Untimely Excursions

by Hall, Gerald

  “Yes, Mister Franklin. I saw that. There has also been a significant reduction in the number of secondary and antiaircraft guns. That also left a lot of area unused as well.”

  The battleship now had only two of the BD or Below Deck twin 4.5 inch dual purpose gun mounts on each side. But the weapons had been significantly improved to increase their rate of fire, training speed and accuracy. A small number of twenty-five millimeter gatling guns and six-pounder automatic cannons rounded out the modified battleship’s secondary armament.

  “Yes, Sir. But the weapons that remain there are significantly more effective. I believe that you have already seen some of our proposals to utilize that extra space and tonnage though. Also, with all of the changes, your ships will have approximately a twenty percent reduction in manning. As a result, each remaining sailor will actually have an improvement in space and living conditions at the same time.” Eric explained.

  “I’m sure that will be welcomed with open arms by our sailors. We have asked so much of our lads over the centuries. We might as well try to give them a decent place for them to sleep while at sea. There were a couple of options that I have been briefed on by your manager here that I found very interesting, certainly.

  What else can you tell me about the new weapons that you have installed on my battleships, Mister Franklin?” The First Sea Lord asked.

  “Sir, the missile that you see mounted on the two twin launchers aft is known by the designator CMS-2 or Cavill Missile System, Model 2. It is designed to be a medium-range surface to air missile that can engage aircraft and anti-ship missiles at a variety of ranged and altitudes. They have an effective range against enemy aircraft of over forty kilometers. Against a surface range, the CMS-2 can reach even further on a ballistic trajectory.

  We had tested the CMS-2 missile back at the Northwest Territory missile testing range for the past two years before we had offered them to our potential customers in the Royal Navy, Royal Australian Navy and elsewhere. Of course, we would never offer them to any potentially unfriendly nations.

  But this is only the beginning. The first and second stages of these missiles are propelled by rocket motors. We already have a Mark Two version of the CMS-2 missile under advanced development. While The Mark Two is also initially boosted into the air by a rocket motor, the Mark Two uses a ramjet sustainer motor to give the projectile approximately fifty percent more range. Upgrades to the radars and guidance system are underway to match the improved range of the missile too. The Mark Two will also fit in the same magazine racks as the Mark One missiles. This gives each of these battleships, forty missiles per launcher, for a total of eighty missiles.

  The rotating box launchers that replaced two of the BD secondary gun mounts are for our CMS-3 surface to air missiles. Each box launcher holds eight missiles in a ready to fire condition. These missiles are actually derived from our new air to air missile designs. Right now, the missiles that are available are lightweight weapons that employ infrared-homing guidance. We are also working on slightly larger weapons that will fit in the same launchers but have a longer range and employ radar-guidance. These missiles are also derived from air to air missiles as well.

  All eight missiles in each launcher can be fired in rapid succession before the launcher needs to be reloaded. This will help your ship deal with saturation attacks.

  One other thing, there is also space and weight reserved aboard these battleships for dedicated anti-ship guided missiles if the Royal Navy desires it. We have anti-ship missile designs in advanced development also. Those would most likely be installed in those empty spaces amidships that you noticed before”

  “How large are each of these new antiaircraft missiles, Mister Franklin?”

  “The CMS-2 with its booster has a mass of approximately one thousand kilograms. The missile is just over five meters in length with a 45cm diameter. The Mark One version of this missile can deliver a one hundred kilogram blast-fragmentation warhead to its target at over two times the speed of sound. The Mark Two will fly even faster and further at nearly three times the speed of sound. We expect to have it available for service in approximately eighteen months, Sir.

  The Alpha model for the CMS-3 has a 13cm diameter body and is approximately three meters in length. It masses nearly one hundred and fifty kilograms with a twenty-five kilogram warhead. The current design has a maximum range of about eight kilometers. The Bravo model will have a 16cm diameter body, a length of about four meters, a mass of a little more than two hundred kilograms with a thirty-five kilogram warhead. The Bravo is still in the test phase but should have a range of at least sixteen kilometers.”

  Lord Mountbatten was utterly fascinated by what the Cavill representative had described. While the First Sea Lord had thoroughly read the technical package for the modifications that the Cavills had supplied, seeing the completed vessel was a completely different matter.

  “This is fantastic. The only problem is that we are only going to be able to make the modifications to three battleships at most, assuming that we can get the funding for the third ship. Even then, we are going to have to condemn our two remaining battleships to the breakers because we cannot afford to retain them, even in a reserve status. The reduction in the overall battleship force means that we are only going to have one of our modernized battleships available at any given time. If we are fortunate, we might be able to get a second one mobilized off of her training period to reinforce her.

  What I would like to know is if one of our light cruisers could be modified to carry a smaller version of the guided missile system that is aboard my battleship here? I am not saying that I want smaller missiles, but perhaps replacing the aft main gun mounts with a single missile launcher of the same type that we have here. I realize that it would probably only be able to handle half as many targets. But perhaps that is all that a lighter ship would need.” Mountbatten asked.

  The Cavill technical representative looked down for a moment at a couple of sheets of paper. He then looked up and responded to Lord Mountbatten’s question.

  “We would need to see the design schematics for the cruisers that you are interested in converting first. This would involve significant alterations to the warships’ superstructure and internal compartmentation to fit one of the twin missile launchers and its below-decks magazine, of course. There is also the issue of the additional electrical power generation required for the missile launchers, associated radar and guidance systems, as well.

  But at first glance, I believe that it may very well be possible to design a conversion for your light cruisers. Which ships were you most interested in being converted, Sir?”

  “As much as I would like to give proud ships like Sheffield, Belfast and Birmingham a new lease on life, many of the Town-class light cruisers were all built just prior to the war. They have suffered a lot of damage during the long months of war at sea that they served. Except for the six that were laid down right at the beginning of the war, the oldest of our Town’s are almost as badly worn as the County-class heavy cruisers that we just scrapped.

  I would like to consider modernization of the Dido-class antiaircraft cruisers, the newest of the Town-class and the Crown Colony-class light cruisers. While the Crown-Colony ships are slightly smaller than the Town-class warships, at least their surviving warships are several years younger and are generally in much better condition.”

  “We would still need access to their schematics and other technical data, just like we did previously for your capital ships. Then we can see what we can come up with. Mind you, Sir. These ships are less than a quarter of the displacement of the King George V class, so our options will be more limited and quite probably the modifications will have to be much more extensive.”

  “I see. We must be able to derive the most benefit possible from every hull that we have. This would include our cruisers and even our destroyers. If we cannot afford to keep nearly as many personnel in uniform, we have to invest into technology to replace them.
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  I will do what I can to provide that information for you so that you can develop possible upgrades for our ships. Of course, there will be other companies who will make their own proposals too, Mister Franklin.”

  “I’m sure that there will be. But I doubt very seriously that they can offer you any better solutions. In fact, I seriously doubt that they can offer you anything that compares in either capability or cost to what my people have created.” Tom replied.

  “Somehow, I think that you are right, Mister Franklin. But I must return to my office to deal with the growing mountain of paperwork on my desk. It seems that today’s bureaucracies do little more than generate copious amounts of forms and requests, much to my chagrin.” Mountbatten sighed.

  “I’m afraid that I am all too familiar with your dilemma as well. G’day to you, Sir.” Tom said with a tiny smile as he exchanged handshakes, turned and walked away.

  Chapter Twenty-Four:

  Portsmouth Royal Navy Yards

  Portsmouth, United Kingdom

  August 4, 1957

  At the Cavill Industries office in Portsmouth, two of Cavill Industries’ most senior representatives in the United Kingdom had sat down to discuss the latest developments for the shipyard and the work that it had been doing for the Royal Navy.

  “Warren, there is only so much that we can do with the funds that the British have made available to us and the ships that the Royal Navy wants to have upgraded.” Tom Franklin explained.

  “You’re right, Tom. Lord Mountbatten basically gave us a list of every warship that was still on the Navy’s inventory and asked us if we can upgrade them with missiles and other new equipment. I can understand a lot of it. But some of the requests were simply unrealistic.” The other man replied just before taking a sip from a cup of coffee.

  “We couldn’t really incorporate the CMS-2 missile system into the Royal Navy’s Dido class cruisers. The Dido’s were just too small for the weapon without making some significant reductions in magazine capacity and missile engagement limitations. I believe that they are going to be retired within the next five years anyway because of their limited capabilities. Their guns are just not able to engage the new jet aircraft due to their limited traverse rates and rates of fire, but are too light to effectively strike surface targets either.” Tom told the manager of Cavill Industries’ UK division, Warren Lockley.

  “I guess that Lord Mountbatten will try to put the Dido’s on the market to some of these other navies though.” Warren replied.

  “Perhaps, but I doubt that he will have many takers. But decommissioning the Dido’s will free up funding and manpower for the new destroyers that the First Sea Lord desperately needs to replace their existing escort force. They are facing block obsolescence of many of their wartime designs within the next few years. The replacement destroyer program may be our next opportunity to market our latest technology in a variety of areas.”

  “The Crown Colony and Town class cruiser modernization program was far more successful though, Tom. We will be making a lot of changes to the ships. But the Royal Navy will have an exceptionally capable design as a result. But when the program is complete, the Royal Navy will have twelve guided missile cruisers to supplement their modernized battleships.

  The Royal Navy had fourteen ships of the two classes remaining in service, but HMS Newfoundland and HMS Uganda had just taken too much wartime damage. We recommended that they not undergo the modifications. I believe that Lord Mountbatten has decided to dispose those two ships. It was fortunate that Prime Minister Churchill had authorized the construction of six more of the Town-class just before the war started. The Town’s have much more space and tonnage to work with. ”

  “What will the modernization program for the cruisers consist of?” Tom asked.

  “To start with, we are going to remove all of the main battery except for their A turret mount. We need to free up the weight and space for all of the changes that we are going to make. All of the torpedo tubes, light anti-aircraft battery and floatplane facilities were also deleted for the modernization program.

  A new superstructure was built aft of the second funnel, replacing the aft guns. This facilitated the installation of a single CMS-2 missile mount with a twin-rail traversing missile launcher and sufficiently magazine space for forty missiles. It is basically half the missile battery of a King George V class guided missile battleship. We worked in some light armor protection around the missile magazine to protect it against enemy fire. The ship has two missile guidance radar systems so that the cruiser will be able to engage two separate targets simultaneously.

  The original secondary battery of Mark XVI four-inch guns is going to be replaced by three of the 114mm BD mounts that were taken from Royal Navy aircraft carriers during their modernization. Two of the mounts will be placed amidships where the Mark XVI’s used to be located. The third mount will be at the superfiring B mount location, replacing one of the main battery mounts. All of these weapons have been upgraded with faster training and loading to enable the BD mounts to be effective against attacking jet aircraft. The modified cruiser also has a new light anti-aircraft gun battery of half a dozen six-pounder automatic cannons and four of the 25mm gatling guns. The remaining main battery turret will be heavily modified with automatic loading equipment to significantly increase its weapons’ rate of fire. This will help compensate for the significant reduction in the overall number of guns.

  With all of these modifications, we have provided for a helicopter landing pad on the stern. We have also saved weight and space for either a pair of short-range surface-to-air missile mounts or up to four dedicated anti-ship missiles. The latter would be launched from a midships traversing twin rail canister with a pair of reload missiles in the former seaplane hangars. Just as with the modified battleships, the cruisers’ CMS-2 missiles can be fired in an anti-ship mode whenever necessary.” The Cavill division manager explained.

  “That will make for one very deadly combination. Would it be possible for the midships BD mounts be replaced by the short-range surface-to-air launchers so that the cruiser could still be armed with your anti-ship missile launcher at the same time?” Tom asked.

  “Yes, Sir. That is certainly possible if that is what you want.” Warren replied. Of course, Cavill engineers had that particular configuration already designed as a possible option if wanted.

  “Yes, Mister Lockley. I do believe that the Royal Navy would like that very much.” Tom explained.

  “Has the British Admiralty approved the modification plan yet, Sir?”

  “Yes, they have already accepted our initial configuration. I’m sure that they would be willing to alter the deal for this upgraded configuration as long as the price was not overly expensive.

  The Admiralty wants to wait on beginning the cruiser modifications until the Mark 2 version of the CMS-2 has been proven. The good news is that the Admiralty also wants the anti-ship missile launcher and is also quite interested in the short-range surface to air missile launcher. But what they want is to see if the short-range surface to air missiles and the anti-ship missiles can be fitted to some of the newer Royal Navy destroyers.”

  “That will mean that the Royal Navy will actually have their destroyers modernized with this package later than the ships in the Australian Navy will. We got word that the Australian Admiralty quickly authorized the upgrades. Of course, they don’t have any battleships or cruisers that they are retaining in service after the war.”

  Tom did not mention to Warren that while some RAN destroyers would be receiving the CMS-3 short-range missile, a program to integrate a lightweight version of the CMS-2 was already at a very advanced stage. This version would be installed on the rest of the RAN destroyer fleet in the near future.

  “Yes, but Lord Mountbatten pushed very hard to get the upgrades initiated, even if it meant that it would mean that quite a few ships would have to be sold or decommissioned to help pay for the upgrades. The business with the Suez Canal is rea
lly pushing things, especially with the appearance of those German-built jet fighters with the Egyptian Air Force.” Warren explained.

  “I suppose that is also why the Fleet Air Arm has also been rushing the qualification of pilots for their new jets.”

  “Hopefully, the Admiralty can get those carriers out of drydock soon enough. One of our other subsidiaries is working with the carrier refit program, including with the new elevators and angled flight deck. One of the areas that we have also been involved with is making accommodations for a pair of CMS-3 launchers to replace the aft BD mounts. The only guns that Royal Navy aircraft carriers will have once they leave the yards will be a few 25mm gatling guns and six-pounder automatic cannons. They are all being produced in England under license from Cavill Industries, of course.”

  “I’m sure that there are more than a few people in the rest of the British defense industry that are not very happy about that.” Tom noted.

  “Then the British defense industry needs to build better hardware. We know that they are capable of doing so. The new generation of jet-powered heavy bombers being developed for the Royal Air Force is ample evidence of that.”

  “Well, the Royal Navy has already decided that they are not buying any more of the jet version of our Dragonfly fighter, in spite of its basic design having originated from the Miles Aircraft Limited in Woodley. The FAA also successfully used the early piston-engine versions of the Dragonfly very successfully during the war. I suppose that someone in Defense must have decided that we, at Cavill Industries, were taking up too big of a slice of the country’s defense budget, though.” Tom said.

  “Our upgraded Dragonfly is still superior to what the RAF and FAA are using now, though. We are continuing to fill orders for the Australian Navy and Air Force fortunately. But after that, we are uncertain as to who the next customers will be. Perhaps the Israelis will request to purchase some?