Feel the Bearn - A Timeline of France's Only Carrier in WWII and Beyond

[Seafort]

JUNE 19, 1945 1:35 AM EST
Washington, DC

Harry Truman grimaced, tasting copper in his mouth. He had spoken to his physician earlier in the day. No, make that yesterday, he thought with resignation. The privilege of sleep had not come. Not yet. And maybe not for many hours to come. For what he had just heard made any other concerns appear insignificant.

Edward Halifax sat in a chair across from the President of the United States. The British Ambassador appeared pained, and rightfully so as. Secretary of War Kenneth Royall sat several feet away, staring daggers at the Earl of Halifax.

"Repeat to me again what you have told me," Truman said, with the tone that this was not a request to a like ally.

"As I said, the news I have to provide you is tragic," said the Ambassador. "Yesterday we learned that Nazi agents had successfully commandeered one of your warships, the Marblehead, after successfully luring it off the coast of Great Britain. These fanatics, these Werwolves had every intent of attacking my nation."

"And why did another warship report that the Marblehead was heading away from Great Britain?" asked Truman.

"I said that this was their intent. However their plan had been foiled by one of your own sailors. A brave man, he sent out a distress call as the ship was being seized. He was cut off seconds later."

"We received no record of a distress call," said Royall, quietly.

"I'm not surprised," replied Halifax. "The sailor was cut off within twenty seconds. The Marblehead was close to Titangel when it happened and may have been out of range of any of your vessels. I have a transcript of his communications."

The British Ambassador opened his briefcase, withdrew papers and handed it to Truman. He read them quietly.

"We don't know who the man was, but he should be commended. He saved countless lives."

The President placed the papers down upon the Theodore Roosevelt Desk.

"Countless lives, you say?" he said softly. "Countless?"

Truman lifted his head. He leaned forward, his face reddening.

"Tell me, Lord Halifax, just how many lives could an old light cruiser possibly take? What is the worst that she could have done? Shelled us with her main battery until she was sunk?"

He stood up, gripping the edge of the desk so tightly that his tendons appeared to be ready to rip through his hands. "And just who in the hell made Great Britain the arbiter of the fate of over 450 American sailors? The ship was headed away from your nation. If anything, it posed a threat to us! Why the hell did Churchill not call me?"

Halifax blanched. "The Prime Minister has suffered what appears to be a heart attack. He is unconscious presently."

Truman sagged backwards. Now this, his mind screamed.

"Mr President, there was more to this than just the threat of 150mm cannons. The rapidity of our decision came in concert with our SOE also receiving intelligence that the Werwolves who seized the Marblehead had in their possession special materials. Materials of a most unique nature."

"What type of special materials," asked Truman.

Halifax paused for a second.

"The same special materials that would be found under your Manhattan Project."

 

[flyingmoonshot]

It lives! One of my favourite TLs.

 

[Amon34]

very interesting story but could you please threadmark your story

 

[Seafort]

Tha

very interesting story but could you please threadmark your story

Thank you! This is my first stab at this, and family and work priorities have pulled me from this several times. Having a lot of fun writing this.

That said, how does one threadmark a story?

 

[22000 Kevin]

Tha

Thank you! This is my first stab at this, and family and work priorities have pulled me from this several times. Having a lot of fun writing this.

That said, how does one threadmark a story?

It should be a simple process.

Go to the "More Options" button on one of your post, (it is next to the report button) and press the button that says "add threadmark" and you will be asked to add a label.

That should successfully threadmark the comment.

Be advised its best to threadmark your content in order from start to finish.

 

[Seafort]

It should be a simple process.

Go to the "More Options" button on one of your post, (it is next to the report button) and press the button that says "add threadmark" and you will be asked to add a label.

That should successfully threadmark the comment.

Be advised its best to threadmark your content in order from start to finish.

Awesome. Just threadmarked it.

 

[22000 Kevin]

Awesome. Just threadmarked it.

Well it's a bit weird that all the labels of each threadmark just says "Feel the Bearn" instead of a chapter or unique name but that's my own opinion.

Anyway it will be far more easier to navigate through the old chapters now instead of having to search through every page to find them so thanks @Seafort for going through all that effort to improve the reading experience for everyone.

 

[Seafort]

JUNE 19, 1945 1:41 AM EST

Munich, American Zone of Occupation

The night had been long and sleepless in the small building where Karl Scharnagl had temporarily set up the office. His aids had set up blackout curtains at the orders of the two American guards in the room, and they could only listen as nearly continuous gunfire was heard as the hours advanced, only interrupted by the sound of cannon fire from tanks and the occasional explosion of such combatants. While Scharnagl had lost access to communications with anyone outside of the building, it was clear that Munich was in a state of open revolt.

A loud explosion suddenly rocked the office, causing both of the American guards to jump. They hurried to the door, rifles drawn. The two soldiers waited, and strangely enough the gunfire died down. It became quiet, as quiet as it had been in many hours, with only the crackle of gunfire heard in the distance. It was almost dawn, and Scharnagl supposed that his fellow Germans were retiring. No, he corrected himself. The resistance.

Suddenly everyone heard footsteps coming down the corridor. The guards tensed, gripping their rifles tightly.

"Hello?" came a voice from outside the door.

"Identify yourself!", yelled one of the guards.

"Lieutenant Patin, 42nd Division."

The guards looked at each other, then turned to the door. "Who won the World Series?"

A pause, then a chuckle. "The Cardinals. Now open the damn door!"

A moment later the doors were opened and Lieutenant Robert Patin stepped in along with a platoon of soldiers. He turned immediately to Scharnagl.

"Sir, you will be coming with us."

 

[Seafort]

JUNE 19, 1945 1:45 AM EST
Washington, DC

Truman sat back and looked at Royall. The new Secretary of War had been briefed on the details of the Manhattan Project yesterday, and was ashen faced.

"Atomics?" Royall asked.

Halifax shook his head. "Not a functioning weapon, from what our intelligence indicated. But the materials for one. Bored into the shells of the Marblehead's munitions. They were intending for mass contamination. Either in the British Empire, or based on the direction that the ship was headed, your Eastern coast."

Truman stared at the British Ambassador for several seconds. "I would like to see that intelligence. Today. And I want to speak to whoever the hell is now running your government. Immediately."


1:53PM EST
Munich, Germany

Karl Scharnagl fell roughly into the back of the M3 half-track parked outside of what was the temporary's mayor's office. He sat up and peered over the edge of the vehicle. The front of his building had taken far more damage in the course of the night than he had first believed. One section had collapsed, an American flag now laying on a mound of debris.

"Get down!" hissed Karl Meitinger. The architect pulled Scharnagl down next behind the armored cover of the half-track's passenger area.

The mayor of Munich seemed in a daze, shaking his head and staring at the floor of the vehicle. "What happened?" he finally asked, speaking in English.

"A revolt, Herr Mayor," replied Lieutenant Patin. He scanned the rubble strewn streets for a moment. "All right, let's move out!"

Quickly the half-track sprang to life. It was escorted by two Sherman tanks, one in front, the other behind the M3. Several of Patin's platoon climbed into the vehicle, while the remainder scrambled onto the tanks.

"Where are you taking us?" asked Meitinger.

Patin smiled, but there was no humor behind it.

"Somewhere safe."

Despite his own admonition to his mayor, Meitinger crept up and dared to look over the side of the half-track's protective walls. It was now morning, but it may as well have been night time. Enormous palls of smoke obscured the sun, and visibility was limited to less than one hundred meters. As the convoy made it way through the mud and filth of rain-filled streets and ruined lives, the architect took in the horror that his city had descended into. Gunfire continued to be heard, along with shelling. For Munich, the war had begun anew. And there was no sign of it ending.

 

[Amon34]

very good chapter but don't forget to threadmark

 

[Seafort]

Well it's a bit weird that all the labels of each threadmark just says "Feel the Bearn" instead of a chapter or unique name but that's my own opinion.

Anyway it will be far more easier to navigate through the old chapters now instead of having to search through every page to find them so thanks @Seafort for going through all that effort to improve the reading experience for everyone.

I've updated the threadmarks further, breaking the story out into chapters.

 

[jonathan hanson]

the Fecal matter is hitting the fan

 

[Seafort]

JUNE 19, 1945 2:03 AM EST
London

Ernest Bevin grimaced, then leaned close to the microphone. "As I said, Mr. President we had no choice. Our intelligence was that the Marblehead had been seized by forces hostile to the Allies. Forces that possessed radioactive materials."

He sat at the Prime Minister's desk within the darkened office. Sitting across from him were Anthony Eden, First Sea Lord Andrew Cunningham and Major-General Collin Gubbins.

"And you chose not to disclose this matter to us?" came the reply over the speaker. Eden could not see his American counterpart, but he could tell that Truman was seething. "When we had twice the available forces on hand? When there may have been American sailors held in captivity on that ship?"

Bevin glanced to Gubbins. The head of the Special Operations Executive took a sip from a glass of Ararat brandy, which Bevin had taken out a few minutes earlier when Washington had initiated communications. Gubbins then nodded.

"Mr President, they were dead. All of them." Bevins paused, then continued. "Several were captured in Titangel, having arrived late after the cruiser was seized. Through interrogation they revealed that the plans were to capture and then kill every serviceman onboard. There would have been no survivors."

"But you cannot be sure."

"The intelligence was quite specific. We could not take the chance that they had the means of monitoring our communications. As you are aware - "

Bevin paused, his stomach thinking at the thought of treason by people within his own party. He took a sip from his own glass of brandy and then continued.

"As you are aware, members of the British government were in league with the Nazis. Communicating with you risked exposure of the plot. That ship possessed a grave risk to the British Isles, if not your own nation. It had to be disposed of, before any further lives were lost."

The speaker was quiet for several seconds before finally coming to life.

"We will talk again about this, Ernest. This is not a closed matter, notify by any means. Notify us of any changes to the Prime Minister's status."

JUNE 19, 1945 2:06 AM EST
Washington, DC

Edward Halifax walked out of the Oval Office, and Kenneth Royall shut the door moment later. The Secretary of War walked back to his chair and sat down. Across from him
Harry Truman leaned back in his chair, folding his hands behind his head.

"What do you think, Mr President," he asked.

"I think we need to come up with an appropriate way to notify the families of the Marblehead sailors. The war in the Atlantic was over, they're expecting their boys to come home."

"What of the British?"

The President was quiet.

"I think," he said, his voice trailing off. He then muttered an expletive and shook his head.

 

[M35Mako]

I must say I enjoy your writing style, though the subject matter...surprised me somewhat. From the title I was expecting something on the development of French carrier aviation (perhaps somewhat akin to what Allanpcameron has been doing with tanks in his Sir John Carden thread), while what has happened over this last 29 pages is more akin to what one would see after taking too much absinthe.

My big question, however, is what has become to Sir Alan Brooke? Throughout the war he was the man responsible for telling Churchill "no" whenever the latter had one of his daft ideas. For example, when Winnie wanted to go ashore on D-Day. If Churchill was to order an attack on French troops and ships in the Levant, Brooke would just say no, poisoned brandy or no. The PM simply did not have the power to order military offensives, it all had to go through Brooke as Chief of the Imperial General Staff. And he couldn't just sack Brooke either, that would require the entire War Cabinet to agree.

An example of this limit on Prime Ministerial power in wartime was when Lloyd George really wanted to get rid of Haig and Robertson in the last war - he was about to pull the trigger and sack Robertson as CIGS when Andrew Bonar Law took him on a walk in the No. 10 gardens and told him on no uncertain terms that the War Cabinet was against this, and if he went any further he would pull the Conservatives out of the coalition and collapse DLG's government. Eventually, DLG had to go round the back of his own government and get the French to push for making Foch the Supreme Allied Commander, side lining Robertson who would eventually just resign and get replaced with DLG's favourite, Sir Henry Wilson. But that's another story.

If Churchill wanted to sack Brooke as CIGS, he would have to convince Cabinet to go along with it. A quirk of the British system is that powers on paper rarely translate to powers in reality, so while the PM may have the power on hiring and firing such decisions (especially for high positions like CIGS) are a collective decision with cabinet. Plus, any replacement for Brooke as CIGS would be another of the batch of high ranking army officers that all found Churchill insufferable anyway so would be unlikely to just become a toady. Brooke was probably the only man in the British army who could stand working so closely with Churchill.

Furthermore, one thing I can't quite get my head around is Churchill turning the SOE into his personal army overnight. For starters, it was MI5 that was responsible for domestic security, and they (like the rest of the intelligence service) were not simply at the beckon call of the Prime Minister. They would be extremely confused if they suddenly received orders to arrest half the Labour party - some of the more radical members yes, they no doubt had files on everyone in the party so knew who could theoretically be listed as a "threat" - but the mainstream Atleeites that had just a few weeks ago been in government? Hardly likely.

And then if SOE did start operating on British soil, MI5 would become extremely defensive of the intrusion on their turf. Attlee (and Morganthau for that matter) being assassinated would cause an immediate MI5 investigation. Discovering rogue elements of SOE being behind it would be cause for jubilation, the old secret intelligence service (MI5 and MI6) were always wary of the upstart SOE which they viewed as a gang of amateur saboteurs. MI6 in particular had terrible rivalry with SOE which caused the deaths of quite a few SOE officers in occupied Europe due to lack of intelligence sharing.

Furthermore, I just don't buy SOE as an organisation just going along with this. It was a very decentralised organisation, with Gubbins merely providing direction. Even if he was drinking the same brandy as Winnie, the lower ranking officers would certainly not go along with the plans to assassinate British and American political and military figures. They would not go along with an insane plan to create a fake German insurgency. They had just spent the last five years working to help liberate Europe and end the war, suddenly receiving orders to start a quasi-war would not go down well. At the very least, the plans would be leaked to the public. SOE tended to recruit rather free-spirited ideologues, not mindless automatons, as their mission was operating autonomously in occupied Europe without much of a link to command. I can't imagine Odette Samson agreeing to help assassinate Charles de Gaulle, for example.

Lastly, the genocidal plan to destroy Germany would get vetoed by the foreign office, even if there was a Werewolf insurgency (or the illusion of one at any rate). The foreign office mandarins were looking straight at the USSR as the threat to British interests, and everyone with an ounce of intelligence knew that brutalising Germany would simply lead them to Communism and the hands of Stalin. The foreign office even pushed back against operations to help Tito and other communist resistance groups, keeping their eye on the long term goal of fighting the USSR post war rather than fighting the Nazis that they knew would end in victory sooner rather than later. Even if Churchill wanted to, the civil service would just not comply. Think Sir Humphrey Appleby. The British government has a hell of a lot of inertia that poisoned brandy simply cannot change on its own.

In short, Churchill would need to somehow have a cabinet of Yes Men all the way back to before the war to purge the entire government to achieve the level of power you have ascribed him here. The poisoned brandy would have to be delivered in 1940, with all the unintended consequences that would cause.

Regardless, I have enjoyed your writing style so I hope my minor quibbles are not taken as being too negative.

 

[Seafort]

I must say I enjoy your writing style, though the subject matter...surprised me somewhat. From the title I was expecting something on the development of French carrier aviation (perhaps somewhat akin to what Allanpcameron has been doing with tanks in his Sir John Carden thread), while what has happened over this last 29 pages is more akin to what one would see after taking too much absinthe.

My big question, however, is what has become to Sir Alan Brooke? Throughout the war he was the man responsible for telling Churchill "no" whenever the latter had one of his daft ideas. For example, when Winnie wanted to go ashore on D-Day. If Churchill was to order an attack on French troops and ships in the Levant, Brooke would just say no, poisoned brandy or no. The PM simply did not have the power to order military offensives, it all had to go through Brooke as Chief of the Imperial General Staff. And he couldn't just sack Brooke either, that would require the entire War Cabinet to agree.

An example of this limit on Prime Ministerial power in wartime was when Lloyd George really wanted to get rid of Haig and Robertson in the last war - he was about to pull the trigger and sack Robertson as CIGS when Andrew Bonar Law took him on a walk in the No. 10 gardens and told him on no uncertain terms that the War Cabinet was against this, and if he went any further he would pull the Conservatives out of the coalition and collapse DLG's government. Eventually, DLG had to go round the back of his own government and get the French to push for making Foch the Supreme Allied Commander, side lining Robertson who would eventually just resign and get replaced with DLG's favourite, Sir Henry Wilson. But that's another story.

If Churchill wanted to sack Brooke as CIGS, he would have to convince Cabinet to go along with it. A quirk of the British system is that powers on paper rarely translate to powers in reality, so while the PM may have the power on hiring and firing such decisions (especially for high positions like CIGS) are a collective decision with cabinet. Plus, any replacement for Brooke as CIGS would be another of the batch of high ranking army officers that all found Churchill insufferable anyway so would be unlikely to just become a toady. Brooke was probably the only man in the British army who could stand working so closely with Churchill.

Furthermore, one thing I can't quite get my head around is Churchill turning the SOE into his personal army overnight. For starters, it was MI5 that was responsible for domestic security, and they (like the rest of the intelligence service) were not simply at the beckon call of the Prime Minister. They would be extremely confused if they suddenly received orders to arrest half the Labour party - some of the more radical members yes, they no doubt had files on everyone in the party so knew who could theoretically be listed as a "threat" - but the mainstream Atleeites that had just a few weeks ago been in government? Hardly likely.

And then if SOE did start operating on British soil, MI5 would become extremely defensive of the intrusion on their turf. Attlee (and Morganthau for that matter) being assassinated would cause an immediate MI5 investigation. Discovering rogue elements of SOE being behind it would be cause for jubilation, the old secret intelligence service (MI5 and MI6) were always wary of the upstart SOE which they viewed as a gang of amateur saboteurs. MI6 in particular had terrible rivalry with SOE which caused the deaths of quite a few SOE officers in occupied Europe due to lack of intelligence sharing.

Furthermore, I just don't buy SOE as an organisation just going along with this. It was a very decentralised organisation, with Gubbins merely providing direction. Even if he was drinking the same brandy as Winnie, the lower ranking officers would certainly not go along with the plans to assassinate British and American political and military figures. They would not go along with an insane plan to create a fake German insurgency. They had just spent the last five years working to help liberate Europe and end the war, suddenly receiving orders to start a quasi-war would not go down well. At the very least, the plans would be leaked to the public. SOE tended to recruit rather free-spirited ideologues, not mindless automatons, as their mission was operating autonomously in occupied Europe without much of a link to command. I can't imagine Odette Samson agreeing to help assassinate Charles de Gaulle, for example.

Lastly, the genocidal plan to destroy Germany would get vetoed by the foreign office, even if there was a Werewolf insurgency (or the illusion of one at any rate). The foreign office mandarins were looking straight at the USSR as the threat to British interests, and everyone with an ounce of intelligence knew that brutalising Germany would simply lead them to Communism and the hands of Stalin. The foreign office even pushed back against operations to help Tito and other communist resistance groups, keeping their eye on the long term goal of fighting the USSR post war rather than fighting the Nazis that they knew would end in victory sooner rather than later. Even if Churchill wanted to, the civil service would just not comply. Think Sir Humphrey Appleby. The British government has a hell of a lot of inertia that poisoned brandy simply cannot change on its own.

In short, Churchill would need to somehow have a cabinet of Yes Men all the way back to before the war to purge the entire government to achieve the level of power you have ascribed him here. The poisoned brandy would have to be delivered in 1940, with all the unintended consequences that would cause.

Regardless, I have enjoyed your writing style so I hope my minor quibbles are not taken as being too negative.

Those are excellent points, and thank you for the compliments.

On Brooks he is off the chessboard at this point. As I mentioned in an earlier post, I'll be going back in from time to time to progressively update and expand some of the early posts. These initial posts were very brief, as I had originally intended to write just a short timeline. Then more ideas came, and it quickly became something bigger. Brooks is no longer part of the Cabinet, and was not at the start of the Levant Crisis.

For Gubbins, the way that I envisioned it was that his activities not taking place at any sort of organizational level, but at a much smaller subset of read-in personnel. And while he is not as unbalanced by the brandy as Winston - if at all - his motivations are different. I'll have to do a better job (either in retrofitting earlier updates) or in future updates on what his thought process is.

The MI-5 point is great; I'll seek to address that in the future as well.

As for Germany, the Morgenthau Plan was never an intended outcome for Churchill. However his own direction set into motion a chain of events that leads Truman to aggressively champion a more punitive version of the plan. This is a story thus far of horrendous consequences arising from rushed, poor, and in some cases terrible decision making. But to your points to this, these are areas that can be improved.

As for the Bearn itself, we will be getting back to her. She is slowly making her way across the Atlantic, her engineer worrying whether that one faltering bulkhead will hold.

And she carries a big secret within her.

 

[Jonathansouth]

whilst fun this time line really shouldn't be posted in this part of the forum it really should be in the ASB section

 

[22000 Kevin]

whilst fun this time line really shouldn't be posted in this part of the forum it really should be in the ASB section

This is not a "Alien Space Bat" and shouldn't be moved to that section of this fourm since nothing truly ASB has happened.

If this story is proven to be too 'unrealistic' then maybe it should be moved to the Writers forum instead.

 

[Jonathansouth]

This is not a "Alien Space Bat" and shouldn't be moved to that section of this fourm since nothing truly ASB has happened.

If this story is proven to be too 'unrealistic' then maybe it should be moved to the Writers forum instead.In years of following the forum this is the single most ASB thread i've ever seen several others have also commented on how this cannot be taken seriously.

This is the single most unrealistic thread I've ever seen. I'm not the only one who has commented on how ridiculous this is. Yes it's entertaining but under no circumstances does it belong in this part of the fourum

 

[Not James Stockdale]

There has been far wilder stuff in the post 1900 forum. This fits in well here. There is no magic, so it is definitely not ASB. The writer's forum is usually considered a better fit for character-driven storytelling or non-linear worldbuilding, not narrative prose focusing on the actual events of the ATL.

 

[flyingmoonshot]

This is the single most unrealistic thread I've ever seen. I'm not the only one who has commented on how ridiculous this is. Yes it's entertaining but under no circumstances does it belong in this part of the fourum

Moderators evidently don't take that view, so be careful with backseat driving.