VI
Spring manouvers of 1936
(from:
the Red Banner and the Seven Seas)
The Grand Fleet left Liverpool on the 16th of March. According to the orders, my men assumed a perfect example of march formation - all battleships and battlecruisers poised in lines, with
Rebecca providing air cover and long range recon. Cruisers protected the formation's flanks. Of course, all that were unneccessary precautions - Irish fleet was almost non-existant - but we all viewed this as a perfect opportunity to see if our training programmes and drill procedures produced any visible results.
Composition of the Grand Fleet
The most unpleasant surprise during this first long range sail were numerous technical defects and failrues. Ironically, the newest ship and most unorthodox vessel of the fleet -
Rebecca - provided the smallest amount of surprises. But this can be explained easily - Gladiators were perhaps the most reliable aircraft in Britain and the carrier herself had few complex mechanisms that could have produced a failrue. The second most reliable ship was
Renown - quite surprising this time, considering her age. The old flagship could have served as an example for all new types, especially for the Liberation-class craft.
RNS Digger had malfunctions in all her turrets, and even had to skip firing exercise after leaving Liverpool - I didn't want such precious vessel to explode, should something go wrong.
The mission itself was peaceful - the Grand Fleet sticked to her path, with only a lone Irish destroyer enterning eyesight about one hundred miles North-East of Belfast. The Irish craft attempted to track our fleet, without leaving Irish territorial waters. After about three hours, it turned back and headed South, leaving us free to proceed.
One calm day, I asked a Swordfish pilot to take me as a passenger so that I could have seen the fleet under my command from the air. A magnificent view, to say the least. Seeing those castles of steel dashing across the Atlantic I realised for the first time the scale of effort British workers had put in the Great Reconstruction. I wondered how those craft would fare in battle, assuming their drawbacks and defects were removed.
British battleships advancing
However, the tranquill atmosphere of our manouvers has been devastated by news from Ireland itself. Disturbed by our actions, the Canadians have declared Ireland to be under their protection and proposed the Irish nationalist government to join the Entente. Our ambassador in Dublin attempted to explain the situation and prevent this disaster, but in vain; ultimately, Ireland came under direct Canadian protection.
Our return to Liverpool on the 2nd of April was grim and silent. No-one questioned the purpose of our mission, though. Sailors and officers alike have realised our destiny - to fight Imperialism and Capitalism everywhere it flourishes.
A less than welcome result indeed...