1910: War in the Pacific: An Alternate History of America by Jeff Thomas

Author:Jeff Thomas [Thomas, Jeff]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9798635433768
Google: ZciCzQEACAAJ
Amazon: B08768PGPY
Publisher: Amazon Digital Services LLC - KDP Print US
Published: 2020-04-14T04:00:00+00:00

15 Knife Fight in the Dark

As noted in the introduction, the author has sought to avoid inserting his own opinions and beliefs, except where necessary. It is necessary here. The Battle of Crown Prince Island has confounded historians since it happened. Resolving all the conflicting accounts is not possible. Poorly worded orders, garbled communications, bad navigation, obscured visibility, lost logs; all contribute to the problem. For example, a track chart based on Tsushima’s navigation log {which is one of the few primary sources that survived the Great Tokyo earthquake) shows this ship taking a shortcut across Baranof Island. Similar problems exist with American records.

The following narrative description of the battle represents the author’s best effort to recreate it. Many track charts, firing tables, maps and the like exist for the technically oriented reader. These sources do not agree on many points.

The best short description of the battle comes from Jefferson Davis Bedford: “It was a close-range gang fight in a blacked-out alley. Nobody knew who was hitting him, or who he was hitting. We just fought.”

And fight they did. The two fleets fully engaged for about half an hour. Measured in lives lost each minute, it was one of the bloodiest half hours in naval history. The men who fought there and survived describe a terrifying hell of flames, noise, explosions, and flying body parts.

###

Allen tried to watch the light cruiser action through his binoculars, suddenly glaring light blinded him. A second later, he realized a Japanese warship’s searchlights had illuminated Connecticut. The stark white glare engulfed the ship’s bridge, throwing black shadows against the bulkheads.

Bedford was already yelling orders. Allen could see other lights stabbing into the dark night. Some came from American ships, others Japanese, some he did not know. The ship lighting up Connecticut was not more than two, perhaps three miles away, off his port bow. Even as he squinted his eyes to try to see past the searchlights, he could see the orange flash of cordite from the gun muzzles.

At the same moment, Connecticut’s forward turret fired toward the target. Moments later the after turret fired at a ship off the port quarter. At the same time, the seven and eight-inch guns fired at a third target on the port beam. Gunfire and searchlights split the night in all directions. No one waited for permission to fire, American and enemy ships mingled on all sides.

Allen took a deep breath, trying to contain a growing panic.

“GARIBALDI, REPEAT SIGNAL, BATTLE LINE COURSE 090. ANYTHING GOING ANOTHER DIRECTION IS ENEMY.”

“SIR THERE’S ALREADY A JAP EAST OF US.”

Even as Garibaldi yelled back at him, Allen saw the Starboard eight-inch guns fire at something on that side of the ship, followed by the seven-inch casemate guns. A shell crashed into the flagship aft of the bridge. Random chunks of flying metal flew through the bridge, wounding several men. A severed leg landed in a three-inch gun tub next to the wheelhouse. In the roar of firing guns, exploding shells and screaming men, the only way to communicate was to yell.

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