submarines (and amazingly one surface raider) sortied. NATO ASW operations were effective against second line units, but enough first line boats penetrated to seriously disrupt convoys. A period of attrition ensured over a couple of months. The RN provided ASW cover along with US, Canadian, Dutch and other NATO groups. During this phase of the war NATO ventures north to Norway in resupply runs. Vicious air/sea battles attritted both sides over a period of months. Soviet Backfires, with long range air cover from MiG-31 and Su-27 fighters, made numerous probes towards the UK and GIUK gap. Few serious attacks were attempted (in some cases the Backfires have no missiles fitted!). This kept the crews proficiencies up the valuable aircraft in reserve for when the NATO returned north, during the Norwegian resupply runs.
(3): North Cape Campaign
USS Enterprise returns to service (along with other damaged units) and NATO returns north. The last remaining Backfires with their last missiles take out enough of the surface escorts to let fast attack missile boats and a few Soviet destroyers finish off the NATO fleet. The last units of the Soviet Northern Fleet are sunk also.
(4) Armilla Patrol
Liverpool (Type 42 DDG), Brilliant (Type 22), Hermione, Scylla (both Sea Wolf Leander) involved in actions in Red Sea, Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean. The Soviet Indian Ocean Flottila was sunk by a combination of US and UK forces.