by Hall, Gerald
So, mio vecchi amici. I understand that we now have the second battlegroup is now operational. That has been in the making for quite some time.”
“Sì. Now that Impero has been fully worked up with its aircraft and we have a full complement of escort vessels, the Second Task Force is now ready for operations. Like the Littorio-led group, this force has an aircraft carrier, a battleship, three light cruisers and a minimum of six light escorts. Now, we will not be reliant on the English for air cover when we go out.”
“I still believe that the guided missiles that we have on our aircraft carriers and battleships could have just as easily been installed on lighter ships.”
“You have made your feelings on this matter well known. But we have the only heavy ships that are able to attack enemy ships from well beyond any gun range. The main guns are actually more useful for shore bombardment than anything else. That is why we removed our battleships’ secondary batteries and relocated the antiaircraft guns while modernizing them. We needed the space to mount the missile launchers.”
Antonio sighed in frustration for a moment. Even though he had been friends with Contrammiraglio Loggia ever since they were schoolboys, he had never been particularly happy with the billions of lira that were spent of the Italian military. He saw the need for the nation to have an effective military, but questioned how much was spent on it and who they purchased military equipment from.
“How do feel about accepting technical assistance from both the Russians and the Australians though? It would seem to be a conflict of interests considering how the Australians and Russians have been on the opposite sides of conflicts, especially related to the Cavill Industries.” Antonio asked.
“We badly needed the financial aid from the Russians in order to rebuild. We did provide some technical expertise to the Russians in return. But we were very careful not to give them anything that Cavill Industries provided to us.
The Cavills have been very helpful with the modernization of our lighter units. The 9cm main gun with the new automatic loader that most of our new small warships is equipped with would not exist without their help. They are actually manufacturing the autoloader for us. At the same time, the Cavills are going to be marketing the modified gun for us and putting them on new ships for the Australian navy. The troublesome Ansaldo and Terni 65mm automatic cannon that we have struggled with for over ten years is going to be replaced with a much more reliable 57mm gun. This is the weapon that the Cavills designed along with the English also. The Cavill weapon was simply a superior weapon. We had little choice but to adopt it rather than waste more money trying to make our design work. With the permission of the English, we will be co-producing the weapon in Italian factories under license for our ships.”
“Interesting, mio vecchi amici. Perhaps we will put many more Italians back to work now. Some of my government friends in Rome understood that we are building more light ships because our large building slips are tied up building commericial ships. I was told that we have few construction facilities that can now build anything larger than two thousand tons in displacement.”
“This is all true. But, we do not see that as a major disability. We do not need to travel very far with our warships. So smaller vessels do not need to have the same endurance as warships in the Royal Navy for example. That allows us to arm our ships more heavily per ton as a result. The 9cm guns are small in caliber, but this is made up for in their rate of fire. Our ships would hit any enemy destroyer three or four more times than they could hit ours with their guns. We have also greatly improved the fire control systems on all of our warships to make their defensive gunfire much more effective.” Carmen explained.
“But will that be enough?” Antonio asked.
You should talk to Capitano di Vascello Marcelo Mirallegio. He is in charge of the destroyer and light escort design bureau. We has many wonderful things planned for them, including the replacement of their torpedo tubes with anti-ship guided missile launchers.”
“We have such missiles ready for use with our warships?”
“Si, Signore. We were designing such weapons even before the end of the war. Impero is already fitted to launch these missiles that our engineers designed. Her missiles will help her defend herself against enemy warships. Soon, both of our battleships will also be capable of launching them. We plan to fit them to our newest escort ships and perhaps even other vessels.” The tone in Carmen’s voice indicating that he knew even more information about further deployment of the Italian anti-ship missile technology, but was unwilling to reveal it.
“That is very good. But it seems that we should be purchasing, or better still building, guided antiaircraft missiles to protect our ships from air attack. The loss of the battleship Roma to a German guided bomb would seem to be more than adequate reason to make such a decision. We were very fortunate that the Egyptians and Turks did not have such weapons available during the Suez operation.” Antonio noted
“True. We had lost so many resources and territory as a result of Mussolini’s war. I and many other Italians had hoped that our minor role in the Suez Canal dispute could have led to our nation restoring some of its greatness. We must focus more on weapons that allow us to attack our enemies. Our aircraft carriers have the responsibility to protect our fleet. So, are there any plans in Rome to recover our facilities and influence in Libya, mio vecchi amici?”
The Italian politician was at a loss at how to respond to his old friend.
“Honestly, I don’t know of any efforts by our diplomats or anyone else in Rome who is trying to regain our North African holdings. There are some commercial efforts to secure the rights to explore for oil in Libya however.”
“That would be something positive, at least. We certainly need the fuel. That was one of the most pressing issues during the war. We just didn’t have enough fuel to sortie our heavy units. Now, we have far fewer large ships. Perhaps, employing relatively large numbers of smaller ships armed with guided missiles will allow us to operate effectively without using nearly as much of scarce resources like fuel and even trained personnel.” Carmen replied.
“I hope that you are right. I do hope that we will begin to focus more attention on defending our warships from the air, preferably using weapons designed and built by Italians. But I will try to give you as much support as I can.”
“Gracia, mio vecchi amici. My fellow sailors and I would greatly appreciate such support. In the meanwhile, I have other duties that I must attend to. I will have one of my sailors escort you off of the ship.”
“Gracia, Contrammiraglio.” Antonio said with a slight bow before hesitating and then giving Carmen a fierce hug. Antonio then turned and walked off of the battleship’s bridge, following behind a young sailor who led the way.
Chapter Fourteen:
Cavill Industries Launch Site
Timor Sea, Northwest of Melville Island
July 5, 1956
A pair of oceangoing tugs towed the giant Sea Dragon rocket along the northern Australia coast towards its intended launch site in the Arafura Sea. Three large transport vessels followed behind the rocket including the two flight deck-equipped vessels Shinshū Maru and Hayasui that Cavill Shipbuilding maintained for logistical and test support purposes. A trio of Cavill Shipbuilding armed patrol boats was also in close attendance, particularly considering how close the small flotilla would be to Indonesia. These small warships were still nominally part of the Derby naval militia in order to remain armed under Australian law however.
The journey to the scheduled launch point took nearly two days to travel from the coast north of Kalumburu. After the rocket reached that location, Judith and Beatrice joined their siblings aboard the Shinshū Maru after flying to the ship on a CH-3 helicopter.
“This is bloody exciting, Judith.” Beatrice said after she had gotten off of the helicopter and inside of the ship’s island superstructure. Once inside, sheltered from all of the noise of the ship’s flight deck, the two young women
were led by a crewman towards a compartment where James and Sarah Cavill were already. Judith continued the conversation with her younger sister even as they walked the corridors.
“Fair Dinkum, Beatrice. It bloody well should be. I got to see a couple of the one-third scale launches earlier this year. But, this will be the first launch for a full-scale version of the Sea Dragon. If it works anywhere nearly as well as the scale-model prototypes, we will achieve a quantum leap over every other nation in terms of rocket technology.
We will not only have the means to launch virtually any size payload that we can imagine, but we will be able to make the cost of launching essentially anything into orbit far more affordable. No one will be able to stop us soon from being able to dominate space flight.”
“I’m sure that the Americans might make a go of it though.”
“Perhaps so. But if we have to, we will lobby both the Australian and British governments to provide additional support. I’m sure that both of them can easily see the advantages that our satellites can provide them, much less the new frontiers that space would give them.”
“There are people in America who want to internationalize space. If they succeed, no one will be able to secure any exclusive property rights in space. Who the hell will want to invest in space if you can’t gain anything from it?”
“We will work on preventing that sort of action. If some damned Yank wants to prevent anyone from mining the moon or any other extraterrestrial body, then they can build their own damned rocket, fly there and make their own claim.”
“Well, in just a couple of hours, we are going to take a massive step towards putting our own imprint on mankind’s journey into space. I have to admit that I am totally stoked about it too.” Beatrice replied just as she and Judith walked through a door and saw their other siblings waiting.
“Hello, mates. You finally made it here. I thought that we were going to have to send a search party, Judith.” James jokingly exclaimed.
“We just had to wait our turn in the landing pattern. There is only just so many landing pads available on Maru and so many aircraft flying on and off of her deck in a very short period of time.” Judith sarcastically responded.
“In any event, we are all very glad that you made here alright. This is going to be incredible. I wonder what the rest of the world will think when they see our big rocket flying skyward over their heads?”
“I don’t know. But I am sure that it will be very interesting.” Judith replied before the four siblings prepared to watch the final preparations for the launch.
Judith and her siblings stood on the deck of the Shinshū Maru watching the ocean over eight kilometers away where the first Sea Dragon launch vehicle had just been towed. Eight of the new turboshaft-powered CH-3A tandem-rotor helicopters sat on the former Japanese amphibious warfare ship’s newly installed flight deck. Another support vessel was anchored near the massive floating rocket, making preparations for the Sea Dragon to be ballasted upright into launch position. This vessel was also a former Japanese navy vessel, the fleet support ship Hayasui. Both vessels had been claimed as salvage during the war by Cavill personnel and had remained in service with the company even after the Australian government required Cavill Industries to disarm or relinquish all of its captured Axis military vessels. The two ships served Cavill Industries in a variety of functions, including as testbeds for new naval technology as well as being logistics ships.
Off in the distance, a pair of Royal Australian Navy destroyers kept watch to ensure that no unauthorized vessels approached the Sea Dragon. Their decks were also crowded with onlookers as many of the destroyers’ sailors came up from below deck to see the rocket launch. The three Cavill patrol boats now were anchored near the Shinshū Maru to await the launch.
“They are ballasting the rocket now.” A technician announced over the Cavill ship’s loudspeaker system.
Slowly, everyone could see the nose of the rocket begin to point towards the sky while the bottom sank completely below the ocean surface.
“How long before liftoff?” Beatrice asked.
“We’ve got another twenty minutes left on the countdown.” Judith replied after looking down at her wristwatch. She had already seen that Hayasui had started to move well away from the massive rocket and the large area where its massive exhaust plume would cover upon launch.
As the countdown clock reached zero, Judith and everyone else aboard the Shinshū Maru felt a sudden rumbling throughout the ship. Looking out towards the floating rocket, everyone on deck could see the water boiling all around the protruding nose of the Sea Dragon. Four lateral thrusters could be seen firing when the upper half of the rocket had emerged out of the ocean. The noise level increased significantly at that point.
A few moments later, the massive rocket continued to rise out of the water until it had completely cleared the ocean surface. A brilliant flare lit up the horizon as the Sea Dragon’s massive main engine was now, no longer submerged under the ocean’s surface. A few seconds later, a deafening roar filled the air while everyone watched the rocket slowly rise into the sky. It was so loud that even over eight kilometers away, people onboard the Cavill support ships had to yell in order to be heard by the people standing next to them.
“I can’t believe what I am seeing, even though I had watched a half-scale version of the main engine being fired once on our test stand. The flame from the rocket exhaust has to be at least a mile long now.” James yelled out as he continued to look up at the Sea Dragon accelerating up into the sky.
Everyone else just watched in amazement as the massive rocket rode that mile-long column of flame up high into the sky. The noise eventually began to subside as the rocket flew further away, allowing people to finally be able to hear each other without yelling.
A brief interruption in the rocket contrail and a puff of smoke momentarily frightened some of the people who were looking skyward. Judith saw the look of fear on the faces of those people and quickly remarked.
“That was just the first stage separating from the rocket in preparation for the second stage firing. There is nothing to be worried about. This is perfectly normal.”
A resuming of the rocket’s contrail was greeted with cheers as the second stage ignited and drove the vehicle ever higher, to the cheers of the crowds watching from the two large Cavill Industries ships. The excitement continued to grow until it was announced over the intercom that the launch vehicle had successfully reached orbit and deployed its payload. There was one last outburst of applause before both ships started their engines and turned to return back to Derby harbor.
Judith and her siblings then went below decks to the conference room that had been outfitted specifically for them. It was specially soundproofed and had other measures implemented so that Harold’s children could talk in complete privacy.
“This is incredible. The fact that we succeeded on our first try makes it even more significant. It means that we got things right, even with the deliberate downgrading of the technology used in our initial version of the Sea Dragon.”
“If we are fortunate, we will also find that the payload that our Sea Dragon launched into orbit was equally successful. It was very easy for our rocket to put our new communications satellite into a geo-synchronous orbit over Derby.”
“It was a gamble that our new rocket would work. But, I’m glad that we decided at the last second to substitute the communications satellite for the test payload. The satellite will significantly increase our overall telecommunications network capacity. Hopefully, it will be the first of many such objects that we will put into space with our Sea Dragon launch vehicles. The rest of the world will then have no choice but to devote more of their resources into space than into additional military expenditures rather than be left behind.”
“Father would have loved to have seen this. I know that he always wanted to be part of sending human beings to live on other worlds.”
“We are certainly going to do everything th
at we can to make Father’s dream a reality, in more ways than one. We are also going to make a certain German rocket scientist’s dream come true as well in a little while. That will keep him happy and working for us for some time to come.”
“I’m sure that Doctor von Braun will indeed be very happy. But we are still going to have to keep his rocket program separate from the Sea Dragon program and any of our more advanced satellite development program. He is just too intelligent to not figure out that we have a source of technical information that is considerably more advanced than what we are letting the rest of the world know about.”
“Do you think that Werner will spot where we have deliberately downgraded the rockets that we are producing at our other division?” Beatrice asked.
“I don’t know. But I certainly don’t want to risk it in any event. It could lead to some very awkward questions that we would not want to answer, I’m afraid.” Judith replied.
“So now that we have proven the Sea Dragon launch vehicle, what are we going to do next? Certainly, we are not going to use such a large rocket to launch a single satellite.” James asked to change the subject.
“No. What I want to do is to use the Sea Dragon to primarily launch very large payloads like major components to Werner’s dream space station. But I also want to launch entire clusters of satellites in a single launch at the same time. We don’t have the sophisticated equipment needed to automatically eject satellites at the appropriate time and velocity at this point. What we will need to do is send a manned capsule along with a payload of a dozen or more large satellites. The astronauts in the capsule will work together with our ground control to get each satellite when it needs to go, thus taking the place of a computer-controlled delivery platform. Then, the astronauts can either return directly to Earth or they can then fly to help assemble the space station.” The eldest of the Cavill siblings explained.