Catywampus

By Dan Ryan

Catywampus: is a continuation of the story begun in Admirals Son Generals Daughter and is a parallel to Jigsaw. This book describes in vivid detail what may have occurred in the United States Military between 1896 and 1906 during the McKinley and Roosevelt Presidential administrations. The narration is by the grandson of a career naval officer, born in Beaufort, South Carolina. He will serve as a cadet in Annapolis and as a member of the elite submarine commanders in the United States Navy. The historical events of 1896 through 1906 are carefully followed. The imagination of the author provides rich characters in powerful settings from the torpedo proving grounds in Newport, Rhode Island to the jungles of Central America when he joins his brother on a navy manhunt of killers. The love story between a man and a woman is woven throughout the book when the grandson graduates from the naval academy and marries his childhood sweetheart. He is unaware that his father and his Uncle Theodore Roosevelt have decided to tap his knowledge of modern submarines and his photographic memory to become one of this countries most successful counter intelligence officers.
Scenes are set carefully with attention to accurate research of the low country of South Carolina as well as our Nation's Capital circa 1896 -1906. The second edition of Peoples Standard History of the United States written by Edward S. Ellis and published in 1906 by Western Book Syndicate and copyrighted by the Woolfall Company have provided background materials, maps of the period and needed information on how the federal government was organized and functioned during this period of history

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Oct 22, 2010
• ISBN: 9781452077178

Dan Ryan

Dan was born and educated in Melbourne in the state of Victoria, Australia. He found his heroes among the writers that he read and studied and found his passion in the countryside in the southeast of the state, among the forests and farms and wildlife, along the rugged coastline, on foot or more often, horseback. His message is that the spiritual world is omnipresent and therefore reachable through time spent with nature and by understanding the myths, symbols and lessons from our own and older civilisations. Dan divides his time between Melbourne and his small farm at Woodside.

Book preview

Contents

ALSO BY DAN RYAN

Prelude

1

James Jason Caldwell II

2

Summer Cruise

3

USNA Second Year

4

War in Cuba

5

Summer Leave

6

Third Year at Annapolis

7

World Peace Conference

8

Fourth Year at the War College

9

Annapolis Graduation Day

10

Balkan Peninsula

11

Task Force Recalled

12

Trip to 8th and I Streets

13

Graduation at William and Mary

14

President McKinley Dies

15

Louis Enters Law School

16

Rescue Mission to Martinique

17

Washington Navy Yard

18

Monterey Training Center

19

Bermuda Immigration

20

Bermuda Immigration, Part II

21

Norfolk Naval Yard

22

Washington, D. C. Area

23

Joint Operations

24

Murder in Washington

25

Joint Task Force

26

Death of Madeleine Barrias

27

Washington Mail Terminal

28

Washington Navy Yard

29

The Healing Process

30

Common Arrangement

31

Every Man Needs A Hobby

32

CI Modernization, First Quarter Report

33

CI Implementation Newsletter

34

CI Innovation

35

CI Research

36

CI Product Development

37

CI Real Estate Investment

38

CI Natural Resource Conversion

39

CI Government Contracts

40

Birth of Jason Arthur Caldwell

Epilogue

Acknowledgments

ALSO BY DAN RYAN

Novels

Jigsaw

Admiral’s Son General’s Daughter

Admirals and Generals

Lull After the Storm

Death Before Dishonor

Calm Before the Storm

Reference

Lean Modeling for Engineers

Lean Office Practices for Architects

Engineering Education

Robotic Simulation

CAD/CAE Descriptive Geometry

Modern Graphic Communication

Computer-aided Design

Computer-aided Architectural Graphics

Computer Programming for Graphical Displays

Principles of Automated Drafting

Technical Sketching and Computer Illustration

Computer-aided Kinetics for Machine Design

Graphical Displays for Engineering Documentation

Mini/Micro Computer Graphics

Computer-aided Graphics and Design

Computer-aided Manufacturing (Russian Language)

CAD for AutoCAD Users

Graphic Communication Manual

Computer Graphics Programming Manual

Computer Aided Graphics (Chinese Language)

Prelude

The United States Navy’s Submarine Service dates from the War of 1812, if you don’t count the use of David Bushnell’s Boat used on September 7, 1776. A revolutionary soldier by the name of Ezra Lee used this devilish product of Yankee ingenuity to attach a mine to the bottom of Admiral Lord Howe’s ship, HMS Eagle, which was at anchor in New York harbor.

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The War of 1812 was primarily a naval war fought by the British and American Navies. When war was declared with Great Britain on June 19, 1812, our navy consisted of only 17 ships of the line which totaled 15,000 tons. The officers and men of the United States Navy consisted of 5,000. Great Britain had 1,048 ships of the line which totaled 870,000 tons. The officers and men of the British Navy consisted of 150,000. How were the victories in our harbors, rivers and in the Atlantic Ocean achieved, then? The answer was through the use of small boats and submarine mines, called torpedoes. A naval torpedo in 1812 consisted of an explosive device designed to destroy a ship by blowing a hole in the hull below the water line. There were two types of torpedoes used against the British.

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A small boat was used at night to fasten the torpedo to the hull of the British ship, these were called torpedo boats. Those men who operated these boats and fastened these mines were known submariners, because they worked below the water level. The second type of torpedo was fastened to the bottom of the river or harbor and attached with a rope of varying lengths. Some of these floated on the surface and some were a few feet below the surface. These mines contained a set of pins, when one of the these pins was struck by a passing ship, the pin was driven down upon a fulminate primer and exploded the charge within the casing of the torpedo. The two types were known as self-acting (a ship comes in contact with it) or controlled (these were set by divers under a stationary ship and a timer allowed the diver to escape before the torpedo exploded.

Not all of the sea battles of the War of 1812 involved the use of submarine charges, but many did. Here are a few that did; USS President vs HMS Belvidera, USS Essex vs HMS Minerva, USS Constitution vs HMS Guerriere, USS Wasp vs HMS Frolic, USS United States vs HMS Macedonian, and the USS Constitution vs HMS Java. The total number of British ships captured or sunk during the war was reported in the London Times of March 20, 1813, as 504 captured in seven months, 527 merchant vessels sunk during the same period and 3 men-of-war sunk.

How did the Americans do it? They used one of Robert Fulton’s inventions, called the Nautilus. Fulton used a plunging mechanism which was invented in France in 1795 and added his own mechanisms for vertical and horizontal rudders and he provided for the artificial supply of air. The Nautilus could descend to a given depth and reascend at will.

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The torpedo boat concept was popular in Germany (1851), England (1887), France (1889) and the United States. In 1854 the periscope was made practical and added to all US torpedo boats. The next naval conflict within the United States was the Civil War (1860-1865). A total of eight submarines were built during this period. The most famous of these was the CSS H.L. Hunley, built by J.W. McClintock. The Hunley was hand propelled and carried a crew of eight. It attacked a number of wooden Federal ships in and around Charleston Harbor. The Hunley attacked the USS Housatonic on February 2, 1864. There were 160 men on the Housatonic and five were killed in the torpedo explosion. The captain of the Housatonic ordered kegs of gunpowder with lighted fuses thrown overboard. The Hunley was sunk, history’s first successful use of the depth charge. The Housatonic sank an hour later.

Four examples of submarines were shown in this introduction.

The first is the Plougeur-Marin, built in Germany by H. O. Bauer. During a test dive at Kiel, Germany, one of these models was crushed by the sea’s depth and increased water pressure. Bauer concluded that was because of the shoe box like design and changed to a circular cross-section design for all further production runs.

The second is the HMS Nordenfeldt, built in England by a Norwegian designer. It was rectangular and could not reach proper diving depths until the cross sectional shape was made circular.

The third is the Goubet, built in France. Its cigar shape proved to be the design for all future submarines.

The fourth is the Holland, built in the United States by Robert Fulton and it is the submarine design used by James J. Caldwell II from 1897 until 1906.

So what does catywampus mean? It is a common term used by all men who served in the submarine fleet of the United States from 1896 until 1906. The submarines used during this period were small war vessels, with crews of less than a dozen. These vessels were fitted to use the torpedo as its primary weapon of attack. The principal requirements of a torpedo boat were high speed, efficient means of launching torpedoes, handiness and fair sea worthiness. To attain these essentials the boats were long, slender, very lightly built and low in the water. The torpedo tubes, which contain the torpedoes to be fired, could be pivoted on deck. When the torpedo boat is on the surface of the water, the tubes may be pivoted to any position. When a tube was fired diagonally across the deck, the men on the boat referred to this as a catycorner shot. This was basically a two-dimensional shot in a flat plane. When a submarine of the Goubet or Holland class were submerged under the water, the shot became three-dimensional, this was known as the catywampus shot.

1

James Jason Caldwell II

Naval Academy Plebe

September 1896, saw a new crop of fourth class cadets arrive at Annapolis, Maryland. One plebe was already following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather before him. I was the son of Commander Caldwell, the hero at Valparaiso, Chile, and later Admiral Caldwell head of Naval Intelligence, Department of the Navy. I was also the grandson of a five star Admiral. I was excited about my appointment to the academy and I was in the process of moving into the fourth class barracks as described by the cadet hand book pages 14-22. My mother and father went with me to see my common living space. I met my room mates; William Henderson, Rudolph Hayes and Kiro Kunitomo II. Kiro was the son of my father’s roommate from San Francisco, I wondered who had arranged that circumstance. I knew the four of us would became instant friends and spent a great deal of time together.

Admiral Caldwell?

Yes, Kiro.

My father says to ask you about what life was like here in this barracks in the olden days.

Yes, James. Tell us what it was like that many years ago. My mother was smiling.

1873 was not the olden days, gentlemen. You will not believe this, but you will blink your eyes and you will be standing in a college dorm with one of your children. Mrs. Caldwell and I just went through this with James’ sister, Elizabeth.

I know, Admiral, but when I ask my father what to expect, he just smiles and says, ‘When you leave San Francisco your life will change.

"Maybe you plebes might want to sit down and I will tell you what it was like in September 1873, on this very spot, different room of course.

We were not to leave the barracks for any reason without the permission of an upperclassman. We needed permission to attend classes, walk to mess, shower and shave, and even permission to relieve ourselves in the head. All this has changed, of course, for you fellows. I remember one episode our plebe year that will illustrate what I mean, I remember that all our discipline went out the window when your father, Kiro, saw President Grant cross the Academy grounds. We poured from the barracks onto the lawns without permission. The upperclassmen were too busy gaping at the security detail and President Grant to care. We began following President Grant en mass as he walked towards Wise Hall. That was where my father taught his history classes, Kiro."

Why was the President be on the Academy Grounds? Asked Bill Henderson.

He is was here to see your father. Kiro replied.

Have you heard this story, Kiro? I asked.

Yes, but the others have not, finish it, it is good one.

Very well. We continued along with the mass of plebes, cadets and midshipmen until a security agent held up his hand and asked us to stop.

The President is going to attend a Naval History class this morning in Wise Hall. He will be inside about an hour and if you would like to wait to talk to him after he is through you are welcome to do so. This many cadets can not occupy the first floor of Wise Hall. So come back if you like and the President will shake your hand and find out how you like attending the United States Naval Academy.

By this time the midshipmen had recovered and began herding us plebes back towards our barracks. ‘You heard what the officer said. Go about your business. You plebes left without permission, drop and give us twenty. Now double time back to rooms or where ever you should be at seven bells, move it, move it.’

I asked for permission to go to class? I had grabbed my books and was trying to get back on the parade grounds. I began a brisk pace for the classrooms directly across from Admiral’s row. I watched for upperclassmen and when no one noticed I cut across the street and into #2. Mom, President Grant is on the grounds. He went to see Dad in Wise Hall. Wow, Dad must be in some kind of trouble. What is Dad’s classroom number.?"

James, you can not just walk into your Dad’s classroom. You have to have permission.

Got it. I will be right back. I ran out the rear door of #2 and crossed along the rear to #1, my Uncle Ben’s house. I knocked until a steward answered the door. I did not wait for the steward to ask a question, I said. ‘The President of the United States is on the grounds, is the Superintendent aware of this?’

Wait here, cadet, I will see if the Superintendent is aware of the President’s arrival.

"Admiral Ben Hagood, out of uniform, came rushing to the back door. ‘JJ, Is this some kind of prank?’

No, sir. I saw President Grant go into Wise Hall.

Come inside, JJ, I do not want an upperclassman to see you at the rear of my house. Let me finish dressing and we will walk over together.

In a few minutes, the Superintendent of the Naval Academy and I walked past the Presidential security and into Wise Hall. We pulled the door to 147 open quietly and tip toed into the back of the lecture hall. In front of the class was the President telling the seniors, ‘The rest of my story can be found in the Naval Institute Building here on campus. Look for messages sent to: Edwin Stanton from Commander Western Naval Theater, subject, end of naval campaign to free Mississippi and Tennessee River Basins. In one of these messages you will find a recommendation from Admiral Caldwell for my promotion from one star to three stars - an almost unheard of thing, even in war time.’

President Grant walked back up the aisle towards Superintendent Hagood and me. As he passed he said, ‘Superintendent Hagood, JJ, nice to see you both this morning.’ He did not stop walking until he had picked up his security detail in the hallway and made his way out onto the steps of Wise Hall. Here he stopped and raised his hands above his head and said in a clear voice, ‘Cadets and midshipmen line up, I want to shake the hands of the future United States Naval Officer Corps.’ He moved slowly along the line, shaking hands and asking questions. He answered questions when he could, laughed with the cadets and joked about coming to Annapolis to escape the ‘madhouse called the White House.’ He was making his way towards a waiting carriage, opened the door himself and sat down to be driven to the train station.

What happened then? My mother was wide eyed.

Three people stood watching from the top of the steps to Wise Hall, two Admirals and myself. I was sort of in a daze until my father asked, ‘JJ, what are you doing out of barracks without permission?’

He has the permission of the Superintendent, Admiral Caldwell. I would have missed the whole thing if JJ had not shown some initiative and come to my house.

You went to Admiral Hagood’s house?

Yes, sir. I went to our house first, but you were not home.

JJ, you can not come to Admiral’s row every time you want to, you have to have permission. That is how the system works. You have ten demerits to work off before tomorrow. Dismissed, Plebe.

I answered, aye, aye, and I mixed in with the group of plebes that had talked to the President and tried to listen to what the two admirals would be saying to each other.

What am I going to do with him, Ben. He thinks he runs the place.

Scary thought, he is going to be running the place before we know it, Jason. These young men are not like those of us who showed up in ‘37. They are a new breed, determined to do better than those that came before them. Some will die young in the service to their country, a pray JJ, is not one of them. He is so much like you, Jason. If I had a son, I would want him to be just like James.

Thank you, Ben. Was all my father could manage to say. Ben and my father walked across the street towards #1 and #2. He carried his briefcase full of unfinished notes for that day’s lecture."

And what about these young men here, James? My mother had a tear in her eye.

The torch will be passed to you four today. Your father is correct, Kiro, your life will never be the same again. You four are starting on your life’s adventure.

DURING THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS, I was given my first year’s list of required courses. They were: mechanical drawing, algebra, descriptive geometry, trigonometry, English, Spanish, health studies and physical education (seamanship, boat ordnance, target practice, battery drill, fencing, gymnastics, dancing and swimming.) I was also allowed to select one elective course. This course changed my life. I will always remember the first lecture of Introduction to Torpedo Boats.

"Welcome to this class, my name is W. H. Hornsby. I am a visiting instructor from the Royal Navy’s Submarine Service. This is an elective course and I fear some of you just signed up for this course to find out what the fuss of underwater warfare is all about. Modern boats capable of underwater warfare are presently manufactured by only four nations, Germany, Great Britain, France and the United States. The finest of these crafts is, without a doubt, the USS Class vessels. The worst, without a doubt, is the German design. If you are taking notes, let me go to the chalk board and give you a listing.

Torpedo boat destroyers

Sea-going boats

Harbor boats

Portable boats carried by men-of-war

The first listed is the destroyer class, it is the largest of the four. They vary in size from 250 tons to 600 tons. They also have a battery system sufficiently powerful to quickly sink and destroy ships of all types. Imagine if you will the following situation; it is night, the weather is foul, your country is at war, you are the captain of a destroyer class submarine, you are submerged and you are scanning the opening of an enemy harbor through your periscope. Because the weather is foul, the lights of the harbor are not very clear, waves keep hitting the eyepiece of your periscope. Suddenly, a very large ship appears out of the mist. It is not alone. Several smaller vessels are going to accompany this very large important looking vessel. You reach for the speaking tube and get the attention of those two sailors who have crawled into the forward torpedo hold. You order them to load tubes one and two with Whitehead self propelled torpedoes. You look through the periscope again and try to find a firing solution for your torpedoes. You read the approximate distance off the hash marks on the lens of the periscope. This will be a bow shot and you have to estimate the speed of the target. You reach for the speaking tube again and ask the sailors to make the setting on the two torpedoes and close the tubes. They crank open the outer doors of the tubes and wait for your command to fire. You press the button to fire and the first torpedo is sent away from your destroyer submarine, you wait a second and press the fire button again, the second fish is in the water speeding towards the target. You grab the speaking tube again and ask for the engineer to stop the submarine’s motor. You give a command to fill the lower ballast tanks and your destroyer slowly sinks to the bottom. All the while you are glancing at your stop watch. Five, four, three, two, one second; the first fish should have impacted with the target, there is no sound, suddenly the second fish slams into the target and a huge surface explosion rocks your submarine, your sailors hold on to anything available to keep them from being knocked to the deck. They have been through this ordeal before. This, gentlemen, is what it is like to command a destroyer class submarine.

The sea-going class of submarines are from 100 to 250 tons, harbor boats are capable of going to sea in moderate weather and are from 30 to 100 tons. Portable boats are from 5 to 15 tons. The speeds are in somewhat similar ratio, destroyers have 26 to 35 knots, sea-going 25 to 30 knots, harbor boats are 20 to 25 knots and portable boats are 13 to 17 knots. The most difficult assignment is in a portable, two-man boat. The survival time in a portable boat is 92 days, stay out of a portable boat if you can, gentlemen. Only fools and Englishmen ever volunteer to get inside a portable submarine."

This brought a round of laughter from our class, I raised my hand and said, Lieutenant Hornsby?

That is pronounced, left-tenant, in the Royal Navy, cadet. You might as well learn the English language whilst you are in this class.

This brought another round of laughter and I said, Beg your pardon, Left-tenant Hornsby, but why would anyone want to get inside any type of torpedo boat if he had an opportunity to serve on a surface vessel?

What is your name, cadet?

James Jason Caldwell II, Sir.

Well now, James Jason Caldwell the second, you have asked a very critical question. I have no idea why any sane person would want to enter a torpedo boat. A submarine and a torpedo boat are not the same thing. As I said, I am here, on leave from the Royal Navy’s Submarine Service. The United Kingdom does not manufacture or use torpedo boats. Would you like a history of the torpedo boat, Cadet Caldwell?

I would, Sir.

Torpedo boats can only hope to be successful when attacking under cover of night, or in a thick fog. Several torpedo boats should attack a surface ship simultaneously and from different directions.

Excuse me, Sir. What does the word ‘suml-taineusly’ mean?

You do not know what, at the same time means?

I do sir, it is simultaneously (at the same time).

It is pronounced sumltaineusly, not simultaneously, please let me keep to my schedule.

Where did you learn a word like shedual, Sir?

In shoel, of course! The class had another round of laughter. No more questions until I have finished, alright Cadet Caldwell?

Aye, aye, Sir.

As I was saying, before I was so rudely interrupted, the defense against torpedo boats consist of picket boats, torpedo nets, rapid firing guns and search lights. Although it is difficult to sink a well-built battleship by torpedo boat attack, it is rarely possible with torpedo boats that travel on the surface of the water. This knowledge exercises a great moral effect. All maritime nations possess torpedo boats. Very few maritime nations are still building torpedo boats. Because, today, a single, modern submarine will sink the battleship on a one to one encounter every time. Let me let that sink in. It takes several torpedo boats to attack a single battleship, and the battleships wins. It takes one submarine to attack one battleship and the submarine wins 9 times out of 10. That is why battleships no longer venture out upon the sea alone, they must have screening vessels surrounding them to protect them from submarine attack. By building submarines, you are forcing your opponent to build 12 ships to protect his one battleship. No one said a thing and the laughter was no longer in the classroom. He continued.

"The torpedo boat is also incapable of accompanying a battle fleet because of its slow speed and this seriously detracts from its value. A fleet travels at the speed of its slowest vessel. In its earliest form, the torpedo boat was itself the explosive, for it contained merely a large quantity of powder and was itself destroyed by the collision and explosion. Craft of this type were used by Gianibelli at Antwerp in 1585. The first evolutionary step developed boats which carried separate torpedoes that were designed to be attached to the bottom of the enemy’s ship. The first surface boats appeared during the American Civil War and the first partial success was achieved on October, 1863, in an attack by a confederate boat on the union’s USS Ironsides. Practically all the torpedo boats of this war used ‘spar’ torpedoes, which were carried at the end of a long spar, or boom, rigged out beyond the bow. Nearly all were ordinary steam launches or pulling boats, though the boat which attacked the Ironsides and one or two others were specially built craft with nearly submerged hulls. In 1873, the first fast, speed was 15 knots, boat was built by Thronycroft of England for the Norwegian Government and it was fitted with Harvey towing torpedoes. In the next year, Thornycroft, working at Yarrow, Scotland, constructed boats for various foreign governments, but none for England. About that same time, Herreshoff completed a fast boat for the US Navy. In 1877, Herreshoff brought out the first boat fitted to use the Whitehead torpedo, by 1880 it replaced the spar torpedo. The world now had three self propelled torpedoes, the US Whitehead, the English Howell and the German Schwartzkopf.

The last torpedo boats built by England were the ‘destroyer’ type in 1893. Our experience with these boats demonstrated their value both as scouts and picket boats against torpedo boat attacks, and they also showed us that under many circumstances they were really one step away from submarines. When submarines were built for the same money as a destroyer torpedo boat, no more torpedo boats were built."

Lieutenant Hornsby, why are submarines superior to torpedo boats?

Torpedo boats spend their entire time just at the water’s surface. That is why they are so vulnerable to an attack. Submarines can dive to great depths and hide for short periods of time. The construction of the two is quite different. Let me again go to the chalk board.

The class had several questions about the US Holland Class submarine and why Lieutenant Hornsby considered it the finest in the world. He walked to the chalk board again and pulled down what we thought was a rolled map, it was instead a diagram of the Holland Fulton submarine. It was beautiful. It looked like a giant Whitehead torpedo.

"This, gentlemen, is a diagram of the experimental Holland, built last year under secret contract with the US Navy and the US Government. In its sea trials last year, it set a speed record for surface travel and lost only two knots when submerged to a level of 50 feet. It holds a crew of 11; 1 captain, 1 executive officer, 2 navigators, 1 plot board operator, 2

cross trained seamen, 2 torpedo hold seamen and 2 engineers who run the gas engine and monitor the gasoline tanks that are forward to reduce a fire breaking out in the engine space, aft. You will notice the use of multiple ballast tanks, in addition to the space between the hulls, it has a lower set of tanks and notice the large ballast tanks almost to the height of the conning tower. This prevents the submarine from spinning like a Whitehead torpedo through the water. It also brings the boat ‘right side up’ when it is subjected to underwater explosions like a battleship breaking up on the surface. Notice that the shape of this tank allows two sets of steps to reach the conning tower. This diagram is a longitudinal section of the boat. You would need several cross sections to show where the crew eats their meals, sleeps and performs certain hygiene functions." The class laughed again.

"You will notice that double assignments are made as far as the crew is concerned. When the submarine is on a long extended operation, the crew must exchange positions every 8 to 10 hours. The captain and executive exchange, the engineers, torpedo men and navigators also exchange on a shift basis. The difficulties in the way of navigation are:

1) difficulty of boat movement while under water, for example; obstructions, motor exhaust, electrical storage battery exhaustion and fumes,

2) obtaining a constant and fair speed while under water,

3) steering around under water hazards.

4) securing habitability,

5) insuring boat stability, and

6) the difficulty of navigation while discharging a torpedo.

The accidents that have taken place in the last two years in the Royal Navy, show that submarines are far from safe. The work in them is likely to remain extra-hazardous, but much is being done to improve them in this respect. The problem of reaching a speed in excess of 10 knots when submerged is a difficult one. Storage batteries must be used to drive an electric motor while submerged because no efficient means of keeping the exhaust gases from the gasoline engine from escaping into the boat have been found. The Holland that has been assigned to this class this year, is an earlier model and the exhaust gases are piped directly outside the hull. This causes escaping bubbles and the smell would enable the course of the boat to be ascertained and followed."

Lieutenant Hornsby? We have a submarine here at Annapolis?

Yes, I could not teach this class without one, that is what the laboratory session is all about, isn’t it!

Will we be taking the sub out into the Chesapeake?

"We will, lads. But let me finish my introduction to this course. I have a sign up sheet for the summer cruise at the back of the room, as you leave today, please write your name upon that list if you want to be considered as one of the 33 cadets chosen for the cruise. We will run shorter shifts with you transferring back and forth from the USS Severn. But I digress, I left my lecture at the point of steering and directing the course of the submarine, or sub as you Yanks call it. It is impossible when under water to see more than a few feet ahead of the boat at rest. When the speed increases the distance shrinks, and the windows in the conning tower are useless. The periscope becomes the only way to see outside the sub and it is a fairly tolerably field of vision, for one person, usually the captain or the executive officer. Our first laboratory includes the use of the periscope and instruction on how it is made and repaired at sea. Then we consider the conditions affecting the stability of the sub. Next, we move on to how to operate the permanent vanes, change buoyancy, learn to load the tubes with torpedoes, how to fill the gasoline tanks and other boring things that you must learn before the sub ever leaves the dock at Annapolis.

The classroom is where you will learn the tactics involved with the movement, placement and firing of a live torpedo at a target. Yes, gentlemen, you will get to blow up some old hulk from the US Navy that is to be sunk to create an artificial reef off the Maryland shore. This will be done during the holiday you Yanks call, Thanksgiving. In the UK, we call it Boxing Day and it is the day after Christmas. Now you lads are free to go to your next class, as our time together is over. Remember the sign up sheet for the summer cruise to Bermuda in the USS Nautilus."

I jumped from my seat and was the first cadet to write his name upon the ‘Left-tenant’s’ list. I was determined to be a captain of a Holland class submarine as soon as my graduation from the USNA was a fact.

2

Summer Cruise

Naval Academy, 1897

My parents were headed to Bermuda with the Whitehalls from South Carolina on a business trip for Caldwell International. My father had retired from the navy June 1, 1897. He was now the director of CI and my grandfather was finally, fully retired. This year I could not travel with them, I was scheduled to take a summer cruise from Annapolis to Bermuda on board the USS Nautilus. This was not the Robert Fulton Nautilus of 1801, but the brand new Holland class Fulton submerged torpedo boat.

Torpedo boats in 1897 were divided into two classes, the submerged and the submergible. The USS Nautilus was of the first class, when in light cruising condition, it moved with only a small percentage of the hull above the water line. The second class is a normal torpedo boat, which does not dive below the surface, its purpose is to deliver a Whitehead torpedo to a target at the highest speed possible. On the surface, the two boats look similar. The construction is very different, however. The USS Nautilus is nearly cylindrical with pointed ends, the general shape being much like an overgrown Whitehead torpedo.

Commercial transportation to get to Bermuda was still by steam ship, it still took three days, unless you were coming from England. The USS Nautilus was not as fast as a steam ship but it was traveling with the USS Severn, an older ship from Annapolis and it could keep up with the speed of the Severn. The USS Servern had been named after the Army Fort Severn which occupied the 338 acres before the United States Naval Academy was built. I remembered my grandfather telling me stories of how he and Ben Hagood had spent the summer of 1833 at Fort Severn. My father’s story about his cruise to Bermuda with Captain Sam Mason in 1874 had been one of my all time favorites.

My father had decided to see his Uncle John Butler at Caldwell Place. Caldwell Place was the corporate retreat headquarters of Caldwell Shipping in the Atlantic. Sam and my father both stayed in the guest quarters for a few days, visited with Mark Twain and rode the train over to St. David Parish to see what my Great Uncle Robert’s renters were doing to his house, garden plots and produce fields all over the chain of islands that make up Bermuda.

It was on the return train ride that he noticed miss Amelia Simpson and her parents. It was hard to determine the age of the girl that sat between her parents. She had flowing auburn colored hair that came to her shoulders. Her facial skin was alabaster white against the auburn hair. She smiled during conversation and her eyes were a deep blue almost black and he was overjoyed when they got off the train in St. George’s and walked in front of him towards Kings Square, turning on the Duke of York Street walking towards Rose Hill.

Turn on Rose Hill, please ….. He thought to himself. They did and his heart jumped. He followed them up the hill and into Caldwell Inn.

They must be Americans. He thought.

He loitered in the lobby while Sally Butler, the CI retreat manager, visited with them and noticed him staring at the young girl. She motioned for him to come over to the three of them standing in front of her desk.

Admiral Simpson and Mrs. Simpson, I would like to introduce Midshipman James Caldwell, the son of Admiral Caldwell the owner of Caldwell Place. He is here for a few days before he returns to Annapolis, Maryland. JJ, this is Amelia and her parents.

He held out his hand for the admiral, but never took his eyes off Amelia. Admiral, Sir, I am very glad to meet you. Mrs. Simpson, you have a beautiful daughter!

This was what he was thinking and he did not mean to say it. Mrs. Simpson recovered for him and said, Don’t tell me, tell her! She was smiling and glanced at her husband with a raised eyebrow.

I should have not said that, Amelia, my mouth ran away with itself.

You do not think I am beautiful, then? Amelia Simpson was like a cat playing with a mouse.

No. I mean you are very, very beautiful - but I should not have told you that.

You just did it again. Her father said with a smile on his face. He placed his arm around my father’s shoulders and said, I happen to agree with you, son. Look where she got her good looks. He was gazing at his wife. Would you like to have dinner with us this evening, Mr. Caldwell?

I would indeed. I promised a friend that I would have dinner with him tonight, would you mind if I brought him along. You may have heard of him, Mark Twain?

Mark Twain, is staying here! Amelia blurted out. And he is a friend of yours?

He is a friend of the family, I met him when he came here to meet with Charles Dickens to work together on a novel that they were writing.

You know Charles Dickens?

No, I know Mark. He worked with Dickens until his death in 1870.

Charles Dickens is dead!

Amelia was very nice looking but she did not keep up with current events, he thought to himself. Yes, he was only 58 years old. Mark says he is going to live to be a hundred.

Really, how does he know that? Amelia was an air head.

Mrs. Simpson tried to do damage control. We know your parents James. Edward served with your father on the USS Vixen during the bombardment of Vera Cruz during the Mexican War.

My father, like my brother Louis, has a photographic memory of printed material, it is a curse really. He had volunteered to read and sort materials that came from the Army Navy Building storage to the Naval Institute. He tried to recall an Edward Simpson, Admiral USN. He drew a blank. He closed his eyes and concentrated, still nothing. Admiral, did you attend the Naval Academy?

Yes, class of ‘46. Why?

I do volunteer work in historical records for my father. I recently sorted some papers for the class of ‘46. That was an unusual class. It was composed of seamen from the fleet and transfers from West Point. Which were you, sir?

Both, we all were. I transferred from the fleet. I was a midshipman at the point from 1840 until 1844 and at sea when the academy was formed by an act of congress in ‘45.

Ah, Seaman Simpson, made Lieutenant in 1855 after the capture of the Barrier Forts near Canton, China. Now I remember what I read in the records. You were an instructor at Annapolis until the Civil War. As Lieutenant Commander you were in command of the monitor Passaic, you participated in the attacks on Fort Beauregard and Wagner in Port Royal, Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie. He did not tell him that my Great Aunt was killed in the attack on Fort Beauregard. He continued, Later you were the fleet captain of the blockading squadron before Mobile. I remember your file from the war, sir.

You have a very good memory, son. Admiral Simpson was clearly uncomfortable. Mrs. Simpson saved the day. James, meet us in the dining room with Mr. Twain about seven, will you?

Of course, Mrs. Simpson.

When he was out of sight, Mrs. Simpson said, Really, Amelia. I do not know what we are going to do with you. Comments like ‘Charles Dickens is dead?’ We are trying to have you meet rich, suitable, future husbands and you come up with a comment like that! Do you have any idea what the Caldwells are worth? Really! I never.

Now, mother, calm yourself. Amelia is going to do just fine with this one. She knows what young midshipmen like and how to sell it to them, don’t you Amelia?

Yes, father. He is so short, can’t we find a handsome, tall, rich man for me to marry instead of these things you two come up with?

I thought our cover story about Simpson was perfect. We have to be very careful that he does not find out that we are really the Simpsons from Indianola, Iowa, instead of this navy family from New York City.

My father found Sam Mason sitting beside the swimming pool and asked him if he wanted to have some fun. I need for you to get on the telephone connection to Annapolis. The Institute should have information on an Edward Simpson, who claims to be an Admiral in active service. Can we do that?

Sure, why?

I just met a man, his wife and their beautiful daughter just now in the lobby. I doubt they are who they claim to be.

Why would that matter to you, JJ?

Because the mother may want me to marry the daughter.

Before or after you have violated her? Sam was grinning.

I think the violation may be part of the scheme to extract money, it would not be the first time.

They left the pool area and went into a back office which contained the linkup with Bermuda Telegraph and they placed their request for a connection to the Naval Institute, Annapolis, Maryland and waited. Soon the bell sounded and Sam said, Bermuda calling Naval Institute, over.

Naval Institute, Ensign Marlarey speaking, over.

Elroy, this is Captain Mason, can you do me a big favor? Over.

Of course, sir. What is it? Over.

Go down in records and pull whatever you have on an Edward Simpson, class of ‘46. That should be easy since that was the first class out of Annapolis. Call me back at Caldwell Place when you have the file, over.

Aye, aye. Sir. Over.

The line