At As Sultan Harbor near Muscat on the Gulf of Oman, the US had a single Ticonderoga class cruiser, Bull Run, with two destroyers, Robert Rodes and Starke. LHA Tulagi was also there, with a pair of Freedom Class Littoral Combat Ships (LCS), Hunter and Ranger. Far to the south on the Arabian Sea at Salaha Harbor, the US had another two LCS ships, Recon and Scout, and a few unmanned recon sea assets.
The LCS ships had been upgraded so they at least could fight other patrol craft and frigates at range, with the addition of eight Naval Strike Missiles. The TF had sortied for the first time to escort a couple tankers in the Gulf of Oman that were moving south to harbor near Muscat, and establish a security patrol near the big oil terminal port of Al Fujairah to the north.
Now that hostilities had erupted in the region, the Iranians had sent what little they had of a navy out to look for targets of opportunity. Their patrol boats and frigates had found and killed the tanker Burgan, a 40,000 tonner, in the north Persian Gulf region, but they in turn were set upon by the Royal Saudi Navy, which cleared the area and sunk any Iranian vessel it detected.
Iran was now looking south to the key chokepoint of the Strait of Hormuz. Light up a few tankers there, and the world would know that Iran had the power to do what it had long claimed—choke off the world’s largest supply of oil at their whim. How long they could do that was another matter, and that little contest was now about to begin.
The Iranians had five batteries of coastal SSM’s that could range on the area, numerous fast attack craft, at least six hidden diesel subs, and a small flotilla at the port of Jask south of the Strait. It was that group that would soon come into direct conflict near Muscat as it sortied out to look for prey….
“I don’t know, Jim, but OMCOM is a little edgy about this situation. Washington wants us to show the flag, but we’re hung out here on our own until Roosevelt gets close, and its feeling mighty lonesome.”
That was Captain Peter Duncan on the cruiser Bull Run speaking with his XO, James, Fallon. OMCOM was, of course, Oman Command, and it was indeed a lonesome stand. There were just not enough big deck carriers to keep one on full time patrol on the region, which had been quiet for many years. Then all hell broke loose in the Pacific, and now the Navy was rushing CV Roosevelt to the scene, but it was many hours away, still approaching Diego Garcia at that hour.
“I hear ya,” said the XO. “Chinese walloped the Royal Navy down south, and they have a pretty damn strong fleet up here. In fact, we’ll be in missile range from the moment we leave port.”
“Better at sea than tied up at a dock,” said the Captain. “Did you get the Intel on that local TF?”
“It’s been like Chinese checkers out here, sir, but I think we narrowed it down. They have two of their hot new Renhai class DDs, and a couple older Type 051D’s—it’s an upgrade model, and we don’t have much in the way of specs on it yet. Beyond that, they have a corvette and two more frigates.”
“Seven ships… and two of them Renhai Class. That’s a lot to tangle with. Where are they now?”
“Here sir, about 100 miles northeast of Cape Ras al Haad. That’s about 165 miles east of our harbor.”
“So they are in missile range…. That report on the YJ-18’s was sobering.”
“Yes sir. They copied that one from the Russians, but they sure kicked it into high gear on that terminal run.”
“Word is that our ESSM’s can handle it, but seven ships can haul a lot of throw weight. If we get into a scrap with them, we’ll need air support from those Strike Raptors at Seeb.”
That was the airbase near Muscat, very close to the As Sultan Harbor where the US ships were now casting off lines. And yes, they were going to need all the help they could find.
Chapter 15
You could not kill what you could not see…. That was now the dilemma being face by the Iranians as one radar site after another was destroyed by US and Saudi air assets. They could not forge the first link of their kill chain, and had little in the way of AEW planes that could surveil the region. China might pass along satellite data, but it was not enough. So they resorted to the old fashioned fallback of fighter jet reconnaissance missions, hoping to find fat, oil laden fish in the Gulf of Oman.
The results there would be mixed. An old F-4 Phantom would take off from Jask airfield, fly low over the gulf, and then climb to look for tanker traffic. About 50 miles out, it spotted a big ship heading south, and reported the contact to TF Jask, which had the frigates Alvand, Alborz, and three Thondor class patrol boats, each carrying four Chinese built C-802 missiles. Sometimes thought of as the Chinese Harpoon, the missile had about the same range as that American made weapon, roughly 70 miles, and was perfect for use in these constricted littoral waters.
One of two F-22 Raptors that had been covering the US TF was diverted to investigate the F-4 when it was detected. Racing northwest towards the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz at 1000 knots, the pilot saw both the F-4 and four missiles heading for the big 150,000 ton Singapore flagged tanker Amethyst. It was ordered to engage the missiles first, and then take down that fighter.
Unlike the F-35, which could carry only four AIM-120D’s internally, the Raptor could bring six. That allowed them to put one on each of the four missiles TF Jask had fired, and one on that F-4, still leaving one arrow in the quiver if anything missed. All four missiles were destroyed, but the F-4 dove and slipped the noose on that first shot. The Last AMRAAM would find and kill it a minute later.
“Bertha, Achilles-1. Grandslam, and we are Winchester.” The raptor pilot reported he had swept the table, but seeing their missiles defeated, the Iranians doubled down. A second Thondor missile boat pushed four more chips out onto the table, firing all its C-802’s.
“Roger Achilles-1, cleared RTB. Achilles-2, vector 350 and burn the oil. Bertha, Over.”
“Roger that, Bertha. Achilles-2 turning on 350, and Buster.”
The second Raptor in that flight had been ordered to get northwest fast and see if it could intervene. At the same time, two more F-22’s were scrambling from As Sultan air field, with another pair of Strike Raptors carrying the GBU-53.
It was a real footrace now. The F-22’s were almost twice as fast at the C-802, which was a subsonic missile at 520 knots. But the missiles had been fired just 50 miles from the tanker, and Achilles-2 had been 120 miles away when it was ordered to turn and burn. So the Vampires were about 20 miles from their targets by the time the F-22 was getting in range. At 15:20, it put four missiles out after the Vampires, and they went racing in to try and save the tanker.
On board the Amethyst, a crewman on an upper deck had seen the C-802’s tracking in and rang the bell to sound an alarm. Then he crossed himself as the Vampires pushed inside the five mile mark, burning their way towards all that oil. He saw a flash of light to the east, and white angels were streaking through the sky, their tails bright with fire. One by one, they found and killed those cruise missiles, the last just two miles from the ship. It was as if God had answered his prayer that hour, flinging his arrows to save the ship.