by Hall, Gerald
The two Littorio-class battleships retained by the Italian Navy were modernized as well. The main battery turrets were all retained. But the secondary battery was significantly modified. The twelve 9cm antiaircraft guns were modernized with improved fire control and automatic loaders. The latter greatly improved the guns’ rate of fire. The four 6” triple gun turrets were all removed however. The 9cm guns were split up from their central position and moved to where these secondary guns had been located. Two quadruple missile rails on each side were mounted where the 9cm guns had previously been mounted. Their locations were due to the sensitivity of the missiles to blast effects from the main guns. The missiles were radio command guided weapons that were manually loaded onto their launch rails. These missiles are reportedly of an Australian design, though Italian engineers have been heavily involved also.
The antiaircraft batteries were supplemented by a number of 65mm and 20mm automatic cannons, though in much smaller numbers than before. The seaplane hangar and catapult were removed from the aft deck as new radar equipment took over their role. The deck aft of the rear turret was cleared to become a helicopter pad as more countries began to utilize rotary wing aircraft in place of floatplanes. There is a possibility that some of the deck space cleared by the alterations to the battleships’ secondary and antiaircraft batteries may be used for the mounting of anti-ship guided missiles. This would give the Littorio-class the ability to engage targets far beyond the range of her main guns.
The Italian cruiser and destroyer force was also badly hit during the war. There is only a handful of light cruisers and even fewer destroyers remaining as a result. Our sources indicate that there is a new construction program to add a significant number of light destroyers and other small escort vessels beginning soon. In this new construction program, the Italians are going to be incorporating anti-ship guided missiles of an indigenous design into these new escort vessels in addition to the Imperio aircraft carrier conversion.
The Italians quickly reestablish a trading relationship with France and soon afterwards sign a mutual defense treaty with the French. Slowly at first, the Italians begin to rebuild their military, especially their navy as part of their defense treaty with the French. Both nations were very concerned about the new Germany and also with changes going on in Turkey.
The secular government in Turkey that had been established by Mustafa Kemal is being slowly superseded by a much more Islamist political movement. This had been spurred by the success of the new State of Israel which had prompted the rapid growth of the Muslim Brotherhood. The latter had started in Egypt but had rapidly spread to Turkey and elsewhere in the Islamic world. The growing influence of the Islamists within the new Turkish government has already made an impact on their policies. The Turks have begun to threaten to work with Egypt to close both the Bosporus and the Suez Canal.”
“We need to offer support to the Italian-French alliance since we also did not want to the Bosporus Straits to be closed either. The threat of Egypt, Syria and Turkey shutting off the eastern Med to gain power and to try to crush Israel is a cause d’guerre as far as the French, Italians and even the British are concerned. The three Western nations are not so much interested in Israel’s fate but in the economic problems that a closure of the Bosporus and the Suez would bring. This is a common interest that we share with them.” Peter told the others.
“There is another element to this as well. Our agents have uncovered indicators that Germany may also be involved in the growing influence of the Islamists in Turkey. They have also made similar efforts within the Balkans with the Muslim Serbs. Obviously, we have interests in that area also.”
“It sounds much like the alliances that led to the beginning of the First World War are forming once again, I fear.” Andre interjected.
“Yes, it does. But we must be far better prepared than the Czar had been in the event of an armed conflict or even a conflict that does not involve direct military action. This is why we must build far better relationships with potential allies like the Italians and possibly even the Israelis.” Peter said.
“We could certainly use information on the construction and operation of an aircraft carrier and suitable aircraft. It could give the Russian Republic the means to project force far beyond our current borders. There are certain situations where that could be very helpful, I believe. Obviously, any information that we can also gather on the Italian and Australian guided missile programs would be of great benefit for us as well. ” Andre noted.
“I will make the necessary arrangements, Sir. We will offer as much financial and technical support as we can, in exchange for access to as much advanced technology as possible. Shall I also offer co-production agreements to the Italians with the promise that we will purchase substantial amounts of Italian goods in return?” Nicholai asked.
“Yes. I believe that it was noted that the Italians are suffering from shortages of oil, correct?” Peter asked.
“Yes, Sir. When they lost their colony in Libya, the Italians also lost access to the oil fields there.” Sergei explained.
“Then we will offer to sell Italy oil from our fields in the Caucasus and other raw materials from our mines in exchange for the trade agreement. Be sure to offer very favorable conditions for the sale of the oil. We must continue to rebuild our industrial and technological base. Poland sits as a buffer between Russia and Germany. However, its loyalties currently lie much closer to Berlin than to here in Moscow.” Peter replied.
“What shall our objectives be with the Italians, Sir?” Nicholai asked.
“We want the Italians to be able to modernize their existing aircraft carrier and complete the Imperio. When they do this, I want Russian engineers and scientists watching every step. The same thing goes for their aviation, guided missile and armored vehicle programs. In fact, I think that Italy’s engineers would be very interested in talking to our T-34 designers. Perhaps, we will end up with a design that will be able to outfight a German Panzer one on one as a result of the collaboration.
But everything that we learn, comes home for our people to use in our own factories. If possible, invite some of the Italian engineers to come here to show off how they do things in Italy. Then we will build the equipment in mass for the Motherland to use for its needs. Of course, this has been a time honored tradition here in Russia, hasn’t it?”
“Da. You are correct, of course.” Nicholai responded.
“Then we are in agreement. Now, let’s proceed to make Russia great once again.” Peter said after each man filled a shot glass with vodka and drank it together.
With this agreement, plans were then set in motion. Within a few months, with financial support of the Russians and the resulting Italian offer to help provide technical support for the rebuilding of Russian industry, the Italians completed the construction of Aquila and began to reconstruct Impero into an even larger fleet carrier. Scores of Russian technical advisors could frequently be seen at Italian shipyards.
The Russians contributed considerable industrial expertise to the Italians in the areas of mass production and armored vehicle design. At the same time, the Russians quietly sent back packets of blueprints and other technical documents back home, some without the knowledge or permission by their owners. This information would quickly jumpstart Russian technological advancements by at least a decade.
This unauthorized technology transfer was eventually discovered by Cavill Industries. Afterwards, heavy restrictions on access to technology provided by the Australians were imposed upon the Italian companies that continued to work with the Russians.
Chapter Seven:
Cavill Industries Headquarters
Derby, Northwest Territories, Australia
February 15, 1955
Harold Cavill’s children were meeting once again at Judith Cavill’s office to discuss how their family business is operating in addition to events in the world that they were trying to save. The decisions that these young people would make within
that room could change the entire world. That was a lot of pressure for people who were still only in their twenties.
“Hello, everyone. I trust that you all have had a good week. It’s been pretty hectic for me, obviously. I hope that you have plenty of good news for me. I sure could use it with all of the concerns that I just read about from our agents’ reports. The world is still a pretty dangerous place, I’m afraid.” Judith told her siblings.
“Well, big sister. Our manufacturing divisions are still doing quite well considering our limited capacity. We still have more than enough orders for our existing aircraft to keep our aircraft assembly factory busy for years to come, especially for our new rotary-wing aircraft. Our vehicle factories are still transitioning back to the production of civilian trucks, but we should be up to normal production in a few more months. The surplus market in weapons is making it hard for our Ordnance Division, though we see a lot of potential sales still in East Asia and the Middle East with the developing situation on both of those areas. Some of their machinery has been adapted for use in the production of new products for use by our other divisions though.
Our electronics and rocket divisions are both also doing very well. The selective introduction of relatively advanced technology has put us ahead of everyone else in the world. But we still have to be very careful not to get too far ahead of the world’s state of the art in those technologies.” Beatrice told her siblings.
“I know that our shipyard is the only division of Cavill Industries that has been seriously affected by the end of the war. Very few navies are purchasing new hulls, especially with all of the war-surplus warships available for purchase worldwide. So we have had a relatively hard time keeping our shipyard workers fully employed.” Sarah reported.
“At least we still have several ships in the queue either being refitted or broken up by our people. This includes the modernization of the aircraft carrier HMAS Australia.” Beatrice commented.
“Hopefully, we will be able to convince the folks in Canberra to loan us one or two of their warships as testbeds for modernization. We already know that guided missiles are the future for the warships of tomorrow. Our engineers are already coming up with designs to replace torpedo tube launchers with anti-ship missiles with minimal physical modification. We would even use the same traversing mechanism as the existing torpedo tubes. We should also be able to install one of the new antiaircraft missile launchers where the aft gun turrets of one of our destroyer leaders are currently located.” Judith said.
“Do you really think that the Admiralty will relinquish one of their big destroyers to us for what is essentially an experiment?” James asked.
“If we foot the bill, I believe that they will. Besides, since the end of the war, our navy has more ships than it can afford to operate. Loaning one of them to us to upgrade, man and maintain would save the Exchequer money that they can allocate elsewhere. The success of this ‘experiment’ could convince Parliament to finally fund the construction of new guided missile cruisers to more effectively protect our aircraft carriers.” Judith answered.
“I just hope that they don’t look at it as our building our own little navy once again. Remember that the Admiralty requisitioned virtually all of the armed ships that our father had accumulated during the war.” Sarah said.
“At least they paid us something for them, even if wasn’t as much as the ships were really worth. The payments also didn’t reflect the work that we performed to bring them up to our standards.” Beatrice grumbled.
“We could always use additional financial compensation for the work that we have done for Canberra or the assets that we have given them. I’d like to think that our financial sacrifices now will reap far greater dividends in the future for us.
Our reconstruction project with the Shinshū Maru is still going to be very interesting. We are using her for a testbed for quite a few technological developments. Fortunately, we were able to convince Canberra to allow us to keep her.” Sarah explained.
“Well, we did have to disarm her for now. But with the major reconstruction work that we are doing, the ship is going to be very impressive. It could serve as a commercial cargo ship for Cavill Shipping Lines. But I know that we also have a military mission as well.” Judith noted.
“She is already proving to be an excellent testbed for the new combined diesel and gas turbine-electric power train. This technology will end up being installed in the destroyer leader that we have asked the Admiralty for. Having proven the reliability, power and fuel efficiency in a bigger hull won’t hurt either for other future projects.
We are replacing her steam turbine power plant with four marine diesel engines and a pair of ten-thousand horsepower turboshafts. The stretching of the Maru’s hull and replacement of her single shaft with a pair of shafts is going to make her maximum and economical cruise speeds significantly higher than her original speed of twenty knots.” Sarah explained, the enthusiasm that she has for the project clearly evident in her expression and tone.
“I wonder what the bureaucrats at the Admiralty are going to think when we remove the original deckhouse, add a starboard island and install a full length flight deck in addition to the other changes that we are making to her.” James asked.
“Maru’s still going to have her deck well though. We are also still not adding any guns at this time. As far as the Admiralty is concerned, Maru is still going to be a cargo ship that can be used in austere areas. We simply advertise that we can use lighters based in Maru’s well deck to transport cargo to places that don’t have adequate porting facilities. The lighters along with the twelve to fifteen tandem-rotor helicopters that she can support will be especially helpful for disaster relief.
It will also be terribly well suited for amphibious warfare with the cargo lighters being replaced by landing craft. That’s what the Japanese had in mind when they built her. I also know that you have been looking in the database at the late twentieth century American LPH ships with their large helicopter decks so that you can incorporate some of their features into their progenitor.” Judith replied.
“That is true too, big sister. But if we are going to hang on to the ship and perhaps market similar vessels to our customers, we have to start incorporating the more advanced features, even if we can’t put any guns or missiles on her.” James noted.
“The engines that we are installing on her can certainly be applied to a variety of combat vessels, including destroyers and light cruisers. If we can push Maru’s eleven thousand tons up to twenty-six knots or so, we can certainly use the same powertrain to push a smaller warship to over thirty knots readily enough.
As far as not putting any guns or missiles on Maru, we can still use her as a testbed for prototype weapons that we can install on her temporarily and then remove when we are done with the testing. She certainly has enough room for the temporary installation of any hardware that we need to test. We simply are not going to install any permanent weapons installations on Maru as far as the politicians in Canberra are concerned.” Judith explained.
“If those politicians only knew just how many Australian and British soldiers that our father had saved just because he prevented Singapore and Malaya from being captured by the Japanese, they might feel a little better about us and our intentions.” James opined.
“Yes. Of course, that doesn’t even count the hundreds of sailors that were saved from aboard HMAS Sydney as a result of our intervention in her encounter with the German disguised raider Kormoron. But since we can’t tell the politicians about how our father had already changed history and saved many Australian lives, it is a moot point. Of course, they probably wouldn’t even believe us if he did tell them unless we showed Father’s laptop computer database to the bloody politicians.” Judith swiftly interjected.
“There is also the problem that the damned politicians might decide to steal Father’s property and keep it for themselves rather than trusting us with the information inside. Then who knows what sor
t of terrible things that they might do with those secrets from the future.” Sarah interjected.
“They would probably put them all in a big crate and hide it away from the world out of fear, I would imagine. Politicians don’t trust anyone to make decisive decisions to work to the benefit of all of humanity.”
The others immediately nodded their heads in sad agreement. They could not accept that any leader would be so selfish and cowardly to not work to do something positive to save the rest of mankind.
“On another matter, the antiaircraft missiles that we are developing for the Australian Navy are also going to work quite well in another role as well. Our ground-based testing facilities at our Kalumburu site are also proving that the CMS-2 and CMS-3 could easily be used in a land-based role. All we have to design an appropriate mobile launching system as well as an appropriate search, tracking and guidance radar combination to integrate with it.” Beatrice interjected.
“Oh, great! We are barely able to produce enough heavy trucks at our automotive division to meet demand. Now you want to create even more demand for them.” Sarah grumbled.
“Calm down, Sarah. We can either mount this equipment on trailers to be towed on existing trucks or designed as modules that don’t require a dedicated prime mover. Just lift them on and off as needed. The important thing that we can apply the majority of the research and development for the naval versions to a land-based version. Then we can spread out those costs to lower the costs to future customers.”
“Just to think, I was under the impression that we were going to try to reduce our company’s reliance on military contracts.” Sarah replied, still smoldering.
“We are trying. But this is an opportunity to expand the range of products that we can offer. We would still be allowing our customers to do most of the production work under license. But we literally have our own air defense missile system around Kalumburu consisting of the CMS-2 and CMS-3 launchers already there. We would benefit if the Australian Army also fielded the same system.