Keith Douglass (Pseud.), Carrier: Maelstrom, 1993
United States
USS Thomas Jefferson (CVN-74)
Nimitz Class Aircraft Carrier
Details as per the real ships.
Note: Nimitz Class Aircraft Carriers of the same name have appeared in the novels 'Nimitz Class' (1997) by Patrick Robinson and 'Night Trap' (1999), 'Top Hook' (2002), 'Hostile Contact' (2003), 'Force Protection' (2004) and 'Damage Control' (2006) by Gordon Kent (Pseud.). The Pennant number clashes with that of the USS John C. Stennis (CVN-74). In the first novel of the series, which was set in 1996 (The fourth book in the series is explictly stated to be set in 1997.), the carrier is identified as the "...newest of America's nuclear-powered carriers...". Explicitly identified as a member of the Nimitz Class by the author.
USS Shiloh (CG-67)
Ticonderoga Class Cruiser
Real ship, details as in service 1992 - Ongoing
USS John A. Winslow
Spruance Class Destroyer
Details as per the real ships
Note: Explicitly identified as a member of the Spruance Class by the author in the second novel in the series, 'Carrier: Viper Strike' (1991)
USS Lawrence Kearney (DDG-59)
Arleigh Burke Class Destroyer (Flight IIA)
Details as per the real ships
Note: Pennant clashes with that of the Arleigh Burke Class Destroyer, USS Russell (DDG-59). In 'Carrier', the first novel in the series, the ship is simply identified as a 'destroyer'. In the second and third novels in the series the ship is identified as a 'DDG'. In 'Carrier: Armageddon Mode' armament details are provided identifying her as a member of the Flight IIA subclass. The ships class/pennant number are not finally revealed until the series fourth novel 'Carrier: Flame Out' (1992).
Note: Sunk in 1997.
USS Esek Hopkins
Oliver Hazzard Perry Class Frigate
Details as per the real ships
Note: First mentioned in 'Carrier: Flame Out' (1992) as a frigate of unspecified class, it's identity as an Oliver Hazzard Perry Class Frigate is confirmed in this novel. An Oliver Hazzard Perry Class Frigate of the same name appears in the novels 'Hostile Contact' (2003) & 'Force Protection' (2004) both by Gordon Kent (Pseud.).
USS Stephen Decatur
Oliver Hazzard Perry Class Frigate
Details as per the real ships
Note: First mentioned in 'Carrier: Flame Out' (1992) as a frigate of unspecified class, it's identity as an Oliver Hazzard Perry Class Frigate is confirmed in this novel. The US Navy has had several ships named USS Decatur, but no ship specifically named USS Stephen Decatur. An Oliver Hazzard Perry Class Frigate of the same name appears in the novel 'The Black Sea' (1991) by Richard Setlow.
United Kingdom
HMS Ark Royal (R07)
Invincible Class Aircraft Carrier
Real ship, details as in service 1985 - 2011
HMS Cardiff (D108)
Type 42 Class Destroyer (Batch I)
Real ship, details as in service 1979 - 2005.
HMS Exeter (D89)
Type 42 Class Destroyer (Batch II)
Real ship, details as in service 1980 - 2009.
Norway
HNoMS Stavanger (F303)
Oslo Class Frigate
Real ship, details as in service 1967 - 1998.
Russia
Kreml
Kreml (Ulyanovsk) (Pr.1143.7) Class Aircraft Carrier (CVN)
Details as per the real ships, had they been completed.
Airgroup: YAK-38MP 'Forger', Navalized versions of the SU-27 & MIG-29 and Ka-27 'Helix' Helicopters.
Laid Down: 1985
Completed: 1991 (It's not clear if the author means commissioned at this point, however based on the details over the course of the books it appears in ('Armageddon Mode', 'Flame Out' & 'Maelstrom'), it would appear that this was first completed member of the class, but it comissioned second.)
Note: This ship is attached to the Baltic Fleet. Sunk in 1997
Soyuz (ex-Riga, ex-Admiral Flota Sovetskogo Soyuza Gorshkov)
Kreml (Ulyanovsk) (Pr.1143.7) Class Aircraft Carrier (CVN)
Details as per the real ships, had they been completed.
Airgroup: YAK-38MP 'Forger', Navalized versions of the SU-27 & MIG-29 and Ka-27 'Helix' Helicopters.
Note: Sunk in 1997
Note on the Russian Carriers: In my entry covering the fourth novel in the series, 'Carrier: Flame Out' (1992) the Kreml Class is described in a way that implies they are based on the conventionally powered Kusnetzov (Pr.1143.5) Class. In this novel that identity is further amplified. However in the novel immediately preceding 'Flame Out', 'Carrier: Armageddon Mode' (1992) provides a description that makes it very clear that at that point in the series the author had the never completed Ulyanovsk (Project 1143.7) Class CVNs in mind including a clear statement that the ship is nuclear powered. In 'Carrier: Maelstrom' (1993) an attempt is made to reconcile the statements made in the previous novels by stating that the members of the class started construction as CVNs but were completed with conventional propulsion. In my view this is evidence of a lack of publishers editorial supervision, a necessity when at least three authors (Brothers J. Andrew & William H. Keith along with author Chet Cunningham.) are known to have written for the series under the 'Keith Douglass' penname. For simplicities sake editorial discretion has been used and both carriers are treated as Ulyanovsk (Project 1143.7) Class CVNs built as planned (Based on the description in 'Armageddon Mode', this also applies to the entry I wrote on 'Flame Out').
Kirov
Kirov (Pr.1144) Class Battle Cruiser (BCGN)
Real ship, details as in service 1980 - 1990.
Irktusk
Kirov (Pr.1144) Class Battle Cruiser (BCGN)
Details as per the real ships
Note: Explicitly identified as a member of the Kirov Class by the author. This ship is attached to the Baltic Fleet.
Tallinn
Kirov (Pr.1144) Class Battle Cruiser (BCGN)
Details as per the real ships
Note: Explicitly identified as a member of the Kirov Class by the author. This ship is attached to the Baltic Fleet.
Note on the Kirov Class: The Russians planned to build five of these, but only four, the Kirov, Frunze, Kalinin & Yuriy Andropov were completed. A fifth ship which was to be named either Dzerzhinsky (After Felix Dzerzhinsky founder of the KGB) or Admiral Kutuzov was cancelled in 1990. Clearly in this universe more than five were constructed and they lasted in service longer than they did historically.
Admiral Isachenkov
Kresta II (Pr.111134A) Class Cruiser
Real ship, details as in service 1974 - 1992
Admiral Yumashev
Kresta II (Pr.111134A) Class Cruiser
Real ship, details as in service 1977 - 1992
Note: Fictionally sunk in 1997
Marshal Shaposhnikov
Udaloy (Pr.1155) Class Destroyer
Real ship, details as in service 1985 - Ongoing
Note: Fictionally sunk in 1997
Plot summary: The year is 1997 (The story starts immediatly after the events of the previous novel ('Carrier: Flame Out' and is set between the 18th and 26th of June of that year.), the initial Russian (Soviet) thrust into Norway has been halted, but with the reinforcements still on the way the personnel of Carrier Battle Group 14 have to husband their resources to keep the Russians in check until they arrive.
Note: This is the 5th novel in a series of 'gung ho' action tales centered around the USS Thomas Jefferson (CVN-74) and her crew published in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Note on the British Government: One of the more interesting/amusing details in this sequence ('Flame Out', 'Maelstrom', 'Countdown') is the repeated statements that a British Labor Party Government in the UK 'dismantled' the RN (Most of the fleet is described as being mothballed in Scapa Flow.), pulled out of NATO and generally behaved like 'good little useful idiots' right up to the moment that the Russians invaded Norway, at which point the Conservatives call a snap election and turf them out.
At the time the first novels of the series were being written John Major had just succeeded Margaret Thatcher as Prime Minister, it's clear the authors (See: 'Note on the Russian Carriers' for details.) believed that he would be voted out of office at the 1992 election. However while the British Labor Party had issued manifestos describing actions that they would take along the lines described should they gain office during the 1980s, (See also the posts I've made for the novels 'Side-Wall' (1983) by David Graham and 'The Hastings Conspiracy' (1980) by Alfred Coppel for other examples of what people thought the British Labor Party would do in office.) by the early 1990s they had started to move away from positions such as this under leaders like Neil Kinnock.
Note on the series chronology: In several of the earlier posts covering books from this series I've attempted to work out when the stories were actually set relative to the date of publication. Now that I've looked through the first five novels I think I've finally managed to sort it out. The first two novels ('Carrier' & 'Viper Strike') in the series do not specify the dates over which the stories are taking place. But in the second novel there is a statement to the effect that it's set three months after the first. The third novel ('Armageddon Mode' gives both dates and the days on which they fall, also included is a statment that it's taking place eight months after the events of the first novel. The fourth ('Flame Out') and fifth ('Maelstrom') novels cover the period of the 4th to the 26th of June 1997 and 'Flame Out' contains a statement that it's taking place 'a few months' after the events of 'Armageddon Mode'. What this means is that the first three novels in the series cover the period between June 1996 and April 1997.
