were diving out of the path of murderous stream of cannon shells that poured forth from the attacking planes.
The second wave of A-10s roared in and almost perfectly mimicked the devastating attack. This time four of the six ARMs found targets, once again rocking the huge ship with a shudder of powerful explosions.
The third wave of ’Bolts executed another textbook attack on a nearby escort destroyer, hitting it with all six missiles, five of which impacted on its bow.
“Regroup and strafe!” Spaulding called excitedly as he wheeled his own A-10 up and around the Kirov -cruiser.
Once again coming in low and in three waves, the Thunderbolts roared over the two ships, covering each with withering cannon fire. The destroyer had been able to turn itself hard to port, thereby offering less of a target to the third group of A-10s. But the cruiser, its elongated bow now fighting against the suddenly choppy sea, took the full brunt of six Gatling guns in the first and second wave. Its starboard side was now awash in smoke and flame.
But not all the Soviet gun crews had been neutralized and some of the anti-aircraft crews on the protected portside began finding their mark. One A-10 in the first wave exploded in midair, its fuel tank riddled by tracers. Another ’Bolt, the leader of the second wave, caught an AA shell directly on its starboard engine, virtually disintegrating it. The A-10 immediately lost altitude and skipped heavily across the waves, finally exploding on impact near the side of one of the destroyers.
Although two of his pilots were killed, Spaulding felt he still had to press the attack. Neither enemy ship was out of commission yet, but two or three more strafing runs might do it.
But then suddenly, he was aware of a new threat.
Once the attack began, the Soviet carrier had turned away from the action. But now, somewhat recovered, its captain was launching Forgers to deal with the A-10s.
At that point, Spaulding knew his Thunderbolts would have one more pass at best before the Forgers were on them. He radioed instructions to the remaining A-10s to break their formations and independently target and drop their Rockeye cluster bombs on the two stricken Soviet ships. Then it would be time to tactically withdraw.
This last run was a lesson in confusion. The independently attacking A-10s were approaching from all angles, and thus harder for the surviving SAM crews to target. But the Rockeyes weren’t designed for bombing naval targets. More than a few of them fell off the mark, bracketing the pair of Soviet ships with huge geysers of sea water.
One cluster bomb, however, went off right on the foredeck of the big cruiser, sending a wall of fragments and shards into the ship’s superstructure, instantly destroying its bridge and combat control center.
Spaulding was the last plane in, dropping his Rockeyes on the stern of trailing destroyer, now directly behind the looming Soviet carrier. By this time it seemed as if the air was filled with Yaks. Spaulding looked back just in time to see one Forger on his tail, pumping away with his exterior gun pod. His A-10 shuddered as it simultaneously lost an engine and sustained heavy damage to the tail control surfaces.
Unable to climb or turn, the stricken Thunderbolt roared over the battered destroyer, and slammed into the carrier’s main superstructure, neatly clipping its radar mast off at the base with its left wing.
Somehow, Spaulding was able to hit his eject button just as his A-10 tumbled into the sea beyond the carrier.
Chapter 11
T HE BATTLE BETWEEN HUNTER’S F-16s and the enemy Yak Forgers had been brief.
Three of the Soviet fighters—including Hunter’s first kill—had been destroyed. A fourth was smoking heavily as it left the battle and the remaining pair were last seen fleeing to the north.
With most of the Forgers disposed of, Hunter led the flight of F-16s at full speed back toward the last reported position of Spaulding’s A-10 flight.
The second wave of A-10s roared in and almost perfectly mimicked the devastating attack. This time four of the six ARMs found targets, once again rocking the huge ship with a shudder of powerful explosions.
The third wave of ’Bolts executed another textbook attack on a nearby escort destroyer, hitting it with all six missiles, five of which impacted on its bow.
“Regroup and strafe!” Spaulding called excitedly as he wheeled his own A-10 up and around the Kirov -cruiser.
Once again coming in low and in three waves, the Thunderbolts roared over the two ships, covering each with withering cannon fire. The destroyer had been able to turn itself hard to port, thereby offering less of a target to the third group of A-10s. But the cruiser, its elongated bow now fighting against the suddenly choppy sea, took the full brunt of six Gatling guns in the first and second wave. Its starboard side was now awash in smoke and flame.
But not all the Soviet gun crews had been neutralized and some of the anti-aircraft crews on the protected portside began finding their mark. One A-10 in the first wave exploded in midair, its fuel tank riddled by tracers. Another ’Bolt, the leader of the second wave, caught an AA shell directly on its starboard engine, virtually disintegrating it. The A-10 immediately lost altitude and skipped heavily across the waves, finally exploding on impact near the side of one of the destroyers.
Although two of his pilots were killed, Spaulding felt he still had to press the attack. Neither enemy ship was out of commission yet, but two or three more strafing runs might do it.
But then suddenly, he was aware of a new threat.
Once the attack began, the Soviet carrier had turned away from the action. But now, somewhat recovered, its captain was launching Forgers to deal with the A-10s.
At that point, Spaulding knew his Thunderbolts would have one more pass at best before the Forgers were on them. He radioed instructions to the remaining A-10s to break their formations and independently target and drop their Rockeye cluster bombs on the two stricken Soviet ships. Then it would be time to tactically withdraw.
This last run was a lesson in confusion. The independently attacking A-10s were approaching from all angles, and thus harder for the surviving SAM crews to target. But the Rockeyes weren’t designed for bombing naval targets. More than a few of them fell off the mark, bracketing the pair of Soviet ships with huge geysers of sea water.
One cluster bomb, however, went off right on the foredeck of the big cruiser, sending a wall of fragments and shards into the ship’s superstructure, instantly destroying its bridge and combat control center.
Spaulding was the last plane in, dropping his Rockeyes on the stern of trailing destroyer, now directly behind the looming Soviet carrier. By this time it seemed as if the air was filled with Yaks. Spaulding looked back just in time to see one Forger on his tail, pumping away with his exterior gun pod. His A-10 shuddered as it simultaneously lost an engine and sustained heavy damage to the tail control surfaces.
Unable to climb or turn, the stricken Thunderbolt roared over the battered destroyer, and slammed into the carrier’s main superstructure, neatly clipping its radar mast off at the base with its left wing.
Somehow, Spaulding was able to hit his eject button just as his A-10 tumbled into the sea beyond the carrier.
Chapter 11
T HE BATTLE BETWEEN HUNTER’S F-16s and the enemy Yak Forgers had been brief.
Three of the Soviet fighters—including Hunter’s first kill—had been destroyed. A fourth was smoking heavily as it left the battle and the remaining pair were last seen fleeing to the north.
With most of the Forgers disposed of, Hunter led the flight of F-16s at full speed back toward the last reported position of Spaulding’s A-10 flight.
Similar Books
