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File Name: Western Sahara Tin Can Sailors, Tagomago Ordeal, September 21, 1985. Historical Scenario. File Submitter: broncepulido File Submitted: 25 Nov 2017 File Category: MEDC Western Sahara Tin Can Sailors, Tagomago Ordeal, September 21, 1985. Historical Scenario. A Harpoon Commander's Edition scenario for EC2003 Battle for the Mediterranean Battleset and the HCDB2-170909 (or later) 1980-2025 era Platform Database. This scenario is designed with Advanced Scenario Editor Build 2017.013 and to be run with HCE 2015.008+ or later. Image: Spanish Armada Fletcher-class destroyer D-22 Almirante Ferrandiz (Ex USS David W. Taylor DD-551) patrolling the Western Sahara banks near Canary Islands on 1985. Photo by Francisco Tevar Banos, took from http://www.losbarcosdeeugenio.com/principal_en.html, with its webmaster authorisation, and subject to a Creative Commons license. In this scenario, to avoid spoilers, it is better to play the Spanish/Blue side first a few times, and only after play the Polisario Front/Moroccan/Red side, and keeping in mind the special considerations scripted in the Red Orders when playing Red side. My aim in this scenario is to capture the flavour of small and very limited conflicts, almost naval guerrilla warfare. It's also inspired by the inclusion of the Lepanto/Fletcher class destroyers in the Harpoon HCE/HUCE DataBase and of course in the vivid historical events of our Spanish recent past. In the first eighties, when the then modern and indigenous Descubierta class frigate was introduced in the Spanish Navy, the venerable Pacific War veterans Fletcher-class destroyers (nicknamed Los Cinco Latinos) were detached from the original Destroyer Squadron 21 (On that time renamed Escort Squadron 21) homeported in Cartagena, and scattered between the different Spanish local sea commands or Zonas Maritimas. D-21 Lepanto and D-22 Almirante Ferrandiz were from 1980 detached from the Destroyer Squadron 21 and employed on secondary roles as High Seas Patrol ship in the Canary Islands Maritime Zone (Lepanto was later transferred to the Cantabrian Sea Maritime Zone from 1983). This scenario shows an amalgamation of a series of difficult, confuse, bad narrated, censored and much unknown incidents between the Spanish patrol forces and the Western Saharan Polisario Front and the Moroccan Forces, fighting for the control of the old province of Spanish Sahara. As examples on 1980 Almirante Ferrandiz was apparently strafed by a Moroccan Mirage F1, and on 1985 in other incident the Anaga-class patrol gunboat Tagomago (PVZ-22) was attacked from the shore by unknown origin (Very probably Polisario Front) 12.7mm and 106mm recoilless shots, causing one dead, and Almirante Ferrandiz was called on her help. After the Spain retreat on 26 February 1976, the Western Sahara territory was claimed by the own Saharawis integrated in the Polisario Front, by Morocco, by Algeria and by Mauritania. Both Polisario Front and Morocco were trying to execute maritime actions as vindication of the disputed territory control, basically exerting control of the Spanish and other fishermen traditionally fishing on the Western Sahara bank. Morocco trying it with action as an apparent transnational law enforce, and Polisario Front executing attacks with inflatable boats, shore gunfire and murdering and kidnapping of fishermen and its crews. We must remember Western Sahara economy is bases almost exclusively on fishing which employs two thirds of his labour force, but now they are suspicions about the existence of reasonably exploitable off-shore oil fields, but his exploitation is today dubious because the international law. The European Union fishing agreements with Morocco (EU-Moroccan Fisheries Partnership Agreement, FPA) include Western Sahara. But they are many doubts about if this is adjusted to the international law, as Western Sahara is not part of the territory of Morocco under international law. As legal excuse, according to the legal services of the European Parlament, the agreement does neither include nor exclude the waters of Western Sahara from its geographical scope, and it would thus be up to Morocco to comply with its international obligations. In consequence, in order to remain in compliance with international law, the FPA should be limited to the territorial waters of Morocco proper, excluding Western Sahara. Enrique Mas, January 2012 - November 25, 2017. Click here to download this file

File Name: Western Sahara Tin Can Sailors File Submitter: broncepulido File Submitted: 20 Jan 2012 File Category: MEDC Western Sahara Tin Can Sailors, circa 1985: Note: In this scenario, to avoid spoilers, it is better to play the Spanish/Blue side first a few times, and only after play the Polisario Front/Moroccan/Red side, and keeping in mind the special considerations writed in the Red Orders. My aim in this scenario is to capture the flavour of small and very limitated conflicts, almost naval guerrilla warfare. It's also inspired by the recent implementation of the Lepanto/Fletcher class destroyers in the simulation DataBase and of course in the vivid historical events of our recent past. Historical introduction: In the first eighties, when the then modern Descubierta class frigate was introduced in the Spanish Navy, the venerable Pacific War veterans Fletcher class destroyers (nicknamed Los Cinco Latinos) were detached from the original Destroyer Squadron 21 (On that time renamed Escort Squadron 21) homeported in Cartagena, and scattered between the different Spanish local sea commands or Zonas Maritimas. D-21 Lepanto and D-22 Almirante Ferrandiz were from 1980 detached from the Destroyer Squadron 21 and employed on secondary roles as High Seas Patrol ship in the Canary Islands Maritime Zone (Lepanto was later transferred to the Cantabrian Sea Maritime Zone from 1983). This scenario depicts a amalgamation of a series of difficult, confuse, censored and very unknown incidents between the Spanish patrol forces and the Western Saharan Polisario Front and the Moroccan Forces, fighting for the control of the old province of Spanish Sahara. As examples on 1980 Almirante Ferrandiz was apparently straffed by a Moroccan Mirage F1, and on 1985 in other incidente the Anaga class patrol gunboat Tagomago was attacked from the shore by unknown origin 12.7mm and 106mm recoiless shots, causing one dead, and Almirante Ferrandiz was called on her help. After Spain the Western Sahara territory was claimed by the own Saharawis integrated in the Polisario Front, Morocco, Argelia and Mauritania. Both Polisario Front and Morocco were trying to do maritime actions vindicatives of the disputated territory control, basically exercing control of the Spanish and other fishermen traditionally fishing on the Western Sahara bank. Morocco trying it with action as an apparent transnational law enforce, and Polisario Front exerciting attacks with inflatable boats, shore firing and kidnapping of fishermen and his crews. We must remember Western Sahara economy is bases almost exclusively on fishing which employs two thirds of his labour force, but now they are suspictions about the existence of reasonably exploitable off-shore oil fields, but his explotation is today doubtious because the international law. The European Union fishing agreements with Morocco include Western Sahara, but they are many doubts about if this is adjusted to the international law and were denonced as unlawful recently. Note about the map: I've chosed the Mediterranean Sea map because I don't think worth to make another specialized map for this scenario with the Canary Islands adding nothing to the scenario and the playability, and so the installation of the scenario is improved and easier. Western Sahara coast and Canary Islands is some 270 nm southwest of the southwest map corner, but the distances and angles between the bases is the same as in the real world, after a vertical rotation over the horizontal axis and a rightward rotation over the vertical axis. Notes about the platforms: The 802 Squadron Spanish Fokker 27-200 Maritime for SAR duties were actually of a older type, without weapons neither ESM, the Blue player must not use them armed. The 462 Squadron Spanish Mirage F1EE were apparently only trained for the Canary Islands air defence, without surface attack capabilities. Generic unnamed places are: ZYa El Aaioun Airport GSAI/GMML, Western Sahara. ZZa Sidi Ifni Airport GMMF, Morocco. AAs Gando Air Base GCLP, Canary Islands, Spain. Enrique Mas, January 2012 Click here to download this file

File Name: Evacuation through the Alboran Sea, 2012 File Submitter: broncepulido File Submitted: 27 Feb 2011 File Category: MEDC Evacuation through the Alboran Sea 2012: This scenario is modified for employ the new planes and ships included now in the Data Base reflecting the composition and modernization of the Royal Moroccan Armed Forces. But it's compulsory to do mention of the historical facts: After I wrote this scenario (February 2011) the theorically moderate islamist Justice and Development Party won the November 2011 polls, and his candidate Abdelilah Benkirane was appointed First Minister of Morocco. As consequence, now in Morocco the government is clearly islamist and the facts below narrated as scenario background are only fiction, but not is fiction the current islamist government of Morocco ... I've some good friends in Ceuta and Melilla and also in Morocco. This scenario is inspired from and dedicated to them. I hope it will not scare them too much ... Note: In this scenario, to avoid spoilers, it is better to play the Spanish/Blue side first a few times, and only after play the Moroccan-Islamist/Red side. Spring 2012: As a last backslash to the 2011 turmoils in the North Africa and Middle East Muslim World, in Morocco the moderate laicist Government of National Unity of Abdelhadi Boucetta (With the decisive support of his intellectual and glamorous wife) replacing for less than a year the deposed King Mohammed VI (Exiled to the ONA-Managem luxury mining facilities in Equatorial Guinea), has been overthrowed by the Islamic extremists after a long and painful agony. The new Moroccan islamist Government of the now named Muslim Brotherhood in the Islamic Maghreb, counts with the opposition of a important sector of the Moroccan people, basically the most literate and pro-Western sector. Preventing a possible unrest, remembering the internal public reaction to the ill-fated Moroccan invasion of the Spanish Perejil Island on 2002, the new Islamic government has fixed as national target for amagalmation of the public opinion the seizure of the North-African Spanish Automous cities of Ceuta and Melilla, a long-time Moroccan claim. As both cities are very vulnerable without room for a possible in depth military defence, and the other new strategic targets and ambitions of the Spanish Government are now well known and the last years was retiring troops and police corps from both Ceuta and Melilla, there is a window of vulnerability the Islamic faction has well exploited. With a Moroccan Police and Secret Service organized human waves of thousands of desesperate low-class Moroccan people jumping, breaking through, bending and for last tearing apart the divisory fence between both cities and Morocco, in face of the passivity of the Spanish security forces to avoid the loss of human lives (Action and reaction very similar to the Moroccan Green March occupation of the Spanish Sahara on November 1975, against a confuse Spanish government when Franco layed dying), the Moroccans had de facto occuppied both cities. Facing a not-return case, the Spanish citizens are assembled by the authorities in the cities ports, waiting for maritime evacuation (Only Melilla counts with a very small airport). Remembering the success of the current Somalia pirates, and the success of the traditional historical activity of the Barbary Coast pirates (Only finished with the French conquest in North Africa in the XIX Century, after the previous famous actions of the USN and USMC), and for enforce more the moral of the Moroccan People, the Islamic government has decided to prevent the evacuation and the loss of richess and qualified manpower. In the tradition of their ancestors the Barbary pirates, they want capture them for ransom, or if not destroy and sunk the merchant ships carring them, to shown the weakness of the Spanish government and his incapatility to protect his own nationals. In Spain, after the 2012 polls, the unstable socialist government of Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and his long-time Defence Minister Carmen Chacon, has had to suffer the pressure of the peripherical nationalistic parties of his coalition of government, and to lend to his desires. After the resignation of General Felix Sanz Roldan as head of the Centro Nacional de Inteligencia and his replacement by a puppet civilian, nothing can be opposed to the nationalistic parties desires. As their first demand is the recuperation of the old territories of the Kingdom of Aragon, most of the surface forces of the Spanish Navy and a great number of his air assets are deployed in forward bases in the Balearic Islands and in the Central Mediterranean. As a result of it, facing the worst-case possible scenario, only limited forces are available for escorting the evacuation of Spanish refugees from Ceuta and Melilla. Generic unnamed places are: ZMa Ben Guerir (The reactivated base for the Moroccan F-16. An old SAC base and old Space Shuttle Transoceanic Abort Landing Site). ZLa Ibn Batoutta-Tangier Airport. ZNb Casablanca City and Naval Base. ZIa Al Massira-Agadir Airport. ZHa Inezgane-Agadir Airport. ZGa Cherif Al Idrissi-Al Hoceima Airport. ZFa Sania Ramel-Tetouan Airport. ZEa Ben Slimane Airport. ZDa Mohammed V-Casablanca Airport. ZCa Anfa-Casablanca Airport. ZBa Moulay Ali Cherif-Errachidia Airport. ZAa Mogador-Essaouira Airport. YZa Saiss-Fes Airport. YYa Ifrane Airport. YXa Marrakech-Menara Airport. YWa Al Aroui-Nador International Airport. YVa Ouarzazate Airport. YUa Angads-Oujda Airport. YTa Sidi Ifni Airport. AVb Spanish Autonomous City of Ceuta and Port. AUb Spanish Autonomous City of Melilla and Port. AWa Melilla Airport. AXb Alboran Island and Military Garrison. AZa Son San Juan-Palma de Mallorca Airport BAa Manises-Valencia Airport. AYb Malaga Port and City. BBa Mahon Airport. BCn Mahon Port and City. BDa Matacan-Salamanca Air Base and Airport. BEa Villanubla-Valladolid Air Base and Airport. BFa Alcantarilla Air Base. BHa San Javier-Murcia Air Base and Airport. BIa Lavacolla-Santiago de Compostela Airport. BJa El Prat-Barcelona Airport. BKa Bilbao Airport. Enrique Mas, February 2011 P.D.: resolved the unspected issue of both transport task forces running aground in Malaga Bay. Updated 27 February 2011 10:43 Updated: July 1, 2012, to include the new Moroccan ship and planes now included in the Data Base, specially the Mirage F1EM VI with MICA AAMs. Click here to download this file