1934 (A war between the USA and the CSA)

[Floyd Looney]

Second War of Northern Aggression
by Floyd Looney


Guantanamo Naval Base, State of Cuba

June 4, 1934

Captain Lee Remmick stood on the bridge of his light destroyer as a rusting battlecruiser steamed into port nearby. It had some damage to its stern which looked to have been caused by unnatural forces. Its flags flapping around hard in the stiff wind.

"Battle damage?" He asked himself, he shook his head wondering who had damaged the old CSS Robert E Lee which had been sailing near Haiti last he heard. He would know soon enough, its skipper was a freind, Captain James McCullen.

He put down his binoculars and walked off the bridge which only had two other crewmen on it, it being in port. The Captain left the ship down the gangplank and after saluting the officer at the bottom made his way to the battlecruiser.

As always Captain McCullen was one of the first off the ship, they greeted each other with a handshake and a slap on the back.

"How have things been around here?" McCullen asked, acting as if his ship had sustained no damage. Remmick wondered what message had been sent to higher officials about the damage.

"I've done a marvelous job of defending the base you old coot" He told the Captain, "I'm just a mite inter'sted in how you got that damage to your hind quarters?"

"Ah that" Captain McCullen said, as if seeing it for the first time. "That my friend was an accident. At least thats what the Haitians told our top brass when asked to explain why a few of their boats fired upon my ship."

Remmick could feel a laugh coming, "The Haitians?" and he did laugh, "Those people even have boats?"

"If the bosses weren't certain of their sincerity, I would be here gathering a fleet to pay a return visit." McCullen told him, "Apparently they're satisfied with the answer."

Remmick shook his head again "I don't reckon I ever seen that happen before. I always thought the boys up north would be giving us the problems."

"How about I buy you a drink?" McCullen asked, "After I give my report to the Admiral, of course"

"Sounds mighty good to me" He answered as the wind picked up. He never liked the overcast weather much.

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Off the Virginia coast

The CSS Longstreet, a cruiser steaming out of the Norfolk Naval base came across several United States warships in Confederate waters. Before he could raise the base, just a few hours away, his ship suffered several hits.

Captain James J Reynolds steamed south away from the American ships at 27 knots. The Americans took pursuit, some of them gaining.

His bow turret, with two 8" guns was ordered to fire upon the pursuers at will. One of his spotters recognized one of the faster American ships.

"Its the USS Lincoln sir" He was told. Talk about adding an insult to an injury! Captain Reynolds was informed that the nearest Confederate ship was the CSS New Orleans which had left Norfolk an hour before. He didn't know if that ship would be much help.

"I'm tired of running" He decided after consulting with his commander. The first officer had recommended turning to starboard and letting the nearest enemy ship have all three turrets. The ship was turned, it also allowed the enemy ships to gain ground against them. He hoped that his broadside would slow them down.

"The Lincoln is almost within range" He was told by his targeter. "All main guns are in position and ready."

"Fire a range finder" He ordered. His command was sent down the chain and the main battery fired a volley from its 10" guns. Seven miles away the Lincoln went unharmed by the volley. The bridge crew was heartened to see the Confederate shells so far off course and off range.

Reynolds knew the US Navy had better guns and targeting than his own navy. He had no idea it was quite that bad.

As if to show the Confederates up, the ship was hit amidship along the center, just a few feet above the waterline. Reynolds decided it was probably worthwhile to head south again at full speed. The ship was soon making 28 knots, but was still falling back toward the Americans.

"Sir planes! Confederate planes" One of the spotters said pointing. He raised his binoculars and sure enough there were a pair of sea planes hovering around.

"They might be looking for the US ships" His commander speculated. "Not that they'll do us much good"

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Near Guantanamo Bay Naval Base

Remmick and McCullen had enjoyed exactly one drink at the small bar called Dixie Palace when they recieved word of American attacks against Confederate ships. A messenger had been dispatched from base to the bar as soon as the teletype had stopped recieving.

The message stated that US ships had engaged Confederate navy and commercial ships off Virginia, Georgia and the Philippines.

Captain Lee Remmick knew they weren't going to send him to the Pacific, he just wondered if Georgia or Virginia were the main assaults? Richmond!, Of course.

On the way he said "The Americans know we're weaker than them and they're kicking us when we're down"

McCullen asked "Yes, obviously. The question is why?"

He stopped and looked into his freinds eyes, "This is the big one! Those damnyankee's are finally trying to retake the Confederacy!"
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Southern Virginia Naval Air Base
June 4, 1934

"Commander" The ensign said as he pulled the lastest from the teletype machine. "Air Patrol has spotted the American ships firing upon the Longstreet!"

The gruff Naval Air Base Commander Richmond Heath took the strip of paper and looked at it. "It'll take our planes at least forty minutes to be loaded and to get there"

The ensign looked at his superior expectantly and was rewarded by being ordered "Order two air wings loaded, fueled and manned at once."

"Yes sir" The young man said turning back to his desk and picking up the direct line phone to the hangars on the other side of the base.

"I just hope our air craft can have a positive impact on this war" He told himself, the headlines from the front suggested that the yankee's had caught the Confederates by suprise. He shook his head, this didn't look good.

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CSS Longstreet

The Captain watched as the two Confederate sea planes turned back toward land. After flying out this far they would need to turn back sooner or later, and since they would have little impact...

Captain James Reynolds was steaming as fast as possible toward the nearest naval base to the south. His main bow gun turret had been hit, killing 4 crewmen. Radio contact with Norfolk and other ships were non-existant.

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CSS New Orleans
Captain Wicker was informed that they were about to be in range of one of the slower US ships. They told him it was probably the USS Meade, a frigate. The New Orleans was ready to launch a naval artillery barrage which Wicker was sure would do some damage.

Information which the sea planes had sent to Norfolk had finally managed to be recieved by his ship. The planes counted 2 frigates, 3 destroyers a cruiser and some sort of support ship.

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CSS Robert E Lee

Captain James McCullen hoped that the strawberry juice he drank on the way back to the battlecruiser masked the alcahol. He wasn't drunk and didn't want anyone to think he was.

Commander Donavan greeted him, "Sir, we're being dispatched to the Bahamas immediately. The garrison there has reportedly been assaulted and contact was lost. Norfolk seems to believe that Marines have landed at Nassau."

The battlecruiser steamed out of port towards the Confederate Bahamas at all due speed. They were being shadowed by several escort ships. He was informed by radio of something his messages to date has forgotten, he was head of the task force to the Bahamas.

---

This was part of a story I wrote a long time ago, but I never finished it. Its about 23 pages long and only about 8,860 words.
You can tell I am not a veteran huh?

[Attero Dominatus]

Interesting alternate history story you wrote there.

You can tell I am not a veteran huh?

I am not a veteran either, and I am not very knowledgeable on naval warfare myself, but I will say what little I do know. Ships back then colored their shell bursting charges with dye to avoid confusion when finding the target's range or to avoid confusing whose shells are hitting whose targets. For example, the Longstreet would use red dye, so its shell splashes would be colored red, while Robert E Lee's shell splashes would be blue.

Battleships usually had parallax range finders, one in the main mast above the bridge and the main battery turrets had their own for emergencies. Guns would fire on range data from these range finders and then zero in until they hit, and then keep hitting until they sink the enemy ship. Float planes were usually used to assist in spotting and later battleships had radar and analog computers for greater accuracy.

I know pretty much nothing about naval tactics though, so I cannot help there, but don't forget that submarines would likely be used and so would mines, countering both are good roles for destroyers.

A good site for early 20th century naval weapons and technology is www.navweaps.com

[Floyd Looney]

I was trying to decide what technologies would have improved and what would not have been improved by this time. Different things would have happened in my opinion. The US would probably not have concluded the Spanish-American War so easily. The CSA had made Cuba into a state and both sides were supporting proxy armies in the Philippines.

Oh and the CSA was still working on converting an old cruiser into their first aircraft carrier. Not that this would turn the war against the more industrial USA.

The CSA abandoned slavery a few decades before this story takes place, BTW.

I might add some more onto this story too, but again formatting for the board from .doc is annoying. I did finish adding the Age of Tribalism story to where I stopped writing.

[Floyd Looney]

CSS Atlanta

Captain Lee Remmick was ordered to take his ship around the island and defend Havana, the state capitol. Fishing vessels had reported seeing unknown and unidentified vessels. The city had not yet come under attack.

Remmick had hoped to be sent where the real action was, Georgia or Virginia. Those were probably being defended by local ships, he was close to Havana. It made sense, of course. For all he knew, the real action was going to cover the entire Confederacy.

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CSS Longstreet

Captain James Reynolds was told that the Davis Naval Coaling and Fueling Base was about to be within visual range. His raised his binoculars to look but could not see it.

Something else was there, close enough to look blurry until he focused on it.

"Aw my" He muttered. The other officers raised their binoculars as well. The American submarine had surfaced in their path, its top guns already manned and their barrels pointing at him.

The Lincoln was scoring more hits, there was a fire in the aft store room. Now he had to contend with a small but important threat directly ahead.

"It could have torpedo's" Someone said, he looked around and couldn't find the speaker. He just made a general comment. "If it does not have torpedo's, I would reckon, it wouldn't have been sent."

Submarines had been around since George Washington led the revolt against the British, but lately had become much more dangerous. As an anti-shipping weapon it was unmatched.

Puffs of smoke began forming from the submarine as it two deck guns started firing. Unfortunately, as with many things as of late, the United States had more accurate and effective weapons.

"Fire at will" He ordered once the sub was in range. Just a few more miles and this exchange might very well be in range of the sights of shore batteries of Davis. He hoped the small base had been informed that a war had broken out.

The USS Lincoln turned to present a broadside to the Longstreet and began to fire with all guns. The Confederate ships old guns were ineffective since most shots were woefully off course. He cursed Confederate technology and the administrations whom had neglected war matters.

"Planes!" A spotter reported "I see 12 planes"

He raised his glasses again and sure enough there were specks in the sky moving their way. It was only small relief until he realized that planes carried few bombs and wouldn't be much help.

A window shattered on the bridge, men screamed as flying shards of glass cut into them. The shell exploded after imbedding into a bulkhead, fire expanded through the bridge. The Captain lowered his arms he had thrown up to protect his face. The smoke, flames and bodies filled his vision.

The surviving bridge crew evacuated as fire fighters rushed in with their shiny canisters of chemical fire depressant. Once on the outside someone was pointing in front of the ship.

He looked up to see a plane drop a bomb, it looked too big a bomb for the plane to carry to him but what did he know?

The submarine was hit dead center, its small conning tower caved in as the vessel was engulfed in an explosion. He saw the deck gunners jump into the water. The men cheered.

Another hit rocked the ship and reminded them that a small fleet of US ships were still out there in persuit.

The plane which had dropped the bomb turned for home, its load being expended. The other planes turned toward the nearest remaining United States vessel. The captain wondered how much damage they could do until the darkness forced them to head to base.

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CSS Atlanta, Off the Havana Coast

The CSS Atlanta light destroyer joined several frigates and patrol boats in defense of the Confederate State Capitol. Reports had said that it was considered by the enemy to be an easy target.

Lee Remmick wondered if the Haitian attack on the Robert E Lee was truly an accident. The damage hadn't been enough to keep it out of the war but it dogged his mind. The attack had, though, caused the ship to return to Guantanamo.

He decided it would likely be a quiet night, but when daylight came again he believed that all hell would break loose.

On the ground latest news said that US forces using those danged tanks had struck the Confederates hard all along the common border. The reports also said their aircraft were being used to 'stunning effect' against fixed and mobile Confederate forces.

They were at this point just a couple miles off the coast of Havana. Light was fading quickly.

Remmick didn't like the way this war was starting.

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San Miguel Memorial Field, near Havana
June 5, 1934 - early morning

Enrique Zapata unloaded the old wagon and carried the first boxes of baked goods into the kitchen of the base mess hall. The men would start arriving for breakfast soon and many of them enjoyed the pastries and sweet buns his family baked. The Zapata brand was known for its freshness across most of Cuba, he was proud of the business his father had established.

The wagon was on its last legs and wouldn't be used much longer regardless, his father Juan had told him to expect an automobile soon. The company owned a few delivery trucks but Enrique was glad he would be getting a personal vehicle. He wondered whether it would be British, French or even American? Even one of the confederate built automobiles would be an improvement over the old wagon and the old nag which pulled it.

As always the cooks and the top 'chef' were always glad to see him. One of the things he liked about the Air Force base was that they always paid him upon delivery, and they were a steady customer. 7 days a week they got the same order, of course his father sometimes added his newest creations to tempt them.

He had heard about the war but the state of Cuba was an island, Enrique didn't see how the United States could hope to take it. Of course, he didn't see the reasons either. The Confederacy had long since abolished slavery, they had blacks and hispanics in Congress for gosh almighty, as a matter of fact more than those Americans did.

The State of Cuba had hispanic majorities in its state legislature as well as its Governor, Miguel Hinijosa. Enrique's own uncle Lazaro Zapata had served a term as an Assembly member before returning to his own place as the Santa Clara district boss of the Zapata Baked Goods Co.

As Enrique left the mess hall he heard the sounds of planes getting louder, although it looked as if all the planes were still on the ground. Something smelled wrong, there were more than a dozen specks coming toward the base from over the horizon. This was bad.

The young man jumped onto the wagon and shook the reigns "Move it you stinking horse!"

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CSS Atlanta

The teletype buzzed out a new message, the operator on station read it out to the Captain who had woken up early. The Captain thought something might happen.

"Urgent. San Miguel Air Field under heavy air attack. Assistance requested" The young man said. The Lee Remmick nodded, there were indeed United States forces somewhere out here, a carrier force in the least. Now if there were only a way to find them. "Send a message to the air base, ask them which direction the planes came from."

The Commander came up beside him. "Think we'll find them before they want us to find them?"

"That is the idea, Commander" Remmick replied. He kept looking at the skies over Havana through the 'field glasses' but couldn't see the American planes from where the ship steamed. "What would you say to the idea that those planes came from the south?"

Commander Walken blinked. "How would our forces have missed them steaming around Cuba?"

"I don't think they went around Cuba." The Captain said unfolding a small map and laying it against the bulkhead. He pointed out a path which would have taken days if not a week to traverse. "I think they went far around the Bahamas out to sea and came around Dominica and Haiti. I think they also probably went south of Jamaica."

"And they hid a carrier fleet from our ships and outposts?"

The Captain folded the map and replaced it to its pocket. "Of course. Its not like they don't know our routines Commander, and they have more modern equipment than we do as well."

"Certainly thats true, but the Jamaica island is a British dominion they would have informed us of such a thing" The commander said. The Captain nodded, "If they had seen them. I suspect they carried out their plan without informing any of their allies, and the fleet traveled mostly at night."

The Confederates didn't do much at night, unless they were attacked. His own ship had left a small crew on the bridge the previous night while the nation was at war. Yes, he told himself, our forces are much too informal and under equipped.

The Confederate navy did have an aircaft carrier, which had been converted from a French cruiser. It was a hand me down, but the Houston Shipworks company had turned it into a flat top which could carry 28 planes. Most Confederate planes were bi-planes purchased from France or Britian which ever gave the best price at the time. A company in Charlotte had begun producing a new monoplane but the numbers were few as yet.

The sole Confederate carrier CSS Spiteful had been based out of Houston, but was now probably sailing for the Georgia coast if the war plans meant anything.

The teletype came alive again, the officer quickly read the message. "San Miguel Air Field. Attacking planes came from south. At least 24 planes spotted. end"

The Commander turned to him again. "Two dozen planes leaves them with nearly another two dozen, if this is a Fleet Carrier."

Captain Remmick nodded, "and thats assuming its alone."

"Turn to port and get us on the south side as soon as possible" The Captain told him, Commander Walken barked the orders and returned. "The ships out of Cienfuegos should have been dispatched already."

The Captain nodded. "Those ships belong to the Coastal Patrol service, most of their men serve a few weeks out of the year. As informal and under trained the navy may be, Walken, we are always more fortunate than the Coasties."

The old light destroyer with rust growing out from the water-line moved to find the US carrier force which they thought lay to the south.
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[Floyd Looney]

CSS Longstreet

The USS Lincoln was joined by the USS Liberator in presenting a broadside barrage against the CSS Longstreet. The Confederate planes had turned back when night fell. During the night the Longstreet had moved toward the refueling and coaling station only to have run aground.

With the first light the pounding had begun again, and he was forced to contemplate abandoning the ship. With near enough 260 sailors aboard that would be no small task, several of the evacuation boats had already been hit. First light also brought some help from the shore batteries which had started lobbing shells at the US ships. Lobbing being the operative word.

The conning tower of the Longstreet was a burnt hulk, its main turrets were destroyed. Several gun crews tried to return fire with 5" guns but the enemy was hopelessly out of their range. With his command staff from the bridge mostly dead or wounded Captain Reynolds now deep in the belly of his ship was having more close contact with his men than ever before.

"Smitey, can we get the ship off the sandbar?"

The engineer shook his head, he had been attempting that for the last couple of hours. One of the boilers had blown and killed several men, boiled some too. The Longstreet wasn't going to be going any where. Reynolds had little choice.

"The planes are back" Someone entered telling them. "More than yesterday too"

He and the others moved up the decks to the top deck to see for themselves. Sure enough the planes were there and moving quickly toward the American ships. Before any bombs dropped flak from the anti-aircraft artillery started appearing. He watched the battle, now a spectator.

With the shore batteries and the planes he hoped the US forces would be driven away. Then something else caught his attention. A frigate was firing upon the US ships and moving at top speed through them, it was also taking heavy fire in return. There was a gash in its side, above the waterline.

"Its the New Orleans sir" A spotter informed him, "Are they out of their minds?"

The Captain could just nod. Sure enough it seems as if the Confederate frigate was intent on going right through the line of Union ships toward where the Longstreet was stuck. He saw two planes tumble out of the sky as their bombs began to hit the water. Then an explosion rocked the Lincoln, his men cheered. Lincoln's conning tower had taken a bomb against its side.

A shore battery shell landed upon its top deck, the enemy ship shivered and a fire spread across it. He could make out some men fighting the fires, and looked back at the conning tower of his own ship. It was still sad, he could at least respect them in that.

More bombs went home on the Lincoln and Liberator as the battered New Orleans got close to where the Longstreet was and slowed down. Then something happened because everything went quiet. The planes, probably low on bombs and fuel started turning back. The American ships seemed to be turning around also. Both were trailing smoke from more than the smoke stacks as they did.

The men cheered what some might think a victory of sorts. Surviving can be considered such, the Captain told himself glancing at the white bandages on his left forearm.

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Richmond Virginia

The Richmond Examiner reported that the war was going badly on almost all fronts. The Richmond Dispatch mentioned that the only fortunate thing about the situation was that the American's hadn't completed their precious canal down in Panama. It would have been far worse if they could have sent their Pacific fleet as well.

It seems that the US had moved deep into the Confederacy at all points, they were fortunate that Virginia was holding so far. The Confederate Press Association, dating from the 'civil war', was reporting that Britian nor France had yet decided on whether to come to the aid of their Confederate ally.

President Atwater put down his Richmond Times, it was just the same thing as reported in the other papers. All contact lost with Bahamas, allies had not yet come to their aid. He knew that the Americans had been trying hard to make freinds out of Britain, but there hadn't been any evidence of a shift in loyalties. Would Britain and France truly remain neutral as the Confederacy was crushed?

Even the state of Cuba was no longer an island when it came to war. He saw the report which had been delivered that morning. No details yet, but it didn't look good. Reports from the War Department showed that his own nation had been repelled by the invaders in the west Texas town of Lubbock, its garrison asking for reinforcements.

Atwater knew that the Confederacy might come to regret their lack of enthusiastic support during the war in europe between 1914 and 1921. The Confederate Presidents who were around then had no foresight, they were part of the reason the military forces were so weak. The Presidents after them hadn't done much better.

Atwater had been in office just two of his six year term and had increased military spending but a build up and modernizing were slow processes. Especially when the Congress would rather spend money elsewhere, or not spend it at all. He would curse politicians, but that would have included himself. His attention came to an editorial in the Richmond Times, it made his blood boil. It asked whether the Confederacy had any purpose and what would be wrong with a reunion with the Americans?

"Centralized government for one!" He said, thinking he could have used some centralized power about then too.

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CSS Robert E Lee, Bahamas

The CSS Robert E Lee aging battlecruiser was joined by the CSS Forrest an escort destroyer which was about the size of the Atlanta. The other ship reported that Nassau had already been taken but they were to attack the US ships in the area. At least thats how his signal officer interpreted the flashing of the light in morse code.

Not long after they entered the Bahamas, where they had to be careful of the sea floor if they got too close to some of the islands, they came across the floating, burning remains of a ship. A small Coastal Patrol ship the CSS Knoxville. The crew was silent as they sailed by, there was no sign that there were any survivors. McCullen saluted the ruined vessel as they left it.

The ship was approximately 100 miles from Nassau and east of Cat Island, the water was clear and the air was clean. A slight wind to the south pushed the smell of charred metal and people away from them.

A long distance sea plane dispatched from Florida had not reported back as of yet, and none of their spotters had reported seeing any planes. One of them now entered and reported seeing a ship. "It ain't Confederate!"

"They've probably seen us too" Commander Donavan said, he looked out in the direction of the vessel and told the Captain "Its big, could be a battleship."

In addition to the destroyer escort Forrest, his task force included frigates CSS Santiago and CSS Adelphia. McCullen really could have used a battleship of his own but his old battlecruiser would have to do.

"They're firing" Donavan said calmly, "I suggest we take action"

He looked over to the signals officer "Tell the force to spread out and converge on the battleship"

Not much strategy behind it but he hoped they could get close enough to do some damage before being torn apart by the enemy's large guns. Each turret of the battleship had 3 barrel's and most likely had 16" guns, with three such turrets.

The ship shook and rocked "That was a miss, truly" Donavan announced, "Too close"

"Return fire!" He ordered, hoping the old guns of the Robert E Lee could do some good. The ship was a hand-me-down from the french like many ships of the Confederate fleet. The Confederates had built some of their own ships, more lightly armored including the Knoxville.

Splashes straddled the ship as its own guns fired volleys at the US vessel which was headed toward them as they were headed toward it. The Robert E Lee was built by the french to be able to launch torpedo's over the side but the Confederate Navy hadn't bothered to purchase them. The only ships to carry torpedo's were the carrier Spiteful and the submarine Windward, which was being repaired after running into a reef.

Donavan heard the explosion like everyone else, the frigate CSS Adelphia had taken a direct hit and exploded into a fireball. Its weapons store's must have been hit. The ship slowed and stopped, dead in the water. It wasn't going to be a factor in this battle any longer. Evacuation boats were being lowered, but only a couple as far as he could tell though the binoculars.

If the US ship didn't have to divide its fire it probably would have torn the Robert E Lee to pieces by now. The battlecruiser and other ships were putting their own shells into the enemy now, and they continued to get closer. It made no move to turn away either.

"That's the USS Dakota sir" someone said "One of their latest"

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Bird's Eye Spotter Flight, Cuba

Planes from Pinar del Rio flew eastward until they were over the waters, one flew south the other would make a long circle. The hope was that one of them would spot the United States vessels and report it. The french built planes were designated the SP-1, for Spotter Plane. They each were manned by 5 and had longer ranges than even the bombers because they didn't have to worry about payloads, it was all fuel.

The triple prop planes flew at several thousand feet, while the spotters searched the waters for enemy ships. Finally, directly south of Havana but 60 miles south they spotted the enemy fleet in the Gulf of Batabano.

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CSS Atlanta

Almost noon

Lee Remmick had been poring over the reports of attacks on Cuba. The air field outside Havana was just one of the targets. An electrical power generator near Mariel, and Matanzas reported thats it civilian airfield had been bombed and straffed. Guines also reported enemy aircraft flying overhead but no attacks.

If the planes flying over Guines were attacking Matanzas, they were probably flying out of the Gulf. Remmick had been spot on. The Haitian attack on the CSS Rebert E Lee was intended to make way for the fleet, their plan had been a good one.

There were reports from other towns and villages which pointed toward the bay south of where Havana was. Its exactly where he was headed and it hardened his resolve. An army base in Santa Clara was hit as well, a base which had never considered adding air defense. That was one of the problems he always had with the Confederate military, they didn't have imagination, they didn't have foresight.

The teletype printed out its message, the officer read it aloud as it was printed. "Enemy fleet south of Havana, 64 miles. Steaming south. Estimated 16 ships"

The Commander looked stunned "Sixteen ships?"

"Thats what it said sir" The young man answered.

"We can't hope to fight such a large force" Commander Walken told him, "We're a light destroyer for goodness sakes, all we have with us are frigates."

The teletype operator who had been silently reading the reports for anything which could be important perked up again. "Planes are being sent to Surgidero de Batabano from all over Cuba. Thats a small village nearest the coast sir, they are supposed to attack the fleet. They won't be ready for a few hours though."

"Surgidero de Batabano?" Lt. Commander Zachary asked, "I haven't heard of it"

"Apparently its a small village with a lot of open spaces" The Commander said with a grin, "The good thing about bi-planes is that they were built to land and take off from some pretty rough fields."

The Captain sipped his coffee "and we'll need all the help we can get"

Surgidero was on the map, it was probably one of the closest points to the enemy fleet. spotter planes reported them moving south, into the wind. Carriers flew into the wind to help their aircraft take off. Either they were done with the attack or a new wave of bombings was being launched.

They would find out soon enough.

[Floyd Looney]

San Miguel Memorial Field
Enrique had been thrown violently when the first bombs struck the base, his wagon was thrown on top of him. The wagon and its wooden sides probably protected him from the shrapnel and other flying debris. His head and back were killing him and his forehead was bleeding where he had hit the ground or maybe where the wagon had hit him.

He could hear people yelling and making lots of noise outside, he could hear what sounded like a large fire. He could smell it too, oil, wood and things he didn't know. Slowly Enrique climbed out of from under the wagon, its wheels had been shorn off by the blasts. He looked around at the devastation.

The mess hall was a heap of black remains and embers. The planes in the grass field were wrecked and the grass had burned, some men were trying to scavenge what they could. The officers own club had been knocked down like from a hurricane. He couldn't see any buildings undamaged, the barracks were all destroyed. He hoped they made it out.

He saw where the sun was placed in the sky and realized he had been knocked out half the day already, he wondered if his father would be angry. There was a pile of debris thirty feet high beside the road to the gate, there were legs of a horse poking out. He shook his head, "Fidel was always such a stupid horse."

Tractors had cleared the middle of the air field by just pushing the debris to the side in large piles. He figured it out after seeing another plane land and park next to one of the piles of debris. The base was still going to be used, the field at least. Enrique was impressed, but he had to get home, his father was probably worried sick.

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Richmond, Virginia

The President and his Secretary of War were meeting with the Chief of Naval Operations, the grim details of war were being brought home. The United States assaults had taken at least a hundred thousand casualties, most killed. An airfield in Cuba had been flattened, soldiers and pilots were caught in bed several hundred dead in that case.

"Sir, the Spiteful is our only aircraft carrier and its sitting in the Gulf of Mexico." The Admiral told them "I think it can do the most good in the Bahamas"

"The Bahamas?" The President asked "The islands? Our nation has been invaded all across our border and your worried about sparsly populated islands?"

"Its a strategic location. If they indeed have taken control of Nassau, they have an advantage in the region." The Secretary of War said "Sir, I think we should mount an operation to retake Nassau with our navy and marines."

President Atwater rubbed his eyes, he was no military genius. He had made it a point to try and give the military what it needed but his administration had had only two years. These men knew what they were talking about, he had to trust them. He looked up and nodded, "Do it. I leave the details up to you"

The war on the ground wasn't doing any better. The Lubbock garrison was still holding off the yankee's, the fronts seemed to be bogging down. It was small consolation, his Army at least hadn't any trouble finding volunteers.

The Secretary of War Benjamin Herman looked through a sheaf of paper "The Air Corps needs new pilots but the volunteers for such aren't forthcoming. It seems that airplanes are still so new that many are scared to fly."

Atwater shook his head "Not enough are volunteering?"

"Actually sir" He said "We have had numerous applications from negro soldiers to transfer to the Air Corps, but that is against policy..."

"To hell with policy" Atwater said turning red "If we need pilots and they want to be pilots, make them pilots!"

"This policy has been in place since Presiden...."

"I don't care" Atwater broke in "This is a real war. Make them pilots."

"Yes sir"

[Attero Dominatus]

Your work is very immersive, makes you seem like you are really there (and you do a great job managing several viewpoints at once, something I never been able to do). Is that the whole story? Because I think it would be great if you extended it until the war concludes somehow.

[Floyd Looney]

I've done about 23 pages of this, if it were printed out. Its been a long time since I worked on it.

[Floyd Looney]

Surgidero de Batabano

The empty field outside of town had been a popular picnic spot, as had the beach, but today no-one would be having a picnic there. Swarms of aircraft from across Cuba were landing, trucks from several towns brought them fuel and food. From bi-planes to a few monoplanes on up to Spotters and Bombers were being rearranged by the newly arrived ground rews.

San Cristobal was home to one of the companies which produced bombs for the Confederate military. The factory hadn't been attacked, certainly an oversight by the Americans. That was only 50 miles from the new air field and trucks had been rolling in carrying the munitions.

Colonel Douglas Wright had come up with the idea as soon as Spotters had found the enemy fleet. They might be heading away but he thought they might have time for a large air raid. It was his idea and he had been put in charge of organizing it.

The teletype in his tent decoded the latest message from a spotter plane, the signal officer read it aloud. "Enemy fleet now 30 miles from here sir. Planes have been taking off."

After a few more minutes another message was recieved, this one over the radio. Lots of static followed by "We're under attack! Fighters are attacking.. we can't turn around..."

The plane couldn't be raised after that. He assumed the Spotter had been shot down, "The American fleet will probably move again. They know we've seen them"

Lt.Colonel Nash Johnston asked "Shall we launch our assault early?"

"How many planes are ready?" He asked "If there's enough we might send two waves of it"

"Ten fighters and fifteen bombers are ready now. We have another thirty planes being readied"

Wright nodded, "Launch the ready planes. Get those others ready as soon as possible"

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CSS Atlanta

Lee Remmick was informed that United States ships would most likely be spotted within the hour. All hands had been called to battle stations and placed on alert. He had spotters all over the ship looking for the enemy ships,enemy fighters, spotter planes... anything at all which might tell them whats going on.

"We're recieving a message Captain" The signalman said. A message which pertained to their situation should be brought to his attention, the signalmans job was to root out the ones which mattered. "Coastal Patrol ships out of Cienfuegos have engaged the enemy. Taking heavy fire, not inflicting same"

Remmick shook his head. The war was not going well, the Confederates were not prepared and wouldn't be for another eight to ten years.

"Confederate planes from Surgidero have been launched. They aren't saying how many"

Lt.Commander Zachary looked at the clock at the back of the bridge "Their early. Must be staggering their air attacks with multiple waves"

"That makes sense" Walken said "I just hope we get some air cover when the time comes"

"That time is fast approaching" The Captain told them "The first ships of the fleet will be visible within about forty minutes"

The Lt. Commander looked antsy "I certainly hope those british and french are happy."

"Political considerations are not our jobs, we ain't diplomats" Commander Walken reminded him. He glanced at the clock as well. "We'll show the United States we're not diplomats when the time presents itself."

Someone entered the bridge "We think we've spotted a submarine, right under us"

The Captain smiled "Under us?"

"I suppose they didn't think they'd be spotted" The sailor answered "I suppose they didn't have any idea the waters around Cuba were so clear"

That was true in any case, daylight use of a submarine made no sense where the sea floor could be seen. The sea floor couldn't be seen here but it was pretty close.

The Captain replied "Ready depth charges. Increase speed. So they thought they would hide under us?"

Lee Remmick watched as charge after charge were tossed over the side and away from the ship. The explosions threw water high into the air, after seven such charges spotters reported debris and a large amount of air bubbles. Another charge was lobbed. The hulk of a submarine rose to the top, but it floated lying on its side like a dead guppy. Some American sailors in the water surrendered to the Frigate CSS Antonio Savalas.

"The Savalas says they recovered seven prisoners sir" The signal officer said with a smile, "They are in the ships brig and tied to the benches"

"Good. Now lets just hope we can continue on our way."

Commander Walken brought up a question, "The submarine probably reported our position to the fleet."

"That is a probability we must take into consideration Commander" He replied "but it will not change our course of action. There is only one course of action open to us and that is to attack"

"Ships spotted"

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Richmond Virginia
Late afternoon

The British Ambassador wouldn't return his messages. Atwater fumed and cursed the europeans which would abandon an ally in such a time. The British were known to keep naval and marine forces in Jamaica as well as air forces, could not they be brought to bear in the least?

The french kept a naval base on Martinique island which included air forces but would not they be used in an intervention?

Why are the allies being so quiet for this war. The British officials in London would not answer questions about the war just as the officials in Paris wouldn't. The President cursed them again and crumpled up another message he had planned to send them. No, the Confederates won't beg.

He sent a messenger to bring a paper to the Ambassador from Mexico. He also sent a message to the Unofficial Representative of Free Philippines. The Confederacy had never recognized the islands as US territory and would now have to go further. He thought and sent out more messages, hoping that something would come of it.

The Richmond Times, afternoon edition had the same editorial suggesting it was time to rejoin the union. Its front page had something new. 'CSA Stands Alone'. While it was true it boiled his blood for his own nations press to take sides against self defense. It was small consolation that the New York Chronicle was opposed to the US action.

His office had been moved to a bunker near the outskirts of Richmond in case of enemy air raids. He had ordered air raids on Washington DC which damaged the Capitol dome and burned part of the White House. He wished more could be done, unfortunately the CSA artillery which had overlooked Washington had been destroyed or captured in the first few hours of the war.

An arms depot on a small obscure Philippines island established years go by the Confederacy was handed over to the rebel movement. The Confederates had given the exact location of the cache in exchange for attacks against US interests. Free Philippines readily agreed.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Surgidero de Batabano

Roberto Inglesias found Colonel Douglas Wright outside his tent sipping on coffee, he was awaiting word of the first air assault. He was alone outside, the other officers were inside listening to the radio and reading the teletype messages.

"Excuse me, Colonel Wright?" He asked, the man looked at him and nodded "Yes, and you are?"

They shook hands, "I am Roberto Inglesias, I work for the Heraldo de Havana. I only wish to ask a few questions."

The Colonel looked back into the sky through his field glasses, "I may not have too much time, but go ahead and ask"

The Colonel wasn't familiar with the largest daily newspaper in the state, that much Roberto devined from his lack of interest. He probably didn't speak spanish anyways.

"Can the Confederacy hope to win without the intervention of allies?" Roberto asked, silently patting himself on the back for his pronunciation. The Colonel didn't look back at him he just answered "Thats more of a question for a politician or a General. I follow orders and I fight the enemy until I'm dead or until the politicians surrender."

"If the war continues to go badly will the Confederacy establish a draft?"

The Colonel almost laughed, "I presume that it won't be necessary since when a persons homeland is invaded its pretty easy to get recruits. Now if we were fighting in, say Italy, I would doubt we would get many volunteers."

Standard, boring answers. Roberto wanted some quote which would make the story memorable, a bit of information no-one else had. "Are you scared?"

The Colonel was silent for a moment, in thought perhaps before saying "I would be a fool if I said that I weren't. I would say that a man who is not afraid in war probably should not be there."

Roberto scribbled down the quote and was about to turn away when someone yelled, he didn't make it out. The sirens started blaring, that could not be a good thing. This would be something no-one else had in their papers.

"Enemy aircraft approaching, get to a bunker!" someone said.

Roberto noticed the anti-aircraft guns shooting their explosive munitions into the air, they made a muffled 'thud, thud' noise. He heard the engines of approaching aircaft and of a few airplanes on the ground trying to get in position to take off.

Hiding behind a canvas tent he saw enemy planes heading right for the field and its collection of aircraft and himself. He saw three planes take off up the field in no particular order, order had been the first thing to vanish. One of them had been an old bi-plane he noted to his notebook.

Then he noticed two planes on the ground had bumped into each other to be the next to take off and the pilots were fighting.

Suddenly the same area was ground zero for explosions as enemy bombs started landing scattered across the area. Roberto ducked and covered when this happened and he could feel the shadows of the enemy aircraft moving across his back. He hoped he wouldn't be the next target to be hit by a bomb. He looked up and noticed the fires and the pump trucks trying to put them out as a few more planes were moving to take off.

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CSS Atlanta

Captain Lee Remmick frowned when the teletype came alive again and then died off within a few moments. The teletype-radio officer shook his head "Incomplete message, sir. It said the Surgidero airfield was under attack and then it just stopped."

The Captain made a frown and then ordered the man to raise them by radio and find out if there was any chance of getting some air cover.

Meanwhile he raised his glasses and looked at the enemy fleet which was growing bigger in his sights. If they could strike the aircraft carrier when her planes were aloft, without bombs and running low on fuel it would be a great advantage. "Commander can we make out their designations yet?". There was a negative shaking "Not yet".

"Are all guns loaded and ready?" The Captain asked. Commander Walken smiled and said "Yes sir, we are ready".

"I do hope so, because we aren't going to have any choices in just a moment" The Captain commented, almost talking to himself. He was studying the first ships in his sights trying to gleam another bit of information. "Those are most likely going to be supply ships with a frigate sailing slow for their protection".

"Thats S.O.P. isn't it?" Zachary asked "Thats what we'd do"

The radio man lifted his head up again and looked at the Captain "The airfield reports there were two dozen aircraft destroyed and they only got eight airborne and some of those were shot down". The Commander slowly shook his head, he knew there was little chance of getting much air cover. The Captain looked back to the radio man "Ask them if the enemy planes have left yet?"

"One of those ships has slowed down considerably, you don't suppose its feigning?" Zachary asked looking through his spy glasses. "It looks to be a frigate with a few medium guns".

"Tell our fleet to spread out a bit more" The Captain said and the Lt. Commander went to hoist the appropriate flags and banners. Lights were flashed in code to the nearest ships to share with their neighbors.

"The airfeild said the planes have left just now"

"Thank you" He told the radioman before turning to the Commander "They'll most likely have time to refuel and rerarm those aircraft before we get close enough to the carrier"

The US frigate turned and flashes could be seen followed by plumes of smoke, the shots splashed in the water a good hundred yards in front of them. "Tell the main forward guns to fire a range finder" The Captain ordered. "This frigate might just be easy pickings.. the next warship is not likely to be"

"That frigate is the USS Toledo" Someone reported. Indeed that particular frigate was one of the less warlike of the warships. It had a history of bad luck and 'ghosts', from accidents to scraping against its own sister ships and even managed to fire upon a US battleship once. The Toledo was one of the more laughed at ships in the US fleet.

The Captain looked at the other ships in his charge and noticed the frigate CSS Antonio Savalas was pouring on the steam to meet the enemy vessel. He saw the frigate CSS Phoenix and the destroyer CSS Pensacola moving fast to the north where they suspected the carrier of this fleet would be sailing. No reason fo all the ships to be going after a single frigate. Especially the Toledo he mused, happy his orders were being followed-such as they were.

The latest rounds from his ship and the Savalas had found their range and they were laying on the fire. Then as he and his officers watched through their glasses the bridge of the enemy vessel exploded. Soon secondary explosions rocked the enemy vessel and it quickly began to ride lower into the water. It had also stopped moving forward.

"I do believe that is a kill" The Captain said "I think maybe luck was not on their side"

Commander Walken spoke up "The Antonio Savalas is signalling whether it should join the others in looking for the carrier or sink the supply vessels?". The Captain intended to have the Atlanta doing the former and gave the frigate the job of the latter. It was also told to watch for enemy aircraft as it carried several anti-aircraft batteries aboard.

The CSS Atlanta turned northward in search of a much larger target.

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Richmond Virginia

Jonas Elder Sr. knew a bad thing when he saw it and this war was definitely a bad thing, the Confederacy was just not prepared for it. He watched as soldiers marched up and down the street and sometimes there were vehicles pulling artillery and such. The aircraft flying over the city had become omnipresent, they were always up there waiting for US aircraft.

Richmond was starting to look like a military base as the defenses fell into place against attack from US forces. He had never seen so many military personnel in Richmond before, not even for the annual Military Appreciation Day parades.

Elder knew what sort of shape the Confederate forces were in, he had written about them at legnth for his magazine Southern Standard. The Standard had done several essays on the state of the military forces and their many weaknesses. Those first series of essays a few years ago helped bring President Atwater into office.

The last issue had a cover photo of a US built tank running over the Confederate flag with the headline 'US war machine awakens'. The story pointed out that the Confederate war machine was in a coma and was only just starting to undergo slow changes. He also knew of some in the administration who blamed his magazine for their present perils.

Just that day a Richmond Dispatch writer had told them that the Secretary of the Army blamed the Southern Standard himself for bringing their decrepit state to the attention of the US. The writer also asked why the magazine used the name Southern when there was no southern states in the Confederacy (excepting Cuba).

"Its not a geographical thing any longer, the southern cause is part of our spirit and our heritage but its still southern because it always has been." He told the writer "Besides we couldn't think of a better sounding title"

As he entered his office he wondered if the next day's Dispatch would be a negative story about his magazine. He hoped this didn't hurt the magazine's circullation. There were two gruff men in his office and all his other staff were nowhere to be found. "Hey Anton, if ain't that big editor man himself. He the one who wrote all those bad things about the army in his magazine"

Jonas tried to back out but two large hands grabbed his shoulders. The man who had spoken laughed and said "Did I plum forget to introduce my buddy Paulie? He ain't none too happy with yer magazine neither"

"Look boys, you really should think about this" He told them as they closed in slowly. The one named Anton spoke up "Oh we already done that, we did."

[Attero Dominatus]

Very good. I especially like the surface battles between the ships.

The last issue had a cover photo of a US built tank running over the Confederate flag with the headline 'US war machine awakens'. The story pointed out that the Confederate war machine was in a coma and was only just starting to undergo slow changes. He also knew of some in the administration who blamed his magazine for their present perils.

Just that day a Richmond Dispatch writer had told them that the Secretary of the Army blamed the Southern Standard himself for bringing their decrepit state to the attention of the US. The writer also asked why the magazine used the name Southern when there was no southern states in the Confederacy (excepting Cuba).

Souths like the Southern Standard pulled a New York Times.

[Floyd Looney]

I think that was it, they were whistle blowers even though their current Prez was trying to fix those problems. The CSA is not as industrial as the USA and it was beginning to get very lopsided technologically.

[cambrian]

I've only just skimmed it so far, but it flows well. The CSA is going to have to play some considerable catch-up.

[Floyd Looney]

I had to decide on what technology advanced and what didn't since the US/CSA stayed out of WW1, or "That European War" as it might have been called.

[icebear]

The ultimate weapon during much of the 1900s was the torpedo. Getting hit with one of the things was basically the same proposition as taking a hit from a battleship gun below the waterline.

Granted Japan had no shot in WW-II and simply should not have been there, Germany had real chances to win and there are a dozen or so things Hitler could have done differently, any two or three of which would have won for him.

The simplest would have been not to invade Russia; Russia would have collapsed in five years and he could have picked up the pieces for free.

Next would have been starting WW-II with the 300 ocean-going U-Boats which Doenitz wanted instead of building pocket battleships. That would have taken England out of the war in one year and, had he really wanted to get fancy about it, he could have built U-Boats AND small carriers like our Lexington class.

Here's the kicker: English, American, and Japanese carrier war doctrine called for three kinds of carrier planes i.e. fighters, bombers, and torpedo planes. That would not have been necessary for Germany, or for your what-if style CSA in 1934 assuming that it also had subs. The striking arm of the German navy would have been the U-boats; all any carriers would have needed to carry would have been fighters (e.g. a ruggedized version of an FW190 with a tail hook), aviation fuel, machinegun ammo, and rockets. The only need would have been to keep escort ships away from the subs, and enemy aircraft away from themselves, the subs would have kept enemy capital ships away from the carriers.

Likewise if I were running a CSA navy in 1930, the emphasis would have been on subs and small carriers.

[icebear]

Also before you make any final decision about viewing the confederates as heroes or any such, you might want to take a look at this:

www.member.tripod.com/~american_almanac/listlieb.htm

There were two big dialectics in 1860 and not just one. There was slavery AND the question of whether or not having defeated the British militarily in 1779, we were going to simply surrender to them in what amounted to an economic war. THAT is part of what the South wanted to do.