U-Boat Scourge

by J Eugene Porter

  Washington, D.C.

  • Bataan Peninsula, Philippines: Lull settles over entire front as both sides dig in and prepare for further action. Japanese have completed withdrawal from I Corps area; diversionary forces are employed against II Corps are ordered back to Balanga area.

  The plane had left Banana River at 0900 hours and included two additional passengers. A request had been made by Admiral Willson’s office for the initial reports on the U-boat sinking be brought to Washington by the pilot and co-pilot of the PBY that sank the submarine. The base commander, Captain Young, received this information around 1800 hours from one of the admiral’s aides which required the captain to corral the two men prior to them getting totally blasted in the officer’s club.

  Every officer on the base who did not have duty had shown up to see the heroes and congratulate them for their success. The captain quickly slowed the festivities when he pulled the young men from the club along with Patrol Wing Commander, Captain Gannon. He also found the scientist Commander Jameson and asked him to join him in the office. Jameson had just finished reviewing the first draft of Brand’s report and was watching him work out some theoretical problems with his slide rule when Young came calling. Jameson had no problem leaving Brand alone because he was never alone. Two corporals were sitting outside his door, and if he needed anything, it would be provided by these two marines.

  Jameson listened to the captain as he related his call from Admiral Willson’s office, which did not please the two young officers. Neither Lieutenant Commander Hamlin or his co-pilot, Lt. (jg) Bob Henson wanted anything to do with going to Washington. They wanted to get back in their plane and find another Nazi sub to sink.

  Captain Gannon, knowing these two were going whether they wanted to or not put his foot down and told them, “The party will reconvene on your return. This will be a long war, and you will have many chances to sink another U-boat. The request from Admiral King’s chief of staff was not a party invitation. So, you two are forbidden to go back to the club. You will go to your quarters and ensure you have your Class A winter uniforms ready with a change available. You will be prepared to fly out of here at 0800 hours, and you will act like proper navy gentlemen, or you will find yourselves counting socks in New Foundland. Do I make myself clear?”

  “Yes sir,” came the sullen voices of the two young officers.

  “Commander Jameson, will you please ensure these two heroes get off the plane in Washington sober and in proper uniform?” The captain grinned at Jameson, then looked back at his two flyers with a stern countenance.

  “Sir, I am quite sure these officers will enjoy the flight and will be in good order when they get off the plane. I understand from the communique that an aide to Admiral Willson will be at the airport with a car and driver so they will not get lost.” Jameson remarked with a straight face knowing the two pilots would probably be meeting Admiral King and would be given some sort of medal for their efforts. King needed heroes right now, and almost all the news he had recently received was bad and getting worse. He also surmised the two young officers would be doing several other briefings to other officers at Old Navy and the officer’s club would be their not-too-sober home for several days. They deserved their day in the sun, and were certainly going to be the talk of the town for a few days.

  *****

  The plane arrived at Washington around noon, and as it taxied to the terminal, was met by one of the “follow me” vehicles with the sign and a big checkered flag. The pilot dutifully followed the small truck, and came to a stop outside a hangar at the far end of the regular terminal. Two navy staff cars drove out to the R4D with one of them flying the two-star flag of a rear admiral.

  Jameson noticed this as did Flannigan who immediately yelled out to the passengers of the plane, “Look, smart men, there is a two-star flag on the lead car. So, get yourself presentable and straighten your ties. Gunny, you and Laird off first and set up by the door. Commander Jameson and Hamlin, you gentlemen exit first followed by Henson and Brand. I’ll bring up the rear with the rest of the detachment. Step to full review positions. Understand?”

  “Aye, aye sir,” came the reply from the entire plane.

  The navy crew chief looked out the window and saw a small stairway coming forward just like this was a regular civilian plane. Two navy ratings pushed it up to the correct position and then jumped up the five steps and banged on the door.

  The crew chief opened the door and looked out as several officers were now assembled in front of their cars and only thirty feet from the doorway. He squinted and saw there was more gold braid than he had ever seen before and quickly backed into the plane. He caught Jameson before he could exit and said, “Sir, there are at least three admirals out there, sir, so be careful.”

  Jameson smiled at the chief and exited the plane followed by the two PBY pilots, Brand, and Flannigan with his marines. A full navy captain marched up to Jameson and received Jameson’s salute.

  “Commander Jameson, welcome to Langley. Please have your officers follow me.”

  The captain performed a perfect about face and walked towards the senior officers.

  Jameson seeing that the marines were all standing at attention by the plane ordered, “Officers, front, and center.”

  The officers including Brand and Flannigan marched up behind the commander and moved in unison towards the admirals.

  Jameson ordered, “Detail, halt. Attention.” The officers saluted and held the salute as is customary until returned by a senior officer.

  In front of Jameson and his group stood from right to left, Adm. Ernest J. King, Rear Adm. Adolphus Andrews and Rear Admiral Willson. Andrews was in town from his office in New York City to meet with King about the U-boat attacks up and down the east coast.

  King returned the salute and began walking down the line shaking each person’s hand. “Jameson, good to see you. Well done, Commander, for you and the team.”

  “Thank you, sir,” Jameson said as King walked to the next man.

  “Lieutenant Flannigan, you must have extraordinary eyesight for spotting that sub’s periscope from such a height,”

  The young marine replied, “Just good training, sir.”

  King smiled at Flannigan’s humble response, because he did not like men who were too proud of momentary achievements. King moved down the line and said, “You must be Lieutenant Commander Gannon and Lieutenant Henson. I wanted to personally shake your hand for doing a great job sinking that German sub.”

  He extended his hand to each man who in turn shook the hand of the top man in the navy. King admired warriors like these young men, saw the awe in their eyes and said, “You and your crews are doing the job I would love to do. I’m stuck here in Washington with these other old men while you young men win the war. I am very proud of you, and look forward to hearing from you personally about this victory.” He smiled at each, then walked to the last man on the line.

  “So, Mr. Brand, it seems you are earning your keep. I have read the operations reports, but I know you have some additional information to share. Is that correct?’

  Brand, somewhat lost in front of all of the brass, calmly replied, “Sir, I have reached several conclusions as to how to prosecute the war against the U-boat. My report on the successful attack carried out by Commander Hamlin and Lieutenant Henson will provide you with some suggestions for current tactics and strategies as well as some new developments which will help in this mission. I have some other research to conduct, but Commander Jameson and I feel confident we can reduce our casualties considerably in the next few months.”

  King looked at the young ensign and just like last time, approved of what he saw. Brand was not afraid to speak his mind. All his thoughts and ideas were research-based, not just wild-ass guesses.

  King replied, “Okay, Mr. Brand. Come back to the office with me and let me see this report. I have Admiral Andrews with me, and he is very anxious to get your ideas into practice. Jameson, you go with Admiral Wi
llson and our two young heroes. Brand is coming with me and Admiral Andrews.”

  With that last sentence, King grabbed Brand by the arm and walked towards his car. He was quickly introduced to Admiral Andrews and the three of them got in the back seat with Brand in between the two admirals. One of King’s aides, a navy captain, got in the front seat with the marine driver. At the gate, two more staff cars were waiting for the admiral’s car and both were full of marine guards and other aides.

  Willson watched the car carrying his boss and Brand drive off, then waved Jameson over and whispered, “I hope young Brand makes it back to the office with those two. King wants him to help Andrews get the Eastern Sea Frontier Command moving on these recommendations as soon as possible. The president is asking every day what the navy is doing. The sinking of the U-boat really helped, but one sinking does not solve our problem.”

  Admiral Willson looked over at his aide and asked where the other cars were for transporting the rest of the team to barracks. He wanted to make sure Flannigan was coming with him and the PBY pilots so he told the aide to follow in another car.

  Willson got in the car and smiled at the two young navy flyers, whispering to Jameson, “We need to get over to King’s office and rescue Brand before he goes off the reservation on something like British intelligence.”

  Jameson nodded and whispered back, “I instructed James that he was not to say anything about the Brits except in the written reports, but I know he wants to get access to more of their research on their success and failures.”

  Willson nodded. Turning to the two PBY flyers he asked, “Have either of you gentlemen ever been to Washington before?”

  *****

  As the small convoy of staff cars drove through the city of Washington, D.C., the questioning of Ensign Brand grew more intense. Admiral Andrews wanted more information about the attack on the submarine, and Admiral King wanted to know more about Brand’s ideas on daylight convoys and new weapons to attack the U-boats from the air. King, of course, won the battle for time and Andrews knew his Annapolis classmate was the boss and had the bigger ego, so he interjected his comments carefully. Within ten minutes, the convoy pulled up to Old Navy, as the headquarters of the United States Navy was known, and the marine guard snapped to attention and action. Two aides appeared at the door and opened it, asking the boss if he had time for this or that, and which meetings were being shuffled because of this unscheduled trip to the airport. King brushed all the comments aside. The aides knew better than to push their luck, so they followed behind the entourage until they came to Admiral King’s office.

  Standing as King appeared was Rear Admiral Turner and an army brigadier general that King had previously met once or twice. The two flag officers stood at attention, and Turner tried to catch King’s attention, which he did when he saw Brand coming in behind Admiral Andrews.

  “Look what washed up in Washington, but everyone’s boy genius.”

  Brand went to attention at seeing Admiral Turner for the first time since his hospital meeting some weeks before. “Good to see you, sir.”

  King turned to Turner, “Don’t have time for you Turner, I have to ask Mr. Brand more questions before I go to the White House. I will get with you in a few minutes. Good to see you, General. I will be with you both in a few minutes.”

  “No problem, sir,” came the reply from the brigadier general. “I will wait with Admiral Turner.”

  Brand smiled at the new man with a great grin and followed the admiral into his office.

  Another fifteen minutes went by as King fired questions at Brand. He finally wrapped up the impromptu meeting by saying, “Brand, good work on this. I’ll look at your full report tonight, and I will be patient for the rest of your observations after you get back from New London. Admiral Andrews will want to be briefed as well so plan to spend some time with him after you finish up with me. What you have done and what you are doing is very important. I like the idea of daylight convoys with our pitiful small number of escorts, even though it will add another day at sea for most ships. I would rather have them late than sunk. Also, your attack plans need to be finalized and sent to all army and navy air units, and your plan to train a few instructors in the tactics is very sound. We need to get people to do their job better and much faster.”

  King walked around the office for a minute. Brand did not say anything as he was beginning to understand how King operated. Finally, King turned and almost whispered in a conspirator’s voice, “Do you think we can get these aerial rockets working so you can, as you say, extend the reach of the aircraft?”

  Brand looked at the admiral and replied in a very strong voice, “Sir, the Brits have had some success with small diameter rockets, and the Air Corps has looked at this information as well. What everyone is missing is the correct propellant. Rockets are dumb weapons and go where they are aimed. Getting the correct spin on the rocket as it launches was proven by Dr. Goddard in the ’20s. What we need, and I’m sure American chemistry can quickly demonstrate, is a fast burning but powerful solid fuel to propel a rocket armed with a twenty-five-pound warhead, one to two miles before running out of fuel. This is a science problem for our chemists to develop the propellant, and metallurgy to safely allow the firing and flight of the rocket, and lastly, training pilots on how to use it. If we had had some sort of rocket device on the PBY, we would have crippled the U-boat on the first pass.” He then looked at his feet for just a moment and collected his thoughts. He continued, “I think this type of weapon would be very useful in ground support for the marines and army troops as well as an effective anti-ship weapon, primarily against merchant shipping and escort vessels.”

  King looked at Andrews who nodded his head in agreement. “Get me some ideas on paper on how it would work, who could do it and anything else that you think I need to move on this idea.”

  “Yes sir. I will get this to you as soon as I get back from New London. I think by understanding how our submarine people operate, it will help me get a feel on how the Germans run their boat. Also, if we gain a workable strategy out of this effort, we’ll need to come up with a defensive strategy for our people.”

  King smiled, which was very rare indeed and told Brand, “Mr. Brand, get out of my office before you find a way to replace me with your ideas. Report back to me as soon as you return to Washington.”

  Brand stood to attention and then executed a proper about face and walked out of the office.

  Andrews watched as the young man left, then turned to King, “Ernie, he is everything you told me and more. Where did you find him?”

  King looked at his old classmate and replied, “The man in the White House requested I find him at Navy Boot Camp and I did. Dolly, it is a very long story, but at some point, I’ll fill you in. I’ll send him to you at your headquarters when he finishes his report. But you cannot keep him, all right?”

  Andrews looked at his old friend, now commander in chief of the United States Fleet and said, “No problem. If he is this valuable on the U-boat problem, I am sure he has great potential for the future. I think we are in for a long war and we will need strong minds more than strong backs.”

  King picked up the phone to start the parade of supplicants who wanted his time. Most had problems they wanted him to solve instead of telling him how they had solved the problem. He wished he had a dozen more men like Brand.

  *****

  When Brand walked out of the office, Admiral Willson was standing with Commander Jameson. They were talking to Admiral Turner and the army brigadier general. Brand walked by but was caught by Admiral Willson.

  “Mr. Brand, how did your meeting go with the admiral?”

  “Very well, I think, sir. I have more items on my plate than when I went in so I guess things are doing okay.” Brand smiled at the admiral who was getting friendlier every time they met. The admiral then turned to the other flag officers and said, “Sorry, Mr. Brand, I did not introduce you to these two officers.”

  Before
Willson could continue, Admiral Turner stopped him by saying, “I’m well acquainted with Mr. Brand. We met in a hospital in San Diego. Isn’t that correct, Ensign?”

  “Yes sir, and thank you for all you have done for the commander and our team.” Brand looked over at Jameson to see if what he said was all right and he saw him nod in approval.

  “Ensign Brand, I would like you to meet my counterpart in the War Plans Division of the army. General Eisenhower, this is the young man I have told you about.”

  The bald but smiling brigadier general moved forward to shake the hand of the young ensign.

  “Good to meet you, Ensign. Admiral Turner holds you in high esteem, and I also know for a fact that General Marshall has the same opinion. Hopefully, sometime in the future, I can pry you away from the navy to ask you a few questions on issues common to both the army and the navy.” The brigadier again smiled.

  Brand could feel the warmth of the man plus a burning curiosity about all things military. “Sir, it would be my pleasure to assist you in any way possible. I have an assignment from Admiral King that will take me a few days to complete, but upon my return, I would enjoy talking to you at your convenience.”

  Eisenhower, who had been working eighteen-hour days since he arrived in Washington on December 11 did not appear tired but smiled again at the young ensign and handed him a card with his contact information. The card said, “Assistant Chief of Staff–War Plans” and he held the same job Turner held in the navy. He had recently replaced his old friend Major General Gerow in the job and now reported directly to General Marshall. Eisenhower had already met with the Combined Chiefs of Staff of the British and American armed forces plus the president and Prime Minister Churchill. Marshall had been grooming him all along for this job, and he would be promoted to major general in another month and made chief of operations for the army.

  Jameson whispered something to Admiral Willson, who in turn told the other flag officers, “Gentlemen, we need to let the commander and ensign get on with their job. They have a plane to catch. Commander, please call me from New London with an update on your progress and your expected return. I believe Admiral King wants more information from Brand soon. Is that not correct, Ensign?”