to Vast Highland Area
The objective of all three publications was, as usual, to frighten the life out of the population. And there were about a zillion other publications all over the free world preparing to do precisely the same. None with more enthusiasm and barely concealed glee than the US “rolling news” television channels, CNN and FOX.
And now breaking news . . . Reports are coming in that a major Russian nuclear submarine has slammed into the beach of an island in Scotland. Royal Navy warships are racing to the scene as the Akula Class vessel, believed to be carrying cruise missiles with nuclear warheads, lies stranded on the sandbank. . . .
Pentagon sources are admitting huge concern that the ten-thousand-ton
submarine somehow penetrated the electronic defensive network, which the UK and United States have operated for decades in that sensitive area of the North Atlantic....
We understand the chairman of the Joint Chiefs himself will chair an initial inquiry later today to discuss an immediate solution to this glaring example of Western naval commanders dropping their guard in the face of obvious and continued Russian aggression....
A rival US channel went straight for the jugular:
US Naval chiefs admit to feeling stunned by the security breach, which permitted a ten-thousand-ton Russian submarine to penetrate electronic defenses and then run aground off the coast of Scotland.
Pentagon officials confirm they have ordered a Los Angeles Class nuclear submarine, out of New London, Connecticut, to make all speed to the Isle of Skye to assist the Royal Navy with one of the most highly embarrassing incidents since the US Air Force spy plane was shot down over the Urals in May 1960.
If the British decide to allow the Russian boat, the Gepard, to go free, it is anticipated the American submarine will escort it back to Russian waters. Drastic improvements to US-UK ocean security systems are certain to be announced shortly. . . .
And all this was before the defense “experts” began writing long feature articles pinpointing the blame. This was certain to be aimed at the US Navy, since it was common knowledge in military circles that the Brits were effectively finished.
But that would have been absurd, because of the GIUK Gap, Russia’s gateway out of the tundra and into the North Atlantic. Despite being the narrowest point in the entire ocean, it is still a huge stretch of rough, icy water, especially the western part, between Greenland and Iceland. This is the Denmark Strait, 180 miles wide at its narrowest point. The remainder, between the east coast of Iceland and the northwesterly tip of Scotland, the Port of Ness on the Isle of Lewis, is 550 miles wide.
The SOSUS arrays that spread across the entire ocean bottom were laid and maintained by the Americans, and of course the network of listening
stations was financed by the Pentagon. But for years the Royal Navy offered immense assistance, both in manning the stations and in patrolling the waters, with surface ships, submarines, and aircraft.
But no more. By 2018 they simply did not have the resources. If the Americans wanted a partner on the eastern side of the Atlantic Ocean, they would need to find someone else. And that may not be easy. Half of Europe was floundering along in near-bankrupt conditions.
America itself had a few heavy financial difficulties, but if the Pentagon wanted to keep a severe weather eye on the scowling military masters in the Kremlin, they would almost certainly have to go it alone. And the Gepard had surely heightened that ultimate truth.
Back in Lochalsh, Captain McKeown’s frigate was on station out beyond the sandbank, riding at anchor in fourteen fathoms of water. His crew, plus a half-dozen Royal Marines, were fixing towlines to the bow of the submarine, which was scheduled to be pulled off the bank at 1700 hours.
The engineers and sonar men from Faslane had arrived and were already ensconced in the various control
The objective of all three publications was, as usual, to frighten the life out of the population. And there were about a zillion other publications all over the free world preparing to do precisely the same. None with more enthusiasm and barely concealed glee than the US “rolling news” television channels, CNN and FOX.
And now breaking news . . . Reports are coming in that a major Russian nuclear submarine has slammed into the beach of an island in Scotland. Royal Navy warships are racing to the scene as the Akula Class vessel, believed to be carrying cruise missiles with nuclear warheads, lies stranded on the sandbank. . . .
Pentagon sources are admitting huge concern that the ten-thousand-ton
submarine somehow penetrated the electronic defensive network, which the UK and United States have operated for decades in that sensitive area of the North Atlantic....
We understand the chairman of the Joint Chiefs himself will chair an initial inquiry later today to discuss an immediate solution to this glaring example of Western naval commanders dropping their guard in the face of obvious and continued Russian aggression....
A rival US channel went straight for the jugular:
US Naval chiefs admit to feeling stunned by the security breach, which permitted a ten-thousand-ton Russian submarine to penetrate electronic defenses and then run aground off the coast of Scotland.
Pentagon officials confirm they have ordered a Los Angeles Class nuclear submarine, out of New London, Connecticut, to make all speed to the Isle of Skye to assist the Royal Navy with one of the most highly embarrassing incidents since the US Air Force spy plane was shot down over the Urals in May 1960.
If the British decide to allow the Russian boat, the Gepard, to go free, it is anticipated the American submarine will escort it back to Russian waters. Drastic improvements to US-UK ocean security systems are certain to be announced shortly. . . .
And all this was before the defense “experts” began writing long feature articles pinpointing the blame. This was certain to be aimed at the US Navy, since it was common knowledge in military circles that the Brits were effectively finished.
But that would have been absurd, because of the GIUK Gap, Russia’s gateway out of the tundra and into the North Atlantic. Despite being the narrowest point in the entire ocean, it is still a huge stretch of rough, icy water, especially the western part, between Greenland and Iceland. This is the Denmark Strait, 180 miles wide at its narrowest point. The remainder, between the east coast of Iceland and the northwesterly tip of Scotland, the Port of Ness on the Isle of Lewis, is 550 miles wide.
The SOSUS arrays that spread across the entire ocean bottom were laid and maintained by the Americans, and of course the network of listening
stations was financed by the Pentagon. But for years the Royal Navy offered immense assistance, both in manning the stations and in patrolling the waters, with surface ships, submarines, and aircraft.
But no more. By 2018 they simply did not have the resources. If the Americans wanted a partner on the eastern side of the Atlantic Ocean, they would need to find someone else. And that may not be easy. Half of Europe was floundering along in near-bankrupt conditions.
America itself had a few heavy financial difficulties, but if the Pentagon wanted to keep a severe weather eye on the scowling military masters in the Kremlin, they would almost certainly have to go it alone. And the Gepard had surely heightened that ultimate truth.
Back in Lochalsh, Captain McKeown’s frigate was on station out beyond the sandbank, riding at anchor in fourteen fathoms of water. His crew, plus a half-dozen Royal Marines, were fixing towlines to the bow of the submarine, which was scheduled to be pulled off the bank at 1700 hours.
The engineers and sonar men from Faslane had arrived and were already ensconced in the various control
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