Cold Warriors: The Essex Class in the Cold War

You are right in that the Dutch are potentially signing an open letter that has huge ramifications down the track. Particularly as Indonesia grows in strength and their centre mass is in Europe. The worst outcome for them and NATO is a frozen conflict that saps their strength.

Which leaves us with a multi lateral solution to safeguard Netherlands New Guinea probably involving SEATO, but practically underwritten by Australia, New Zealand, the UK & the USA.

I also wouldn't underestimate the stubbornness of the Cloggies, when they've turned their mind to something.

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.

February 12, 1959
London, United Kingdom

The reports from the Southwest Pacific were not good. A Dutch maritime patrol plane had been shot down and a destroyer had been sunk. Despite the reassurances from Indonesia that they had no intention of attacking any Commonwealth territory, taking them at their word would be worse than foolish. It was only twenty years past that a different British government had been given similar assurances from another country. That had ended with German tanks rolling into Paris, London in ruins, and a years long struggle to win through to ultimate victory.

The British and Commonwealth position in the region was better than the Netherlands, but not by much. While they had the Far East Strategic Reserve in place in Singapore centered on HMS Albion and the 28th Commonwealth Infantry Brigade Group in Terendak, Malaya, it was not a force capable of prosecuting a war on their own. Should Indonesia decide "in for a penny, in for a pound" and launch attacks on British territory, they would need immediate and rapid reinforcement if they were to have any chance at victory.

If a few corners were cut, it might be possible to get HMS Victorious to Singapore within two months, though her Air Group would almost certainly need to work up along the way. Eagle was about to enter Devonport Dockyard for an extensive modernization and was thus unavailable. Ark Royal was working up to deploy to the Far East later in the year and had more modern aircraft embarked than Albion. With proper care, she could be in Singapore within a month. With a little luck, the Royal Navy, backed by the Royal Australian Navy, would be in good shape should the balloon go up.

The Royal Air Force, while nowhere near as ill-equipped as their Dutch counterparts, was still not what anyone would call lavishly equipped. Currently, the RAF had Nos 45 and 60 Squadrons flying de Haviland Venom FB.4s alongside No 81 Squadron flying a combination of Gloster Meteor PR.10s and English Electric Canberra PR.7s in Singapore and Malaya. No 28 Squadron was also in the Far East, though it was based at RAF Kai Tak in Hong Kong while the other Far East squadrons were at RAF Tengah. But if it was needed, the squadron could be redeployed to the area, though the thought of leaving Hong Kong underdefended in the face of Communist Chinese aggression made more than a few backsides pucker. There were also several transport squadrons in the theater, and although they would be worth their weight in gold should the Army have to go back into the jungle to root out Indonesian infiltrators, they could provide little combat capability against Indonesia's rapidly modernizing Air Force.

In reviewing the available options to reinforce the Far East, the decision is made to put No 6 Squadron flying Canberra B.2 bombers on alert for possible deployment from RAF Akrotiri on Cyprus to RAAF Butterworth in Malaya. No 43 Squadron at RAF Khormaksar in Aden, equipped with Hawker Hunter F.6s, was also put on alert for possible movement to the Far East. Some thought was also given to deploying a Gloster Meteor equipped night fighter squadron, but in the end, it was ruled out on the grounds that the Meteor was thoroughly obsolete and would be very unlikely to successfully engage any targets flying at night.

Unfortunately, there was not as much that could be done to reinforce the 28th. It would take months to ship all the men and equipment needed for anything more than a flag showing exercise. The United Kingdom would have to rely on the Australians and New Zealanders to pick up the slack there.

February 13, 1959
Washington, DC, USA

In a daylong meeting between Secretaries Neil McElroy and John Dulles with President Eisenhower, the naked aggression of Indonesia and the American response to it is discussed. It is a contentious meeting, particularly when CIA Director Allen Dulles is called in. President Eisenhower, backed by both Mr McElroy and Mr Dulles, places the blame for the current mess in the Far East squarely on Dulles' door and his botched operation to overthrow President Sukarno. Only a last minute near-groveling apology by Dulles keeps the President from demanding his resignation. After getting the CIA's official assessment of Indonesia's current capabilities and the likelihood of succeeding in taking West New Guinea from the Netherlands, which the CIA regards as high, he is dismissed from the meeting. The CIA will play little role in the crises going forward.

In particular, the Dutch request for the deployment of the Nineteenth Air Force is heavily debated. While it would certainly show the United States' commitment to the region, it would also almost certainly drag the United States into yet another war in Asia, their third in less than twenty years. That was not a situation that would be looked at favorably domestically. Particularly since this would be seen, rightly, as nothing more than fighting to preserve a European colony. By the close of the meeting, and after calling in the various Service Secretaries and Uniformed Heads of the services, a compromise is reached.

The Nineteenth Air Force would deploy to the Far East. But not to Mokmer Airfield as requested by the Dutch. It would be sent to Clark Field in the Philippines instead. Within three hours of the decision being made, B-57 Canberra bombers were on their way to the Philippines from the 345th Bombardment Wing at Langley Air Force Base. They would be followed by KB-50J air refueling tankers whose mission would be to get the F-100 Super Sabres from the 354th Tactical Fighter Wing across the Pacific. Following the fighters would be the RF-101s of the 363rd Tactical Reconnaissance Wing. Thirty-six hours after issuing the alert, F-100s were positioned on the alert ramp at Clark, ready to respond to any Indonesian aggression.

Two carrier task forces centered on USS Yorktown (CVS-10) and USS Ticonderoga (CVA-14) were also given orders to divert from their planned Far East cruise into the region, with port visits to Sydney and Darwin being added. It was hoped that the presence of two American carriers and an entire fighter wing in the region would cool tensions and allow diplomacy to resume.

As a final show of American interest in the theater, discussions are opened with the Philippines about conducting a joint jungle warfare exercise featuring the Fifth Marine Regiment from Camp Pendleton in California. Though being called an exercise, all involved knew it was merely a cover to get an entire regiment of Marines into the theater should everything go to hell.

Though the United States was sending the most combat power into the theater by a large margin, they conversely had the lowest appetite to actually commit those forces to combat. After multiple calls are made to the Governments of Australia, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and New Zealand, it is made very clear to everyone involved that, baring Indonesia escalating the war and attack British, Australian or American interests in the region, the United States would not actually commit their forces to combat. In short, the American presence in the region was one gigantic bluff.

HNLMS Van Ewijck looks nice, but will she be able to go head to head with Indonesian ships. 



Also ssgtc, this is a Dutch site about the Karel Doorman, it has some nice info if you use Google translate: smaldeel 5

Who could like OTL be commanded by Soviet crew.