Independent Hitmen
26-05-2004, 17:29
Onboard IHS Sabre, somewhere off the coast of the USIH
The Giant Aasimar Class Battleship IHS Sabre cut its way through the choppy waters of the South Atlantic Sea. Along with his sister ship IHS Hawk, Sabre was on its way to the first live firing of its 9 giant 20 inch cannons.
A small party of dignitaries including Fleet Admiral Andrew Bates we set to arrive within the hour to view the first shots from these two ships. The first target was a large merchantship that was fit only for scrap, and was currently being put in place by the destroyer IHS Brendan after a token crew had sailed the empty vessel to a point some 32km off of the coast, easily within range of the 20” guns. One of the ships SH-60 SeaHawk helicopters was in the hangar, whilst the other 4 were currently at Gillen Naval Air Base to make room for the two choppers bringing in the dignitaries.
These two SH-60’s were 20km away, flying in tight formation on the clear day. They saw the giant ships a minute later, and as they approached both ships ran programs with their CIWS systems to track the possible targets, although no ammunition was connected to the guns.
The helicopters overflew each ship once and then turned and flared ready for landing on the massive open helicopter pad on the stern of Sabre, the pilots receiving up to date wind information as they descended.
As the front wheel of the first chopper touched the deck, ground crewmen ran out and attached cables to it and the other two wheels to ensure that the helicopter was tightly secured to the deck. The same operation was repeated twenty seconds later as the second chopper landed.
The high pitched whine of the engines slowly lowered as the pilots brought the power down, and a minute later the side door was pulled open to reveal those sitting inside.
Admiral Bates was the first to step out, ducking under the slowly turning rotor blades as he received a salute from the ships captain, Captain James Roberts. They shook hands afterwards and then the Captain led Admiral Bates and the others that had followed him off of the grey painted bird towards the looming superstructure.
After five minutes of walking and climbing stairs they were on the bridge of the ship, looking out over 6 of the giant guns on the forward battery.
An ensign walked in a moment later and saluted the Captain and Admiral.
“Sirs. Radar has target Sierra One. Brendan has signalled the all clear and we are ready to commence the exercise.”
“Thank you ensign.” He turned “Officer of the watch bring us to course Two-One-Zero, all ahead full.”
The instructions were repeated as the changes began taking effect, and the ship turned slightly and began to shudder as the nuclear reactors brought the ship up to 38knots.
While these were still coming into effect Captain Roberts turned again
“Commander signal Hawk to follow us in column.”
The XO left the room and returned a minute later.
“Launch the forward UAV.”
Again he left.
On top of the second the two forward turrets, a Darkstar UAV was launched from the makeshift runway. It immediately gained altitude and began heading for the target, guided by a team in the CIC. Its cameras relayed the pictures of the target vessel to the ships guns targeting computer and using GPS, the guns were able to be elevated to the precise elevation setting required, the computer measuring wind speed, air temperature and the temperature the shells would be at. This method of course wasn’t foolproof, but it helped get pinpoint accuracy very quickly.
Upon getting the word from Hawk that she was ready and getting into position to fire, the 3 triple turrets containing the massive 20” guns began turning. When they were in position, the individual barrels began elevating. When all were pointed at the correct trajectory and loaded the Captain received the already message.
He looked at the Admiral, who was standing right up next to the bridge windows, with the rest of the party, looking at the massive guns infront. Upon hearing the message the Admiral turned and gave the Captain a look that implied “your ship”.
Captain Roberts looked at the window and walked to it. As he was he said
“Fire”
Upon this command No.1 gun was fired.
The roar was partially drowned out by the sound-proofing that had been installed on the deck, although it still came through loud enough to make peoples ear’s ring as smoke and flame shot out of the end of the cannon.
The shells progress was tracked by millimetre band radar on top of the superstructure which determined the shells point of impact whilst it was still in midair, and fed alterations to the rest of the guns.
The side of the ship was completely obscured with flame as the other 8 guns fired the salvo.
Four thousand metres behind and fourteen seconds later the same was repeated on Hawk, all 9 guns firing off of data cross-linked from Sabre. The ship emerged from the smoke of her and Sabres guns just as the first of 17 shells impacted the former merchantvessel.
The massive shells from Sabre exploded and the ship came apart, even as the 9 shells from Hawk landed on what remained of the 40,000 tonne ship.
The UAV showed the ship explode, sending debris hurtling everywhere and a fireball into the sky.
Already onboard the two ships, gun tubes were being cleared and reloaded. The barrel being checked for poisonous gases, opened when none were found, the next shell rammed in, followed by the massive propellant charge and the doors shut again.
Another salvo was fired from each ship at the burning remains twenty two seconds later, and landed sending great plumes of smoke into the sky. The ships carried on, again reloading and preparing to fire, although this time no shot was taken.
On the bridge Captain Roberts had a beaming smile and Admiral Bates was also pleased with the show.
For the second part of the exercise the massive turrets were turned 180 degress to face a strech of beach, upon which several concrete structures had been built and the giant guns fired again, using a total of 18 salvo’s each to destroy all of the emplacements on the beach.
Thirdly two Tomahawk cruise missiles from each ship were launched towards land targets as the giant turrets returned to their normal positions, the missiles clearing the firing tubes as the party on the bridge moved to the CIC to watch the results of these……
The Giant Aasimar Class Battleship IHS Sabre cut its way through the choppy waters of the South Atlantic Sea. Along with his sister ship IHS Hawk, Sabre was on its way to the first live firing of its 9 giant 20 inch cannons.
A small party of dignitaries including Fleet Admiral Andrew Bates we set to arrive within the hour to view the first shots from these two ships. The first target was a large merchantship that was fit only for scrap, and was currently being put in place by the destroyer IHS Brendan after a token crew had sailed the empty vessel to a point some 32km off of the coast, easily within range of the 20” guns. One of the ships SH-60 SeaHawk helicopters was in the hangar, whilst the other 4 were currently at Gillen Naval Air Base to make room for the two choppers bringing in the dignitaries.
These two SH-60’s were 20km away, flying in tight formation on the clear day. They saw the giant ships a minute later, and as they approached both ships ran programs with their CIWS systems to track the possible targets, although no ammunition was connected to the guns.
The helicopters overflew each ship once and then turned and flared ready for landing on the massive open helicopter pad on the stern of Sabre, the pilots receiving up to date wind information as they descended.
As the front wheel of the first chopper touched the deck, ground crewmen ran out and attached cables to it and the other two wheels to ensure that the helicopter was tightly secured to the deck. The same operation was repeated twenty seconds later as the second chopper landed.
The high pitched whine of the engines slowly lowered as the pilots brought the power down, and a minute later the side door was pulled open to reveal those sitting inside.
Admiral Bates was the first to step out, ducking under the slowly turning rotor blades as he received a salute from the ships captain, Captain James Roberts. They shook hands afterwards and then the Captain led Admiral Bates and the others that had followed him off of the grey painted bird towards the looming superstructure.
After five minutes of walking and climbing stairs they were on the bridge of the ship, looking out over 6 of the giant guns on the forward battery.
An ensign walked in a moment later and saluted the Captain and Admiral.
“Sirs. Radar has target Sierra One. Brendan has signalled the all clear and we are ready to commence the exercise.”
“Thank you ensign.” He turned “Officer of the watch bring us to course Two-One-Zero, all ahead full.”
The instructions were repeated as the changes began taking effect, and the ship turned slightly and began to shudder as the nuclear reactors brought the ship up to 38knots.
While these were still coming into effect Captain Roberts turned again
“Commander signal Hawk to follow us in column.”
The XO left the room and returned a minute later.
“Launch the forward UAV.”
Again he left.
On top of the second the two forward turrets, a Darkstar UAV was launched from the makeshift runway. It immediately gained altitude and began heading for the target, guided by a team in the CIC. Its cameras relayed the pictures of the target vessel to the ships guns targeting computer and using GPS, the guns were able to be elevated to the precise elevation setting required, the computer measuring wind speed, air temperature and the temperature the shells would be at. This method of course wasn’t foolproof, but it helped get pinpoint accuracy very quickly.
Upon getting the word from Hawk that she was ready and getting into position to fire, the 3 triple turrets containing the massive 20” guns began turning. When they were in position, the individual barrels began elevating. When all were pointed at the correct trajectory and loaded the Captain received the already message.
He looked at the Admiral, who was standing right up next to the bridge windows, with the rest of the party, looking at the massive guns infront. Upon hearing the message the Admiral turned and gave the Captain a look that implied “your ship”.
Captain Roberts looked at the window and walked to it. As he was he said
“Fire”
Upon this command No.1 gun was fired.
The roar was partially drowned out by the sound-proofing that had been installed on the deck, although it still came through loud enough to make peoples ear’s ring as smoke and flame shot out of the end of the cannon.
The shells progress was tracked by millimetre band radar on top of the superstructure which determined the shells point of impact whilst it was still in midair, and fed alterations to the rest of the guns.
The side of the ship was completely obscured with flame as the other 8 guns fired the salvo.
Four thousand metres behind and fourteen seconds later the same was repeated on Hawk, all 9 guns firing off of data cross-linked from Sabre. The ship emerged from the smoke of her and Sabres guns just as the first of 17 shells impacted the former merchantvessel.
The massive shells from Sabre exploded and the ship came apart, even as the 9 shells from Hawk landed on what remained of the 40,000 tonne ship.
The UAV showed the ship explode, sending debris hurtling everywhere and a fireball into the sky.
Already onboard the two ships, gun tubes were being cleared and reloaded. The barrel being checked for poisonous gases, opened when none were found, the next shell rammed in, followed by the massive propellant charge and the doors shut again.
Another salvo was fired from each ship at the burning remains twenty two seconds later, and landed sending great plumes of smoke into the sky. The ships carried on, again reloading and preparing to fire, although this time no shot was taken.
On the bridge Captain Roberts had a beaming smile and Admiral Bates was also pleased with the show.
For the second part of the exercise the massive turrets were turned 180 degress to face a strech of beach, upon which several concrete structures had been built and the giant guns fired again, using a total of 18 salvo’s each to destroy all of the emplacements on the beach.
Thirdly two Tomahawk cruise missiles from each ship were launched towards land targets as the giant turrets returned to their normal positions, the missiles clearing the firing tubes as the party on the bridge moved to the CIC to watch the results of these……