"Well Sir, six of them are gunners mates and work directly for me. Four are boatswains mates, tough guys. One is a boilerman, and the other is an electronics technician."
"I want a list of their names. I'll check the personnel file on each of them. Do they know how to use small arms?"
"Yes, sir. All of them are checked out with weapons. It's mandatory for my guys, but the others do it because they're good 'ole boys, and shooting comes natural."
"But I'm still a little confused about one thing Commander. What about the SEALs?"
Bradley sat up straight. In his mind, he climbed to the high road.
"When Robert E. Lee joined the Confederacy, he knew that it would mean taking up arms against people he knew well. He didn't like the idea, but he knew it was his sacred patriotic duty. The SEALs will become collateral damage in our mission. Once ashore, they will have to be killed."
"We'll meet again soon, Chief."
"Aye aye, Sir."
Chapter 45
Jeff DeLouker and Nancy Forsyth were in the ship's maintenance and repair shop discussing the design of the California's upcoming "costume changes." They were going over Forsyth's drawings for the large shed structures that would serve as bogus gun turrets. Both the fore and aft sheds would be eight feet high, and would grow by another eight feet by hoisting four additional walls that would lay collapsed on the roof of the sheds until needed.
"We're going to need another member on our committee, Nance."
"Who and why?"
"Father Rick, the chaplain, is the who. Weather is the why. We are going to need a lot of prayer, Nance. If we hit a big storm with all this crap we're adding to the decks we're fucked."
DeLouker and Forsyth went to Nick Wartella's office. Wartella invited them in. "How's our costume change operation going?"
"That's what we wanted to see you about Commander. My sidekick here designs stuff that can take a beating, and my team knows how to batten down for heavy weather, but if we hit a major storm we could have a big problem."
"Hurricane season is coming," added Forsyth. "Jeff is right. If we hit a bad storm our costume may get washed out to sea. We can take some heavy weather, no problem. But we don't have the ability to outrun a hurricane if we don't know it's coming."
"We all know that our weather forecasting took a hit when we lost our satellites," DeLouker said. "Nancy and I just wanted to give you a heads up, in case you didn't have anything else to worry about."
"You're both right. Thanks for thinking this through. I'll talk to the captain."
***
After Wartella told her about the concerns of his design team, Ashley called a meeting with Ivan Campbell, the navigator, and Lt. Kathy Cooney, the ship's meteorologist, who is part of the navigation division.
Campbell and Cooney entered the Captain's office. "I just got a very savvy heads up from our engineering department," Ashley said. "They're concerned that a big storm could compromise Operation Gray Ships by blowing all of their work out to sea. Weather is something we haven't been thinking a lot about lately, but it's time to think about it now."
"I'll turn it over to Lt. Stormy here, Captain." The Captain smiled at his nickname for Cooney.
"I wish I could give you good news, but I can't," said Cooney. "After I graduated from OCS I went to Navy meteorology school because I found it interesting. But without the right tools, it isn't interesting, it's scary. My job as the ship's meteorologist had been one of tracking, monitoring, and reporting. I would constantly check the satellite weather reports and the weather faxes. I would also watch CNN and the Weather Channel on our TV hookup, I'm embarrassed to admit. That's why the job of a modern ship's meteorologist is part-time. I have other responsibilities in the navigation department. The only thing I have to monitor now is the condition of the sky and the ship's two barometers. We do have radar, but the range isn't good enough to keep us out of big trouble."
"How good are you at reading the sky, Lieutenant?" asked Ashley.
"As good as anybody, Captain, which also means as bad as anybody. We've all heard, 'Red sky at night, sailor's delight, red sky in morning, sailor take warning.' But for serious weather forecasting, that's pure nonsense. A fast moving front, and fronts can move very fast, will blow away any silly saying. Yes, the clouds can tell us a lot, but the situation can change very fast, as many a captain who went down with a ship in a storm found out."
"As you see it Kathy, what's the major problem we have to worry about?" Campbell asked.
"Here's what keeps me up at night. Today is May 3. In less than a month from now, on June 1, the Atlantic Hurricane Season begins, or at least it did in 2013. Both of you have been in the Navy a lot longer than I have, so you know the drill when it comes to hurricanes. You head the other way and outrun them. That's the only way to deal with a hurricane. Even in the early part of the twentieth-century, after ship-to-ship wireless telegraphs came into use, mariners were in a better spot than we find ourselves in. Ships could send warnings to other ships. We don't even have that capability. Even the hindsight of history isn't much good. I know we have plenty of historical data on CD-ROMs in our library, but there have been ferocious storms at sea that never made the newspapers. The only way people knew of them was when a lot of ships never returned to port."
"I assume that you think the weather stations ashore will not be of much help," Ashley said.
"That's right captain. They're primitive at best, lacking the same technology that we're missing. For example, the Galveston Hurricane of 1900, 39 years from now, was (will be?) the worst hurricane in American history, with over 6,000 lives lost. The technology of weather stations at the time wasn't close to satellite imagery. Simply stated, the people in Galveston didn't know it was coming. That same problem can apply to the California."
"What steps do you recommend, Kathy?" Campbell asked.
"Sir, I'm making copies of photos of every known cloud formation, and I will be posting them around the ship. We have a lot of old salts on this ship, and maybe one of them may see something that I've missed. But even if they do, reading the sky is no substitute for accurate forecasting. It's the only thing we have. Radar is good, but it will only show us that we're about to get hit. It won't allow us enough time to outrun a storm."
"Ivan," said Ashley, "I want you to come up with a list of safe harbors up and down the coast. It may give us a shot at ducking for cover if we realize some big weather is on us. We have to deal with the hand we've been dealt. Losing our fancy new Gray Ship costuming may be the least of our problems."
Chapter 46
The Boston Globe
"Sighting of Amazing Gray Vessel off Coast of Maine –
Four Fishermen Report a Very Large and Fast Ship"
By Lucas McPherson, May 4, 1861
A ship the likes of which has never been seen has been reported by a fishing vessel off the coast of Deer Isle, Maine. According to the Angus Monahan, captain of the Ariana B., a fishing boat out of Gloucester, Massachusetts, he saw a very large Gray Ship approximately a quarter-mile from his boat. "I have never seen anything like it before. It's the biggest ship of any kind that I've seen before, and I've been fishing these waters for over 20 years." He looked at the ship through his spyglass and was able to see structures on her deck that he couldn't identify, other than two objects that appeared to be large cannons. Three other crewmembers of the Ariana B. were interviewed and they confirmed captain Monahan's statement. Although they weren't close enough to determine the exact lettering on her stern, two of the men insisted that it read "USS California." Large numbers on each side of her bow read "36."
The ship is also extremely fast, according to the fishermen. She was headed in the same direction as their fishing boat and was miles ahead of them within a few minutes.
There have been at least a dozen other reports of a Gray Ship steaming off the New England Coast in recent weeks, but Monahan and his crew were close enough to give a detailed description of the craft. All four of
the men insisted that it must be a ship of war because of the objects that appeared to be cannons on her deck. The Navy Department was contacted but had no comment.
Chapter 47
Simon Planck, recently promoted to Petty Officer, was in his 15th session of Pete Campo's martial arts class.
"Today," said Campo, "we begin the ancient art of karate."
He called Petty Officer Planck to the front of the class.
"Petty Officer Planck, look at me, and do exactly as I do."
Campo held his left arm tucked against his side, and then thrust his right fist forward, turning his fist inward as he did. He then repeated the maneuver with his other arm. He did this ten times with each arm. Each time he did the thrust of his fist, he let out a shout, "Kia."
Planck then went through the series of thrusts imitating Campo's movements. Campo bowed toward Planck, and then gave him a swat to his left arm, saying, "Great job, Petty Officer Planck." Campo meant it. In each session, he noticed that Planck honed his new skills with a passion. Planck executed these opening thrusts flawlessly.
Campo then lined up the class in rows with enough space between each student to avoid injury.
Planck was exhausted from the series of punching thrusts. Campo surprised him when he told him to stay in the front of the class.
"People, do exactly what Petty Officer Planck does."
He just stood to the side as Planck led the class. When he saw that a move needed adjusting, he walked up to Planck, raised a hand and went through the move himself, without speaking a word.
Although dead tired, Planck continued leading the exercise, blanking his mind to his exhaustion and the heavy feeling in his arms, concentrating only on the task.
When the class came to an end, Planck wanted to continue. His body didn't, but his spirit did.
Campo pulled Planck over to the side after the class.
"You're a leader, Petty Officer Planck. I hope you understand that."
Chapter 48
"Captain, may I have a word with you?" said Karen Sobel, the Personnel Officer.
"Come on up, Karen."
"You asked me to keep you up to date on something, and it's been a few weeks. It's about Simon Planck."
Oh shit, thought Ashley, he's being bullied again. Ashley lowered her head and voice. "Tell me about it, Karen."
"It's great news, Captain," Sobel said, sensing that Ashley expected bad news. "He's completed about fifteen of those martial arts classes, and the difference is dramatic. I swear the kid's voice is deeper, he moves with a kind of pride, and he smiles a lot. He actually smiles. His work is perfect. His uniforms even seem to fit better."
Campo had told Ashley that Planck would be a different sailor in a matter of weeks, and he was right. The discipline of martial arts is a perfect tonic for this bully magnet.
"If I may, Captain, in all my years in the Navy I've never seen a commanding officer take such an interest in a sailor in need. A month ago he was a sad sack. Now he's got confidence, and it shows."
"Thanks, Karen. You have no idea how good that makes me feel."
Ashley told Sobel that she discovered something about herself in high school: she hated bullying. She had nothing but contempt for the Mean Girls, the in-crowd that rules the hallways by intimidating the girls who didn't make the cut. One day after soccer practice, she noticed a teammate fixing a note on another girl's locker. She looked at the note. It read, "Is ugliness and stupidity catching? If so, please stay away. Better yet, why not quit the team?" The girl whose locker the note was taped to was one of life's wounded birds. Physically unattractive with a terrible case of teenage acne, the girl was a natural "bully magnet." Ashley, the team captain, pulled the note off the door and ran after the girl who put it there. She considered saying, "Barbara, this really isn't nice," or "I really wish you wouldn't do this." Instead, Ashley focused her large brown eyes on Barbara the bully and said, "Precisely what the hell is this all about?" After that incident, Ashley took the wounded bird, Maureen O'Day, under her wing. She spent time helping her with her soccer plays and singled her out for praise whenever she made a good kick or pass. She then spoke to each of the Mean Girls individually and let it be known that Maureen O'Day is not to be fucked with.
Ashley and Maureen remained friends over the years and correspond often. As Ashley's Navy career progressed, Maureen O'Day's career was also doing well. O'Day became a Senior Vice President at Microsoft. She also coaches girls' soccer at her daughter's high school.
"She was lucky you were her team captain," said Sobel, "and Simon Planck is lucky you're his captain."
Chapter 49
It was 0800 on May 11, 1861. Lt. DeLouker addressed his team of 18 sailors who would be tasked to assemble the costume change for Operation Gray Ships. DeLouker dubbed them the Gray Ship Gang. Lt. Jg. Nancy Forsyth stood next to him. The ship was still anchored in Chesapeake Bay.
"You guys have been busting ass for the last couple of weeks, and you've done a great job. That's the good news," DeLouker said. "The bad news is that the work isn't over yet, but it will get easier. Lt. Forsyth here has done an amazing job of designing these structures, and part of that design makes for easy and fast assembly and break-down. Once we put together the two major fore and aft structures, the regular daily changes should be a snap. This morning we'll assemble the two major structures. This afternoon we will go through our first time-drill on assembling the rest. Any questions?"
The entire group of 18 began to assemble of the main "turret" towards the bow. DeLouker supervised, with Forsyth at his side for technical questions. Forsyth had labeled each piece of the structures in bright large lettering to make for quick assembly. By mid-morning the structure was complete and the water pipe "guns" were inserted into the holes provided. DeLouker was amazed at the precision that Forsyth had put into the design. The pipes slipped easily into the frame and were bolted down on the inside. The pipes were set at a 45-degree angle, mimicking the appearance of large guns. Each pipe section was 12 inches in diameter and 20 feet long. A 14-foot section of each pipe was visible beyond the structure.
Captain Ashley looked down from the bridge, and called Nick Wartella. "Your people have done a great job, Nick. Those set designs look like the real thing even up close."
By 1230, the gang had completed the aft structure, along with its "guns." DeLouker congratulated them and called a lunch break. He had prearranged with the mess hall that the Gray Ship Gang would go to the head of the line.
After lunch, the Gray Ship Gang broke up into smaller units to work on the ship's name plate, the changing number boards, and the banquet tables. Four sailors were assigned to the nameplate change on the stern, four to the number boards to be mounted on the superstructure, and eight were assigned to the banquet tables.
The nameplate board was the most important. The team hoisted the first name change board into place, USS Hawaii. With two sailors holding the board with ropes, two others bolted the board in place with pneumatic drills. DeLouker had insisted on large bolts and washers to make the job easier and faster. DeLouker couldn't believe his stop watch. The entire operation took only five minutes, and this was the first attempt.
The change in the ship's number took four minutes per board, including hoisting and bolting.
All eight bright white banquet tables were lashed to the ship's rails in six minutes.
DeLouker assembled the entire Gray Ship Gang on deck. The time was 1415, 45 minutes after they returned from lunch. "I'm not going to bullshit you people. You did one out-fucking-standing job. Knock off for the rest of the day. Read, relax, watch movies. Whoever coined the old Navy phrase Can Do had you people in mind. Dismissed."
The USS Hawaii was ready for action. The Gray Ships Fleet was on the move.
Chapter 50
At 1700 the California (USS Hawaii for the time being) weighed anchor and headed for Wilmington, North Carolina. Captain Patterson had decided to begin their blockade duty there because there had been so m
any sightings of the Gray Ship, and now the rebels would get a real eye-full.
The California arrived in the waters off Wilmington at 0700 on May 12, 1861 shortly after sunrise. As if announced, they spotted a long fast-moving vessel headed toward Charleston Harbor, a classic blockade runner. The ship appeared to be unarmed or at least very light on offensive guns. She was about a half mile southeast of the California's position, on a course that would bring her within 300 yards of the California's bow.
Captain Patterson ordered General Quarters. The long shrill sound of the boatswain's pipe was followed by, "General quarters, general quarters, all hands man your battle stations." As the blockade runner was about 500 yards from the California, the Captain ordered a warning shot across her bow from one of the five-inch guns. The blockade runner slowed and began to turn. Seeing the California and hearing the sound of her guns must have been terrifying, Ashley thought. They could see her name, the CSS Advance.
The California's Rules of Engagement were to open fire on a vessel only when threatened. The objective, in the strange rules of Operation Gray Ships, was to be seen. Captain Patterson ordered the ship to steer a course that would take it within easy observation distance of the blockade runner. She passed within 100 yards of the vessel and then turned sharply to starboard so that her stern and the name, USS Hawaii, could be clearly visible. This maneuver would become known among the crew as the Gray Ship Moon.
Aboard the Advance, the captain ordered anyone not otherwise engaged to write down their observations. One of his crew was a skilled artist who sketched what he saw. He had a clear view of her name, her number "78," and her gigantic guns.
Captain Patterson ordered the California to head in the opposite direction, contrary to the instincts of any fighting captain, but entirely in keeping with the objective of Operation Gray Ships.
The Advance arrived in Charleston Harbor about an hour later. What her crew had seen became the talk of the waterfront.
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