Keynes' Cruisers

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Story 1596
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    • fester


    Portland, Oregon October 12, 1942

    Another small patrol ship was being laid down. Three hundred tons for sixty men to support a single dual purpose gun and a mid-weight cannon along with four depth charge throwers. The best thing that could be said about this class was that they were cheap and could be built in large numbers at yards that were incapable of building anything else. A young officer fresh from school would be assigned for his first opportunity at independent command even as his current superiors doubted his judgement to be without supervision.


    Across the river, three Russian crewed and flagged Liberty ships were preparing to get under way. Their holds were stuffed with non-lethal equipment. The most vital was several hundred tons of copper wire for field telephones. They also carried enough powdered milk to give every child on the Soviet side of the lines a cup per day for a week. Tugs were pulling them into the current and then once they left the river’s mouth, they would keep their lights on as they journeyed in the Great Circle Route to Vladivostok where they would unload their cargoes for transshipment along the Trans Siberian Railroad.
     
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    • sloreck

    fester said:
    “I’m not doing you because you’re easy, I’m doing you because I’m hahd.”
    Click to expand...

    Well, he is trying to send her to the moon. I mean Fester, this is totally priceless and well worth the price of admission. The big question here is will there be a "surprise" left behind for her to deal with when Jack is busy somewhere in the Pacific. I assume with Elaine Jack has used his real name, and she knows he's in the Navy so if there is a pregnancy it can be laid at his door, if you will. Needless to say such an occurrence would make Joe Sr very. very unhappy. Well, one way or another we'll know in a few weeks if this has occurred. Needless to say the ultimate irony would be for Ens Kennedy and Sgt Donahue to find themselves on the same tropical island...
     

    fester

    sloreck said:
    Well, he is trying to send her to the moon. I mean Fester, this is totally priceless and well worth the price of admission. The big question here is will there be a "surprise" left behind for her to deal with when Jack is busy somewhere in the Pacific. I assume with Elaine Jack has used his real name, and she knows he's in the Navy so if there is a pregnancy it can be laid at his door, if you will. Needless to say such an occurrence would make Joe Sr very. very unhappy. Well, one way or another we'll know in a few weeks if this has occurred. Needless to say the ultimate irony would be for Ens Kennedy and Sgt Donahue to find themselves on the same tropical island...
    Click to expand...
    Spoilers: JFK is heading to the Meditarrean and there will be no surprises for Elaine to deal with --- Patrick will wonder years later why his wife always smiles when she sees JFK on TV but he will never probe too hard on that question.
     

    RyderWest

    fester said:
    Spoilers: JFK is heading to the Meditarrean and there will be no surprises for Elaine to deal with --- Patrick will wonder years later why his wife always smiles when she sees JFK on TV but he will never probe too hard on that question.
    Click to expand...
    Aaand you just confirmed Patrick will survive the war...
     

    vl100butch

    NHBL said:
    It seems to be an almost an unwritten rule that, in World War II timelines, a Kennedy has to be seen in at least one bed he shouldn't be in.
    Click to expand...

    Hell, just about any timeline since 1920 involving a Kennedy should involve someone getting into a bed he shouldn't be in!!!!!
     

    Draconis

    “I’m not doing you because you’re easy, I’m doing you because I’m hahd.”

    sloreck said:
    Well, he is trying to send her to the moon. I mean Fester, this is totally priceless and well worth the price of admission.
    Click to expand...


    Yeah. I laughed out loud when I read that line.
     

    Unknown

    Yeah, that line alone sounds like something a young JFK might say--and was actually pretty funny...

    It's almost a rule of AH.com that any TL involving a Kennedy involves someone getting into a bed they shouldn't be in, IMO; OTOH, in Blue Skies in Camelot, JFK starts out this way but, after he survives his assassination attempt, becomes a much better (and faithful) husband to Jackie (and I love that TL, BTW), which is one of the things that make that a good TL...

    Waiting for more, @fester...
     
    GDIS Pathe

    GDIS Pathe

    fester said:
    Spoilers: JFK is heading to the Meditarrean and there will be no surprises for Elaine to deal with --- Patrick will wonder years later why his wife always smiles when she sees JFK on TV but he will never probe too hard on that question.
    Click to expand...

    So does the other Joe Kennedy bite the bullet?
     

    Draconis

    fester said:
    Wake Island, October 13, 1942

    USS Albacore and USS Tuna followed the wooden minesweeper out of the dredged channel. The boats headed west until daylight.
    Click to expand...

    Having Wake Island available in TTL will increase the amount of time those subs can stay on patrol and also greatly extend their hunting range.

    A-hunting we will go,
    A-hunting we will go
    Heigh-ho, the derry-o,
    A-hunting we will go.
     
    Last edited:
    GDIS Pathe

    GDIS Pathe

    Draconis said:
    Having Wake Island available in TTL will increase the amount of time those subs can stay on patrol and also greatly extend their hunting range.

    A-hunting we will go,
    A-hunting we will go
    Heigh-ho, the derry-o,
    A-hunting we will go.
    Click to expand...

    Now all we need is for Bu-Ord to get their heads out of the Sand
     
    Story 1597
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    • fester


    Philadelphia, October 13, 1942

    Tugs pulled assault ships away from the piers.


    PFC Jaroshek waved one last time to debutante that he was leaving behind. She was an accidental encounter at a dance hall over the summer. If there was more time, there might have been more to their relationship beyond hope and fear and the flurry of lust intermixed with the sadness of knowing that this would not last. She was a judge’s daughter who could jitterbug and he was merely a draftee. Her kiss lingered on his lips, and her name would forever be in his head, but they agreed, that after last night, they had to come to an end this morning.


    The freshly built tank landing ship was one of the least comfortable ways to cross the Atlantic. The well deck was full of trucks and an artillery battery. Hotel Company would be bunking in the troop compartment.


    He offered a cigarette to one of his squadmates, and they took in the sight as the shore shrank as his ride to war slowly moved down the Delaware to join the rest of the convoy carrying the 28th Infantry Division to somewhere in North Africa. An hour later, the first man overboard drill was held and then classroom training for anti-submarine and anti-aircraft watches were scheduled.
     
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