Keynes' Cruisers Volume 2
- Thread starter fester
- Start date
- Status
Story 2058
Norwegian Sea, May 21, 1943
Gunners secured their stations aboard the old battleship. Shell casings were cleared and soon barrels were being cleaned and prepared for another action. HMS Royal Sovereign was making her last journey as a British ship; she was part of the close escort of a convoy of forty three ships. An escort carrier was providing local fighter cover and anti-submarine patrols while a cruiser force was providing distant support as well as being ready to transition to take home the return convoy that was just leaving the northern Russian ports.
The old battleship had just come out of the yards from a long maintenance period. She would never have the lustre of her youth, but her limp was gone and her eyesight was the best it ever had been. Soon she would be the flagship of the Soviet Northern Fleet. It was a prestigious post in a safe area as the German surface threat was minimal, a few cruisers whose guns could barely dent her belt but it was a better posting than her sisters; one was already in ordinary, another would enter ordinary as soon as a troop convoy from Brazil arrived at Gibraltar. Her last surviving sister had been reduced to being a glorified monitor and bomb magnet. At least she still could fly a flag even if it was not her own as a warship expected to do her duty and her job fighting other ships.
The convoy and the battleship continued to head northeast at ten knots.
Years ago,
I heard that during WW2 some "extra large, extra strong" condoms were supplied from Britain to the USSR for just such purposes
but that the PM insisted they be specially labelled "British Standard, Medium" in several languages including of course Russian
Probably just a "Winny" myth but I do so want it to be true.
The issue is not airfields within the siege camp. There are several airstrips OTL that could and did support P-40s south of the main line of resistance. The problem is logistics.
A single P-40E could carry slightly more than 1,000 pounds of av-gas. A four-ship at full load uses up 2 tons of fuel. A single 4-ship going up with a full fuel load is not an insignificant chunk of the daily inflow of supplies and that is just gas not bombs or anything else. Bataan could put a squadron in the air for a day or two and then the survivors can't fly as they won't have the gas. Bataan has had limited air connections via flying boats during this entire time, but the opportunity cost of fuel is very high.
Now as Palawan opens up the supply route to more then subsistence, this equation changes. However, the first big convoy in will need to be covered by carriers at the very least as Bataan can't self-defend the approaches.
Story 2059
Alexandria Harbor, May 22, 1943
Five aircraft carriers, three battleships, and a dozen cruisers swung at anchor. A pair of light cruisers were in the floating dry docks having bomb damage repaired. One, HMS Neptune, would be available in weeks while HMS Argonaut had weeks worth of work to get her healthy enough to limp to Durban and then months more time in a deep rear area yard.
The American task force was here for fuel, booze and a few days ashore. Replacement pilots and replacement aircraft had been sent around the Cape to rebuild the squadrons aboard USS Independence and USS Princeton. Their fighter pilots were now blooded, two had already claimed ace status and they could now teach the green butterbars how to fight and survive in their big Grummans. There were two days of exercises scheduled ashore and then Task Force 36 was due to head east to Singapore to reinforce the American 3rd Fleet which had retired from operations near Palawan.
Five aircraft carriers, three battleships, and a dozen cruisers swung at anchor. A pair of light cruisers were in the floating dry docks having bomb damage repaired. One, HMS Neptune, would be available in weeks while HMS Argonaut had weeks worth of work to get her healthy enough to limp to Durban and then months more time in a deep rear area yard.
The American task force was here for fuel, booze and a few days ashore. Replacement pilots and replacement aircraft had been sent around the Cape to rebuild the squadrons aboard USS Independence and USS Princeton. Their fighter pilots were now blooded, two had already claimed ace status and they could now teach the green butterbars how to fight and survive in their big Grummans. There were two days of exercises scheduled ashore and then Task Force 36 was due to head east to Singapore to reinforce the American 3rd Fleet which had retired from operations near Palawan.
Last edited:
IMHO the first use of the fields on Bataan will be as emergency strips for damaged fighters, and perhaps as FARPs so CAS missions can land and rearrm, and take on enough fuel to fly a mission and get back to the real base. As of now air defense missions, except covering a convoy, are not needed as the Japanese air situation is such that they are reserving strikes for high value targets.
In 1978 I was a Melbourne based Citizens Military Force (CMF) sapper attending the School Of Military Engineering (SME) at Morebank SW of Sydney. CMF Engineer units rotated through SME every four years, inter-state units were given leave during the middle weekend and most of us headed for the notorious King's Cross. We were not given any talks about STDs however as we signed out the padre was standing there handing out condoms.
I lived in KSX for a few months at age 18 as that's where all backpackers used to end up.
Can only imagine the things people could have caught
Can only imagine the things people could have caught
It’s an area of Sydney. I also lived there for a few months, in amongst the druggies, strippers, backpackers and whores. There was a significant overlap in those categories, so much so that some men assumed British girl=all of the above. I didn’t let my wife walk home alone as a consequence.
Really good Thai food round there though, and you could always find somewhere open to drink.
KSX is what I now call Kings Cross, London as I'm now a Londoner and that's how the area/major train station is sometimes referred to.
It also used to be extremely well known for prostitution, although that seems to have largely gone since early 00s.
It also used to be extremely well known for prostitution, although that seems to have largely gone since early 00s.
Last edited:
Back in the 1970s the Navy conducted a large clinical trial of post-exposure gonorrhea prevention.
A single 7th Fleet aircraft carrier making a port call and two 24-hour liberty periods.
All sailors were given "the lecture" prior to arrival in port. Condoms were readily available and issued liberally.
Sailors who reported sexual contact with a prostitute were eligible to participate when they returned from liberty. Even if they reported to have used a condom (which nearly all claimed to have used).
1,080 men agreed to participate in the randomized, double-blind trial. They received a single, 200mg dose of minocycline or placebo.
There were more than enough cases of gonorrhea for a statistically valid study and minocycline reduced the incidence of gonorrhea by 50%.
The reported prevalence (cases per thousand troops) of STDs (generally about 90% gonorrhea) in US Army troops was about 50/1,000 in WWII (reaching 190/1,000 during the occupation), 184/1,000 in Korea (up to 500/1,000 in some units - in the rear with the gear?) and 300/1,000 in Vietnam. Another 7th Fleet carrier reported a prevalence of 582/1,000 over a one-year period.
In the years since AIDS, the STD rates have fallen precipitously.
So much for actual versus reported condom use pre-AIDS.
A single 7th Fleet aircraft carrier making a port call and two 24-hour liberty periods.
All sailors were given "the lecture" prior to arrival in port. Condoms were readily available and issued liberally.
Sailors who reported sexual contact with a prostitute were eligible to participate when they returned from liberty. Even if they reported to have used a condom (which nearly all claimed to have used).
1,080 men agreed to participate in the randomized, double-blind trial. They received a single, 200mg dose of minocycline or placebo.
There were more than enough cases of gonorrhea for a statistically valid study and minocycline reduced the incidence of gonorrhea by 50%.
The reported prevalence (cases per thousand troops) of STDs (generally about 90% gonorrhea) in US Army troops was about 50/1,000 in WWII (reaching 190/1,000 during the occupation), 184/1,000 in Korea (up to 500/1,000 in some units - in the rear with the gear?) and 300/1,000 in Vietnam. Another 7th Fleet carrier reported a prevalence of 582/1,000 over a one-year period.
In the years since AIDS, the STD rates have fallen precipitously.
So much for actual versus reported condom use pre-AIDS.
You can lead a sailor to condoms but you can't make him use them... In my "talks" after HIV burst on the scene I was particularly graphic about how you would be asymptomatic for a long time and test negative for months before testing positive, so you could give it to your girlfriend, wife (or both). Also discussed maternal-fetal transmission. Basically drove a spike home with a sledge that this was not a case of the clap cured with pills or a shot but (especially early on) a death sentence for you and future partners.
It’s weird how both places were very similar for a while. I haven’t been back to Sydney's Kings Cross for 10 years but gentrification was already starting.
This sudden veer into clap chat (as opposed to claptrap) is one of the more impressive examples of thread drift I've seen lately. Not that I'm not being educated and entertained.
Wonderful wit ... but not sure this is actually thread drift (apart from my Russian Letters anecdote)
Historically bad bugs, bad food and water, bad weather, bad equipment, bad medical care and their own bad behaviour
killed more soldiers, sailors and (possibly) airmen than the enemy ever did.
I suspect even in the late 1930's spending Keynes Cash on the right measures in these areas would have been better than Cruisers.
Therefore discussing the difficulty of adopting these policies in RL, in uniform and out, is at least partially relevant
(as well as entertaining of course,
)
Last edited:
There is no discussion of haggis yet, so we have not approached epic drift.This sudden veer into clap chat (as opposed to claptrap) is one of the more impressive examples of thread drift I've seen lately. Not that I'm not being educated and entertained.
I think the military is somewhat like religion with its affects on the young. It can be a positive or a negative influence, or both. I'm amazed I left the USN after 4 years without a tattoo or a STD considering the amount of time I spent drunk and the businesses I frequented. But it also taught me discipline, it gave me confidence, it showed me that if I put my mind to it..coerced as it was..I could be a decent mechanic (on a weapons system), I could overcome my fear of heights to do jobs I would never again need to do..like "frapping" mooring lines. I learned to work in a disciplined manner, following directions to a T. I learned skills that I have never used again, and ones that have been very useful. I made friends with some of the best men I will ever know and learned to trust them with my life. I traveled to places I will never see again...and some I have been lucky enough to return to. I am a bleeding heart liberal that understands the need for a strong military and did not come out of the military a raging conservative. In fact I have remained a liberal..and spent 10 years in the US Army Reserve.Wonderful wit ... but not sure this is actually thread drift (apart from my Russian Letters anecdote)
Historically bad bugs, bad food and water, bad weather, bad equipment, bad medical care and their own bad behaviour
killed more soldiers, sailors and (possibly) airmen than the enemy ever did.
I suspect even in the late 1930's spending Keynes Cash on the right measures in these areas would have been better than Cruisers.
Therefore discussing the difficulty of adopting these policies in RL, in uniform and out, is at least partially relevant
(as well as entertaining of course,
I think every dollar spent on maintaining the health of our military personal, their education, their military training and readiness..their mental well being is money well spent.
without meaning it in a negative way, more like "gang culture"
Mostly male, potentially if not actively dangerous, relying on the support of your team ..
that's what evolution gave us testosterone for
What is amazing to me is how often that explosive mixture is put to good use
but unfortunately things still go awry
Last edited:
You may be right. Although the same can be said of organized religion...believe like us or die (physically or spiritually). I don't remember who said it but..Evil people will do evil things, but for good people to do evil they need religion.
- Status