Untimely Excursions

by Hall, Gerald

  The eight to ten helicopters aboard one of these ships can serve in a variety of roles. First, they can vertically lift pallets of supplies from the supply ship to another vessel very quickly. Secondly, they can provide anti-submarine patrols where they can serve as either a ‘hunter’ or can drop depth bombs onto a submarine as a ‘killer’. Third, the helicopters can serve as scouts that can warn the supply ship of any surface threat in time to change course and evade detection.

  This would make the supply ship a very capable center for any group of warships that do not already have one of our fleet carriers in close company. In our navy’s current reduced circumstances, we need all of the additional capability that we can incorporate. We have even reserved space and tonnage for an enhanced defensive weapons array of the most modern systems. This would allow us to fit these supply vessels to protect themselves very quickly, if necessary.”

  “That is quite astounding. I’m surprised that we didn’t think of this before the Germans.” Alvin commented.

  “Actually, the Germans and the Japanese both came up with roughly similar ideas. The Japanese are a little closer in concept to these vessels here because the Japanese ship provided accommodations for several floatplanes as well as fuel and other supplies. Australian vessels captured one of these vessels during an amphibious assault on a Japanese-held island during the war. I mentioned Hayasui to you earlier. For a few years, our people in Australia actually operated this captured vessel until we were requested to turn it over to the RAN temporarily. Now, they are using the ship to provide the same logistical services to our warships until the new ships enter service. We expect to be able to re-acquire the ship for our own purposes in the very near future. The ship will be disarmed once again when the RAN returns it to us, of course.” Alex explained.

  “The addition of the short flight deck though is your yard’s innovation, correct?”

  “Yes, that’s true. It makes each vessel a true multi-mission vessel rather than being merely an oil tanker. It can also be used in either military, logistical support or even humanitarian missions as necessary.”

  “This is all very impressive. Oh course, my next trip will be up to Kalumburu. I want to go see the missile test facilities for all of the new guided missile systems there. After that, I hope to be able to observe a space rocket launch while I am there also.”

  “I’m sure that you will find everything there to be very interesting. I don’t know if you will be allowed to see everything there however, Major. The people up there are very sensitive about the advanced technology being developed there. So they will be very picky about what you will get to see there. I just want to warn you ahead of time so that you won’t be too disappointed.” Alex cautioned.

  “Thank you for the warning. I suppose that I will just have to be happy with what I do get to see there. I was warned before I even came here that the Cavills are not a family to upset. They have a reputation in Canberra of getting their way, no matter what obstacles are placed in front of them.

  Those people who have crossed them frequently have learned to regret it.” Alvin grimly replied.

  “They do have to protect their property, of course. Now, is there anything else that you would like for me to show you, Major?”

  “I wouldn’t mind taking a closer look at the ships that appear to be under refit. It even looks like you have a submarine down there. I have a few hours free before I have to board that flight to Kalumburu.” Alvin said with a quick smile.

  “Of course, Major. Come with me please.” Alex replied with a wave for the Army officer to come along.

  A few minutes later, Alex was giving Major Hart a running commentary on each ship as they walked by. Alex didn’t take Major Hart aboard any of the ships under refit because of safety considerations and to avoid disrupting the work. But by the time that the two men returned to Alex’s office four hours later, Major Hart had gained a very healthy respect for the work being done at the shipyard and the advanced technology being employed there.

  “Thank you for your time and all of the information that you have shared with me, Mister Portman. It has certainly given me a great deal of perspective on what all of you do here.”

  “You are very welcome, Major. We are very proud of what we do here. I think that you will be utterly amazed at what you see at Kalumburu.”

  “I’m sure. But seeing that big rocket being assembled in your dry dock was quite awe inspiring in its own right. I wasn’t aware that you also built rockets at the shipyard.”

  “Well, it made sense to the Cavills to have us do that. The construction techniques weren’t all that much different than building a ship’s hull. In addition, we had a lot of skilled workers that didn’t have a lot of work available otherwise.”

  “Something tells me that working with your people is going to be very interesting for me.” Major Hart said with a smile.

  “It usually is for most of us.”

  “Well, I better be off now. G’Day, Sir.” The major finally said before leaving with a very jaunty stride.

  Chapter Twenty-Six:

  Derby Shipyards

  Derby, Western Australia

  August 12, 1957

  The Royal Australian Navy destroyer Vendetta lay tied up to the fitting out pier near Derby. The warship had been completed near the end of the war and was one of the youngest ships in the RAN. The destroyer’s configuration was significantly different than it had been when Vendetta was originally launched by Cavill Shipbuilding.

  In some ways, the large destroyer, as originally built, loosely resembled the Japanese Akizuki-class destroyers with their two superimposed twin four-inch gun turrets, fore and aft. Unlike the Akizuki’s, Vendetta had been armed with a pair of quadruple torpedo tube mounts on the centerline amidships, twice as many ready to launch torpedoes than the Japanese warship. Vendetta did not have the massive 24-inch Long Lance torpedoes that Akizuki was armed with in the latter’s single torpedo tube mount however. But now after her reconstruction, the Australian destroyer looked considerably different.

  The two aft gun turrets had been removed completely during Vendetta’s reconstruction. In place of them, a large box launcher for short range anti-aircraft missiles and a landing pad for helicopters had been installed. The box launcher could be traversed in both azimuth and elevation and contained twelve ready-to-fire missiles. On the modified deckhouse above the missiles were both a fire control radar and a 25mm gatling gun. To either side of the rear deckhouse, a single six-pounder automatic cannon had been installed. These guns replaced all of the previous Oerlikon and Bofors automatic cannons.

  The torpedo tubes had been removed from their rotating mounts. In their place, two anti-ship guided missiles were installed on each of the mounts, giving them the ability to traverse to either side to fire. The forward part of the destroyer was actually left pretty much in its original condition. There were several new and improved radar aerials above the warship’s bridge along with an upgraded fire control apparatus however. There were clearly several positions on Vendetta’s deck, both fore and aft, where space had been reserved for anti-submarine weapons as well.

  There were also changes inside of the destroyer’s hull that were not readily evident except for the single large funnel just aft of the deckhouse. One of those internal changes was a replacement of the steam turbine power plant with a new combination of four diesel engines and a gas turbine for rapid boosts of power for sprints. These new power plants were connected to generators to produce the power used by the destroyer’s existing electric drive motors.

  This new power plant combination was actually tested on the refitted ex-Japanese amphibious warfare transport Shinshū Maru. The improvements for fuel efficiency, operational flexibility and survivability were quite profound. The destroyer’s new power plant also required fewer people to operate it as well.

  In order to fit the gas turbine, its bulky air intake and exhaust ducting, Vendetta’s hull had been slightly stretched. The addition
al five meters in length also gave the Australian destroyer some additional fuel storage to extend her range and increased her fineness ratio at the same time. The changes promised to give the Australian Navy an especially fast vessel. Whoever her next commander would be, he would be getting a fast ship that was especially ready to go into harm’s way.

  That man appeared to be already waiting to board her when he walked up towards the newly refitted destroyer.

  “She’s a beauty. But she still looks a little odd to me.” The RAN Lieutenant Commander standing on the pier and looking at the modified warship remarked.

  “Maybe so, but she is the leading edge of the future naval warfare still with her new missiles and sophisticated radar systems, not to mention her new engines.” A man in his late forties, wearing civilian coveralls and a hard hat with the Cavill Industries emblem on it, quietly said in reply. The civilian had just stepped off the walkway that extended from the refitted destroyer to the pier.

  “Will all of that new technology work under real wartime conditions though? I have heard of a lot of new wonder weapons that failed to perform under realistic circumstances.” Lieutenant Commander William Howard noted.

  “Oh, she’ll do just fine. We tried out Vendetta’s new systems very thoroughly at our main testing facility before they were installed onboard her.”

  “You work for the Cavills though, don’t you?”

  “Yes, of course. My name is Eric Poole. I’m the chief weapons designer for Cavill Industries. I came here for this ship’s trials before she is put back into service. Of course, we have a few more things that we want to add to her later on, like new main battery guns that will fire far faster and more accurately than the old ones, for example.”

  “Well, you’ve already taken off most of her guns. There are no depth charges left on her either. Is she going to be able to fight enemy submarines or shoot enemy ships at all?”

  “Yes, she will be able to kill enemy submarines better than ever before. You see this empty spots on her deck where the twin Oerlikons used to be? Well, we are going to be placing forward-firing rocket launchers that fire a pattern of contact-fuzed rounds ahead of the ship. These projectiles use a shaped charge that will punch right through a submarine’s hull on contact. So, you won’t need to sail over the top of the submarine and drop depth charges on her anymore.

  But that’s not all, Commander. We also have deck space reserved adjacent to those mid-ships missile launchers for another new weapon. There will be a pair of fixed eighteen-inch diameter torpedo launchers angled outward on either side. These weapons are actually based on the air-launched Mark XII. But these weapons have been equipped with acoustic homing heads for use against enemy submarines. They can still be used against surface ships, but the warhead size was reduced to only about one hundred and fifty kilograms as part of the overall size reduction of the weapon to fit the new torpedo tubes. That large of a warhead can still cave in the hull of a submerged submarine just fine. It won’t do much against a battleship though, I’m afraid.”

  “Can your new missiles sink a battleship though?”

  “I don’t know for sure, not that there are that many battleships left in service any longer. But these little beauties sure as hell will take a battleship out of the fight with a couple of good hits. These anti-ship missiles can almost certainly kill anything smaller than a battleship with one or two hits. Besides, you can use one of our guided missiles to shoot at any conventional warship long before she can shoot at you with her guns.”

  “Fair Dinkum. You have created something quite remarkable then, Sir.” The RAN officer noted with a look of pleasure and even a little awe in his expression.

  “Just wait until we get the other seven of her sisters upgraded to be just like her, Commander. Then Vendetta won’t seem so odd at all to you.”

  “I bloody well hope so. Our destroyers are the only protection that we have any more for our two carriers still in service. It was damned short-sighted for the government to scrap all three of our surviving cruisers in my view. We could have quite possibly refitted them to carry some of our new long-range CMS-2 anti-aircraft missiles. We sure as hell can’t protect our big ships with submarines either, contrary to what our submariner friends would like to have us think.” William replied with a certain edge in his voice.

  “I am certainly aware of the situation, Commander. That is why we are offering the Admiralty new aircraft designs for use on their carriers in addition to adding antiaircraft missiles to their individual defense. Our new aircraft are going to be our primary offensive force from our surface ships. Our submarines did very well during the war. They will continue to play an important role in the RAN as well.

  However, as much as our jets might shoot down enemy aircraft in large numbers far out of range of our carriers, there’s always a chance that someone can get through. We have to do everything that we can to be ready for that.”

  “What can you tell me about these new anti-aircraft missiles that you are putting on our destroyers? I am also guessing that you are going to put them on our carriers too, Mister Poole.”

  “That’s certainly the plan if your government will approve the offer that we have proposed to upgrade Australia and Canberra further. Our shipyard facilities near Derby is where both of Royal Australian Navy’s current aircraft carriers received their most recent modernization. Logically, we will do the next batch of upgrades to those ships as well.”

  “That makes sense, not that there is anyone else in Australia who can do what your people are capable of. Of course, you will still have to deal with the politicians in Canberra. They don’t always do things that make sense as both you and I know. But I want to get back to talking about those new missiles that you want to put on our ships. Please tell me more, Mister Poole.”

  “Alright. Our new CMS-3 short-range anti-aircraft missiles are actually based on the new air-to-air missiles that will be equipping our latest generation of combat aircraft. We are using the same missile body and warhead, but there are two versions of the missile design. One version uses an infrared homing seeker. The other design uses a semi-active radar homing design. The infrared version can be fired without using any additional support from the firing unit. The semi-active radar version requires that the firing unit illuminates the target with a radar beam until the missile reaches its target.”

  “How large are the missiles?” Commander Howard asked.

  “A CMS-3 missile has a mass between one hundred and fifty and a little over two hundred kilograms. The missile has a high-explosive fragmentation warhead. When fired from a surface mount, this missile have a range of between eight and sixteen kilometers. When fired from a high-performance aircraft, these weapons have more than twice the range, though it depends on the seeker and aircraft radar considerably. We actually just got the larger missile approved for service.

  The box launcher has eight cells for ready-to-launch missiles. Inside of the rear deckhouse, there is storage for another eight reload missiles as well. The crew has to load them by hand into the launcher, but we have designed the reloading process so that with six to eight sailors, it is not very difficult to achieve a full missile reload while underway.”

  “Which missile can be fired from that big box launcher on the back of our ship?” The naval officer asked.

  “Actually, both types can. In fact, you can carry a mix of the two different types in the same launcher so that you can easily engage a target while using the most appropriate seeker. In good weather, you would probably use the infrared seeker. But for longer range engagements or engagements in adverse weather, you would use the radar-guided version instead.”

  “Are you using these missiles on aircraft already?”

  “We have a couple of different aircraft that we have in development that would be able to carry the CMS-3. There are several other air-to-air missile types that are also being designed by us as well with different characteristics. But I can’t really get into any details on those right
now.”

  “Fair Dinkum. But what about that big empty spot on the fantail of my ship? Surely, we are not going to let all that space go to waste, are we?”

  “Of course, not. That is where you will be able to take-off and land a helicopter from, Commander.”

  “It can’t possibly be a very large helicopter. The bloody thing couldn’t carry more than a couple of people onboard it. What use would that be for me?” Commander Howard asked.

  “No. But the CH-5A can easily carry two crewmen in addition to over four hundred kilograms of payload. That can be in the form of either two additional passengers, a pair of lightweight homing torpedoes or a couple of pod-mounted heavy machine guns with ammunition.

  It can be a very potent addition to your ship’s arsenal, Captain. That helicopter can give you an extra set of eyes in addition to the new radars that your ship has been fitted out with. Having an onboard aircraft will also assist quite a bit in the hunting and killing of enemy submarines too.”

  “I certainly hope so. Will all of our destroyers be fitted out in exactly the same manner, Mister Poole?”

  “Actually, no. Half of your fleet destroyers will be given the same weapons fit with the CMS-3 as with Vendetta. The last four ships being upgraded by our yards will have some significant differences though. First, instead of the CMS-3 launcher, they will be fitted with a single-arm CMS-2 medium-range surface to air missile launcher. The forward gun mounts will be replaced by a single twin-gun turret with automatic loading to significantly raise each gun’s rate of fire. They will carry a new model of anti-ship missile as well.

  In pretty much all other aspects, they will be the same as Vendetta. We anticipate that the Australian Navy will operate your destroyers in pairs, one with CMS-2 and the other with CMS-3 to take advantage of each weapon’s strengths and mitigate their weaknesses. Future upgrades have been proposed to modify your ship and the other three like her to carry the newer anti-ship missiles and upgraded guns that the CMS-2 ships will be fitted with.”