I'll confirm that. The sub is off the board, permanently. Its discovery will be the subject of a documentary in the 1980s.
Feel the Bearn - A Timeline of France's Only Carrier in WWII and Beyond
- Thread starter Seafort
- Start date
Bletchley Park was completely kept secret as far as I know despite countless people involved. until the government loosened the official secrets act.
Given the secrecy and danger here, there could be "we will kill your family in front of you" levels of evil suppression along with outright silencing of the unattached.
But hey, who knew the real Operation Unthinkable would be the US at war with Britain after WWII. Because that might just happen...
Oh my, Seafort loved my post. The train wreck looks to be derailing into a volcano...
I can't spoil it, but I can say that How Silent Fall the Cherry Blossoms, Icarus Falls, and Decisive Darkness are among my favorite timelines on the site.
Poor Andrew Cunningham, USS Marblehead is going to suffer the same fate of the Bismarck if she is unable to radio for help in time...
Churchill had ordered most of the Royal Navy to withdraw from the Pacific during the Levant Crisis, now all those ships will be searching for the Marblehead if the Navy truly believes that Marblehead has been hijacked by die hard Nazi's who possess Nuclear Shells.
(I only rediscovered this story detail when President Truman was commenting on the Anglo-French conflict in June 4 ,1945).
USS Marblehead has been with us since she towed the Bearn out of the Mediterranean Sea and across the eventful Atlantic, seeing her sacrificed will be quite of the bittersweet pill to bite on, at least she will have company down in the depths of the ocean with HMS Battler, HMS Meteor and U-2511.
Also I might have completely re-read the story (no I definable re-read it).
And no I'm still in denial that French Battleship Richelieu was easily sunk by HMS Illustrious, I remember that I declared war on this thread back in Jun 18, 2020 and I never got to undeclaring it..
Um on that strange note I'll end this comment here since most of this comment was made back in Thursday morning (00:00 - 03:00).
Churchill had ordered most of the Royal Navy to withdraw from the Pacific during the Levant Crisis, now all those ships will be searching for the Marblehead if the Navy truly believes that Marblehead has been hijacked by die hard Nazi's who possess Nuclear Shells.
(I only rediscovered this story detail when President Truman was commenting on the Anglo-French conflict in June 4 ,1945).
USS Marblehead has been with us since she towed the Bearn out of the Mediterranean Sea and across the eventful Atlantic, seeing her sacrificed will be quite of the bittersweet pill to bite on, at least she will have company down in the depths of the ocean with HMS Battler, HMS Meteor and U-2511.
Also I might have completely re-read the story (no I definable re-read it).
And no I'm still in denial that French Battleship Richelieu was easily sunk by HMS Illustrious, I remember that I declared war on this thread back in Jun 18, 2020 and I never got to undeclaring it..
Wait a sec what the... hold on WTF the declaration comment #468 was made in bloody June 18, 2020?! What a coincidence.
Um on that strange note I'll end this comment here since most of this comment was made back in Thursday morning (00:00 - 03:00).
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Chapter 13 - The Marblehead
5:15PM EST
Truman vows Harsh Peace in Joint Address; Nazi Subterfuge to be Punished - New York Times evening headline
Evacuation of German children to begin immediately - Washington Times-Herald evening headline
5:16PM EST
Frankfurt, American Zone of Occupation
General Montgomery Bernard surveyed the teams of soldiers that stood at attention in the courtyard of SHAEF. Colonel Charles Codman stood nearby, silently observing. And waiting to report back to Patton, undoubtedly, he noted dourly.
"Know then that our orders have been expanded from occupation and control," he said loudly. In the distance there were still the occasional crackles of gunfire. German resisters were still roaming the ruins of the city and were being dealt with, albeit in piecemeal fashion.
"This is now a rescue mission. One of mercy, but one that will be undertaken within potentially hostile circumstance."
Somebody groaned within the hundreds of American soldiers that were standing before him. The British General grimaced. "In one sense this shall be unlike anything that you have undertaken before, yet in another it is a continuation of the liberation that the British and Americans have brought to the continent. Today we will begin to liberate the youth of this land from the ideologies that have corrupted their parents and ravaged Europe. This is our common purpose, and we will conduct these operations with the character that bespeaks our nations. Dismissed."
The soldiers then broke into smaller ranks. Instructions would be handed out by superior officers. Grids were to be assigned, and then the units would go out into the night.
Montgomery saw Codman heading back towards the building. No matter, he thought. The British General looked at the bullet holes in the SHAEF headquarters, at the damage to the building from the earlier Werwolf attack. And then at the soldiers who were receiving their assignments.
Will this be the period to this matter? Or simply a new phase of escalation?
6:35PM EST
Munich, American Zone of Occupation
Anotnia Beckenbauer shuddered as a blast rocked her home. Now seven months pregnant, she had heard the broadcast by the American president. That all children under the age of five were to be relocated out of Germany. So too would be the child that she carried. Rumors were rampant that pregnant women would be taken away until they could give birth, but so far she had not seen this herself. Not that I can, she thought, I am hiding in a basement.
She had been there for three hours, hiding beneath the wreckage of a clothes cabinet. Above her, outside of the home she could hear continuous bursts of gunfire. The sounds of tanks moving through the streets. And the explosion of grenades.
The noise of the battle above continued for a while longer, then died down. And then she began to hear the screams.
6:48PM EST
Berlin, Soviet Zone of Occupation
Vasily Chuikov grimaced. Despite counterattacks, the sounds of the German insurgency were still audible within the Soviet headquarters. As were the actions to suppress it.
"The damn Americans and their foolish president," the Soviet general said. "This was to be an occupation. Not a battle of annihilation."
"Nor will it be," replied Georgy Zhukov. As military governor of the Soviet Occupation Zone this was ultimately his responsibility. No doubt any failure would be counted against him by Stalin, but also amplified by Beria. However in this case, Zhukov had agreed almost entirely with the orders that had been transmitted from Moscow.
"We will continue to put down the efforts of the Hitlerites," he said. "But as for the children, let that be on the heads of our Allies."
7:01AM EST
The Atlantic
Captain K.J. D'Arcy stood on the cramped bridge of the HMS Queen, watching the last of the Avengers take flight. To the starboard he could see Wildcats and Avengers alighting from the HMS Trumpeter and HMS Searcher. The three escort carriers had struggled to get their squadrons up in the rough North Atlantic weather, but had ultimately done so successfully.
He shuddered as he thought of the orders that he had received less than two hours earlier. They had been the closest to the estimated position of the enemy vessel, a ship now manned by the same fanatics who had brought such mayhem and death to Great Britain. He just prayed that they could intercept the Marblehead in time.
Truman vows Harsh Peace in Joint Address; Nazi Subterfuge to be Punished - New York Times evening headline
Evacuation of German children to begin immediately - Washington Times-Herald evening headline
5:16PM EST
Frankfurt, American Zone of Occupation
General Montgomery Bernard surveyed the teams of soldiers that stood at attention in the courtyard of SHAEF. Colonel Charles Codman stood nearby, silently observing. And waiting to report back to Patton, undoubtedly, he noted dourly.
"Know then that our orders have been expanded from occupation and control," he said loudly. In the distance there were still the occasional crackles of gunfire. German resisters were still roaming the ruins of the city and were being dealt with, albeit in piecemeal fashion.
"This is now a rescue mission. One of mercy, but one that will be undertaken within potentially hostile circumstance."
Somebody groaned within the hundreds of American soldiers that were standing before him. The British General grimaced. "In one sense this shall be unlike anything that you have undertaken before, yet in another it is a continuation of the liberation that the British and Americans have brought to the continent. Today we will begin to liberate the youth of this land from the ideologies that have corrupted their parents and ravaged Europe. This is our common purpose, and we will conduct these operations with the character that bespeaks our nations. Dismissed."
The soldiers then broke into smaller ranks. Instructions would be handed out by superior officers. Grids were to be assigned, and then the units would go out into the night.
Montgomery saw Codman heading back towards the building. No matter, he thought. The British General looked at the bullet holes in the SHAEF headquarters, at the damage to the building from the earlier Werwolf attack. And then at the soldiers who were receiving their assignments.
Will this be the period to this matter? Or simply a new phase of escalation?
6:35PM EST
Munich, American Zone of Occupation
Anotnia Beckenbauer shuddered as a blast rocked her home. Now seven months pregnant, she had heard the broadcast by the American president. That all children under the age of five were to be relocated out of Germany. So too would be the child that she carried. Rumors were rampant that pregnant women would be taken away until they could give birth, but so far she had not seen this herself. Not that I can, she thought, I am hiding in a basement.
She had been there for three hours, hiding beneath the wreckage of a clothes cabinet. Above her, outside of the home she could hear continuous bursts of gunfire. The sounds of tanks moving through the streets. And the explosion of grenades.
The noise of the battle above continued for a while longer, then died down. And then she began to hear the screams.
6:48PM EST
Berlin, Soviet Zone of Occupation
Vasily Chuikov grimaced. Despite counterattacks, the sounds of the German insurgency were still audible within the Soviet headquarters. As were the actions to suppress it.
"The damn Americans and their foolish president," the Soviet general said. "This was to be an occupation. Not a battle of annihilation."
"Nor will it be," replied Georgy Zhukov. As military governor of the Soviet Occupation Zone this was ultimately his responsibility. No doubt any failure would be counted against him by Stalin, but also amplified by Beria. However in this case, Zhukov had agreed almost entirely with the orders that had been transmitted from Moscow.
"We will continue to put down the efforts of the Hitlerites," he said. "But as for the children, let that be on the heads of our Allies."
7:01AM EST
The Atlantic
Captain K.J. D'Arcy stood on the cramped bridge of the HMS Queen, watching the last of the Avengers take flight. To the starboard he could see Wildcats and Avengers alighting from the HMS Trumpeter and HMS Searcher. The three escort carriers had struggled to get their squadrons up in the rough North Atlantic weather, but had ultimately done so successfully.
He shuddered as he thought of the orders that he had received less than two hours earlier. They had been the closest to the estimated position of the enemy vessel, a ship now manned by the same fanatics who had brought such mayhem and death to Great Britain. He just prayed that they could intercept the Marblehead in time.
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In a thread that I initially thought to be of some mere simple Free French Naval wank (how wrong I was), it has finally reintroduced us to new Naval ships since visiting the land of Cherry Blossoms back in 2020. . . um if you don't include Churchill's vision of two King George V-class Battleships being "altered" (modernized?) by somebody.7:01AM EST
The Atlantic
Captain K.J. D'Arcy stood on the cramped bridge of the HMS Queen, watching the last of the Avengers take flight. To the starboard he could see Wildcats and (-----> Averangers <---- hmm) alighting from the HMS Trumpeter and HMS Searcher. The three escort carriers had struggled to get their squadrons up in the rough North Atlantic weather, but had ultimately done so successfully.
I wonder if your using dice rolls to test how lucky Marblehead is at the initial battle, examples such as 'how well the equipment works' and 'when the air strike is detected', the Marblehead should have two catapult launched OS2U Kingfisher floatplanes available but its a long waaaay to the states and that range of 1,000 Kilometers isn't looking too hot when in the freaking North Atlantic while also being haunted by the lyrics of Rule Britannia! Oh god its stuck in my head now...
Modifications for the Omaha class were forbidden after September 1944 due to extreme age and obsolescence but the ships did get its AA suite upgraded with having 3 x twin 40 mm Bofos cannons and 12 x 20 mm single Oerlikon cannons. The ship also had 8 x .50 caliber (12.7mm) machine guns with four of them mounted atop the foremast and another four aft of the ships.
Marblehead also has the SK Air Search Radar (here is a link to an unsecured website that has more info on the obscure radar piece).
USS Marblehead is facing somewhere around 44 planes if I were to follow the example of the FAA raid against the Germans in Operation Judgement when 3 Escort Carriers were used to sink a U-boat and AA battery ship, but the HMS Queen could carry up to 20 aircraft and the Trumpeter and Searcher could carry upwards to 24 aircraft, that would in total combine to 68 planes. Compare that to the odds that French Battleship Richelieu had when it faced off against 36 Planes from the battle scarred Royal Navy fleet Carrier HMS Illustrious, the planes used in the attack however were all Corsair Fighters since the Avenger Torpedo planes were disembarked in Sydney as the ship was leaving the pacific theater for permeant repairs...
With those kind of odds I'm certain that USS Marblehead is doomed when facing real Torpedo/Dive bomber planes.
Come on... really?
You actually want to know more? Um okay.
I'm still bullying Seafort with Richelieu's magical sinking incident, ignore the fact that the Royal Navy had the 21st Aircraft Carrier Squadron stationed in Trincomalee, Ceylon in June 1945, that force was composed of maybe up to 4-5 Escort Carriers with Rear Admiral Geoffrey Oliver leading it...
It kind of crumbles my decisive belief that Richelieu should've lived... but I can always fall back on the formidable AA guns...
The ship still had 12 × 100 mm (3.9-inch) French made anti-aircraft guns but was refitted with fifty-six 40 mm (1.6 in) Bofors guns in quadruple mounts, all of them had their own Mk 51 gun directors fitted, supplemented with fifty 20 mm (0.79 in) Oerlikon cannons, all in individual or twin mounts.
French Light Cruiser Le Triomphant was also nearby and can support the Richelieu drawing away some Rockets, Bombs and torpedoes that would have otherwise been aimed at Richelieu.
Congrats on reading through a rant that I started way back in 2020 over a story detail that that required Space Bats in order to happen, said impossibility occurred all the way back in 2018... at the beginning of June 1945, god I feel old all of the sudden.
You actually want to know more? Um okay.
I'm still bullying Seafort with Richelieu's magical sinking
incident, ignore the fact that the Royal Navy had the 21st Aircraft Carrier Squadron stationed in Trincomalee, Ceylon in June 1945, that force was composed of maybe up to 4-5 Escort Carriers with Rear Admiral Geoffrey Oliver leading it...It kind of crumbles my decisive belief that Richelieu should've lived... but I can always fall back on the formidable AA guns...
The ship still had 12 × 100 mm (3.9-inch) French made anti-aircraft guns but was refitted with fifty-six 40 mm (1.6 in) Bofors guns in quadruple mounts, all of them had their own Mk 51 gun directors fitted, supplemented with fifty 20 mm (0.79 in) Oerlikon cannons, all in individual or twin mounts.
French Light Cruiser Le Triomphant was also nearby and can support the Richelieu drawing away some Rockets, Bombs and torpedoes that would have otherwise been aimed at Richelieu.
Congrats on reading through a rant that I started way back in 2020 over a story detail that that required Space Bats in order to happen, said impossibility occurred all the way back in 2018... at the beginning of June 1945, god I feel old all of the sudden.
Oh wait I got completely off topic there um ignore that, its probably not important.
What's more important is that HMS Searcher would get a Wikipedia section from its Civilian Merchant ship life as Captain Theo when it rescued 11-year-old girl Terry Jo Duperrault, having spent sea three-and-a-half days after surviving the mass murder of her family and the scuttling of the boat Bluebelle, having drifted upon a small cork dinghy without food, water or shelter for approximately 82 hours in the burning sunlight.
You can read more about Her amazing survival on YouTube or Wikipedia, I only choose to mention this survival story because I remembered it on YouTube, I just didn't expect that her rescuer was a former Royal Navy Escort Carrier that took part in the final air-raid by the FAA in Europe against German U-Boats in Operation Judgement.
She does, but the Brits were quite good at jamming. Thought it looks like an airstrike...
True, but barrage jamming either needs an enormously powerful transmitter or one in moderate proximity. A quick request for assistance to other US Navy units might well get through, before the UK can get a platform near enough. Plus jamming is pretty obvious, other USN units might be intrigued.
Another option, depending on where exactly the ship is, is a quick trip to Ireland and telegraphing home. Does the Marblehead have a motor boat (I believe she should have had a couple) or still carry floatplanes?
Right, and with an airstrike, barrage jamming isn't happening.
Floatplanes are an option, and yes, the ship will have at least one motor launch, probably more than one. The big problem with the floatplanes is that they have limited range, and will be murdered by any RAF fighter. Heck, an Avenger could probably shoot one down pretty easily.
Now, with an airstrike, Marblehead does have an acceptable AA suite, and are likely to be suspicious of any aircraft approaching.
The Avenger can horse a 2000 pound bomb in the air, which would really wreck Marblehead's day. Attempting to air-drop torpedo a light cruiser is going to be futile generally.
I'd expect sustained air attacks to slow the ship, either through damage or forcing it to evade. Then heavier attacks, even heavy bombers. Enough bombs and one might get lucky.
For the yanks, I'd expect ciphered calls for assistance, messages to Washington and the USN Atlantic command. Personally I'd run for the Irish coast, send the boats and floatplanes off to spread word. And then start screaming in clear.
If they can. Story has them wanting to maintain radio silence until halfway across the Atlantic. A near miss, or heck, some strafing could take out the radio.
Ireland isn't really safe; the RN has a history of ignoring neutrality, and might do a repeat of Operation Jaywick.
Of course, it's a big ocean, and finding one ship, even if you sort of know where she is, is not easy
Well here is one of the more recent picture of USS Marblehead back in May 10, 1944.
Note the two Floatplanes on the aft.
Note the two Floatplanes on the aft.
Pangur
Donor
Potential for another twist to the tale, they make it to Ireland and let the cat out out of the bag which will give the British a massive dose of the sh&*s about Dublin
Or a side-story with them evading British commandos around the countryside while trying to telegraph Washington, while the Marblehead make a run for the Atlantic...
Preferable with appearances from Helmut Clissmann and Richard Hayes. Görtz would still be around too.