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CHAPTER 1 Part 4: England Expects More....

FOUR

“Captain Green? You wanted to see me before I left, and I have the orders for Lieutenant Walke.”

“Of course Commander. I have been waiting for you to come and find me. Let's go out on the wing. Stuck ashore as you have been for the past year and a half, today's moderate breeze will do you good.”

They went out on the windward wing of the bridge – both for the fresh air and so they could converse privately. The two crew members doing maintenance there knew very well why the Captain liked it, and made themselves scarce.

“Commander, I am happy that you have your man. As much as I regret losing a good officer, I think he can do well for himself, for the Navy, and for Britain and he should have every opportunity. I am sure Mr. MacDougall will feel similarly.”

“Sir, I did get the feeling that Mr. MacDougall has taken a rather fatherly feeling toward Lieutenant Walke, quite apart from speaking well of him as an officer.”

“I agree. It has been good for both of them. But Smithy I wanted to speak with you specifically to tell you that Walke is the kind of methodical and rigorous thinker who will be invaluable in your new posting. If what I have been hearing is correct, the true crisis of the naval war will not come from any possible return of the battleships we sank and battered at Jutland but from those damned U-boats.”

“Oh, don't look so surprised, man. I didn't earn command of a battlecruiser with just my good looks. It's becoming obvious to anyone who thinks about it. I am sure MacDougall has it figured out, and lots of others. Look.... You are Jellicoe's man for figuring out a problem – and that has become known to the Admiralty as well following Jutland. And some have recognized that you work by first figuring out a way to properly study and work on the problem. Oh, Admiral Moore led the way forward, but you were always on your own path. And, by the by, I know how you sank your U-boat!” He chuckled. “We'd give up a destroyer to sink each U-boat, if necessary, but before that we have to find the bloody things.

“For many months after Moore took over 5BS you trained us all on your damned FACT tables. Every Captain and Admiral in the Grand Fleet and the BCF that I have spoken with has an odd mixture of frustration and anger, and heartfelt thanks, for the battle problems you had us working through. For the training!” The pitch of his voice rose to express his incredulity. “Imagine that – training senior officers in the Royal Navy who already know everything there is to know about ships and the sea!” He laughed and shook his head.

“So here we are. Barely more than three months ago we bashed and thrashed the High Seas Fleet, and so the Kaiser has had to go rogue and turn his U-boats to unrestricted warfare. And for the last six weeks our merchant ships have been suffering more every week. They may try to keep it from the public, but the navy knows and seafarers know and everyone will soon. We lose more every week – in numbers we can scarcely comprehend.

“I am sure that Admiral Jackson* is in as deep despair as anyone over this sudden turn in the U-boat campaign, I think you might see him replaced as First Sea Lord soon – as soon as they find a senior admiral who believes he has a way to tackle the U-boats and wipe them from the seas.

“You have been nobbled for this job. It might be impossible, but if there is a way to solve it you will need the best team we have got. I think Walke is one of those – he thinks for himself and sees things in a way that not everyone does. I hope the 2nd Lord's office has a few more. However I don't think it will be a large team that will solve this, it will be someone making a few key insights or discoveries about this completely new problem. Don't forget that everyone in the RN is a professional and once there is an answer, all will turn to and fall upon it. The real problem is knowing what to do.

“Commander Torrance Smythe, I wish you all the good luck you need and all the success you can handle. We need those U-boats stopped.” At that Captain Green ended his lecture and held out his hand.

“Thank you for the words of encouragement, and of wisdom, sir.” Torrance Smythe was thoughtful as they shook hands. “I will keep in mind the bit about fresh insights into a completely new problem. Everyone will help if we can only figure out what it is we have to do.”

“I sincerely hope it is wisdom, and not the ramblings of a weary old sea captain,” Green finished, with a smile, as Smithy turned to leave.

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*Admiral of the Fleet Sir Henry Bradwardine Jackson, First Sea Lord. (OTL May 1915 – November 1916; After Fisher and before Jellicoe.)