(Port of Yokosuka – Japan – 10:15)
The Royal Navy Student Fleet was divided into three main fleets; the Home Fleet, The Mediterranean Fleet and the Eastern Fleet, of which Somerville's Eastern Fleet was the weakest in quantity and quality. As the only fleet of the three operating the Revenge class super dreadnoughts, this inferiority was clear to be seen in the fleet's equipment. Though replacing these ships had had a large place in Somerville's plans for the Eastern Fleet, he had never got the chance for it, until now.
His petty rivalry with Senior Instructor James Fraser of the Home Fleet probably had a part to play in this. Fraser's and Somerville's rivalry had beginnings spanning to their days in training fleets and in the White Dolphins years ago. Somerville had done a good job at forgetting them, but Fraser was not that easy going. And there had been no chance of Somerville obtaining the ships he needed for the replacement.
That was only till a few weeks ago. Now one of the old warships he needed replaced was at the bottom of the ocean, putting the count of surviving Revenge class battleships to just one, with the rest seeing roles as museum ships and training ships for the junior students to get to know ships before they received them for practical training. This time, after a short struggle, Somerville had received the new ships he needed; the modernised Queen Elizabeth and the newly made Howe. And they had arrived with the British reinforcements.
The port was full with people, mostly the students of Yokosuka, who had come to view the ships from the Home Fleet that had arrived from the Atlantic including the Hood, Vanguard, Howe, Queen Elizabeth and most importantly, the drone carrier Hermes. The Home Fleet had received dock space in Yokosuka, with reinforcements from other student fleets being in different ports around Japan.
Somerville's first action as he reached the port had been to meet the Blue Mermaid captain who was now in command of the Hermes. A blonde girl of twenty-two with whom Somerville was well acquainted, as this was his daughter, Jude Somerville. She was not much different from how he had last seen her in Britain several months ago during his first visit to the British Isles after getting his position in the Eastern Fleet. But his daughter's new appointment proved that she had been doing well as a Blue Mermaid.
"I heard you received a promotion. But getting a special job like this, that's an unexpected surprise."
"Yeah well, I was just as surprised as you are when Admiral Fraser appointed me as the captain of the Hermes. But I guess he was impressed by my performance."
"And how's James these days." Somerville asked. "I'm surprised he didn't come here with the fleet."
"He thinks you can manage things here. Personally, I think he wants to forget his problems with you now, since he's doing a lot to help you. And there's the problem with his daughter."
"Yes, I thought he'd be worried about Amelia. He was like that when the Fiji sank last year. I think Amelia's ship getting the infection affected his decision to help me."
"He would've helped the Royal navy even if her daughter wasn't in trouble."
"But going far enough to send the Hood and the Vanguard. Nevertheless, I have to thank him for it."
"Yes, I guess so."
Their discussion was interrupted by a junior student of Yokosuka who had been in the background with her friends for some time now, before getting the courage to approach the two Somerville's with a curious look that indicated that she had a question in mind.
"Excuse me ma'am." She addressed Jude. "Can I ask you a question about the Hermes."
"Of course," Jude replied with a smile.
"Ma'am, isn't the Hermes very lightly armed for a warship. What will it do if it meets an enemy ship in the sea?" Somerville was surprised at the girl's intelligence on naval arms at her age. Surely a Blue Mermaid in the making.
"The Hermes is made to carry drones to find out enemy ships' positions. So, it won't be fighting them head on. And it'll always be escorted by stronger warships for its protection."
The girl was satisfied with the answer. "Thank you, ma'am." She replied, bowed to both Somerville and Jude and ran towards her friends who had previously pushed her forward to ask the question.
Jude smiled looking at that direction. "She knows a lot for her age, and she's just a first year."
"You were like that too," Somerville reminded. "Which is why I decided to let you become a Blue Mermaid, disregarding the dangers of the job."
"Dad, you're always going on about how this job is dangerous. Are you trying to make me step down?"
"Oh no, I'm proud of your achievements. But you have to agree being a Blue Mermaid isn't an easy job. And thinking about your mother…"
"She accepted the risks of the job," Jude replied. "Just like I'm doing now. I know this is a risky time to be in the sea, with several powerful ships that'll want to blow you to bits, but that's part of the experience."
"I can't stop you, and I'm not going to." Somerville said, "But you must promise me you won't be reckless as usual. The Hermes isn't going to be a frontline ship anyway. You'll have to keep out of action whether you like it or not."
"I know that. And you know I don't break any rules."
"I'll decide on that. Now, I guess you have work to do. I'll be in charge of all Royal Navy operations here."
"Of course, I'm sorry I didn't report formally." She saluted, "Captain Jude Somerville of HMS Hermes, reporting for duty."
Somerville returned the salute, "Now we'll see how things go."
(Yokosuka Girls' Marine Training School – Yokosuka – 14:00)
Principal Munetani began her speech.
"Good morning everyone! As the principal of the Yokosuka Marine Training School, and on behalf of the Japanese Maritime Safety Department I would like to welcome all of you to Japan. You've all come a long way from home to support us, and I'm thankful for that."
Her speech was directed at the sailors from the student fleets that had just arrived to Yokosuka after being sent from their countries as reinforcements. Several hundred students from the Royal, Royal Australian, Royal Canadian, Japanese, United States, French, German, Russian and Italian navy student fleets. The reinforcements she had received were more than she had expected for. But all nations with student fleets, even the Americans and Russians who had been at odds with Munetani at first, had complied to her request, and had sent a force which would be more than capable of fighting the infected ships, and saving their crews.
"I'm happy to see that all of you reached here safely, considering the circumstances. Your safe arrival lifted a huge burden off my shoulders. Now that you're here, I'm sure you know what you've been called here for. And you surely know that the days ahead will be difficult for everyone. But with your help things will improve, and we'll be in easier times soon."
The students in the crowd were paying attention to her speech, though Munetani could see that their attention was not going to stay for long. Part of the reason was the warships that were now docked in the harbour. As a method of generating income for the minor repairs the fleets had obtained permission from her to turn their ships into tourist attractions, obtaining cash from anyone who wanted to see their ships. This had proved to be successful, with the new ships generating more income than the legendary Mikasa that functioned as a museum ship.
"I am not going to speak to you for much longer." A prolonged speech was not needed, "I hope you will all be able to enjoy your time here. Though we're at a crisis, that doesn't mean we should spend or time lamenting. I believe you will be able to enjoy your time in Japan.
(Yokosuka – Japan – 16:00)
"Battleships, they steal the crowd. No offence." Kalum said, while he was walking along with Gehan along one of the jetties of the port.
"None taken." Gehan replied. "But you're telling me no one's visiting the Ceylon?"
"Nearly no one. We did get several visitors in the afternoon. But how are things for you? How's the Howe?"
"She's fine, though I still prefer the Prince."
"They're just about the same ship."
"Same class, yes. Same ship, no." said Gehan. "The repairs on the PoW will end in about a month. Till then I'm okay with the Howe."
They passed on several of the battleships that had, according to Kalum, 'stolen the crowd' and were full of visitors. The American Wisconsin that had arrived the previous day, the Russian Sovetskaya Rossiya, the French Jean Bart that had survived the attack of her infected sister ship Richelieu, the Italian Littorio that had likewise survived the attacks by her sister ship Roma and the Royal Navy Home Fleet ships; the Hood and the Vanguard.
"I got my fair share of visitors," Gehan replied looking at the queues of students waiting to board the ships. "But I think the number was limited cause we were docked just next to the Azuma."
Just like battleships, the larger cruisers of the fleets were receiving a lot of attention, including the Blue Mermaid controlled super heavy cruiser Azuma and the German Graf Spee. But the largest tourist attractions in port were the three drone carriers; Hermes, Langley and Hōshō, of which only the Hermes was in Yokosuka.
"Yeah, why's the Azuma operated by the Bloomers' anyway? Shouldn't it be a student ship?"
"It was only commissioned a couple of months ago. New ships are always tested by the Bloomers before we get them."
"Isn't the Howe a new ship?"
"Its construction ended last January. So, it was with the Bloomers for nearly a year before it was given to us."
The two boys kept walking. By now they were close to the pride of the Royal Navy; the Hood, which was docked next to the Vanguard. Considering its fame, the long queue leading up to the Hood's gangplank was to be expected. As they got close, they could see a boy and a girl in Royal Navy uniform conversing on the pier. The captains' caps they wore indicated their rank. Seeing Kalum and Gehan the girl stopped her conversation and walked up to them in a quick pace, followed by the boy. As Kalum had seen this girl's face on several photographs while learning in Colombo, recognizing her was easy.
"Captain Emily Kerr. Captain of the Hood." Gehan confirmed his thoughts.
The two of them saluted as the captain of the flagship approached. The seventeen-year-old brunet was now in charge of the combined force of Eastern and Home Fleet ships in Japan.
"It's nice to meet you," she said once the two boys had formally introduced themselves, "Especially you, Captain De Mel. I heard you survived a battle with Amelia. It's not something anyone can manage."
"It wasn't easy ma'am. And the Prince of Wales was heavily damaged. And we were only saved when the Blue Mermaids arrived."
Emily smiled, "I know the details. But it is impressive for a first year. The only other person I know who could fight Amelia, in training battles of course, is Harry here." She said gesturing to the boy she had been in conversation with before a while.
"You're Harry Cunningham. Captain of the Vanguard." Kalum said, recognizing another face he had seen while in the academy. "Son of instructor Cunningham of the Mediterranean Fleet."
"Correct." The boy said. "And I thought nobody knew me."
"That's because you try to hide yourself." Emily said before suddenly looking down. "Oh, who's this?"
Kalum followed her gaze to see the newest member of the Ceylon's crew. Their cat, Sam, who was now nudging against the girl's legs.
"It's Sam, our ship's cat." Kalum said. He had seen Sam on the pier beside the Ceylon when he left the ship for his walk. The cat seemed to be quite active to have followed them here, as most cats did nothing more than eat and sleep. This was a pleasant surprise as an active cat was nearly an oxymoron.
Emily bent down and picked up the cat who obliged without any problem, now showing normal cat like behavior. "I think he likes me. I should try to keep a cat in the Hood."
"Well, why don't you do that." Gehan asked. "Cats are about the best long-time solution you can have for a virus that's spread by rats."
"I agree. But I don't like to keep animals on board. It might be like the time the Russians visited Madagascar."
"Which time?"
"I'm talking about the second time. But the first time was also like that."
"I don't think the Russians would like you talking about that first time." Harry interjected.
"Yeah, but it's hard not to think about it. anyway, I'm talking about the second time which was only a few years back. Their Baltic Fleet, again, visited Madagascar for a few repairs. And let's just say they repeated a few mistakes their predecessors did."
"But here we're talking about a cat_"
"Cats, plural." Emily corrected. One cat is not enough for a ship the size of the Hood."
"_About cats. Not some exotic piece of African wildlife."
"Yes, but maintaining a cat aboard a ship is hard. More so in a big ship. So, I like they won't be on my ship anytime soon."
"Well I guess that settles it." Gehan said. "Anyway, commander. Now that you've arrived to help us, what are we going to do in the coming days?"
"You should already know that. Our job is to find the infected ships, with the help of the blimp carriers, recapture them doing as minimal damage as possible, and cure their crews by giving them the antibody."
"Those are just the basics."
"Well captain, if I've received any special commands, I won't be letting you know them. But I don't get any. I have a suspicion that Harry gets them from high command, though he won't tell me."
"Just because my mother's in high command doesn't mean that."
"Oh, I'm just joking." Emily said, though she didn't look anything like she was. "For now, we only have the basic orders we've received, and we should follow them. Anyway, where are you off to? Shouldn't you attend Instructor Sommerville's strategy meeting?"
"We're on our way." Gehan answered.
"Good, I'll be there after I discuss a few things with Harry." Emily answered, turning back towards the Hood."
(Yokosuka Marine Training School – 16:05)
Mashiro Munetani was worried. Her feelings had not reduced during her discussion with her mother. And now, with her mother's question, they were increasing more and more.
"So, it was the pirates then?"
"My investigations revealed that much."
Principal Munetani nodded gravely, her eyes fixed on the table. "I had my doubts. But I never thought they'd dare to go this far."
"I'm not sure how they obtained a sample of the virus, or how they spread it so effectively. But we helped them succeed."
Her mother looked up from the table. "What do you mean?"
"Our training exercises. They were meant to be a show of force against the pirates."
"To show them that we've all united against them. If everything went well our student fleets would've received valuable training against anyone trying to disrupt the peace of the seas."
"But this wasn't only about the training. The ships of each fleet, everyone sent their best for the exercises. We gave the pirates a chance to take out the best we had."
"We had to train our best students." Principal Munetani replied. "And nobody thought there was even a slight chance of something like this happen. We were stupid to think we crushed the pirates in the last battle."
"But that's not the whole reason. This was also a show of force against allies."
"Somethings never change. For everyone this was a competition. To see whose fleet would perform better in the exercises. So, in a way this was a show of force against allies."
"So, everyone sent the best ships they had, with the best crews. We gave the pirates a chance of a lifetime, and they took it. Why were everyone so keen on showing off? We're not enemies."
"You don't have to be enemies to compete against each other. Most of the ships in the student fleets were made to counter ships from other nations. The German Bismarck was a counter to the British Hood, the French Richelieu and Russian Sovetski Soyuz were built to counter the Bismarck. Though I didn't like it our Yamato class is a counter to the ships of the United States. And their planned Montana is going to counter the Yamatos. In a scenario like this it's only natural that everyone will like to show what they've got."
"But even now when we've lost some of our best ships more powerful ships are coming as reinforcements." Mashimo walked to the window of the office which overlooked the harbor. "Even the British sent their two best ships here, and I thought they weren't into the powerplay since their previous fleet was much weaker than what everyone else sent."
"I don't think Somerville wants this, but he has to follow the instructions he receives from high command. And the British aren't willing to back off from competition."
"But there's something I don't understand about the Royal Navy." Mashimo said, looking at the Vanguard docked in port which was clearly visible from her position. "Aren't even their best ships much weaker than what other navies have?"
"The British aren't weak. They built the Dreadnought after all. They're also keen on maintaining their position at sea. They just don't share the same views on strength."
Principal Munetani walked to the window, taking her place beside Mashimo. "The British focus on quantity over quality in their naval doctrine. They have the largest student fleet, and the second largest Blue Mermaid and White Dolphin fleets after us. So, they don't concentrate on making individual ships that are strong, but they build several ships of moderate strength. Even you know how they decided not to build the N3 battleships that were planned to have 18-inch cannons."
"But here their fleet strength is equal to what everyone else have. Doesn't that remove their advantage in number."
"Their reinforcement fleet is the largest that was sent to Japan. And apart from numbers, they have one more thing more than others. Their crews receive much better training than other fleets while on land. Even I haven't tried to follow their training methods. You've seen how well their first years performed these days, haven't you?"
"Yes, specially the captain of the Prince of Wales."
"Exactly, and the best captains they have are mostly descendants of their senior instructors. These children get to know about sailing from a much younger age than anyone else considering their family background, like how I taught you when you were small. And, if we're counting the infected captain Fraser, the top three best captains in the RNSF are currently in Japan. Considering their level of training, this is an actual show of force against other fleets."
Mashimo nodded, "It seems like no one's going to stop this. Can this affect us badly?"
"Not much, considering for how long similar things had happened. But it might affect us negatively in the long run. But for now, you shouldn't worry about this. Concentrate on your investigations on the pirates. If we can prove they're completely responsible for the virus, we can unite everyone against them."
(Yokosuka Girls' Marine Training School – 16:30)
This was the second time Kalum found himself in Instructor Somerville's office in Yokosuka. And this time it the room was more occupied than in his first visit, having to accommodate the captains of the Eastern Fleet as well as the captains of the 15-ship reinforcement fleet that had arrived from Europe, including the captains of the Hood and Vanguard Kalum had met earlier. Instructor Somerville had insisted on starting the meeting with a cup of tea, and the tea had been served a few minutes earlier. Kalum was in the process of taking his last few sips when the Instructor began the meeting. After the brief introduction on the meeting's purpose, about discussing the changes of command in the fleet and the moves they will take in the coming days, he went straight to the point.
"From today on we'll be forming the temporary British Pacific Fleet to help the Japanese control the spread of the RATt virus and recapture the ships infected. As most of you've probably guessed by now, command of the Pacific Fleet falls to Captain Emily Kerr of the Hood and Captain Harry Cunningham will be the second in command. Since this fleet is a collaboration between all three of our main fleets, I hope you won't have any problems cooperating with each other."
The Royal Navy had enough competition among its ranks to create some trouble with cooperation. But this competition was much less than the Kriegsmarine or the Russian Navy or even the American navy. Cooperation was not going to be that hard, specially under the command of someone like Emily Kerr.
"Now, our job is to find and recapture the infected ships of our navy and of the other navies that are now in Japan. Of course, we won't be alone, but it's good if we can show more action than everyone else." This didn't seem to cheer anyone up.
"Now, we have to find the infected ships first to save them. For that we have our three new drone carriers, our Hermes, the American Langley and the Japanese Hōshō. These three will operate in three different zones and our first job is to provide an escort to the carriers. You've all studied their designs so you should know their armament is much weaker than cruisers or destroyers. So, part of you will provide escort to the carriers. Once the drones spot an infected ship, they'll shadow it and report its actions to us."
"And then the escort fleet will move on to engage it?"
"No, the escort fleet will only contain cruisers and destroyers, so it won't be safe to engage the enemy if they have ships of the same type or have battleships or battlecruisers. Once the movements of the infected ship are confirmed, we'll be able to dispatch a stronger fleet to intercept it. this fleet should remain in standby till they receive the orders. Once the orders are received, they'll join the escort fleet and engage the infected ships."
"And if there aren't any ships prepared to engage at once?" One of the captains asked.
"In that case, if the enemy is too powerful for the escort fleet to handle, we have to monitor the ships till help is available. This will mostly be done by the drones but, since drones can't keep on forever, we'll dispatch submarines to shadow the ships. They can do it without being detected easily. They will monitor the ships as long as they keep to a course favorable to us. And if they change course, or take any drastic moves that might ruin our plans, the submarines will torpedo the ships just enough to damage their steering and stop them long enough for our ships to reach them. This is the plan we could decide on for now."
"Sir, are you sure this plan will succeed?" Captain Emily asked.
"No. since we're dealing with a new technology and a new situation here, we have no way to make sure we'll succeed. This is the best we could come up with for now. Do you have any more questions?"
"No, sir."
"That's good. Though as the fleet commander you should try to understand everything to the maximum before taking action. But I believe you can do that. Now that is all I have to say." He nodded towards the captain of the Hood.
"You're all dismissed. I hope the next time we meet it'll be with some good news."
(HMS Hermes – East China Sea – 08:00)
Being the captain of the first drone carrier to finish construction and second to enter service after the Hōshō was something anyone can be proud of. The ship carrying twenty Blue Mermaid helium drones could conduct aerial reconnaissance to a scale not witnessed by the world till the first drones took off from the Japanese Hōshō just two days ago. But this was not enough to satisfy Jude Somerville, the captain of the British carrier.
This was the second day of patrol for the Hermes in the East China Sea. Throughout the patrol the twenty drones of the carrier had gone on for several patrol rounds in search for any of the infected ships in the surrounding area, with no success. Of course, results would not be coming immediately, but this frustrated Jude.
It was an hour after half of the drones belonging to the ship had finished refuelling. The refuel and maintenance of the drones were done in the hangar deck below the flight deck of the ship from where the drones took off from. From there the drones would be transferred to the flight deck using elevators. And from the flight deck they would be able to take off vertically and be sent in different directions further than radar could reach and give accurate reports on enemy positions, while being controlled from a specially made drone control room in the ship that had individual control over the drones. These controllers would see everything the drone sees, and if an infected ship is sighted, will easily identify it and send the report to Yokosuka.
All these was good. But being in the carrier made Jude lose something she valued a lot; The action. From her childhood she had been labelled as a reckless child, a label she held even in her time as the captain of the Warspite during her time in the Mediterranean training fleet, and also the couple of years she'd spent up to now in the Blue Mermaids. Many, including her father, considered this behaviour to have come to her from her mother. And seeing what became of her mother, her father had probably felt the need to shield her from trouble and to prevent her from being reckless. If her father had caused her appointment to the Hermes things could've been understood more simply. But he had not played any part in appointing her as the captain of the Hermes.
The second half of the drones were ready to take off. They were all now on the flight deck, their controllers preparing for the command for take-off. All personal on deck were no moving away from the drones after securing them for launch. Apart from the drones she could see the ships of the escort fleet of the Hermes led by the Ceylon from the Eastern Fleet and the Belfast from the Home Fleet. Jude was observing all this from the bridge as her second in command came up to her.
"Captain, permission to launch the drones."
Jude nodded. "Permission granted."
The second in command went back to relay the command to the controllers. It became clear that they've received it when the drones on the flight deck started to rise up one by one. Once they were all up in the sky, they would proceed Southward to scan the areas of the East China Sea that remained to be patrolled. The other half of the drones had been sent Northeast towards Korea.
Her second in command returned after carrying the order. "Captain, our first group of drones has left the Korean airspace. In a few minutes they'll reach the Sea of Japan."
"Nothing to report?"
"No ma'am, not yet. But there has to be something around here."
Jude smiled. "We can't expect everything to go on without an issue. We still can't find any infected ships, but this system might work somehow. Yesterday the Langley's drones discovered a sinking tanker much faster than we've managed before."
"But these ships weren't made to find damaged tankers."
"No, finding infected ships is just a short time goal for the carriers. Once this problem is resolved we'll have a lot of uses for this new technology."
Her second in command sighed. "You're just like Admiral Somerville, or like most of the higher ups, always about short term and long-term goals."
"I'll take that as a compliment."
Just then a male voice came through the voice tubes. The drone carriers were manned by a joint crew of Blue Mermaid and White Dolphin personal as both parties were used to collaborate in missions. The caller was a member of the drone controllers.
{Captain, this is the drone control room. our drones from group A have sighted a fleet of warships in the Sea of Japan heading Southwest.}
Jude was at the voice tubes in a few fast steps. "What are the ships' coordinates. Did you identify them as infected ships?"
{They're position is at 36°14'08.1"North 131°30'38.1"East. We've confirmed that they're infected. We'll soon know their identity.}
"Good, send the images to the bridge."
A minute later the secretary of the Hermes came up to Jude holding her tablet. "Captain, these are the photos the drones took." She said giving the tablet to Jude who looked at the photographs with interest. The force was moderately large and would pose a significant challenge to the ships from the British Pacific Fleet that waited on stand by to engage it. But what caught her attention more was the lead ship of the group.
A battleship with eight 15-inch guns that she could identify from any distance at any angle considering the history she had with it. Her mind was filled with a combination of joy and horror at the sight of the ship. After a day of nothing to report, this sighting was excellent news. Taking a few deep breaths, she returned the tablet to the secretary.
"Everyone, you won't believe our luck." She said. "Radio, alert the Pacific Fleet and Yokosuka. We've found the Warspite.
And that's chapter 5. The next chapter might take a bit longer to publish than usual because from what I've planned till now it will be bigger than usual, and I have an exam coming up. So, expect its publication to be a bit late. But I'll try my best to maintain my monthly update schedule because this fic is receiving some attention and that has motivated me to keep on writing and not leave this as a dead fic. Thank you for everyone who read this fic till now.
