by Stuart Slade
“Arguably, the same facilities could be built into a destroyer-type ship, but the results would not be as satisfactory. The Australians went that route. They tried to build a version of their Wellington class destroyer with the required flagship facilities. Wellicruisers they called them. The class was unsuccessful and are considered failures on a number of points. An interesting thing is that the cruisers don’t actually cost that much more than the destroyers. The majority of the cost of the ships is the electronics outfits and that’s determined by the ship role, not by her size. We also believe that the new cruisers we are proposing will be significantly cheaper to run than the four existing ships. They were, after all, ordered in 1939 even though they weren’t completed until 1960. They were radically modified while under construction and their layout isn’t optimum. Given modern technology and starting from a clean sheet, we can get a much more efficient ship with a crew only slightly larger than that of a destroyer.
“As General Howard pointed out, the gun cruiser is by no means obsolete. I grant you that in the early 1960s it appeared that way, but the Battle of the Pescadores put that idea to rest. Guns still have a vital role to play both in naval engagements and in support of shore operations. The Tiger class have four six-inch guns each, their replacements will have eight. By the way, after their Wellicruiser experiment, the Australians are building a new class of cruiser with 7.5 inch guns, to supplement their large helicopter cruisers.
“The cruisers are also invaluable as station ships and for showing the flag. They have a presence that smaller ships lack. They are diplomatic tools as well as military ones; they allow negotiations to be carried out in secrecy while their communications equipment means those on board can refer issues to their home base. Sir, you remember how well that worked in the Tanganyika negotiations?”
The Prime Minister nodded. The delicate negotiations with South Africa over military operations in Tanganyika had been carried out on HMS Leopard and he remembered well the virtues of the ship. “Those are strong points, Admiral. The proposed building program contains four such cruisers. One-for-one replacements for the Tigers?”
“That is correct, Sir. To be followed by the three new aircraft carriers.”
“I forbid this.” Featherstone was almost spluttering with rage. “The Treasury demands large cuts in the Ministry of Defence’s overall budget and the cancellation of these ships.”
David Newton glanced around the assembled Cabinet. Time to strike. “Derek, it is not within the remit of the Treasury to set the budgets for the individual ministries. That is a decision to be taken by the Cabinet as a whole. We have been down this road before, when the Treasury took upon itself the duty of determining government spending on a ministry-by-ministry level. That led to 1939 and to the rise of That Man. We will not repeat the experience. The Treasury’s responsibility is to determine options for overall government expenditure levels. It is the collective decision of the Cabinet to determine how that available pool of finance will be divided out and the role of the Secretary of State for each ministry to decide how their allocated funding should best be spent. In the end, the voters will decide whether they approve or condemn the decisions we are making. You presume too much upon yourself, Derek. Now, General Howard, your funding requests?”
Howard stood facing the Cabinet table. By a historical quirk, only the professional heads of the Royal Navy and British Army had the dubious privilege of addressing Cabinet directly. As he looked around the Cabinet table, he sensed the effect the Prime Minister’s comments were having. Now was not the time for inter-service rivalry. “Sir, at the moment, our top priority is converting a second brigade to Air-Mechanized configuration. We have our First AirMech brigade, consisting of First and Second Battalions, the Parachute Regiment and First Battalion, Royal Regiment of Marines, operational and exercises have proved it to be of great value. The second proposed brigade will consist of Third Battalion, the Parachute Regiment and Second and Third Battalions, Royal Regiment of Marines. We also need to replace the Cavalier tank, finalize the order for Boomslang tank destroyers and to purchase batteries of the Australian Kunchi long-range guns for our artillery park. The Ministry of Defence budget projections have provision for all these requirements in addition to those whose case was so ably made by the First Sea Lord.”
“You support the naval construction program, General?” The Home Secretary sounded more than slightly surprised.
“I do, Sir. It will serve all three services and provide much-needed facilities for us all.” And that will get me some markers I can call in at a future date he thought.
Prime Minister Newton looked around the table. It was dawning on the Cabinet that they had been given a chance to break the control the Treasury was establishing over their budgets. Even if they temporarily lost some of their budgets to Defence in the process, it was a price worth paying for the increased control over their own finances. “Admiral, I have one question. You stressed the value of the cruisers as station ships, a function whose value I can attest to from first hand. Would it not be more sensible to include six such cruisers in the program rather than four, using the extra pair of ships to replace the Daring class destroyers that can then be scrapped without replacement?”
“It would, Sir. The fleet would be the better for that change.”
“Then I put it to Cabinet that the 1982-1987 medium term costings for the Royal Navy shall be amended to provide three new cruisers rather than two in 1982 and 1983, that the aircraft carriers should be funded at a rate of one each year in 1984, 1985 and 1986 and that the four Jupiter class destroyers planned for 1984 should be stricken from the program. That the other defense acquisition programs as laid out in the Ministry medium term costings shall be approved unchanged. Do I hear a second?”
“I second your motion, Prime Minister.” The Home Secretary still couldn’t believe the Army and Navy were actually agreeing on something.
“Then, I call for a vote. I vote Aye.”
“Aye!” The Home Secretary wasted no time in getting his vote in and managed it just before the barrage of ‘Ayes’ went up around the table. The Chancellor of the Exchequer’s ‘Nay’ was feeble-sounding by comparison.
“Very well. The vote is carried and the Ministry of Defense medium term estimates are approved as amended by Cabinet. Now, next subject. We have a proposal to construct to new prisons on the Isle of Wight for long-term prisoners convicted of heinous crimes. Home Secretary, any thoughts on this proposal?”
Sir Humphrey Appleday’s Office, The Cabinet Office, Downing Street
“It’s an outrage. Who do they think they are?” Derek Featherstone was purple-faced and almost apoplectic with rage.
“The elected representatives of the people, I think. Some may think they are politicians. A few may even believe they are the government, but they’ll come around in the end.” Sir Humphrey Appleday viewed his visitor with some concern. At seventy years old, Featherstone was by far the oldest member of the Cabinet and his condition caused Sir Humphrey to believe he was on the edge of a heart attack. He hoped not. Having somebody drop dead in one’s office was tiresome and led to inordinate amounts of tedious paperwork. He looked at Featherstone from under his eyebrows, his eyes twinkling slightly. In the eternal game fought between departments and various civil service powerbases, this morning’s debacle was worth its weight in gold.
“It was all decided; all agreed. Just who is responsible for this mess?”
“Well, Derek, if you are seeking a culprit, I suggest that you begin your investigations in the domains where munificence and good works on behalf of the deserving are usually regarded as having their best and most promising start.”
“Eh?”
“Look in a mirror, Derek; look in a mirror.” Sir Humphrey sighed to himself. He wasn’t surprised by the turn events had taken over the last few hours. The confrontation had been building up ever since the new Prime Minister had taken office. It was the same old problem, one that had bedeviled
the Civil Service for the last forty years. In the final analysis, it was split into three factions. There were the members who had either been abroad when the Halifax-Butler Coup had taken place and stayed there or who had subsequently left during the 1940-42 false peace. Then there were the ones who had stayed and joined the Resistance or Resistance fighters who had entered politics after the occupation had ended. Finally, there were the ones like Featherstone who had stayed on and tried to keep things running. Those were divisions that crossed party lines but one thing most agreed on was that there was a distinct whiff of collaborationist about the third group. In most cases it was unfair, but that was the way it was.
“You can’t be serious. Blame me for this? If that fool in the Prime Minister’s seat knew his job.”
“Derek, please be aware that our present Prime Minister not only knows how to kill people with his bare hands, he has actually done so.” Including several collaborators he thought. “And, what is more, he is actually quite competent. All the more so since he treats governing this country as an extension of his previous battle against ‘occupying forces,’ by whom he now means us. He was looking for an opportunity to win a victory against us and you threw this opportunity into his lap.” And, like a good resistance fighter, he seized on the hole in the defenses and exploited it for all he was worth. Sir Humphrey mentally nodded in appreciation of an opponent’s achievement. Prime Minister Newton was the worthiest opponent he’d had for more years than many people would believe possible.
“But it was all decided…”
“But not by them. Look, Derek, you blundered badly. You let your dislike for the Navy get the better of you. You allowed yourself to be trapped into an argument on tactical and operational grounds which you were patently unable to justify and it made your opposition to the cruiser program appear petty and groundless. Even then, you had an opportunity to redeem yourself. You could have pronounced yourself convinced by the arguments and supported the proposal. We could always have obstructed it later, contract problems, funding difficulties, an unexpected economic crisis requiring a - purely temporary of course - delay. But now, all that isn’t plausible; such machinations will be seen for what they are. You traded away our traditional program of judicious obstruction for a full frontal assault and walked into an ambush. Now, we have to live with the result.”
And all because the Navy broke out in 1942 and you didn’t. Sir Humphrey sighed again as the thought ran through his mind. Life would be so much easier when the divisions caused by the Occupation were a part of history.
“So what do we do?”
“Nothing, Derek. Nothing at all. What is done is done and that’s the end of the matter. Tell me, on another matter entirely, how’s your garden doing?”
Across the desk, Featherstone went dead white. “Not gardening leave, Humpty please, not that.”
Cabinet War Room, 10 Downing Street, London.
“That went very well Prime Minister.” Admiral Charles Gillespie was happier than he’d been for many years. Six cruisers when he’d been prepared to settle for two. Trading the Darings for the extra ships was no great loss, they were worn out and probably the most disliked ships in the fleet.
“Don’t count on the carriers yet. We may have an election before they get to the order phase, and then you’ll have to fight the whole battle over again. But, your cruisers should be safe, and we’ve started the process of cutting the Treasury down to size. Now, we have the room secured, how is the situation developing?”
“It certainly looks like war, David.” General Pitcairn Howard spoke gravely. “The Cousins are convinced the Argies are going to have a go at the Chileans as soon as the weather clears, in as much as it ever does down there. Our Friends in Northumberland Avenue agree with them. The troop movements and ship deployments are quite definitive. The Cousins have shared their data with Chile and the Chilean Army is digging in all along the Andean frontier. If it comes to war, it’ll be bloody. However, it may not come to that. SAC’s taking a hand. We understand they’ll be doing B-70 overflights of the whole area over the next few days. Just a gentle warning.”
“Nothing gentle about it.” Gillespie wasn’t too fond of SAC’s casual disregard for other people’s aspirations to control their own airspace. “Pretty bloody direct, if you ask me.”
“As long as it works, that’s good enough.”
“For Chile, perhaps. For us? I don’t think so.” Newton looked surprised. “Why?”
“Look at it from the Argentine point of view. They’re setting up to invade Chile. Grab some choice bits of it perhaps; annex the whole lot possibly. They’ll be getting their people psyched up for a war, then SAC scares them off. They can’t admit that, so they’ll substitute something else.” Gillespie went over to the map on the wall and tapped it with his finger. “Here, for example.”
“The Falklands. Who the hell think’s they’re worth a war for?”
“A country that’s falling apart, that’s who. The truth is that the whole Falklands business was pretty ripe when one looks at it objectively. Argentina got muscled out and they never accepted it. They still maintain their claim to the Islands. The local people don’t want to know, they’re British and they want to stay that way.”
“That settles it then.”
“Not according to Argentina. They don’t recognize any claimed rights of the local population. And remember, anybody who disagrees with them ‘disappears.’ In a nutshell, if the Argies get warned off Chile, they’re quite likely to go for the Falklands and they’ve got enough justification to keep SAC from turning the country into a radioactive car park. Anyway, the Americans made it clear at the Pescadores that they’ll accept fighting over a few islands as long as it stays contained. So we need to have a contingency plan.” Howard snapped his fingers idly. “It’ll be one hell of an operation.”
Gillespie was staring at the map. “If we have to forward base out of Ascension, then it’ll be an operation unequalled by any amphibious force, ever. An assault on defensive positions at the end of an eight thousand mile supply line. I don’t think anybody’s ever considered pulling something like that before.”
“Which is why the Argies might think we’ll just have to fold if they present us with a fait accomplice.” Newton was thoughtful. “Can we do it?”
“Yes, Prime Minister.”
HMS Furious, Portsmouth Harbor, U.K.
“How was the honeymoon, Jerry?”
Mullback grinned guiltily at the whistles as he entered the air group Mess. However, he was saved from making a response by the sound of a bell being rung. The Mess President looked around the gathering of naval pilots with displeasure. “There will be no discussion of Ladies, Politics or Religion in the Mess. Sub-Lieutenant Craig will stand the Mess a round of port.”
There was an eruption of cheering and the officers converged on the bar. Almost immediately the bell rang again. “And Lieutenant Commander Mullback will stand the mess another to take that smug grin off his face!”
“Everything go O.K., Jerry?” The question from Alasdair Baillie was quiet. He’d been best man at the wedding and confirming that the arrangements for the honeymoon had gone through smoothly marked the end of his responsibilities.
“Thanks Jock; everything went fine.” That had been an understatement. The arrangements had been perfect, even down to the fly-over by four Buccaneers from Furious and the small detachment of the ship’s Royal Marines who’d ‘dealt with’ some photographers who’d been unduly intrusive. They’d had a photo-opportunity for the legitimate cameramen of course, one made memorable by Sam’s enthusiastic rendition of ‘All the nice girls love a sailor.’ That, it was rumored, had caused a peak in recruiting the following week and earned Mullback brownie points at the Admiralty. “Sam says, anything she can arrange for you, just let her know.”
“Perhaps one of her colleagues?” Baillie sounded unduly hopeful.
Mullback punched him on the arm. “You? Maeve would flay you alive when she foun
d out and you know it. What’s been happening round here anyway?”
“Many changes, Jerry. Strange and worrying omens have been seen. Ravens circling the foremast, seagulls gathering over the destroyer pens. And Glorious’s cat has died.”
Mullback looked at his friend sharply. “Are you serious?” He knew Baillie was superstitious, but this had a note of seriousness about it.
“About the cat? I am. The poor wee thing died last week, nobody quite knows how or why. It’s got the Glories quite upset. And here’s another thing for you. The fighter OCU has moved down here; they’re flying out of Yeovilton for a while. There’s rumors a flight of them will be joining us and the rest going to Glorious.”
“Us carrying deck park?” Carrying aircraft on the flight deck was anathema to the Royal Navy. They believed that the airgroup should be kept securely in the carrier’s hangar when it wasn’t flying missions. But, with the old carriers carrying such a limited number of aircraft, even an extra four fighters would be useful. That would be about as many as the Furious could carry without obstructing the deck. Even then, it would be tight.
“That’s right, old chum. You know what the dockies are doing right now? Fitting the two of us with outriggers so we can have that deck park. And you should see them working on Courageous. Like one of those old silent movies running double time.”
“What’s up? Any word?”
“The official line is that the financial year is ending and the Navy has unspent funds. If they’re still unspent when the year does end, we’ll not only lose them but our budget for next year will be reduced by that amount. So, there’s a drive on to spend the money and catch up on any overdue damage and defects repairs in one stroke. We’re pretty much getting whatever we want.”
“I suppose that could be it.”
“Yeah, right. With all three carriers in port at the same time? And take a look over to Gosport. The trots are empty. Dreadnought pulled out three days ago and Bellerophon followed her last night. Something’s up, Jerry. I’ve had whispers from the other ships; the same thing is happening all over the Navy. The fleet’s like a swan, everything smooth and serene on the surface but paddling like mad underneath. There isn’t a dry dock without a ship in it having a scrape and clean.”
