Lost Submariner's Log (standard:science fiction, 6215 words)
Author: Tanada	Added: Jul 13 2002	Views/Reads: 3644/2782	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
Commander Watson must decide, is it all a trick or did he really travle through time?

Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story


At 09:00 by my watch a gig pulled alongside the Saint Paul but as I went
down the accommodation ladder to greet it some very formally polite 
shore patrol officers placed me under arrest!  They were unfamiliar 
with my engineering officer's work uniform and arrested me for wearing 
the collar insignia of a Lt. Commander.  A handful of SP's began 
searching the Saint Paul for others while a lone officer took me ashore 
and lead me to the brig. 

I was stripped of all my pins, my name tag, my fish, belt and shoes,
wallet and even my dog tags, and placed in a holding cell. 

At 14:00 the interrogation started.  They had never heard of the Miranda
decision nor do I think they would have cared.  When I insisted on 
legal council they got a lot rougher with me so I adopted the Geneva 
convention POW approach, name rank and serial number, over and over 
again. Watson A. J., Lt. Commander United States Navy, 363-76-1976, 
over and over again to every question for hour after hour! 

Finally at 17:00 hours my ordeal ended, a tray of food arrived with two
prestigious visitors, the President and Secretary of the Treasury!  No 
it wasn't Gerald Ford, nor was it James Carter, it was Franklin Delano 
Roosevelt! 

The President took a seat across from me as did his companion. Then he
started questioning me, albeit in a much more civilized and 
non-threatening manner than the SP's had tried. 

"You say your name in A. J. Watson Lt. Commander United States Navy, is
that correct?" 

"Yes Sir." 

"It may interest you to know Commander Watson that your name does not
appear in either the personnel files of the navy department nor in the 
list of commissioned officers I keep in the White House." 

"That's Impossible!" 

"I believe I can explain the inconsistency Commander Watson." 

"Please do!" 

"First Commander a few more questions if you please.  Who am I?" 

"I assume you are another Naval Intelligence officer, though you do bear
a striking resemblance to FDR." 

"Who is FDR?" 

"Franklin Delano Roosevelt." 

"Why couldn't I be FDR?" 

"Why?  He's been dead over 30 years!  What kind of questions are these
anyway?" 

At my announcement my questioner blanched a pale white but quickly
rallied and continued. 

"Is this your wallet Commander Watson?", he asked placing my empty
wallet on the table before me.  It was empty but definitely my wallet. 

"Yes it is." 

"And this card?", he asked placing my BankAmericard on the table, "What
is it for?" 

"My BankAmericard?  I use it to buy things on credit, same as most
people." 

"And the $300.00 you had in cash?" 

"We just got into port on Wednesday and I planned to do some Christmas
shopping for my brother's family this afternoon." 

"Of this $300.00 you had a $100.00 United States Note, nine $20.00
Federal Reserve notes, and four $5.00 silver certificates, is that 
correct?" 

"I guess so, I just made sure it was $300.00 when I drew it from the
paymaster." 

"The Treasury Department has verified that the paper and ink used to
print these notes and certificates is authentic." the other man said 
speaking for the first time. 

"And?", I asked waiting for the shoe to drop. 

"These notes date from 1957 to 1974.", he said expectantly. 

"So what is the significance of that?" I asked becoming confused. 

"Do you know what today is Commander Watson?" FDR asked. 

"Sunday December 5th." 

"And the year?" 

"1976!", I was getting exasperated. 

"No Commander, Today is not Sunday, December 5, 1976, today is Friday
December 5, 1941." 

"That's impossible!" 

"On any normal day Commander Watson I would whole heartedly agree with
you, but then again this has hardly been a normal day has it?" 

"I can't explain how I got from Bremerton to Washington D.C. along with
a bunch of mothballed old ships, but I refuse to believe I traveled 
backward in time 35 years to the eve of World War Two in the process!" 

"Come with me Commander I believe a drive around town may convince you
otherwise." 

"All right," I agreed and went to the front desk where most of my
possessions were returned to me, excepting the $300.00 for which I 
received a check. 

"Lets start with the bank, so I can cash this check." , I requested. 

We went to the bank in the President's car, a 1941 model naturally, and
I admit wondering how they did it as I saw nothing out of place in 
1941.  No modern cars, no modern traffic lights, absolutely perfect 
presentation. 

We went to the nearest bank and upon receiving the check from me they
proceeded to pay it in $20.00 Silver Certificates without ever asking 
to see my driver's license, military ID or any other picture I.D.! 

I think that convinced me before our drive got properly started, but I
decided to test my captors and try to trip them up. 

"No Gold Certificates?", I asked FDR upon my return to his car. 

"Why no, all the gold certificates were withdrawn and destroyed in 1933
when the gold was called in." 

"Oh, and I suppose next you're going to tell me we won World War Two by
borrowing notes from the Federal Reserve?" I asked. 

"Commander we are not yet fighting on any front, and we probably won't
be until spring!" 

From that point the President had his driver take us around town and I
admit the tour was quite compelling.  I asked for permission to guide 
our direction of travel and soon had the driver taking us through the 
suburbs.  Downtown Washington  had appeared unchanged in general 
appearance but the slums were remarkably different than I had expected. 
 Neighborhoods were remarkably neat, houses freshly painted, yards were 
freshly raked of leaves and quite a bit of Metropolitan Washington area 
was acre after acre of farmland, not yet developed! 

The only explanations I could come up with were that I really was in
1941 as claimed or I was being brainwashed.  If I were being 
brainwashed I dared not reveal anything I knew about modern technology 
as enemies of the US could make fatal use of it.  On the other hand if 
I were in 1941 the US was about to enter a long brutal war that I could 
do a great deal to influence for the better.  With what I knew I could 
design nuclear power engines for all types of vessels both military and 
civilian, and never fear that I would be giving secrets to our enemies. 


On the one hand I knew all about Japanese and German submarine tactics
from the historical point of view, I had studied it extensively at 
annapolis naval college.  All that I could safely reveal.  On the 
technology front I could safely divulge information on transistors 
which are quite common in civilian use as are  many types of radar and 
sonar, which in 1941 had not been invented or were of very poor and 
inefficient designs. 

Even the old military radars on the mothballed ships I arrived with
would not reveal anything useful to any 1976 enemy of the US. BUT, the 
missile launchers I had seen on some of those cruisers were of types 
that were highly classified and would continue in use for many years to 
come.  If any enemy were to find a weakness in those weapon systems it 
could be disastrous to America as I knew it. 

If possible I would have to make sure that those missile launchers were
destroyed, and I thought I had an edge in that the ships had been 
clearly mothballed.  I would claim that as a sign of the fact that they 
had been failure's in operation and part of the reason these ships were 
mothballed. 

"Mr. President," I said having thought this through more quickly than it
can be written down, "Do you believe I am who I say I am?" 

"Yes commander I do." 

"What do you propose to do with me now?" 

"Well Commander I'm sure that as a naval officer you studied this coming
war from a historical standpoint.  Surely your foreknowledge of events 
will be very helpful to us." 

"Mr. President, I am a nuclear submarine engineer.  With the knowledge
in my head and the materials on that mothballed fleet I can start the 
nuclear age 20 years ahead of the time when it would naturally occur.  
With nuclear boilers a ship or submarine can steam for years between 
refuelings!  Imagine a submarine that can sail from Portland Maine 
around South America to Portland Oregon without ever rising above a 
depth of 600 feet!  Such a sub is an SSN, designed to attack naval 
vessels but with the speed to evade depth charges!  With advanced 
batteries a regular  submarine can quietly stalk  merchant vessels 
while the SSN's lead off or destroy the convoy escorts.  Nuclear 
powered Battleships, cruisers, destroyers and carriers can sail around 
the world without fueling stops, needing only to take on provisions of 
food and spare parts from nuclear powered cargo ships meeting them on 
the high seas. These are all commonplace things in 1976 Mr. President 
and with your support I can make them commonplace in 1943 but...", I 
stopped abruptly remembering what he had said the date was. 

"What is it Commander you're as pale as a ghost!" 

"What's the exact date?" 

"December 5, 1941." 

"Oh my God, Mr. President, does your driver have top secret clearance?" 

"Yes of course, what is it?" 

"Churchill's betrayal!  Starting tomorrow the top secret project known
as MAGIC by military intelligence will begin receiving a very long 
message in 14 parts for delivery to the State Department at 13:00 hours 
Washington D.C. time Sunday December 7th. The 14th part of the message 
is just one line, breaking off negotiations, and it is the only 
declaration of war we ever got." 

"War with whom?", he asked rather rattled. 

"The Japanese attack and invade Hawaii December 7th, 1941, at least they
did in the history I studied.  It was a total defeat for the US, they 
came at 07:50 hours with bombers and caught the fleet helplessly tied 
up to their piers.  The air corp was caught on the ground too and when 
the troops invaded we had nothing left to fight with.  By December 12th 
Oahu fell and the Japanese  capture half the pacific fleet where it 
rested on the bottom of Pearl Harbor, easily salvaged and used against 
us!" 

"Why did you say Churchill's betrayal first?" 

"After his death in 1957 Churchill's war diaries were unsealed,
revealing that he had full knowledge from a british agent 48 hours 
before the attack, but kept it secret to avoid revealing he had a spy 
high in the Japanese officer corp." 

"That Limey bastard!  After all I've done for him?" 

"Yes, Mr. President, if you expect any gratitude out of that bunch you
are looking in the wrong place." 

"In fact they never paid us back for their war debts and were unwilling
to help us against Japan in the last years of the war even after 
Germany was defeated." I continued coming back towards history as it 
was. 

The President sat there fuming for the entire trip back to the White
House and I didn't wish to intrude on his thoughts so I stayed silent 
as well. 

When we arrived at the White House it was after 19:00 and I was
emotionally exhausted. None of the inaccuracies I had claimed in my 
recitation of 'history' had been challenged which meant either I was in 
1941 and they didn't know any better or I was in the hands of 
professional actors who never batted an eye at my lies. 

At the behest of the President I was shown to a guest room and given pen
and paper to write down everything I could recall about the attack on 
Pearl Harbor.  I stuck to the facts as best I could recall in regards 
to the first two waves of Japanese bombers but after that I invented 
the details of the Japanese invasion and over running of Oahu.  After I 
had all that done I wrote out a plan for a counter attack with the 
Battleships going to Midway to meet the carriers and then swing north 
to intercept the retreating Japanese when they were low on fuel and 
ammunition, and after the air corp had softened them up with a warm 
reception on Oahu.  The air corp would keep a continuous radar scan to 
detect the incoming bombers and intercept them with fighters while the 
heavy bombers would seek out and destroy <in theory anyhow> the 
Japanese fleet.  While the heavy bombers moved in for the kill the 
P-40's would intercept the incoming bombers and the older P-36 fighters 
would serve as the last line of defense hitting them as they milled 
around over the target. 

It was around 21:00 when I finished and gave the papers to the
president's naval attache'.  Then I stripped down to my skivvies and 
went to bed having been up for 20 hours straight and under stress for 
much of that time. 

I awoke at 05:00 when a valet brought in a set of new uniforms along
with a presidential commission in the navy as a full commander and an 
invitation to join the President for breakfast at 06:00. 

The President informed me that he had sent the coded orders to Kimmel
and Short on Oahu, and that he would call with the go code as soon as 
the message in 14 parts began to arrive. 

I received pen and ink at my request and began brainstorming to pass the
time by listing things I could safely 'invent' in 1941 to help the war 
effort while at the same time not give vital information to the enemy 
if this was an elaborate brainwashing scheme. 

The list of things I decided to start with was as follows, Transistors,
air search radar, surface search radar, radar transponders, active and 
passive sonar, jet engines both ramjets and turbine compressor types, 
Nuclear breeder reactors, nuclear converter reactors, shaped charge 
explosives research, fix Mk 14 torpedo detonators, penicillin, sabot 
rounds for artillery and naval cannon, FM radio, irradiated food, 
submarine schnorkle's for diesel subs.  All technology would be at a 
civilian level of use in 1976, not militarily useful in 1976 but deadly 
useful in 1941. 

Finally around 12:50 the President called my room and asked me to join
him in the oval office, where I was introduced to the Secretaries of 
War, Navy, State and Treasury.  A messenger had just arrived with the 
second part of the message and I carefully stuck to my version of 
history which so far seemed to be happening just as I had remembered 
and reported it. 

After a few questions to confirm parts of my report the meeting was
recessed with a plan to reconvene at 12:00 the next day, December 7, 
1941.  The President then directed Henry Morgan, Secretary of the 
Treasury and myself into his private office. 

"Commander Watson," Roosevelt began, "Yesterday you made statements
implying that Gold Certificates are commonplace in the United States 
and that the Federal Reserve Notes are somewhat disparaged.  On the 
other hand you carried 'credit cards' and quite a large number of fed 
notes in your wallet.  Could you clarify this seeming inconsistency?" 

"Certainly Mr. President," I replied having given serious thought to
this very issue while brainstorming this morning. 

"When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor the President, er I mean you
sir, knew that public confidence had to be kept high if we were to 
defeat our enemies.  That coupled with the fact that the national debt 
was owned by the Federal Reserve banking system lead to an obvious 
solution.  By executive order the Federal Reserve Banks were 
nationalized and converted into a unit of the treasury department.  In 
my era each state has its own branch of the Federal Reserve but their 
only job is to distribute certificates and notes to private banks and 
purchase precious metals for the Treasury mints to coin." 

"But what about the private investors of the Federal Reserve?" Secretary
Morgan asked. 

"By executive order all the gold collected in 1933 was returned to
coinage at $50.00 per ounce with new coins at fifty, twenty, ten and 
five dollar denominations.  As soon as the gold coins were distributed 
to the private banks the silver coins and certificates were called in 
and new coins were issued at $2.00 per ounce in two dollar, one dollar, 
fifty cents and twenty five cents." 

"So the Federal Reserve was paid for with these new coins?" 

"No Mr. Secretary, the Federal Reserve was paid off in United States
Notes, backed by the full faith and credit of the United States." 

"Then why are Federal Reserve notes disparaged? 

"They have no backing Mr. Secretary.  They are no better that
counterfeit in many peoples eyes as if you want to change them for gold 
and silver coin the banks have every legale right to refuse. United 
States Notes are not the best as they can only be converted at the 
Federal Reserve bank in each state, or at the treasury department 
branch mints." 

"One moment Commander, if all these coins are so common in the future
why is it that you carried none yourself?" President Roosevelt asked. 

"Well Mr. President, nuclear reactors are heavily shielded to prevent
energetic particles from escaping but military reactors are not as well 
shielded as civilian reactor and some neutrons escape. When a neutron 
strikes metal it causes intense local secondary radiation which tends 
to cause sterility.  Most navy crews in my day and age don't carry 
pocket change in hopes that they will someday father children," I 
explained raising smiles on both the older men's faces. 

"Commander Watson, have you given any thought to how you can serve your
country best in the coming war?" President Roosevelt asked. 

"Well sir, as I have said I can bring about rapid advances in
electronics including radar, sonar and radio, and more importantly in 
nuclear turbines for electric power, ship and submarine propulsion and 
industry, given sufficient resources of course." 

"All right Commander Watson, It has been calculated that the 19 vessels
you arrived with would cost at least 750 million dollars to build.  I 
believe that to be a low estimate but I am prepared to make you head of 
special projects with that as your budget." 

"I don't know what to say Mr. President." I said stunned by the offer. 

"Say you accept." 

"I accept!" 

"Excellent, I have already ordered the vessels in question to be moved
to Philadelphia Navy Yard as quickly as possible.  They have been under 
guard since five PM yesterday to ensure that nothing will be disturbed 
and you will have a free hand fitting them out for service." 

"Fitting them out sir?" 

"Yes, as soon as the battle is over at Pearl Harbor you will head to
Philadelphia.  Your first task will be to get those ships and subs 
combat ready, we are going to need them for the war effort." 

"But Mr. President, I studied how to sink surface ships, not how to
repair them!" 

"Commander Watson, I guarantee that you know more about how to fix those
ships that anyone else in the here and now.  You can requisition any 
personnel you feel you need." 

"Yes Sir," I said realizing this would give me the perfect opportunity
to remove and destroy the missile systems on the ships. 

"Can I have a written order from you to that effect?" 

"I have it right here Commander, and don't hesitate to step on any toes
to get what you need to do the job." 

Taking my leave of the President I made a quick shopping trip and bought
a steamer trunk for my new uniforms, then I took my 'Blank Check' 
letter as I call it to the navy department. It orders all military 
personnel to render all aid and assistance to me by order of the 
President. 

In effect the letter said I was answerable to President Roosevelt only
and in theory gave me the authority to order Generals and Admirals 
around, though I had no plans to test that limit!  First I phoned the 
navy yard and asked for a list of the mothballed vessels by type.  The 
list they gave me was six large aircraft carrier's, one small aircraft 
carrier, four heavy cruiser's, two light cruiser's, five submarine's 
and two unclassifiable ships.  I knew I would need about 100 officers 
for each of the surface ships and around a ten for each submarine, a 
total of about 1500 officers. 

I placed my next call to BuPers, the Bureau of Personnel, and ordered
them on my personal authority to draw up a list of inactive reserve 
naval officers ranked Lt. Commander and lower with reason for leaving 
service and brief career notes. 

Given that it was now 16:00 I went down to a deli in town and picked up
a couple dozen sandwiches and coffee for the BuPers people I would be 
keeping up all night. 

When I arrived at BuPers I found the office half empty but my letter got
people called in and hard at work in no time!  By 17:00 I was plowing 
through the files sorting them, starting with the A's and making three 
piles.  By 21:00 I had 500 keepers and sent  that list off to be 
reactivated and ordered to report to Philadelphia navy yard by fastest 
available transportation.  At 01:00 I had selected another 400 and 
decided that was good enough for now. After telling the BuPers people 
that I was pleased with their performance so far I dropped the shoe on 
them by directing that the next 20,000 available enlisted men were to 
be sent to me at Philadelphia as well.  Amidst their groans I made my 
exit and went to bed. 

Calling BuPers at 11:00 Sunday  I was pleased to discover that all 900
selected officers had been reactivated and telegramed their orders and 
that 3200 enlisted men had been assigned my special projects section at 
Philadelphia.  I was then told that I could have 300 additional 
enlisted men per week unless I ordered them to strip active ships of 
personnel.  I left a standing order for 200 per week so that other 
project wouldn't be short changed and ate a hasty lunch so I could 
attend the 12:00 meeting on a full stomach. 

At 11:45 I was ushered into the cabinet room where a speaker had been
set up by phone link to Hawaii forwarding reports to us. 

At 12:00 the relay reported that the 54 available bombers had arrived at
the rally point 200 miles NE of Oahu and were circling while awaiting 
orders. 

At 12:07 radar contact with the first wave was made and 99 P-40 fighters
were scrambled to intercept them.  The P-36's were ordered to warm up 
their engines and the bombers were vectored in to the expected Japanese 
fleet location, based on my report and the radar tracking available. 

The USAAF bomber's were in three groups, 12 fast A-20A attack bombers
spread out to locate the fleet followed by 12 B-17D heavy bombers and 
lastly 30 slower B-18 medium bombers to do the heavy hitting. 

At 12:14 it was announced that all P-40's were airborne and en rout to
intercept, and that the older P-36's and very old P-26's were 
scrambling to provide local air cover to the island bases. 

At 12:22 the leading edges of the P-40 interceptors and Japanese first
wave met, head on at a closing speed over 350 mph. Arriving in loose 
elements of four planes each the P-40's faced 187 Japanese aircraft 
including 47 of the agile and deadly zero fighters.  The Japanese 
pilots were the best the Imperial navy had to offer, elite pilots with 
a great deal of experience flying over China where some had made ace 
and many others had at least one kill confirmed.  The P-40 pilots were 
untested in battle but eager and ready to fight in their heavily 
armored P-40's. 

Planes began to fall, first three P-40's, then a zero.  This was
followed by two more P-40's, then two Japanese Kate bombers. After that 
the radio relay was so chaotic as to be impossible to follow.  Two 
things were clear however, both sides were taking losses and the 
Japanese were bulling on toward Pearl Harbor. 

At 12:27 the confused chatter cut off as the channel was changed to the
American bomber frequency.  The A-20's had spotted the main fleet and 
were moving in to attack.  Fortunately for the A-20 crews the Japanese 
didn't spot them until they were ready to drop their bombs.  Two of 
them were shot down as they were withdrawing but the zero's were soon 
called off to intercept the B- 17D's.  The B-17's faired somewhat worse 
being attacked repeatedly both on approach and withdrawal.  Three were 
shot down outright and four more were damaged to the point that they 
were scrapped. 

By the time the slow old B-18's arrived the Japanese had launched the
zero's intended to guard the second wave, fully fueled and armed they 
cut a deadly swath through the B-18's. 

The B-18's each carried three 2,000 pound bombs, had very little armor
and many lacked modern self sealing gas tanks.  Added to that they had 
only three defensive gunners compared to the 6 gunners on the B-17D's.  
Of the 30 B-18's 18 were shot down and another 7 damaged beyond repair! 


Altogether the 54 USAAF bombers claimed to have sunk three carriers and
a battleship while in reality one lucky hit had sunk one japanese 
destroyer.  On the American side 22 bombers were shot down and 11 more 
were damaged beyond repair.  The 32 survivors were ordered to the 
island of Hawaii because by this time the Japanese first wave had 
reached Oahu and was attacking in full force. 

At the start of the battle the USA had 99 relatively new P-40's, 39
older P-36's and 14 old P-26's dating from 1934! Opposing this group of 
152 fighters were the Japanese first wave attackers with 187 aircraft 
including 47 Zero fighters.  Only the larger numbers of American 
fighters allowed the USAAF pilots to break through the zero's and 
attack the Japanese bombers. 

At 13:35 it is reported that the Japanese first wave is withdrawing
northward and the surviving American pilots begin landing to refuel and 
rearm to face the expected next wave. 

Not having any ships to hit with their torpedo's the Kate bombers in the
first wave struck at the gates on the dry docks and the old training 
ship Utah.  Two also took out their frustration by attacking the cruise 
liner Lelani in the civilian side of the harbor and sinking her at her 
dock, causing the greatest concentrated civilian casualties.  In the 
military harbor all but one of the drydocks were smashed open and the 
heavy bombs carried by other attackers destroyed the destroyers Cassin 
and Dowes and heavily damaged the Battleship Pennsylvania where the 
three of them sat in the main dry dock. 

In terms of aircraft lost the Japanese had 18 bombers and 22 fighters
shot down while the USAAF lost 65 fighters  and had 12 more damaged and 
unable to face the expected second wave. 

The second wave failed to arrive on schedule and when the surviving
heavy bombers refueled and re-armed on Hawaii they were launched to 
search for the Japanese fleet and make a second attack. At 15:04 the 
Japanese fleet was spotted by the bombers and attacked without success 
250 miles north of Oahu retreating NW at 25 knots. The battle of Pearl 
Harbor was over, and this time around America had plenty of warning and 
time to prepare.  Despite shooting down 40 japanese planes we lost 65 
fighters and another 38 heavy bombers in two attacks by them on the 
Japanese fleet.  In addition the airfields, hangars, and port 
facilities had been heavily damaged by bombing.  Worst of all was the 
destruction of the main fuel tank at Pearl Harbor where the fire burned 
out of control for days. 

The only high note was that this time the fleet was not caught tied up
alongside the docks and this time the Japanese paid a higher price for 
their victory. 

Damage reports kept flowing in for hours after the first wave retreated
but around 18:00 the President took me aside and congratulated me on 
successfully forecasting the Japanese strategy for the first wave of 
the attack. 

"For me Mr. President it was a matter of recalling certain Historical
facts, not forecasting.  By the way I should tell you that all through 
the war the bombers of both the army and the navy claimed to have 
destroyed ten times as many targets as they actually did.  A high 
altitude bomber almost never hits a maneuvering ship because the ship 
turns after the bombs are dropped and they miss.  The first rule of 
winning any battle in the coming war at sea or on the land is control 
of the air, then fighting the battle." 

"Is that the rule in your age as well Commander?" 

"Yes and no Mr. President.  In my age observers in space locate the
enemy.  After that control of the air is vital, and control of the 
deeps at sea follows.  After those areas the battle devolves back to 
its basic form of man against man or ship against ship.  Without 
control of the air you risk enemy detection and air assault, and 
without control of the deeps you risk submarine attacks." 

"The Japanese have certainly proven how deadly air attacks can be to our
forces." 

"Yes Mr. President, what the US needs first of all is effective radar
coverage which I can provide within months, that gives early warning of 
enemy air attacks.  We also need superior fighters to destroy those 
enemy attack's before they get close enough to do damage to our assets. 
 The best propeller driven fighter plane of the war is already being 
built but because of inter service rivalry the army refused to use it 
in the history I studied." 

"What fighter is that?" 

"The navy F4U Corsair Mr. President.  It is superior to the zero in
every aspect and is also better than any German or Italian design now 
being used." 

"But the army never bought any?", he asked sounding slightly puzzled. 

"That's right Mr. President, Hap Arnold doesn't want the navy to get any
credit though I doubt he would admit that.  Thousands of American lives 
will be saved if you order the AAF to buy F4U corsairs and deploy them 
to forward area's like Hawaii, Midway, and Australia in the pacific.  
If and when we go to war in Europe they should be deployed to England 
and Liberia as well.  The pilots who flew those P-40's against the 
zero's today will love to fly the F4U against it in the months and 
years to come." 

"I'll see to it those pilots get the planes they need.  I see by the
clock you can still make the 7:00 PM train to Philadelphia Commander, 
any other pieces of information you can give me right now?" 

"No Sir, but I'm sure events over the next few months will trigger other
memories I have of the war as it originally went and I will let you 
know whenever that happens. 

That was last night and now I sit here in my new office with a view of
the shipyard below recording the last few hectic days waiting for the 
President to address the congress at 12:00.  He will be asking for a 
declaration of war against the Japanese for their all too successful 
raid on Pearl Harbor.  From where I sit I can see the fleet I arrived 
with and with my 'blank check' authority I can have them in the war 
effort in 6 to 9 months. 

The four gun cruisers and the 5 Essex class carriers will go the fastest
as they need the least amount of work to meet or beat World War Two 
standards.  The Cleveland class half missile cruiser's will take a 
little longer, stripping out the Missile equipment and putting 6" guns 
back where they were to start with.  The last three surface ships will 
take the most time, all three are cruiser hulls but from the main deck 
up they were completed or rebuilt into three different designs.  One as 
a light carrier, one as a seaborne command post and the third as an all 
missile cruiser.  I could rebuild them all as carriers, or all as gun 
cruisers, or any combination. 

I think I'll have my yeoman bring some coffee while I decide. 

THE END 


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