Cold Warriors: The Essex Class in the Cold War

Well, at least doing that would let you kiss your ass goodbye before dying...

Right now, Oriskany is getting her SCB-125A overhaul and Lake Champlain is scheduled to get hers later in the year.

Surely, the 50's were insane as far as nuclear power went. There are some extremely bonkers projects that leave you shake your head in disbelief

"Let's nuke the moon to impress the Soviets" (Project A-119)

"Let's bore an entire granite mountain to turn it into a mega-hardened ICBM silo" (Golden Crown)

"Let's put Minutemans into ice tunnels bored into Greenland ice cap" (Iceworm)

"Let's detonate H-bombs into subterranean lakes to get steam to drive turbines" (PACER)

"Let's dig a second Panama tunnel using nuclear explosives"

"Let's build a giant spaceship with nuclear explosions pushing a steel plate mounted on springs attached to the spacecraft" (Orion)



Dear God.

They technically can. The -125A overhaul gave them the C11-1 catapults, which were slightly more powerful than the standard C11 used in the -27C conversions. Even the standard cats COULD handle the bigger planes. But the Intruder and Phantom were fuel and ammo hogs. And the Essex class had limited storage for both compared to the newer decks. That was actually the main reason given to the Navy why they couldn't use the planes from the class. About the only type that couldn't be flown operationally from the Essex class is the Vigilante (and obviously the Tomcat).

August 1, 1957
Sulawesi, Indonesia


Major General Suharto met with Colonels Hussein and Sumal. As the representative of the Government in Jakarta, he was there to make one last ditch effort to bring the rebel officers back into the fold. He was there because he could sympathize with the rebellious Colonels nationalist views. Like them, he had no love of the Communists. But the Soviet Union was one of the only countries willing to support them in their anti-imperialist claims. Particularly in regard to West Irian and Malaya. So he was willing to work with them. A case of the enemy of my enemy, is my friend.


Now if only he could convince these men of that. His offer was straight forward. The government in Jakarta would make a greater effort to develop some of the more outlying islands like Sulawesi and Sumatra instead of concentrating so much on Java. The Officers would receive amnesty and be allowed to honorably retire with a full pension. The common soldiers under them would also be granted amnesty and would be allowed to continue with their careers with no negative repercussions. And the government would reevaluate their relationship with the Soviet Union once the West Irian situation was resolved. But if they refused, no mercy would be shown to them and the Government would order in the Army to burn them out, root and stem.


The offer by General Suharto was turned down. The rebel officers were sure of their cause and their abilities to win through to ultimate victory. They were so sure of the outcome, that they made a counter-offer. They offered to have General Suharto join them in their cause. In nearly any capacity he wished. The nascent rebellion could use a man of his skills. Either as a military commander, or as their man inside the government to inform them of how the military intended to respond them. Like General Suharto's offer to them, their offer to him was refused. Suharto would not turn his back on his government.

August 7, 1957
Iswahyudi Air Force Base, East Java, Indonesia

The first and second MiG-15s launched into the still morning air of East Java. This is the second flight for the first trainer, meant only to verify that Colonel Sutyagin's gripe sheet had been cleared, while it is the first flight for the second trainer. At the controls of the second aircraft is Captain Saleh Basarah while Major Siskov was in the rear seat as both an instructor and safety pilot in case the Indonesian Captain was unable to complete the aircraft's check flight.

Captain Basarah was the first Indonesian pilot to complete the ground syllabus for the MiG-15 and had been given the honor of taking the second MiG off the ground for the first time. As Captain Basarah began running down the checklist for the newly assembled aircraft, Major Siskov quickly came to the realization that the Indonesian pilot in the front seat was a complete professional and a natural born pilot.

Unlike the day before, the gripe sheet from this flight is considerably longer. Included on the sheet is a potentially fatal flaw. The rear controls of the trainer failed during the flight. Fortunately for both Major Siskov and Captain Basarah, the front controls continued functioning while they two men executed an emergency decent and returned to base.