The only British forces in the Med consisted of Force H under the command of Admiral Bruce Hardy RN, VC, KCB, KBE, DSO based at Gibraltar. Decorated and knighted a second time for his role in the Battle of Cape Vilan, he had demonstrated exceptional capabilities in command. Force H though, only possessed two damaged aircraft carriers HMS Ark Royal and Splendid and two ancient battle cruisers, the damaged HMS Renown and her sister Repulse. With the damage that Argonne had inflicted on the battle cruisers in Brest, the Admiralty was contemplating sending Hardy reinforcements in the form of an additional destroyer squadron and the Invincible class of battle cruisers. Those heavy ships with their nine 16.5-inch main guns might arrive in a few days. Slow by modern standards they were nevertheless well armored and reliable. Even with the reinforcement of the battle cruisers, Force H was still not a match for the Italian fleet, if it sortied in strength.
As Sheppard and Evelyn stepped out of the sedan at the White House, Evelyn, stunning in her new floral print dress and matching wide brimmed hat, garnered admiring looks from all in view. The colors she had chosen perfectly matched her complexion, eyes and hair. Sheppard was always at peace in her company and today was no different. The Marine sentries in their impeccable dress blues and blazing white trousers rendered synchronized salutes that Sheppard awkwardly returned with Evelyn on his right side. As they entered, they were greeted by a naval aide to the President and an officer’s steward who took Evelyn’s hat and gloves, as well as Sheppard’s cover.
The aide, Commander William McClintock guided them to a waiting room where Evelyn excused herself to freshen her makeup. Commander McClintock engaged Sheppard in small talk about the weather and the service. Out of the blue, he asked if Sheppard might be looking for a new Gunnery Officer in a few months when his tour at the White House was up. Sheppard said that he probably would be, knowing that Chuck Williamson had been with Argonne since before her commissioning. Bill McClintock was smiling as Evelyn came back, but Sheppard would never know if it was because of her beauty or his conversation.
Commander McClintock then ushered the McClouds to a small dining room. Shortly, Secretary of the Navy and Mrs. Knox, Admiral and Mrs. King, Secretary of State Hull, and surprising both Sheppard and Evelyn, Admiral and Mrs. Hamblen entered. Everyone located their place cards just in time for the President and Mrs. Roosevelt’s arrival. Sheppard, ill at ease separated from Evelyn, sat at the President’s right with Mrs. Roosevelt (Eleanor she insisted) next to Sheppard on his right. Evelyn was at the other end of the table seated between Admiral King (the new Chief of Naval Operations as he had renamed the job) and his predecessor Admiral Hamblen (the former CINCUSFLT). The President and Eleanor wanted to hear all about the Battle of Cape Vilan, which Sheppard was delighted to discuss having a subject he knew something about. He left out the details of the use of the secret anti-aircraft fuse only saying that he used his secondary armament to suppress the enemy fire attempting to down his Kingfisher aircraft.
Secretary Knox interjected. “Captain, what is your opinion of the German Navy as a fighting force?”
“Mr. Secretary, they are well trained, but rather rigid in their adherence to doctrine. The only reason that Argonne was successful was because we used our capabilities in an unorthodox manner. They did not react to what we were doing until it was too late. They couldn’t understand what was happening with my spotter aircraft and the use of smoke projectiles in a naval battle.” Sheppard did not say that he had no choice in lieu of the terrible accuracy of his main battery. Admiral King smiled that he had managed to avoid that issue with the Secretary.
It wasn’t long (too long from Sheppard’s perspective) before the desert of baked Alaska was finished and the President said, “Ladies, if you will excuse us, the men are going to adjourn for a smoke. We will rejoin you shortly. Captain would you please give me a push?”
“Yes, sir,” was all Sheppard could think to answer as he got up to push the President’s wheel chair into an adjoining room.
Secretary Hull began. “Captain you will have to forgive us for getting you here under the pretense of presenting you with the Navy Cross.”
Sheppard’s heart sank envisioning returning to Argonne sans the blue and white ribbon that the crew was expecting. “Mr. Secretary, I am afraid I am not following.”
“Captain, we really needed to meet with you to discuss your next assignment. Your medal was the excuse to get you here without raising suspicions in the press. In Washington, the best way to keep a secret is to do it in the open.”
“I understand, Mr. Secretary,” Sheppard said, trying to hide the relief in his voice.
The President jumped in. “Sheppard, I have formed a new organization, the Office of Strategic Services or OSS to accomplish missions without the use of military force directly. Their current mission is to keep the French fleet in Mers el Kébir out of German hands. Neither Winston nor I have the resources to stop General Rommel’s advance. Our only hope is to convince the French to move the fleet for us.”
“Yes, Mr. President. How can Argonne or I be of assistance?” Sheppard was really confused but couldn’t think of anything else to say.
“Argonne is the fastest big ship we have,” Admiral King stated. “You are going to take an agent to Mers el Kébir and support him with whatever he needs to deliver a message from the President to the French Admiral.” He paused before continuing, the trepidation clear in his voice. “Sheppard, we are well aware of the risks involved, but have no choice but to use a Santiago class ship. Yours is available and Jonas Ingraham has assured me you have the greatest chance of success.”
Secretary Hull started. “Captain, I think you need a little background to understand the delicacy of your mission. You see the British attacked the French fleet in 1940 and not surprisingly the French are loath to assist them in their war with Germany. It wasn’t until the Germans occupied the rest of France in forty-one, just before the invasion attempt against England, that there was even a hope of preventing the French fleet from falling into German hands eventually. From the French perspective they have two equally hated enemies. That is where we come in. At the moment they have no reason to hate or distrust us. We think a skilled operative may be able to convince the French Admiral by the name of D’Aubigné to either move his fleet out of German reach or better yet, join us in the fight against them.”
“Mr. President, you seem to be placing great faith in the abilities of this agent.”
“Captain, you are correct I do have great faith in his abilities and his personal relationship with the French Admiral. He will need both to accomplish the mission.”
“Yes sir.” Sheppard was beginning to grasp the significance of what he was going to be tasked to accomplish and that there would be great risks involved. “Mr. President, may I ask whom you wish me to take to Mers el Kébir?”
“Sheppard, that’s easy. I am the agent!” Admiral Hamblen volunteered.
Surprised Sheppard concluded, “That seems fairly straight forward.”
Now it was Admiral King’s turn. “Not really, Captain. No escorts or aircraft carrier can keep up with you. You are in a race with Rommel. We are going to stage some tankers in Gibraltar to refuel you and the French if need be on the way out of the Med. Those tankers will arrive soon after you’re underway. As soon as we can scrape up a replacement for Sabine Admiral Hamilton will sortie to cover your withdrawal. Chateau Thierry is just finishing up her post shakedown availability and will replace Belleau Wood, if she is ready before we find another carrier. Your old friend Admiral Hardy will be tasked by Churchill to provide you with distant cover if the Italians try to intervene. We are hoping that you can get in—and out—before the Germans or Italians can mount a significant air attack.”
Sheppard began to think through what they were asking him to do. Argonne despite all her capabilities would be alone. There would be no fighter cover and no anti-submarine screen. “Admiral, I assume that there is a plan to get Argonne through the British defenses a
t Gibraltar.”
Secretary Hull provided the answer, “The British Admiralty has provided an officer with a copy of the relevant charts, codes, and signals that will go with you to get you through the strait.”
“When is Argonne leaving?” Sheppard needed to make plans.
“As soon as you cross the sill and head down the Delaware River, you will be on your way.” Admiral King began to fill in the details. “Your crew is loading supplies and ammunition today. The main battery alignment was finished last night. As soon as the ammunition load is complete we will start fueling Argonne from a tanker moored to the approach pier. Hopefully that will be finished before dawn.”
Sheppard paused. He understood what was planned, but more so, he knew his respite with Evelyn would end, far sooner than he wished. Far sooner than he knew he needed! Again he was being picked for a vital assignment by men unaware of how damaged he was—how that damage to his psyche could affect this mission. Sheppard was certain of failure; failing his men—failing his country. The gnawing doubt was back.
“Admiral, if you don’t mind my asking, how have you arranged all this without involving Argonne?”
“Sheppard, Captain Feldman of my staff is a master logistician. He was masquerading as your shipyard representative.”
“Admiral, how do you expect me to keep Admiral Hamblen’s and a Royal Naval Officer’s presence a secret? Nothing happens in the shipyard that doesn’t quickly find its way into the Enquirer.”
“Sheppard that is the easiest part of all,” President Roosevelt smiled as he answered. “The easiest way to keep a secret is to leave it in plain sight. Admiral Hamblen is coming to visit his son and watch your gunner trials on the way to Norfolk. You have already met his aide Commander Halverson.”
Sheppard had to smile. The President’s plan to hide his mission had been well thought out.
“Gentlemen, I think it is time we rejoined the ladies and get on with decorating our hero. Captain, would you be so kind as to give me a push.”
“Certainly, Mr. President”
This time Sheppard actually felt honored by the President’s request. The photograph of Sheppard shaking the President’s hand with Evelyn hanging on his left arm made the front page of all the evening newspapers. Evelyn’s look of love and admiration was clear to everyone, and brought a smile even to that noted sundowner Admiral Ernest King standing in the background.
Amiral Phillipe D’Aubigné of the French Navy sat in a briefing aboard his flagship, the cuirassé Languedoc moored to the mole stern first in the port of Mers el Kébir. The situation was grim. Général de division Henri Laroque of the French Foreign Legion had just concluded his brief on the military capability of the Legion to resist the German onslaught that was engulfing Algeria. Everyone present knew that there was no force with greater élan than the Legion, but the absence of armor and air support made the situation hopeless. The only question that Phillipe needed to ask was one that he did not dare.
Henri answered it for him. “I can hold for a week, perhaps longer if you will use your ships as artillery to support my troops. If I fall back to the hills to the south and abandon the city of Oran, perhaps two weeks. After that we will run out of the supplies we have and there are no more to be had.”
“Les Boches are worse than the English who stabbed us in the back in 1940,” he added and spat on the deck for emphasis.
Phillipe knew he was referring to the attack by Force H at the direction of Winston Churchill after negotiations had broken off to transfer the French Fleet to a location where it could not fall into German hands. He felt fortunate that he had been able to move his damaged ships to Toulon for repairs. All the warships there had managed to flee, with what stores and skilled yard workers from the base that they could carry, only hours ahead of the Germans moving to occupy the Arsenal. The work had continued here and was as complete as it would ever be as long as metropolitan France was occupied.
The huge dry dock number 7 at the Philadelphia Navy Yard Province Island Annex was more than half flooded when Admiral Hamblen’s limousine pulled up at the brow of Argonne. Alerted by the shipyard gate guard force, Sheppard was standing by with the eight side boys, the ship’s band and his quarterdeck watch standers. Ted Grabowski had kept the bandsmen up most of the night practicing the Admiral’s March and Ruffles and Flourishes. Chuck Williamson had made certain that the black powder charges for the 6-pounder saluting cannons were dry and that he had more than enough available. Deck division had held a contest to determine which Boatswain’s Mate could best pipe Over the Side. Sheppard was pleased that his coxswain, Boatswain’s Mate Second Class Raymondo Cruz had won. Now it was time to put it all together as Sheppard crossed the fingers of his left hand.
Cruz’s pipe twittered, “ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss.” On the first note everyone on the quarterdeck and topside on Argonne rendered a hand salute to Admiral Hamblen. The Admiral saluted the National Ensign at Argonne’s stern, and then rendered his salute to the Officer of the Deck. Unlike for mere mortals, when the pipe was finished everyone held their salute except the Admiral as the band sounded off with four Ruffles and Flourishes followed by the Admiral’s March. No sooner had the march ended when senior Chief Hancock ordered, “Fire One!” The blast of the black powder charge in the 6-pounder, split the normal roar of the shipyard. Everyone within miles stopped what they were doing and looked at Argonne. Senior Chief Hancock one deck below Argonne’s signal bridge was reciting the age old phrase to exactly time the guns to the required five second intervals, “If I wasn’t a gunner; I wouldn’t be here; Fire Two!” He repeated himself fifteen more times until the required 17 gun salute for a four star Admiral had been executed perfectly. At the last gun, the halyard for the Admiral’s square blue flag with four white stars arranged in a diamond, which had been balled up with rubber bands, was jerked, breaking the rubber bands and immediately showing the world that Argonne was now the flagship of a full Admiral of the United States Navy.
With the echo from the seventeenth gun reverberated from the shipyard’s buildings, Sheppard and his watch standers dropped their salutes and Admiral Hamblen stepped aboard his flagship.
“Good morning, Sheppard. I see the dock is filling nicely.”
Sheppard knew the use of his first name was a sign that the Admiral was pleased with the arrival ceremony. He uncrossed the fingers of his left hand as he responded, “Good morning, Admiral. The brow will be lifted shortly and we should be able to cross the sill of the dock in about an hour.”
“Thank you. Would you please accompany me to the flag quarters?”
Sheppard smiled that even admirals could be lost aboard a new ship as he fell in step to the left of Hamblen guiding him to the flag cabin.
As soon as they were out of sight and hearing of everyone except Commander Halverson, still masquerading as an American Lieutenant, and Corporal Pease, following behind; the Admiral added, “Nothing like hiding in plain sight.”
3
UNDERWAY
ADMIRAL KLAUS SCHRöDER OF the Kriegsmarine was still smarting over the loss of his command. Großadmiral Raeder may have sent him to this backwater assignment in Rome, but he was determined to return to the real battle being waged in the Atlantic. Those fools in the high command just did not understand that a sustained raid against the convoys for only a few months would force Great Britain to capitulate. At least he was able to bring his Chief of Staff, Fregattenkapitän Fritz Bodermann, with him to Italy. Fritz’s younger brother Karl was a Gruppenfűhrer in the SS with responsibilities for all of France. The bond between the two bothers was strong and Karl had proven very accommodating in keeping the skilled French shipyard workers off of the list of Jews in Brest. Raeder would see that he needed Schröder to get anything done in France for the Kriegsmarine.
The task at hand was to meet with the Italian Supermarina (Headquarters) officers, be briefed on their plans and find out why they were not being more aggressive in destroying the British bases at Gib
raltar and Malta. Germany needed the fleet of her axis partner in the Atlantic. Klaus was also officially calling on Grand’ Ammiragilio Aldo Dragonetti, but had not made much headway in understanding the complexities of Italian politics other than it seemed Mussolini did not want to risk his fleet unless Aldo could assure him of overwhelming superiority. Klaus did not understand what it was with these leaders that had experience only in the army. Did they not understand that naval combat was as much a war of attrition as a land campaign? It really didn’t matter if you lost ships as long as your enemy lost proportionately more.
After a half hour, it was clear to both Klaus and Fritz that the Italians were only concerned with the French. It did not matter that the fleet in Mers el Kébir did not have any source of supplies or repair. The Italian staff was only concerned about the size of the ships, the number and type of guns. They were delighted that Rommel would capture the fleet in a week or less without any Italian intervention. There was only one staff officer who demonstrated an offensive spirit. Capitano di Vascello Dario Pettinato was in charge of special operations, involving something called maiale, which translated as pigs. It did not make much sense to Klaus until Dario explained that they were two man submersibles that carried a huge charge into enemy harbors and then attached it to an enemy ship. Later, a time fuse detonated it sinking or crippling the ship. The human torpedo only had a range of 24 kilometers; getting them within range was the problem. Dario whispered to Klaus that they were building a secret base in Algeciras Spain. When completed they would be able to attack the British in Gibraltar.
Sheppard and the French Rescue Page 7