“Personally, I voted for the other guy, last time,” Bennion said. “Still, history says that he’ll make a good wartime President, and everyone knows that the nips are just waiting to kick us in the nuts… we were supposed to deploy to Manila, but we got sent here instead.”
Gordon chuckled. He liked the Captain. “You’ll be sunk quickly,” he said. “Until we kill the Japanese carriers, your ships will be sitting ducks. You’d be better off putting resources into your own carriers and aircraft.”
“Everyone’s an expert on the war,” Bennion said, as the boxes of possessions and books were loaded onboard.
“Everyone’s been studying the war,” Gordon said. “They even took the children back to school to learn about it, just to keep them off the streets. All of histories judgements are known, you know. Of course, most of them were about Nazi mistakes…”
“We made fewer mistakes, then?” Bennion asked wryly. “Give me a couple of hours to learn, and I bet I could improve my ship.”
“Radar, sonar, some decent anti-aircraft guns…” Gordon began. Bennion glared at him. “I know, you want to do it on your own.”
Bennion smiled. “I also want to sail with the tide,” he said. “I don’t have time.”
“I imagine you’ll be back here soon enough,” Gordon said. “Be seeing you.”
“All ahead full,” Bennion commanded, and West Virginia started to move, powering slowly away from England. The warning about different coastlines had alarmed him enough to change the plan slightly; the battleship and the Queen Elizabeth would head south, rather than north. Some of the low-flying helicopters had been alarming – he’d been on the verge of ordering general quarters – but Townsend assured him that they were friendly.
“They’re the press,” he said. “Events like these are considered newsworthy, and now that there is a slight surplus of fuel, they’re allowed to film your ship.”
“I should have had it spruced up,” Bennion commented, as Ireland started to slip away. He gave the correct orders; the course was directly to America. A small launch caught up with the battleship with ease; Townsend’s ride home. The Queen Elizabeth carried no pilot.
“See you next time,” Townsend said, shaking his hand. “Have a nice trip.”
“Bring us up as fast as you can,” Bennion ordered, as soon as the launch had departed. “I want to go home.”
“Aye, sir, the helmsman said, and the ship increased speed. Hours passed as the day darkened, the sun catching up with them, and then… disaster struck. An explosion blasted through the hull of the battleship, shattering the stern of the ship. Bennion was thrown to the deck as the ship shuddered violently, almost breaking up under the impact. He staggered to his feet, the deck shifting under him, to stare out of the porthole at a wrecked ship.
“Get the lifeboats going,” he shouted, knowing that it would probably be futile. The deck shifted again; the ship was beginning to break up. A second explosion ran through the ship as one of the armouries exploded violently, followed by an almighty blast as the Queen Elizabeth blew up. “Get everyone off the ship!”
A third explosion shattered the prow of the ship and Captain Bennion knew no more.
10 Downing Street
London, United Kingdom
25th September 1940
“Although it’s impossible to be certain, it looks like a torpedo strike,” Townsend said later. He had assumed command of the frantic rescue effort, one that had almost failed. “The four survivors, all shell-shocked, report several explosions; they think that one of the shell bunkers, shells for their main guns, exploded. There were no survivors from the Queen Elizabeth.”
Hanover nodded thoughtfully. “One of the new German torpedoes,” he said. “Didn’t anyone warn Captain Bennion that there were still submarines about?”
“I believe that someone passed on the warning to the Atlantic Fleet, but Captain Bennion was contemptuous of the danger,” McLachlan injected. Townsend looked relieved. “I’ve contacted the new American embassy; they’ve informed President Roosevelt.”
“Thank you, Mr Townsend,” Hanover said. “What happened to the survivors?”
“We flew them to the hospital in Plymouth, where they are being treated,” Townsend said. “They’re burned and injured, but alive. The forces on station will keep searching, but this was a scratch job at the limits of our range, so… we may not find anyone else.”
“Thank you, anyway,” Hanover said. “I’ll put you and your crew down for medals.”
He waited until Townsend had left before continuing. “I wonder how America will react,” he said. “The Germans have sunk an American destroyer before, but this is something bigger, with all their hopes and fears invested within the hull of two ships.”
Chapter Forty-One: A Date That Will Live In Infamy
House of Representatives
Washington DC, USA
26th September 1940
“A date that will live in infamy,” Roosevelt said.
Ambassador King couldn’t even raise a smile. The President had been delighted by the recording of his speech from the original history, but events had forced it away. He hadn’t realised just how much hope had been invested in the men cruelly slaughtered in the cold seas. The news had hit Washington late last night… and the town had gone mad. Germans had been hunted through the streets… and some Congressmen were calling for a declaration of war. Radio Berlin was denying it, of course, but no one believed them.
“The election is going to be a war mandate,” Roosevelt said grimly. “Wilkie and Wallace are acting as if the ship deserved to be sunk, for being in a war zone without permission, and blaming it all on me.”
King nodded. Official Washington had swiftly divided itself up into two camps. Under normal circumstances, they might have moved quickly to a decision, but now… now was the election in a month, and with war on the agenda…
“All of the industrialists and navy men are screaming for war,” Roosevelt said. “They want to declare war on Germany and Japan. The senate is going to debate the matter later today; perhaps I should ask them for a declaration of war.”
“You should,” King said. “The Germans used the lit-up ship as a target; they knew it was American. They knew who was on the ship and moved to kill them!”
“So their… ancestors have been reminding their senators,” Roosevelt said. “Ambassador, this is going to be nasty.”
King studied Roosevelt. The news of the disaster had stunned the President; his body wasn’t as strong as it had been once. Did he still have the strength for the coming war? The Japanese had been careful not to hit American targets, but anti-Japanese hysteria was rising; General Macarthur had been sent to the Philippines, with a mandate to get the defences ready. King had a nasty suspicion that the man who abandoned his troops in the first timeline would be watched like a hawk in the second timeline.
“General Marshall has been in communication with me,” Roosevelt continued. “We’re nothing like ready for war now; many of our best units went to the Philippines and Pearl Harbour. If we withdraw them, we might as well invite the Japanese in to take over. On the other hand, how are we to press the war against Germany?”