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

ONE

“Good morning, Barkey. Have a cup of this coffee Jones made. It'll wake you or kill you.”

“Thank you, Wilson, I'll do just that. As a submariner I can attest that there is no coffee on earth that doesn't taste wonderful after swilling gallons of the stuff we drink on patrol.”

“Last night before he left for London I had a chat with Smithy. We reviewed what to do with the tables, and it seems that for now we just need to sort out some foundational work on what happens when a U-boat meets a ship in different kinds of circumstances.”

“So that's where you the surface operator and I the submariner come into it?”

“Precisely. The crew can help us roll through a long list of basic scenarios so we can have an idea of how things unfold.”

“You are the boss, I presume, with your RNR commission from Henry VIII, but I propose we split up and make it real attacks by my submarine – at least for the first runs. Davies and the crew know how to run scenarios and they can help us run a bunch of different models, so that we can develop some understanding.”

“Haha. Yes, RNR often find that a wee bit of gray hair and our dusty old commissions put us in charge. You should know that I discussed that with Smithy and indeed I am administratively the second-in-command. However, while he recognizes the need for seniority sometimes, if and as required, he has a rather modern post-Victorian view and wants us all to work together to get the job done. And since I think you have a splendid idea. We'll tackle it that way.”

Half an hour later they had a general list of scenarios worked out. The list included different scenarios covering different factors, starting with basics such as vessels involved and their characteristics, sea and light conditions, armament (if any), ranges, and on to other adjustments such as proximity of other vessels and anything else they thought might matter.

CPO Jones was assigned control of the schedule and planning, and made the first suggestion for focusing their attention: “Sirs, we have an awful lot to do, and it will take us a few days. We need to divide these like branches of a tree, and start with the most basic scenarios, the main trunks as it were, and do all those first. Then, having learned a bit about what matters, we can branch out into details and changes, and sharpen the rest of our list.”

Imrie nodded. “Sounds like a good idea. And in a day or so we should be getting reports in from Weldon and the others – that will help us fill in the blank spots, or identify new scenarios we need to test.”

PO Cooper, looking at the list, said, “we'll identify what doesn't matter, at least for running scenarios efficiently but also we hope doesn't matter for dealing with U-boat attacks. We keep the basic testing scenario as simple as we can while still covering what we need, and not be distracted. That's how to learn: take a simple scenario and add small changes one at a time. We could drown in details. Sirs.”

Barker spoke in agreement: “Yes, that's excellent, Cooper. There are too many meaningless details, we just have to sort out which ones. You have it right. Keep it simple. Conceptually it really is very simple: the submarine finds and catches and attacks the ship and the ship tries to escape. If it can fight back it will.”

“Very good, then. The first couple of runs will take a bit longer to work through as we get used to your methodology, but after that we'll try to work them out as rapidly as we can.” As he spoke, Imrie realized that even in an egalitarian atmosphere like this, someone still had to wrap up discussions and put them into motion. “Barky and I will each take a second in command: Cooper and MacPherson. Davies you have overall control of making it happen and directing the ratings, assisted by Jones who also monitors what we do and what matters. Lieutenant Robinson will be joining us when he can.”

After seeing nods all around, he spoke again: “Ten minutes to visit the heads and to refill our mugs, then we begin.”