Herman Hum
22 Dec 05, 14:20
AAR: The Cyprus Question 1966 [Spoiler Alert]
By Quinton Van Zyl
Cyprus has been at the center of a tug of war for almost a century. The island was part of the Ottoman Empire until it was taken over by the British in the 1877-78 Russo-Turkish war as a base for naval operations and formally included in the British Empire during World War I. The island was a crucial base for the UK during both world wars as well as the Suez Crisis in the 1950's. Cyprus gained official independence from Britain in 1960 although the UK still maintained two bases on the island.
While Cyprus was never part of modern Greece, the Greeks embarked on a romantic idea to reunite all lands associated with Greek mythology in ancient times. This was known as Enios and was the beginning of a major source of tension between Turkey and Greece.
Many attempts were made in the 1950's to resolve this conflict - however no lasting solution was found. During the early 1960's violent clashes between Greeks and Turks became ever more frequent and widespread across the island. For Turkey this could not be allowed to continue as it was a major cause for instability in the government. In a desperate move Turkish armed forces from the mainland were landed on the island; the operation was well executed and succeeded in securing most of the major towns, harbours and the airport. Fighting was intense in some areas but due to the greater numbers on the Turkish side the Greeks were finally defeated after three days - UK forces on the island were similarly rounded up and deported.
This act of aggression by Turkey represented a serious threat to NATO's south-eastern flank. The UK was enraged at the expulsion of British troops and equipment from her two bases on Cyprus. Following a top secret meeting between British and Greek officials in London, the British Prime Minister announced on a national television and radio broadcast that a joint Royal Navy and Greek task force would reclaim the island and restore stability to the region.
The British aircraft carrier Ark Royal and her battle group have been sent at best speed from Gibraltar to join up with elements of the Greek navy before heading east towards Cyprus. A large portion of the Turkish navy has taken up positions around Cyprus; air activity has also increased dramatically.
http://img471.imageshack.us/img471/2909/cyprus66start0ol.th.gif (http://img471.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cyprus66start0ol.gif)
Admiral Feathergill, aboard the carrier Ark Royal, examined his Order of Battle one last time. As the mission of the task force was the liberation of Cyprus, he decided to re-arm most of his Greek air assets for AAW missions. They weren’t likely to be of much use over Cyprus and their limited range meant that they could only attack the Turkish mainland. That was the one thing he did NOT intend to do. He would try to keep the conflict centred on Cyprus and not allow it to escalate to attacks on Turkey proper. He immediately sent his reconnaissance assets aloft to try and pin down the location of the Turkish forces. A couple of Dakotas and a Gannet went up right away.
http://img471.imageshack.us/img471/7571/raidonrhodos0kq.th.gif (http://img471.imageshack.us/my.php?image=raidonrhodos0kq.gif)
Suddenly, two unidentified aircraft were reported approaching Rhodos. They were radar silent, but were flying a very suspicious profile. Santorini scrambled two flights of Starfighters that were already on hotpad alert. Although there was no possibility of them arriving before any potential attack was delivered, they would at least be able to redeem Grecian honour by catching the raiders on their egress.
The planes turned out to be Thunderjets operating out of Izmir. The alert went out at once! Get some planes into the air over Athens! Elefsis ordered her planes to scramble and hoped that they had re-acted in time.
http://img471.imageshack.us/img471/4315/santorinifight2ms.th.gif (http://img471.imageshack.us/my.php?image=santorinifight2ms.gif)
Sure enough, the planes just leaving the runways of Santorini ran right into a flight of F-84 Thunderjets preparing to attack their home aerodrome! Instead of revenge, they might be able to avert an attack in the first place. They pulled their straps tighter and turned into the Turkish invaders.
The 40mm M-42 Duster AAA battery defending Rhodos desperately tried to bring down the Thunderjets. Their efforts were quite pitiful as the planes roared directly overhead. However, they did manage to alert the 40mm Bofors battery situated next to Rhodos radar station. The F-84s were greeted with a solid wall of AAA fire and one was shot down before it managed to release its ordnance. The survivor finished his attack run, but his bombs were seen to drop well short of the mark and landed in a nearby farmer's field. The only Greek victim was the cow that had been grazing at the impact site. This gave a whole new meaning to the term, Ground Beef. The F-84 pilot was making his egress on the same route as his ingress. This was his first and last mistake. The M-42 crews were ready and shot him out of the sky as he tried to race away. A triumphant roar sounded from the crews.
The four Starfighters rising out of Santorini led off with their Sidewinders. However, these missiles promptly locked onto the sun and disappeared. All four pilots swore as one as they switched their armament selection switches over to "Guns". "We'll do this this the old-fashioned way", the flight leader announced to his charges. "Increase speed to full power." One pass was all it took and both F-84s were shredded in mid-air. Now that Rhodos and been able to defend themselves, they turned around to re-arm for the next round.
http://img471.imageshack.us/img471/1408/mpaescort2gq.th.gif (http://img471.imageshack.us/my.php?image=mpaescort2gq.gif)
The second flight of fighters from Santorini thought that their mission was a bust since all of the Rhodos attackers had already been destroyed. They had been circling their base and cursing their luck when they received and urgent call over the guard frequency from one of the C-47 Dakota patrol planes. A suspected Turkish interceptor had locked them up with radar and was closing quickly. The Starfighter pilots closed their helmet visors and went to afterburner and all thought, disgustedly, "Let's see how those Turks like fighting against folks who can shoot back!" The lone Turkish F-5 was soon surprised by a volley of eight AIM-9B Sidewinders. He managed to dodge seven before the eighth flew into his exhaust pipe and exploded. His plane disintegrated and scattered itself over several acres. A very relieved Dakota pilot sent the flight a heart-felt message of thanks and promised a case of ouzo to the squadron's pilots once this crisis was resolved. However, the Starfighters had to deal with one loose end, first. The wingman of the Turk had finally shown up. Faced with four "combat" veterans, he was quickly riddled with 30mm rounds and bailed out into the Aegean. He was taken aboard a Greek fishing boat and held as a prisoner of war.
http://img471.imageshack.us/img471/4104/nothispeedfishermen9hs.th.gif (http://img471.imageshack.us/my.php?image=nothispeedfishermen9hs.gif)
Two very suspicious ships were spotted by the Gannet as they were making 32 kts and approaching the Ark Royal group from the Turkish shore. Since no commercial fishing vessels are capable of these speeds, these boats were classified as probable hostiles and the Dakota was sent to investigate while deck crews on the Ark Royal prepared an "appropriate" response. Before the Dakota even arrived in the area, they were identified as Dogan missile boats from their emissions and a pair of F-86D Sabres was ordered aloft from Santorini to the handle the situation in order to save the Ark Royal's air wing for Cypriot missions. However, they were rendered moot as three Sabres were detected approaching from Antalaya. Quickly, four Sea Vixen were launched to intercept them. All three were brought down by Firestreak missiles. Once free from the airborne threat, the fighters expended their rockets on Dogan PTMs.
http://img471.imageshack.us/img471/403/antalayaraid18ip.th.gif (http://img471.imageshack.us/my.php?image=antalayaraid18ip.gif)
Somehow, the Turks must have surmised the location of the Task Group because a significant number of Starfighters were detected rising up from Antalaya. The Admiral immediately ordered the launch of his remaining Sea Vixen. The defending planes used up all of their missiles and killed most of them but one just kept on coming and coming and coming. It flew straight into the teeth of the Ark Royal group. On and on it came; right through the wall of AAA thrown up by the CL Tiger and the entire Task Group. He must have gotten an exact position of the group because he flew through the entire formation before retiring despite all the best efforts of the AAA crews.
http://img471.imageshack.us/img471/4315/onemanflyby1md.th.gif (http://img471.imageshack.us/my.php?image=onemanflyby1md.gif)
After he made his good escape, the Captain of the CL Tiger ordered that his fog horn sounded for a full five minutes. Soon, every ship in the formation followed suit in recognition of the valour and bravery exhibited by the lone Turkish pilot. Sometimes, valour can be shown and be held in respect by both combatants on both sides.
http://img471.imageshack.us/img471/6607/cypriotsitrep7ab.th.gif (http://img471.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cypriotsitrep7ab.gif)
Soon, two destroyers, Gelibolu and Gemlik, were spotted near NW of Cyprus. Since this would take considerably more striking power than that available in Free Flight Artillery Rockets [FFAR], SS Poseidon was sent to deal with them. Two more destroyers, Alp Arslan and Piyale Pasa were seen to be covering the approaches to LZ Bravo. The Dakota that had almost been shot down over the Greek islands was not having a good day. It reported the situation around the around the western half of Cyprus, but garnered the attention of the aerial defences. The hapless patrol plane was able to transmit its contact report before it was shot down after taking the pursuing Sabres on a merry long chase.
http://img471.imageshack.us/img471/6784/thunderjetscaught4lc.th.gif (http://img471.imageshack.us/my.php?image=thunderjetscaught4lc.gif)
The F-100 Super Sabres from Elefsis were ordered to re-deploy to Kasteli since their range made them ineffective where they were currently stationed and their bombloads would be need to help suppress the LZ defences. The F-84 Thunderjets already operating out of Kasteli were assigned to prepare the battlefield by bombing the airport at Nicosia. They tried to take a circuitous route in hopes of evading any Combat Air Patrol [CAP], but they were caught just as they crossed the shoreline of Cyprus. Even heavily laden with bombs, their quad .50 calibre mounts commanded respect and protection lay in numbers. Both of the Sabres attempting to intercept them were shot out of the sky before the crews continued their ground attack mission to Nicosia and dropped two of the airport's hangars.
http://img471.imageshack.us/img471/3627/antalaya2prongedattack3an.th.gif (http://img471.imageshack.us/my.php?image=antalaya2prongedattack3an.gif)
Somehow, the CVG had been detected. A two-prong attack materialised from two axes; Antalaya and Izmir. Luckily, a full force of Sea Vixen had been re-armed and was waiting for just such an eventuality. Six Sabres were brought down for the loss of a single Sea Vixen. Once the Task Group was deemed secure, the eight Scimitar were sent over the beach to continue softening up the island’s defences. Unfortunately, they ran afoul of a Freedom Fighter on CAP and were jumped. Before they knew it, three had been blown out of the sky! But, they weren't designated "Fighter-bombers" for nothing. They managed to even the score with their 30mm Aden cannon by killing one of their assailants. It was cold comfort for the loss of their ready room mates.
http://img471.imageshack.us/img471/5325/scimitarreversal0to.th.gif (http://img471.imageshack.us/my.php?image=scimitarreversal0to.gif)
With surprise lost, they climbed and put on full military power in hopes of delivering their bombs and escaping the hellish mess that they had found themselves in. However, Fate was not kind to them, today. Another Freedom Fighter intercepted them and killed two more and they were still a long ways away from the target. The mission had to be aborted.
By Quinton Van Zyl
Cyprus has been at the center of a tug of war for almost a century. The island was part of the Ottoman Empire until it was taken over by the British in the 1877-78 Russo-Turkish war as a base for naval operations and formally included in the British Empire during World War I. The island was a crucial base for the UK during both world wars as well as the Suez Crisis in the 1950's. Cyprus gained official independence from Britain in 1960 although the UK still maintained two bases on the island.
While Cyprus was never part of modern Greece, the Greeks embarked on a romantic idea to reunite all lands associated with Greek mythology in ancient times. This was known as Enios and was the beginning of a major source of tension between Turkey and Greece.
Many attempts were made in the 1950's to resolve this conflict - however no lasting solution was found. During the early 1960's violent clashes between Greeks and Turks became ever more frequent and widespread across the island. For Turkey this could not be allowed to continue as it was a major cause for instability in the government. In a desperate move Turkish armed forces from the mainland were landed on the island; the operation was well executed and succeeded in securing most of the major towns, harbours and the airport. Fighting was intense in some areas but due to the greater numbers on the Turkish side the Greeks were finally defeated after three days - UK forces on the island were similarly rounded up and deported.
This act of aggression by Turkey represented a serious threat to NATO's south-eastern flank. The UK was enraged at the expulsion of British troops and equipment from her two bases on Cyprus. Following a top secret meeting between British and Greek officials in London, the British Prime Minister announced on a national television and radio broadcast that a joint Royal Navy and Greek task force would reclaim the island and restore stability to the region.
The British aircraft carrier Ark Royal and her battle group have been sent at best speed from Gibraltar to join up with elements of the Greek navy before heading east towards Cyprus. A large portion of the Turkish navy has taken up positions around Cyprus; air activity has also increased dramatically.
http://img471.imageshack.us/img471/2909/cyprus66start0ol.th.gif (http://img471.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cyprus66start0ol.gif)
Admiral Feathergill, aboard the carrier Ark Royal, examined his Order of Battle one last time. As the mission of the task force was the liberation of Cyprus, he decided to re-arm most of his Greek air assets for AAW missions. They weren’t likely to be of much use over Cyprus and their limited range meant that they could only attack the Turkish mainland. That was the one thing he did NOT intend to do. He would try to keep the conflict centred on Cyprus and not allow it to escalate to attacks on Turkey proper. He immediately sent his reconnaissance assets aloft to try and pin down the location of the Turkish forces. A couple of Dakotas and a Gannet went up right away.
http://img471.imageshack.us/img471/7571/raidonrhodos0kq.th.gif (http://img471.imageshack.us/my.php?image=raidonrhodos0kq.gif)
Suddenly, two unidentified aircraft were reported approaching Rhodos. They were radar silent, but were flying a very suspicious profile. Santorini scrambled two flights of Starfighters that were already on hotpad alert. Although there was no possibility of them arriving before any potential attack was delivered, they would at least be able to redeem Grecian honour by catching the raiders on their egress.
The planes turned out to be Thunderjets operating out of Izmir. The alert went out at once! Get some planes into the air over Athens! Elefsis ordered her planes to scramble and hoped that they had re-acted in time.
http://img471.imageshack.us/img471/4315/santorinifight2ms.th.gif (http://img471.imageshack.us/my.php?image=santorinifight2ms.gif)
Sure enough, the planes just leaving the runways of Santorini ran right into a flight of F-84 Thunderjets preparing to attack their home aerodrome! Instead of revenge, they might be able to avert an attack in the first place. They pulled their straps tighter and turned into the Turkish invaders.
The 40mm M-42 Duster AAA battery defending Rhodos desperately tried to bring down the Thunderjets. Their efforts were quite pitiful as the planes roared directly overhead. However, they did manage to alert the 40mm Bofors battery situated next to Rhodos radar station. The F-84s were greeted with a solid wall of AAA fire and one was shot down before it managed to release its ordnance. The survivor finished his attack run, but his bombs were seen to drop well short of the mark and landed in a nearby farmer's field. The only Greek victim was the cow that had been grazing at the impact site. This gave a whole new meaning to the term, Ground Beef. The F-84 pilot was making his egress on the same route as his ingress. This was his first and last mistake. The M-42 crews were ready and shot him out of the sky as he tried to race away. A triumphant roar sounded from the crews.
The four Starfighters rising out of Santorini led off with their Sidewinders. However, these missiles promptly locked onto the sun and disappeared. All four pilots swore as one as they switched their armament selection switches over to "Guns". "We'll do this this the old-fashioned way", the flight leader announced to his charges. "Increase speed to full power." One pass was all it took and both F-84s were shredded in mid-air. Now that Rhodos and been able to defend themselves, they turned around to re-arm for the next round.
http://img471.imageshack.us/img471/1408/mpaescort2gq.th.gif (http://img471.imageshack.us/my.php?image=mpaescort2gq.gif)
The second flight of fighters from Santorini thought that their mission was a bust since all of the Rhodos attackers had already been destroyed. They had been circling their base and cursing their luck when they received and urgent call over the guard frequency from one of the C-47 Dakota patrol planes. A suspected Turkish interceptor had locked them up with radar and was closing quickly. The Starfighter pilots closed their helmet visors and went to afterburner and all thought, disgustedly, "Let's see how those Turks like fighting against folks who can shoot back!" The lone Turkish F-5 was soon surprised by a volley of eight AIM-9B Sidewinders. He managed to dodge seven before the eighth flew into his exhaust pipe and exploded. His plane disintegrated and scattered itself over several acres. A very relieved Dakota pilot sent the flight a heart-felt message of thanks and promised a case of ouzo to the squadron's pilots once this crisis was resolved. However, the Starfighters had to deal with one loose end, first. The wingman of the Turk had finally shown up. Faced with four "combat" veterans, he was quickly riddled with 30mm rounds and bailed out into the Aegean. He was taken aboard a Greek fishing boat and held as a prisoner of war.
http://img471.imageshack.us/img471/4104/nothispeedfishermen9hs.th.gif (http://img471.imageshack.us/my.php?image=nothispeedfishermen9hs.gif)
Two very suspicious ships were spotted by the Gannet as they were making 32 kts and approaching the Ark Royal group from the Turkish shore. Since no commercial fishing vessels are capable of these speeds, these boats were classified as probable hostiles and the Dakota was sent to investigate while deck crews on the Ark Royal prepared an "appropriate" response. Before the Dakota even arrived in the area, they were identified as Dogan missile boats from their emissions and a pair of F-86D Sabres was ordered aloft from Santorini to the handle the situation in order to save the Ark Royal's air wing for Cypriot missions. However, they were rendered moot as three Sabres were detected approaching from Antalaya. Quickly, four Sea Vixen were launched to intercept them. All three were brought down by Firestreak missiles. Once free from the airborne threat, the fighters expended their rockets on Dogan PTMs.
http://img471.imageshack.us/img471/403/antalayaraid18ip.th.gif (http://img471.imageshack.us/my.php?image=antalayaraid18ip.gif)
Somehow, the Turks must have surmised the location of the Task Group because a significant number of Starfighters were detected rising up from Antalaya. The Admiral immediately ordered the launch of his remaining Sea Vixen. The defending planes used up all of their missiles and killed most of them but one just kept on coming and coming and coming. It flew straight into the teeth of the Ark Royal group. On and on it came; right through the wall of AAA thrown up by the CL Tiger and the entire Task Group. He must have gotten an exact position of the group because he flew through the entire formation before retiring despite all the best efforts of the AAA crews.
http://img471.imageshack.us/img471/4315/onemanflyby1md.th.gif (http://img471.imageshack.us/my.php?image=onemanflyby1md.gif)
After he made his good escape, the Captain of the CL Tiger ordered that his fog horn sounded for a full five minutes. Soon, every ship in the formation followed suit in recognition of the valour and bravery exhibited by the lone Turkish pilot. Sometimes, valour can be shown and be held in respect by both combatants on both sides.
http://img471.imageshack.us/img471/6607/cypriotsitrep7ab.th.gif (http://img471.imageshack.us/my.php?image=cypriotsitrep7ab.gif)
Soon, two destroyers, Gelibolu and Gemlik, were spotted near NW of Cyprus. Since this would take considerably more striking power than that available in Free Flight Artillery Rockets [FFAR], SS Poseidon was sent to deal with them. Two more destroyers, Alp Arslan and Piyale Pasa were seen to be covering the approaches to LZ Bravo. The Dakota that had almost been shot down over the Greek islands was not having a good day. It reported the situation around the around the western half of Cyprus, but garnered the attention of the aerial defences. The hapless patrol plane was able to transmit its contact report before it was shot down after taking the pursuing Sabres on a merry long chase.
http://img471.imageshack.us/img471/6784/thunderjetscaught4lc.th.gif (http://img471.imageshack.us/my.php?image=thunderjetscaught4lc.gif)
The F-100 Super Sabres from Elefsis were ordered to re-deploy to Kasteli since their range made them ineffective where they were currently stationed and their bombloads would be need to help suppress the LZ defences. The F-84 Thunderjets already operating out of Kasteli were assigned to prepare the battlefield by bombing the airport at Nicosia. They tried to take a circuitous route in hopes of evading any Combat Air Patrol [CAP], but they were caught just as they crossed the shoreline of Cyprus. Even heavily laden with bombs, their quad .50 calibre mounts commanded respect and protection lay in numbers. Both of the Sabres attempting to intercept them were shot out of the sky before the crews continued their ground attack mission to Nicosia and dropped two of the airport's hangars.
http://img471.imageshack.us/img471/3627/antalaya2prongedattack3an.th.gif (http://img471.imageshack.us/my.php?image=antalaya2prongedattack3an.gif)
Somehow, the CVG had been detected. A two-prong attack materialised from two axes; Antalaya and Izmir. Luckily, a full force of Sea Vixen had been re-armed and was waiting for just such an eventuality. Six Sabres were brought down for the loss of a single Sea Vixen. Once the Task Group was deemed secure, the eight Scimitar were sent over the beach to continue softening up the island’s defences. Unfortunately, they ran afoul of a Freedom Fighter on CAP and were jumped. Before they knew it, three had been blown out of the sky! But, they weren't designated "Fighter-bombers" for nothing. They managed to even the score with their 30mm Aden cannon by killing one of their assailants. It was cold comfort for the loss of their ready room mates.
http://img471.imageshack.us/img471/5325/scimitarreversal0to.th.gif (http://img471.imageshack.us/my.php?image=scimitarreversal0to.gif)
With surprise lost, they climbed and put on full military power in hopes of delivering their bombs and escaping the hellish mess that they had found themselves in. However, Fate was not kind to them, today. Another Freedom Fighter intercepted them and killed two more and they were still a long ways away from the target. The mission had to be aborted.