“But Captain, all I know about the Navy is what I learned in boot camp, which is not exactly Annapolis. I don’t see how I’m qualified.”
“Let me ask you a few questions, Seaman Thurber.”
“How do you distinguish bow from stern?”
“The bow is the pointy end.”
“Excellent answer”
“What’s the difference between port and starboard?”
“Starboard’s right, port is left.”
“Perfect.”
“A staircase is called?”
“A ladder.”
“Correct.”
“When you walk to the stern, you walk?”
“Aft”
“Correct again.”
“When you have to pee you go to the?”
“Head.”
“Another correct answer.”
“Seaman Thurber, you have achieved a score of 100. Tomorrow morning you will be Lieutenant Junior Grade Thurber. That is all. Dismissed.”
At dinner in the wardroom Captain Patterson discussed her meeting with Seaman Jack and announced her plan to appoint him a commissioned officer the next day. She discussed his credentials including his education and publishing achievements as well as his executive experience. She also talked about his knowledge of the phenomenon of time travel. She didn’t mention his blue eyes. Or his after shave lotion.
What happened next shocked not only Captain Patterson but every officer in the room as well. Executive Officer Bradley said, “Captain I cannot agree with your promotion of Seaman Thurber. It will send a very bad message to the crew, especially the sailors who are in the Navy for a career. If they see a guy who they stood next to in the chow line one day who they would have to salute the next, I’m afraid morale could take a big hit. I think this is a reckless course of action.”
The tension in the wardroom was almost painful. All eyes were glued to the table in front of them, as if to avoid looking at the scene of a car accident. Bradley had just crossed a bright line and violated a rule, both written and unwritten: never confront a commanding officer in public.
Navy regulations are written partially based on common sense. An executive officer is expected to voice any disagreement in strict privacy. In public he is expected to observe his role as second in command, not first. His job is to assist the captain in accomplishing the mission, and that includes showing physical and emotional deference to his commanding officer. Military people not only expect the process to work this way, they respect it. It’s the way the system works. Military life is based on a chain of command. If one link in that chain is broken, as the analogy goes, the chain is weakened. When a chain is weakened, a ship can go adrift.
Captain Patterson had to think fast and act decisively. She couldn’t ignore what Bradley said, nor could she ignore the negative dynamic that he created. There was a disturbance in the force and she had to undo it. Bradley had violated a cardinal military rule, and she knew that every officer in the room was on her side, for now.
“Commander,” the Captain said, “we’ve all been under a tremendous amount of stress over the last day, and I’m sure that’s includes you. I’m going to overlook your confrontational statement and scratch it off as an unintended response to the strange situation we’re in.” She then went in for the scoring shot. “Tomorrow at 0900 we will have a ceremony here in the wardroom, and Seaman John Thurber will be sworn in as Lieutenant Junior Grade Thurber. You, Commander Bradley, will perform the ceremony.”
Bradley realized that he was boxed into a corner. He had just been given a direct order. Cross that line, and he may as well pack his bags. He simply said, “Aye aye, Captain.”
One thought passed through the minds of every officer present, except for Bradley, “Go girl!” They realized that Captain Patterson had just righted a major wrong, and they were behind her. Even if Bradley had a good point, and a few thought he did, he violated a sacred military code to make it.
The next morning at 0430 the Battle of Fort Sumter would begin, and the Civil War would be on.
Ashley Patterson realized, as did the officers in the wardroom, that another battle had just begun.
Chapter 11
General P.G.T. Beauregard had taken over command of the Confederate forces of South Carolina in March,1861, making him the first general officer of the new Confederacy. Three months earlier, in December,1860, South Carolina had issued an ordinance of secession, and was followed by six more Southern states in February,1861. Beauregard would soon order a siege of the Union garrison at Fort Sumter, the plans for which were well underway.
Beauregard had a concern. He heard reports over the day about a gigantic Gray Ship plying the waters off Charleston. He called for his assistant, Major Ezekiel Townsend, and asked for a full report about the sightings.
Townsend went to the harborfront to find as much as he could about sightings of the Gray Ship. What he heard amazed him. He learned of no fewer than 15 sightings of the strange vessel. One man, the captain of a gun ship, told Townsend that he tried to follow the Gray Ship, but it was too fast. He described an array of odd shaped objects (guided missiles) as well as large deck guns. His gun boat was 45 feet in length. He estimated the Gray Ship’s length at least 15 times longer. He also noted that there were no visible smoke stacks and that the ship didn’t let out any smoke at all. On the rear deck was a large machine of some sort that had long planks attached to its top (an Apache attack helicopter). He couldn’t make out the name on the vessel’s stern, but it had large painted numbers on the bow which was easily read as “36.” Tall poles of some sort (antennae) were positioned all over the ship.
Townsend reported back to General Beauregard with his findings, especially the details provided by the gunship captain. “Fifteen times the length of a gunship?” Beauregard said. “Did this ship show any hostile intent to anyone sighting it?”
“No, General, but we just don’t have enough information to figure out how much armament she has. All we know is that she’s big, fast, and is covered with strange looking machines.”
Beauregard wrote a message to Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy. He wanted Davis to know that the Yankees seem to have come up with an amazing new warship.
The bombardment of Fort Sumter would begin early the next morning. Beauregard decided not to wait for a reply from Davis, but resolved to go ahead with the plans and ignore the Gray Ship. He wondered how long the ship could be ignored.
Chapter 12
Wars often begin with a great battle. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, with over 3,000 lives lost, is a perfect example. Fort Sumter was not a great battle in a military sense, but its impact on history was profound.
In December 1860, five months before the bombardment, a Union Major, Robert Anderson, moved his command from nearby Fort Moultrie to Fort Sumter, a well fortified structure. General Beauregard, the Confederate commanding officer, systematically beefed up his gun batteries aimed at Fort Sumter. The SEAL recon team had seen evidence of this with large artillery caissons being wheeled toward the harborfront.
The new President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, sent a message to the Governor of South Carolina, advising him that a ship would be dispatched to replenish the dwindling supplies at Fort Sumter. The result was an ultimatum from the Confederacy to abandon the fort. Major Anderson refused. The resupply ship was blocked, and Fort Sumter never got its replenishment.