The conversation went on for another fifteen minutes with the commander providing some additional thoughts on current inter-service relationships plus some ideas on how the escort system in the Atlantic currently worked.
Brand started typing a report even as the commander provided additional background on naval procedures. In less than sixty minutes, Brand had finished a twenty-page report with a two-page executive summary detailing priorities and timelines for accomplishing the recommendations within the limitations shown in the report.
Jameson read the report as Brand continued to do calculations on attack trajectories, air speeds and elevations for best reconnaissance. He had some other thoughts, but needed to do some field work to better understand the current way things were done.
The commander put the report down and then looked at the young man who was using his slide rule. “James, this is splendid. The reasoning is sound, the examples are shocking, and the supporting calculations and explanations make great sense even to a non-scientist, but I think there are some issues concerning people, both military and civilian, that will be hard to overcome.” The commander was concerned about the bluntness of the assessment, especially the blackout and the use of convoys. Brand had been quite open about the need to group ships in convoys, and his supporting calculations were exacting and logical. But some of these thoughts were political dynamite. “Do you feel okay about taking on some dragons with this report?”
The young ensign thought for a moment and with a grin on his face replied, “Hell yes, oh sorry, sir, I mean yes, I am ready.”
The commander smiled. He liked what he saw in this young man with one of the top brains in the world and said, “Let’s finish the report and get young Mr. Sullivan back in here so we can get this thing started.”
12
10 February 1942
Office of Admiral Ernest J. King
Washington, D.C.
• Singapore--General Wavell visits Singapore and orders island held and all remaining RAF personnel withdrawn to Netherlands East Indies.
• Japanese land at Makassar, Celebes.
• U.S. detachment arrives to occupy Christmas Island.
Admiral King was always early and since this was a Monday, an even better reason to start early. He did not take Sunday off, nor any day of the year since December 7. There were no weekends or holidays when you are trying to stave off defeat. And defeat was coming from every direction.
In the Atlantic, the U-boats had found a happy hunting ground along the U.S. coastline. Some twenty-five ships had been sunk in less than thirty days. Everyone from Roosevelt on down was asking how this “east coast” Pearl Harbor had happened and what was the navy doing to stop it. It was one thing to clamp down on the news coming out of the Pacific, but when anyone who lived along the beach could see ships on fire off the coast or see the flotsam of sunken ships including bodies of “our” merchant mariners washing up on the beach, there was no possibility of censorship. He knew the Germans were getting verification of sinkings from the press, which was more accurate information than their U-boat captains were sending via radio.
Then there was the continuing bad news coming out of the Pacific. The navy had lost its battle fleet at Pearl, then lost Guam, then Wake, and now the Philippines were in doubt, and the navy could do nothing to relieve them. The remnants of the Asiatic Fleet consisted of one heavy cruiser, one old light cruiser and some ten old four-stacker destroyers that were falling apart. The submarines of the Asiatic Fleet seemed hopeless in defense of the Philippines and the ones based at Pearl had little to show for their efforts.
King scrutinized the stacks of papers on his desk, grabbed his mug of coffee, and began to scan some of the new radio traffic that contained more bad news. A few minutes later his chief of staff, Rear Admiral Willson, entered with more papers.
“Damn it, Willson, more papers. Do you have any good news for me today?”
“Sir, you’ll be happy to know I do have something good to show you, and even though some of it might hit you the wrong way, I think you will enjoy it.” Willson placed the file on the desk belonging to the head of the navy. “This is the report from the young prodigy Turner was so enthusiastic about. I sent some reports over to Commander Jameson for the young man to look at and within five hours, I had his answer in what I think is one of the best composed and thought out analysis I have seen since I took this job.”
King, always knowing he was the smartest and cleverest man in the navy replied, “Well let me see if there is any merit to what you are saying.” He picked up the file and began to read.
Within a minute at most, he took out a pad and pencil and started jotting down notes.
Willson stood in front of the desk studying his boss’s face, trying to understand if King was mad as hell, which was usually the case, or if he was interested in what he was reading. It didn’t take long to find out what the boss was thinking.
“Damn it. It takes a kid to make a fool out of the navy. I don’t exactly agree to all that’s in this report, Willson, but eighty percent makes perfect sense. I think his conclusions about waves of U-boats hitting us is exactly right and we need to get ready. Where is this young man? I want to meet him now!”
Willson didn’t smile, but he was grinning on the inside. He had bet the admiral’s senior aide, Captain Reynolds, the boss would agree with the contents of the report and want to meet the ensign. Reynolds now owed him a bottle of bourbon.
“Sir, I told the commander to be available this afternoon to meet with me. Ensign Brand is still at Bethesda but approved for duty. I will get him here as soon as possible.” Willson waited for the reply, and it was only a moment.
“Yes, for this afternoon. I have a meeting with Marshall at lunch, then we can meet with the commander and the ensign. By the way, have you met this young man yet?”
Willson replied, “No sir, but I’m sure looking forward to meeting him so I can see what a genius looks like.”
“Willson, you already know what a genius looks like so set up the meeting for after my lunch with Marshall.”
“Yes sir. I’ll get the commander and the ensign arranged on your calendar and let Captain Reynolds know of the change.” He came to attention and walked back to his office knowing the genius in question was King himself.
Jameson was told to report to Admiral Willson’s office at 1300 hours and to bring Ensign Brand with him. He made sure the young ensign knew who this officer was and ensured that his uniform was ship shape. He also told his protégé to be sure to say, “yes sir, and no sir,” and to be on his best behavior. In other words, do not be flippant or overly scientific.
Brand agreed to be a good ensign and follow the lead of the commander.
Jameson had the gunny drive them over to navy headquarters. They arrived fifteen minutes early, but decided to stay in the car for another ten minutes before getting out and going inside. Once inside and through the security checkpoints, the pair arrived at the office of the chief of staff. They were ushered into an adjoining room to await the call to see the admiral. The wait seemed like an eternity but after twenty minutes, the door opened and to their surprise in walked Admiral Willson. Both jumped to their feet and stood at attention. Before Jameson could say a thing, Admiral Willson said, “At ease, Commander, good to see you. So, this must be the amazing Mr. Brand.”
James understanding it was okay for him to speak said, “Yes sir, I am Ensign Brand, James E., sir, and I am happy to meet you.” Not exactly the appropriate way to introduce himself but the admiral did not mind.
“Gentlemen, would you follow me. We have some other people to meet.” Willson’s aide opened the other door and followed the admiral down a corridor.
A door with no number or title on it stood guarded by a marine sergeant who quickly came to attention as the admiral came towards him.
“Sergeant, are they still in there?” Willson asked.
“Yes sir, they are waiting for you.” The sergeant stood a
t attention and held the door for the admiral.
Inside the room there were two flag officers drinking coffee with what appeared to be two aides sitting on the other side of the room. When the commander saw who they were, he said to himself in a silent scream, Oh, shit!
Willson did not come to attention but announced to the two officers, “Admiral King, General Marshall, I would like you to meet Commander Jameson and Ensign Brand.”
Jameson and Brand quickly came to attention and awaited the pleasure of the two top officers in the United States military command.
King was the first to speak, “At ease. Commander, I have heard a lot of good things about you and your work. It is good to finally meet you. And, Ensign Brand, I have been very interested in meeting you to discuss some of your ideas. You have a big fan in Admiral Turner.”
King turned to General Marshall saying, “Gentlemen, this is General Marshall, chief of staff of the army and my closest associate in taking the war to the enemy.”
Both Jameson and Brand acknowledged the general but said nothing.
Marshall spoke to break the ice, “Admiral King has shared some of your ideas with me, Mr. Brand, and I am impressed by some of your solutions. Tell me, son, how sure are you of your research?”
Wow, thought James, that was a loaded question. He looked right at the general and said, “Sir, as in all research, we need to test our theories and be ready to change our thinking as required by these tests. But, sir, most of the calculations I performed are based on the materials provided, and as such, I would say they are accurate to within five or ten percent.”
King smiled while looking at Marshall who almost never smiled but he did shake his head in agreement.
King asked, “Mr. Brand, you did some analysis on the U-boat attacks off our coast and concluded that we were dealing with five or six boats. What led you to this conclusion?”
Brand was quick to respond. “Sir, the reports provided had some fairly detailed information given by survivors and other witnesses. I matched this with the number of torpedoes carried in the Type IX which is based on the British admiralty reports and analysis, then calculated the use of torpedoes and deck guns in these attacks. I feel confident no more than six submarines were involved. I think there were only five, but I gave myself a little bit of a slide factor on this one. I also believe the submarines have left the Continental Shelf and are on their way back to France. I would expect another round of attacks with even more boats starting in two to three weeks. I would also surmise we will see the Type VII being used as well, though they do not have the range or staying power to remain in our waters for long.”
King looked at him very hard and asked, “What prompted your reasoning?”
“Sir,” Brand continued without regard to rank or the situation he was facing, “we are a very easy target right now. If I were the German commander and had received confirmation of the ships sunk in this four-week period, I would flood our coastline with every available U-boat. I would do this until my forces suffered heavy casualties or there were no targets remaining.”
Marshall then asked, “Mr. Brand, what can the Air Corps do better to stop these attacks?”
Brand mused about this question for a moment and then replied, “Sir, with all respect, I do not have enough data on what the Air Corps is currently doing to make a valid suggestion. This also goes for naval air support. What I need is to conduct additional research and do field interviews with some of these commands, including obtaining more information on attack strategies, aerial surveillance operations, and current fleet anti-submarine procedures. Otherwise, sir, I would be creating conjectures about the situation.”
King did not like these answers but begrudgingly agreed the young man in front of him was no fool and would not jump into something without good information followed by thorough analysis.
King thought for a minute and decided to jump in with both feet. “Mr. Brand, I want you to do a thorough analysis of the current situation. You will have my authority to talk to anyone in the navy to get what you need. Do you understand?”
Brand quickly replied, “Yes sir, when do I get started?”
King looking at Marshall to gain his agreement said, “I think that General Marshall will provide you access to anyone you need to interview as well as army procedures and plans. Is that all right with you, General Marshall?”
Marshall replied, “Yes, Admiral, whatever the young man needs, we will get him. I will let my aide, Colonel Nichols, arrange whatever you require.”
“Thank you, sir, I will start immediately,” Brand answered.
Commander Jameson interpreted the look from Brand, and said, “Sirs, by your leave, I will provide you with our plan shortly. Thank you for your time and directions.”
Both the commander and the ensign came to attention and saluted, this being more of an army protocol than a navy way. The two senior officers returned their salute and the junior officers along with Admiral Willson exited the room.
Following the younger officer’s departure, King asked, “Well, General, what do you think?”
Marshall, always taciturn replied, “Impressive for such a young man but based on his background and the enthusiasm for him by the scientific community, it is what I expected.”
King thought for a moment and then Marshall added, “Admiral, based upon what Gerow in War Plans and your Admiral Turner have been working on, I would like to have General Eisenhower meet Brand. We are planning our operations for the European theater and need to begin thinking about long range strategy, logistics, and support. Your young man could help stimulate thinking in my strategy group.”
King knowing about all of the long-range plans currently being fielded by various planning groups agreed, saying, “Have your man Eisenhower come over when Brand finishes his report on the submarine problem. I believe this young man has enough brain power to share with the army.”
Marshall, thinking the same thing, said, “Thank you, Admiral. I know he is your man, but it would be a good thing to have him look at some of the issues we are facing. I promise not to be too needy.”
King smiled and knew immediately he had something he could use as a bargaining tool with some of the conflicting army priorities. He would use this wisely but knew the president could overrule him if he got too tight in his resource demands.
13
11 February 1942
Office of Admiral King
Washington, D.C.
• United States troops arrive at Curacao and Aruba, Netherlands West Indies.
Admiral King was reviewing the list of soon to be launched warships, and the officers selected to become their commanding officers when Admiral Willson walked in.
“Sir, I have received the plan from Commander Jameson for expanding their research on the U-boat problem.” Willson handed the report to his boss.
King did not reply but quickly looked at the papers. After a minute or two of reading the report, he said to Willson, “Damn, I like how this man writes. He gets to the point without any flourishes or extraneous detail. Did you see this?” King looked at his trusted chief of staff waiting for a reply.
“Yes sir, I did, and I agree with you. We should make Ensign Brand the writing teacher for the officer corps.” Willson smiled at his comment, knowing that King almost never smiles, but for an instant, he saw a slight grin.
“Perhaps you are right, Willson. I like the plan, but his insistence on going on plane rides to see exactly what the flyers are doing concerns me.” King scanned the papers knowing that Willson would not comment further until he finished his thoughts.
“Authorize the trip and make sure he has top priority. Notify the navy commands and let General Marshall know that Brand wants to go to Langley so he can not only interview the B-25 pilots there but also fly with them. Tell him Brand is only to fly with another airplane in sight and only with the top pilot. I don’t want to lose this boy, got it?”
“Yes sir, I will get with the base comm
ander of the Naval Air Station at Banana River in Florida and make sure the ensign gets on the top-rated PBY and that there will always be a pair in the air. I will also contact the commander of the Submarine School at New London to have some of his sub commanders available to be interviewed. I think this is a smart move on Brand’s part to see how our people operate and how this may shed some light on the German submarine operations.”
King handed the papers back to Willson with his initials scrawled across the top.
“You are right, Willson, finding out how we operate and train may give Brand some good ideas for countering the Germans.
Willson turned to leave, but King stopped him cold.
“I understand we have someone guarding Brand to keep him out of trouble?”
Willson said, “Yes, there is a marine lieutenant and a couple of marine non-coms that sat on him en route from San Diego, and I believe they are still helping him out.”
King leaned forward in his chair and told Willson, “Get that lieutenant over here and have him bring his top sergeant. I will not need the commander for this meeting, clear?”
“Yes sir, I will have them over here as soon as I can locate them.”
King thought again and said, “Have them here around 1400 hours. I have General Holcomb at that time, and I want to reinforce something with these men in the presence of the commandant.”
U-Boat Scourge Page 11