WesWorld

The Bering Sea, 65°32'N by 169°12'W
February 5th

The Admiral Senyavin and her escort, the icebreaker Svyatogor, pushed through the icepack towards the Bering Strait. Twelve kilometers ahead of them, forging through the ice on a northerly course, was the Chinese icebreaker-seaplane-cruiser Zhuhai, still headed for the Arctic Ocean. On the navigating bridge of the Senyavin, Kapitan I Rang Fyodor Grishin held a steaming cup of coffee and stared at the horizon. Senyavin's radio-detection gear helped keep the Zhuhai in contact even in the long Arctic night. The sky, for the moment, was clear, but a waning moon offered relatively little light. Fortunately, the sun was brightening on the southeastern horizon.

The Svyatogor's captain had put the two ships on a course directly astern of the Zhuhai, following the exact course that the Chinese had already cleared. It offered advantages, as the Chinese ship had already done much of the heavy work.

"We're in position," the ship's navigator reported to Kapitan Grishin.

"Very well," Grishin said. He pulled out the folded set of instructions from his jacket and reviewed them with some trepidation - but his instructions and his duty were more than clear. He lifted the ship-wide intercom and spoke authoritatively: "Vse naverkh! Avral!" All upstairs, ahoy! - one of the traditional old phrases to call the ship's crew to a higher degree of readiness. He turned and signaled to a young seaman waiting nearby. "Runner - take this message to the radio room and have it sent immediately."

A few moments later, the airwaves crackled with a warning message, translated into Chinese. <Attention Chinese warship. We respectfully request that you return south and do not attempt to pass the Bering Strait.>

OOC

Cue melodramatic music.

Thursday 5. February - Bering Sea on board of the expedition ship HICMS Zhuhai

The Bering Sea, 65°32'N by 169°12'W
February 5th

Kapitan Grishin accepted the note back from the runner and glanced at it. He chuckled uneasily at the Chinese warship's response. "About what we expected," Grishin said.

"Any reply for the Chinese, sir?" the runner asked.

"No," Grishin replied. "They've received their warning; now it's up to others to deliver the response. Instead, send the message '97649' on the Pacific Fleet channel, and report our position - and that of the Chinese ship. Man the turrets, but do not load the guns."



Big Diomede Island
February 5th

"Code 97649, Podpolkovnik!" Leytenant Elena Borisova sounded excited, and with good reason. For nearly thirty years, the coast defense guns of Big Diomede Island lay quiet, except for the occasional practices. Much had changed since he fortifications had been built - the airfield lengthened, more underground storage bunkers built, and only two years ago, fire-control radar installed. But the guns had not been altered. The Motherland had never found need to call upon the men - and women, since most of the fortress's garrison was populated by the women of the Coast Defense Artillery Branch. With the receipt of 97649 code, that would change.

Podpolkovnik Ariadna Volkova, the garrison commander, nodded and looked around her command bunker, buried thirty meters beneath the surface of Big Diomede Island. Tunnels and telephone wires connected her to her batteries: the monster Battery Peter Veliki, with two twin 42cm guns, and Batteries Gangut and Admiral Apraxin, each with two triple 305mm guns. The smaller batteries - old 130mm guns in casemates built along the island's cliffs, were unlikely to see action today. After all, the Chinese weren't bringing an invasion fleet, which is what Big Diomede's defense had been designed to repel.

"Fire control! Plot position of the intruding vessel," Volkova ordered. "Batteries to load with war shot."

The three young women manning the telephones to each of the main batteries swiftly relayed Volkova's orders, while the electronics officer barked out the position of the Chinese icebreaker. Volkova did not know the ship's name, and didn't care; it was merely the 'intruding vessel' and 'Target'. "Target bearing one-eight-four, range now one-eight-zero-five-zero meters, course..."

"Batteries ready," Leytenant Borisova reported excitedly. "We have fire-control solution."

Volkova nodded. "Battery Peter Veliki will fire short on the bearing of the target vessel. Batteries Gangut and Admiral Apraxin bracket target vessel fore and aft."

Orders flowed in and confirmation came back. "Batteries, fire!" Volkova said coldly.

Even thirty meters below ground, the occupants of the command bunker could hear the dull roar of battleship-caliber artillery firing. "Spotters, call the fall of shot," Volkova ordered. "Guns reload and hold. Radio: transmit message 'three minutes'. Leytenant Borisova, please set your watch."

"Shots, good bracket," a spotter in one of the casemate batteries reported, twenty seconds later. "Lot of ice chips and spray in the air, some close aboard the target, but no hits."

"Which means we didn't miss," Volkova corrected. At this range, if she'd wanted to hit, it would have been fairly easy, particularly with the number of guns she had at her beck and call. "All batteries, remove offsets and prepare to fire for effect when Leytenant Borisova's timer reaches zero."



The Admiral Senyavin, the Bering Sea, 65°32'N by 169°12'W
February 5th

Kapitan Grishin lowered his binoculars just as the northern horizon, still in the pale polar twilight, abruptly brightened. The results looked impressive: shards of ice flying hundreds of meters into the air, joined by water spray that froze before it could fall back down to the surface of the ocean. The Zhuhai sat in the middle of the maelstrom. From where Grishin stood, it seemed quite unlikely that the Chinese ship had been hit, but the message those guns conveyed should have been more than clear.

OOC: Incident made. Fun will now be had by all. :D

Quoted

the line passed between Japan and the russian island of Sakhalin

I am pretty sure you were meant to say the Japanese island of Karafuto.

Considering the relations between Japan and China as well as China's "Rogue" status for all their poor behaviour in the last 5 years, I am pretty sure a detour around Japan would be necessary as the Zhuhai would not have been able to pass between Karafuto and Hokkaido in one piece.

Quoted

Because we are in international waters and we are not in an emergency situation we do not see any reason for a return.

In international waters... but not for long. Not sure how fast they are going but looking with Google Earth, they might already be entering Russian territorial waters by the time they completed sending the message. They are only a mile or so from it.

Quoted

Incident made. Fun will now be had by all.

Could have been avoided if they stuck closer to the edge of the US territorial waters... but then it would not be much fun for us, the audience.

Quoted from "Rooijen10"

Quoted

the line passed between Japan and the russian island of Sakhalin

I am pretty sure you were meant to say the Japanese island of Karafuto. :)

If I remember the map correctly, it's split between Russian Sakhalin and Japanese Karafuto. :)

Quoted from "Rooijen10"

Quoted

Incident made. Fun will now be had by all. :D

Could have been avoided if they stuck closer to the edge of the US territorial waters... but then it would not be much fun for us, the audience. :)

No worries, comrade! Admiral K installed guns that are entirely capable of covering the entire width of the strait. (I believe there are also a number of other 305mm guns on the shore that could also cover much of the strait.)

<OOC>

<Popcorn sizzles on the burner...>

Oh this is going to be interesting. :D

Quoted

If I remember the map correctly, it's split between Russian Sakhalin and Japanese Karafuto.

You think that those extremist Wesworld Russians or extremist Wesworld Japanese know that?

Quoted

No worries, comrade! Admiral K installed guns that are entirely capable of covering the entire width of the strait. (I believe there are also a number of other 305mm guns on the shore that could also cover much of the strait.)

Maybe so, but I seriously doubt the Americans would like it a lot that those Russian shells would end up landing in the water so close to their shore.

.......going to need more popcorn than I expected!

Someone had better order us in a truckload of popcorn!

Quoted from "Hood"

Someone had better order us in a truckload of popcorn!

Truckload? I think that this is probably not even large enough for the amount of popcorn we need for this highly explosive situation...

Quoted from "Rooijen10"

In international waters... but not for long. Not sure how fast they are going but looking with Google Earth, they might already be entering Russian territorial waters by the time they completed sending the message. They are only a mile or so from it.

Don't know which version of Google Earth you have, but looking at Google Maps (see attached pic) the position is 25km (13.5 sm) from the diomedes islands. So 22km (more than 10 sm) outside the 3 Mile-Zone

But does not China claim a 12 NM territorial limit? Given the continued progress of the Chinese vessel after the warning given to it I suspect it would have moved within twelve miles of Diomede.

Quoted from "BruceDuncan"

But does not China claim a 12 NM territorial limit? Given the continued progress of the Chinese vessel after the warning given to it I suspect it would have moved within twelve miles of Diomede.

When the batteries fired, the range cited is 18,050 meters / 18.05 km, which is about 9.7 nautical miles. :)

65°32'N by 169°12'W is the position of the Senyavin, which was identified as being 12km (6.5nm) further south of the Zhuhai. Also, it's a rough position - I don't always have access to Google Earth, which can calculate positions to more precise values. Sometimes I have to SWAG or make a guess based on the map. Thus, even when I can get something more accurate off Google Earth, I prefer to round the numbers to degrees and minutes.

Quoted from "Brockpaine"

Quoted from "BruceDuncan"

But does not China claim a 12 NM territorial limit? Given the continued progress of the Chinese vessel after the warning given to it I suspect it would have moved within twelve miles of Diomede.

When the batteries fired, the range cited is 18,050 meters / 18.05 km, which is about 9.7 nautical miles.

65°32'N by 169°12'W is the position of the Senyavin, which was identified as being 12km (6.5nm) further south of the Zhuhai. Also, it's a rough position - I don't always have access to Google Earth, which can calculate positions to more precise values. Sometimes I have to SWAG or make a guess based on the map. Thus, even when I can get something more accurate off Google Earth, I prefer to round the numbers to degrees and minutes.

I have no problems with the coordinates Brock had written. I would expect, that (if it's not be clarified via PM) all events happened ONLY AND EXCLUSIVELY OUTSIDE the russian territorial waters - No matter what coordinates are there. We aren't in the time of GPS in Wesworld, so all this is more or less a rough calculation and approximation of the exact position.

OOC explanation (for clarity): the Zhuhai is outside what Russia claims as the 3nm territorial water boundary; but it's inside the 12nm limit that (if I recall correctly) China claims. The Chinese are thus in a murky gray area regarding "territorial waters". While both Russia and the US may still claim the 3-mile limit (for now), the Zhuhai cannot pass the Bering Strait without getting within the 12-nm limit that China itself claims.

Regardless of the shades of black-and-white-and-gray, the batteries at Big Diomede Island have orders to fire if the Zhuhai tries to pass the Strait... even if they have to fire while the ship is in what Russia considers to be international waters.

Bering Sea - international waters

Captain Cao Kun looked through his binoculars and knew that it was time for a course change if he did not want to get closer to the Diomedes Islands.

"Our Russian companions have confirmed the receipt of our message ?"

"Yes Sir."

"No further reaction ?"

"No Sir - We received no further radio message."

"Okay. So Helmsman - change of course - new course 045°. We will pass the Diomedes Islands on the american side."

"Ey Ey Sir." and shortly thereafter, "Zhuhai is on new course North-West - Sir."



The Zhuhai was just on the new course when the hell broke loose around the ship. With an infernal noise, the ice exploded around the ship and powerful fountains of water jumped up. It seemed like the world were exploding.

"Hell, what was that ?" asked Captain Kun startled. "The russians can not be that stupid enough to shoot on us. Immediately message to the Chinese High Command." Captain Kun shouted, and a moment later the following radio message barked through the ether.

"CEC (short signal for: Chinese Emergency Call) - Chinese Researchvessel Zhuhai under fire from russian shore battery - we are still in international waters - Position 65.60 ° North 168.94° West - CEC"

"Get in touch with our Russian companion and ask if they really want to trigger a war with China. We are on a friendly mission and still in international waters. We see this as an act of aggression - Beijing is informed so don't go any step further in this direction."


Same time ..... HQ East Fleet; Shanghai

It was a quiet day in the radio combat centre of the headquarter. Apart from the daily status reports of each ship, which were present at sea, there were no special occurrence - till now. Lieutenant Pok Wan Tu just read the last radio messages when he looked up, startled. He looked wide-eyed at the radio and wrote down the radio message with trembling fingers. It was the first time in his life that he received the notorious "CEC" at the beginning of a message. All Chinese captains were strictly instructed to use this radio signal only in an absolute emergency situation, so only when they were attacked. No sooner had he noted the complete message and confirmed the receiption, he jumped up and ran to the commanding officer. As he ran to the office of the commanding officer, he collided with several colleagues looking questioningly at each other.

Out of breath and with a trembling voice, Wan Tu stuttered "We are under attack. Our research ship Zhuhai reports that they are being under fire by the russians."

Commander Shih Jun-ji dropped his cup of tea when he heard the words. He heard the words but could not believe what he heard. "Is it undoubtedly no misunderstanding ?" Jun-ji asked in disbelief.

"Yes Sir. No Misunderstanding. Undoubtly a 'CEC' call !" Wan Tu replied.

Jun-ji still could not believe it. Even the russians could not be that crazy that they shot at a chinese research ship for no reason. The instructions in such a case were actually clear - First, message to the affected ship to hold the position under all circumstances; second, immediate notification to the commanding admiral of the fleet and thirdly, sending long-range recon aircrafts to the ship's position. For him it was clear what he had to do now ....



meanwhile onboard of HICMS Zhuhai

"Captain, we received a message from our HQ", Second Commander Yu Shan said.

"Read out loud." Captain Cao Kun replied impatiently.

"Reception of the CEC message confirmed. HOLD position under all circumstances. No unnecessary aggressions."

"All engines STOP. All batteries to the lowest position. Send an open radio message to the crazy russians. Stop firing immediately - will hold position until further notice." Captain Kun screamed.

Speaking OOC

I see several issues with SOP Step 3 - if it is even possible, getting a reconnaissance aircraft to the vicinity of the Bering Strait will take time. Detouring around Russian, Chosenian, and Japanese air space will require very inventive navigation. I am also wondering if it is even useful in this instance.

Quoted from "BruceDuncan"

Speaking OOC

I see several issues with SOP Step 3 - if it is even possible, getting a reconnaissance aircraft to the vicinity of the Bering Strait will take time. Detouring around Russian, Chosenian, and Japanese air space will require very inventive navigation. I am also wondering if it is even useful in this instance.

I understand your "issues", but it is the fastest possible way of help and "showing" flag in this case and time. Sending ships or other "help" will sure take more time. Of course meanwhile diplomatic relations will be intensified to find for both sides a satisfactionable solution.