CSA News 2/1919

[Carthaginian]

02JUL19
Richmond, Virginia

"So... we're at war- sort of."  John Bankhead said sitting in his office in Richmond. Age and ill health were catching up with the man. His doctor said that the growth in his, well the growth that was found, was certainly some kind of malignancy. The doctor had been blunt about it; he had a matter of weeks... a few months at the outside. Christmas would be by the grace of God Almighty.

That didn't mean that Bankhead's responsibilities to the people of Alabama were dead, though. Quite the contrary- it seemed that they were growing as fast as his indomitable, damnable companion. *Those bloody-minded, hot-headed Wops* Bankhead thought *they'll wind up burning the whole war down over a bunch of inconsequential Jews*

"Yessir... sort of. Italy and France have moved on New Zion. The Swiss are threatening to answer the French and Italian moves. Japan has made overtures to both sides, the Dutch are coming out of their hibernation and apparently the ESC is moving against the Zionites and Swiss apparently."

"What information do we need to carry to the President, then." Bankhead didn't have long... but he'd be damned if he died before he pulled Alabama through another war.

[Carthaginian]

*headline in the Mobile Press-Register on the morning of July 3rd*

War in Africa; Battle in Richmond

"Today formal debate opened in the halls of Congress as to whether or not the Confederacy would support the Italian war on New Zion. As Italy has acted before a declaration of war was issued by New Zion, the Nassau Treaty technically does not oblige the Confederacy to enter into hostilities against New Zion. France has already apparently committed forces to the Italian efforts, and several other nations seem to be giving their official or unofficial support to their actions. Conversely, the Republic of New Switzerland seems to have taken the side of the Zionists. Citing a loosely worded clause in the Dar-es-Salaam Agreement, the Swiss have supplied the Zionites with small arms for some years, and have now begun expanding those shipments to include heavy military equipment like tanks and aircraft, and even a few naval vessels.

The battle in Richmond is focused on two camps: the so-called 'Lions,' who support a more aggressive foreign policy and the 'Lambs,' who support the late President Wilson's more pacifistic views. Both sides hold slightly more than forty-five percent of the seats in the House, while the Lions have a scant two seat majority in the Senate, a relic of the Roosevelt administration. This means that any vote to go to war would face stiff opposition and have only a small chance of success at the moment."

[Desertfox]

and have now begun expanding those shipments to include heavy military equipment like tanks and aircraft, and even a few naval vessels.

I wish politicians were right for one. Even I don't have those.

[Carthaginian]

and have now begun expanding those shipments to include heavy military equipment like tanks and aircraft, and even a few naval vessels.

I wish politicians were right for one. Even I don't have those.

LOL... that's the problem with Military Intelligence- most of the time, it isn't. ;)

[Carthaginian]

overheard in the Senate offices

"Are you sure about this, Sir? I mean... it's going to pi-"

"I'm damnably sure. Tell the Colonel to prepare all his troops for movement- all of them. Let the civilians know that for the next 3 months that we'll be accepting their applications for recompense and will be providing for safe transit- but after November, they are on their own."

"Yes, sir. When is this agreement effective?"

"Tomorrow, midnight."

[Carthaginian]

Admiralty Building
Norfolk, Virginia
17NOV19
1525 Local


"You're are completely sure about this? It seems like a LOT of money. I don't mean 'a lot' like sums that we casually throw around in here... I mean a whole pisspot full of money. Like 'someone's going notice this one' kind of money. And we're spending it on something that we haven't even damn well tried! First Sea Lord Josephus Daniels was a plainspoken man- but not one given to casual profanity- so his unusual outburst was all the more frightening to the man across the table.

"Well, Sir... we have tried it- in a manner of speaking. Research has been going on for months in La Paz- secretly, of course- and the success of the system is assured. The aircraft can stand the process, the ship-board equipment can survive the process, and most importantly, the pilots are completely able to control the aircraft afterward. So, we have tested it and we know what will happen when we put it aboard a ship...

it's just that we haven't put it on a ship.

Yet.

Er... Sir.

Frank Luke was not the greatest speaker in the world. He knew that, and that made him wonder why in the name of everything Holy his C.O. at La Paz had sent him to explain this. Colonel Forrest had first fast-tracked him and Tom Selfridge to be his aides-de-camp, and then made sure that they had had everything that they needed to support the Advanced Aviation Studies unit at La Paz after his promotion to Staff. The Confederate Air Corps was growing wildly, and the Advanced Aviation Unit was- thanks to Colonel Forrest's patronage- leading the way for all aviation in the Confederacy. Even the Navy's infant attempt to develop it's own aviation arm had failed miserably.

"Of course, it had failed by attempting this exact same project before the technology was mature" Luke reminded himself.

Comman...

"Major, Sir... with all due respect."

My apologies, then, Major" Daniels said, putting enough emphasis on the the rank to let Luke know that he didn't give a damn about what his rank was called or even that he possessed any at all. "Please continue to explain to me exactly why you and your associates at La Paz believe that this is a good idea? Remember that I must be convinced before you leave this office on this occasion or not only will this project not begin in 1920... the building schedule will likely not have the necessary materials available for it to see the light of day any time between now and 1925."

"Ok... now he's being cute." Luke hated it when superior officers *and snickered inwardly at the thought that rank alone made one 'superior'* got cute with him. Quite a few of the locals around La Paz knew that one of Luke's favorite pastimes was drinking a pint Tom's 'secret recipe,' then riding his motorcycle at breakneck speed along the beach while firing a pair of .455 pistols at targets he kept set up along the high tide line.

Not very many of them, however, knew that all the targets had names... and they were all named after 'superior' officers that had pissed Luke off.

"We are well aware of that, Sir... that is why we have brought such convincing evidence of successful tes..."

And not a bloody one aboard a ship!

"Over 100 from a specially outfitted barge..."

"Which sank no less than three times."

"And without an accident in over 40 attempts..."

"Need I remind you of the rather dismal failure of test #37."

Luke was even worse with restraint and patience than he was with public speaking.
For about thirty seconds, Major Frank Luke C.A.C. forgot where he was.

He forgot that the man in front of him had saw the last wooden ships leave the Confederate Navy. He completely ignored the Southern Cross that he had earned against the Island Commonwealth for rescuing his C.O. as their ship sank beneath them. He blatantly spat upon the fact that this man was- at this moment in time- probably the most powerful man in the Confederate Military, and protected men armed with by fond memories and who owed many favors to the late President who had placed him in this post personally.

For just thirty seconds, Frank Luke regarded the man across from him as just that... a man.
A man who didn't know a damn thing about aircraft, their capabilities, or his research.
A man who didn't know anything about 'Test #37' except what he read from Luke's own dry report.
A man who didn't know that Jerry Vasconcells.

So, for thirty seconds, Frank Luke told Joe Daniels 'the cold, hard facts'- man-to-man.

"Yeah... somebody died. Somebody I knew. Somebody I am damnably proud to say I shared a room, a bottle and occasionally a woman with. Somebody that loved flying, and believed that taking an airplane off the deck of a ship by slinging it off with explosives not only qualified as a GOOD IDEA, but believed in it enough that he was willing- no, scratch that- was HAPPY to die trying. You know what he told us, laying on the deck of the launch after me and James Whittaker pulled him out of the water? He said "Damn, what a ride... too bad I won't get to take it again."

You want to know what I think? I think that I can cover more territory in my damn Cessna in a 3 hour mission that one of your lousy tin cans can in a day. I can see farther, get word back faster, and even attack them.

You try that stunt with one of your pretty little bathtub toys, and you risk hundreds of lives and hundreds of thousands of dollars. I try it with my crate, I risk one man, a five thousand dollar aircraft and exactly ten dollars of high-octane gasoline. Right now there are battleships out there that can damn near outrun a destroyer! How the hell you plan on keeping track of them? How you going to know where they are going? Hell, how are you planning on SINKING THEM? Luke was on his feet now, leaning over the desk... practically spraying spit in the man's face- and possibly on his career.

And he didn't care anymore. He was a soldier, a damn good pilot, and this man didn't know a damn thing about what he could do with his crate.

"Are you quite finished, Mr. Luke?"

And like that... Frank Luke realized where he was again.
Or more accurately, where he was probably going.
"I wonder if I'll like the stockade."

"And you are quite sure that you can sink a ship with an aircraft?"
A ship armoured to defend against the most powerful naval guns in the world?"

"Eh, in for a penny..."

"I'd stake my own damn life on it... and Jimmy already put his on the table. You've got 200 of the best pilots in the country in La Paz, and we'd all do it. Hell, we'd try it tomorrow, if you think you can arrange it that fast."

"Major, there are few things in this world I value more than discipline. It is the bedrock that holds the service together. Without it, we are but a mob of well-armed and misguided morons... more likely to do harm than good.

One of those few things, though, is devotion to duty; another of them is dedication to one's ideals. While you clearly lack the former, you posses the two latter by the bushel bunch. Colonel Forrest suggested as much to me when he placed your name in my ear for this position- and at a time I doubted very seriously that anyone not wearing navy blue trousers would suffice for this job. You have proven me wrong... and I am, against my own prejudices, quite happy to have it happen.

Major Luke, as of tomorrow yourself and your personal ground crew are seconded to my command. You will wear a navy uniform, hold the rank of Lieutenant Commander, and answer any questions as to whether you are making forward progress with 'aye.'

Lieutenant Commander Luke, I am appointing you 'Provisional Commanding Officer' of Naval Aviation Squadron #1.

"Can't breath... collar too tight... gotta get outta here and get a drink."
This was not how Luke thought this meeting would end.

"Oh, and Commander Luke..."

"Ye... I mean, aye, Sir?"

"Should you ever raise your voice to me again, I will have you cashiered.
Dismissed"

[Guinness]

Good stuff. Wouldn't a Marine sooner head for the stockade than be recommissioned a squid though?  ;)

[Carthaginian]

Good stuff. Wouldn't a Marine sooner head for the stockade than be recommissioned a squid though?  ;)

Frank Luke is Army Gray, through and through.
Or, well, he was.

Frank Luke, Tom Selfridge, Nathan Forrest III, Clyde V. Cessna, Billy Mitchell and several others (whose names are lost to time and a hard drive crash) were part of the Confederacy's initial heavier-than-air program at La Paz in 1908. They were there when the abortive Seahawk project was being planned and subsequently failed (the ship, with a too-weak catapult and too-delicate aircraft, wound up rotting at a pier in Natchez) and ended the Navy's attempt at aircraft on a ship.

Mitchell emigrated to Rohan (though Tan and I were talking about him returning to the CSA, flying one of Rohan's latest aircraft) while I was gone, so at least one of the team is gone. However, the mission in La Paz was always to get aircraft on a ship... and I think they will do it this time.

[Guinness]

Sorry I misread the navy blue trousers thing.

[Carthaginian]

Sorry I misread the navy blue trousers thing.

LOL... no problem- I went into pretty good detail on Army stuff, even going so far as to pick a uniform and design rank insignia. I never did much with the Navy's uniform, though.

I guess that the Navy uniform would resemble this one:
http://www.ushist.com/img/confederate/images/qm-2050_frockcoat_navy_cs_lt-commander-l.jpg
I thought that navy blue trousers would be a good addition- you know... to give them a bit of flavor and separate them from the Army a bit.

Historically, the Confederate Marines- at least the enlisted ones- wore dark blue, almost black actually, coats IIRC.
I think I'd stick to that... calling them 'Black Jackets' actually gives them a good nickname.

[Guinness]

Oddly, I only ever imagined two CSN uniforms: a dressy white thing for tropical climes similar to USN dress whites of the era, which they wore on shore at Key West, and basic light-blue cotton dungarees for shipboard use, usually paired with broad-brimmed hats for sun protection. I never really considered what they'd be wearing sitting around Richmond.

I'd always understood the OTL Confederate Marines to have worn more or less the same uniform as the Confederate army: that is light grey coats over darker trousers, but as I understand it there is considerable disagreement on that even among the experts. For one thing there were only ever about 1200 Confederate marines anyway. I see no reason why the Nverse's Confederate Marines couldn't be in very dark navy blue. With a white dress shirt beneath and a closed collar, they would likely look sharp.

I should probably quit junking up your news thread with talk of haberdashery.

[Carthaginian]

I should probably quit junking up your news thread with talk of haberdashery.

LOL... news is fluff... and fluff makes news.
Also, the more I'm pestered about details, the more detail i generally go into. :D

I'd always understood the OTL Confederate Marines to have worn more or less the same uniform as the Confederate army: that is light grey coats over darker trousers

LOL... the OTL Confederate Army's uniforms were anything but- hell, they couldn't even make more than one issue in the same color of gray. In the end, of course, they couldn't even manage gray at all and we wind up with the infamous 'Butternut' uniforms, similar to this rather excellent repro:
http://louisianahistorymuseum.org/images/p3230011.jpg
That was why I chose to pattern the Confederate Army's uniform after that of the 1st U.S.V. rather than the OTL U.S. Army of the time- frankly, I think Teddy intentionally chose butternut for his troops. ;)

For as complete a selection of the various (and boy, do I mean 'various') basic types of Confederate Army and Navy uniforms, swing by this site:
http://www.ushist.com/american_civil-war_uniforms_f.shtml
They have the largest and most accurate selection of reproduction uniforms I have ever seen. They are reputable, reliable, and relatively inexpensive if one controls themselves on their level of detailing. One can get a full uniform for about $350 if they don't mind mind sewing their own chevrons and buttons on.

[Carthaginian]

The meeting had been dry and more uninteresting than anyone outside the Bureau of Ships could have imagined. Deciding what your country's future war machines would be might sound interesting, but in the end it all came down to a maddening assortment of numbers, numbers, numbers. How many guns of how many inches on how many tons that can go how many knots for how far in how many days before needing how many tons of fuel oil and how many replacement parts and how many shells.

Madness was a kind word for it, Robert Ingals thought; but, perhaps too kind a word... after all 'madness' held the connotation that one was blissfully unaware of the grueling agony one was enduring. No, Bob Ingals had been fully awake and aware during this meeting and he regretted every minute of it right up until the awarding of the various contracts for the next fiscal year.

He was hoping to catch the early train home with the good news for the mayors of Mobile and Pascagoula- two of the Rattlesnake cruisers were scheduled to enter the yards early in 1920 to be refitted, and later in the year a pair of new cruisers were to be laid down. There would be plenty of work down at the yards for every qualified shipfitter on the Gulf coast. The new ships that were going to be built- they could easily be called 'Wheeler's Little Brother' what with their looks and firepower; and the Rattlesnakes, well, who'd have known that they would turn out to be this damn adaptable?

Either ship would put hundreds to work- the Rattlesnake for a few months... the new cruisers for a couple of years!

Rob decided to invest a bit of his hard-earned money in some cheap land- might be wise to build some housing for the workers that would be moving in.


OoC:
A sketch of the vessel that Mr. Ingals is carrying back to his shipyard:
If you missed it, sorry... he was only careless about showing it for a little while. ;)

[Carthaginian]

November 1919
La Paz Aircraft Test Facility

"Are we sure that the prototype is ready?"

"Without a doubt, Colonel. We've sampled three aircraft for use aboard ship. The Cessna crate was by far the most suitable- even with the floats attached she's only about nine feet tall... that means a shorter hanger and less unnecessary top-weight to the vessel. It's top speed of 95 m.p.h. is respectable, and it mounts a pair of the new .30 caliber machine guns being produced by Barrett Arms*. Additionally, it has a 4 hour endurance- quite large for it's small size.

"A good, compact little scout, then. And it's acceptance trials?"

"Already underway... nearly finished in fact. We'll likely approve it to be stationed aboard the refitted Rattlesnake cruisers next spring, and aboard any new construction featuring aircraft."

"What about the wheeled version..."

at this time, a aide notices you listening and quickly closes the door.




*having little data on historic Confederate arms manufacturers, I'm kind of making things up as I go. The machine gun in question uses the .300 Savage as a base round. It's a rather light, magazine-fed weapon (similar to the Lewis gun) with a 100 round drum and a ROF of about 500 RPM. It is mounted close enough to the pilot so that he can change magazines and one spare magazine for each gun is carried in the aircraft.