The Death of the Queen’s Carrier

16th May 2021, the Norwegian Sea.


Overnight and into the early hours of the morning, Russian and European Defence Organisation (EUDO) military forces had clashed in and around the Baltic States. No official state of war had yet to exist between the two sides though that was fast coming as the armed clashes got bigger and deadlier. The EUDO advanced forces there defending the territorial integrity of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania had responded to Russian and Belorussian attacks and the counterblows escalated. In the air, at sea and then on land, the Baltic States, Poland and parts of the Baltic Sea became a war zone. The ante was upped again and again. The conflict spread at a rapid rate. It reached the Norwegian Sea just after daybreak.

Months of increasing tensions in the Baltic States had seen many British military deployments and one of those was the Royal Navy sending ships to sea in case of conflict erupting. There were some in the Baltic, others in the North Sea and more out in the North Atlantic. Further ships were in the Norwegian Sea with a battle group built around the biggest ship in Fleet service, that being the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth. She along with five other British ships (joined by another from an allied nation) had been at sea for two months when the conflict finally started. There were communications problems with Fleet Headquarters at Northwood straight away and those were part of electronic warfare measures being undertaken against the UK generally and the British Armed Forces in particular. Russia was fast to throw all methods of warfare it had at its disposal against Britain and what further EUDO countries (EUDO being a replacement for the dead NATO, one killed by American disengagement) it was certain to fight: that wasn’t all of them too as some backed out of treaty commitments at the last minute. Still, regardless of that interference, the message was out. British and Russian forces were engaged in trading shots with each other and the politicians were soon to get their act together and declare war. The Queen Elizabeth and those aboard her were at war before it was official. There was a heightened state of alert and a readiness to fight. The carrier and her escorts were moving southeast, down towards the North Sea. They were coming closer to mainland Britain to provide air defence for the country should it come under attack as well as responding to reports from both the Danes and the Dutch – both EUDO members – of Russian warships approaching the Danish Straits in a possible attempt to come through them. Working with allies but also the RAF too, the Queen Elizabeth with her air group of two dozen strike-fighters in the form of F-35B Lightnings would make short work of them should it come to a shooting match.

However, the Queen Elizabeth was engaged by the Russians first this morning.

Eighteen aircraft had come out of Russian airbases on the Kola Peninsula and gone around Norway before coming south. They flew individually and behind a mask of passive electronic jamming as well as without emitting any electronic signals throughout their journey. They tried to stay silent but were unsuccessful. The Norwegians picked up several aircraft and sent a message to their fellow EUDO armed forces national command centres: Northwood didn’t get that direct message though as Russian electronic warfare scored a success there. Still, the RAF detected several aircraft and correctly identified them as Russian Air Force and Navy aircraft coming downwards on a course taking them towards the UK mainland. The alarm was sounded. The Sentry airborne radar aircraft took control of Typhoon fighters already airborne and moving to intercept. The RAF got a message through to the Royal Navy as well. The Queen Elizabeth couldn’t detect the incoming aircraft that kept jumping in and out of radar coverage as they used their jamming gear, but the RAF was tracking them (as best as possible) for the Royal Navy. Lightnings from the carrier got airborne with more to follow. The ship’s captain responded to the flotilla’s commanding officer aboard his carrier to change the Queen Elizabeth’s course and ready defences in the form of active & passive systems. The escort ships got ready to help in the defence of the carrier but themselves too. Permission to engage the Russians was given without delay as that would be deemed defensive based on events in the Baltic States and the clear hostile intent in the approach of the incoming aircraft.

Those aircraft were meant to be some distance off and in fact heading for Britain itself rather than the Queen Elizabeth. All wasn’t as it appeared though. Radar screens weren’t showing an accurate picture. The Norwegians, closer and using different tracking systems which weren’t being spoofed like the British ones were, finally managed to get in contact. They sent a warning of the true threat. The warning was too late though. They did their best and no fault was with them. Yet, for all those about to die, that wouldn’t matter.

Seven of the Russian aircraft got within eighty miles of the Queen Elizabeth before they were detected by the RAF Sentry which had Typhoons armed with Meteor air-to-air missiles screaming across the sky towards them. Those Russian aircraft were Tu-22M3M missile-bombers carrying a pair of Kh-32 anti-ship missiles each: Backfires and Kitchens as designated in their old NATO names. Twelve successful missile launches occurred (two failed) before the Backfires turned away, lit their after-burners and raced home to Mother Russia with the RAF in pursuit. Other aircraft were making attacks direct against the UK with more missiles fired at airbases and naval facilities; a couple of aircraft were on the jamming mission. The RAF was trying to deal with these aircraft too as well as those which attacked the Royal Navy. Their launching aircraft were gone, but the newest version of the Kitchen anti-ship cruise missile in the form of the dozen Kh-32s carried on regardless. They were fired by low-flying aircraft with the missiles shooting up into the sky to the edge of the stratosphere before tipping over and coming down in a dive. What dives they were. Mach 4 was the speed reached. The Queen Elizabeth’s Lightnings fired off their own Meteors. The missile-destroyers HMS Dauntless and Duncan fired Aster anti-missile missiles. Jamming and attempts at radar spoofing came from all of the Royal Navy ships. Last-ditch defensive fire from anti-missile guns – Phalanx multi-barrelled weapons – was used. It all did little good. One Kitchen was knocked out of the sky, another decoyed away. Ten slammed home into their target.

The six other surface contacts were ignored. There was a Portuguese frigate along with one from the Royal Navy with the flotilla present with two Royal Navy destroyers, a fleet oiler and a combined replenishment ship & oiler. The profiles didn’t match those in the databank within the Kitchens that their own radars saw during the terminal dives from above. The priority target was the aircraft carrier and the sole focus was that ship. One after another, ten missiles came down and hit the Queen Elizabeth. They impacted throughout her length. Two warheads failed to detonate, the other eight did. All carried unspent explosive rocket fuel too. The ship didn’t stand a chance. Neither did those aboard her. She was wracked by explosions and gutted by fire. Almost seven hundred sailors were within the carrier when hit, men and women of the Royal Navy. Five hundred and thirty-one wouldn’t survive her destruction. Those that did were very lucky indeed though came away with wounds seen and unseen. The pride of the Royal Navy, its flagship, was lost. HMS Queen Elizabeth was no more.