Chapter 47 Soviet Warships
It is not easy to find a sunken ship on the seabed, and most of the time it is just luck. Now, it is even more difficult to find an airplane that is much smaller than a ship on the seabed.
The two survey ships moved forward in parallel, combing the sea area like a comb, trying to find the MiG-25 fighter jets on the seabed. Maybe they would get results in the next minute, maybe they would have to wait for a few days, or even a month or two.
On the survey ship, the busiest people are those in the sonar room, because the method of detection this time is to search through active sonar by emitting ultrasonic waves to the seabed. They wear headphones and listen carefully.
Sonar operators are a special group of people. They have keen hearing and can use sonar to distinguish whether it is a sea fish blowing bubbles in the distance or the propeller of a ship. Moreover, they can determine what kind of ship it is based on the sound.
Compared with the busy survey ship, the salvage ship is now idle. The Americans on the ship are standing on the deck, basking in the sun, feeling the sea breeze, and chatting idly.
Behind them were two American warships, a Gearing-class destroyer and a Knox-class frigate. These two warships came from Yokosuka Port after discovering that the Soviets had sent out reconnaissance planes to investigate the salvage fleet.
Among them, the Gearing class has a displacement of nearly 4,000 tons. It is a warship built in the late World War II. It is already old and is a model that is about to be retired. The main weapon on the warship is artillery, and it does not even have anti-aircraft missiles.
The Knox-class frigate was the first warship to enter service in 1965. The last warship of the same type entered service in 1974. It is the second-generation anti-submarine frigate of the United States. It has relatively advanced equipment. In terms of anti-ship, it has a quadruple-mounted Harpoon ship-to-ship missile and a 127mm gun. In terms of anti-submarine, it has an eight-mounted Asroc anti-submarine rocket and a twin-mounted MK-32 torpedo tube, and is also equipped with an anti-submarine helicopter. As for air defense, it also has Sea Sparrow air defense missiles, which is considered to be comprehensive. Although it is called a frigate, its displacement is close to 4,000 tons, the same as the Gearing class.
If there is anything backward about it, it is that this frigate still uses a steam turbine as its power source, and its outdated boiler is now emitting thick smoke.
At this time, the Knox-class frigate Donald B. Peary was sailing at the end of the formation. The captain, Lieutenant Commander Davis, was standing in the bridge and looking ahead. He was somewhat impatient with this babysitting mission.
This place is only a hundred nautical miles away from our coastline, and fighter jets can fly there in more than ten minutes. Although the Soviets conducted reconnaissance, as long as they were not stupid, they should have limited themselves to reconnaissance.
Would the Soviets dare to cause trouble? If the Soviets really dared to come over to our own little piece of land, it would be…
"Report, the radar detected three echoes on the sea surface." At this moment, a report came from the radar room: "9 o'clock direction, 25 nautical miles away."
"Don't worry, it must be a fishing boat." Major Davis said, picking up the telescope.
Due to the influence of the earth's curvature, the most advanced shipborne radar can only search the sea at a distance of 40 kilometers. Although many anti-ship missiles have a range of more than 100 kilometers, they still need shipborne helicopters and other equipment for mid-course guidance. The modern-class music station sea radar introduced by China in later generations can exceed 100 kilometers, but it is based on the principle of atmospheric waveguide. Although the distance is achieved, the accuracy is very poor.
On the sea in the distance, first black smoke came out of the chimney, then the mast. Major Davis was a little puzzled. It didn't look like a fishing boat.
I continued to zoom in and finally saw clearly that it was a salvage ship. What was going on? Was it here to help with the salvage? Why didn’t they receive any notification from above?
The ship became clearer and clearer, and at the same time, the ships behind it also appeared in the field of vision.
Chimneys, masts... When Davis saw the flag on the mast, he was a little confused. It looked like a warship, and the flag was red. The direction was from the west.
As the enemy continued to approach, they could finally see the outline clearly. Major Davis was shocked. The flag was a sickle and hammer flag! It was a Soviet naval ship!
What are the Soviets doing here? Major Davis immediately shouted, "Attention, Soviet warships spotted! Full left rudder, forward three, ready to fight!"
Who knows what the Soviets are doing here! The enemy has already approached one hundred nautical miles from our coastline! As Major Davis issued the battle order, thicker black smoke came out of the chimney, and the frigate accelerated with a buzzing sound.
The Harpoon missiles also began to warm up, so that if they discovered that the Soviets were about to use force, they could counterattack immediately.
"Send flag signals and tell them that this is the territorial waters of an island country and ask them to retreat." Major Davis pressed the intercom switch and said to the signalman on the mast.
As the two sides gradually approached, Major Davis could visually observe that the two Soviet warships coming from the opposite side were outdated Riga-class frigates. This type of frigate had a displacement of less than 1,500 tons and no missiles in its weapons, mainly three 100-mm guns and 37- and 25-mm guns, as well as 533 torpedo tubes and anti-submarine rockets.
Riga class is the NATO name, and the Soviet model is Type 50, which is a frigate manufactured since the 1950s. The Pacific Fleet is equipped with a total of 11 ships.
Why did the Soviets send such an outdated frigate? Did they want to challenge the US's maritime power? Were the Soviets crazy?
"Report, they replied, this is public waters." The flag signalman shouted through the intercom.
Public waters? Major Davis was stunned, as if what the other party said was right. Even the United States only agreed to a 12-nautical-mile territorial sea. Using this as an excuse, the United States took advantage of its naval superiority and approached any hostile country at will.
"Let them go and don't interfere with our operations," said Major Davis.
No matter what the purpose of these people's visit is, in short, since they are two old warships, they are definitely not here to fight.
"Report, the Americans want us to leave and not interfere with their operations." Ten nautical miles away, the lookout on the Soviet Riga-class frigate Tashkent saw the enemy's lights and flag signals and said to the captain.
The Americans were indeed very cautious! Captain Ilyich said: "Send them a signal that we are about to start the salvage operation. Please ask the Americans not to interfere with our operation!"
When setting out, Captain Ilyich accepted this mission with a deep sense of responsibility. This time, even if he could never go back, he had to complete the mission!