The trials took place at an undisclosed location in the Caribbean and the captured WW2 German Henschel Hs 294 anti-ship missiles were fired from B-26 bombers at a range of 15 miles. The test was of the ORCON guidance system and not the missile. There was no warhead attached to the units. Six missiles were fired in total.
Observations were made from the nearby battleship USS Wisconsin that was in the area after being refit. The first two missiles failed to ignite and simply dropped from the bombers into the sea. Within hours the necessary corrections were made. The third missile ignited and was sent in the general direction of the target ship. Dropped from 16,000 ft., it took three seconds for the missile to reach its top speed of 530 mph. Less than 2 minutes later it slammed into the USS Bulmer. Damage was minimal and the destroyer kept on twisting and turning at full speed.
The fourth missile just missed as the target ship took a random hard turn to port at just the right moment. The fifth and sixth missile hit the destroyer amidships in almost the same exact location as the first strike. Another 8 minutes and the destroyer’s engines shut down as the mechanical timer hit 30 minutes.
Dr. Skinner, aboard the USS Wisconsin, was observing the trials. He was simultaneously proud and appalled when his brainchild performed as designed. He watched in horror and fascination as his pigeons pecked their way on an almost infallible path and collided with the target destroyer. After each hit, Captain Claiborne would whispered “Bingo”, much to the dismay of the Doctor.
Skinner could only imagine what was going through the minds of US aircrews when they were confronted with a Soviet SAM. He could just picture the havoc that such missiles would create in a taskforce of troop transports jammed with boys like Jim Crenshaw.
During the next two weeks, the ORCON guidance system was placed in the US guided bomb, the Pelican. Results were mixed mainly due to the failure of the Pelican system. Much to the chagrin of many a naval officer, the pigeon-guided ordnance hit its target 71% of the time when the platform it was attached to performed as designed. Dr. Skinner’s invention was a feather covered, ship-killer.
Razzle Dazzle 1.1
Admiral King was roaring into the phone. “I WANT IT DONE NOW! I WANT EVERY SHIP ENTERING COMBAT TO BE REPAINTED! NO MORE EXCUSES! I WILL REPLACE EVERY EXECUTIVE OFFICER WHO DOES NOT HAVE IT DONE IN A WEEK!”
He slammed the phone down, sat down and tried to calm down. Shit he thought to himself. I ordered this done a month ago and only 75% of the ships were repainted! That is not acceptable.
He picks up the phone and dials a number few have. A female voice answers and Admiral King is very pleasant for a change.
“Hello Yvonne, this is Rey, is the Doctor in?”
“Oh hello Rey. I’ll get him … just a moment.”
“Thank you.”
King almost breaks a pencil fidgeting with it while waiting. He hears movement in the background, then the phone is dropped hitting the floor, next some fumbling noises, and finally a voice answers.
“Hello”
“Doc, this is Rey.”
“Well, hello Rey.”
“It’s happened Doc. A Soviet missile hit one of the transports near Trieste. It could have been a fluke but we don’t think so. It looks like it was deliberately shot at the fleet.”
“Was the boat properly painted Admiral?”
“No it wasn’t Doc. It appears that the missile passed over a dozen repainted SHIPS, and went for the only SHIP that wasn’t camouflaged with our new paint scheme.”
“This anecdotal evidence is very limited of course but combined with the “sea trials” you had me conduct it does support my theory. In our experiment, the newly Skinned ships seemed to evade detection by the Project Pigeon guidance system.”
King tried to hold his temper…”Doc please don’t talk about the “system” over the phone.” Plus, he hated that everyone had named the paint scheme after Skinner despite his orders not to use that term.
“Oh yes, of course Rey, I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”
Bullshit, thought King. He does it every time.
“Doc run some more trials, and please hurry up with a second and third solution. If the Reds are using “The System” then they can retrain the operators.”
“I will do my best Rey. The paint scheme that we developed just might be the best answer however. It appears to be working. As you know, it is just a variation of the Navy’s own Razzle Dazzle developed during the Great War. It may not have worked with the advent of radar but if the Soviets are using my system, it should work.
If I caught wind of this paint scheme and wanted to alter my system I would concentrate on the superstructure of the ships. Can we alter them by putting domes over them or boxes?”
“We shouldn’t be discussing this over the phone Doc.”
“Oh…of course. When can the board meet?”
“Get a seat on the plane and I’ll have a driver waiting for you at the airport.’
The phone is dropped again and King almost throws his across the room. God I hate eggheads. He hears muffle voices and Skinner finally picks the phone back up.
“Yvonne thinks there is a plane leaving at 2 o’clock.”
“Good! Be on it…please.”
“Of course.”
“You can stay at my house again Doc.”
“Thank you Rey”
“My pleasure Doc.”
King hangs up the phone gently and then slams his fist into his chair back. Luckily the chair is padded. He literally hits the intercom button and yells into it.
“GET YOUR ASS IN HERE!”
The aide almost trips coming into the room. This is Admiral King’s third aid in a year. The fact that the aide was so quick to respond put King in a better mood.
Admiral Ernest Joseph King was a bully. He was a rarity in the world of bullies, He was a bully that got things done even when he was not directly intimidating his victims. He also had a talent for knowing a good idea when it presented itself. Using Doctor B.F. Skinner’s ideas and passion was a good idea.
“Call my wife and tell her that we will be having company staying for few days. Let her know that it is the usual guest.
Despite his mutterings to the contrary, Admiral King actually like Dr. Skinner and looked forward to their dinner conversations. Skinner was a good listener and King like good listeners.
“Now who else’s chain can I pull to get this “Skinning” done?” He muttered to no one in particular.
He reached for the phone and subconsciously relished in the fact that whoever he talked to would cringe when they heard his name on the other end.
Figure 40 - The Razzle Dazzle Paint Scheme circa 1916
Skinner Shines
They just had time to see the contrail of the missile before it hit. The explosion almost tore the SC-745 submarine chaser in half and lifted it out of the water. The little ship was blown to bits. Considering it was made of wood and one of the smallest US Naval vessels that plied the oceans of the world, it was an expected outcome.
This submarine chaser was among the dozen ships still needing the Razzle Dazzle paint scheme. The other 11 ships had been hit with missiles as well. The antidotal evidence supported the theory that the Soviet missile’s guidance system was visual based.
The guidance system seemed fooled time and time again with the missiles ignoring ships that were camouflaged. The repainted ships seemed immune to the ravages of these guided bullets that headed unerringly towards a collision course with conventionally painted ships. When missile and ship collided the missile won.
The missiles tore deep inside any unfortunate ship that was hit and then it exploded. The missile went in so deep before it spent its kinetic energy that the warhead detonated nearer to previously protected and hidden vital parts of a ship. Components such as the engines, boilers and fuel tanks were often below the waterline where ordinary cannon shells had a hard time penetrating.
If this Soviet weapon could not be neutralized, it would devast
ate the NATO fleet. American participation in the freeing of Europe would cease. The US would have to pull back out of the range of any Soviet missile.
The modified Wasserfal or Stalin’s Fire being used now had a range of 100 miles. All of the US fleet in the Adriatic was within range of a Soviet missile battery. Much of the ships in the Mediterranean fleet were within range as well. If the Soviets captured Spain, the ancient waters of the Mediterranean would be devoid of a Western military ship for the first time in 500 years.
Months before the missiles started crashing into US Naval vessels, the “Pigeon” Board, as some have called it, met. The board’s official name was “ORCON Board.” After the startling results recorded in the live fire trials in the Caribbean, the smiles of condescendence had been wiped from all concerned and had been replaced by looks of dismay. Until the demonstrations even Admiral King’s seal of approval did not sway many. A way must be found to stop this newest weapon from devastating the American Navy like it had the bombers of the United States Army Air Corps and SAC.
At long last, personnel of the highest rank and highest technical expertise from all the service branches sat and listened to Dr. B.F. Skinner. There were no snickers, chuckles or rolling of the eyes. Each had seen the deadly results of the Doctor’s invention and each was dedicated to finding a solution to defeating it, including Skinner.
The Doctor did not dwell on the fact that they had virtually laughed him out of the room at his last attempt of explaining his guidance system. He gave full credit to Spencer Crenshaw and his nephew Jim for being astute enough to see what these “experts” could not. In fact, Jim was in the meeting room assisting the Doctor.
Skinner demonstrated his pigeon-guided system again, as he had done years before. He had kept a number of trained operators who performed with astounding accuracy after nearly two years of no practice. The Doctor explained that since the pigeons used eye sight they were not vulnerable to radar jammers, noises, explosions, etc.
The pigeons could, however, be blinded or “spoofed”, a term coined by Jim. By spoofed Jim meant fooled by optical illusion. This phenomenon was observed after only a few tries. The Razzle Dazzle paint schemes used in World War One proved to be the most effective. In fact, Skinner’s handful of pigeons were spoofed 100% of the time.
Skinner cautioned that the pigeons could be retrained to recognize the new paint scheme. Retraining would take months. Concurrently, he and his coworkers were working on other solutions as well. Another alternative would be smoke screens. The challenge with this concept would be the continuous nature of keeping the screens active throughout the day and what that would do to normal naval operations.
Also, the Doctor touched on the fact that the Soviets had combined infrared instruments and his guidance system to shoot down night fighters and bombers. He pointed out that ships were warmer than the waters that surrounded them and the Reds could once again adapt his system to target ships even through smoke.
Initially flares could be used with the hope that the pigeons would be attracted to the brightest heat source. With this scenario, the pigeons could be retrained in a few months to aim for the largest heat source or one that had the outline of a ship.
In the short run, he suggested that the Razzle Dazzle paint scheme be instituted immediately by all ships and even strategic bombers. Repainting would give the NATO fleet at least three months of respite, if not more. In the meantime, the ORCON Board would have to support and push the implementation of the other defenses he outlined. Skinner hoped that the Soviets would follow his research path. At the same time it was hoped that the Reds would not develop innovative solutions that Skinner’s team had missed.
Plain and Simple
In the end, the long-term solution was plain and simple. They had to win the war. They had to stop the missiles at their source. Soon, even the great distance of the Atlantic Ocean would not be enough to stop what were being coined, Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles. V2 rockets with nuclear warheads were already on American and British drawing boards. It was feared that the Soviets were keeping apace, if not ahead, of NATO’s efforts.
As with most human endeavors, war seemed accelerate creativity in many fields from medicine to methods of killing. The prediction for the reality of an intercontinental ballistic missile dropped from twenty years to less than a decade, once the Soviets started World War Three.
It was thought that the only way to stop nuclear tipped missiles from raining down on American cities was to utterly defeat the Soviets. No other long-term solution was believed feasible. As with the Axis powers of the last war, only unconditional surrender was deemed acceptable.
To thoroughly defeat Communism, the factories and workers of the United States once again turned from producing cars to tanks, and from making lipstick to making millions of bullets. The giant that was America, had once again, hit full stride. With the giant re-awakened, there would be hell to pay for those who had started this war.
End of Book Three
***
Please read the End Notes on Dr. B.F. Skinners Project Pigeon. We believe that once you understand Dr. Skinner’s very straightforward and elegant guidance system, you will comprehend how short-sided the US Military was in rejecting this simple yet effective solution. We believe it was not rejected on merit but on misperception or even outright bias. Possibly tens of thousands of Allied soldiers died needlessly because of this short-sided decision[cxxxiii]
***
Epilogue
The date is now 25 May 1947. The Soviets have conquered most of Eurasia except Britain and Iberia. Stalin is at his personal peak of power and the Soviet Empire is at its zenith.
Napoleon and Hitler were defeated by a combination of Russia’s “General Winter” and thousands of miles of flat, featureless terrain. Both found that the distances and weather dwarfed their country’s ability to supply their armies. Both were defeated soon after reaching Moscow.
As a German Panzer commander is quoted as saying “If this keeps going we will win ourselves to death!" The defeat of every invader of the various Slavic empires has been directly attributed to the vast distances of the Russian Steppes.
The exhausted civilians of America and Britain would not stand for a prolonged fight of attrition. The casualties experienced by Soviets and Germany would be unacceptable. Heavy loses over an extended period of time has been the demise of many a would-be conqueror.
NATO has another plan. Simultaneous amphibious landings and invasions have been tried before. NATO’s plan is to make a move and then to wait for the STAVKA to counter that move. The goal of the NATO landings will be to cut off Soviet Armies from their supplies, causing them to use up precious fuel trying to counter attack NATO’s incursions. The plan is so bold, that if it works, millions of Soviet soldiers will be isolated and left to wither on the vine.
The American giant has been re-awakened. American industry is once again becoming the arsenal of democracy.
The series of attacks and counter attacks bring to mind the children’s game. It starts with when one child puts her hand on top of a playmate’s hand. He then puts his hand on top of hers. She raises the stakes, putting her other hand on top of his hand. Next, he puts his other hand on hers. The little girl pulls her hand out from under his and places it on top of the pile. They continue until one or the other child stops.
In the case of nation states the “hands” are the lives of millions of people. It then becomes a question of who runs out of hands first.
Timeline for Book One – The Red Tide – Stalin Strikes First
May 2nd, 1895 - Sergo Peshkova is born
Aug 3rd, 1943 - Sergo attends a party where he meets Stalin and their unusual relationship begins
Aug 13th, 1943 - Sergo becomes an advisor to Joseph Stalin specializing in aerospace
Nov 24th, 1943 - Sergo is given full control of Soviet aerospace research and development.
Jan 4th, 1944 - Research on the German Wasserfal Ground to Air missil
e and the X4 air to air missile becomes a top priority under Sergo’s leadership using stolen materials from Peenemunde
Aug 1944 - Three USAAF Superfortress B-29 bombers fall into the possession of the USSR
Dec, 18, 1945 - 17 of the 22 members of an elite atomic bomb assembly team are killed in a series of seemingly accidental events during the holidays. 15 die in a bus crash. These deaths delay the American Atomic Weapons program for 6 months
May 1st, 1946 - May Day Parade in Berlin and Moscow
May 2nd, 1946 - World War Three begins with a surprise attack by the Red Army consisting of 60 divisions and over 7,000 combat aircraft.
May 11th - NATO is formed.
May 13th, 1946 - The surprise attack is a complete success with 13 out of 22 US, British and French divisions overrun.
July 3rd, 1946 - Denmark surrenders to the forces of the USSR.
July 13th, 1946 - France surrenders to the USSR.
July 13th, 1946 - The Soviet Agent known as Delmar (George Koval) assassinates hundreds of American nuclear scientists using the world’s most deadly substance, Polonium, at conferences in Oak Ridge, TN and Dayton, OH. This cripples the US nuclear program for another 12 months and possibly forever.
July 27th, 1946 - USAAF attempt to drop an atomic bomb on Leningrad The NKVD and its stable of spies is instrumental in warning the Soviet Red Air Force VVS. With a combination of the new Wasserfal Ground to Air guided Missile and hundreds of fighters the raid is decimated and an atomic bomb is lost in the Baltic Sea.
July 28th, 1946 - The Red Army is stopped temporarily on the Pyrenees Line by a combination of US and Spanish divisions using the rugged terrain of this mountain range located on the border of France and Spain.
World War Three 1946 Series Boxed Set: Stalin Strikes First Page 108
