14. The war on the sea and on the East Coast (May 2-21, 1937).
14. The war on the sea and on the East Coast (May 2-21, 1937).
As the fight for Philadelphia went on and on, and General MacArthur successfully reclaimed the vital eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey and reunited the capital with the East Coast, trapping in the process at least three Syndicalist divisions in a moment that the Reed administration could ill-afford suffer such a losses and thus moved to attempt to save them and General Nelson organized a relief effort for his comrades trapped in the east. The relief force was originally scheduled to include three infantry divisions and two armoured divisions, but in the end it was reinforced with two more armoured divisions and seven infantry divisions; half of the infantry units was made by poorly trained volunteers and lacked seasoned officers and enlisted soldiers, as well as enough anti-tank and artillery guns. In the end, due to the troubled transportation system and commanders unwilling to transfer their units, the Nelson Task Force was severely understrength. On May 5 Nelson began its eastward drive toward the trapped forces making large gains and thus surprising MacArthur. Overextended over hundreds of miles and exhausted from the rapidity of their advance,the I. Army struggled to hold their ground. However, despite early gains on the first day of the offensive, Nelson was unable to achieve decisive results and, by the following way, MacArthur had not only successfully beaten back the Syndicalist attacks but also cleaned central Pennsylvania. With the Federal bombers tearing through the enemy columns, the Syndicalist operation was a costly failure which heavily damaged their armoured units.
Meanwhile, Long chose not to interfere in the military matters, even if pressed by the fire-eating General Patton, who wanted the support of the president to bypass General Arnold, whom he regarded as old-fashioned and too cautious. However, if Long refused to be drawn in, Fritz Kuhn stepped in. Fully convinced that they key to victory was in an army made up by truly ideologically-pure soldiers, Kuhn pressed for the creation of more the indoctrinated Minutemen militias and offered them to Patton, who took them glady with as many regular units he could gather for his offensive in Oklahoma.. The value of the new units seemed to be proved in the defeat suffered by the Federal V. Corps in the North Carolina border: the Minutemen not only stopped their enemies in their tracks but also attacked and pursued Chamberlain relentlessly. It looked as if the Federal gain in the area could be rolled-back entirely. However, the V. Corps fell back and shortened their lines and, By May 4, after securing Norfolk, Marshall turned his full attention back to the incoming Nationals. On May 8, the over-confident National militias attacked Marshall's defenses at Richmond, trusting that they would drive the Federals before them again, but they were stopped in their tracks by enemy soldiers, who waited for them in their prepared defensive positions. In spite of the failure at Richmond, Kuhn claimed this as a victory, as it had stopped the enemy advance, and took it as proof of the power of his theories.
Meanwhile, the National fleet under Admiral Hugh Mulzac, was under threat at Norfolk. Fearing that his fleet would be caught at the docks and captured by Federal forces, Mulzac ordered the ships out to sea in an attempt to reach Charleston. Awaiting him was Admiral Admiral Halsey Jr. with the United States’ Atlantic Fleet. On May 2 the two navies clashed in the Battle of Delaware Bay. The USN fleet was made up of a single carrier, the USS Constellation (Halsey's flagship), four battleships, (the USS Colorado, West Virginia, Washington, and North Carolina), two cruisers and48 destroyers. Its National counterpart lacked any carriers, though it did outnumber the USN fleet in battleships with five (the CNS Idaho, Mississippi, California, Indiana, and Montana) and in cruisers with seven, but it had only nineteen destroyers. The nine submarines deployed at Norfolk had departed to patrol the way ahead of the fleet but they had failed to spot the incoming enemy. The result of the battle was a complete shock for the supporters of the battleships, as the aircraft of the USS Constellation greatly helped to decimate the National fleet, that lost three cruisers (CNS Charleston, the CNS Chattanooga and the CNS Constitution) and nine destroyers, while damaging another cruiser. The Federal losses were quite high for the air cres of the Constellation (34 planes and 20 men), along with a cruiser (USS Memphis). Admiral Mulzac, realizing that his entire fleet, with all hands, would likely be sent to the bottom if the battle was to go on, ordered to retreat. The battered fleet returned to Norfolk, where it would surrender two days later but for the Montana, which was scuttled by her crew. Only the nine submarines under the command of Rear Admiral Hyman G. Rickover, were to survive for a few months out at sea, harassing Federal merchantmen until half of them were lost after being hunted down by Federal destroyers and aircraft. The remaining submarines would be idle for the rest of the war in their bases in Charleston or in the Gulf of Mexico.
It goes without saying that Halsey's victory was highly celebrated in the United States. The admiral himself would meet with President Roosevelt and was hailed a hero and as the greatest American naval officer since Admirals Farragut and Sampson.
At the same time Stillwell continued his duel with General Goodwin over control of north-eastern Texas. However, he was on his own as Washington's attention was fixed on the most important prize of the war: New York City. Not even the bloody fight for Philadelphia attracted so much attention. In New York, the Syndicalists trapped in the city resisted for several weeks thanks to the ample good stores and the generosity and sympathy of many of the industrial workers of the city. But with the failure of Nelson's breakthrough in Philadelphia and the lack of any possible help, many New Yorkers began to trust more and more in a foreign intervention. But the truth was that the foreign helped was limited to the sporadica arrival of war materials from the Commune of France, but, as the US Navy began to seize most of the supplies sent for Europe, it was clear that there was no hope for the city, e ven more when Philaldepia surrendered on May 19. Two days later came the final attack against New York as the Federal soldiers attacked Manhattan and Brooklyn under the cover of darkness. It took three days for the I. Corps to take full control of the city. Amazingly, its commander, General Krueger, could boast that he had conquered New York without inflicting significant damage to the city.
TBDs from the VT-6 in the deck of the USS Constellation during the battle of Norfolk.
As the fight for Philadelphia went on and on, and General MacArthur successfully reclaimed the vital eastern Pennsylvania and New Jersey and reunited the capital with the East Coast, trapping in the process at least three Syndicalist divisions in a moment that the Reed administration could ill-afford suffer such a losses and thus moved to attempt to save them and General Nelson organized a relief effort for his comrades trapped in the east. The relief force was originally scheduled to include three infantry divisions and two armoured divisions, but in the end it was reinforced with two more armoured divisions and seven infantry divisions; half of the infantry units was made by poorly trained volunteers and lacked seasoned officers and enlisted soldiers, as well as enough anti-tank and artillery guns. In the end, due to the troubled transportation system and commanders unwilling to transfer their units, the Nelson Task Force was severely understrength. On May 5 Nelson began its eastward drive toward the trapped forces making large gains and thus surprising MacArthur. Overextended over hundreds of miles and exhausted from the rapidity of their advance,the I. Army struggled to hold their ground. However, despite early gains on the first day of the offensive, Nelson was unable to achieve decisive results and, by the following way, MacArthur had not only successfully beaten back the Syndicalist attacks but also cleaned central Pennsylvania. With the Federal bombers tearing through the enemy columns, the Syndicalist operation was a costly failure which heavily damaged their armoured units.
Meanwhile, Long chose not to interfere in the military matters, even if pressed by the fire-eating General Patton, who wanted the support of the president to bypass General Arnold, whom he regarded as old-fashioned and too cautious. However, if Long refused to be drawn in, Fritz Kuhn stepped in. Fully convinced that they key to victory was in an army made up by truly ideologically-pure soldiers, Kuhn pressed for the creation of more the indoctrinated Minutemen militias and offered them to Patton, who took them glady with as many regular units he could gather for his offensive in Oklahoma.. The value of the new units seemed to be proved in the defeat suffered by the Federal V. Corps in the North Carolina border: the Minutemen not only stopped their enemies in their tracks but also attacked and pursued Chamberlain relentlessly. It looked as if the Federal gain in the area could be rolled-back entirely. However, the V. Corps fell back and shortened their lines and, By May 4, after securing Norfolk, Marshall turned his full attention back to the incoming Nationals. On May 8, the over-confident National militias attacked Marshall's defenses at Richmond, trusting that they would drive the Federals before them again, but they were stopped in their tracks by enemy soldiers, who waited for them in their prepared defensive positions. In spite of the failure at Richmond, Kuhn claimed this as a victory, as it had stopped the enemy advance, and took it as proof of the power of his theories.
Meanwhile, the National fleet under Admiral Hugh Mulzac, was under threat at Norfolk. Fearing that his fleet would be caught at the docks and captured by Federal forces, Mulzac ordered the ships out to sea in an attempt to reach Charleston. Awaiting him was Admiral Admiral Halsey Jr. with the United States’ Atlantic Fleet. On May 2 the two navies clashed in the Battle of Delaware Bay. The USN fleet was made up of a single carrier, the USS Constellation (Halsey's flagship), four battleships, (the USS Colorado, West Virginia, Washington, and North Carolina), two cruisers and48 destroyers. Its National counterpart lacked any carriers, though it did outnumber the USN fleet in battleships with five (the CNS Idaho, Mississippi, California, Indiana, and Montana) and in cruisers with seven, but it had only nineteen destroyers. The nine submarines deployed at Norfolk had departed to patrol the way ahead of the fleet but they had failed to spot the incoming enemy. The result of the battle was a complete shock for the supporters of the battleships, as the aircraft of the USS Constellation greatly helped to decimate the National fleet, that lost three cruisers (CNS Charleston, the CNS Chattanooga and the CNS Constitution) and nine destroyers, while damaging another cruiser. The Federal losses were quite high for the air cres of the Constellation (34 planes and 20 men), along with a cruiser (USS Memphis). Admiral Mulzac, realizing that his entire fleet, with all hands, would likely be sent to the bottom if the battle was to go on, ordered to retreat. The battered fleet returned to Norfolk, where it would surrender two days later but for the Montana, which was scuttled by her crew. Only the nine submarines under the command of Rear Admiral Hyman G. Rickover, were to survive for a few months out at sea, harassing Federal merchantmen until half of them were lost after being hunted down by Federal destroyers and aircraft. The remaining submarines would be idle for the rest of the war in their bases in Charleston or in the Gulf of Mexico.
It goes without saying that Halsey's victory was highly celebrated in the United States. The admiral himself would meet with President Roosevelt and was hailed a hero and as the greatest American naval officer since Admirals Farragut and Sampson.
At the same time Stillwell continued his duel with General Goodwin over control of north-eastern Texas. However, he was on his own as Washington's attention was fixed on the most important prize of the war: New York City. Not even the bloody fight for Philadelphia attracted so much attention. In New York, the Syndicalists trapped in the city resisted for several weeks thanks to the ample good stores and the generosity and sympathy of many of the industrial workers of the city. But with the failure of Nelson's breakthrough in Philadelphia and the lack of any possible help, many New Yorkers began to trust more and more in a foreign intervention. But the truth was that the foreign helped was limited to the sporadica arrival of war materials from the Commune of France, but, as the US Navy began to seize most of the supplies sent for Europe, it was clear that there was no hope for the city, e ven more when Philaldepia surrendered on May 19. Two days later came the final attack against New York as the Federal soldiers attacked Manhattan and Brooklyn under the cover of darkness. It took three days for the I. Corps to take full control of the city. Amazingly, its commander, General Krueger, could boast that he had conquered New York without inflicting significant damage to the city.
TBDs from the VT-6 in the deck of the USS Constellation during the battle of Norfolk.
