1636: Commander Cantrell in the West Indies – Snippet 25
“Yes, it does. It also assumes that Tromp’s stated intent to abandon Recife was not disinformation. But that seems very unlikely. Deceiving the Spanish on that point wouldn’t buy him any durable advantage. In a few months’ time, the Spanish would learn that he hadn’t left, would blockade Recife, and grind him down. With the Dutch fleet in tatters, there’s no relief force to be sent. And with the Spanish blockading every Dutch port worthy of the name, there’s no reliable way to send the colonies messages, either.”
“So let’s consider the three reasonable options. Curaçao is perilously close to the Spanish Main, just north of the path of the inbound treasure fleet. A great location from which to hunt the Spanish, but not a great location in which to hide from them. And the colony on Tobago is small. Too small: one hundred and fifty persons, at most.”
Eddie nodded. “So, St. Eustatia.”
Simpson nodded. “Exactly. St. Eustatia is in the middle of the Leeward Islands. So it’s out of the way and not much visited by the Spanish. Yet history shows that, in time, ‘Statia’s central location could make it a powerful trading hub, once the traffic in the Caribbean picks up in intensity. It’s also small enough to be defensible, but not so small as to be a rock from which there is no escape.”
Eddie nodded. “Yes, Admiral, it all makes sense, but I’m still worried that even our last word of the Caribbean — from the Dutch fluyt Koninck David — still didn’t include any mention of Tromp. Or much about St. Eustatia at all.”
Simpson shrugged. “As I remember the report, the Koninck David left the Straits of Florida for its return to Europe in August. They wouldn’t have been anywhere near ‘Statia for half a year before that, in all likelihood. And although they didn’t have any reassuring news for us, the American with them, young Phil Jenkins, also reported that the Spanish presence in the area was still pretty sparse. Which is historically consistent: until the Spanish were significantly challenged, they remained pretty close to their fortified ports and key colonies. With the abandoning of Recife, all the Dutch colonies are, practically speaking, off the beaten path. And St. Eustatia more than the other two.”
“I agree that’s where Admiral Tromp is likely to be, Admiral — if he’s anywhere at all.”
“What are you implying, Commander?”
Eddie produced one of the many history books he’d been poring over for the last several weeks. “I’m implying that in this period, the Spanish are realizing the need to establish the Armada de Barlovento, the squadron that enforces their territorial claim over the entirety of the Caribbean. If the ships that survived Dunkirk left Recife with even half of the ships that were already there, that’s still a major force in the Caribbean. Too major for the Spanish to ignore, if they detect it.”
“If they detect it — a very big if, commander. But your point is well-taken. Even though our history books show that the Armada de Barlovento is fairly anemic right now, events since our arrival may have already led the Spanish to resharpen its teeth in this timeline. If so — well, then heed the Department of Economic Resource’s exhortations, commander: remember that this is a recon mission only, and not to get embroiled in close range gun duels with the Spanish.”
“Or pirates.”
Simpson smiled. “Or them either.” He stood. “Commander, I think that concludes the day’s business. And unless I’m much mistaken, you have a lot of paperwork and correspondence ahead of you yet.” He raised a salute.
Eddie jumped up, snapped a crisp response. “Yes, sir. Looks like I’ll be burning the midnight oil. Again.” And with that, he pivoted about on his false foot and made for the door, deciding that tonight he’d definitely need to use his remaining coffee ration. Definitely.
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Simpson’s eyes remained on the door as it closed behind Eddie Cantrell and then strayed to the folder on his desk marked “Reconnaissance Flotilla X-Ray (Cantrell)”. He resisted the urge to open it yet again and inspect its ever-changing roster of ships. Each new diplomatic, military, or resource wrinkle in the USE seemed to make themselves felt as revisions to the complement of hulls. And with every week that Flotilla X-Ray’s departure had been delayed, its size and composition shifted.
Its original composition had been sufficient for its originally simple mission. And likewise, Eddie had been the only possible candidate for the flotilla’s senior up-time officer. Indeed, he had as much naval combat experience as any other up-timer (with the exception of Simpson himself). However, that experience was paltry by comparison to the great majority of the flotilla’s down-time captains and commanders, who had spent most of their lives at sea. Many began as common sailors working “before the mast,” and during some parts of their careers just about all of them had traded broadsides with their sovereigns’ foes. Although the down-time naval officers who had been training for the mission clearly respected Eddie for his combat experience and storied daring, they also were very much aware that he was a relative newcomer to their profession, and was almost completely unfamiliar with the nuances of the sailing vessels upon which they themselves had grown to manhood and in which they were infinitely more at home than any place ashore.
What Eddie had in lieu of their profound nautical skill — as much from his up-time reading and gaming as from recent training — was an innate sense of the tempo and requirements of a flotilla operating under steam power. He was the only officer in Flotilla X-Ray who had that almost instinctual insight. Even those down-time crewmen who had been intensely trained in the technical branches, and who had long ago outstripped him in the expertise specific to any given subsystem of Simpson’s new navy, still lacked his totalized sense of how all those complex parts fit and flowed together, producing both incredible synergies of military power, but also incredible vulnerabilities to breakdowns in either machinery or logistics.
Simpson kept staring at the folder, kept resisting the impulse to open it and reassure himself that Eddie was being given an adequate force to complete his mission and to be able to overmaster or outrun any foes that might present themselves. After all, the admiral told himself, feeling sheepish as he echoed the Department of Economic Resources, it was a simple recon mission. There was nothing to worry about. So what if Reconnaissance Flotilla X-Ray was bound for the New World, beyond the limits of the USE’s power to help, or even readily communicate with it? The flotilla was still fundamentally a shake-down cruise for the first production models of Simpson’s first generation of steam-powered warships. They, usually with Eddie on-board, had been put through extensive sea-trials, and, except for a few quirks, had performed admirably — even superbly, if Simpson were to say so himself. They were good ships, and Eddie was a good, if young, officer.
Simpson studied the flaps of the folder, edges dirty with the wear of his worried fingers, of his impatient thumbs prying back the dull covers. Commander Cantrell and the rest of the flotilla would simply conduct the preparatory operations in the Gulf and the Caribbean and then, when the time was right, Admiral John Chandler Simpson would bring over his new navy of mature, second generation ships, as shiny and lethal a weapon as this world had yet seen.
The consequent “pacification” of rivals in the New World would ready his blue water fleet for the more serious and definitive battles that it would almost certainly have to fight against one or more of the armadas of the Old World. It was impossible to foresee which nation, or collection thereof, would ultimately find the rise of the USE so intolerable a phenomenon that it would feel compelled to correct that trend in the most decisive manner possible: a no-holds-barred confrontation of navies. But in the dynamics of the rise and fall of nations, the uncertainties regarding such conflicts had never been if they would occur, but rather with whom, and when, and where.
That thought, however, made Simpson’s eyes wander to the thinner folder lying alongside the one for Flotilla X-Ray. This one was marked with a white triangle: an intel synopsis, containing a review of pending threats that might require naval intervention, sooner or later. France, Spain, even the Ottomans, could conceivably stir up enough trouble to keep Simpson’s larger, finished fleet from a timely deployment to the New World. However, none of those powers appeared to be disposed or deployed to do so.
But then again, John Chandler Simpson knew that appearances could be deceiving and that the only thing certain about the future was that there was never, ever, anything certain about it.
He pushed the folders away, rested his chin on his hand, stared at the door through which Eddie Cantrell had exited, and succumbed to his now-habitual array of worries — half of which were common to all commanders of young men regardless of the time or place of the conflict, and half of which were the dark legacy of every father who had ever sent a son to fight a war in a distant land.
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“Curaçao is perilously close to the Spanish Main, just north of the path of the inbound treasure fleet.”
I think that’s backwards. Curaçao is no more than twenty-five miles to the north of the mainland (and there’s a peninsula about the same distance to the east, as well; a ship would have to sail west and then north to go around Curaçao). There’s no reason for the treasure fleet to sail through a relatively narrow space where it would be visible from both Curaçao and the mainland. Instead, it would sail by to the north, where it would clear both Curaçao and Aruba.
And why would someone want to intercept the inbound fleet? Yes, it would have trade goods to sell, but I would imagine that would be a pittance compared to the value of the cargo on the outgoing fleet.
“And why would someone want to intercept the inbound fleet?”
I think “inbound” in this context is inbound to Spain.
No, the fleet assembled in Havana for the return trip. That’s why storms ran the treasure ships aground in Florida or the Bahamas.
http://www.nps.gov/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/129shipwrecks/129locate1.htm
No, the fleet assembled in Havana for the return trip. That’s why storms would drive the treasure ships aground off of Florida or the Bahamas.
http://www.nps.gov/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/129shipwrecks/129locate1.htm
No, the fleet assembled in Havana for the return trip. That’s why storms would drive treasure ships aground off Florida or the Bahamas. Google for “route of spanish treasure fleet” and look at the lesson from the National Park Service for some information about how the fleet operated.
Three time’s the charm, I guess. Why does it take so long for replies with links in them to appear? Is there some sort of approval cycle? I tried replying twice with the link and nothing happened, so I replied without the link. The last one appeared immediately; the first two didn’t show up until hours later.
For some reason, some posts with links get held up until somebody like me approves them.
There are times that I’m slow in checking my email (which is how I get the approval request).
Appreciate the info; thanks.
I wonder why the USE did not take their Ironclad/Timberclad vessels and destroy the French and Spanish fleets in the enemy’s home ports. Based on what the guns at Hamburg did to the USE ships, the coastal guns at the French ports would be no protection for those ports.
Because they are not ocean going vessels?
Even a mild Atlantic storm would send the fleet to visit Davy Jones.
A Timberclad crossed the English channel to pickup the USE contingent leaving the Tower of London.
Taking the fleet from Hamburg to Lubeck was a crap shoot. Simpson was lucky in the weather. So was Sterns. Luck was aided by the fact that the channel, the North Sea, the Baltic, are enclosed waters. The Bay of Biscay is not.
Now that I think about it, Sterns could have wrecked Calais harbor on his way home at little extra risk.
The Timberclad crossed the channel and was lucky to avoid swamping in the process.
The TimberClads are low freeboard, essentially lake and harbor vessels. During WWII the US Coast Guard, US Navy and Royal Navy destroyers and corvettes were qualifying for Sub-Pay during Convoy ASW escort patrols
So Eddie is going with new ships and new guns into an area that might have lots of bad guys. Eddie is also having some problems with his guns because bureaucrats aren’t providing him with the equipment he needs. Also along is “… Karl Klemm…function as a human calculator during sieges and other extended shelling scenarios.” Hmmmm…
Yes, I wondered about that, too. The ships will have broadsides that will terrify any opponent (even if they’re inaccurate, any hit will be vastly more damaging than anything anybody else has), yet they seem more concerned with the probability of littoral combat. I have some thoughts about where they might find that combination, but I’m waiting until this chapter has played out to see if there are any more hints.