Then the men of the Monkfish heard splashes. “Depth charges,” Griddle hollered, and the men prepared to hang on for their lives.
An explosion rocked the Monk, sending equipment and men flying in the narrow confines. There were screams of pain as men caromed off the pipes and deck. Another explosion, this time much closer, hurled Griddle against a bulkhead and then onto the floor. The lights flickered, went out, and returned.
Griddle had landed on something soft, and he felt his hand go into the mush of a crewman’s skull. The commander couldn’t see out of his left eye, and blood was pouring down his face. Waves of pain flowed over him, and he wondered if he could talk.
Another depth charge exploded, this one almost on top of the Monk. Griddle felt himself losing consciousness. As he slipped in and out, he wondered if he was going to die. He didn’t want to. There was so much to live for. For one thing, he wanted to kill the son of a bitch who’d invented the Mark 14 torpedo.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt lit the cigarette he’d just placed in the long holder that was as much his trademark as Winston Churchill’s cigar was his. The British prime minister was en route, and much had to be decided before the two allies conferred and planned for the continuation of the war that was now raging on two oceans.
But first, there were some unpleasant specifics to clear up. Roosevelt smiled disarmingly at General Marshall and Admiral King. “Gentlemen, just what are the Japanese up to this time?” he asked.
“We’re not certain,” King admitted. “All indications are that a reconnaissance in force is going to occur, but exactly what the target is, we don’t yet know.”
Roosevelt inhaled and blew out a perfect smoke ring. He watched it ascend to the ceiling of the Oval Office. “Why don’t you know?”
“Sir,” King continued, “we can read many of their messages, but not all of them. Part of the problem is manpower, while the other is the fact that their military codes have not been totally broken. A month ago, we had only a couple of score men and women doing this, and they were totally inundated by Japanese communications traffic.”
“Which may be why we didn’t know about the attack on Pearl Harbor?” Roosevelt mused hopefully. His political enemies were still raking him over the coals for that failure, and he knew it would be a sore point for future generations. He’d been shocked to hear that some Americans were claiming he’d intentionally permitted the slaughter of Americans to get the United States into the war.
“Yes,” King answered. “Although there were other factors, not the least of which was that the Jap fleet steamed in total silence, which meant there were no messages to intercept. But, getting back to the people working on the Japanese messages, we now have several hundred and will doubtless have more as soon as we can find them and hire them, but they are still learning their job. We have listening posts on Hawaii and the Philippines as well as here in the States, but the situation is still far from perfect.”
“Not in the Philippines?” Roosevelt asked with alarm. MacArthur’s command had been reduced to a perimeter that was bound to fall.
King corrected himself. “The Philippine operation has been shut down and the personnel evacuated. Only Hawaii remains operational outside the United States.”
“Good. We cannot have anyone with knowledge of Magic falling into Japanese hands. So, where is this Japanese fleet headed?”
“One of three places,” King said. “Midway, Samoa, or one of the lesser islands in Hawaii. We think it might be Molokai.”
“And what are you going to do about it?”
King’s always stern face clouded. “Nothing. Until you release ships from the Atlantic, Nimitz’s Pacific Fleet is a shadow. The Japs can come and go as they please, and there’s damned little we can do about it.”
Roosevelt glared at him. “You know I cannot give you more ships at this time. We are committed to a Europe-first war. You don’t have to like it, Admiral, but that’s the way it’s going to be.”
King could only glower. Well before the attack on Pearl Harbor, plans had been drawn up to cover a number of contingencies. Rainbow 5 was the plan that covered a war with Germany and Italy, and a simultaneous war with Japan. It was predicated on fighting an aggressive but defensive war with Japan until the defeat of the other Axis countries was assured. It accepted the painful reality that the United States could not fight a two-front war at that time. This meant that the Philippines were on their own, as was Hawaii, at least until the harbor facilities could be repaired.
Rainbow 5 also realized that ultimate victory was linked to the survival of the Soviet Union and Great Britain as allies. At this time, both were on the verge of collapse. Should either fall, the other would likely follow or sue for a separate peace. Thus, the fall of either Russia or Great Britain would leave Nazi Germany dominant in Europe and invulnerable.
“I know,” King muttered.
The truly great fear was the collapse or defeat of Great Britain. If that occurred, Spain would likely join the Axis, who would conquer neutral but pro-American Portugal and then overwhelm Gibraltar, thus isolating the Mediterranean. Should that occur, the Germans would swiftly mop up Egypt, the Suez, and Palestine. They would then link up with Japanese armies attacking Europe. On the way, it was conceivable that they would take the vast oil reserves of the Arabian Peninsula.
The fall of Great Britain might also result in the Nazis’ taking possession of the Royal Navy, while a treaty between Germany and England could conceivably result in a pro-German Canada sharing a common border with the United States. It was a nightmare scenario in which the United States would be totally isolated.
Great Britain and the Soviet Union must not be permitted to fall. It was as simple as that, Roosevelt thought. Why didn’t King and the others understand? Why didn’t the American people understand?
“You know,” the president said to the admiral with a forced calmness, “there were those who said I shouldn’t appoint you to head the navy. They said that, along with irrationally hating the British, you were an alcoholic and a womanizing lecher. I said I could accept all your faults because you were a tremendous fighter. However, you must work with us to win the war in the way that is most beneficial to the United States in the long run. Admit it, Admiral, even if you wished, you couldn’t mount a relief expedition to either the Philippines or the Hawaiian islands at this time. While you may have a number of ships remaining, General Marshall still doesn’t have an army. Isn’t that true, General?”
“It is,” Marshall said.
The American army now consisted of more than two million men, but they were as yet untrained and ill equipped. What newspapers were calling the Arsenal of Democracy existed largely on paper and in people’s imaginations. Factories were still being converted to wartime production, and it would be the better part of a year before the newly forming army was ready for offensive operations; what trained units there were had been shipped off to England and Australia.
Australia had been an unexpected problem. With the Australian army off fighting the Nazis in North Africa, the Aussies had quickly realized that they were defenseless against the Japanese. Thus, they had presented England and the United States with a choice: Either American troops would be sent to Australia or the Australian army would be pulled out of North Africa. In response, American troops were landing to defend Australia.
Ironically, the navy was better off than the army despite the disaster at Pearl Harbor. Since it took years to construct a warship, it was almost providential that the buildup of the American navy had commenced nearly two years earlier. Thus, while King fretted over the limited resources presently available, he knew that the fleet under construction was larger than the fleet currently in the water. If only the Japanese would have waited, he thought bitterly, the American navy would have kicked their asses from Hawaii to Tokyo in record time. What really teed him and others off was the nagging feeling that the Japanese were really a second-rate power hiding behind the skirts of a first-rate power, Nazi Germany. The Japs had some good leaders and some good weapons, but nowhere near enough of either.