About This File
Big Dolphin in Small Waters, April 2023. Historical Hypothetical Scenario.
A Harpoon Commander's Edition scenario for EC2003 Battle for The Middle East Battleset and the HCDB2-170308 new standard 1980-2025 Platform Database. This scenario is designed with advanced Scenario Editor and to be run with HCE 2015.008+ or later.
This scenario is designed to be played from the Blue/US side or from the Red/Iranian side. You should play a few times first the Blue side to avoid spoilers, and only later play the Red side.
Image: Mediterranean Sea, Ohio-class guided-missile submarine USS Florida (SSGN-728), equipped with a Special Forces dry deck shelter (DDS) and overflown by a CV-22B Osprey assigned to 7th Special Operations Squadron, 352nd Special Operations Wing (based primarily at RAF Mildenhall), in a special operations forces interoperability exercise, February 26, 2023 (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communications Specialist 2nd Class Matthew Dickinson/Released/A serviceperson on duty and in consequence on public domain)
With the world centred early 2022 on the Russian menaces to Ukraine anything can happen the next months (This was an original phrase of the LCS scenario from where I took part of this text, posted January 30, 2022!) ... but that is now an alternate world.
In the nowadays real world, after her April 2006 SSGN conversion, USS Florida SSGN-728 after some months in the Mediterranean Sea sailed to the Persian Gulf, entering it April 2023.
Iranian claims surprised the international scene alleging one of its Fateh-class coastal submarines forced USS Florida to surfaced entering the Persian Gulf
This apparently simple scenario is developed to test the verisimilitude of those claims.
This scenario is simple on its planning and execution, but perhaps difficult to master.
I only hope this scenario is not similar to the infamous The Hunt for Red October game (1990).
Enrique Mas, May 6, 2023.