Vengeance

32 USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT

In the Red Sea, seven hundred miles southeast of the Suez Canal, USS Theodore Roosevelt headed into the wind as an F-35C Lightning II moved forward on the Flight Deck, locking into the starboard bow catapult. Seated in his chair on the Bridge, Captain Ryan Noss watched as the jet blast deflector behind the fighter tilted up, shielding another F-35C, following behind, from the lead aircraft’s single-engine exhaust. A moment later, the Lightning II raced forward, angling up and to the right after clearing the bow, headed out to relieve one of the fighters in Theodore Roosevelt’s combat air patrol.

The next Lightning II also launched successfully, completing this launch cycle. In another thirty minutes, the fighters on Combat Air Patrol would land aboard Theodore Roosevelt. In the meantime, Noss’s eyes scanned the displays mounted below the Bridge windows. Earlier today, he had received reports of merchant ship sinkings in the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf, followed by an update on the Navy’s Common Operational Picture, a fused tactical database, which had placed a Russian Yasen-class guided missile submarine in the Persian Gulf, exact location unknown.

USS Theodore Roosevelt had been at sea for seven months, and the grind had worn down the crew and equipment. Aircraft carriers had tremendous repair departments, well stocked with spares and well-trained technicians, and Theodore Roosevelt was no exception. However, the seven-month deployment had taken its toll and the failures requiring depot-level repair had mounted.

There had been a collective sigh of relief after the aircraft carrier had been relieved by USS Eisenhower and had begun its journey home. After receiving the startling news from the Persian Gulf, however, followed by a review of the location of the U.S. Navy’s assets, Noss had seen the writing on the wall; Theodore Roosevelt’s journey home would likely be delayed. During this afternoon’s department head meeting, he had directed the maintenance department to return to round-the-clock repair efforts, ensuring every possible aircraft aboard was fully operational.

The ship’s Communicator approached, handing Noss the message board. He read the OPORD, then reflected on his new operational orders. As expected, Theodore Roosevelt and the other warships in the strike group were being sent into the Persian Gulf to assist Fifth Fleet’s mission to protect merchant ships from attack. However, their new mission required a different mindset. For the last seven months, the strike group had focused on being prepared for attacks with their strike fighter squadrons. Now, Theodore Roosevelt would employ its squadron of MH-60R anti-submarine warfare helicopters, along with the MH-60Rs carried aboard Theodore Roosevelt’s escort warships.

Noss directed his Communicator, “Have the Navigator lay out a track into the Persian Gulf with the strike group at thirty knots.”