by M. L. Maki
Halsey looks at Rodgers, “Stay on the helicopter, Captain Rodgers. We’ll only be a minute.”
Halsey and Johnson step out of the bird, running to clear the blades, and holding their hats. Saluting them is a short athletic woman, curly blonde hair in a tight bun. She wipes a curl off her face as the 1MC announces, “Carrier Group 2 arriving, Carl Vinson arriving.”
Rodgers watches as the two men return her salute. Halsey says, “You’re doing a fine job, Lieutenant Wakefield. Do you have full propulsion back yet?”
“Yes, sir. We’ve patched the damage to our forward stack. We’re still trying to throw together a bridge. Conning from here is impossible.”
“What do you need?”
“A shipyard would be nice, but a couple of welders and some plate will do. I need to cut away the mast and stow it clear of the Mark 41. I may need to come alongside and use the Vinson’s AB crane for that. I also need to put together a bridge forward of the funnel. I already have electricians and ET’s running the wire. I would like a bit of a roof over it, though.”
“You lost a lot of crew. We have some people available, but they’ve never served on a ship like this.”
“That would be fine, sir. We can train them. Sir, who are you going to put in charge.”
“How long have you been in the Navy, Lieutenant?”
“Seven years, sir.”
“A long time for a JG.”
“I’m a mustang, sir. I served as a nuclear field machinist mate before being selected for OCS.”
“Been to college?”
“Yes, sir. BS in mechanical engineering from San Diego State University.”
“Do you know how to navigate? I mean, with a sextant?”
“Yes, sir, of course.”
“What is the primary mission of this vessel, Lieutenant?”
“To protect the carrier, sir. The Fife is primarily anti-submarine, but as you’ve seen, we have some anti-air.”
“Who is the youngest person on your ship?”
“Seaman Megan Lockwood, sir, she just turned eighteen.”
“You ask me who is going to be in charge, Lieutenant. The answer is, you are. Please remove your collar devices.”
“Yes, sir?” reaching up to remove her lieutenant junior grade silver bars.
Halsey steps forward and pins Commander Grey’s oak leaves to her collar. “A command like this needs the rank of commander. Congratulations, Commander,” and shakes her hand.
Startled, Commander Laura Wakefield salutes Halsey, “I will do my best, sir.”
He returns her salute, “You already are.”
Rodgers watches this is in stunned silence. Then Halsey and Johnson return to the helo. On the way back to Vinson, Halsey says, “Captain, I really enjoyed that. I have more than a few misgivings about females in service, but after what she’s done to save her ship, I feel she deserves her shot. Besides, we don’t have a lot of men who know how that ship works. She seems to be a competent leader. It’s hers to lose.” They are silent for the rest of the return flight to Vinson.
CHAPTER 5
OUTSIDE BLACK KNIGHT READY ROOM
0915, 15 JANUARY, 1942
Swede walks up to Spike, “I have a plan for an operation I wanted to show you.”
“Okay.”
“I need your take on it, because it’s a little hare-brained.”
“I have to talk to Packs first. Is he in the ready room?”
“He should be,” and opens the door. When they walk in, the room is quiet. The television is off and no one is playing cards. Packs is alone on the far side of the room.
Thud runs up to her, “You’re okay!”, then stops. “I’m sorry, Spike, I’m sorry. Carleton got on your six. It’s all my fault.”
“No, Thud, it’s not your fault. It’s his.”
Packs walks over, his arm in a sling and sporting a shiner, “Spike, I’m the one who’s sorry. I couldn’t get him to stop.”
Spike nods her head, “Frank, can you give us a minute?” and walks Packs into her office and shuts the door. “Grab a chair, we need to talk.”
He sits down, “Ma’am, there is so much I should have done. I mean, I knew he didn’t like you. My God, I probably encouraged him.”
“First of all, thank you for lighting us up so we knew you were back there.”
“It’s the only thing I could think to do. My radio was glitch…um, shit, he disabled it.”
“Probably, look, he just couldn’t handle the transition back in time. It wrapped him up too tight. Packs, do you know if he was married or had kids?”
“Yeah, his kids and mine played together a lot, though our wives didn’t get along.”
“How old are, um, were your babies? I’m sorry. The time travel thing. That was rude.”
“Jennifer is, was eleven, and Mary was ten.”
“Why didn’t’ Book’s wife and yours get along, if I’m not being too nosy?”
“It’s okay. Lorraine, well, she felt an officer’s wife should focus on the kids, the house, and the community. When the squadron was out, Trisha would go out drinking and dancing. It wasn’t a great marriage. Do you suppose that’s why he didn’t like women?”
“Could be.”
“Crazy thing is, when we got home, she’d go all nuts on him and accuse him of cheating. As far as I know, he never did. I would have known.”
“Thanks. So, how are you doing?”
“I won’t lie. It’s been hard. I have my faith to fall back on, but still. In a way, it’s easier to know they don’t exist, then if they had died.”
“I can’t imagine. I have my brother, and we’re close, but it’s not the same. But, yeah, it’s easier that he doesn’t exist. Sort of.”
Looking down, “I’ve heard, ma’am, I know Chief…I know what he did to you and Chief White. I guess everyone knows.”
“Lyle, it’s okay. You couldn’t have known. You did what you could and it’s not your fault. Are we good?”
“Yeah, I’m a little banged up, but we’re good,” and smiles.
She chuckles, “I’m so glad. So now, we need to find you a new pilot. It’s going to take time. We’re going to need trainers, too”
“Ma’am, I’ve already been thinking about it. We’ve lost planes. They might find Bug and Joker. I know they’re looking. The Tomcatters have also lost two birds. The thing is, the F-18 squadrons have lost four planes and have one more so beat up, it’s doubtful it will ever fly again. Most of the pilots will probably be recovered because they ejected over water. So, maybe, we could transition one to fly in front of me.”
“Good idea, a really good idea. I’ll talk to their CO’s and see what can be done. Do you have any other brilliant ideas? You’re on a roll.”
With a wry smile, “No, ma’am, one a day is my limit.”
“Okay, then, we’ve kept Swede waiting long enough. Let’s go back.” She puts out her hand, “Lyly, thank you,” and he takes it.
Almost all the pilots and RIOs are in the ready room and all eyes follow her and Packs as they walk out. Spike drawls, smiling, “Come on guys, don’t you all have some work to do?” They all look at each other and start laughing.
Swede motions to her, “Come look at the map.” Then, “Spike, Papa’s TARPS recon pod lost power when he took a couple of rounds from an F-4. We didn’t get a very good picture of what happened. I’ve an idea for launching a recon mission.” He explains his plan.
When he’s done, Spike says, “It’s kind of nuts, but it should work. I agree, we need to know what we bought for all our loses. I’ll talk to higher. I will need to anyway.”
Swede says, “Halsey and Johnson are still out touring the fleet.”
“Okay, I would prefer to talk to them all at once, anyway. Could you ask ADC Gellar to meet me in the power plant shop?”
BLACK KNIGHTS POWER PLANT SHOP
1000, 15 January, 1942
When Spike walks into the shop, the whole division is there. She stops and surveys the r
oom. AD1 McCrimmon is reading through paperwork. ADC Gellar is sitting in a chair looking a million miles away, and the rest of the crew are standing around, distracted and listless. Joe Cervella says, “Chief, Skippers here.”
Gellar’s head shoots up and he briefly makes eye contact, then looks away, “I’m sorry, ma’am, Book beat up the Master at Arms and the doc, then ran off.”
“Book is dead.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“It’s his fault, not yours. You did everything you could.”
“I just wished I figured it out sooner. I found the note. That’s how he got you down here, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“Anyway, I brought it to the Chief. He figured it out.”
“I see, I left the note on the bird.”
“If I’d figured it out that it wasn’t Chief’s handwriting, I could have stopped him before…”
“NO! Then you would be dead. The first person to walk through that door was dead. That’s just the way it was.”
“Did you shoot him down, ma’am?”
“No, the Japanese did. While he was after us, he forgot they were out there.”
Gellar nods and Lori asks, “Are you okay, ma’am? We all heard about Lt. Hawke carrying you all over the ship, and Fluffy grabbing the corpsman.”
Spike laughs, “Yeah, I’m fine. I was just exhausted. Thanks, Lori.”
Joe asks, “What are they gonna do? They can’t arrest him. He’s dead.”
“I don’t know. I’ll be talking to the command about that later, but that isn’t why I came down here. I came down to see if you’re all okay.”
Gellar says, “I feel better just talking to you, ma’am. Ma’am, yer gonna need a new chief now. Can I come back to the squadron?”
“Can your LPO with the Tomcatters hack it as a chief?
“He’s more ready than Socks, ma’am. Socks has been a first class only a few days.”
“You’re right. I’ll look into it. You may have to look after both divisions until your LPO has got it.”
“That’s okay. Um, ma’am, is there anyway we can have him buried with honors? You know, like he fought the enemy?”
“I’ll talk to the command. That’s a good idea. Where’s Duck?”
“His friend was in our berthing ‘cause they kicked him out of medical. The missile hit near there and he got hurt again putting out fires. He saved our berthing, ma’am. Anyway, Duck is looking after him in medical.”
Spike laughs, “Thank you. I believe the Stoddert grew heroes.”
FIRE ROOM 1, USS SALT LAKE CITY
1135, 15 JANUARY, 1942
The crew of the Salt Lake worked through the night and morning getting her ready to turn and make way forward, instead of aft. Backing at two thirds, they’d at least been able to keep the fleet moving. Two thirds, because after forty minutes of back full, the engines started to overheat, so a two thirds bell was all they could do. Captain Zacharias goes down to the fire room to look over the situation. The shoring of the forward bulkhead is extensive. Most of the cracks have been filled with putty and cloth, then covered in wood, so the leaks have been significantly reduced. The portable pumps are secured as the installed eductor is keeping up. “Will she hold, Brewster?”
LCDR Flanagan says, “Sir, if it doesn’t, there is nothing more I can do.”
“Alright, Brewster, I’m going to back up to turn us around. I’ll step up the bells to standard. If we can do that, I feel it is good enough. Keep me informed.”
“Yes, sir, I will,” watching Zacharias leave.
In a few minutes they hear the order for all stop, then ahead one third. Flanagan goes down to the lower level, telling the watch standers to move up to middle level. Then, he checks the bulkhead. Picking up a sound powered phone, “Bridge, Engineer, bulkhead is holding.”
The order for two thirds is given. Flanagan again reports the bulkhead is holding. Then the order for ahead standard is given. As the ship comes up on the bell, she begins to shake. “Captain, we have some vibration here.” As he is speaking, a wedge shoots out of a shoring piece and the shore slips violently, hitting a pump casing. “Sir, we’re losing her!” The forward bulkhead starts to collapse inward and Flanagan grabs a piece of wood, attempting to brace the bulkhead.
Then section after section of the shoring give way, and water pours in. Realizing it’s lost, he pulls himself through the water to the ladder, but the current pushes him away. He finds himself pushed against a deck grate on the starboard side of the fire room. As the salt water hits the boilers, it flashes to putrid smelling steam. He pushes against the deck grate, but the water keeps pushing him around. Then, BT1 Rivera sees him and starts frantically pulling on the grate. He struggles with the stuck grate and just as the water reaches Flanagan’s head, the grate gives. Rivera pulls Flanagan up and out.
“Thank you, Charley. Did you pull the fires?”
“Yes, sir. I was doing it when I saw you.”
“Charley, I believe it’s time to leave. The old girl’s a goner.”
FLAG BRIDGE, USS CARL VINSON
1215, 15 JANUARY, 1942
Halsey watches the Salt Lake City slow to a stop. She’s now awash to the forward stack, the bridge an island surrounded by water. He picks up the radio, “Captain Zacharias, she is lost. Chester, go alongside to take off the crew.” The USS Chester, a Northampton class heavy cruiser moves into position by the Salt Lake City.
Captain Johnson on the 1MC, “Now launch all available helicopters to recover sailors of the Salt Lake City.” All the helicopters of the task force launch into action, again.
A sailor walks onto the bridge, “Request to enter the bridge with a message.”
The OOD looks over, “Enter.”
The sailor walks up to Halsey with the message. Halsey signs for it, dismissing the sailor. He pulls out the message, reading it carefully. After a second time through, “Captain,” handing the message to Johnson.
Johnson reads it, “Sidney Australia to affect repairs. Wonder what’s up?”
“I don’t know, Captain, but we need to make plans to split the fleet. I want to steam together until we are further away from Japan. If the Enterprise group gets caught by the Jap’s without the Vinson around, they would be wiped out. I think Long Beach, Fife, and San Francisco need to go to Bremerton for repairs.”
“I don’t like the idea of being without the ASW that Fife offers.”
“I see, Captain. We keep the Fife. But we need to get her a bridge. I’ll schedule an all commander’s call after the funeral service.”
“Yes, sir.”
SALT LAKE CITY BRIDGE
1225, 15 JANUARY, 1942
Captain Zacharias gives the order every captain dreads, “Salt Lake City, this is your Captain. All hands abandon ship. Chester is coming alongside, so keep it orderly. Officers, take charge of your men. All hands abandon ship.”
The conning officer, Lt. Marker, asks, “Sir, will you be leaving?”
Zacharias waves him off, “Go, John. Tend to your division. They need you.”
“We all need you, sir.”
“You’re right. Go. Get them ready. I’ll see to the rest of the crew.”
Some of the men end up in the water but are picked up quickly by boats from the Chester and Vinson and the helicopters. As the ship slips further into the water, Chester has to stand off. The last of the crew gather on the fan tail, where Captain Zacharias helps them into the helicopters. Soon, he is standing alone on the upturned stern.
Zacharias waves off a helicopter. Halsey grabs a bull horn and goes out on the weather deck, “Captain, I need you. Don’t be foolish.” The ship, only the stern exposed aft of mount 3, rolls upside down, throwing Zacharias into the water. Immediately, a SAR swimmer drops and the captain is plucked from the waves. As he’s hoisted into the helo, the Salt Lake City slips beneath the water, bow first, to her grave 5600 feet below.
CHAPTER 6
OUTSIDE THE ADMIRAL’S PASSAGEWAY, USS CARL
VINSON
1712, 15 JANUARY, 1942
LCDR Hunt, Lt. JG Hawke, and ADC Gellar wait. Lt. JG Lyle Boxter is in the Admiral’s conference room giving his statement. After about twenty minutes, he steps out. “Puck, you’re next.” Puck smiles at Spike, puts a hand briefly on her shoulder, and walks in.
Packs looks at Spike, “That was hard, Spike, like re-living the whole thing.”
“Yeah, I get it. Are you okay?”
“I’ll be fine. I think I’ll go work out. Take care, Spike.”
“You too, Lyle. Thanks.”
Fifteen minutes later, Puck comes out, “Bobby, you’re next.” He meets Spikes eyes. “Are you okay, Spike?”
“Yes. I’m fine,” and smiles.
“It looks to me like they want all the facts so they can bury the correct information.”
She chuckles, “I don’t want to know right now.”
“I just want to prepare you for a ‘no resolution’ resolution.”
“Eric, I fully understand the political ramifications of this situation.”
“I know. I’m just not sure if you get the personal ramifications. The only justice you’ll get happened out there.”
“Eric, I’m mourning the loss of everyone.”
“I am too, but you lost something as well. Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Of course, I lost something. What are you trying to say?”
“Even though he wasn’t fully successful, he violated you. And everyone knows he did.”
“I know it’s hard to understand, but I can handle what he tried to do to me. It’s losing Mosey that’s hard.”
The door opens and Bobby walks out, “You’re up, Skipper.”
“Thank you, Bobby. I’m fine, Eric, really.”
ADMIRAL’S CONFERENCE ROOM, USS CARL VINSON
1806, 15 JANUARY, 1942
Admiral Halsey, with two of his staff captains, sits at one side of a table with Captain Johnson and Captain Holtz. In chairs against the wall are the Admiral’s legal officer, Lt. Bishop, the ships legal officer, Lt. Watson, and Naval Investigative Service (NIS) Special Agent Donald Matthew.
