Evening star., 1963-02-07
THE UNFoUGHT WAR
Crisis Shows Up Credits
BY FLETCHER KNEBEL
Contributing Writer


BY FLETCHER KNEBEL
Contributing Writer
About an fi6ur. atfd.a-h -haIf
after tiightfaIl on October 29,
the destroyer Cecil was on pa
troll about 40 miles from q Gu
ban blockade station, 81
The officer Of the deck, 1t.
(jg) John Hunter Of Rome. Ca,
was monitoring the radar scope
Fifth IN q Series
--~-~--~-A---------- ----7--~-------~------~-->
with the radar operator. They
spotted a blip that had the
characteristics Of a surfaced
submarine. AS they watched. it
moved on an easterly course.
Notified, Comdr. Charles p.
Rozier, the 42-year-old skipper,
ordered his ship to close the
gap at full speed. Within a
few minutes, the object disap-
peared from the radar scope.
Suspicious were confirmed
shortly when the Cecil's sonar
gear picked up the sounds of a
submerged sub.
In the dark night, Comdr.
Rozier homed in a nearby P-2V
anti-sub patrol bomber. For the
next "a hours. the destroyer
and circling airplanes trailed
the submarine east toward Eu-
rope, never losing sonar con-
tact. Sooner or later. assuming
1t was not a nuclear submarine.
the craft would have to come
up for air and to recharge its
batteries. mi
On October 81, at $50 am,
the coming tower enerRed
about 800 yards from the Cecil,
shedding q sheet Of water as it
lurched to the surface. on the
bridge Of the sub. a seaman
hoisted a small Russian flag.
Sub Won't Reply
Comdr. Rozier closed the sub
to 800 yards and broke out
signal flags in international
code: Can / offer you any as
sistance2" No. answering flag
hoist went 0pS on the Soviet
sub. RI
Comdr. Rozier got out his
pocket Russian-E English dc
tionary and had a signalmanI
use the blinker. Good morn
ing" winked the Cecil in Rus
sian. No answer.
At varying times, Comdr. I
Rozier tried to communicate by
flag, blinker and megaphone.
but the Russian remained mute.
The only response ever evoked
was a brief hand wave from
one Russian seaman.
The Soviet sub rolled steadily
and silently eastward on the
surface for two days and two
nights, the Cecil sticking to her
flank like glue to paper. On the |
morning Of November 2, the
submarine dove and the Cecil
broke off sonar contact and
returned to the blockade line.
In all about 80 submarine
contacts were made by blockade
forces during the Cuban crisis.
Six Russian submarines we're
definitely located and some of
these, such as the prey of the
Cecil. we're forced to the sur
face.
Looking back on the big Gu
ban crisis, military officers list
our improved anti-submarine
warfare techniques among the
credits in their assessment Of
credits and debts in the largest
military operation since the
Korean War. There we're other
credits: The men. the training,
the machines.
Only about 10 per cent Of the
officers and men involved in the
Cuban operation had seen COM
bat. A heavy majority of many
large units had been in uni
form less than two years. The
1st Armored Division, for in
stance. was 83 per cent draftees
when the Cuban alarm sounded.
But morale ran high, largely
because, commanders surmise,
Communist Cuba was a "hot
coal under the belt" for most
Americans. The men were ready
to invade Cuba and were con-
vinced they were about to do so.
They were far better trained
than were our forces on the
brink of World War II, thanks
in part to plentiful equipment
and in part to the high level Of
training afforded by combat. ex-
ercises financed by the Penta-
gon. Camp Lejeune Marines. as
a sample. had two 1862 Carib-
bean amphibious exercises be-
hind them and were about to
start a third.
Split-second calculators en-
abled most commands to move
speedily. Computer memories
store the whereabouts Of units.
gear and individuals with spe-
cial talents. affording quick |
command decisions. Such ma
chimes located II Russian
speaking officers who we're
fl0wn out TO the fleet.
Ocean Traffic COmputer
Another sample is the phe-
nomenal sea surveillance COM
puter at the CINCLANT COM
mand post in Norfolk. This
electronic brain constantly
plots and replots the position OF
every ship In the North Atlantic
and Caribbean and shows the
positions on a screen.
Admiral Robert L. Dennison
In a few seconds could get the !