Waves lapped gently at the concrete pillars, creating a pleasant droning noise that seemed to encompass the empty piers. Occasionally a gull would cry, spoiling the relative silence of an otherwise sedate San Diego afternoon.
The base was nearly empty these days, the majority of the fleet having either deployed or been transferred forward to Pearl Harbor and Midway. Only a handful of ships were tied up along the waterfront, most of them bearing the scars earned in the skirmishes that had been occurring recently. The dry docks at all of the nearby shipyards were all full either of new construction or vessels too badly damaged to be trusted to float on their own. After last week more than a dozen additional vessels had put into San Diego after the Golden Anvil incident.
Commander Michael Graves limped towards Pier 21. Conway sat there -- still listing ten degrees to port, all but a hulk grinding against the side of the pier. The fires had long since been put out but the holes that ran throughout the ship remained and required a constant watch to be posted. As soon as a berth opened in one of the shipyards near the base, she would be making her way there for repairs and refit. These days, even a ship so badly damaged was worth the time and effort to return to the fleet.
As Graves stepped onto the pier he was pleased to hear that his crew, no matter how beleaguered by repairs and damage control, still managed to sound the four strokes of the ship's bell followed by the customary notice:
"Conway, arriving."
**Four Months Earlier**
More than two-thousand tons of United States warship pounded through the Atlantic ocean at slightly more than 23 knots. USS Conway, DD 507, flagship of DESRON XXII was the lead ship of a column abreast of ten destroyers and destroyer escorts. The heaving seas rolled the ship heavily and interminable rain squalls lashed out with unquenched fury. She pitched about in the dark water, valiantly holding her own amongst the towering waves.
Lieutenant Thomas Cunningham held onto the braided steel cable that ran the width of the overhead to keep from falling to the deck. As the Officer Of the Deck, Lieutenant Cunningham was responsible for the safe navigation of the ship. At the moment he was glaring through a set of binoculars with his free hand, attempting to make out the lights of the warships behind. He turned to face the Junior Officer Of the Deck, and had to yell to be heard over the howl of the old General Electric turbines and cacophony of the storm.
"Pete, get the aft lookout! Find out if he has a fix on Chevalier, I can't see her back there!" He
The JOOD nodded, screamed something in reply and went to the intercom station to try and raise the aft lookout. As the ship heeled over to starboard, Tom dropped his binoculars to dangle from the lanyard around his neck and rode the motion of the ship down to the starboard bridge wing. He was immediately met with the stinging impacts of nearly-frozen rain driven by forty knot wind as he exited the relative shelter of the pilothouse. The tumultuous whitecaps of an irate ocean surrounded the suddenly tiny-seeming vessel.
Boatswain's Mate third-class Carson was strapped to the bridge wing, a pair of binoculars identical to Cunningham's glued to his eyes, continually sweeping the drunken horizon. Tom tapped him on the shoulder and glanced out to the horizon when Carson glanced back at him. Carson nodded and pointed out, just abeam of the Conway. There, surrounded by a thick blanket of rain and haze rode the massive silhouette of the centerpiece of the operation: USS Maryland.
Her 624 feet of fighting steel seemed to ride almost unperturbed through the heaving seas that were so harassing the Conway. The Superdreadnought was easily identifiable by her eight mighty sixteen-inch main guns, twin mainmasts and twin funnels. The three aircraft assigned to the Maryland were grounded due to the weather, chained to their catapults on the stern of the battleship. Otherwise, their wide-ranging flights might even now be passing through that arbitrary point just more than a thousand miles east of North Carolina known as Point Easy.
Captain George Hanover stepped onto the bridge and immediately latched onto the safety cable. COMDESRON XXII had been out to sea in dozens of storms, although his most recent assignment as Commanding Officer of USS Nevada had offered the comforts of a battleship to the seasoned sailor. As the ship pitched over the crest of a wave and angled down to plow into the trough, he carefully slid forward to the JOOD's station. Pete Conti looked up from the relative motion plot he was correcting and put his pencil down.
"Evening, Sir. What can I do for you?"
Hanover waved one hand at the junior officer and continued to stare forward through the battered windscreen. "Nothing right now, Ensign. I just wanted to come up and catch some fresh air. How's the watch been?"
Conti picked the pencil up from the deck where it had fallen with the last swell and turned it over in his fingers. "Not so bad, Sir. Just one'a those rainy evenin's. Sure wouldn't mind bein' back in Newport right about now though."
The Commodore laughed. "True enough, son. Tonight is definitely a chowder night." He looked down in the general direction of the wardroom with feigned distaste on his face. "Too bad the mess decided that another night of cold cuts was on the menu."
"Yessir, I guess they do have reason enough though. I'd hate to try'n cook anything when the ship's movin' around so much. Besides, they've decided to go ahead 'n break out the good cuts since we're almost to Point Easy. Nice to have somethin' different for a change."
Lieutenant Cunningham stepped back into the bridge, sopping wet and trailing a sizable amount of water onto the already slick deck. He noticed the Commodore and walked gingerly up the tilting deck to the JOOD's station.
"Good evening, Sir. Everything okay down below?"
"Yep, Lieutenant. We're buckled in nice and tight down below. Just wish Norfolk could punch through all of the atmospheric static we're getting in radio. Haven't heard a word out of 'em in nearly eight hours. Since we're running silent out here we can't even try to find out if they've sent anything our way."
A crackling voice cut through the normal bridge noise.
"Bridge, starboard lookout. Flashing light from Maryland. Looks like it's from Admiral Buccholtz."
Cunningham grabbed a dangling mic that was connected to the lookout circuit and keyed it.
"Starboard, bridge. Understood. Copy the message and pass it in to the signalmen to decode."
"Bridge, starboard. Aye, Sir."
The three officers looked at each other with eyebrows raised.
War Stories
Post a replyUntitled Ramblings
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Lieutenant Max Starks checked off the twelve names as the commanding officers of DESRON XXII assembled in Conway's wardroom. As the Chief of Staff for the squadron, Starks was essentially a fly on the wall for the meeting. The room veritably crackled with energy, as if a remnant of the storm that had passed four hours earlier. Captain Hanover sat in the chair usually reserved for the CO of the ship, documents strewn about him. The various red and black blocks of classification headers adorning those documents hinted at the importance of the meeting, although the physical presence of the nine other vessel COs aboard the Conway really should have been the first clue.
Commander Nathan Prime, CO of USS Beale was the last person to join the group, stalking into the wardroom with all of his usual vigor.
"Commodore, gentlemen. May I have a seat?"
Hanover gestured around the room. "Please, Nate. Take two if you like." He looked up at Starks and nodded. Max shut the hatch and secured it with a click that echoed around the room. The Commodore cleared his throat.
"Now, gentlemen, we have an awful lot of material to cover. First, though, there is some news that I have to pass along."
"This morning the United States of America attacked the Imperial German Navy base at Scapa Flow."
The reaction was muted, much as could have been expected from a professional group of officers.
"An aerial raid was launched from the Faeroe islands, apparently supported by the aircraft carriers Lexington and Ranger. I don't have any firm damage assessments, but by all reports most of the German North Atlantic battle fleet has been neutralized."
The reaction this time was only less so, but there were still a few clinched fists as well as a quiet nod from Chuck Crowe whose brother-in-law had been the master of the SS Wren, a merchant that had been sunk by the Germans several months ago.
"Any questions so far?"
Mike Graves raised his hand. "One here, Sir." Hanover nodded and Graves continued. "Was there an official declaration of war made?"
Hanover nodded grimly. "I was about to get to that. Our official declaration was delivered to Berlin as the attack was taking place, which leads me to one other major point."
"Just days before the assault on Scapa Flow, a fully escorted and American-flagged military convoy came under attack by Royal Navy in Exile forces. The Hood was reported to be with the RNE forces and several of our destroyers, destroyer escorts, submarines and transports were lost. The convoy fled north and eventually arrived in the Faeroes... carrying the NA-40 bombers and munitions for the assault on Scapa Flow. The Lexington and Ranger took a different route and were ordered not to attempt to intercept the Hood."
The Commodore took a breath, preparing to deliver his next statement which he knew to be redundant since the majority of the officers were already nodding their heads in anticipation.
"War was also declared against the League of Free Nations this morning. We're now fighting a two-ocean war." He nodded at Graves, whose hand was again raised into the air. "Go ahead, Mike."
"Are we out here to take Bermuda, Sir?" George chuckled at the question. One of the reasons he liked Mike Graves so much was that the man could think ahead in a situation and ask the most direct questions.
"Yes, Mike, I was about to get to that too. Settle down, all right? We'll be busy soon enough." The gathered COs chuckled quietly. "In answer to your question though, yes. It's called Operation Silver Hammer and it kicks off in twelve hours when we transit with the Maryland to what we'll call Point Braine, after one of the DDs we lost to the Hood in the Celtic Sea. Gents, we're about to reap some revenge for the loss of our ships to what was essentially a pirate attack. More importantly than that though, we're about to secure a base that should be quite useful to us in the future. Any more questions?"
For once no hands were raised. "Okay. In that case, Lieutenant Starks will pass out a full info packet on the specifics of the operation and any fun contingencies that may pop up. Everything should be pretty straight forward."
"Mr. Starks, would you mind starting your brief?"
**Hours Later**
Four destroyers and two destroyer escorts of DESRON XXII steamed ahead of USS Maryland while the remaining four DEs covered the advancing force of marine assault transports. LFN spotter craft had been observed and occasionally fired on during the last two hours as the formation advanced.
Commander Graves sat in his chair in Conway's bridge. Commodore Hanover occupied the chair normally reserved for the executive officer. Lieutenant Commander Bennett was now buried in the ship's Command Information Control center, sorting out comm traffic and keeping watch on the ship's radar and ASDIC systems.
The Radio Officer stepped onto the bridge and presented the Commodore with a transmission slip. After Hanover finished reading it he handed it back to the Lieutenant JG. He looked over at Graves.
"We're on, Mike. Silver Hammer is a go." He turned to the RO. "Send the go-ahead order to the other ships in th..."
The ship shook with a resounding thunderclap as the forward batteries of the Maryland roared to life, hurling four sixteen inch shells over the horizon. After the bridge crew recomposed themselves from the surprise of the opening barrage, a single voice was heard above the brief commotion.
"Sound General Quarters, I have the Conn."
Commander Nathan Prime, CO of USS Beale was the last person to join the group, stalking into the wardroom with all of his usual vigor.
"Commodore, gentlemen. May I have a seat?"
Hanover gestured around the room. "Please, Nate. Take two if you like." He looked up at Starks and nodded. Max shut the hatch and secured it with a click that echoed around the room. The Commodore cleared his throat.
"Now, gentlemen, we have an awful lot of material to cover. First, though, there is some news that I have to pass along."
"This morning the United States of America attacked the Imperial German Navy base at Scapa Flow."
The reaction was muted, much as could have been expected from a professional group of officers.
"An aerial raid was launched from the Faeroe islands, apparently supported by the aircraft carriers Lexington and Ranger. I don't have any firm damage assessments, but by all reports most of the German North Atlantic battle fleet has been neutralized."
The reaction this time was only less so, but there were still a few clinched fists as well as a quiet nod from Chuck Crowe whose brother-in-law had been the master of the SS Wren, a merchant that had been sunk by the Germans several months ago.
"Any questions so far?"
Mike Graves raised his hand. "One here, Sir." Hanover nodded and Graves continued. "Was there an official declaration of war made?"
Hanover nodded grimly. "I was about to get to that. Our official declaration was delivered to Berlin as the attack was taking place, which leads me to one other major point."
"Just days before the assault on Scapa Flow, a fully escorted and American-flagged military convoy came under attack by Royal Navy in Exile forces. The Hood was reported to be with the RNE forces and several of our destroyers, destroyer escorts, submarines and transports were lost. The convoy fled north and eventually arrived in the Faeroes... carrying the NA-40 bombers and munitions for the assault on Scapa Flow. The Lexington and Ranger took a different route and were ordered not to attempt to intercept the Hood."
The Commodore took a breath, preparing to deliver his next statement which he knew to be redundant since the majority of the officers were already nodding their heads in anticipation.
"War was also declared against the League of Free Nations this morning. We're now fighting a two-ocean war." He nodded at Graves, whose hand was again raised into the air. "Go ahead, Mike."
"Are we out here to take Bermuda, Sir?" George chuckled at the question. One of the reasons he liked Mike Graves so much was that the man could think ahead in a situation and ask the most direct questions.
"Yes, Mike, I was about to get to that too. Settle down, all right? We'll be busy soon enough." The gathered COs chuckled quietly. "In answer to your question though, yes. It's called Operation Silver Hammer and it kicks off in twelve hours when we transit with the Maryland to what we'll call Point Braine, after one of the DDs we lost to the Hood in the Celtic Sea. Gents, we're about to reap some revenge for the loss of our ships to what was essentially a pirate attack. More importantly than that though, we're about to secure a base that should be quite useful to us in the future. Any more questions?"
For once no hands were raised. "Okay. In that case, Lieutenant Starks will pass out a full info packet on the specifics of the operation and any fun contingencies that may pop up. Everything should be pretty straight forward."
"Mr. Starks, would you mind starting your brief?"
**Hours Later**
Four destroyers and two destroyer escorts of DESRON XXII steamed ahead of USS Maryland while the remaining four DEs covered the advancing force of marine assault transports. LFN spotter craft had been observed and occasionally fired on during the last two hours as the formation advanced.
Commander Graves sat in his chair in Conway's bridge. Commodore Hanover occupied the chair normally reserved for the executive officer. Lieutenant Commander Bennett was now buried in the ship's Command Information Control center, sorting out comm traffic and keeping watch on the ship's radar and ASDIC systems.
The Radio Officer stepped onto the bridge and presented the Commodore with a transmission slip. After Hanover finished reading it he handed it back to the Lieutenant JG. He looked over at Graves.
"We're on, Mike. Silver Hammer is a go." He turned to the RO. "Send the go-ahead order to the other ships in th..."
The ship shook with a resounding thunderclap as the forward batteries of the Maryland roared to life, hurling four sixteen inch shells over the horizon. After the bridge crew recomposed themselves from the surprise of the opening barrage, a single voice was heard above the brief commotion.
"Sound General Quarters, I have the Conn."
USS Conway sped towards the western edge of Bermuda at 36 knots. Unlike the newer Fletchers, her steam propulsion plant allowed her to reach much greater speed but without the ability to immediately shut down or start up like the Victory-5 powered ships. She and the Chevalier were assigned to enter Great Sound, suppress whatever LFN forces might be present there and provide targeting information to the Maryland. The great battleship continued to fire on pre-designated positions, her massive one-ton shells tearing through the air above the destroyer. By now she had taken up a comfortable firing position, 10 nautical miles off the north-western coast of the island. The massive blossoms of the impacts of the 16" shells could be seen vividly now that the two destroyers had closed the distance to the island.
"Bridge, starboard lookout! I have contact with a possible enemy surface combatant, bearing 045. I see... one turret forward, twin weapons, tall superstructure... it looks like one of those new Alliance class DDs."
Graves and Hanover looked at each other with quizzical expressions on their faces. Bermuda was only supposed to be a minor outpost, perhaps a supply facility of some sort. A new destroyer had no business being this far west.
"I'm going to get this back to Admiral Buccholtz. Advise him that that we're planning to engage and neutralize." Hanover left the bridge and headed down to radio.
A quick radio message was sent to the Maryland and a flashing light exchange between Conway and Chevalier cemented the plan.
"Bridge, starboard! Incoming fire!"
The muzzle flash of the British destroyer signaled the beginning of the engagement and both American ships broke outboard.
"Close the range. All guns train onto target and prepare to engage. Rotate tubes to starboard."
A flurry of acknowledgements sounded around the bridge as Conway prepared for battle.
Shells whistled past the bridge as it became apparent that they were the first target for the Brit destroyer. Conway and Chevalier turned inboard and raced towards each other, crossing paths at a staggered aspect to the Brit to avoid becoming a single, gigantic target. Nevertheless, Conway shuddered as a British 5" shell tore through the aft superstructure and failed to detonate.
"Rotate tubes to port, match range and bearing. Prepare to fire."
The destroyer began a turn to her own starboard to present her torpedo tubes and aft turrets to the Conway.
"Open Fire!"
Simultaneously Conway and Chevalier opened fire on the LFN destroyer and launched half spreads of torpedoes in a cross-hatch pattern at maximum speed. Of the first ten shots fired, four hit the ship in various points about the hull and superstructure, igniting fires and tearing through vital components. One shell landed a direct hit on the forward torpedo rack, detonating the armed weapons with multiple plumes of propellant and shaped charge explosions.
An LFN shell tore into the bow of the Conway, exploded halfway through and momentarily disabled the forward turret. A second shell impacted in the superstructure, destroyed a primary power junction to the amidships turret and exploded in the deck of the wardroom. Power flickered throughout the ship as breakers were automatically thrown and loads shifted around the generators. Damage control teams immediately went to work extinguishing the fires.
The aft torpedo rack of the LFN destroyer fired its full compliment towards the Conway, but apparently the explosion of the forward rack had damaged the systems of its aft mate and the four fish immediately sank to the sandy bottom.
A bright flash and subsequent plume of smoke from the Chevalier indicated that she had just been hit by gunfire of some significant caliber. Both American ships once again fired their full broadsides, three shots from Conway and four from Chevalier. The resulting explosions on the destroyer hid it from view only seconds before two torpedoes impacted nearly simultaneously beneath her keel, snapping her back amidst a plume of iridescent water.
Slightly smaller plumes of water just aft of Chevalier indicated that there was still gunfire inbound from some other source. Graves grabbed the intercom receiver on the lookout channel.
"Lookouts, bridge. Find that shore battery."
Acknowledgements came back from those lookouts that were still able to reply. One of the aft communication circuits had been cut and Seaman Apprentice Nichols - the forward lookout - had been killed by the hit on the forecastle.
Bridge, port lookout. I have aircraft bearing 285, look like probably ten or twenty of those big Sunderlands with a damn big bunch of Swordfish and Albacore flying escort. Looks like they're headed for Maryland."
Graves turned to the JOOD. "Get a message to Maryland and our escort group as fast as possible advising them of a significant inbound air strike." He grabbed the intercom to CIC and caught himself before yelling into microphone. "What's the story with radar? Are we getting anything through the land clutter?"
A tinny voice answered from the dark, busy room below. "Negative, skipper. There's so much land clutter that the screen looks like a damn fireworks show."
Mike looked around, something approaching helplessness in his eyes. "Well, if we can't play here..." He grabbed another intercom. "Sir, Commander Graves. Got a moment?"
Commodore Hanover was leaning over a plotting table, beginning to notice the same thing Graves had. He waved a hand at the other end of the intercom system. A systems specialist handed the microphone over.
"Mike, Hanover. Yeah, I think we're seeing the same thing. We need to get out of this pocket and back to the open water... there's something odd going on here."
Back on the bridge, Graves turned back to look out the forward windscreens. "Helm; left full rudder, steady on course 015. All engines ahead flank-two." He jumped over to the starboard side of the pilot house and hopped into the chair there. "Mr. Cunningham, you have the Conn. Get us out of here and back to the Maryland."
The fleet tactical receiver squawked with static. "T8A to all units in T8A." T8A was the call sign for the entire force assigned to take Bermuda. An explosion was heard over the channel, some static and then the same voice, less calm this time. "T8A to all units in T8A. Return to Point Easy immediately! M3B under aircraft attack, repeat M3B under aircraft att..." another explosion interrupted the voice on the channel.
Bright flashes illuminated the hazy horizon. Graves turned in his seat and looked to Cunningham.
"Tom, you have this?"
Cunningham nodded. "Yessir, I think so." He grabbed a 'com microphone that led to the engineering spaces. "Engineering, bridge. Any chance we could get more from you guys? We're needed elsewhere just now. Needed very badly, I might add."
"Bridge, Engineering. We're next to blowing this old plant as it is, but we'll see what we can do for you."
Conway surged through the seas, pounding her way towards the Maryland as fast as she had ever. Still the flashes, towers of smoke and waves of aircraft told the story.
"Bridge, Radar. We're finally beginning to make sense of this mess. I hold more than one hundred aircraft inbound and outbound from Point Easy. Two small vessels and two large vessels are closing on the Maryland and what looks like a few large and capital ships around ninety miles out."
Graves and Cunningham looked at each other. Mike took the 'com to CIC and keyed it.
"Is that all, Radar?"
"That's about what I have just now, Sir. We're still trying to make sense of it all."
Commodore Hanover arrived back on the bridge, an unreadable look set on his face.
"Mike, Gantner just reported several bomb impacts and went off the air. Sims radioed in that they were moving in to pick up survivors before they went off the air also. Beale and Bennett were pulling close to the Maryland to try 'n cover her."
Cunningham looked over to Graves and caught his attention momentarily. "Sir, turrets one and three are functional again. They should be good to go by the time we get on-scene."
"Thanks Tom." Mike turned back to Hanover. "What's the plan, Sir?"
Hanover nodded. "We're going to have to get rid of those carriers before the Marines can land on the island. Admiral Buccholtz is sending a message back to Norfolk. We think that Saratoga, Enterprise and Colorado are out and about in this general area working out the kinks in carrier-battle group strategies. Perhaps they'll be able to come in and lend a hand."
"In the mean time you're going to head out to intercept the incoming ships with Chevalier. Hopefully you'll be able to transmit good firing coordinates to Maryland, her targeting planes were shot down immediately after they were launched to try 'n find the carriers."
Graves nodded. "Aye, Sir... We'll head that way then." He turned to Cunningham. "Hey, Tom. Go ahead and get us on an intercept course with the inbound bogies, get word to the Chevalier also."
"Bridge, starboard lookout! I have contact with a possible enemy surface combatant, bearing 045. I see... one turret forward, twin weapons, tall superstructure... it looks like one of those new Alliance class DDs."
Graves and Hanover looked at each other with quizzical expressions on their faces. Bermuda was only supposed to be a minor outpost, perhaps a supply facility of some sort. A new destroyer had no business being this far west.
"I'm going to get this back to Admiral Buccholtz. Advise him that that we're planning to engage and neutralize." Hanover left the bridge and headed down to radio.
A quick radio message was sent to the Maryland and a flashing light exchange between Conway and Chevalier cemented the plan.
"Bridge, starboard! Incoming fire!"
The muzzle flash of the British destroyer signaled the beginning of the engagement and both American ships broke outboard.
"Close the range. All guns train onto target and prepare to engage. Rotate tubes to starboard."
A flurry of acknowledgements sounded around the bridge as Conway prepared for battle.
Shells whistled past the bridge as it became apparent that they were the first target for the Brit destroyer. Conway and Chevalier turned inboard and raced towards each other, crossing paths at a staggered aspect to the Brit to avoid becoming a single, gigantic target. Nevertheless, Conway shuddered as a British 5" shell tore through the aft superstructure and failed to detonate.
"Rotate tubes to port, match range and bearing. Prepare to fire."
The destroyer began a turn to her own starboard to present her torpedo tubes and aft turrets to the Conway.
"Open Fire!"
Simultaneously Conway and Chevalier opened fire on the LFN destroyer and launched half spreads of torpedoes in a cross-hatch pattern at maximum speed. Of the first ten shots fired, four hit the ship in various points about the hull and superstructure, igniting fires and tearing through vital components. One shell landed a direct hit on the forward torpedo rack, detonating the armed weapons with multiple plumes of propellant and shaped charge explosions.
An LFN shell tore into the bow of the Conway, exploded halfway through and momentarily disabled the forward turret. A second shell impacted in the superstructure, destroyed a primary power junction to the amidships turret and exploded in the deck of the wardroom. Power flickered throughout the ship as breakers were automatically thrown and loads shifted around the generators. Damage control teams immediately went to work extinguishing the fires.
The aft torpedo rack of the LFN destroyer fired its full compliment towards the Conway, but apparently the explosion of the forward rack had damaged the systems of its aft mate and the four fish immediately sank to the sandy bottom.
A bright flash and subsequent plume of smoke from the Chevalier indicated that she had just been hit by gunfire of some significant caliber. Both American ships once again fired their full broadsides, three shots from Conway and four from Chevalier. The resulting explosions on the destroyer hid it from view only seconds before two torpedoes impacted nearly simultaneously beneath her keel, snapping her back amidst a plume of iridescent water.
Slightly smaller plumes of water just aft of Chevalier indicated that there was still gunfire inbound from some other source. Graves grabbed the intercom receiver on the lookout channel.
"Lookouts, bridge. Find that shore battery."
Acknowledgements came back from those lookouts that were still able to reply. One of the aft communication circuits had been cut and Seaman Apprentice Nichols - the forward lookout - had been killed by the hit on the forecastle.
Bridge, port lookout. I have aircraft bearing 285, look like probably ten or twenty of those big Sunderlands with a damn big bunch of Swordfish and Albacore flying escort. Looks like they're headed for Maryland."
Graves turned to the JOOD. "Get a message to Maryland and our escort group as fast as possible advising them of a significant inbound air strike." He grabbed the intercom to CIC and caught himself before yelling into microphone. "What's the story with radar? Are we getting anything through the land clutter?"
A tinny voice answered from the dark, busy room below. "Negative, skipper. There's so much land clutter that the screen looks like a damn fireworks show."
Mike looked around, something approaching helplessness in his eyes. "Well, if we can't play here..." He grabbed another intercom. "Sir, Commander Graves. Got a moment?"
Commodore Hanover was leaning over a plotting table, beginning to notice the same thing Graves had. He waved a hand at the other end of the intercom system. A systems specialist handed the microphone over.
"Mike, Hanover. Yeah, I think we're seeing the same thing. We need to get out of this pocket and back to the open water... there's something odd going on here."
Back on the bridge, Graves turned back to look out the forward windscreens. "Helm; left full rudder, steady on course 015. All engines ahead flank-two." He jumped over to the starboard side of the pilot house and hopped into the chair there. "Mr. Cunningham, you have the Conn. Get us out of here and back to the Maryland."
The fleet tactical receiver squawked with static. "T8A to all units in T8A." T8A was the call sign for the entire force assigned to take Bermuda. An explosion was heard over the channel, some static and then the same voice, less calm this time. "T8A to all units in T8A. Return to Point Easy immediately! M3B under aircraft attack, repeat M3B under aircraft att..." another explosion interrupted the voice on the channel.
Bright flashes illuminated the hazy horizon. Graves turned in his seat and looked to Cunningham.
"Tom, you have this?"
Cunningham nodded. "Yessir, I think so." He grabbed a 'com microphone that led to the engineering spaces. "Engineering, bridge. Any chance we could get more from you guys? We're needed elsewhere just now. Needed very badly, I might add."
"Bridge, Engineering. We're next to blowing this old plant as it is, but we'll see what we can do for you."
Conway surged through the seas, pounding her way towards the Maryland as fast as she had ever. Still the flashes, towers of smoke and waves of aircraft told the story.
"Bridge, Radar. We're finally beginning to make sense of this mess. I hold more than one hundred aircraft inbound and outbound from Point Easy. Two small vessels and two large vessels are closing on the Maryland and what looks like a few large and capital ships around ninety miles out."
Graves and Cunningham looked at each other. Mike took the 'com to CIC and keyed it.
"Is that all, Radar?"
"That's about what I have just now, Sir. We're still trying to make sense of it all."
Commodore Hanover arrived back on the bridge, an unreadable look set on his face.
"Mike, Gantner just reported several bomb impacts and went off the air. Sims radioed in that they were moving in to pick up survivors before they went off the air also. Beale and Bennett were pulling close to the Maryland to try 'n cover her."
Cunningham looked over to Graves and caught his attention momentarily. "Sir, turrets one and three are functional again. They should be good to go by the time we get on-scene."
"Thanks Tom." Mike turned back to Hanover. "What's the plan, Sir?"
Hanover nodded. "We're going to have to get rid of those carriers before the Marines can land on the island. Admiral Buccholtz is sending a message back to Norfolk. We think that Saratoga, Enterprise and Colorado are out and about in this general area working out the kinks in carrier-battle group strategies. Perhaps they'll be able to come in and lend a hand."
"In the mean time you're going to head out to intercept the incoming ships with Chevalier. Hopefully you'll be able to transmit good firing coordinates to Maryland, her targeting planes were shot down immediately after they were launched to try 'n find the carriers."
Graves nodded. "Aye, Sir... We'll head that way then." He turned to Cunningham. "Hey, Tom. Go ahead and get us on an intercept course with the inbound bogies, get word to the Chevalier also."
Conway and Chevalier made their way towards the incoming ships as quickly as possible. Regular bursts of 16" shells tore through the air, making an eerie howling whistle as they flew on towards their targets. One of those, probably a light cruiser, had already absorbed at least three direct hits and was dead in the water, lagging far behind the other three LFN vessels. As soon as the two US destroyers closed within four miles of the LFN formation, they opened fire with their 5" weapons. Waves of aircraft again flew overhead, now returning to the aircraft carriers from which they had come. Mostly out of ammunition, they rarely strayed down into the range of the destroyers' 40mm. However, when they did, the pounding of the anti-aircraft batteries drowned out all other noise, besides the 5" guns.
"Bridge, forward lookout. I hold two Raiko-class DEs and one Alliance-class DD inbound. The DEs bear 354, and 005 and the DD is at 018."
Graves nodded and the JOOD acknowledged the lookout. A quick flashing-light message passed between the US destroyers and again they rotated their torpedo tubes in opposite directions and crossed their courses. Conway passed ahead of Chevalier and immediately sent four torpedoes down the bearing of the incoming destroyers. Chevalier added four of her low-speed, long-range fish to the mix a half-minute later. As the LFN ships maneuvered to avoid the torps, the two American destroyers closed the range, rotated their tubes to the opposite direction, reversed course and scissored in to catch all three LFN ships in a withering barrage of high-speed torpedoes and a hail of 5" gunfire.
Conway took a pair of 5" rounds and four or five 4" rounds from the DEs while moving away from the formation at flank speed. Chevalier sustained four 5" shells and some machine gun fire from the Alliance as she maneuvered in close. Just as the LFN destroyer launched a full spread of torpedoes at Chevalier, a pair of 16" shells from Maryland blasted through her superstructure. The ship erupted as anything flammable aboard her ignited.
Conway continued on her course and doubled back as a pair of torpedoes slammed into one of the remaining LFN DEs. Her concentrated fire forced the other to attempt to retire after launching a salvo of torpedoes. Conwayslipped through the spread, turning directly toward the fleeing DE and pivoting under full power. The forward and amidships 5" guns focused on the fleeing DE while the after pair finished the first, torpedo-stricken ship.
The first LFN torpedo struck Chevalier just astern of her propellers, impacting on her rudder. A plume of water hurled its way skyward as the ship shuddered. The main shaft seals ruptured under the massive pressure wave, immediately flooding shaft alley and after engine room. All lights went out aboard the destroyer as her generators failed. The second torpedo struck the drifting destroyer dead amidships. Plumes of ash and flame exploded from her stacks as her boilers collapsed. The ship immediately rolled hard to port as saltwater flooded into her bilges and fuel drained from her ruptured crude bunkers. The third torpedo impacted the bow of the ship, shredding the heavily reinforced structure and immediately killing several of the personnel on deck.
The scene on the bridge was grim as Hanover and Graves made plans to double back and pick up the Chevalier survivors. A bright ball of flame and dozens of black streaks signaled the explosion of the final DE's magazine and the Conway circled around to at least drop life rafts and provisions to the crew of the former USS Chevalier.
Author's note: This next section needs quite a bit of work and had a lot to do with why I didn't submit the story. Eventually, things will be worked out in a more authentic manner.
USS Conwaymoved through the open water once again, heading towards the formation of British aircraft carriers. With her now were USS Beal and USS Bennett. Both had sustained a fair amount of damage during the air raid, but most of the LFN bombs had been directed toward Maryland. The old battleship now only had the use of two 16" turrets and four 5" turrets and was only capable of bare steerageway on two functional boilers. The remaining DEs of DESRON XXII had taken up protection of the BB as their amphibious assault ships moved on towards the island.
The three destroyers closed on the LFN carrier formation, now identifiable as the Ark Royal, Kaga and Invincible. Only a token force of guard aircraft was in the air as the bulk of the carriers' power was stuck on deck rearming for another strike. All six ships opened up with their 5" weaponry at 8,000 yards. The nimble destroyers were able to maneuver to avoid most of the shells, but the massive carriers proved to be easy targets as they attempted to maneuver with planes on the deck. Full salvos of torpedoes were launched from the destroyers at maximum range and the carriers all went to their maximum evasion capabilities. Invincible heeled over too far in one turn and several aircraft spilled from her deck while several others slid about, crashing into others on the deck, igniting several fires. The 5" guns on the carriers became more effective as the range to the DDs decreased and soon the destroyers were taking hits.
The deck and island of Ark Royal exploded into flame as a dozen black specks descended from the sky. A full squadron of US Navy dive bombers flew through the clouds and immediately dropped on the unprepared carriers. Anti-aircraft fire immediately filled the sky, knocking down several of the fast bombers, but for every plane brought down, several more seemed to appear. Enterprise and Saratoga were making their presence known from well over the horizon. Equally devastating, old USS Colorado was barreling towards the LFN carriers at her top speed of 21 knots.
Plumes of water began erupting around the carriers' hulls as accurate torpedo fire from the destroyers began impacting the heavily-protected waterlines of the larger ships. Those torpedoes from the destroyers were augmented by those from torpedo-bombers flying in from the US carriers.
After ten minutes of launching salvoes of torpedoes, firing more than a hundred rounds of 5" shells and constant zigzagging to dodge the stiff LFN resistance, the destroyers retired under smoke screens after launching all of their torpedoes and taking a rather impressive amount of damage. The carriers were too harried by the ongoing air attack to press their action and the majority of their aircraft had been destroyed by bomb blasts, deck fires or 5" shell impacts. As the Conway steamed away, a trail of oil marking her wake, Michael Graves walked out to the port bridge wing to view the carnage that had been left behind.
Ark Royal was listing heavily to starboard, struggling to correct a wide turn to port as two of her rudders had been damaged by torpedo strikes, as had some of her major hydraulic systems. Her entire deck was aflame, as was her superstructure. She had taken the brunt of the attack from the American dive bombers.
Kaga was making way as fast as possible without a bow. Somehow, the American torpedo bombers had sent at least four torpedoes directly into her forward structures and sheared off the forward forty feet of ship.
Invincible was the most seaworthy of the three, although her abilities to carry out flight operations were negated by the fact that her deck was aflame and completely covered in mangled wreckage. Hers were the only guns still operational and they occasionally fired at the retreating destroyers, although they hit nothing but smoke particles and water.
Graves was about to return to the pilothouse when something caught his eye.
Kaga, the northern-most ship, exploded into violent luminescence. A full salvo from Colorado impacted her amidships, tore through her already weakened upper armor and exploded in her largest bank of aviation fuel tanks. As the crew cheered Mike turned back to the pilothouse, ducked his head and went back to work.
Hamilton, Bermuda was beautiful. Unfortunately, it was the job of the United States Marine Corps to hold the island now that Silver Hammer had come to its conclusion.
The cost had been high to all sides involved. Of the three-hundred and forty men aboard the Chevalier, only fifty-four had made it off of the ship. Paul Harper went down with his ship, joining the others deep within the crystal-blue waters of the Bermudan sea. The memorial service had been short, somber and a poignant reminder that even with the best training possible, nobody was immune to the fickle dice of war.
USS Gantner was lost, as was USS Maryland. The great battleship was making her way toward Harrington Sound when it was discovered by an LFN I-15 submarine and torpedoed. A subsequent search of the area and heavy depth charging produced no results. Maryland went down in the middle of the channel, blocking both entry and exit from the sound. Most of the remaining crew had been evacuated beforehand and only 275 were lost when the ship capsized and sank. The Colorado task force was detached from its exercises and reassigned to assist in the seizure of Bermuda. Rear Admiral (upper half) Donald Buccholtz and most of the flag staff was killed in the initial attack on Maryland when the first bomb to hit the ship exploded just above the flag bridge. The same attack destroyed Maryland's primary communications shack.
Ark Royal and Intrepid had retired eastward under cover of a thunderstorm. Post-action intelligence assessments determined that their mission was likely to provision and prepare the Bermuda base for a pre-emptive strike on a significant US East Coast base. Large stocks of ammunition and spare parts were discovered at the Castle Harbor air base. Two light cruisers, a heavy cruiser and four older destroyers were discovered in Great Sound undergoing repairs or preparations to launch. They were subsequently either scuttled by their crews or sunk by naval gunfire. The former Imperial Japanese Navy ship Kaga sank shortly after being hit with twelve 16" shells from USS Colorado. Rear Admiral Hirokai Abe, seen to be a rising star in the LFN, was believed to have been aboard the carrier when it sank. Despite a search of the area after the remaining LFN vessels departed, no survivors were recovered.
The sheer number of vessels and resources pre-positioned at Bermuda shocked all of the intelligence gathering agencies. Nothing of this magnitude had been expected. Reports by USS Skipjack and USS Stingray placed a significant RNE force -- including HMS Repulse- bound towards Bermuda at the time of the attack. Stingray lost contact and Skipjack later reported that the RNE ships had turned significantly north towards British Colombia before contact was again lost.
"Bridge, forward lookout. I hold two Raiko-class DEs and one Alliance-class DD inbound. The DEs bear 354, and 005 and the DD is at 018."
Graves nodded and the JOOD acknowledged the lookout. A quick flashing-light message passed between the US destroyers and again they rotated their torpedo tubes in opposite directions and crossed their courses. Conway passed ahead of Chevalier and immediately sent four torpedoes down the bearing of the incoming destroyers. Chevalier added four of her low-speed, long-range fish to the mix a half-minute later. As the LFN ships maneuvered to avoid the torps, the two American destroyers closed the range, rotated their tubes to the opposite direction, reversed course and scissored in to catch all three LFN ships in a withering barrage of high-speed torpedoes and a hail of 5" gunfire.
Conway took a pair of 5" rounds and four or five 4" rounds from the DEs while moving away from the formation at flank speed. Chevalier sustained four 5" shells and some machine gun fire from the Alliance as she maneuvered in close. Just as the LFN destroyer launched a full spread of torpedoes at Chevalier, a pair of 16" shells from Maryland blasted through her superstructure. The ship erupted as anything flammable aboard her ignited.
Conway continued on her course and doubled back as a pair of torpedoes slammed into one of the remaining LFN DEs. Her concentrated fire forced the other to attempt to retire after launching a salvo of torpedoes. Conwayslipped through the spread, turning directly toward the fleeing DE and pivoting under full power. The forward and amidships 5" guns focused on the fleeing DE while the after pair finished the first, torpedo-stricken ship.
The first LFN torpedo struck Chevalier just astern of her propellers, impacting on her rudder. A plume of water hurled its way skyward as the ship shuddered. The main shaft seals ruptured under the massive pressure wave, immediately flooding shaft alley and after engine room. All lights went out aboard the destroyer as her generators failed. The second torpedo struck the drifting destroyer dead amidships. Plumes of ash and flame exploded from her stacks as her boilers collapsed. The ship immediately rolled hard to port as saltwater flooded into her bilges and fuel drained from her ruptured crude bunkers. The third torpedo impacted the bow of the ship, shredding the heavily reinforced structure and immediately killing several of the personnel on deck.
The scene on the bridge was grim as Hanover and Graves made plans to double back and pick up the Chevalier survivors. A bright ball of flame and dozens of black streaks signaled the explosion of the final DE's magazine and the Conway circled around to at least drop life rafts and provisions to the crew of the former USS Chevalier.
Author's note: This next section needs quite a bit of work and had a lot to do with why I didn't submit the story. Eventually, things will be worked out in a more authentic manner.
USS Conwaymoved through the open water once again, heading towards the formation of British aircraft carriers. With her now were USS Beal and USS Bennett. Both had sustained a fair amount of damage during the air raid, but most of the LFN bombs had been directed toward Maryland. The old battleship now only had the use of two 16" turrets and four 5" turrets and was only capable of bare steerageway on two functional boilers. The remaining DEs of DESRON XXII had taken up protection of the BB as their amphibious assault ships moved on towards the island.
The three destroyers closed on the LFN carrier formation, now identifiable as the Ark Royal, Kaga and Invincible. Only a token force of guard aircraft was in the air as the bulk of the carriers' power was stuck on deck rearming for another strike. All six ships opened up with their 5" weaponry at 8,000 yards. The nimble destroyers were able to maneuver to avoid most of the shells, but the massive carriers proved to be easy targets as they attempted to maneuver with planes on the deck. Full salvos of torpedoes were launched from the destroyers at maximum range and the carriers all went to their maximum evasion capabilities. Invincible heeled over too far in one turn and several aircraft spilled from her deck while several others slid about, crashing into others on the deck, igniting several fires. The 5" guns on the carriers became more effective as the range to the DDs decreased and soon the destroyers were taking hits.
The deck and island of Ark Royal exploded into flame as a dozen black specks descended from the sky. A full squadron of US Navy dive bombers flew through the clouds and immediately dropped on the unprepared carriers. Anti-aircraft fire immediately filled the sky, knocking down several of the fast bombers, but for every plane brought down, several more seemed to appear. Enterprise and Saratoga were making their presence known from well over the horizon. Equally devastating, old USS Colorado was barreling towards the LFN carriers at her top speed of 21 knots.
Plumes of water began erupting around the carriers' hulls as accurate torpedo fire from the destroyers began impacting the heavily-protected waterlines of the larger ships. Those torpedoes from the destroyers were augmented by those from torpedo-bombers flying in from the US carriers.
After ten minutes of launching salvoes of torpedoes, firing more than a hundred rounds of 5" shells and constant zigzagging to dodge the stiff LFN resistance, the destroyers retired under smoke screens after launching all of their torpedoes and taking a rather impressive amount of damage. The carriers were too harried by the ongoing air attack to press their action and the majority of their aircraft had been destroyed by bomb blasts, deck fires or 5" shell impacts. As the Conway steamed away, a trail of oil marking her wake, Michael Graves walked out to the port bridge wing to view the carnage that had been left behind.
Ark Royal was listing heavily to starboard, struggling to correct a wide turn to port as two of her rudders had been damaged by torpedo strikes, as had some of her major hydraulic systems. Her entire deck was aflame, as was her superstructure. She had taken the brunt of the attack from the American dive bombers.
Kaga was making way as fast as possible without a bow. Somehow, the American torpedo bombers had sent at least four torpedoes directly into her forward structures and sheared off the forward forty feet of ship.
Invincible was the most seaworthy of the three, although her abilities to carry out flight operations were negated by the fact that her deck was aflame and completely covered in mangled wreckage. Hers were the only guns still operational and they occasionally fired at the retreating destroyers, although they hit nothing but smoke particles and water.
Graves was about to return to the pilothouse when something caught his eye.
Kaga, the northern-most ship, exploded into violent luminescence. A full salvo from Colorado impacted her amidships, tore through her already weakened upper armor and exploded in her largest bank of aviation fuel tanks. As the crew cheered Mike turned back to the pilothouse, ducked his head and went back to work.
Hamilton, Bermuda was beautiful. Unfortunately, it was the job of the United States Marine Corps to hold the island now that Silver Hammer had come to its conclusion.
The cost had been high to all sides involved. Of the three-hundred and forty men aboard the Chevalier, only fifty-four had made it off of the ship. Paul Harper went down with his ship, joining the others deep within the crystal-blue waters of the Bermudan sea. The memorial service had been short, somber and a poignant reminder that even with the best training possible, nobody was immune to the fickle dice of war.
USS Gantner was lost, as was USS Maryland. The great battleship was making her way toward Harrington Sound when it was discovered by an LFN I-15 submarine and torpedoed. A subsequent search of the area and heavy depth charging produced no results. Maryland went down in the middle of the channel, blocking both entry and exit from the sound. Most of the remaining crew had been evacuated beforehand and only 275 were lost when the ship capsized and sank. The Colorado task force was detached from its exercises and reassigned to assist in the seizure of Bermuda. Rear Admiral (upper half) Donald Buccholtz and most of the flag staff was killed in the initial attack on Maryland when the first bomb to hit the ship exploded just above the flag bridge. The same attack destroyed Maryland's primary communications shack.
Ark Royal and Intrepid had retired eastward under cover of a thunderstorm. Post-action intelligence assessments determined that their mission was likely to provision and prepare the Bermuda base for a pre-emptive strike on a significant US East Coast base. Large stocks of ammunition and spare parts were discovered at the Castle Harbor air base. Two light cruisers, a heavy cruiser and four older destroyers were discovered in Great Sound undergoing repairs or preparations to launch. They were subsequently either scuttled by their crews or sunk by naval gunfire. The former Imperial Japanese Navy ship Kaga sank shortly after being hit with twelve 16" shells from USS Colorado. Rear Admiral Hirokai Abe, seen to be a rising star in the LFN, was believed to have been aboard the carrier when it sank. Despite a search of the area after the remaining LFN vessels departed, no survivors were recovered.
The sheer number of vessels and resources pre-positioned at Bermuda shocked all of the intelligence gathering agencies. Nothing of this magnitude had been expected. Reports by USS Skipjack and USS Stingray placed a significant RNE force -- including HMS Repulse- bound towards Bermuda at the time of the attack. Stingray lost contact and Skipjack later reported that the RNE ships had turned significantly north towards British Colombia before contact was again lost.