Untimely Designs

by gerald hall

  “Yes, most of them belong to the ‘America First’ movement. However, there are some groups in America like the ‘American Bund’ that are explicitly pro-Nazi. Many of the members of these groups are of German ancestry, if I remember correctly.”

  “You haven’t been providing financial support to their ‘America First’ people, have you sweetheart?”

  “Oh, no. I wouldn’t dare do that. If interference in American internal politics by a foreigner had been discovered, there would be a terrible backlash. There would also be people beginning to ask some very awkward questions about me that I could not answer. America would have to sort out their own internal politics.”

  “Isn’t what you did with your visit to Albert Einstein something that affected American politics though?” Dorothy cautiously asked.

  “No. What I did was convince Professor Einstein that the world would be a far better place without anyone having nuclear weapons. That had nothing to do with national politics, just a consideration for the world and humanity as a whole. Now, we just have to make sure that the Nazis and the Japanese don’t get those damned weapons either.” Harold replied, not entirely sure how he was going to accomplish all of this just yet.

  Chapter Four:

  Cavill Industries Main Office.

  Derby, Western Australia

  August 1, 1940

  Harold was in his office when he heard a knock on the door. A few moments later, his assistant Edward walked in with an older English gentleman in expensive clothing.

  “Mister Cavill. This man has come from the British Embassy in Sydney with official documents for you.”

  “Thank you, Edward. With whom do I have the honor of talking to, Sir?” Harold asked the distinguished visitor.

  “I am Assistant Ambassador William Blevins. I have a confidential cable from Prime Mister Churchill for you. He wishes for you to read it and give him a response at the first opportunity.” Ambassador Blevins said as he handed a large envelope to Harold.

  Harold quickly broke the official wax seal, opened the envelope, pulled out the contents and began to read. The cable’s contents read:

  “My friend, Mister Cavill.

  I am sure that you are aware of the debacle at Dunkirk that has occurred in the past few weeks. What few people realize is that the majority of our heavy equipment that had been deployed in France and Belgium with the British Expeditionary Force has had to be abandoned in place. We could not save the equipment while at the same time evacuating over a hundred thousand British and Allied personnel from the beaches. We badly need replacements for this hardware. I am hoping that you will be able to help us reequip our forces. I am aware that you have been developing a new family of armoured vehicles that could replace the venerable Matildas and Valentines that we lost in France. I understand that your vehicles may even prove to be far superior to the Panzers that the Nazis used against us. If you could produce some of these new vehicles for use by the British Army, it would be tremendously helpful.

  Your Dragonfly fighters have already been very helpful. They have operated from light carriers to help protect convoys coming to Britain from America and elsewhere from German U-Boats and surface raiders. A small number of your wonderful little fighters also successfully assisted in protecting our ships and troops during the evacuation of Dunkirk. We have already made arrangements with Miles Brothers to have production increased for the Dragonfly for the Royal Navy and the RAF.

  If these new tanks of yours are as successful as the Dragonfly fighter has been in the air, they may give us a badly needed edge on the battlefield against the Nazis. Could you please arrange for the production and shipment of fifty of these new tanks to us for evaluation and combat testing? Payment will be provided by the Exchequer. Perhaps you will come along for the ride and see how they perform? It has been far too long since we last chatted in person.

  Sincerely,

  Winston S. Churchill

  Prime Minister”

  Harold looked up at the Ambassador and smiled.

  “Would you please tell the Prime Minister that I will expedite his order of our new tanks and other armored vehicle designs? I will also send a team of mechanics and other specialists to train British soldiers on the maintenance and operation of the vehicles. If the vehicles prove to meet British Army needs, I will have my representatives in England discuss production licensing rights with your government. I must regret however that I will not be able to travel to Britain at this time.” Harold finished his reply with a nod.

  He already had enough armored vehicles and trucks stored in this underground warehouses to more than satisfy Churchill’s request. All that he needed to do was to load the equipment onto a couple of his freighters and send them on to Egypt. Harold was certain that he could get the equipment there in plenty of time before the next series of clashes occurred along the Egyptian border.

  “Thank you, Mister Cavill. I will ensure that your answer will be sent as soon as possible. Thank you for your assistance in this most urgent matter.

  Then Harold turned and picked up the phone on his desk. He dialed the operator and asked to be connected to the shipyard at Derby.

  “Hello, Edward. I think that it’s time for us to put the ‘old girl’ into the water now. We are going to get her ready for war once again.”

  A few days later, Captain Nigel Wilkes from the Australian Admiralty walked off of one of Harold’s private air transports after receiving a telegram requesting his presence in Derby for an event at the shipyard. Captain Wilkes immediately called via telephone and was told by Harold’s assistant that the event would be of some importance to the Australian Navy. Captain Wilkes was informed that an aircraft would be waiting on him to bring him to Derby.

  Harold was already waiting at the aerodrome when Captain Wilkes stepped off of the aircraft.

  “Good afternoon, Captain Wilkes. I am very pleased that you were able to come. I know that my request came at short notice. But with the war going on, I needed to get you here to see what I had since you are a senior official with the Navy’s procurement office.” Harold said as he shook the officer’s hand vigorously.

  “Is this in regards to the destroyers that we have already ordered from your shipyards? We do need them as quickly as you had promised obviously to fulfill our obligations to the Commonwealth.”

  “Actually, it isn’t. Of course, the construction of the destroyers is proceeding as promised in the contract.”

  “Well then, Sir. What is it that you want to show me?”

  “Come with me to my truck. I have to drive you to a special part of my shipyard for that.” Harold explained.

  Harold and Captain Wilkes got into the truck. Then Harold drove several miles towards a remote part of the shipyard.

  “Isn’t this where you scrap ships, Mister Cavill?”

  “Well, we actually do a wee bit more than that here, Captain.”

  As the truck got closer, the Royal Australian Navy officer could see things that he did not expect. It was now plain that an extensive effort had been made to conceal what was here.

  Harold stopped the truck near what appeared to be a very large tree-covered berm next to the coast of the King Sound. Then he got out of the truck and motioned for Captain Wilkes to come with him. Harold and the naval officer walked up a set of steps until they reached the top of the berm. Captain Wilkes was shocked by what he then saw.

  Large camouflage nets and tall trees now concealed a lot more than just the hulk of an old battle cruiser. Over the course of over a decade and a half, the earthen caisson had been secretly transformed into a large clandestine, concrete-surfaced dry dock complete with a water pumping system and opening gate locks, capable of holding a large ocean liner or prewar battleship. It was the duplicate of the dry dock used for the construction of the two flight deck liners that Harold had built for an American shipping company, in fact. The latter facility had been constructed less than a mile away from where the old battle cruiser had been secretly be
en reconstructed. Currently, the large overt dry dock was being used to construct a large oil tanker to bring oil from Sumatra’s oil fields to Australia.

  On the way to this area, Captain Wilkes had seen that four more dry docks were under construction as well a variety of covered construction slips. These dry docks were somewhat smaller than this facility and could only accommodate ships displacing perhaps twelve to sixteen thousand tons. But Captain Wilkes could see that the construction of these new dry docks was going at a furious pace still.

  Inside this clandestine construction dock, a tremendous of work had been accomplished. The bow and stern of the old battle cruiser hull had been lengthened by more than thirty meters. She had also been given new engines and armament. Most importantly, the warship now had a long, flat flight deck that ran the entire length of the hull. This was no longer a first generation battle cruiser. The ship hidden there was now a fast, modern fleet aircraft carrier that required only a few weeks of additional work before it would be fully operational.

  The ship was also unlike any aircraft carrier that had been built to date. It had a thinly armored flight deck that extended beyond the hull on both sides and ran along the full length of the hull to a fully enclosed bow. A torpedo bulge could be seen extending along much of the length of the hull.

  The warship’s island superstructure was offset to starboard even more than usual for aircraft carriers of that era. The flight deck had a pair of large deck edge elevators on the starboard side; one each, fore and aft of the island. The flight deck itself was completely asymmetrical with painted lines indicating that aft flight deck where the carrier’s aircraft would land was actually angled about seven degrees off of the centerline to port. The angled portion of the flight deck extended beyond the port hull onto a large sponson, just as the island was on a sponson over the port edge of the hull. This arrangement actually served to balance the ship.

  There were three twin gun turrets for heavy dual-purpose naval rifles on either side of the flight deck. On the carrier’s island superstructure and all along the edges of the flight deck, there were dozens of forty and twenty-millimeter automatic cannons set up for short range antiaircraft fire.

  The island structure did not have any masts or antenna attached to it. However, mounting points were evident upon closer examination.

  “I’ll be damned if that isn’t the strangest looking ship that I have ever seen, Mister Cavill. Things just don’t look quite even on her.” Captain Wilkes noted as he looked at the newly relaunched aircraft carrier Melbourne for the first time.

  “It is the shape of the future, I assure you, Captain. Our new Melbourne here can launch and recover aircraft at the same time because of the angled flight deck that her aircraft would land on. She can also carry more aircraft for her size than an equivalent Royal Navy carrier because aircraft can be parked on the forward flight deck at virtually all times. Melbourne has two hangar decks, though the lower deck is somewhat smaller than the upper deck. The deck edge elevators also free up additional hangar deck space as well.”

  “This is all very impressive. How survivable is this warship of yours? You told me before that she had been built upon old Australia’s hull but we saw in the photos that all of her main armor belt had been stripped off.”

  “That is true. Her armor isn’t nearly as thick as before. But an aircraft carrier isn’t supposed to be in the middle of a gun fight anyway. Melbourne’s got a thin side armor belt, a lightly armored flight deck as well as an armored hangar deck. These applications of armor protect her against aerial bombs and light naval gunfire, but little more than that. Her escorts have the job of taking care of any surface threats.

  As you may have already noticed, we’ve lengthened Melbourne’s hull by about thirty meters from when she was a battle cruiser. You can see here that we have added bulges to her sides to improve her stability and help protect against enemy torpedoes.

  We have also replaced her old engines with a modern high-pressure steam turbo-electric power plant. This allowed us to incorporate more internal compartmentalization, greater redundancy and fuel efficiency. Melbourne will still be able to sail at over thirty-one knots and have a maximum range of greater than ten thousand nautical miles.

  Melbourne’s armament has been completely modernized. We now have twelve heavy dual-purpose guns in six BD Mark II high angle mounts to protect her against enemy aircraft and light surface combatants. She also sixteen modern forty millimeter Bofors automatic cannons in twin mounts as well as thirty of the fast-firing twenty millimeter Oerlikon light automatic cannons in single mounts. It is my opinion that compared to most carriers out there, this ship is very survivable indeed. But if events prove that we should need additional defensive armaments, Melbourne has sufficient margin in weight and space available to accommodate them.

  I will also be installing the latest generation in wireless communications and detection systems onboard Melbourne as well. This will greatly enhance the effectiveness of the ship and the aircraft aboard her.”

  “How did you afford all of this, Mister Cavill? For that matter, how were you able to obtain the weapons that are mounted on your ship?”

  “It has taken a considerable amount of my fortune to reconstruct and outfit this vessel. Of course, I have been very blessed in terms of the profitability of my various business projects. I have certainly utilized the profits from the construction of those flight deck liners and the construction of the destroyers for the British and Australian Royal Navies as well as my mining interests to help finance this project. My shipyards are also very efficient with my aborigine and American expatriate workers being particularly productive. I procured the licenses to produce all of the weapons used by Melbourne. While I was forced to purchase the BD Mark II guns and mounts from England due to manufacturing limitations here at my own facilities, all of the other armaments were produced by my own people. This included a new four-inch dual purpose naval rifle that is now being installed in several other warships.

  But I didn’t just build this project for my own edification. If it is to go into service under Australian colors, I expect to be fully compensated for my efforts by the government. I do not expect to make a profit from this, but I cannot afford to merely give this ship away. If Australia will not purchase it, I am sure that the British would.”

  Captain Wilkes knew that this was not an idle threat, especially not with Harold Cavill’s known connection with Prime Mister Churchill.

  “Is she ready to fight right now?”

  “Not quite yet. We have deferred installing the mast and any associated antennas to the ship to avoid those elements being detected outside of our camouflage. It will take my people about a month to install all of that, including the new surface and aerial search radar arrays.”

  “Radars?”

  “Yes. Radio detection and ranging systems. I was able to ‘obtain’ several units from American sources that are quite advanced. This equipment has been modified to incorporate some British components as well so that we can take advantage of the best of both worlds. This technology will help substantially increase the effectiveness of this aircraft carrier and the aircraft that will be operating from it.”

  “How many aircraft can she carry, Mister Cavill?”

  “Depending on the size of the aircraft, HMAS Melbourne here can easily carry between sixty-five and eighty aircraft.”

  “I see, Sir. That is very impressive. You keep calling her ‘Melbourne’. Don’t you think that the Admiralty should have a bit of say as to what she should be christened?”

  “I agree. However, we don’t have any warships named after that particular city. Besides, Australia has already been taken by one of the County-class heavy cruisers. I’m sure that the Admiralty will agree with my ‘suggestion’ in any event.”

  “We will have to see about what funding is available from the government before we can agree to purchase this fine vessel, Mister Cavill.”

  “Oh, I’m sure that you have the
funds, Captain Wilkes. You have been taxing the hell out of me and my businesses for long enough. You just have to get the Finance Minister to find the necessary funds for you to use to pay for Melbourne.” Harold caustically noted.

  The two men continued to watch as workmen stood on the metal scaffolding surrounding the carrier’s island structure.

  “Obviously, I have to get back to the Admiralty to inform them of this development. They will need to find personnel to man this ship as well as pilots and aircraft to fly from it.”

  I will be able to help some with the pilots and aircraft. We have already been training pilots with the aid of some instructor pilots from England. I happen to have a very highly placed official who has helped quietly arrange for this. As far as aircraft are concerned, I already have two squadrons of new fighters here with more to be delivered soon. Perhaps, the Australian Admiralty can arrange for the British to send more aircraft to help fill Melbourne’s complement with other types of carrier aircraft as well.

  Obviously, like the aircraft carrier, my aircraft would need to be purchased at a fair price.” Harold said, sounding somewhat mercenary about the situation. Unfortunately, even with all of the wealth that he had amassed, Harold could not afford to simply give away this equipment. He needed the funds to continue to expand his production base and to prepare to introduce additional technology as needed to achieve his ultimate objective.

  “The Ministry is very curious about these new automatic rifles that you have been manufacturing for your militia here. Would it be possible for me to take back some examples for evaluation in Canberra?

  If the evaluation proves to be successful, then the Ministry would probably send you a contract to construct more of these weapons for our Expeditionary Force.” Explained Captain Wilkes.

  “I’m sure that I can arrange to have a few examples taken out of our inventory for use in your evaluation. I am more than happy to help our soldiers become more effective on the battlefield, of course.” Harold quickly replied.