Exercise Tigerfish

Day 1:
At 10:00am on Day 1 both fleets launched air strikes against the other. They came across each other over Forlorn Point, NovrdLisch, and engaged in a furious air battle. The Red Fleet air strike consisted of strike fighters from the USS Indomitable escorted by eight Peregrine air superiority fighters from the SWS Swiftsure. The Black Fleet force was made up of Osprey II strike fighters escorted by Peregrine fighters. After twenty minutes of combat both sides withdrew without sighting the enemy's fleet. Red Fleet "lost" one Peregrine from the SWS Swiftsure and three aircraft from the USS Indomitable. Black Fleet "lost" two Peregrines and three Osprey IIs.

Later that day the SWS Thunderer, an Albacore-class attack submarine, infiltrated the Red Fleet and made a dummy torpedo run on the SWS Dreadnought, claiming it as "destroyed". However the SWS Thunderer was located by S-3 Viking anti-submarine aircraft from the SWS Swiftsure and quickly "sunk".

Day 2:
Attempting to make up for their loss Red Fleet launched a dawn attack in the form of the SWS Phantom, another attack submarine. The SWS Phantom, believed by Black Fleet to be the returning SWS Thunderer, launched a "missile strike" against the SWS Meteor, a Vengeance-class aircraft cruiser, and claimed it "destroyed" The SWS Phantom was then pursued away from the fleet by a pair of Saltwater Navy minesweepers and "sunk" by the USS Gerald Routhe.

A flight of patrolling Osprey II strike fighters from the USS Indomitable "lost" an aircraft to the SAMs of the USS Gerald Routhe just before midday.

At 22:30 Red Fleet sent out three torpedo boats and the destroyers SWS Victorious and USS Marlin to screen the fleet from detection by patrolling Black Fleet ships and aircraft.

Day 3:
At 02:45 Black Fleet was turning into the wind to launch a strike when the carrier SWS Retribution detected the Red Fleet reconnaissance group. The USS Gerald Routhe and the four torpedo boats were despatched to investigate. Once in range she opened fire on the Red Fleet ships. The USS Marlin was soon "hit" by multiple anti-ship missiles and put out of the fight, but the newer SWS Victorious proved more elusive, and after two hours of combat succeeded in "destroying" the USS Gerald Routhe. She then went to assist the duelling torpedo boats, which were fighting it out a few miles away. After another hour both sides withdrew, with two torpedo boats "sunk" on both sides.

Taking advantage of the situation Black Fleet launched an air attack on the Red Fleet carriers, now without destroyers or cruisers to protect them. Twelve Dark Arrow heavy attack aircraft and four F/A-87s escorted by ten Peregrine fighters managed to gain a firing angle on both Red Fleet flat-tops, claiming them "destroyed". One Dark Arrow was "shot down" by fire from the SWS Swiftsure.

Exercise Tigerfish victor: Black Fleet, with particular commendation to the crew of the USS Gerald Routhe.