The boats were to run without radars, but the captains were wary of moving around blind. Instead they activated the radars on a lower power setting once every few minutes to make sure they weren’t running into one another. On occasion, they also activated other radars to make sure they were safe.
Deep inside USS Richard E. Byrd, a 1960s era DDG, Petty Officer Melendez sat silently with headphones covering his ears. He turned the scanner on an old WLR-1 threat receiver. As the radars were turned on, he was able to pick up their emissions and break them down, telling him exactly what was out ahead of them.
“Additional navigation radars bearing 013. So far I’ve picked up about twenty different ones, mostly Don Kays,” he said. Melendez suddenly stopped spinning the wheel and tuned it back and forth. A change could be seen on the screens as a new radar came online. It took Melendez only a second to know what it was. “I’m picking up a Drum Tilt fire control radar on the same general bearing. That’s a gunfire control radar, but it is used a lot on missile boats, especially for our old friend the Styx,” he said over the internal communications system.
The Surface Warfare Coordinator or SWC was watching the events unfolding in the ship’s combat information center or CIC. “Enter it,” he ordered. Watching the satellite data system, he saw their bearing line and the bearing lines of two other ships appear and merge exactly 32 miles away. He chuckled. “Well, at least we know where they are,” he said.
The mostly silent secure communications radio came to life. “All stations in Alpha Bravo, this is Alpha Sierra. Execute Plan Hotel at time 1915. Bearing target 017. Stagger plan Bravo. Break Charlie Golf, over.” Charlie Golf was the Richard E. Byrd’s call sign.
The SWC picked up the handset and pressed the key. “This is Charlie Golf, roger out,” he said. Replacing the handset, he opened a large manual beside him. After flipping a few pages he had his answer.
“I read that as a Harpoon attack on ships bearing 017 from center of formation. Launch time for us is 1915. We are designated to launch at the ships on the left side of the formation. That will be a bearing of 012 at that range,” said the CIC petty officer. There was a big grin on his face. His job was to manage the CIC watch team and work with the SWC to break signals and interpret orders. He was proud of the fact that he could break the signal faster than the officers.
SWC nodded. “Concur,” he said. The race to be ready was something that made the watches go faster for all the men. He turned to the missile coordinator seated beside him. “You got that?” he asked.
“Harpoon selected and programmed. Putting a bird on the rail,” he said.
“Roger,” SWC said. He reached over and hit the bitch box. “Captain, SWC, we’ve been ordered to launch Harpoons in five minutes. We need you in Combat,” he said.
“On my way,” said the Captain.
“Square Tie surface search, bearing 015,” said Melendez.
“Roger,” said SWC.
The Captain came into Combat and sat in his chair beside SWC. “What’s the bearing?” he asked.
“Our shooting bearing is 017. We shoot in the staggered plan with our time being 1915. We’re one of the first. No allied ships are between us and the bad guys,” he said briefing the captain.
The captain nodded. “Bird ready?”
SWC nodded. “The bird is ready. We will launch four in total. Staggering the bearing slightly to assure a distribution,” he said.
The men in Combat maintained their vigilance. After a few minutes the CIC Petty Officer announced “One minute to launch.”
Already the word spread of a missile launch, and all hands cleared the Mk-13 missile launcher area aft near the fantail. A small door opened on the base of the launcher and a white Harpoon missile lifted from the circular magazine and positioned itself on the launcher rail. The single arm pivoted in two dimensions and pointed the missile downrange.
SWC took control. “Thirty seconds. Range clear?”
“Range clear of friendlies.”
“Final bearing?”
“Final bearing 017. Green light.”
“Weapons free,” the Captain said.
“Fifteen seconds.”
The men glued themselves to their screens making sure everything went as desired.
“Five, four, three, two, one, launch,” SWC ordered.
The Chief at the weapons console pressed the firing key. The Harpoon missile’s rocket motor ignited and the missile surged off the launcher and screamed down range. The booster rocket fell away as the missile’s small turbine engine took over the propulsion of the missile. Dropping to a height of 50 feet, the missile made its way across the ocean. At a predetermined point, the active radar seeker activated and a target was selected out of several. Three additional Harpoons followed the first at eight second intervals.
“Active missile seeker bearing 184. It is an American Harpoon missile!” screamed the sailor watching the detection equipment. The Captain of the old OSA missile boat jumped to his feet and ran to the radar screen. No ships were anywhere near them except Koreans.
“Sound the alarm. Warm up the missiles!” he ordered. On the stern of the ship were four Chinese variants of the old Soviet SS-N-2 missiles. The old missiles used vacuum tubes and the fuel tended to erode the tanks and fittings. The Captain inspected the missiles when he came onboard just six months ago, but they had been stored in their launchers since that time. They had never launched one. The radios suddenly became alive with orders, shouts of alarm and other conflicting messages. In the confusion, captains were making many decisions on their own. No one seemed in charge.
Inside the weapons station, the switches were flipped to warm up the missiles. In a minute the missiles reported ready. As the boat maneuvered back and forth to hopefully confuse the enemy missiles, the Captain ordered the missiles fired.
The first two Styx missiles left their launch tubes aimed down the bearing of the incoming missiles. The aft launchers were about to fire when one of the Harpoons struck the pilot house of the patrol boat. In the last instant before the operator was blasted to fragments, he pressed the firing key.
Inside the launcher on the starboard side was a missile that had been sitting in the launcher for more than a year. The fuel had degraded the tanks and was leaking into the main casing of the missile. When the squibs ignited the rocket motor, the pooled fuel exploded. The explosion tore through the sides of the launcher and ripped through the ship, blowing off the after guns and sending shrapnel into the missile on the port side, igniting the fuel there as well. The blast tore through the deck plates into the engine room below, blowing the diesel engines almost through the bottom of the ship. The patrol boat sank in less than a minute. It was followed by more than twenty other ships and boats in the force. Several others had also been hit but were able to limp back towards home.
“Incoming missiles, bearing 015!” announced the air warfare coordinator in Combat.
“Here they come,” said SWC. “Train all weapons on target.”
The SPG-53 Gunfire Control system and the 5-inch 54 cal. guns were trained out and looking for targets along with the SPG-51 missile fire control radars. A white SM-1 came shooting out of the magazine and onto the Mk-13 launcher. The launcher then pivoted aiming the missile toward the incoming targets. The fins were extended.
“Twenty-seven missiles now inbound,” said Melendez.
By now the radars were up and operating. The targeting assignments were made via the satellite system. “Target track 03,” said SWC.