PC Gaming "Press on, Cascadia Fair" - Rule The Waves 1 LP w/ Custom Country

[Big Steve]

So I did this playthrough back in 2016, and wrote out the entire thing then and finishing in 2017. I'll admit I almost put this in Creative Writing, but it was in the gaming forums on SB, SV, and SDN, so I'll stick with that.

For those that don't know, Rule The Waves is a strategy game letting you play a Grand Admiral/First Sea Lord/Chief of Naval Operations for a global naval power starting in 1900. The game's meant to end in 1925, but you can play through to 1950 if you want (but tech stops advancing and the game gets a bit wonky). The sequel extends naturally to past '50 and includes carriers and, IIRC, missile ships, but I've never played it.

Anyway, the game is moddable enough that I made a custom country, Cascadia. The history of the Cascadian Republic, and how it came about compared to our own history, will come in the following post. I played the game from 1900 to 1930, at which time I resigned the game and compiled my ending screenshots, as we will see a few months down the road (well, maybe less, depends on how fast I post.

Anyway, on to the history post.

 

[Big Steve]

In 1844, James K. Polk is nominated by the split Democratic Party to the American Presidency. In OTL, he beat Henry Clay. In this ATL, after his nomination he became ill and died before the election. The result completely upset all of the Democrats' hopes and Henry Clay won the Presidency. Clay was more interested in internal development than expansion and the Mexican-American War did not happen as historic; nor did the Oregon Treaty. Instead Britain and the US decided on another joint occupation treaty to decide the status of Oregon at a later date, while it remained open to settlement from both.

Fast forward to 1862. Despite the changes to the issue of Texan annexation and no expansion into New Mexico, the US Civil War still broke out over the issue of slavery in federal territories and other issues that put the Republicans on the map. At Shiloh, General Grant is injured severely in the first day of the fighting around, and on the second day the Union counter-attack falters and the Union Army is lucky to escape partially intact. This alters Lee's invasion of the North - due to the changed strategic situation - and the Lost Orders are never found, leading to Lee inflicting such a severe defeat on McClellan that the Army of the Potomac is nearly destroyed. Washington falls, and Confederate cavalry raiders attacking trains leaving the capital get a lucky shot... and mortally wound Abraham Lincoln.

Lincoln's death plunges the Union into despair and ensures an even greater Democratic victory in the 1862 midterms. Lord Russell's recommendations, and those of William Gladstone, Chancellor of the Exchequer, lead HM Government into recognizing the Confederacy, and Britain and France move to impose arbitration on the two sides.

Further acrimony between McClellan and Radical Republicans explodes into open social discontent. Anti-abolitionist and anti-black riots and demonstrations shake the North.

The South gets major Victory Disease and starts demanding excessive concessions from the North, concessions that even the British Government considers too much. Realizing that a Northern collapse would leave the Confederacy powerful enough to pursue an expansionist policy, one directly contradictory to British interests (including the renewed interest in restoring the trans-Atlantic Slave Trade in the South), Lord Palmerston engages in another maneuver. He offers the Union superior terms, and support against the Confederacy should they be rejected, in exchange for the Union agreeing to turn Oregon into an independent country. Britain would withdraw all but a small force to maintain a leased base at Esquimalt and the new nation, to be called Cascadia, would be under American and British protection. With the country's situation worsening and a Confederate army ready to march on Philadelphia should the Union not bow to the imperious demands of Richmond, the agreement is made. The Confederacy howls in defiance initially, but the sudden arrival of British squadrons off of key Confederate ports and the drying up of arms shipments from Europe allow Richmond moderates to prevail. The War Between the States ends in a compromise peace. West Virginia is restored to Virginia, but Maryland, Missouri, and Kentucky remain in the Union.

Meanwhile the new state of Cascadia works to found itself. The government seat is intentionally planned for the region of Puget Sound, but eventually Portland is made into the new Federal District, a triangle of territory between the Willamette and Columbia Rivers. The new nation's political system is a merger of the two countries; a President, elected by an Electoral College of internal Cascadian provinces, is Head of State and Government, but with an Executive Cabinet overseen by the Secretary of State in a watered down Prime Minister position with all Secretaries of the Federal Administration drawn from the Cascadian Parliamentary members of the Senate or the House of Representatives. A brief conspiracy by British royalist settlers attempts to seize the constitutional delegates and demand the acceptance of a monarchy - Victoria's third child and second son Prince Alfred was the preferred candidate, the OTL Duke of Edinburgh and of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha - but are foiled by the timely intervention of the Royal Navy and Marines under Admiral Baynes.

Cascadia gets an influx of settlers through the decade as abolitionists and black Americans flee the Union and the social unrest there. Unionists from Virginia and Tennessee also make their way to the west, either Cascadia or sparsely-protected Mexican California, while a Presidency under Clement L. Vallandigham continues to work to placate the South with concessions in hopes of restoring the Union.

Cascadia is barely given the chance to organize its fledgling forces when opportunity knocks. Emperor Maximilian and his French backers are mostly victorious in Mexico. With the Republican cause collapsing, the older and newer Anglo-American settlers in California, and local Republican officialdom, decide to turn to Cascadia for what support they can get. Recognizing the boon this would be, and with the okay from British authorities leery of French designs in North America, the Cascadian Army and militia sail with ships bought from Great Britain into San Francisco Harbor. The authorities in both Californias begin negotiation for joining the Cascadian Republic. Maximilian sends an army to oppose this effort. After early victories near Bakersfield and around Los Angeles, the Mexican Army ultimately meets its end at the Battle of the San Joaquin River, where the Cascadian troops - led by former Union officer General WIlliam Sherman - prevail. The Mexican Pacific Squadron sails north in an effort to support the army from the sea, where they in turn are defeated by the fledgling Cascadian Navy at the Battle of San Francisco Bay.

Finally, facing renewed Republican opposition in the heart of Mexico, Maximillian and Napoleon III agree to British arbitration, and in the Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo Mexican territories north of the Gila and west of the Colorado are recognized as Cascadian territory. New Mexico becomes an independent country under joint protection in an effort to protect it from the aggressive Confederacy, which has already compelled Maximillian to accept the Texan claim of the Rio Grande up to El Paso as the southern border. He is further humiliated when the discoveries of valuable minerals in Nevada and California spar further immigration to Cascadia's newest territories, and provide the gold and silver to fund the Cascadian Miracle of the last quarter of the 19th Century.

Vallindigham's Presidency becomes a mockery after repeated Southern provocations go unchecked. At their apex the Southern fire-eaters, emboldened by their victory in the war, by Vallindigham's continued insistence that concessions to the South will eventually restore the Union, even go as far as to demand Kansas be turned over, that the Union by treaty allow slave-hunters into Union territory, while slave-traders plan slaving expeditions to Hispaniola. Resentment against the South overtakes the anti-abolitionist surge immediately after the war, and by 1872 the people of the Union have had enough. The Copperheads are crushed in the election and face severe popular discontent and a new, more aggressive Union government comes into being under Republican moderate Ulysses S. Grant, who is able to play up his part as the most successful Union general. The death of President Robert E. Lee to his age and infirmities removes a necessary moderating voice in Southern affairs in 1871.

In the late 1870s, Cascadia is in an economic boom as significant settlement continues and the population provides wildly fecund. Troubles with the Natives culminate in treaties that, while they do rob the Native Tribes of their autonomy and large sections of their land, nevertheless provide them with continued land rights better than anything they could get from the US Government. The economic boom helps fund the Riker-Gorchakov Treaty that sees Russian North America sold to Cascadia as the territory (and later province) of Alaska.

In 1880 the war breaks out, starting in New Mexico. The Confederacy, asserting Indian raids in Texas as provocation, invade New Mexico and overrun the Cascadian and Mexican defensive garrisons. Cascadia declares war and marches its armies into New Mexico. Seizing the opportunity, a provocation in Kentucky gives Grant's successor, James Garfield, pretext to deliver an ultimatum to the South. When it is refused, war is declared.

The Great North American War rages through the 1880s. Cascadia, after recovering New Mexico, swiftly integrates it into the Cascadian nation (the Mexican Empire, which failed to help protect the small state, is too wrought with internal divisions to protest effectively - a new Treaty of Sinaloa in 1886 sees the new borders recognized, with Cascadia getting a strip of land beyond the Giza down to the Gulf of California) and spends the rest of the war supporting Union forces in a slow, steady conquest of the South. The South's armies prove more show than effectiveness, their gallant martial charges and proud stands losing to the brutal arithmetic of artillery and the arrival of Sir Hiram Stevens Maxim's guns on the Union and Cascadian sides. With the Third French Republic and British Empire now hostile to the Confederacy, and the rest of Europe ambivalent, the Confederacy doesn't receive the necessary materials to resist the industrialized North and the heavily-industrializing Cascadians. By 1887, the South is conquered utterly and the Union declares the re-establishment of Federal authority. This sparks over a decade of vicious guerrilla warfare by Southern firebrands, supported by Cuban slave-owners, which inevitably results in the Spanish-American War.

In the meantime, Cascadian Marines had intervened on behalf of King David of Hawai'i in resisting his planters' attempts at a "Bayonet Constitution", the Cascadian officials reasoning that the planters would be a greater threat to Cascadian security in the east Pacific than a friendly monarch. The Treaty of Ford Island grants that island and neighboring naval portages to the Cascadian Navy in exchange for Cascadian military support for the Kingdom of Hawai'i and its independence.

In the south Pacific, Cascadian interests in Samoa, supporting King David and then Queen Lili'uokalani in their attempts at Polynesian political unity, yield a protectorate over Samoa, one fiercely opposed by the German Empire's growing desire for weltmacht.

The continued use of Cuba by Southern partisans finally explodes into a controversy and then, with the loss of the Maine in Havana Harbor, a war. Again Cascadia sided with the United States, although not without significant domestic discomfort and the clear antipathy of the British. The Cascadian Navy, now fielding state-of-the-art armored cruisers (the Defiant and her sisters Reliant and Intrepid) and under the command of Admiral Garrett, future Chief of Naval Procurement and then Chief of Naval Operations (Read: My in-game PC), sails against the Spanish Empire in the Pacific while the Union invades Cuba and Puerto Rico. At the Battle of Manila Bay the Spanish Pacific squadron is destroyed. A small reinforcement fleet flees with the aid of a storm instead of giving battle. Filipino insurgents join Cascadian troops taking Manila and destroying Spanish power in the Philippines.

In the Treaty of Paris of 1898, Cascadia presents its bill to Spain and the US; control of the Caroline Islands and recognition of the Philippine Republic. The United States annexed Spain's Caribbean holdings.

While some Cascadian leaders believed that the Philippines should be taken over, Ambrosio Rianzares Bautista and Emilio Aguinaldo had made it clear that the Philippines would fight Cascadia if it tried to assume dominion over the islands. The Cascadian government, under President John McGraw, recognized that it could not afford a prolonged war with the Filipinos and negotiated. In the end, the Treaty of Manila provided Cascadia basing rights in Manila Bay and authority to fortify the Bay and surrounding islands, in exchange providing military security to the new Republic.

In the aftermath of the war, there was an attempt to raise money through British banks to purchase the rest of the Spanish Pacific Empire. But an economic downturn spooked the British investors and the Spanish sold the Marianas to the German Empire instead.

Today Cascadia rules much of the Western third of North America, from the Arctic south to the Gila River and the Gulf of California. The eastern frontier of the country rises north from the US city of El Paso through the RL states of New Mexico and Colorado (Denver, Albuquerque, and Santa Fe are all in Cascadia), then along the US-held territory of Wyoming over to the 108th west meridian, then north along that meridian straight to the Arctic (with it being a border with Canada north of the 49th parallel). Cascadia also directly rules the islands of the Caroline chain directly, including naval bases at Chuuk Lagoon and Palau. The Kingdom of Hawai'i and the Republic of the Philippines are allies with military assistance and basing treaties. They are not full protectorates, but for the moment their governments find it easier to run foreign diplomacy in lock-step with Portland. Samoa is ruled by the Queen of Hawai'i.

 

[Big Steve]

Now on to the actual game start.

Cascadia's stats are shown like this (and yes, the system hates custom countries' flags for some reason and cuts off the lower third). The bonuses of Cascadia I explain as following.

Attention To Detail, Efficient Shipbuilding, and the future employment of AoN armor are all tied to the same thing: Cascadia will be unlikely to ever enjoy parity with the European powers, not numerically. Thus the shipbuilding industry is focused on quality. Designs are carefully examined and management of shipyards is encouraged to practices to improve production efficiency, allowing the nation to get ships out more quickly than other powers.n When the time comes, the idea of using the AoN armor scheme is natural to a country seeking more efficient means to their navy, as it allows for a ship to have better protection with less tonnage by employing the armored citadel box.

Dock Size is at 14,000 tonnage.

In terms of guns, everything from 2 to 7 inch is at quality 0 and 8-12 is at quality -1... except for 10 inch guns, which are 0, and reflect Cascadia's cruiser-orientated fleet at game start. Additionally, the continued Cascadian desire for a strong cruising fleet due to the needs of Pacific power mean that the idea of employing super-imposing turrets on armored cruisers will be obvious once battlecruisers and battleships have proven the design concept.

(Note: Frankly speaking, CAs are not always an efficient design type to use in the second half of the game, so I didn't think it was very harmful or wanky to give this tech to reflect Cascadia's cruiser support. This is why Cascadia doesn't have Machinery Research advantage like I'd originally intended, as a trade-off.)



Anyway, now that we've got that out of the way...

Very Large fleet sizes, because I like big fleets and I cannot lie.

Admiral Garrett of course. For in-universe reasonableness, he will start as Chief of Naval Design and Procurement and rise from there, depending on how things go in the war to come. If anyone has any suggestions for the Vice CNO and CNO above him, shoot. If not, I'll make up more characters. This isn't as rigorous an althist as Cavalier's "Kaisertreu", obviously.

Select empty Save 5 slot and heeere we go....



Now, as for the first Cascadian designs in the game....

Cascadia starts the game with the following fleet:

12 Hull-class destroyer:

Unit Names: Hull, Hopkins, Decatur, Macdonough, Lawrence, Paul Jones, Hancock, Baynes, Rodney, MacCallister, Gillam, and Barnes. Darlington and Hawke are under construction.

I split the aft guns to either side in order to have two centreline mount torpedoes without sacrificing RoF.


3 Fairbanks-class protected cruiser:

Unit Names: Fairbanks, Denver, and Anchorage. San Jose is under construction.

Armed with 5" guns, these protected cruisers have huge coal fuel storage areas and with their 23 knot top speed are expected to bedevil enemy forces as commerce raiders.


Olympia-class protected cruiser:

Unit Names: Olympia, Portland, Seattle, Richland, Vancouver, Esquimalt

These protected cruisers were designed to help defend Cascadia's Polynesia holdings as well as act as protectors of the shipping lanes so vital to Cascadia's expanding economy and trans-Pacific trade routes. Their 7" armament and 5" secondary armament make them some of the most-heavily armed ships of their type in the world, but at the cost of only a 2" belt. (Note: If you try to go above that belt with 7" guns, the game forcefully re-designates your cruiser into a CA).


Chinook-class armored cruiser:

Unit Names: Chinook, Nez Perce.

The newest armored cruisers of the Cascadian Navy were built with a tighter budget in mind compared to their larger sisters, with only 22 knot speed, a smaller 4" secondary battery in casemates, and less protection. Future ships of the model were planned but scrapped by the naval budget of 1899 in favor of the Fearless-class battleships.


And finally, the pride of the Navy...

Defiant-class armored cruiser:

Unit Names: Defiant, Reliant, Intrepid

Considered by many to be the finest armored cruisers in the world, these vessels were built at great expense to be the pride of the fleet. Armed with the world's best 10" guns and a considerable secondary battery of 5" supported by 3" deck guns, armored to resist her own main guns - indeed, sufficiently armored to protect from long-range shellfire from battleship-grade guns - and with sufficient speed - at a blistering 24 knots - to run down the fastest protected cruisers afloat, these warships proved their worth by annihilating the Spanish Pacific Fleet at the Battle of Manila Bay.


Of course, for a nation becoming a known world power, the lack of a battle line became an embarrassment. So after the Spanish-American War, the Cascadian government cut short the order of Chinook-class armored cruisers and diverted the money to British shipbuilders for a new pair of battleships.


Fearless-class battleship

Unit Names: None in commission. Fearless and Relentless are under construction.

The beginnings of the Cascadian battle fleet are currently being constructed in the United Kingdom. Armed conventionally with 12" guns and a 6" secondary battery, these large warships will be the fastest battleships afloat at 20 knots, allowing them to dictate engagements against enemy battle lines.

Anyway, onto our opening map. You can see where Cascadia's holdings are in the Pacific (although "In-universe" Cascadia does not politically rule the Pacific islands marked, save for the Carolines. The Philippines are Hawai'i are allies who grant basing rights: Samoa is a protectorate controlled militarily by Cascadia and ruled indirectly by Hawai'i, with the Queen of Hawai'i also ruling as Queen of Samoa).

This first picture is before I set research to 10%, so my monthly balance will go down in later pictures.

Anyway, now on to the almanac.

Cascadia is sixth in naval spending, beating out only Japan. The AI likes to build crappy designs at game start, so it's no wonder that I'm last or near-last in most categories save for CLs, where I'm second in existing tonnage and lead in tonnage including that being built. But we'll see how things go if anyone goes to war with the Evergreen Republic...

And now on to research

As you can see, I've reduced priority to subs and ASW for the time being, focusing on machinery, fire control, ship design, and introducing new naval guns to my arsenals. Over time I will probably re-allocate. But I very much want Cascadia to be the first to field battlecruisers and ABG battleships (aka dreadnoughts). Time will tell if Admiral Garrett will get his way on this.


Now, before I commence the game, I have some writing to do. I wish to mix my methodology, and this will make the LP probably feel like a Battletech fluff book or some other RPG book. I will mix fluff bits - newspaper reports, speeches by politicians, etc. - with historical-sounding accounts and prose scenes of the movers and shakers of Cascadia and how they interact with Admiral Garrett in his quest to improve his nation's standing in the world, and make Cascadia the premier naval power of the Pacific Ocean.


And it'll be really fun when I start going further into the Cascadian destroyer names list. There are some... familiar names there. I couldn't just copy the USN DD names entirely, could I?

(I did copy some, and then threw in the names of various British naval heroes or leading names. Hence Rodney and Hawke, among others.)

 

[Big Steve]

1 January 1900
Portland Federal District

A cool rain was beating down upon the City of Portland, both within and outside of the Federal District. Horse-drawn carriages of varying types and size moved down the major roads linking the Federal District to the Oregon part of Portland. Along one road parallel to the Willamette River a particular hansom carried its occupant from his town home, on the Oregon side of the River, to his new job.

The Admiralty Building was one of the newest structures in the District. It had been built by private contractors for the Trans-Pacific Bank before said bank had failed in the Panic of '94. The Government had purchased the property due to its nearness to the Presidential House and the Parliament House and set it aside for government institutions. The first one to have need of the new home was the Admiralty of the Navy.

The hansom came to a stop outside of the front door. A Marine in his uniform raincoat stepped up and opened the door. A figure in the blue-gray uniform of the Cascadian Navy stepped down. His ribbons and medals spoke of his decades of service to the Cascadian Nation. The stripes and star of a Vice Admiral was evident on his sleeves and shoulder epaulets. The large man kept his cover on in the cool Cascadian winter rain and accepted the salute of the Marine. "As you were."

Behind him another figure stepped down from the hansom. Tall, slender, with a strong jaw, Commander Reginald Etps spoke with an English accent when he thanked his superior.

The two men entered the Admiralty building. An entourage was there to meet them. Admiral Roger Wilburn, Chief of Naval Operations, accepted his salute and returned it. "Admiral Garrett," he said. "Happy New Year."

"Happy New Year, sir," replied the new Chief of Naval Procurement. Vice Admiral Stephen Garrett and Commander Etps released their salutes.

"How's the family?"

"Rachel and the children have settled in," he answered. "They'll begin school soon enough."

"Good to hear it." Wilburn motioned behind him to another man with Rear Admiral stripes. "Admiral Dougherty will show you around."




Once the tour was over, Admiral Garrett settled into his new office. The plush leather chair was a welcome comfort. The desk was made of fine tropical wood from the East Indies. A new telephone was on his desk along with other supplies.

After a cursory glance, his eyes went to the map of the Pacific hanging on the interior wall. Many of the places marked on it he had seen. Hong Kong, Shanghai, Tokyo, Brisbane, Saigon, Singapore, Balikpapan... He had heard the roar of gunfire as his cruisers had sent the Spanish fleet to the bottom of Manila Bay and watched Moro pirates scramble to get away as 3" shellfire tore their small wooden ships to pieces.

A part of him missed those days. Even with the dreadful tropic heat on metal ships, the rough seas of a Pacific typhoon or a Northern Pacific winter storm... there had been something to look out from the bridge of the Defiant and see the expanse of blue. To hear the rumbling of the steam engines in the belly of his metal charge as she rushed across the sea at over 20 knots.

That's behind me, he thought. President McGraw had personally supported his appointment to Chief of Naval Design and Procurement. The responsibility was heavy. To decide the future of his nation's naval might, what technologies to invest in and which to put to the side, what kinds of ships were needed...

He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the golden watch. Inside the cover was the photo of Rachel, his wife, and their three little children.

He became so introspective that he did not immediately pay attention to Etps calling his name. He finally looked up. "Reg?"

"Sir, Congressman Whatley is asking for a moment of your time."

The Admiral sighed. Whatley was from his hometown of Astoria. And James Parker was his brother-in-law. James Parker of Parker & Sons Shipbuilding, which was angling for a new contract for torpedo boat destroyers. It had been in the Portland Tribune before New Year's. "Politics," he muttered before nodding to Etps. "Send him in."

It was time to get to work.



January 1900

General Overview of the World:

Cascadia's relations with the other naval powers of interest in the Pacific were not all perfect. Even Great Britain, the ally of the nation, had shown it had issues with the new feeling of expansionism and aggressiveness in her former charge.

A breakdown of relations with the six Pacific powers is as follows:

The German Empire: Tension is 3. The Germans have never reconciled themselves to Cascadia's protectorate over Samoa. The general attitude in Berlin is that Cascadia is a pretender, a smaller country with delusions of magnificence. For the moment there is little risk of war, but as the German Empire continues its push for weltmacht it is entirely possible that Cascadia could find itself in Berlin's sights.

The United Kingdom: Tension is 1. Great Britain has, until late, been the most consistent supporter of Cascadia's rise on the Pacific Rim. Even now Britain enjoys significant trade advantages with the Cascadian nation, and it is in British shipyards that Cascadia's new battleships are being constructed. Nevertheless, elements in London have begun to feel a prickle of concern about their protegè's potential to cause disruption in the Pacific. The end of the treaty providing Esquimalt as a Pacific base for the Royal Navy has been a particular bruise in the relationship between the states. There is the chance that an aggressive stance in Portland could influence HM Government in London into reconsidering their warm relations with the Cascadian Republic. And there is the matter of the 108th Meridian; many believe that too much was granted to Cascadia by giving them such a large piece of Prince Rupert's Land in the 1867 North American Treaty. There is little chance of conflict over this now, but should relations with the Empire ever slip, the prospect of armies marching over the meridian is there.

The French Republic: Tension is 3. France was irritated by the rise of Cascadia, save for where Cascadia in turn has irritated Germany. This has only increased with Cascadian expansion across the Pacific. Control of Manila Bay offers Cascadia a powerful naval presence in Southeast Asia, threatening French Indochina and the French concessions in China at Kwang-Chou-Wan. Cascadian support for the Queen of Hawai'i's push for greater Polynesian unity poses a prospective threat to the French possessions in the South Pacific.

The Russian Empire: Tension is 4. The death of Alexander II proved a turning point in Russo-Cascadian relations. Alexander III had little respect for the Republic and felt that too much had been given away in the Alyeskan Purchase. The discovery of gold in Alyeska after the Cascadian purchase only cemented this discontent. Increasing Cascadian business interests in China further threaten Russian interests, perhaps as much as Japan's victory in the Sino-Japanese War and Japanese possession of Southern Korea. As of late the relationship has grown especially prickly with statements from Cascadian Foreign Secretary James Biddle concerning Russian behavior in China. Out of all the powers, conflict with Russia seems the most likely as of now.

The Empire of Japan: Tension is 2. Japanese-Cascadian relations are fairly warm for the moment. Japan considers Russia, not Cascadia, as the greatest threat to her own Asian ambitions and position, and as Portland's relations with Moscow worsen, the prospect of a Cascadian-Japanese alliance grows. But there is potential for conflict: Cascadia had been pro-Chinese in the recent war and has made economic advances in areas Japan considers are more properly hers. Japan had hopes for authority and influence in the post-Spanish Philippines that Cascadia has thwarted. A conflict between the two naval powers of the Pacific is not an impossibility.

The United States of America: Tension is 3. The United States has always been aggravated by its failure to achieve a Pacific port. It has had to settle with a free trade corridor to Los Angeles established by the 1889 Treaty of Chicago. The same treaty established the current Cascadian-US border. It was to equal advantage, as Cascadian settlers had previously penetrated as far as the Kansas border with Colorado before the treaty established the line through Colorado to run parallel to the Wyoming-Nebraska border within the US; this was given up in exchange for the US accepting Cascadian control west of the 108th Meridian above Colorado and the annexation of New Mexico into Cascadia. At the time of the treaty, the recent memory of Cascadian blood being shed to help restore the Union, and of Cascadian gold helping to fund the war, had made the concessions palatable. Now, with the Southern partisans having lost their main base in Cuba and losing their pull with a war-weary Southern populace, more and more Americans are looking at the treaty and wishing they had gotten more. The United States has its own growing Pacific influence, including control of Panama and the canal, and it is possible that the republics of North America may plunge their continent into a new and terrible war.

Whether or not any of these powers come into conflict with the Cascadian nation remains to the decision of history, and of those in power...

 

[Big Steve]

January 1900

With a look at the Navy's Finances, Admiral Garrett recommended to Admiral Wilburn that Congressman Whatley's push for new contracts could be met on a limited basis. As such, four more Hull-class destroyers were ordered from Parker & Sons out of Astoria. The Perry, Dale, Preble, and Monck have been laid.

In addition to the expansion of the nation's primary docks in Bremerton, Seattle, and San Francisco being ordered, Admiral Garrett recommended that surplus Navy funds be invested in expanding the existing naval bases in the Pacific. Samoa, the Carolines, and the Philippines would have their naval infrastructure invested in.

During the month, design teams from the Artillery Office reported the bad news.

Admiral Garrett had choice words for this failure. Choice words he repeated at home from frustration. The swear jar became a dollar richer as a result, much to his chagrin, his wife's amusement, and the delight of his children.


Meanwhile, as January became February, news arrived of naval construction from across the world.

The only real addition of note was Germany laying down the third of her Wettin-class battleships, the Braunschweig.

Nothing else of note happened in January.

February 1900

More ships were laid across the world.

Japan ordered the Sagami, the second of her class, from French shipbuilders.

Nothing else of note happened in February.

March 1900

With an eye to the quiet international scene, the Cascadian Admiralty decides to preserve money by ordering its many of its cruisers into reserve status. The ships' crews will be reduced in effectiveness, but the cost in savings will allow the Navy to build up enough surplus to fund new ship designs, dock expansions, and base improvements in the next year. Should tensions start to rise in the world, this can be undone with sufficient time to not impact naval readiness.

Using some of the money freed up by the status changes, another Hull-class destroyer was ordered: the Stewart.


During the course of the month, relations with Russia improved after the Denver rescued the crew of a faltering Russian fishing trawler out of Petropavlosk. Unfortunately, that same month saw an altercation between crewmembers of the MacCallister and a Japanese cruiser visiting Manila. Japan demanded an apology from the Cascadian Navy for the incident. Admiral Wilburn refused to give it on the grounds that Japanese officers had not properly disciplined their crews, inciting a minor row.

Meanwhile a German cruiser drew close to Chuuk Lagoon and the ongoing base construction there. The Esquimalt intercepted the ship and forced it away from the base. The German behavior has the Admiralty concerned that Berlin may be seeking to become more aggressive in the Pacific as their naval buildup continues. Pressure is beginning to build for Cascadia to invest in a larger battle line.

At the end of the month, a handful of new ships had been laid down in other countries. The most prominent of these was Russia beginning her second Tsesarevich-class battleship.

And so we head on into April. Domestic unrest has started to reduce as the economy improves and prosperity fuels the commerce of the Cascadian Republic...

 

[Big Steve]

West Portland, Oregon
1 April 1900


The townhouse that Admiral Garrett had rented upon his appointment was on the Oregon side of the Willamette River. It was a cozy two-story home in one of the best neighborhoods in the city. The family's neighbors included Congressman White Cloud from Montana, Congressman Litchfield of Bakersfield, and Thomas Grant, head of the Trans-Pacific Trading Company; their children all went to the same schools and Senator Hatfield of Columbia offered monthly Saturday gatherings for the neighborhood.

Sundays were different. Sundays were days for church and then quiet. At least as much quiet as one could get in a household with a twelve year old boy, a ten year old boy, and a 3 year old girl.

Admiral Garrett was sitting on the patio to their backyard, wearing a full-sleeved flannel shirt of green and blue coloring with blue slacks and his slippers, the newspapers laid out on the table. where the children were playing in the spring sun. The end of winter had meant a reprieve from the constant drizzle and rain; brisk temperatures and sun were becoming more common, and would until summer set in. Baseball was starting to become popular and his sons Diego and Thomas often took turns at batting and pitching. Sophie, little Sophie, tended to play with her beloved dolls, when she wasn't coming up and being insufferably cute toward her Daddy. As she was now, with outstretched arms. "Pick me up, Daddy!", she squealed. Her brown eyes glittered with the same kind of charm that were in her mother's; an irresistible lure to the Admiral.

"Alright, alright," he sighed, defeated. He put the weekend edition of The Oreganian down and stood up. With one heave he lifted his little girl into the air and proceeded to flip and twirl her around. Sophie shrieked with joy, breaking out into giggling as he held her upside down.

Rachel stepped out onto the patio. Lines of age and the stresses of motherhood had started to crease her fine features; the patrician nose, the curl of her lips. Her complexion was darker than his own, the slight bronze coming from her Italian mother while her criollo father had granted her the dark hair and dark eyes. The Admiral saw her as having not lost a touch of the beauty he had known these past sixteen years. She was wearing a fine white blouse and blue skirt with the kitchen apron still tied on. "Dinner is cooking," she told them all.

"Marvelous," the Admiral answered. He set his giggling little girl down and put an arm around Rachel's hip to draw her close. She smiled and gave him the kiss he sought. Afterward she brought an arm out from behind her back and presented him with a leatherbound book. "I found this in Powell's on Thursday," she said. "I thought you might like it."

He looked at the spine. "The collection of Doyles' 'Sherlock Holmes', eh? A new printing... yes. Splendid. Thank you, dear." He kissed her on the cheek and looked over the book. "Such a shame that Doctor Doyle killed off his man. I would hazard a guess that his checkbook may demand that he resurrect the detective before long."

Rachel's eyes glazed over the paper. "Business reading, dear?"

"Not entirely," he said. "Roberts has overrun the Orange Free State. It would appear that Britain is on the verge of crushing the Boers. Nasty people over there."

"Whom? The Boers or the British?", Rachel asked with a small grin.

That brought a laugh from her husband. He set the new book down and gave her a warm smile. "An excellent reply, dear. Please don't let Ambassador Grey hear you say something like that, though. It would be a scandal."

"Obviously." She sat down beside him and looked out at their children playing. "Father is delighted that you have the job, you know. He intends to visit as soon as the spring planting is over."

The Admiral nodded. Rafael Vallejo owned a large estate along the Napa River in California. His family had held it since the first Spaniards had settled the region and Vallejo, a solid Republican, had accepted the necessity of California joining its fortunes with Cascadia to avoid falling under the French-backed Emperor in Mexico City. "I'll welcome him. Will he be standing for the Senate again?"

"He is observing Mother's health. If the governor calls for him, her feelings will govern his reply."

"Of course, of course..."

Rachel stood and departed a moment later. Her mother's health was a subject the Admiral had to be careful with. He knew it hurt her to see her brilliant mother declining.

Admiral Garrett looked back to his fine sons. Nearby Sophie had taken to her favorite picture book again. That she was reading already... his daughter was a brilliant girl. He hoped it would stand her well in the life to come. A husband to match her brilliance, fine children to continue to stimulate her mind... he would have to see what the future held.

With the newspaper stories having already bored him, he picked up his wife's gift. He had already read the stories within before, but there was no harm in again reading of how the great detective's plans were foiled by the mind of Irene Norton neè Adler. He read of the King of Bohemia's problem until Rachel called them to dinner.

 

[Big Steve]

April 1900

The 1900 naval budget was slowly increasing the available balance for the Navy. For the moment, however, Admiral Garrett and Admiral Wilburn were in concurrence that the Navy's current construction should remain as it was. New orders could wait until the budget was clearer.

During the month, the destroyers Hawke and Darlington commissioned.

And Great Britain and Germany continued their growing naval race by each laying down the lead ship in new classes, Resolution and Hessen.

May 1900

Nothing of note happened as spring began to turn to summer. Germany followed up by laying a second Hessen.

The improved economic situation led to a return to the domestic tranquility that had evaded the Cascadian nation since the controversy over the Spanish War and the following economic downturn. Even the growing Socialist parties had turned to quieter avenues in their efforts to promote their ideology among the population.


June 1900

Germany's naval buildup continued with a bizarre twist: the laying of the Hannover in British shipyards. Despite the growing concern in London for Germany's growing naval power, the private shipbuilders agreed to the contract.

July 1900

Naval design teams continued work on improving turret operations.

A report from naval intelligence indicated the superior performance of German 8" guns to those int he Cascadian arsenal.


August 1900

In August, the destroyers ordered at the beginning of the year were commissioned, as was the San Jose.

Admiral Garrett was pleased to hear research teams report success in new machinery and fire control.

Less welcome was a wire received from Britain. A careless dockyard worker had caused an incident on the dock in which the Fearless was having her superstructure finished. The need to repair critical dock equipment and the resulting damage had cost the yard a month worth of work. The shipbuilding firm dutifully refunded the Cascadian Navy the month's installment.

And so we move on to September 1900....

 

[Big Steve]

Author's Note: Early on in this game, I'd play a session then quit and write the story. But eventually I found the drawbacks to this undermined everything, so I started playing years in advance before going back to do the posts. Indeed, the final 14 or so years of gameplay were done in one group of sittings without any story posts. So early on there is a bit of a different tone to how events are foreshadowed or hinted at.

 

[Big Steve]

September 1900


The Admiralty
Portland, Federal District
10 September 1900


Admiral Garrett met Admiral Wilburn in the Naval Planning Room in preparation for their august visitor. As the minutes wiled away, Wilburn turned to his subordinate. "Dreadful news from Galveston, isn't it?"

"Most dreadful," Admiral Garrett agreed. The news on the wire was sobering; a powerful Gulf Coast typhoon had just annihilated the Texan coastal city of Galveston. Thousands were said to have perished in the flood and devastation. "It makes one pleased that the Pacific typhoons do not in general come our way."

Wilburn nodded in appreciation for that fact and went silent.

Two minutes later the doors opened. President McGraw entered, a man with fine features and graying hair. Behind him Secretary of State Thomas R. McInnes and Secretary of the Navy Charles A. Semlin entered. The two Admirals rose and saluted to recognize their Commander-in-Chief and two of the Cabinet with the greatest influence in the political affairs of their service. Their blue-gray uniforms were of the same color of Semlin's suit jacket and trousers, while the President and Secretary McInnes wore the more common black. "Gentlemen, you are recognized and may be at ease," McGraw stated. He and his Cabinet men found their seats. "You may proceed."

The meeting began as usual. Admiral Wilburn laid out the current naval situation in the world. Of particular interest was any news of major German fleet deployments to the Marianas, Bismarcks, or Tsingtao; relations with that Great Power were starting to become tense.

It was Admiral Garrett's turn when Secretary Semlin called upon him to discuss the state of naval construction. "The delays in the shipyards for our British ships are of the most aggravating character," he stated. "It reinforces my point made earlier this year that we must invest more in native shipbuilding. The Cascadian shipbuilding industry is ready to produce battleships worthy of the name."

"That is all fine. But we are starting to look rather weak, are we not?", McInnes asked. The physician-turned-politician appraised Admiral Garrett with a close look. "Only two battleships in construction? Even Japan has ordered a third from France."

"I have it on authority that my designers are hard at work to make an improved design," Admiral Garrett stated. "One that can mount a heavier secondary battery. Given the rest of the year, we could have such a ship ready to be laid, and in one of the new expanded slipways being built at Hunter's Point. To build another ship in British yards will be to give Cascadian dollars to British shipbuilders."

"An excellent point," Semlin observed. "But the appearance of weakness is something to be considered, especially with the naval expenditures as they are…"

After the pause from Semlin was long enough, Admiral Garrett filled the void. "If we must construct another vessel of heavy tonnage, I would recommend building another Defiant. If we must. But I strongly suggest that we await the completion of the Hunter's Point docks. That will permit us to build our own battleships or an even better version of our cruisers. And we can do it domestically. Cascadian dollars for Cascadian workers, gentlemen. That is the thing that will quiet Parliament on the issue of our naval expenditures."

"I think, Admiral Garrett, that we are well aware of the tenor of things in the House," McInnes remarked sharply.

Sensing the rebuke, the Admiral nodded. "Of course, Mister Secretary. I would never imagine to hold higher authority on the issue."

After silence on the issue, the President spoke up. "I see you have matters well in hand. I give you the rest of the year, Admiral. But in January, I want new battleships laid. Regardless of any other consideration. Cascadia needs a battle line as a tool with the European powers. And we certainly cannot afford to fall behind Japan. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Mister President…"




When the meeting was over and the two Admirals were alone again, Wilburn gave his subordinate a look. "They are right to be impatient."

"As are we, sir. But as I have often told my children, acts born of impatience rarely turn out well." That was the parting note on which the Chief of Naval Design and Procurement left his superior officer.




With these considerations in mind, no new Cascadian construction was laid for September. The rest of the world was not so quiet: Britain laid down another Resolution and Germany ordered another Hannover from British yards.

Brighter news came for Admiral Garrett later in the month.

October-November 1900

The destroyer Stewart was commissioned.

But there was other bad news to come.

During the month, Wilhelm II of Germany proved his tendency to complicating his diplomats' work through several unkind statements. Referring to the Cascadians as " a nation of loggers and fishermen unfit for world power", the Kaiser declared that Germany "would do what is necessary to secure our rightful place" in regards to German claims to Samoa. This was backed up by a report from Manila that German agents had been actively courting Aguinaldo in attempting to woo the Filipino leader into a more pro-German stance. The leading Cascadian newspapers all denounced what seemed a deliberate attempt by Germany to meddle in Cascadia's Pacific arrangements and bully it into remaining silent on the issue. Calls for increasing the naval budget came from several Conservative and Liberal Party leaders and aligned newspaper editors.

In response to this, Admiral Wilburn and Admiral Garrett ordered gunnery and torpedo training to be expanded across the fleet. Full fleet readiness was ordered. The Naval Intelligence Office was granted additional funding for its German branch.

However, since no heavy units could conceivably be ready before 1903 even if started immediately, Admiral Garrett prevailed in heated discussions that it would be meaningless to push new orders. That to do so in defiance of announced plans would be more fo a sign of weakness through panic; cool conduct under pressure was a better course.

Later in the month, the San Jose reported that her working up was completed and that she was ready for deployment.

Meanwhile the diplomats got to work.

The Ambassador from Germany approached the Government with a proposal that the Cascadian naval budget be scaled back in the name of "peace and stability". Upon hearing of this, Admiral Garrett broke out laughing in his office. That Germany, with over twice the number of armored cruisers and an aggressive battleship construction program, could make such a preposterous claim as the Cascadian efforts needing to be curtailed was absurd. Admiral Wilburn proposed that the note be sternly denied. Admiral Garrett, much bemused, pointed out that Cascadia was more likely to benefit from pointing out that such a unilateral action was out of the question and that any curtailment of naval expansion must be international. "Invite the Germans to host a naval disarmament conference, if they are so scared of our two battleships," he suggested.

The public Cascadian reply put the German government into a bind. It could hardly protest the Cascadian reply without looking like buffoons. Kaiser Wilhelm yielded to his advisors on the issue while making it clear he believed the German fleet must continue to expand to support the Empire's growing influence in the world. Ambassadors from the leading naval powers were thus assembled in Berlin to consider if disarmament was feasible.

As expected, the assembled delegates had much to say, but little to do. None of the powers were yet willing to consider limitations on their disarmament programs. For the moment, Admiral Garrett had the last laugh.


December 1900

With the Berlin talks a failure, nothing changed for Cascadia. The enhanced training continued apace. And plans were laid for the New Year and the new orders the President had mandated.

A welcome wire from San Francisco confirmed that the new docks at Hunter's Point were complete. Cascadia could now build its own ships of the same size as the Fearless.

Metallurgical and ship design experts reported that they had grasped the fundamentals of the proposed armor by Germany's Krupp manufacturers. Meanwhile designers, anticipating the larger docks, openly considered that the followup to the Fearless could have a larger secondary battery.

Unfortunately, proposals to improve torpedoes had not gone so well.

Toward the end of the year, intelligence reports from Germany indicated that the Reichstag had agreed to increase the naval budget in light fo the growing tensions with Cascadia.

And so 1901 dawned. Cascadia's situation had certainly changed over the course of the year. While tensions remained low with the other naval powers, a war with Germany seemed to have become closer than ever before. Cascadia had the advantage of distance from Europe, but the German fleet was bigger. Big enough that even a partial deployment of the German fleet to Tsingtao and Guam would threaten to sever Cascadia's lines of communication to the Philippines. It remained to be seen if time and attitude changes in Berlin might yet reduce tensions.

In the meantime, Admiral Garrett poured over his design teams' work. A new battleship class was to be ordered and built in Cascadia. His teams were confident that they could give the ship a heavy secondary battery. Which would realistically be more of Cascadia's fine 10" guns. But could they make that work on a 16,000 ton hull?



One proposal was the Resolve-class.

It would have a secondary battery of 10 10" guns in five casemate emplacements per side joined with 9 4" guns as a tertiary battery, also in casemates. The main belt would provide superb protection at 9.5". One possible weakness would be that only 4" of armor could protect the 10" casemates, making those guns easier to knock out in a general engagement. And the ship's machinery would only be capable of 19 knots, so it could not keep up with the Fearless-class ships being finished in Britain.

One alternative design for the Resolve proposed would use only 8" guns, allowing machinery sufficient for 20 knots.



The alternate design is the Dauntless-class.

The Dauntless would be an evolutionary step up from the Fearless. Superior armor and machinery and an increase in 400 tons displacement would permit turning the secondary battery into 8" guns, although with 12 instead of 14, while retaining the 9" main belt and 20 knot speed.




Another possibility was to accept that Cascadia could not in any way catch up with Germany's battle line by any standard in time for a possible war, and thus to focus on superior armored cruisers to supplement the Defiant-class ships and ensure the annihilation of the German cruiser fleet in a war.

The Navajo-class was a refinement to the Defiant. At 16,000 tons displacement, it fielded a 7" secondary battery, 6" main belt, and with machinery sufficient for 25 knots at flank speed it could run down and - with the superb Cascadian 10" gun - outgun any German cruiser in commission. (Naval intel has not yet determined the specifications for the new Blücher-class German cruiser.)



And then there were other voices. Voices declaring that Cascadia could not face Germany's fleet in a direct fight and that the French Jeune École approach was superior; Cascadia should focus on a new generation of ships like the Fairbanks with which to hunt down and destroy Germany's merchant fleet in any war.

Now Admiral Garrett had to decide which of these voices he should heed in his recommendations to Admiral Wilburn and Secretary Semlin.

 

[Big Steve]

West Portland, Oregon
7 January 1901


President McGraw got his battleships.

Admiral Garrett looked over the announcement in the Portland Tribune that exulted in the order. The tensions with Germany over the past several months meant that even the Socialists were giving only mute protests to the orders for two new battleships. The Dauntless and a sister ship, to be named by the end of the month, were under construction and would be completed in 1903.

The naval budget would be constrained as a result. He had high hopes, expressed to the Secretary and to Admiral Wilburn, that it might yet be stretched to allow the laying of the Navajo. The new armored cruiser his teams had proposed would be faster and more powerful than any other cruiser afloat. It would certainly be superior to the Blücher. Of course, without a major increase in the budget, he would likely only be able to afford one to build in conjunction with the two Dauntless-class ships.

Battleships. Battleships. Everywhere he looked the cry was the same: battleships.

"It would appear, dear, that your outlook has become as gray as the weather," he heard Rachel say. She was standing at the door to their screened balcony. Above him he became aware that the pattering of rain upon the glass had become louder and more pronounced. The customary winter drizzle had become a full winter rain.

"I am simply contemplating the folly of people," he muttered. "I had pressed for Dauntless alone to be built and two armored cruisers of our latest design. But the President insisted on two battleships. 'We should be the laughing stock of the world with less', he said. The Secretary went further and thought openly of building three. I am lucky we are only at two."

"I understand." She reached over and put a hand on his neck. "Dinner is ready, by the way. The children are waiting for you at the table."

"Ah. Yes." He stood up and received a kiss on the cheek for it. "A good meal will undoubtedly help my mood."



January 1901


Cascadia lays two 16,000T battleships. The Dauntless is later joined by a sister. Originally the name was to be Diligent. But by the 23rd of the month news had come over the wire that Queen Victoria had died on the Isle of Wight. The death of Victoria seemed to herald the end of an age; she had ruled longer than the lives of most of the world. Half of the great Houses of Europe had married into her bloodline; the Emperor of Germany was among her many grandchildren. That it had been under her rule that the Cascadian nation had been born was not lost on the populace, especially under those in the provinces of the north that still fondly remembered being her subjects


With an eye to cultivating relations with London while relations with Germany worsened, the Admiralty agreed with a proposal from Secretary of the Navy Semlin. The second battleship of the Dauntless class was thus laid at the end of the month as the CRS Victoria.

With the budget surplus from the prior year, Admiral Garrett proposed and won new contracts to further expand the Cascadian dockyard capacity and the Pacific bases in the Carolines, Manila, and Samoa.




The Golden Gates, San Francisco, California
28 January 1901

The Vallejo family yacht, the Azure Clipper, was among many such ships sailing along the Golden Gates when the moment came. From the bow of the ship Admiral Garrett, his family, and his father-in-law were witnesses to an event that many had been waiting to see.

The large vessels came sailing in on the clear winter day. The brisk air was joined by a decent wind. More than enough to properly display the Cascadian tricolor from the masts of the great steel constructs. Cheers were arising from all around them, from Rafael Vallejo's yacht and the other vessels, at the sight.

The CRS Fearless and CRS Relentless answered the cheers with a salute from their 6" casemates, leading to more applause. The crews of the mighty ships were resplendent in their blue-gray uniforms. They had been dispatched across the world months before; now at long last they were home, having successfully sailed Cascadia's new battleships from the British yards to their new home in San Francisco.

"Wow, Pa." Thomas, his seocnd son, pointed out at the vessels. "When are we going to build ships that big?"

"We are, my boy," he answered. "You'll be seeing them in a couple of years."

"Really? Can't we get them any faster?"

"Much to the disappointment of the Naval Secretary… no, son, we cannot."

The Naval Artillery Office's Torpedo Branch issued a glowing report to Admiral Garrett, indicating the difficulties of the prior month had been overcome. Later in the month he received word of a breakthrough for Cascadian torpedo development.

During the course of the month, a new treaty was negotiated in Moscow to further delineate the two nations' boundaries in the Bering Sea. This led to a further improvement in the relations between Cascadia and the Russian Empire.

This was matched by a new development from the South Pacific. Several Polynesian chiefs agreed to join a conference in Honolulu on the future of the Polynesian nations. French authorities were swift to declare the conference an attempt by Cascadia and Hawai'i to interfere with the French protectorate over Tahiti and the other Polynesian islands in their sphere. The French Foreign Minister, Théophile Delcassé, issued a protest to Ambassador Hodges in Paris over the conference and insisted Cascadia have Queen Lili'uokalani cancel the meeting. Ambassador Hodges refused on the grounds that the Queen was within her rights to do so without Cascadian interference in her affairs.

This news was not greeted well in Portland. Relations with Germany were continuing to sour. The Germans were said to be preparing a new reinforcement to their Pacific squadrons and additional troops were known to be underway for the Bismarcks and Marianas. The Cascadian government responded by increasing the Caroline garrisons.

February 1901


With Cascadia's new battleships working up and the new Dauntless and Victoria laid, the Admiralty noted that the naval budget was again rather thin. The costs of the new battleships were simply too high to entertain much construction beyond them. A proposal was made to build another series of improved Hull-class ships. Admiral Garrett resisted this on the grounds that naval design teams were studying the idea of a larger destroyer and that funds were better preserved until such a time that a new destroyer class of greater tonnage could be implemented.

Help came from Parliament. The Conservative and Liberal Parties, along with the more hawkish elements of the Democratic Party, pushed a naval funding bill through the House and Senate. The growing tensions with Germany made clear the need for this new expanded naval spending.

(Author's Note: Okay, I think the game screwed up. Or it's doing some delay. Because my budget didn't go up in the March screen. Urgh.)


Despite the recent difficulties over Polynesian aspirations, the French Government authorized French companies to offer schematics for submarine pressure hulls to the Cascadian Navy. While Admiral Garrett is not entirely convinced of how useful these ships will be in the near future, he agrees with Admiral Wilburn to accept the French offer.

March 1900



President McGraw's decision to send the new naval bill back to Parliament for reconsideration prevented any increase in available funds that would permit new construction. As a result the Admiralty continued on course.

During the month, the Naval Design Office reported it had completed the study into 600 ton torpedo boat destroyers.

France laid down a new battleship, the second Trident-class vessel Devastation.

And so the first quarter of 1901 drew to a close.

 

[Big Steve]

April 1901


At the beginning of the month Admiral Garrett provided Admiral Wilburn with a finalized design for a 600 ton destroyer. The 1901 destroyers used the extra hundred tons for a design speed of 29 knots and an additional 3" gun. The greater size of the ship permitted an aft and a bow gun to be employed with the two centreline torpedo mounts without affecting rate of fire from overcrowding. This freed up two 3" guns to be placed on either side of the ship, giving the Blake desired additional firepower to go with the increased speed.

Due to the budget the Navy could only afford two ships. The Blake, as class-namer, and Pepys were laid by the end of the month.

Reilly & Collette Shipbuilding of Bremerton finished a dock expansion that gave the Puget Sound shipbuilder the capacity for laying 17,000T ships. Not to be outdone, their rivals in Vancouver and San Francisco quickly placed similar dock expansion orders.

Admiral Garrett was pleased to provide President McGraw and Secretary McInnes with a wire from Admiral Hencken in San Francisco, confirming that the battleships Fearless and Relentless had finished their working up and were ready for active fleet service.

Meanwhile less welcome news came from Berlin.

The Reichstag approved a new program for German naval development, promising an even greater expansion of the German fleet. The Cascadian press was quick to react to these troublesome developments, with many Conservative and Liberal papers declaring that the Parliament must respond. When one reporter for The Oregonian asked Admiral Garrett for his take on the situation, he calmly responded that he did not feel the German ships were a threat to Cascadian vessels.

Many readers wondered why he would make such a comment. The Germans were spending nearly twice the Cascadian naval budget on their own fleet. They had already sent a battleship in a visit to their Asian holdings. In retrospect, however, it would soon become clear why Admiral Garrett, among others with knowledge in the Government, was so unperturbed by the news.


May 1901

The world's power balance shifted in May when the French Ambassador, at the behest of his government, made the official approach.

In Paris, the issue over Polynesia had begun to die down. The much-feared conference had done little to threaten French suzerainty over Tahiti and other nearby islands. Meanwhile the revanchists saw opportunity in Germany's increased problems with the Cascadian Republic. With the alliance with Russia unconfirmed and relations with Britain prone to another colonial tumult, the French were in need of some new ally to realistically threaten the Germans. And now the revanchists believed they had found that ally.


The Presidential Mansion
3 May 1901

"An alliance?"

Foreign Secretary Biddle nodded at the inquiry of Naval Secretary Semlin. "Yes, that is exactly the proposal of the French Republic," the old man said. His whiskers were white as snow, as were the remaining wisps of hair around the crown of his balding head. "A military alliance, to be brought up for renewal every five years."

"This would be unprecedented," said Secretary of State McInnes. "This nation has never been bound to such an alliance with a European state. Not under these conditions. Why, we would be expected to send our boys to fight and die in the far soils of Europe."

"True. But Frenchmen would also be expected to fight and die for the Rockies, should such a thing come to pass," Biddle reminded the head of the Cabinet.

"Cascadian men will be fighting the Germans in Alsace-Lorraine if we ratify this," said Admiral Wilburn. "I am not certain the nation will approve."

"Let us be honest, Admiral." President McGraw spoke, and the room ceased rumbling with conversation. "We are facing a likelihood of war with Germany in the near future. Alone against the Germans, our nation's growing economy will be at great risk to their cruisers. If they commit just a portion of their battle line we may yet lose what we have so recently gained. This alliance would give Berlin pause. They cannot seriously want a continental war, not when it might yet turn against them. The Russians would tie down many of their troops in the east. And combined, the French and Cascadian fleets could eject them from their empire."

"Signing an alliance may also provoke Berlin into drastic action for fear of the same," McInnes pointed out.

"Be that as it may… I am prepared to move forward. Unless you will oppose me in the Parliament, Scretary McInnes?"

For a moment the Secretary of State, himself the closest thing the nation had to a Prime Minister, was silent. Afterward he shook his head. "There may be concessions to make," he warned. "But I will promote the treaty in the Senate."



Admiral Wilburn returned to the Admiralty and went to the Naval Design and Procurement Offices. He found Admiral Garrett seated in his officer looking over a design plan for a new capital ship. Garrett looked up at him and stood to salute. Wilburn waved him back down. "Hard at work as usual, I see."

"I am looking over a proposal for a new cruiser," Garrett replied.

"The Navajo?"

"No. I've given it the working name of Warrior. You are familiar with the British vessel of that name from the 50s?"

Wilburn thought for a moment. "An ironclad, I believe?"

"One of the first, yes. The HMS Warrior was the first of her kind and promised a change in the way the navies of the world built ships. And I suspect this vessel may very well be the same. Should our design teams and scientists find a way to make it work, that is." Admiral Garrett rolled the design back up and returned it to its silver tube. "What might I do for you?"

"Nothing at the moment. I believed you would appreciate the news. The French offer is real."

"Excellent," the younger Admiral said. "And the President's reaction?"

"Acceptance. As is that of the Cabinet."

"Yes, quite good. Quite excellent, sir. As I told you yesterday, this alliance may secure us in our current time of restriction to our naval development." He sighed. "I would have preferred a British alliance, obviously…"

"So would we all." Wilburn shook his head. "You have two young boys. Do you, Admiral, seriously want to see them bleed and die in the distant lands of Alsace-Lorraine?"

That made the other man pensive. "Admiral, I do not wish my boys to die in any war. But the needs of our Republic are evident. The German Empire is determined to impose its will upon us. They want Samoa. They want a share of the Philippines. We are, to them, upstarts, and they will not suffer to see us prosper by the things they seek to possess. A French alliance must give them pause."

"Or drive them to war."

"That is, I regret, a possibility," Admiral Garrett noted. "But perhaps, if we are doomed to war over this, it is best to get it out of the way now, before their naval programs give them an insurmountable edge over our own smaller efforts."

Wilburn sighed. "God help us all, then."


News of the positive Cascadian response electrified Paris. Foreign Minister Delclasse was still ambivalent about the entire issue; he worried that Cascadian ambitions in the Pacific still posed a threat to the French colonies there. But for many Frenchmen, the alliance was a chance to get at the old foe. Cascadia's armies had been known to fight bravely in the North American War, and they had performed well in their admittedly-smaller campaign against Spanish forces. Though it would take months, the prospect of Cascadian troops reinforcing French forces in the Continent was just as valuable as the prospect of the Cascadian naval force helping to claim German colonies for France. If the price tag were to give the Cascadians greater power in the Pacific, it would be acceptable for these other gains.

In Portland the news prompted a greater division. Many Conservatives, being Anglophiles, were bitterly opposed to a French alliance. France had been the supporter of Maximilian, had opposed Cascadia on several occasions, it was clear their goal was not an honest alliance but to use Cascadian boys as cannon fodder to reclaim Alsace-Lorraine. The handful of Socialists and many Democrats had their own opposition, concerned as they were that the alliance would provoke Germany into a war.

With victory in the Senate threatened, Secretary McInnes proved his political mastery by negotiating an arrangement with the Democrats, led by Senator Paul Crabbins of Klamath. As ludicrous as it sounded, the naval budget would be decreased despite the risk of war in exchange for support from Crabbins and the Democrats for the treaty. The arrangement was completed; the naval budget was shrunk and the treaty of alliance ratified.

On 26 May 1901, the French and Cascadian Presidents each signed their own copies of the treaty and ratifications. The Franco-Cascadian Security Treaty went into effect. The populaces of both nations were in general supportive of the new alliance against what many saw as their natural common foe: the German Empire. "Republics must stand together against the arrogant pride of emperors", declared the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

The reaction in Berlin was explosive. The Kaiser was said to have lost his temper and demanded an immediate mobilization. This was a challenge to the German Empire, an attempt to restrict its progress and rob Germany of its rights, and it had to be confronted. After some initial indications of such a reaction, the mobilization order was withdrawn. Instead the German callups for the year were expanded and German forces further orientated to face France. Diplomatic efforts to keep Britain and Russia neutral were pushed. The need for both forced Germany into reconsidering its planned attack on France and acted as a further restraint to keep the alliance news from leading to an immediate war effort by Germany.

The French responded to the German steps with their own expansion of the yearly callup of troops. In Cascadia, President McGraw ordered the Selective Service Office of the War Department to open its offices and make preparations.


June 1901

With tensions with Germany reaching an all-time high, Admiral Wilburn ordered an immediate deployment of the Cascadian fleet. The Defiant led the bulk of the cruiser forces, with several destroyers, to deployment in the Carolines and Philippines. The protected cruiser Seattle and two of the 500t destroyers were dispatched to join Samoa Squadron, which would be responsible for protecting not just Samoa but, in conjunction with any French forces present, French Polynesia and New Caledonia.

An attempted coup d'etat in Venezuela saw that oil-producing country plunge into chaos. President McKinley ordered American ships and Marines into the country to restore order and put down the coup. After the fighting stopped, the frightened government in Caracas signed a new security arrangement with the United States that effectively turned Venezuela into an American protectorate.

The Cascadian Republic did not respond to these developments. The Caribbean was strictly an American sphere of influence in Portland's mind.

July 1901

Engineering teams inform Admiral Garrett that they have developed new mechanisms for naval engine machinery, further improving the efficiency of existing designs.

After a month of high tensions, Kaiser Wilhelm II throws a diplomatic banquet and expressly invites Ambassador Williams of Cascadia to attend. Whatever else he had said before, Wilhelm now shows his more charming side. He insists that a war with Cascadia would be folly for Germany and, while regretting that Cascadia had sided with France as it had, insisted that the German Empire was committed to a peaceful settlement of the outstanding issues. Williams issued his report to Portland. "The Kaiser insisted that he saw our people and nation as a promising one, a people 'forged by adversity into conquerors', and that he would never allow Germany to be drawn into war with the Cascadian nation."

While many found the Kaiser's remarks to be another sign of his tendency to fluctuate his sentiments on a subject, similar German actions seemed to indicate a willingness to let the situation settle.

In mid-July, with Parliament adjourning until winter, President McGraw departed for a goodwill tour in an effort to alleviate global tensions. He first journeyed to Washington to meet with President McKinley and Vice-President Theodore Roosevelt. A Cascadian-flagged liner, the SS Evergreen, was waiting in New York City to ferry him to Brest and the start of his European tour.

Tensions as of August:

August 1901

In the beginning of August the Evergreen arrived in Brest. President McGraw entrained to Paris, where President Émile Loubet and Prime Minister Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau joined him in closer talks on military cooperation. The President of the Cascadian Republic was welcomed with a parade through Paris and honorary commendations by the French Republic. The entire country was ready to welcome their new ally.

After the stop in Paris President McGraw continued on to Brussels, where he was hosted by King Leopold, and finished a commercial treaty involving Cascadian access to the rubber of the Congo that would come back to haunt him in the eyes of history.

Afterward the President entrained for Berlin, having accepted Kaiser Wilhelm II's invitation to a state dinner and high level discussions. The President of the Cascadian Republic was feted by the German Emperor and his advisors, who were seeking more limited concessions from Cascadia as a means to step back from the growing menace of a war. Chancellor Bernhard von Bülow was particularly interested in a diplomatic arrangement, preferring even minor Cascadian concessions to the risks of a Pacific War. President McGraw and Ambassador Williams went over the German proposals and determined that they were not unacceptable. Minor concessions to permit German economic interests in the Philippines and protection for German rights in Samoa were not considered damaging to the Cascadian interest by McGraw. He wired back to Portland to sound out Secretary McInnes and the Government on the issue.

Four months before the German offer would have been more welcome and considered. But the nation was emboldened by the French Alliance. An unfriendly cabinet minister who was never identified leaked the report to the press and triggered an uproar in the Parliament and populace. For many Cascadians, Admiral Garrett included, Germany had been demanding too much for too long; their new offer, genuine and friendly as it might be, was seen as more likely to be a first step to lead to greater German influence in Cascadia's budding Pacific empire. Secretary McInnes and Foreign Secretary independently wired back the Cabinet's response: a firm no to the German proposals.

President McGraw, disappointed, communicated the results to von Bülow. The state banquet thus became a quiet, tense affair, after which the President immediately entrained for Saint Petersburg.

Word of the Cascadian refusal to consider Germany's reduced requests circulated in Berlin and across the country. German opinion against Cascadia hardened. The German General Staff intensified planning for a war against France and Cascadia.

In Portland, Secretary of State McInnes issued orders to increase military spending and purchase increased orders of artillery, ammunition, and rifles.

President McGraw was welcomed warmly in Saint Petersburg. Tsar Nicholas II proved more welcoming than expected. A new commercial treaty regulating Cascadian and Russian economic interests in China was finalized. On the issue of the Franco-Russian alliance, however, the Tsar and his government remained firm. Russia would not go to war on behalf of Cascadia and France in current circumstances.

The President left the Russian capital with this mixed outcome. After a brief stop in Stockholm and a banquet with the King of Sweden, he took a steamer to London.


September 1901

Once in Britain, President McGraw's visit was attended by a Naval Review. The Cascadian President's visit was greeted with general warmth by the British populace and with welcome by Lord Salisbury's Government. A state banquet with King Edward VII was held. During the visit McGraw signed a new amendment to the North America Treaty on the territorial claims in the Arctic and a treaty concerning Cascadia's growing economic links to Australia and New Zealand. On all occasions the traditional links of Cascadia to the British Empire were emphasized and the President was able to take ship for home, via a state visit to Canada, much impressed with London's friendship.

While the President's great state visit wound to an end, Cascadian naval intelligence delivered plans for the German Frauenlob-class cruiser. It was a respectable ship for its tonnage, although it lacked the firepower of the Olympia-class.

President Garrett received an unwelcome wire from San Francisco. A naval contractor supplying electrical wiring had overestimated its material orders and thus fell behind on its production. The month's quota of new wiring for the CRS Victoria was thus delayed, pushing back the ship's construction by a month. The contractor was quick to refund the Government.

October 1901

After a year, the Cascadian Navy's expanded regimen of gunnery and torpedo training was showing full results. The Navy considered itself ready to face the German fleet.

The Russian Government okayed an offer by their shipyards to sell improved riveting concepts to the Cascadian Admiralty. At Admiral Garrett's insistence, the Admiralty accepted the sale.

Additional news came from Admiral Garrett's development and engineering teams.

The new Lyddite charges for Cascadian naval shells was particularly welcome.

November 1901

The Admiralty Building
Portland Federal District
6 November 1901
Secretary Semlin listened with a displeased expression to Admiral Garrett. "The Cabinet will not be pleased, sir," he remarked gravely. "We have already suffered a delay in our new battleships."

"I understand, sir, but this was unavoidable," Garrett replied. Kilburn nodded at his side. "The reduction of the naval budget had a critical effect upon our construction program. The Navy cannot afford the current program unless we save costs by suspending construction for the month."

"You would not be in this predicament, Admiral, had you not insisted on this contract with the Russian yards."

"Those riveting practices will prove of immense value in later designs, sir," Admiral Garrett insisted. "They will provide us a qualitative edge."

"At the cost of delaying the battleships our nation desperately needs. War with Germany looms on the horizon, Admiral. We need our expanded battle line."

"And we will have, sir. Particularly if the Parliament were to be persuaded to increase our naval budget. The cuts have placed us behind Japan, sir. Japan. Our nation's naval program is threatened by this parsimony."

"I have done what I can," Semlin insisted. "The Democrats in the House and Senate insisted on the cuts for ratifying the treaty with France. And now they howl over our refusal to accept the Germans' offers in August."

"It is foolhardy to do so," Admiral Garrett insisted. "The Germans would have easily used those minor concessions to expand their influence in Samoa and the Philippines."

"Be that as it may, Admiral, the Cascadian people are clearly not ready for the naval spending you insist upon. Our nation's industries must be expanded further before we can sustain such."

Before either Admiral could point out the obvious contradiction in what the Secretary wanted for them and what they were being given by way of funds, Semlin held up a hand. "I shall do what I can. The Conservatives and Liberals are indicating they will promote higher naval spending when the Parliament reconvenes. We will have to see. That is all I can say."


The needs of the Cascadian budget required the Admiralty to temporarily halt the progress on the Dauntless.

Construction of Dauntless temporarily halted due to lack of naval budget funds.


The two new 1901 destroyers were commissioned.

West Portland, Oregon
23 November 1901

Commander Etps was grateful when young Miss Stamper, the maid for Admiral Garrett's house, allowed him in from the winter drizzle. He placed his gray rain-soaked overcoat up upon the nearby hanger and removed his shoes as requested. "Where is the Admiral?", he asked.

"Upon the patio." The pretty young brunette smiled thinly. "He is reading. And quite intently."

"Oh?"

"The latest issue of The Strand was issued yesterday," Stamper whispered to him.

Etps blinked… and then remembered and understood. He remained quiet while the young lady led him through the sitting room, beside the dining room door, and out through the parlor into the patio. Rain gently pattered off the glass overhead. The cool air was brisk against Etps' long-sleeved uniform jacket, just as it had to be against the Admiral's flannel house jacket. He was sitting and amiably puffing on a pipe. Etps knew the pipe, and the cover of the magazine in his hand made it clear just why his superior was so engrossed in it. "He noticed the dog outside, ha!", Admiral Garrett proclaimed cheerily.

"Admiral, Commander Etps is here," Miss Stamper said.

Admiral Garrett looked up. "Ah, Reggie. Good to see you." He set the magazine down and put his pipe to the side. "I do not smoke often, as you know, but there is something about these works that make me want to hold a pipe in my hand."

"Sir?"

"I was right. The good Doctor Doyle could not leave his Detective at the bottom of Reichenbach Falls forever!" The Admiral held up the magazine to him. "The first chapter of Holmes' latest adventure, Reggie. I have waited years for this!"

Etps nodded. Understanding dawned. "A new Sherlock Holmes adventure, then?"

"Yes," was the cheery reply. "So, what brings you on a Saturday, Reggie?"

"A late wire from Captain Parkhurst up in Seattle, sir." Etps reached into his pocket and handed the slip to him. "It is not good news."

That caused the big man a sigh. He looked over the slip. "Damn. It appears this 'face hardening' process is causing some trouble to the boys in the Armoring Office."

"It appears so, sir."

The Admiral sighed and laid the slip down. "I'll send him a wire later. Undoubtedly some will question why we pay these men so much if they cannot produce results in a timely fashion. People do not realize that science is not rushed." Seeing Etps waiting patiently Admiral Garrett motioned to a chair. "You can be at home here, you know that Reggie. God knows you have been at my side since I was but a Captain. It was a stroke of luck that the Spanish shell did not kill the both of us at Manila."

"True, sir. I didn't want to impose. I will be going out for the night anyway."

"I see. Well, the offer is there." He stood. "Allow me to show you out, then?"

"I hate to interrupt you and your reading, sir. I am well aware of how pleased you must feel to have a new Holmes story to read."

"Oh, yes, but it will still be here in a few minutes."

Etps relented at that point. He allowed his superior to show him out.

December 1901

The navy resumed construction of the Dauntless.

The dock expansion program of 1901 completed. Several slips across the country were now capable of building ships of such size to be 19,000T displacement.


Naval builders conceive of the idea of medium wing turrets for heavy warships.

Cascadian design teams make advances toward better AP shells.

"It is clear that the German Empire will not rest until it has taken control of Samoa away from the Cascadian and Hawai'ian governments. It is also clear that our Nation needs a superior naval armament. Yet the Admiralty has had its hands tied. My sympathies rest with our naval officers who endure day after day of abuse for not building more battleships, yet are refused - by this very body! - the funds with which to do the same construction! You cannot blame a man for not being prepared for a fire and then deny him the means to prepare with the next breath! This cannot continue! The new budget must be expanded to ensure the safety of the Cascadian Nation. Better to pay hundreds of millions now for our defense than to one day be compelled to pay tens of millions to the Kaiser as tribute!" - Speech by Representative Patrick McKiernan of Kelowna, Republican ("Liberal") Party, 9 December 1901

With tensions still high with Germany, the hawk elements of the Liberal and Conservative Parties push an expanded naval bill through the Cascadian Houses of Parliament.

The cruiser Defiant made a welcome visit to Port Arthur, where the Russian governor in the Liaotung Peninsula granted the officers of the cruiser a large banquet in welcome. Lead Russian officers and the Governor were granted a tour of the armored cruiser in response.

 

[Big Steve]

The Warrior design is this:

RTW has a quirk with how it identifies ship types. I've mentioned before how any ship with 7" guns and armor belt over a certain thickness is automatically a CA, even if it's rather smaller than a CA (likewise, any cruiser design that goes to 8k tons is also a CA automatically). The jump to BBs and BCs has a few interesting rules too.

The game defines a BB - a dreadnought-style battleship - as a battleship with more than two centerline turrets of its main guns. Note that this means you can build a ship with just three centreline turrets and it'll still be designated a BB, even if it's not the revolutionary step that Dreadnought and original-design Satsuma represented (that is, doubling broadside gun firepower).

A BC is a ship armed with battleship caliber guns (11" or higher) and with a design speed of at least 25 knots. That means that yes, it can have a pre-dread-style gun layout and still count as a BC. Note that this allows one to design a BC from game start. But they also gate it behind the first two Ship Design techs (the calibers over 7" for secondaries and the wing turrets for secondaries). You have to get those techs before you can actually save and employ a design that the game considers a battlecruiser.

Now you might say "Hey Steve, why were you designing this kind of ship, isn't it a waste to not wait until you can get proper dreadnought-style gun loadouts?" ANd you'd have some justification. But sometimes, sometimes one gets tired of designing the same thing every time. Sometimes one wants to have a little fun. And it's not like the idea of "combining" a battleship and armored cruiser into one hull wouldn't have come across someone's mind, eh?

Also, as it is, this design did its part in the game for me. Oh, it very much did, and it provided one of my best dramatic battles later in the game. You'll see that when we get to the 1920s...

 

[Big Steve]

January 1902


The Admiralty Building
Portland, Federal District
2 January 1902

The day after New Year's, Admiral Garrett stepped into the anteroom of his office and nodded with approval at the small gathering around him. His new staff advisor, Captain Simon Holmes, was present already, dark-haired and dark-eyed with a fine beard and mustache that he had kept properly trimmed. Captain Holmes was assigned as his scientific expert and had a particular knowledge in gunnery due to his background in physics. Yeoman Burke, who minded the office for him, was in his uniform with the petty officer rating insignia appropriately placed.

The two main figures in the office were Etps and his wife. Isabela was brown-eyed and dark-haired - with the light bronze complexion common to the Californios much like Admiral Garrett's wife Rachel - if about ten years younger than his beloved. She cut an attractive figure in her sea-green blouse and dress, with long slender arms at her sides. She and Etps looked like the proper naval couple and reminded Garrett of his family, if they had yet to produce a child between them.

"Greetings, everyone," the large man said. He took out a paper. "I have been waiting to make this announcement for some time." He smiled at the Etps couple. "Commander Reginald Etps, it is my solemn duty and my greatest pleasure to read this order. By order of the Cascadian Navy, undersigned by Admiral Wilcox the Vice-Chief of Naval Operations, Reginald Thaddeus Etps is hereby granted a meritorious promotion to the rank of Captain."

The assembled applauded, save for Reggie Etps who beamed with pride as Admiral Garrett removed the silver oak leaf rank insignia from Etps' blue-gray uniform jacket and replaced it with a silver eagle. The eagle was not quite the same as that seen on American naval Captains; the wings were stretched upward and one talon carried a naval compass while the other bore the likeness of an old muzzle-loaded naval gun.

"Congratulations, Captain Etps," Admiral Garrett said after putting the insignia on his aide. He offered his hand in congratulations.

"My thanks, sir. I will continue to do you proud," Etps pledged. He accepted his mentor's hand and shook it with firmness. Pride suffused every inch, every mere part, of his expression. Isabela planted a kiss on his cheek in congratulations.

"And now that the work day is done," Admiral Garrett stated, "I have reserved us a table at North's. My wife and the children should be arriving there by this time. The finest dining in the Federal District awaits our pleasure."

The party left for the waiting cabs to ferry them to the periphery of the government portion of the district. A celebration, to go with those already enjoyed for the New Year's, was just the thing. They had a long year ahead of them.

What the Admiral would not know is the bittersweet taste he would have for this night when he would look back upon it from a year's distance.



Cascadian naval designers and engineers report success with new six foot rangefinders to improve fire control. Additionally, teams determine how to use double bottoms to improve the survivability of Cascadian naval vessels.

Late in the month, several German leaders call upon the German Government to issue an ultimatum to the Cascadians over Samoa. The German Government begins new defensive works on Guam and New Ireland and announces an expansion of the garrisons there and restrictions on Cascadian shipping in the vicinity of German holdings in the Pacific. German destroyers intercept and shadow Cascadian shipping moving south of Guam. The Cascadian government protests the new German stance.



February 1902

Admiral Garrett is pleased to receive further reports from his design teams and research teams on improved technology. New power rammers for gun turrets promise an increase in rates of fire. The Naval Ordinance Office reports completion of new hardened AP shields that offer superior penetration of enemy armor. And a team from San Francisco submit design schematics for an experimental coastal submarine based off of the Holland concept.

Admiral Wilburn is later informed that some of the design team's final work was made possible by the Naval Intelligence Paris Branch recovering technical schematics from France's own submarine program. The Admiral immediately orders this classified at the highest levels so as to not jeopardize the alliance.

(OOC: I have my intel efforts in France set to low… and yeah, the French probably spy on me too.)

Parliament authorized extra naval funding given the growing German threat. (Note: This wasn't in the original text, but I found a screenshot of a funding event, so here it is.)

March 1902

It is a quiet month for the Admiralty. Admiral Garrett gets a report from Captain Holmes that researchers from Reilly & Collette were reporting some successes in a new steel formula for hull construction.

April 1902

Careful budgeting by the Admiralty allows the Navy to fund a new series of yard slip expansions.

With the money for the expansions cleared, Admiral Garrett wins Wilburn's approval to order two more 1901 type destroyers of the Blake-class: the Rodriguez and Bainbridge.

During the month new reports indicate that relations with the British and French governments have reached levels of amiability not seen in years. New indications from Germany indicate that the German Empire has been relaxing its stance slightly. The German military cancels plans for further reinforcements to Germany's Pacific bases.

In the Bering Sea, shots are fired by Russian and Cascadian fishing trawlers. Despite the new commercial and demarcation treaty, the shifting patterns of fish in the Bering Strait region cause a renewal of arguments between the Tsar's government and the Cascadian officials over fishing rights.

The American-Cascadian border becomes a source for trouble when Cascadian mounted police chase American bandits into the Dakotas. American cavalry intercept the Cascadian force and compel them to withdraw. Several American newspapers denounce the Cascadian police in Montana for the violation of the 108th Meridian, providing fuel for those expansionists who oppose the Treaty of Chicago's territorial dispositions.


May 1902

Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands calls for the world's leading naval powers to check the escalating naval race the world has undergone. Citing the clear indications of a possible war in the Pacific, which might impact the Kingdom's colonies in the East Indies, the Dutch Government supports the Queen's announcement - indeed some believe they asked her to issue it - and offers to host a disarmament conference.

In Cascadia the proposal is met with some approval. Senator Crabbins and his Democrats urge President McGraw to completely back the Dutch negotiation. But Admiral Garrett and Admiral Wilburn publicly criticize the idea as unworkable, citing the failed Berlin conference of the prior year. Many leading Cascadian officials and politicians join in the opposition, seeing any likely treaty as being likely to diminish Cascadian freedom of action. The refusal of Cascadia to join the talks leads France and Germany to do likewise; Britain therefore also refuses to join. The Dutch disarmament conference collapses before it can formally start.


June 1902

The Franco-Cascadian alliance was built on the premise that the Polynesian Question would remain quiet. But Queen Lili'uokalani, while a moderate supporter of the arrangement, refused to back down on the question of Polynesian nationhood. When an island chief in French Polynesia was accused of promoting resistance to French rule, he fled to Hawai'i under the personal protection of the Hawai'ian Queen - indeed, she had sent her yacht to pick him up days before French authorities were ready to arrest him. The French Government bitterly protested this to the Cascadian Government and demanded that the offending chief be turned over to France.

Recognizing that the issue could split them from their allies, President McGraw and Foreign Secretary Biddle sought a middle road through the crisis. They could not force the Queen of Hawai'i to relent, not without undermining Hawai'ian independence, but they needed to placate their ally. Secretary Biddle decided upon a public statement on the matter; Cascadia would not support any interference in French rule in Polynesia.

The French were not pleased the chief was not turned over, but the French Government - also desiring to sustain the alliance lest its breaking collapse the Government - was willing to accept the Cascadian statement and withdraw their demand.


July 1902

The budget increased voted on earlier in the year permitted the Cascadian Navy to order a new series of minesweepers.

The increase in the Cascadian budget did not sit well with the Japanese Imperial Government. Cascadian power in the Pacific and the French alliance was casting a new pallor over the relations between the two Pacific naval powers.


August 1902

Admiral Garrett approved a recommendation that the plans developed earlier in the year for submarines be explored. Two coastal submersibles, the Cuttlefish and Salmon, were ordered to be constructed for testing purposes.

The Peruvian government placed an order with Parker & Sons for a new 600 ton destroyer type utiilziing the latest in Cascadian advancements. Vice CNO Wilcox prevailed upon the Government to order the contractor to refuse for fear that Cascadian advancements may fall into foreign hands. But Admiral Garrett considered this risk acceptable, and slight enough, and believed that the licensing rights to the new technology would benefit the Naval budget. Admiral Wilburn signed with Admiral Garrett and indicated to Secretary Semlin his support for the sale. The Cascadian government thus approved the sale.

Additionally, the Engineering Office reported to Admiral Garrett that side drum machinery was now available in new construction.

September 1902

A French fishing vessel, the Jolie Marie, drew too close to Samoa during the Samoa Squadron's monthly live fire exercises. A failure in signaling communication prevented the ship's safe departure from the firing area and a stray 5" shell fired by the Seattle badly damaged the ship, killing several crew and injuring many more. The ship was towed to safety in Apia and the crew treated.

The French Ambassador approached Secretary Semlin on the matter. The families of the deceased were demanding compensation and the court-martialing of the Seattle's officers. Naval Secretary Semlin, aware of the damage the incident could do to the alliance with France, approached Admiral Wilburn about compensation being paid.

Admiral Garrett and the others in the Admiralty responded negatively. "It was a tragedy, yes, but a tragedy brought on by a foolish French fisherman who failed to recognize the clear signs of a naval exercise going on," Admiral Garrett wrote to Secretary Semlin. "It is out of the question for the Cascadian Navy to assume responsibility for this error."

Despite Foreign Secretary Biddle's support for the French note, Secretary Semlin agreed with his Admirals. President McGraw and Secretary McInnes agreed to politely decline the French note. It caused some further stirring in Paris but, for the moment, did not indicate jeopardy for the French alliance.


October 1902

Despite the Jolie Marie sinking of the prior month, the French Government proved supportive of the alliance by offering to the Cascadian Admiralty design work for a reliable pendulum mechanism to use in Cascadian torpedoes. The Cascadian Admiralty supported the purchase, though it would mean delaying completion of the destroyers and minesweepers to fit the naval budget.

A report came to Admiral Garrett that Naval Intelligence's Security Office had indications that agents had successfully purloined torpedo schematics from the Naval Ordinance Offices. An investigation of all officers and personnel with relevant access was ordered.

West Portland, Oregon
25 October 1902

Lieutenant Commander James Hawke was a patient man. He had to be in his profession.

One important element was bland clothes. One mustn't stand own, either through being too open or being too obviously private. The goal was to make a potential spotter's eyes pass over you without comment.

The Commander was also a brave man. During the war with Spain he had led the mixed landing party of Marines and sailors that stormed the Spanish earthworks at the mouth of Manila Bay. A bullet wound in his shoulder still ached when the weather turned just right. Now he showed his bravery in different ways as an officer in the employ of Naval Intelligence's Security Office.

In other words, he was a spy hunter.

The word was that the Russians had gotten a man in the Ordinance Office, or maybe even the Design and Procurement Office itself. Hawke was particularly irritated by the latter. He had respected Admiral Garrett as a bold commander; the Admiral had personally pinned the Cascadian Legion of Merit to Hawke's chest after the war. That the Admiral's office might be the source of a traitor selling his country's secrets…

Therefore Hawke had resolved his investigation to start there. To make sure there were no signs that could rebound upon the man he respected, or if there were, to ensure such treason was paid for quickly and with minimal scandal. He had thoroughly investigated the Admiral's home - surreptitiously of course - and found nothing there. The Admiral never brought his work home and never spoke of it to his family beyond vague, useless generalities. His maid, Miss Stamper, was a patriotic woman. The manservant Liu Ganlu had been cleared with a quick investigation; the Chinese immigrant was loyal to his employer and had no means to be a leak.

Now it was on to other officers. Starting with the good Captain Etps.

Hawke remembered the English-accented officer well. He had served as the Admiral's aide-de-camp during the war. A respectable staff officer who was yet to earn his own command, save a brief time as Executive Officer on the Rodney in a tour during 1899. Married to a Californio woman of middling means - a potential hook, yes.

Thankfully the townhouse that the Captain had leased was across from a mid-range hotel, the Burley-Cain. Hawke was renting a room for this investigation that allowed him to monitor the Commander's movements. Just briefly, just long enough to make sure he had cleared Etps sufficiently.

But there was a strange prickling feeling he was getting this Saturday night. It was 9:30PM, an hour when people were coming home from their nighttime excursions - if they were not already home to escape the growing winter rain endemic to the region at this time of year - and yet… he saw lights on at the main door. A moment later a coated figure emerged from the main door.

Hawke acted quickly. He knew the routes of the cabs that moved through here and how far they were by the sound they made upon the road. He had time. He grabbed his jacket, scarf, and hat and rushed from his rooms. He went down the nearby stairs with alacrity and made his way to the door. The nightkeeper of the hotel eyed him as he went out.

Cool rain came down upon the hat he'd put on. The street light showed that Etps was still waiting. Hawke dare not cross the road here; not when he might get spotted and spook the Captain. His heart began to pound at the prospect that laid before him. Captain Etps… an agent? A traitor? The scandal... it could destroy Admiral Garrett, indeed, it could ruin the entire Admiralty. In these tense times!

A hansom cab rolled up. Now Hawke crossed the road, as if to get to the cab himself. Etps hailed the cab first and started to ascend to it. Hawke's hearing was splendid and he could hear Etps as he called for it to deliver him to the hotel district along the river, across the Willamette from the Government Block of the Federal District.

A streak of boldness came to him. It had been years since he had seen Etps during the war. While Etps might recognize him, he would not know Hawke's current job. The Security Office had given him a cover posting in the Admiralty as a junior aide to Admiral Wilburn's office, the sort of sinecure a wounded war hero might be given until his health was considered sufficienty restored. Rather than risk that a second cab may take too long to approach the street - and knowing he had insufficient time to call for one - Hawke called the cab as well. The driver looked at him and Hawke asked for a destination that would come before the River. An area where he would be more likely to find a waiting cab and, if necessary, had at least a hope of following Etps on foot.

He settled into the cab beside Captain Etps. He gave a nod of his hat. It was kept as one might expect it to be kept in the rain. That it put a shadow over most of his face within the cab was a pleasant aid to the Commander's efforts.

Etps said nothing to him. Immediately Hawke's senses went on alert. His quarry seemed pensive. Tense. Not necessarily from fear - although he did sense Etps was discomforted by his presence - but from a sort of anticipation.

Whatever it was, it absorbed Etps' mind on the trip. Hawke's destination soon came up and he departed. Etps had barely noticed he was not alone, so absorbed he was in anticipation of whatever he was doing. Hawke looked about and was in luck; a brougham cab was waiting for a fare. Hawke hailed it down and gave the order for where he wanted to go. It was a destination that was sure to take the cabbie in the same road. An extra half-dollar was offered to promote the cabbie's speed in the matter and soon they were off. Hawke watched intently as the hansom with Etps in it soon came into sight. It remained so.

Until the last road. Hawke's own cabbie turned. Hawke started for a moment before stopping himself. He cursed inwardly. His planned destination was indeed closer along this tight road, the kind a cab would not ordinarily take… unless a cabbie had a half-dollar inducement to make good time, at least. They clattered along the shadows in a place where smart men usually avoided night time travel. Hawke absentmindedly reached for his revolver. A shooting was the last thing he wanted. To be killed by a robber, though, was even less desirable.

Thankfully this did not occur and soon they were around the corner and back to safer streets. Hawke looked out the rear window. There was some traffic of cabs in the street and they had indeed overtaken Etps' cab. Hawke recognized the chestnut mare pulling the hansom along. He watched it come to a stop in front of a building while his own cab went on. He called for his cab to stop.

"But we're still half a block from…"

Hawke gave him to promised half-dollar addition to the fare… and an extra quarter. "For your time," he said simply. The cabbie shut his mouth and said nothing more.

Hawke clambered down from the brougham and went back down the street. The cab driver of the hansom had already turned to another road. But the red brick building he had dropped Etps off at was clearly the destination; an apartment house of some sort. He read the advertisement beside the door; apartments for "working bachelors of means". The look of the place was fine, clearly not housing for working class men. He slid into the door when another man stepped out, wearing his rain cloak in such a way as to obscure his face. Clearly another man here who wanted privacy.

Hawke spotted Etps going up the stairs. Another man, with fine well-kept blond hair, was at his side. Etps' companion was in a blue smoking jacket and matching nightrobe.

They were holding hands.

"Excuse me sir."

The voice prompted Hawke to turn. A large man stepped up to him in a fine jacket. The glint of a revolver in a holster at his belt came to Hawke's eye as the figure stepped toward him. "This is a private dwelling," the man said in a clear tone. Clear, not hostile, and certainly not welcome. "Unless you are a tenant or have business with one, I must insist you leave."

"Very nice housing you have," Hawke noted. "Might I ask what it would take to become a tenant?"

The man looked him over closely. "I do not believe you would be able to live here, sir."

"I have an excellent income. The rent is unlikely to be an issue if it is under a hundred dollars a month."

"It is your look and manners. You are not suitable for a tenancy. Please leave or I will be forced to remove you."

Hawke noticed that others were looking his way. Many quickly averted their gazes when his eyes swept over them. Others kept their looks on him, as is defying him to identify them.

Oh yes. This was definitely a place he was not suited to live in.

"My apologies, sir," Hawke replied. "I will leave."

"Good. And I do not wish to see your face again. Our tenants value their privacy highly and do not suffer detectives like yourself well."

"Of course not," he said, walking out as he did. Hawke stepped back into the fall rain and drew in a sigh.

His instincts had been mostly right about this late sojourn. But not in the way he had feared.

Unfortunately, his discovery had only made the question more difficult, and delicate, for the Admiralty.



November 1902

As expected, the expense of the French torpedo research compelled the Navy to suspend construction on its new destroyers on the cusp of their completion. A minesweeper was also suspended in construction.

Later in the month, the Argonaut was the first of the new minesweepers to be completed. On trials it was found the ship was capable of a faster speed than designed for. Which, granted, was not of much use for a minesweeper.

It is in retrospect that we must see the November 1902 elections as the final moment on which the future events could reasonably have been averted. The rise of the Democratic and Socialist Parties in Cascadia had long been predicted by many political observers. 1902 had thus loomed as their year. Had the two parties' planks been reconciled, the events of the following year might yet have been averted and much to the benefit of the orphans and widows of the fighting to come.

- Excerpt from "The First Pacific War: A General History" by Sophie Garrett, published 1942

The November Elections changed the shape of the House. The Socialist Party won several seats from the industrial cities of the Republic and the Democrats made other gains, changing the makeup of the House to remove the Republican plurality there. New election results in the provinces also portended a change in the Senate to give the Democrats an equal number of Senate seats to the Republicans. The election result's main effect was to effectively eliminate Secretary of State McInnes' Republican-Conservative coalition government. Secretary McInnes promptly dissolved the Government. President McGraw, a Republican himself, was forced to turn to Senator Crabbins of Klamath to form a new Government.

Crabbins attempted to form a coalition with the Socialists, under Congressman Flagg of Surrey. But the Socialists' demands were too far even for Crabbins' Democrats, involving sharp military spending cuts and negotiations with Germany. Flagg believed the election results to indicate that the Cascadian populace was against the prospect of war and the Cascadian imperialism he had spent years denouncing; as such he demanded the Foreign Department and a free hand to renegotiate the Manila Treaty to effectively end Cascadian primacy over the Philippines, as well as an abrogation of the French Alliance - "Cascadian workers will not die for Imperialism". This was too much for Crabbins, who recognized that his own party would fracture and it would cost the Democratic Party their first Government in over a decade. He turned to Senator McInnes and Congressman McKiernan to form a Democrat-Republican coalition government instead, which would maintain the French alliance but fulfill Democratic promises for reforms to unemployment insurance and worker pensions. This would mandate cuts to the naval and defense budgets.

McInnes agreed to the coalition. While the Parliament would not meet until December, he won for himself the Foreign Department and ensured Semlin's retention as Naval Secretary. Thus guaranteed that the Republicans would keep control of those two vital elements of Government policy, he acquiesced to Crabbins' Democrats taking the Treasury as well as the Interior and the War Department. Crabbins was made Secretary of State.

As the new government took shape, Chancellor von Bülow made a public statement to the effect that if the Cascadian Government reduced its naval spending, Germany would recall some of the garrisons sent to the Pacific and re-open talks on German interests in Samoa. The prospect of a drawback from a war thus loomed.

But despite the arrangements, Crabbins had not accounted for the strong Republican support in the Cascadian Navy League. Admiral Garrett privately signaled concerns that the new legislation and naval cutbacks would imperil future Cascadian naval programmes. Admiral Wilburn publicly supported the Navy League's protest against the military cutbacks.

The Russian Government now lodged an official protest, accusing the Cascadian Government of ignoring the repeated violations of Russian fisheries in the Bering Sea by Cascadian fishermen. A Russian cruiser nearly collided with a Cascadian fishing trawler while paying a visit to Dutch Harbor to protest the issue.


December 1902

When Parliament met in the first week of December, the new budget bill formed by Crabbins was defeated in the House by a narrow vote; while over half of the Republicans supported it, others rejected the vote, as did the Conservatives, the handful of Representatives of the Cascadian Populist Party, and a clique of Democrats led by Rep. Alonso Muniz of New Mexico who believed that war with Germany was inevitable and that the party's plank could not sacrifice the national interest. An effort by Crabbins to employ the Whip failed and Muniz threatened to cross the aisle and sit with the Opposition, specifically the Populist Party. Crabbins' control over the Cabinet was thus immediately weakened.

The Germans responded to the bill's failure by not recalling their latest reinforcement convoy. German destroyers began to reconnoiter the Cascadian fleet base at Chuuk (Truk) Lagoon. One destroyer veered so close to the lagoon's defense perimeter that the cruiser Reliant fired a warning shot across its bow. Cascadian cruisers later retaliated with a close pass of the German naval base at Rabaul, where the German ships sortied to intercept the cruisers and fired warning shots that nearly struck the cruiser Fairbanks.


Meanwhile the two new Blake-class destroyers were officially commissioned into the Navy..

Trouble erupted in Africa later in the month. A native revolt gripped the Portuguese colony at Mozambique. Portuguese forces on hand failed to suppress the uprising in time and the rebels declared a new government. Violence by native forces expanded to attack other European interests, as well as a Cascadian commercial interest.

In light of the issue, Admiral Wilburn instructed a small force led by the Defiant to the Indian Ocean. The Cascadian squadron rendezvoused with an Anglo-French force off of Lourenço Marques and sailed into the harbor. Royal Marines and Cascadian Marines deployed to secure the British consulate and restore order to the city. The Portuguese were able to use the intervention to regain control and push the rebels out into the countryside. The rebellion collapsed and its ringleaders fled the country, many going into German Tanganyika.

German ships attached to the German Indian Ocean Squadron arrived to joint the international force as the fighting reached its zenith. Although the Germans cooperated, the Cascadian and French ships were clearly hostile to their presence, such that the British Admiral on station was forced to take command of the force and keep the two forces separate. But this did not extend to shore leave. As New Year's approached, the pacification of the city finally allowed for shore leaves to be granted to the sailors of the squadrons.

Although efforts were made to keep the crews separate, eventually they crossed. There was only light tension at first, but when crewmen of the cruiser Olympia accused German sailors of cheating during a card game, a brawl broke out. Shots were fired and three German sailors were killed in the exchange. Two French and four Cascadians were wounded; two of the Cascadians later died of their wounds. British forces broke up the riot and the Portuguese authorities banned all of the offending parties from further leave.

News of the debacle went out over the wires. German opinion was inflamed at the conduct of the Cascadian sailors. The German government demanded they be tried for murder. In Portland the Cascadian government accused the German crews of instigating the fight and firing the first shots, and thus refused the demand.

The British were not entirely pleased by the conduct of the Cascadian fleet either. Several admirals opined that it might be best that Britain avoid working with the Cascadian Navy until it imposed more stringent discipline on its crews.

Meanwhile, on the 27th of December, the German General Staff ordered its forces to go on standby alert. Plans were made to issue a general mobilization. The Pacific territories of the German Empire were ordered to prepare for conflict and all non-German shipping was ordered out until further notice. All leaves and furloughs in the German Navy were canceled.

On the 28th of December, the French canceled all military leaves.

On New Year's Eve, Admiral Wilburn wired the commanders of Samoa Squadron and East Asia Fleet Command. All shore leaves were canceled. The ships returning from Mozambique were ordered to refuel and put all efforts into scraping their bottoms and being ready to deploy after the New Year. The new Secretary of War, Gregory Burnell, canceled all Army leaves and ordered the Cascadian Army into war preparation.

By New Year's Day, 1903, the war that had been feared for the last two years now crested over the Cascadian nation like a tsunami, terrifying in its imminence.

But for Admiral Garrett, another matter remained to be dealt with.



The Admiralty Building
2 January 1903

The entire building was stirring with activity. War with Germany seemed imminent. The Cascadian fleets were readying to deploy. The battleships would, upon war being declared, be dispatched to East Asia, either to supplement the defenses of the Cascadian and French possessions there or to begin, if possible, invasions of the German Pacific Territories.

As Chief of Naval Design and Procurement, Admiral Garrett's job in this situation was more limited. It was to go over the naval program, to determine what construction should be pursued and how it might relate to the needs of the war. Long-term planning was harder when one needed to potentially replace losses. Even now he had a proposed design for an Armed Merchant Cruiser on his desk, to be potentially ordered when the war commenced to provide further, and more quickly employed, commerce raiding potential.

But as much as he wanted to focus on that, it was another report he had to consider. And another duty he wanted to do. And all he could do was think back a year in time and considered what it said about how fast a man could rise or fall.

The door opened. Captain Etps entered, well-kept as always. "Sir, the yeoman said you needed to see me?"

"Yes, Captain." Admiral Garrett looked over the letter before him. "Given our situation, I have been impressed by the Security Office to deal with this situation immediately."

"Sir?" Etps eyed him. The sour look upon his mentor's face made clear to him that Admiral Garrett was not going to share anything happy with him.

"You remember that issue with the Russians, Captain?"

Etps nodded. "The torpedo designs, yes. I heard the chaps in the Security Office found that some clerk in the Ordinance Offices had laid his hands on them for money. Fellow had a bit of a gambling problem."

"Yes." Admiral Garrett considered the letters in his hands. Etps couldn't read them. "Of course, you must know that discoverying the perfidy of Yeoman Bates did not come without a thorough investigation of these offices, yes?"

"I would imagine not. I myself was interviewed two months ago by a fellow from Admiral Wilburn's office. I remembered him from the war. Commander Hawke."

"Yes. Commander Hawke was helping Security Office with its duties." In truth Garrett knew otherwise. He was one of the few privy to Hawke's real job, and that had only come about due to this… issue. "You are clear of this obviously, Captain. But investigations like this… they tend to lead to things. Innocent things. Not so innocent, I suppose."

And that was when Etps knew. Admiral Garrett watched his student's face blanch. He paled so greatly it was as if the blood simply rushed from his head.

"I may not be Mister Holmes, Captain, but it is hard to not notice the look you have just had," Admiral Garrett observed sadly.

"It is a private matter, sir," Etps insisted. "Completely private. I am not a traitor and you know it."

"Yes. We all do." Admiral Garrett put his hands together. "However, men with such secrets… they may be turned to treason in these cases. As you well know. Captain… if a man from the Security Office could follow you to that… set of domiciles, shall we say, what makes you think a German agent cannot?"

Etps remained silent. He looked like he could barely breathe. "Sir… I assure you, it is discreet. Very. And I would never betray the nation. I would never betray you."

"I believe you. But Admiral Dougherty and his men in the Security Office, they are more cynical. They know you enough, they know your family enough, to know how potent a weapon your interactions with these gentlemen…"

"Gentleman," Etps corrected. He could barely speak as he was. But he was unable to let that remark pass. "I am faithful to him and he to me."

"...I stand corrected," the Admiral stated. "But we both know the result if news of your gentleman friend was to become public."

"My mother would die of the humiliation," Etps said. "And my father… my family… even you would be humiliated, sir. I know what people would think of my habits."

"Indeed. And the risk is there, Captain." Admiral Garrett put his hands on the desk. "I myself hold my moral judgement. I did not know this inclination lived within you. Perhaps I should have suspected, given the clear difficulty you and Isabela have shown in having children. I can only imagine what she feels if she knows…"

"She does. She knew from the beginning."

Admiral Garrett nodded. He put two and two together. "A marriage based on a mutually beneficial arrangement, then?"

"I will not break her confidence."

"You needn't. Again, I am not Mister Holmes in the flesh, but it's not a hard deduction. Now, I myself would not judge you harshly on this, Captain Etps… Reg. But you must understand the point of view of the Security Office. You would be easily blackmailed. You are, indeed, a prize catch for a foreign agent. Once caught in a net you could be compelled to share all sorts of vital information. The Security Office will not stand for that risk, Reggie. They want you gone."

Etps swallowed. "Sir. Sir, if you simply remove me, my family will be curious. They will ask questions…"

"I know."

"If it comes…" He stopped. Admiral Garrett couldn't hide his sympathy for the poor man. Whatever his private morals, he had smelled battle smoke with Reginald Etps. They had faced Spanish shells and Pacific typhoons together. Reggie had played with his children with all the charm of a good father. Indeed, "Uncle Reggie" was beloved of his little ones, especially his little girl. "I… I will not bring disgrace to my family and to your office, Admiral. I request to be dismissed so that I can do what I must to avoid…"

There was something dangerous in that pale face. In the expression of Captain Etps. Admiral Garrett jumped to his feet and rounded the desk to interpose himself between his protege and the door. "Reggie, if I let you out the door right now, we both know I won't see you alive again."

"I must spare you and the others the disgrace, sir," he insisted. Tears started to appear in his sky blue eyes.

"Do you not realize what an investigation into such an event would inevitably turn up? You would cause everything to come out."

"I have prepared for this possibility. Isabela has the necessary letters and testimony. They will prove that I hid my stress from the work, that I was on the verge of a break. It will be explained."

"Damn you, Reggie. What will my children say to that? Think of the people you'll hurt!"

"Sir, you would bring disgrace to…" Etps broke down weeping at that point. He lost all strength and nearly fell, until the Admiral grabbed him and guided him into a chair. A glass of fine brandy was placed before him.

"There, there, drink up Reg. Steady yourself. It is a shock to be outed, I imagine. I almost cannot fathom it, honestly, but I did enough to be afraid you would respond this way. But I'll be damned if I let you take your own life over this."

The Admiral waited patiently while Etps regained his composure. The drink helped to steady his nerves - just enough to do so, no more being poured. "I have dreaded this day for years, Admiral," Etps confessed. "I have always been careful. But I never imagined I would be followed. They're right, though. If I were to remain here, I would be a risk. I can't bear the thought of bringing you disgrace."

"I know. Which is why I have made arrangements, Reg." Admiral Garrett picked another form off of his desk. "Captain Cartwright of the Anchorage came down with severe appendicitis last month. Indeed, his life nearly ended from it, and he faces months of recovery before he is fit for duty. With the war looming we need a man with experience commanding that cruiser. She will be needed to intercept German shipping in the Indian Ocean before long and to work with the French fleet and naval bases in Djibouti and Madagascar. Your French has always been superb, better than mine."

Etps looked at him intently. "You… wish to give me the command?"

"Yes, Reggie. I do. You're a brave man and have all the makings of a good captain. The nation will have need of such men before the month is out, mark my words."

"Where is the ship?"

"She put in to Bremerton before New Year's. Just a quick rotation, she's due to depart on the fifth for the Indian Ocean. You'll have little time to get accustomed to her, I'm sorry to say, but you've seen her type before."

"The Executive Officer…"

"Commander Parker never saw combat in the war, Reggie. He's a smart man, one of our rising stars, but he needs a commander who has seen combat. You'll do fine."

For several moments Etps remained quiet. He had felt like he was in darkness, with no hope of a way out, but now his mentor had lit the way to safety. At the same time, he knew what else this meant. "I'll… not be coming home, will I? I mean, even if my ship makes it through the war."

The Admiral's stern look said it all. No. He wouldn't be coming back home, not as an officer. He could win battle honors, promotion, he could rise to being an Admiral, but that report in the Security Office would always be there awaiting any effort to summon him home. Any shore posting that might threaten to see his proclivities yet come out, to enable a foreign agent to discover what he was, would be denied him. He would be living out in in the Pacific, among the islands of the Cascadian Pacific Empire (presuming it survived the war, at least), stationed in Apia or Manila or the Chuuk Lagoon or anywhere else. He would only come home when he handed in his commission and retired from the Navy.

"I understand, Admiral," he said. "I understand the chance you are offering me. I will do you and the nation proud, sir."

"I know, Reggie. I know you will." He clapped a hand to the man's shoulder. "Best to get ready, then. You'll need to be on the Puget Line in the morning. Give my regards to Isabela."

"I'll make sure she knows, sir. I'll make sure she knows what you've done for me, even now. Please, my best to Rachel and the children."

The Admiral accepted Etps' hand for a handshake. It wasn't necessarily their last - indeed, he would try to see Etps off in the morning, if his schedule permitted - but it felt like it. He was sending his young friend off to war, where glory and death awaited him. It was entirely possible that he had saved Reggie from his revolver's bullet just to doom him to the depths of the ocean or the terrible end that could come from a German shell.

But it was the best he could do for the man. The only thing he could do that had met the approval of the Security Office. Captain Etps could still serve the Cascadian Republic he was sworn to, despite whatever private issues he might have, by defending it upon the oceans that were her lifeblood.

All the Admiral could do now was pray that his friend survived the war that was soon to come.

 

[Big Steve]

January 1903

The march to war was temporarily averted in the first week of January. Lord Salisbury directed wires to the relevant governments and invited them to accept British arbitration over their disputes. While hawk elements in each government dreaded the idea of backing down, the prospect of preserving the peace for a little longer won over each of the leaders in turn. The Kaiser, having come down from his rage over the incident in Lourenço Marques, wired Lord Salisbury his thanks for the British intercession in the march to war.

Each government dispatched instructions to their ambassadors in London for the talks with Lord Salisbury. Their positions were the same as before. Germany accused Cascadia of ignoring German rights in Samoa with their protectorate declaration in 1899. Furthermore, the German Empire argued that the Cascadian primacy in the Philippines was against the spirit of international commerce and the rights of other states.

The Cascadian government re-affirmed its position that the protectorate over Samoa was in line with the request of the Queen of Hawai'i, the lawful sovereign of Samoa by the voting of the island chiefs. Its position in the Philippines was earned by the blood shed to liberate the islands from Spanish rule. The Cascadians regarded the German demands as unacceptable and accused Germany of provoking the tensions with their deployments to the Pacific.

The French Government supported the Cascadian in its arguments and further argued that Germany's failure to recover the rebels from Mozambique indicated that Germany might have supported the violence there to expel Portugal.

The talks thus did not get off to a good start. They were further harmed by the German refusal to allow the Hawai'ian consul in London to sit in on the discussions. Germany did not recognize the 1898 determination that made Lili'uokalani Queen of Samoa. Cascadia refused to negotiate on samoa without the Hawai'ian government's presence. To break the deadlock, Lord Salisbury wired Honolulu and asked the Queen if she would permit Cascadian negotiators to stand for her interests. Not wishing to see a Pacific War for the damage it might do her domains, the Queen agreed. The German and Cascadian positions were thus reconciled and the talks could commence. All preparations froze in place as the governments in question waited to see the result of Lord Salisbury's efforts.

Meanwhile Cascadian Naval Intelligence delivered a complication. An agent attempting to establish a network in the Japanese Naval Command was detected by Japanese security and arrested. The Japanese government protested. The Admiralty was forced to disavow the agent in question to avoid a complication with Japan as war with Germany now threatened.

The Japanese Government responded with clear shows of favoritism toward Germany, a stern reminder of how Japan might weigh in on any conflict if driven to.


Cascadian metallurgical specialists finished the necessary work to allow the shipbuilders to account for Face-Hardening processes to naval armor.

February 1903

Spooked by the Japanese intelligence failure, the Naval Intelligence Office was ordered to suspend all foreign efforts save those in Germany.

The talks in London began to break down. Despite the best efforts of Lord Salisbury, his growing health problems made it difficult for him, and Arthur Balfour was increasingly called upon to take over. The issue of Samoa proved insurmountable: Germany would not accept the current disposition, Cascadia would not relent on the issue of political control of the island.

As word came from London on the disappointing progress President McGraw asked Admirals WIlburn and Garrett on whether they were ready for war. They answered in the affirmative.

Word meanwhile came into Admiral Garrett's office that naval designers were having issues with a proposed design with three centreline turrets.

The Ordinance Office confirmed that new safe fuses were available for Cascadian shells. The Admiralty's staff studies on active minefields were further completed.

The minefield study was completed just in time.




On 10 February 1903, the German Empire withdrew from the London talks. The hawks in the German government had won their way with the Cascadian intransigence over Samoa making it clear that the moderate course would not attain the goals by which the German Empire had set its power to.

On the 11th of February the German Empire issued an official ultimatum through the German Embassy in Portland. The February Ultimatum, as it came to be known, demanded that Cascadia recognize German claims to Samoa, permit the German Empire commercial rights in the Philippines, and reduce the Cascadian naval presence in East Asia to a level considered sufficient for German security. The Cascadian government was given 48 hours to respond.

An official war warning was wired to German naval commands in the Pacific and the German government ordered full alerts to army forces in Alsace-Lorraine.


The Presidential Mansion
Portland Federal District
11 February 1903

President McGraw allowed time for Foreign Secretary McInnes to finish reading the text of the German ultimatum to the Cabinet. Secretary of State Crabbins listened quietly. The man looked the part of a populist politician with his suit jacket and lack of a tie, with his wiry white hair only partially combed. "There is no further negotiation?"

"None is offered. Germany means to secure Samoa and will not be dissuaded," McInnes commented. "The German Government has undoubtedly felt pressured to exercise its power in the pursuit of its world status. They cannot accept any offer that does not include unacceptable concessions on our part."

"Then there is nothing to be done," Naval Secretary Semlin stated. "We have finally come to this moment."

Crabbins glowered at that remark. His Party had been elected on a platform of finding a way to peace and controlling the increasing defense budget. But in these few months since the November election, he knew that Semlin's comments were more right than he wanted them to be. Germany's demands were not something Cascadia could accept. The Germans knew this and were ready for war.

"France stands with us," McInnes reminded everyone. "We will have the support of the French for the duration of the war."

"They will expect our army to supplement their own in Alsace-Lorraine. We will shed a lot of blood, I fear, before this is over," McGraw lamented.

"We cannot back down, Mister President," McInnes insisted.

"No. We cannot. Mister Semlin, Mister Palma, issue the orders. Put all forces on full war alert. The National Selective Service is to be instituted immediately. Mister McInnes, I will address the Houses of Parliament in the morning."

The Cascadian President's weary words were echoed by his fellows. After all of these months, all of these hopes for things to quiet down, it had come to this. Cascadia had taken its step to recognition as world naval power. Now it would have to defend that status from the German Empire.

It would not do so alone.




Late on the 11th, the Cascadian Government wired Paris to inform the French Government of their intended reply to the German ultimatum. The French leadership immediately responded with an affirmation of the alliance with Cascadia. It was the 12th by this time and it was in the middle of the night that the French Cabinet issued its orders to the country. General mobilization was declared across Metropolitan France. The French fleet was ordered to sea.

News of the French action reached Berlin as the 12th continued on. The French Ambassador went to Secretary Holstein and asked for his passports. Ambassador Williams did so an hour later.

At 14:20 hours Berlin time, the German Empire ordered mobilization. The German fleet put to sea.

Half an hour later, the Cascadian fleet departed San Francisco Bay.

"The records of the prior three years will bear out our cause to history. Cascadia has attempted, repeatedly, to respect the proper rights of the German nation in the Pacific. But Germany has insisted upon rights that are not natural or safe for our nation. They have demanded our submission to their will. This we cannot do, not without forever degrading our nation to the dictates of other powers. Now they have escalated their demands to be denied only at the cost of a war. And so it is with a heavy heart that I, and the Cabinet, ask the Parliament of the Cascadian Republic to grant full war powers to my Administration. Further war measures will be presented to you as necessary.

Our duty, gentlemen, is clear. Our Republic, arm-in-arm with the Republic of France, must fight until such a time as we have achieved a peace that is honorable and sufficient to the dignity of the nation.

May the Lord of Hosts recognize our cause and grant us His divine providence in the months to come." - President John McGraw to the Cascadian Houses of Parliament, 12 February 1903

President McGraw's speech was somber and dignified. While the hawks might have preferred more fire, the speech won over many Parliament representatives who would have rejected a more heated address. After a half hour of deliberations, the joint Houses of Parliament invoked the War Powers Act of 1880 and granted wide war powers to the Government. Additional military funding was ordered, to be funded by war bonds, borrowing, and a new series of taxes on luxuries, property, and gas. The Parliament confirmed the Government's decision to activate National Selective Service.

At 15:20 hours Portland time (00:20 hours Berlin time on the 13th) the Cascadian Government officially rejected the German ultimatum. A public statement, including the terms of the German ultimatum, was issued to the press. The report swept across Cascadia and would prompt multiple public demonstrations of support over the next day.

At 06:00 Paris time, the French Republic warned the German Empire of its intention to honor the terms of the Franco-Cascadian Security Treaty.

The following morning, Chancellor von Bülow reported the Cascadian rejection and French warning to the Reichstag. The German Sozialdemokratische Partei attempted one last push at avoiding a war by demanding a review of the ultimatum and a revision of the German position on Samoa. The German Government easily won the resulting vote in the legislature.

At 10:10 hours Berlin time, February 13th 1903, the German Empire declared war on the Republic of Cascadia.

At noon, President Loubet informed the French Assembly of the German declaration of war against Cascadia. The French Assembly voted immediately on the issue.

At 12:14 Paris Time, the Republic of France declared war on the German Empire.

The First Pacific War had begun.



West Portland, Oregon
13 February 1903


It was the evening when a somber Admiral Garrett entered his house. His children met him at the door eagerly. They had heard all of the rumors and stories at school and now wanted for their father to confirm. Rachel stood at the doorway leading to the kitchen hall. She was frowning deeply at him. She had heard the news more directly.

"Pa, is it really happening!?", Thomas, the 12 year old, asked insistently. "They say there's going to be a war!"

Admiral Garrett could tell his wife would rather not discuss the issue. He intended to obey that. But there was no point in hiding the news from his family. He nodded somberly. "We just received word from Berlin. The Germans have declared war upon us."

"But the French are on our side, right?" Rafael asked that. "So they'll be joining. The Germans can't fight both of us, can they?"

"We'll have to see, Raffie," was the Admiral answer. "That's all I can say."

A low cry filled the sitting room. Sophie raced up and grabbed her father's leg. "I don't want you to go, Daddy!", the little six year old cried. "Please don't go!"

Of course. She had heard from her big brothers how he had been gone for the war with Spain. Admiral Garrett leaned down and picked his crying daughter up. "Don't worry, my little darling. I won't be leaving this time. My job is here in the city now."

"You promise?", she pleaded.

"Yes." He held her close to ease her fears. "I promise."

Unfortunately, as he knew, there were plenty of other Cascadian fathers who could not say the same to their children this day...

 

[Big Steve]

March 1903 - 1st Month of War

At the onset of the war the German Pacific Squadron sortied from Guam for the Cascadian naval facilities at Chuuk Lagoon. When they met a sizable Cascadian force near the Lagoon, the German force retired instead of giving battle.

With the budget of the Cascadian Navy expanded by emergency war allocations, the Admiralty ordered six more Blake-class DDs from the yards in anticipation of possible war losses. The new destroyers were named the Vernon, Nelson, Porfirio Díaz*, Anson, Whipple, William L. Garrison.

* - Yes, that name is intentional. In our TL, Díaz became the dictator of Mexico for over 30 years until overthrown by the start of the Mexican Revolution. As he was in Juarez's forces, in this TL he was killed in a battle with Maximilian's forces, and therefore to Cascadians it's perfectly fine to honor a martyr of the defeated Mexican Republicans by naming a ship for him.

As part of general fleet operations, the cruisers of the Fairbanks-class were ordered to commence raiding operations immediately along the German lines of supply to the Pacific.

New docks were completed at Bremerton, permitting the laying of even larger capital ships.

During the month the Dauntless and Victoria are commissioned into the Navy. Although they would require several months of working up, it promised an expansion of the Cascadian battle fleet capability by the end of summer..

Meanwhile design teams with Naval Artillery completed plans for a new central firing mechanism that would further improve accuracy with Cascadian ships. Unfortunately, it would require months of yard work to retro-fit central firing into the existing fleet, and that could not be accomplished so long as the war was on.

As the month wore on, news came of some success to the raiding cruisers' operations. The Fairbanks and Denver both caught German merchants and sank them.

Meanwhile the allies of Cascadia were not idle. The French Army stood on the defensive at the start of the war. The French operational plan was to wait until mobilization completed before considering offensive operations against the Germans in Alsace-Lorraine. The Marine Nationale was not idle; the French fleet sortied in force into the North Sea and met the German fleet in an inconclusive skirmish near the coast. Neither side lost ships to the other, but the German fleet had not been able to concentrate in time to hold an advantage and decided to withdraw locally until such a time as the Hochseeflotte was ready for a larger engagement.

Toward the end of the month the German Army launched several probing attacks on the French border defenses. These were beaten back with moderate losses. Their intent had not been to take ground but judge the extent of the French preparations for Field Marshal von Schlieffen. The Field Marshal was awaiting late spring and summer weather to commence an invasion of France.

April 1905

Near Samoa the first naval skirmish between Cascadia and Germany occurred on the 15th of April. The armored cruiser Victoria Louisa had been ordered to attack Cascadian and French shipping in the Pacific and drew Samoa in search of prey.

The CRS Vancouver and an attached division of destroyers sighted this German cruiser roughly 65 nautical miles north-east of the main Samoan port at Apia. Captain Allen Ruckers drove his ship and escorts east to make visual contact with the German ship, which was established at roughly 1025.

The ship was soon identified by Captain Ruckers and his officers as a Hertha-class CA.

Nineteen minutes later the Victoria Louisa opened fire on the Vancouver with her 8" guns. Vancouver retaliated with her lighter 7" armament. Due to the range and customary difficulties, neither side took hits until 1053 when an 8" shell struck the aft wing turret on Vancouver's port side. The hit damaged the turret's mechanisms and knocked the gun out of action.

With the tactical situation as it was, Captain Ruckers opted to break off the action. He ordered full steam toward Apia. The Victoria Louisa pursued briefly before breaking off as well to return to her commerce raiding mission.

News came from Burleigh & Armstrong's small shipyard at Coos Bay that issues with contracted suppliers had delayed work on the destroyer Garrison. A subsequent investigation would later determine that the firearm manufacturer's ordering system needed significant overhauls to adapt to the needs of operating a shipyard. The Admiralty did not cancel existing contracts with the yard but mandated specific changes if Burleigh & Armstrong wished to continue being considered for naval construction contracts.

May 1903

San Francisco Bay, Upper California
2 May 1903


A year after Cascadia's first battleships were welcomed to their home port with a crowd, another crowd turned out to watch them depart.

The two battleships were in the company of a cruiser and destroyers. They would link up with another of the Cascadian armored cruisers once they were in the North Pacific, with all ships bound for a new patrol station.

Admiral Archibald Monnighan, commanding the fleet, had ordered his crews on deck in uniform. Salutes were given and all measures taken to project confidence. It was necessary in light of the prospects before the nation: war with a great European power that jeopardized everything Cascadia had won in the last fifteen years.

Behind the fleet were more ships moving for departure. Troop transports, carrying thousands of young Cascadians to the prospective battlefields of the Far East or beyond to the European battlefields where they would fight and die alongside their French allies. Local newspapers would comment upon the sights along the piers, of crying mothers and wives and waving children. For them the torment was just beginning. It would be their part to wonder, every day, whether or not their loved ones would return home intact or, indeed, alive.

Such was the sights one saw with a nation that was at war.




The Admiralty had issued orders for a convergence of the fleet off of the Chinese east coast to gauge German defenses at Tsingtao. Negotiations with the Chinese Imperial government had begun on the issue of a Franco-Cascadian force landing near Tsingtao to expel the German garrison. China refused to join the conflict and no official permission was granted. Unofficially, Chinese officials signaled willingness to acquiesce to an attack if the attacking powers assumed responsibility for damages outside of the German zone.

As it was not known how long the war would last, the Admiralty did not entirely abandon their long-range planning. Indeed, they would need more capital ships if the war pressed on, to ensure superiority over Germany in the Pacific.

A number of Admirals wanted another pair of even larger battleships. But Admiral Garrett stepped forward with what many saw as a new kind of warship. He laid out to the Admiralty the plans, now revised for Cascadia's expanded docks, for the CRS Warrior. It would be a hybrid design with the main battery and protection of a battleship and speed in excess of any ship Cascadia had yet put afloat. He dubbed the hybrid concept a "battle cruiser". It would have four 12" guns in two twin centreline turrets, like all of Cascadia's other batlteships, and the 9" belt of a Cascadian battleship that was, for the moment, sufficient to repel its own fire. Its engines were the largest and most powerful engines that Naval Engineering had yet to propose with a projected capability of generating 56,000 horsepower, capable of pushing the 21,000 ton ship to 26 knots as a design flank speed. In addition to the centreline turrets, four more double turrets would be installed on the sides of the ship, giving each side a broadside of four 10" guns - that is, the equivalent broadside of a Cascadian armored cruiser. Sixteen 4" guns in casemates would round out the armament of the ship.

Admiral Wilcox, the Vice CNO, questioned the projected expense of such a large machinery plant. He argued for a retooling of the ignored Resolve-class battleship proposed in 1901, but with the double 10" wing turrets instead of single casemates and with 20 knot speed.

Nevertheless Admiral Garrett prevailed upon Admiral Wilburn in the debate. The Warrior represented a genuine step forward in naval design for the world. A warship with the speed of a cruiser and the armament and protection of a battleship would be a shock to the world's navies. No armored cruiser would be safe from this ship, and battleships would be unable to run her down or escape her.

Naval Secretary Semlin was informed of the proposal and the contract planned. Reilly & Collette of Bremerton would build Warrior; a sister ship, named the Ranger, would be built at the new dock at Hunter's Point. Semlin agreed. The contracts were signed and the orders given to lay the ships.

The Navy used some of the new war surplus to fund another slipway expansion.

To my dear friend Melvin

,

I wish to start with another profuse apology. I know I hurt you with the speed in which I departed at the New Year's. It pains me that I should have to leave you behind in the winter rain in such a rapid manner. I could not gainsay my mentor. It was my failure that led the spies of Naval Intelligence to our doorstep and the scandal would have disgraced my family and everything connected to me; the Admiral's new orders for my command of the Anchorage were as a life preserver thrown to a man thrown overboard. He has spared us the scandal that would have otherwise been unavoidable.

In reply to your letter of February, which I only received this past week while ashore in Djibouti, I do not know when I will return. Indeed, I doubt I shall ever be able to have a shore posting again. Certainly not on the North American continent. There are times I wish that we could live more openly and free. But society would never approve. Never.

And yet, here I am, fighting on behalf of that society. Perhaps I am a fool for this. But I gave an oath to serve my nation to the final extremity. To do otherwise would be to change who I am and be unworthy of you or any other.

Yesterday we sank our second ship of the month. She was a merchantman out of Hamburg named the Hansa. We ran her down about a hundred miles off the coast of German East Africa. I had to order our main guns into action before she hove to. All proprieties of this kind of war were observed. Indeed, I was of a mind to put a prize crew aboard and sail her to Madagascar. But we have word of a German cruiser in the area and I dare not be caught unprepared. So as soon as her crew were in their lifeboats and safely away I put shells into her until she was well aflame and started to sink.

It was an eerie thing to see that vessel burn in the twilight. Night set in before her mast finished disappearing. I furnished the crew with sufficient rations and a compass to get them ashore. I pray to God that they get to safety before any storms might come up on them. I wonder, even now, if I should have taken them aboard and brought them to Zanzibar. But I could not justify the risk. The enemy cruiser is said to be prowling the waters off of Africa and Madagascar and I cannot risk prisoners should I be forced into an action…

As I stood and watched the burning wreck disappear into the depths of the Indian Ocean, I contemplated the folly of all of this. These men had been decent mariners. The blood of the world's arteries, truly, carrying the goods that make the world function. I think of their distraught and sullen expressions and think of how many men like them have had their livelihoods blasted because the Kaiser of Germany wishes to be ruler of Samoa. All of the bleeding and suffering for one Pacific isle, when Germany already rules so many. The folly of autocrats, I suppose. Would that the German people be liberated from such folly.

(The rest of the letter goes into more personal and intimate details, delicately worded to not give away the actual extent of the relationship)

With deep regard,
Reggie

During the month the Cascadian cruisers operating out of Chuuk steamed to the vicinity of Rabaul, hunting for enemy shipping and ready for an engagement with German ships in the area. The German commander decided to keep his ships in the safety of their harbor fortifications and battle was not joined. After a desultory bombardment of the area that was cut short by risk of the minefield and the sinking of one patrol boat, the Cascadian squadron returned north.

Germany also faced problems with French naval activities. The Marine Nationale drove the weak West Africa Squadron back into the Wouri Estuary and bombarded several coastal areas.

Soon the German Pacific Squadron received wires from Berlin calling for more aggressive action against Cascadian and French targets. The newspapers in Germany, and the rest of Europe, were starting to become critical of the German naval effort for its excessive caution. Spurned on by Berlin and the Kaiser's demands for the defeat of the Cascadian navy and an invasion of Samoa, the German forces in the Marianas put to sea and sailed for Manila. But again the commanders' nerve failed. Facing a significant Cascadian force as night loomed, they decided not to risk the engagement stretching into the nighttime hours in which the Cascadian destroyers might torpedo them more easily. Again the German fleet withdrew.

June 1903

With the end of spring rains, the German Army was ready to commence its offensive into France. The time for it seemed to be nearing; word had come that the first Cascadian divisions were known to be steaming into the Mediterranean.

On the 8th of June Field Marshall Schlieffen reluctantly gave the order to launch a general attack on the French lines. His prior probing attacks had sobered him on the prospects of a breakthrough. He had endorsed the idea of invading Luxembourg and Belgium to flank the French defenses, but Chancellor von Bülow would not hear of such a maneuver; it would certainly bring Great Britain into the war.

The early news gave some bright spots, as with artillery concentration a few of the French border fortifications had fallen. French reserves were being rushed to the prospective breakthroughs as German forces surged forward.

The German attack was met by a French counter-attack that was ordered on the 13th. The French were eager to make up for what they had deemed a lack of spirit by Napoleon III's forces and attacked with tremendous vigor. What German gains had been managed were steadily lost to a flood of Frenchmen eager to restore the national honor and wipe clean the shame of the defeat at Sedan. One American observer, Colonel Leonard Wood, observed that it seemed neither army had learned sufficiently from the painful experiences of the North American War. Both sides lost tremendously to the machine guns of the other.

At the end of the month von Schlieffen ordered further reserves into the battle unfolding. He was now concerned that the line be held, whatever the cost, and to bleed the French dry before they might enter Alsace-Lorraine. He was given additional impetus to keep the French off of German soil by news that the Government was indeed considering an armistice.

Earlier in the month, Lord Salisbury became tremendously ill. He had intended to resign the prior summer after the death of his wife left him heartbroken, but the world situation had denied him that. Now he felt he had no choice; indeed, he had only a month to live at this point. At his recommendation King Edward VII sent for Arthur Balfour to form a new Unionist Government for the United Kingdom.

Now Prime Minister, Balfour entered office determined to end the war before it escalated. He issued notes to the governments of the three powers insisting that they sit for talks at Westminster to settle the conflict.

President McGraw faced opposition from the hawks in the Cascadian Parliament. A number of Cascadians saw the war as an opportunity to compel Germany to sign over the Marianas or the Bismarcks; some even foresaw that a victory at Tsingtao might grant that prestigious port to the Cascadian nation. But McGraw could not ignore the even greater risks of continuing a war he had not wanted. He signaled London and agreed that Ambassador Anderson would join the talks proposed by the British government so long as France did so as well.

The French were initially opposed. This was the chance they had waited years for. The prospect of reclaiming Alsace-Lorraine had driven the revanchists into a near-frenzy. Ambassador Hodges was informed initially that France would not yet join the British talks, not unless Germany agreed to preconditions regarding Alsace-Lorraine - an impossible situation.

But as the month wore on, the French enthusiasm suffered a severe shock. Thousands of Frenchmen were being mowed down by German machine guns as they tried to force their way into Alsace-Lorraine. The preconceptions about the need for superior spirit were being proven wrong as that spirit yielded nothing but greater casualties and only yards of ground. Marauding German cruisers forcing convoying of the Cascadian troops sailing for France delayed the arrival of those troops. Hopes that significant Cascadian forces could be joined to the offensive by the end of summer were becoming dashed.

Finally, Delclassè succeeded in the debates in Paris and won permission to instruct the French Ambassador to join the talks.

In Germany the main obstacle was the Kaiser. The honor of the German Empire had been staked on claiming Samoa. But it was clear that Germany could not demand the islands if peace were signed now. His navy had disappointed his expectations severely in that regard. As the month came to a close, the Kaiser made it clear that Cascadia must give concessions in Samoa to secure peace with Germany.

In Portland Naval Ordinance reported to Admiral Garrett that gyroscopes for torpedoes were now ready to be employed.

July 1903

With France and Germany locked into battle in the border towns and hamlets of Alsace-Lorraine, the Tsar of Russia joined the British in calling for peace talks. Nicholas II wrote a letter to his cousin urging him to restore the peace of Europe. With casualties mounting in Alsace-Lorraine and no clear victory in sight, Wilhelm began to soften his stance. Whether or not Nicholas' letter contributed to his change of heart is to be decided by history. Germany signaled willingness to begin the peace talks hosted by Prime Minister Balfour on the 12th of July.

The Tsar's entrance into the peace calls signaled improved relations with the Cascadian Republic.


In the Pacific, the CRS Denver was interned in Townsville, Australia. Captain Lionel Phillips had miscalculated his coal reserves while chasing a German merchantman off the Bismarcks and discovered he lacked the fuel to return to either Samoa or Chuuk. The cruiser was at the end of its coal bunkerage when it steamed into Townsville, having found no coal available at Port Moresby. The Australian authorities were quick to intern the cruiser once it failed to leave in the allotted time due to a similar lack of sufficient coal.

While the Cascadian raiders met difficulty with the internment of one of their number, German raiders enjoyed heightened success. The armored cruiser Hertha spent the month rampaging across the Cascadian coast and the trade lanes to Hawai'i, evading all attempts by the Cascadian Navy to bring her to battle in the course of sinking six Cascadian merchant ships. The incident caused panic in the Cascadian insurance industry and criticism of the Admiralty for the failure to stop the dashing German ship's raids.

As the month came to a close, the conflict began to taper off. Progress was being reported in London, much to the delight of President McGraw and Secretary of State Crabbins. But despite the peace talks, one engagement remained to be waged. While not significant in the number or size of the combatants, it would nevertheless thrill and excite newspaper readers the world over as word of it hit the wires.

Just before noon on the 30th of July, the Cascadian cruiser CRS Anchorage was steaming between Africa and Madagascar when she was intercepted by a German ship, the cruiser Hela. Captain Reginald Etps gave the order to engage, little aware that he was about to fight the longest and most grueling naval battle of the entire war...

 

[Big Steve]

CRS Anchorage, Halfway between Madagascar and Mozambique
30 July 1903




Strong winds whipped across the rain-slick deck of the Anchorage courtesy of the summer storm making its way along the African coast. Reginald Etps looked out at the churning sea and considered it endemic to all of his frustration for the month. It seemed that German shipping had virtually disappeared from the Indian Ocean. Or they have begun convoying, he pondered.

Nearby Commander Parker was also sweeping the seas visually, aided by his binoculars. "Damn this rain," the shorter, stockier man said. "We could be ten thousand yards from a convoy and never see them."

"Helmsman, make our bearing 269. Perhaps we can get clear of this closer to the African coast."

The Anchorage thus had her bow pointed primarily to the west. Etps checked his watch. The local time was about 11:35. He marked the course change in the log and went back to keeping an eye on the stormy gray skies and wind-driven rain coming down on them.

"Captain, I've got a contact!" Commander Parker was holding his field glasses towards the southwest. "About three thousand yards out and closing!"

Etps went over to the rain-spotted window. Ordinarily a man would be calling such reports down from the mast. But he had ordered the lookouts inside; there was no real gain in this limited visibility that could compare to the risk of a man in the mast being blown off by the wind. Despite the rain he could see the dark shape coming across the churned surface of the ocean. She had light armament, it looked like. He could tell by the turret arrangement she couldn't be Cascadian. This ship had flanking side turrets along the bow instead of one centreline bow mount. He strained his eyes to try and make out the naval jack on the ship.

Soon enough, he saw it extended out by the strong winds whipping it. The white and black cross with the German tricolor on the upper hoist side.

Etps drew in a quick breath. He knew of the German cruiser that had harrassed allied shipping in the area. Now it looks like he'd found them. He turned to Parker. "Commander…"

"I see her, sir. Orders?"

"Helm, adjust course to… two-four-five. All ahead full! Commander, sound action stations!" Etps' heart threatened to explode from his chest as the excitement surged within him. A German raider, under his guns. He cursed the storm; a clearer day would have been even more to his advantage.

Parker was at the speaking tube immediately. "German cruiser off the port bow! Action stations! All hands to action stations!"

Across the ship the hundreds of men aboard the raiding cruiser sprung to action. Damage control teams, gun crews, engineering crews, everyone had a job to do and were ready to do it. Stoker crews reported to duty and would be especially crucial if the Anchorage had to remain at flank speed for extended time periods.


Hela

Kapitän-zur-See Joachim Lamper looked out of his finely-crafted field glasses at the distant shape of a cruiser flying the Cascadian tricolor. He checked his recognition charts again. Definitely not 7" armament. A Fairbanks then, a raider. In this weather…

He made the calculations. His own cruiser was nearly 3,000 tons lighter than the Cascadian ship, but much of that gap was in the Cascadian ship's massive fuel bunkerage. She was built with extreme fuel range for commerce raiding. In actual capabilities the two ships were, if not quite even, still closely-matched. And in this rain and wind, with engagement ranges so close… his 4" guns were quite capable of damaging the enemy ship.

Fregattenkapitän Ernst Falk, Lamper's XO, lowered his own glasses. "They match us in speed, Herr Kapitän. Should we engage?"

The question lingered in Lamper's mind. It was a risk, yes. And the Navy was quite displeased to risk good ships. But he'd heard of the rumblings in Berlin over the performance of the Pacific Squadron. The German people were beginning to doubt the Navy and all of the money and resources poured into it.

"Let us see where this goes," Lamper stated. "Stand ready to withdraw toward Tanganyika if we must. But stand ready to fire."

As he spoke, he could see the distant thundering of the Cascadian ship's guns.

The battle was on.




CRS Anchorage


A tense minute passed before word came that the gun crews were ready to fire. The gunnery officer used his rangefinder to relay the range to them for aiming. It was an imperfect process and made Etps wish for those new central firing assemblies that had been developed. The process' shortcomings were evident as the 5" guns started to thunder. Projectile after projectile flew downstream to no evident effect.

Distant bursts from the German ship testified to the fact that the Germans had spotted them as well and were engaging. Shellfire began to send up splashes across the Anchoragei.

Etps watched the German ship turn. It was certainly smaller. He lowered his glasses again and went to his recognition guidebook. He flipped pages until he recognized the profile he'd seen. It was a Gefion-class German cruiser. A 4,400 ton raider with only 4" main armament. Despite the 2,700 ton difference, though, his advantage was only slight with his 5" armament - protection and speed were similar between the two ships. The Fairbanks and her sisters had been built to accommodate enormous coal stores for extended raiding and cruising, more so than the German vessel.

The German cruiser maneuvered toward their side and Etps reciprocated, wanting to bring his side guns to bear. In the strong wind and light rain fire was more difficult than usual and no hits seemed to be scored.

Suddenly there was a burst of flame from the German ship. A high explosive round, thus fired by the 3" secondaries, had found the target. The guns thundered again as this confirmation of a hit filled Etps' vision.

Through the smoke and rain he saw another burst of flame. A shell had hit the enemy again. This time the hit had been truly fortunate. WIth his viewing glasses Etps could make out the mangled metal wreck of a 4" mount on the German cruiser. He had drawn first blood.




Hela


"Herr Kapitän, we have lost one of the main turrets", reported Kapitänleutnant Peter Weigle, the gunnery officer.

Lamper frowned at that. Already the engagement had cost him firepower. The Cascadians were known to have performed extensive gunnery training before the war.

"Let us be cautious. Maintain fire with all available guns. Helm, set bearing Three-Two-Five. We make for the north."



CRS Anchorage


The German ship seemed to turn away. Losing a turret and having spotted a larger foe had undoubtedly impressed upon the German commander that his ship had a disadvantage. Etps was not about to let them disengage, however. He barked a course correction and kept on the German ship. Their speed was equal at the present. The enemy could not rapidly disengage.

Etps glanced at his watch from time to time and scribbled entires for his log in the process. He was giving his course as of 11:40 when the Chief Gunnery Officer, Lt. Commander Patrick McIntosh, reported that one of the 5" guns had suffered a jam. All efforts were being taken to bring the gun back into action.

For the next half hour shots were exchanged between the two cruisers. Tension was growing among the bridge crew. Every man knew the personal stakes in this battle. It had been a quiet war for them; this was the first foe who could fight back. The prospect of meeting their end here in this Indian Ocean, far from the cool green forests of the Cascadian homeland or the warm plains of California, was not a pleasant one. Duty had to be followed, however.

Finally the gun jam cleared. Etps had another 5" gun back in action.

Even without it, the gun duel continued in all of its ferocity. The two cruisers remained locked in combat; the German ship trying to evade and Etps trying to get alongside sufficiently to put more shellfire into the enemy ship.

Parker had gone out in his great-coat to stand on the observation deck and ensure the enemy cruiser was kept in visual range. Now his voice cried out through the speaking tube. "Torpedo!"

Etps spotted it a moment later, a churning white wake in the water heading toward them. "Hard to starboard!" he cried. The Anchorage shifted in that direction. Even before the turn was complete, Etps could see the enemy torpedo was a miss. "Back to prior bearing! Continue to engage!" He quickly verified from the charts this ship's torpedo armament. Two tubes, one per side… he would be safe from torpedo attack along the port side of the enemy for the next half hour or so. At least

Meanwhile the chase continued…



Down below decks, Stokerman Edward Woolridge was cursing the day he'd been assigned this rate. His back and arms burned from exertion and his skin was baking in the heat of the ship's boilers. Red light filled his vision, all from the flames that were demanding more coal, ever more coal, to power the Anchorage to her full 23 knot speed.

He scooped another shovelful of coal up and threw the black stone into the raging fires of the boiler closest to him. By the time he turned back, another stoker had moved another shoveful to replace his own dwindling pile. But Woolridge's throat felt as parched as the Arizona desert where his father had once mined for gold. He signaled to another crewman assigned with the water. An insulated flask was given to him for a gulp. A gulp of hot water that was not at all plleasing, but it was water all the same and for the moment served to quench his thirst.

Another half hour. If he could make it another half hour he would get rotated in the chain to be further away from the boilers. Right now it was the best he could hope for.



Hela


"An hour in this weather, and still this man dogs us," Lamper said to his officers. He considered that the enemy was as frustrated with the slow pace of the naval war as he was. "If the storm picks up, perhaps we can lose him in it."

"The rain does seem to be picking up, Herr Kapitän," Kaleut Weigle observed.

"Not quickly enough…"

Lamper checked his bearings. Northwest, with the enemy trying to come up on his starboard side. The Cascadian cruiser was as tenacious as the best hunting hound. I have placed myself in the position of the fox. Let us hope this storm provides a sufficient patch to hide in.

Neither ship was gaining hits. The rain and seas made it hard to aim accurately, and only so many of their guns were in their arcs anyway. This was going to be a battle of endurance. Would the Cascadian captain finally abandon his pursuit? Would Lamper's engines start to overheat? Which of the ships' stokers would tire first? Any of that might decide the battle.

Lamper noted a smaller shell, presumably a 3" one, go off along the ship's side. A near-miss, certainly.

But it was not a miss a moment later when the ship echoed with an explosion and the sound of sheared metal.



Leutnant Uwe Focht felt lucky to be alive. The hit on his turret had sent metal screaming everywhere. He got up from the ground and felt the rain start pouring in on him. The blast had ripped part of the turret roof open. "Brecht?! Knippel?!" He looked about for the two enlisted hands, the gunner's mates who operated the breech.

"Leutnant!", one voice cried out. Brecht. Focht looked over to see where the young Alsatian was pinned by part of the destroyed breech mechanism to the ground. His leg had been crushed… no, not just crushed. Focht realized to his horror that it had been severed, with the stump still trapped. "Leutnant, help!"

Focht went over to try and lift the shattered equipment holding his sailor down. He now noticed Knippel. A big piece of shrapnel was embedded in the Pomeranian's big skull.

"God in Heaven, save me!", the panicking Brecht screamed.

Focht added his own prayer. With a heave and shove, the ruined metal came off his man's hip. He reached down and lifted the maimed sailor up to carry him to the infirmary. The rain-slicked deck was now running red with blood from his gun crew. The cool rain pelted Focht in the face, soaking his thin dark beard and mustache. He shook his head and used a free arm to wipe the water from his eyes.

"Leutnant! Leutnant!" Two sailors rushed out into the rain from the nearest door. "We have him, sir!"

He let the men take his burden. "To the infirmary with him!" He looked around at the other turrets. With his out of action, he could at least help the gun crew of another.




CRS Anchorage


It was well over 80 minutes into the engagement when Etps was rewarded by another burst of flame from the enemy ship. One of the secondary shells had landed close enough to be set off, albeit without inflicting damage. Now another of the 4" mounts on the enemy cruiser was turned into a smoldering ruin by a direct shell hit from the Anchorage's 5" armament. The enemy's firepower was thus reduced further, clearly good news for him.

Five minutes later another hit struck what looked like another turret, although without the same effect.

It could be trying on his patience. His gun crews and gunnery officer was doing their best to hit in this storm, but it now felt like he would run out of shells before the storm let up and he could land the crippling hits he sought.

"Turret back in action, sir," Lt. Commander McIntosh reported.

"Keep them firing, Commander," Etps answered. "Keep them firing…"

A few minutes later, Etps' luck on one count finally ended. The entire ship rang with the impact of an enemy shell on the main belt. He was thankful the enemy shot hadn't seemed to penetrate and hit anything important. "Damage control teams reporting to affected section," the officer of the watch reported - Parker was still outside, watching the enemy through the binoculars. Etps nodded to accept his report.

Etps had only a couple of minutes before there was another impact. This one was more violent and made the bridge shudder. Flame and debris spewed from the side of the Anchorage. "Commander, confirm impact!", Etps shouted into his tube connecting to Parker's station. When no reply came he barked, "Commander, report!"

It was another thirty seconds before another man answered. "Captain, this is Chief Lewins. The shell impacted above us. The Commander's down from the shrapnel… my God, I think his arm…"

Etps swallowed. "Get him to the surgeon, Chief."

"Aye sir."

"Damage control teams to…"

While the watch officer gave that order, Etps returned his attention to the enemy cruiser. The chase continued on. How much longer would it? This infernal weather was making accurate fire all but impossible… but if he let this ship go it would undoubtedly bedevil Cascadian and French shipping. He had to put her on the bottom if he could.

Soon he was rewarded with another hit. One of the 5" shells slammed into the enemy cruiser's superstructure.




Hela

"Direct hit, Herr Kapitän. We've taken damage to the uptakes!"

Lamper cursed that news. He needed speed if he was to slip into this storm and escape the Cascadian. "Continue maneuvering!" He looked out the window. The rain had definitely picked up. If it could only pick up more, if visibility could be further affected, he might be able to draw the enemy into a bad turn and slip into the storm.

Again the Hela's guns retorted at their adversary. His crew wasn't landing hits, but the gun crews were still giving their all. They could not be faulted for that. Lamper could only hope the enemy's gun crews would find the heavier rain more difficult to aim through.

CRS Anchorage


From the position of the hit he was certain the cruiser's uptakes had been struck by splinters.

Soon a blast came from the side of the ship. Beyond the main belt, one of the enemy shells had impacted. An explosive shell from the look of it. Etps nodded as damage control teams were dispatched. More would be sent as an enemy 3" shell struck one of his turrets. The armor seemed to have held there, so he wasn't deprived of the turret.

Between 1310 and 1320 two more direct hits were scored on the enemy ship. Around them the rain was coming down in sheets. Etps cursed his luck; the German had found where the storm was strongest and was trying to escape into it. It was all he could do to keep up with their maneuvering and keep them from slipping away.




The forward turret of the Anchorage was commanded by gunnery officer Lieutenant Alvin Danvers, a thin man from Coeur d'Alene. He was responsible for taking the range calculations sent by the chief gunnery officer and making sure that the turret was orientated to make as accurate a shot as possible. Nearby his gun crews, under Chief Phillips, contintuned their work in loading the 5" gun for their turret. "Turn turret half a degree port," he ordered. The turret shifted in conjunction with his order. "Load charge number…" The math danced in his head. The calculation had to be just right to even hope for a hit. He remained thankful for all of the increased training the Navy had undertaken since late 1900. It had been annoying at the time, but now that it might mean life or death…

Once the charge was loaded and the final range finding came in from the gunnery officer, Danvers completed his orders for the turret's direction and the gun's elevation and found the trigger switch. A load blast echoed through the turret when the gun fired.

Other guns fired. He couldn't make out if he'd landed the hit he observed through his glass. All he could do was start new calculations for his next shot.

Hela


Lamper noted the time as 1342 local. The rain was still heavy but that had not stopped the Cascadians. Indeed, despite the continued range being over 2 kilometers, they seemed to be hitting more often. They'd caused him further loss, including the crew of one of his 3" secondaries, cut down by splinters from a shell hit.

"Kapitän, what if we come about? Maybe we can get a torpedo into them?", Weigle proposed.

"Perhaps. Let us see if the storm can shelter us." Lamper noted something. "One of our guns has stopped firing."

"They report a gun jam," Weigle answered.

"Get it cleared. We have already lost too many of our guns in this battle. I need every gun firing if we are to surv-"

Lamper was interrupted by a thunderous blast. A 5" explosive shell crashed into the superstructure of his ship, right at the bridge. In one roar of thunder the windows shattered and sprayed glass inward. The helmsman screamed a gurgle and fell over. Blood rushed and bubbled from the cut in his throat. Falk went down with a shard of metal in his hip.

Sharp pain went into Lamper's right arm and side. He looked down to see the shrapnel from the enemy shell and the glass sticking out of the arm and under his ribs. He faltered and leaned against a nearby station. Without having to order it, two of the other bridge personnel rushed over to the dying helmsman. One leaned over to see if he could save his comrade - he could not - and the other took the helm.

"Herr Kapitän!", Weigle shouted. "Herr Kapitän, are you…"

"I will live," Lamper insisted, despite the sharp pain in his body. "Get a nurse. That is all I need. Fregattenkapitän?"

"Jawohl?" Falk realized his intent. "I will only require a nurse as well."

"Good. Take your stations! The battle is not yet over!"

Indeed it was not. But with the rain now driven in by the east-northeasterly gales, the bridge deck was rapidly becoming slick, and instruments covered in water. One sailor rushed to get raincoats at Weigle's orders.

Lamper forced himself to ignore the pain. He returned his focus to the battle.



CRS Anchorage


Etps was finally seeing results. Despite the heavier rain, despite everything, through the second half of the hour the Anchorage landed several hits. The enemy's secondaries took a hit and an enemy turret stopped firing. As 1400 continued on to 1410, three more solid hits were clearly scored on the German cruiser. It was clear that the enemy ship was now more concerned with getting away than fighting. He had to be careful, though, with an enemy who was clearly pushed into a corner.

Through the rest of the hour the chase continued on. It had lasted over three hours by the time 1500 rolled around and showed no signs of abating. The enemy ship wasn't giving up and Etps would not let it go. He intended to hound this enemy ship until he'd eliminated her.

At 1513 the hour a large geyser of water erupted from the side. An enemy shell had scored a near-miss on him.



Chief Engineer Lt. Commander Allen Tulane checked his watch. It was set for local time, of course, and now stated it was 15:45. The battle had been ongoing for four hours and his job was only getting harder. The engines of the Anchorage were starting to show strain from the constant high speed being demanded of them. The roar of the expansion engines had become a background noise he was long used to, of course, but that did little to lessen the aggravation it caused. He had to scream to be heard. "Harling, Meyers, I'm worried about that piston, keep a close eye on it! Pembroke, I…"

He was interrupted by a terrible bang through the engine room. Cries came from above him from the startling noise.



The vibration from the hit to the armor belt filled the ship. "Direct hit to the belt over the engine room," Lieutenant Winfield reported.

"Damage control teams respond immediately," Etps answered.

The German cruiser kept working its way north. As they passed out of the storm, finally, Etps noticed it began to shift east and north more often.



Hela


The storm was letting up. Lamper had been wrong to tack north; he realized that the storm was likely stronger to the east or west. Now, with increased visibility, it was unlikely they would slip free of their pursuer. After all of these hours the Cascadian cruiser was still on them. A stubborn hound refusing to give up the fox.

It was clear now that only one natural ally remained to him. That was the growing twilight to the east. This far south, at this time of year, the days were shorter. If he could break eastward and survive until night fell, he might yet break away in the nighttime.

"Change bearing! Zero-Five-SIx!"



CRS Anchorage


Etps watched the German ship change its bearing. And he knew what it meant.

This was in the second half of winter for the Southern Hemisphere, after all. Night would be falling shortly. Between the overcast weather and night-time, not to mention the prospect of the storm still being to the east, the chance for the enemy to slip free would be greatly increased. Etps needed to at least slow her down. Enough damage to her machinery, perhaps, and even if she had the night to repair, he could still possibly find her the next day. Especially if the weather cooperated.



Eight minutes after 1600 there was a violent blast that shook the bridge. "Enemy shell hit!", one officer shouted. "Superstructure damage below us sir."

"So there is," he said. He tried not to think of the result if that shell had hit further up.

The enemy fire hadn't driven him off though. By 1610 the Anchorage was pulling up beside the enemy cruiser with her guns still active. Whether or not he'd damaged her machinery or she was simply having trouble from the extended high speed steaming, the German cruiser was having trouble keeping him away. Now that they were within 1,000 yards - indeed, almost 500 at one point - the gunners of the Anchorage were having an easier time delivering solid hits to the enemy ship. He watched their superstructure take another hit that perforated the uptakes. The main hull and turrets took equal punishment.


Hela


Lamper watched the Cascadian cruiser coming up on his side. With his Hela's machinery running down, he couldn't keep up the speed to evade them and open the range. Now his ship was being battered from even closer range.

"Herr Kapitän…"

"Prepare torpedo!", Lamper ordered.

"Jawohl!"

Lamper considered the range. It was as close as he would ever get. If the enemy didn't notice the torpedo in the twilight… if it was on target… then maybe this battle would be turned or around. Or at least he could get away.


CRS Anchorage


Etps noticed the churning wake suddenly moving in the water and acted immediately.

"Hard to port!", Etps shouted.

Another of the enemy turrets took a hit at that moment. But the aim of all of Etps' gunners was thrown off by the sharp turn to avoid the enemy torpedo that now raced at them.

The torpedo didn't hit in the end. But Etps cursed; it had done its job all too well. The Anchorage's turn had re-opened the range and the enemy ship was using it to flee. Most of his guns were no longer engaged. The ammunition for the bow gun was already running low; soon it wouldn't be able to engage at all.

The Anchorage spent the next half hour catching up to the enemy cruiser. Finally, near the end of the hour, another hit was landed upon her. The HE shell hit her conning tower directly and exploded. A few moments later another HE shell hit her superstructure. One of her secondary guns went silent.

Etps checked the time. 1700. This far south, twilight was already setting in. He had only a limited amount of time before nightfall and the enemy cruiser was still keeping up the distance. They had been engaged for over five hours now and the enemy was still fighting. His men were getting tired. He was getting tired. He contemplated breaking off the action. He had to have wounded the enemy raider enough to force her into port for repairs. Wasn't that good enough?

But a voice inside of him said no. No, it wasn't. With all of the frustrations of this war so far, the aborted engagements and the inability to secure the East Asian waters enough to begin operations against the Germans, the Navy needed something more than what they'd accomplished so far. His men needed more. They needed a victory.

So he continued the engagement.

Through the 1700 hour, he was rewarded with occasional hits. At about 1749 one high explosive shell set part of the enemy cruiser ablaze. The enemy ship seemed to slow and he got in close enough - while wary of exposing himself to a torpedo attack - to fire at just 200+ yards and put a 5" shell into her. The sky had gradually darkened and now the set was firmly setting over the distance.

But Etps didn't keep this close range. It was too close. An enemy torpedo would be deadly to his ship. He let the enemy open it up a little… and cursed his miscalculation as they opened it up further than he desired. The chase resumed as the enemy sailed toward the east and the safety of the night.



Hela


"Herr Kapitän, I really think you should…"

Weigle was cut off by his superior. Lamper had grown pale from blood loss from his wounds, but the older man was still clearly in control of himself. A nurse continued re-applying the tourniquet to his bleeding arm. "I will only leave the bridge when the ship is out of danger," he declared. "The enemy…"

As if to answer him, another spurt of water erupted from the nearby sea. Even as night closed around them, the Cascadian cruiser was maintaining the chase. "...the enemy is still at our heels." Lamper motioned to his helm. "Change evasive pattern. Turn us toward the north."

"Kapitän, damage control reports the fire is fully extinguished."

"Good. And the flooding?"

"Under control for the moment."

Lamper ignored the pain in his arm and side. His thoughts were on his ship. The flooding was the most dangerous thing, especially as the state of the storm-tossed sea made high speed dangerous. But without it, the enemy cruiser was keeping up with them. The Cascadian captain was a damned bulldog with his tenacity.

He had one real hope left. If the enemy could maneuver right… "Make sure the torpedoes are kept ready. They may be our one chance. Helm, change bearing to 85. We must go east for the moment. Every minute gained toward nightfall increases our chances."

"Jawhol."




CRS Anchorage


With the turn to near-due east it was clear that Etps would not sink the German cruiser before night fell. Night fighting had its own challenges. Searchlights and spotters finding the electronic lights of enemy ships mitigated the darkness somewhat, especially if the moon was present, but in the dark hours at sea fighting was reduced to knife ranges, when even light guns might pose a threat to thinner armor and torpedoes might not be spotted until it was too late.

Etps' instincts told him that he was almost there, though. The German ship was clearly having issues keeping its speed up. If he stayed engaged he could finish them off, if he could just get close enough to keep his guns fully engaged. So he continued the eastward pursuit as night fell around them.

Throughout the first hour after nightfall, as the engagement reached its 7th hour and beyond, he was unable to land hits. The forward turret had exhausted its magazine. What few shots he managed all seemed to miss. An enemy torpedo was spotted just before 1600 and barely evaded.

It was only after 1900 hours that a flare of orange light told him the Anchorage had landed another hit. The enemy ship couldn't keep the distance any more. The profile of the vessel grew and grew in the searchlights' relentless gaze as the range closed to less than a thousand yards. The Anchorage's main guns continued to thunder. Etps saw yet more hits land on the enemy ship.




Hela


"Kapitän!" The ship had shuddered from another hit. Lamper, feeling weak and spent, eyed his helmsman. "The rudder! It's not responding!"

"Damage teams to the rudder machinery. It must be fixed, highest priority!", the injured man proclaimed, even as more shells landed around his ship.

More shells came in. An explosion rocked the superstructure of the Hela. "Damage to uptakes!", was the report on that. Yet more damage there…

"The engines cannot maintain sufficient speed, Kapitän," Weigle reported. "We cannot escape."

Lamper heard that and frowned. Would it be better to strike? To spare his crew further bloodshed in a lost battle?

No. No, because the battle was not yet lost.

"The enemy will want to finish us off. They will pull up alongside to bring all their guns to bear. Have the torpedo tubes standing by to fire!"

Soon after his order was given the word came that the rudder was functioning again. The helm shifted course under Lamper's command. If they could just get a torpedo into the enemy ship…



CRS Anchorage


It was approaching 1930 hours. Eight long hours of battle had left the Anchorage crew nearly exhausted. But victory was within their sight. The enemy cruiser was hobbled. She couldn't escape. All Etps had to do was keep his guns in action and the range close for his gunners to pour fire into the enemy.

There was a sudden impact and a burst of flame from the bow. An enemy shell had just hit. They were still in the fight.

"Firing again!", came from Lt. Commander McIntosh. A full broadside of 5" shells descended upon their foe.



Hela


Lamper knew that this was the best shot he would get. Even as the enemy guns started to thunder again, he gave Weigle the order.

"Fire the torpedo!"

"Firing, Herr Kapitän!"



CRS Anchorage


Etps watched from his glass as four more hits or near-misses went off around the foe. More guns were fired. "Maintain fire and course, prepare…"

There was a sudden violent shudder that threw Etps off his feet. He had to grab onto the helm station to avoid hitting the deck. The ship lurched violently from a blast that went off below the waterline.

The cry went out immediately. "Torpedo hit! Torpedo hit to aft!"

"All damage control teams to affected sections! Seal the bulkheads!" Etps' shouts belied his own frustration and shame. His own worst fears had been realized.

In his zeal to finish off the enemy cruiser, it was now his ship that was in danger of sinking.



Below decks, the roar of water rushing through the gap in the hull was the nightmare every man of the sea never wanted to hear. Chief Duncan Drummond had decades in the Navy without hearing it. Already over fifty years old, he had been a sprightly lad with a Scots brogue when his father Michael had retired from the Royal Navy to take up a post training the fledgling Cascadian Navy in the 1860s. The family had moved from Dundee to Vancouver and Duncan had finished his education in the new Republic of Cascadia. Joining the same Navy his father was training had seemed the right idea. And he'd made a life of it.

As soon as the water rushed in the distance he ordered his crewmates out of the section. Figures in blue-gray rushed past him as he called out, "This way, lads! This way! Come along!"

One by one his lads went by. But he could tell the water was upon them. He had to close the door immediately. He pushed with all of his might until the metal door was in place. The roaring water was rushing his way through the darkening section of the ship as his hands found the great metal wheel of the door. He turned it and heard the lock slip into place.

And then a massive wall of water smashed Chief Drummond into that same wheel and bulkhead. Everything went dark.



Hela


"Direct hit!", Weigle cried.

The news was like a burden lifting from Lamper's shoulders. He prayed silent relief in the breath before he responded with an order. "Helm, bearing 360. All speed we have left."

Which admittedly wasn't much. The engines were overheated from the long action. The stokers were exhausted. Cascadian shellfire had damaged the machinery. They could barely make ten knots in the end.

"Kapitän, the rear guns report a direct hit on the enemy. There was another explosion."

"Good shooting. But now we must get back to Ostafrika while the enemy fights the sea."

Perhaps that would disappoint some. That they weren't going to try to finish off a wounded foe. But Lamper knew better. The enemy's guns were still better. His ship couldn't take much more punishment. As it was, they had at least put an enemy raider out of action for a few months. German shipping to the Pacific was precarious enough as it was.




CRS Anchorage


"We've lost the port midships turret, sir," Lt. Commander McIntosh reported. "Lt. Rather was badly wounded and two of his gun crew are confirmed dead."

"Dammit." Etps was scribbling his log notes. The ship was listing to port slightly. They were still bearing south for the moment, at merely two knots, as damage control teams tried to balance out the flooding and keep it under control. How many of my crew are dead? Stupid of you, Reggie, damn stupid! You should have kept to their stern! "What does Doctor Carver have to say about Commander Parker?"

The reply came from a watch officer who had just returned to the bridge. Lieutenant Charles Thompson was a red-headed man from Bakersfield in Upper California. "The Commander lived through the operation. Had to lose the arm, though. Doc said it was completely shattered."

"Poor man." Etps pondered the maiming of his XO and the toll of accounted for dead and missing crew. He kept himself standing and alert. His crew needed him to be strong as the ship fought off the flooding it had taken from the torpedo hit. If the storm were to move back over them, or if the bulkheads gave way… they might very well lose the ship.

For the moment, there was little he could do, though. As Captain Etps' place was here; his subordinates were the ones he had to trust to get the flooding under control and the machinery working. All he could do was hope, pray, and consider his response to whatever news came

After twenty minutes the news from belowdecks was good. The flooding had been contained to various departments in the aft section. Commander Tulane had briefly come above decks to make his report. Etps returned the ruddy-faced man's salute and allowed him to begin.

"We've lost some of the boilers, sir. They flooded. Couldn't be helped. Machinery damage has to be accounted for too."

"What speed could you give me?"

Tulane considered it for a moment. "Twelve, maybe fourteen knots, sir."

Etps considered that. Unless the Germans had repaired their machinery, they had clearly been slower than that when they'd broken off. I might be able to re-engage.

It seemed ridiculous. With the torpedo hit his ship was in need of a dock itself. He would be risking the Anchorage to another lucky torpedo if he took her back into action. Eight hours in battle. Hadn't his crew done enough?

But try as he might, that line of argument just wasn't enough. Etps had to give it a try. He had to finish the job started, the job for which so many of men had bled and died.

"Helm, make course three-six-zero. Best speed," Etps ordered.

Now he just had to see if the Germans had changed course again.



Hela


Kapitän Lamper and his wounded ship had spent half an hour steaming north at their best speed, looking to open the distance with the enemy cruiser before he changed course to the northwest. He had pondered an earlier course correction, but that would decrease the amount of raw distance gained. In short, he had taken a gamble.

"Kapitän," Weigle said, his face drawn from fatigue. "Perhaps you should report to the surgeon now. We haven't had contact with the enemy in thirty minutes…"

"Another twenty at least, Kaleut. Another twenty. And then I will leave." Lamper went silent for a moment. He thought of his adversary. Whomever the Cascadian captain was, he had clearly been a determined man. Lamper felt respect toward his foe and hoped that the torpedo hadn't caused his loss. He hoped it had sunk his ship, obviously, or at least made it unsalvagable once it limped into dock. But he held nothing against the enemy captain; they were both men fighting for their nations in a contest of honor. The Cascadians had not done anything truly worthy of Lamper's rancor, or the rancor of any German.

The clock showed that it was now 2009 local time. Almost ine long hours had passed since they had spotted the Cascadian cruiser in the storm. It had been a long day and Lamper was looking forward to...

"Herr Kapitän!" Weigle turned to him from a speaking tube. "The lookouts report a ship steaming from the south!"

Lamper's heart sank. He had made a mistake. I should have turned northwest. Now we are undone.

CRS Anchorage

Even at her reduced speed, the Anchorage had caught up with their foe. Nine hours of battle or struggling to save the ship and the fight was still to be finished. Captain Etps nodded to his gunnery officer. "Signal to fire when ready, Commander."

"Aye, Captain."

The crew was exhausted. But a strange thrill filled them. The enemy had been chased down after all and it was time to end it. Time to accomplish something that would make the deaths of their comrades worthwhile, to them at least.

With the forward turret out the range had to be closed before the side guns could be brought to bear. When this was accomplished, just past 2030, the 5" guns of the Anchorage thundered once more.

Immediately several more hits were landed on the German ship. It maneuvered to try to escape, a hobbled fox chased by a wounded hound, but the hound still had the better step. Captain Etps watched with few words and allowed his officers to do their jobs, providing only orders for course changes as the Anchorage circled the wounded German and poured more fire into her.

The German bit back when she could. Again and again her 4" guns returned fire into the darkness. But the Anchorage was never hit.

At nine past 2100, the German ship slowed to a crawl. They'd hit their machinery. The fox was crippled. Indeed, Etps thought it might already be sinking. Now all it could do was nip and bite at its tormentor. Etps said nothing as McIntosh continued to direct ranges to his gunners. He even ordered a torpedo loosed on their foe. But it had evidently missed, given the lack of an explosion at the appropriate time.

And then the Anchorage shuddered again. "An explosion in the structure, Captain," observed Lieutenant Thompson. "Damage teams assessing now."

"Good," was Etps' quick reply.

And then another explosive shell went off along the end of the German cruiser.

Hela

Lamper noted the time. 2119 local. The explosion blew into the forward section of the ship and exposed his foundering vessel to more of the sea.

He could feel it beneath his feet and in the depth of his soul. His poor wounded vessel was done for. She'd endured too much pain, too much punishment, and the sea was going to claim her.

Ten hours ago, we were merely worried about the aggravation of the storm. Now we are undone. My God, how quickly fortune can change!

"Kaleut Weigle, it is time," he said solemnly. "Our enemy has fought with tenacity and courage. We have fought with the same. But the tide was not with us tonight."

"Herr Kapitän…", the younger officer began.

Lamper struggled his way over to the speaking tube. He began to bark into it.

"This is Kapitän Lamper. You have fought well, my boys. You have proven brave Germans. But our proud ship is sinking. It is with a heavy heart that I order all hands to abandon ship. I say again, all hands abandon ship."

At that order, the crew made for the intact lifeboats. "With me, Weigle," Lamper said. "I must throw the sensitive material overboard before I take to the lifeboat."

"Yes, Herr Kapitän."



CRS Anchorage


Etps was watching the stricken vessel with the aid of his binoculars and the search lights piercing the night and illuminating the German cruiser. He watched as small figures began to swarm the lifeboats still intact on the sides. "The enemy is abandoning ship," he said. "Commander, cease fire immediately. Stand off of their bow and prepare boats to pick up survivors."

"Aye, sir."

Etps nodded and fought back a yawn. After almost ten hours, the battle was finally over. He'd won.

Perhaps he hadn't deserved it. He'd made missteps. In the end, Providence itself seemed to have worked in his favor. But it didn't change the clear fact that this, his first battle as a ship captain, had become a victory. The thought electrified him, almost enough to overcome his fatigue.

It would take time to finish taking on the German survivors. Then they would have to make their way to Madagascar to make repairs to their wounded ship. His work wasn't nearly done yet.

But for now, he could breathe easily. He had won.




Some time later, as the German cruiser Hela finished sinking to her final resting place on the bottom of the Indian Ocean, Captain Etps had the opportunity to face his adversary. He had gone to the ship's infirmary to visit his wounded crew and found that it was overrun with German wounded as well. The surviving German surgeons had joined with Doctor Carver and his staff in saving the lives of wounded seamen, German amd Cascadian. It was right and proper to Etps; medical men had a duty that transcended questions of nationhood. They were here to save lives regardless of the flag that flew over them.

Carver introduced him to the wounded German captain. He was somewhat tall and thin, with a thin and long face and intelligent brown eyes. Etps nodded to his bested foe and, out of respect, removed his cover. "Captain…"

"Lamper," the man croaked weakly. "Joachim Lamper. Of the Hela."

"Captain Reginald Etps of the Anchorage." Etps took a place beside the German captain and his loyal subordinate officer. "You fought well, sir. I thought you had me with your torpedo. You took splendid advantage of my mistake in maneuvering toward your side."

"Alas, I did not break to the northwest soon enough," Lamper replied. "It was my mistake that, in the end, was the greater." Lamper reached to his waist and pulled loose his sword. "I am your prisoner, Captain Etps."

Etps accepted the blade, one hand on the handle and the other on the scabbard. He considered it for a moment before he handed it back. "You fought nobly and well, Captain Lamper. Please, have your sword back."

A weak smile crossed the German commander's face. "Such tragedy that you and I met as enemies, Captain. But we are men of honor, and our honor demands we give our service where sworn. You to your Republic, mine to the Emperor."

Etps nodded at that. Seeing Carver's look he took the final step of saluting his defeated foe. "Rest well, Captain. Get your strength up."

Lamper returned the salute. "God thank you, Captain, for your generosity in victory."




It would be the start of August before the wounded Anchorage limped back to port in Madagascar. From there the French wire services functioned to relay Captain Etps' report on the Action of the 30th of July. By the end of the first week of August, every newspaper in Europe and the Americas were carrying stories about the great battle between the Cascadian cruiser Anchorage and the German cruiser Hela.

Though the war was soon to end, the First Pacific War had finally provided her combatants with the naval heroes and naval glory their people yearned for.



The post battle statistics screens.

 

[Big Steve]

August 1903

Toward the beginning of the month, the Navy put in an order for another Blake-class destroyer. It was named to honor the late US general and president Ulysses Grant.

While the world stirred about the thrilling battle between the Anchorage and the Hela, developments continued in Europe that led the way to peace. In Berlin Chancellor von Bülow prevailed over the colonial hawks on the issue of the peace offer. He was supported by the Kaiser who appeared to be much demoralized by the lackluster performance of his Navy in the war to date.

Another mark for peace came with the French summer counter-attack. Utilizing the reserves brought to the colors since the start of the war, the French launched another bold attack into the teeth of German defenses. In some sectors the Germans gave way - the forces under Ferdinand Foch actually managed to seize one of the border towns of Alsace-Lorraine, to much acclaim - but the offensive proved a bloody waste of material. Numerous French generals protested the early attack as futile without the Cascadian reinforcements that were even then entraining in the Mediterranean ports for the front. Numerous French newspapers and writers accused the Revanchists of a needless attack meant to sabotage the peace talks. Revanchist influence, while not entirely diminished, had lost enough ground that France was willing to agree to a status quo antebellum along the European border.

With German honor satisfied by the outcome of the fighting on the front, the German government offered their enemies a peace agreement on the 15th of August.



Recognizing responsibility for starting the war, Germany agreed to make some compensations for war claims and the like in exchange for a complete status quo antebellum settlement. This would require a withdrawal of French troops from occupied areas of Cameroon and Togo. The French countered by agreeing to said withdrawal if Germany paid further war compensations. The two delegations eventually negotiated a common acceptable figure for the compensations.

Cascadia also insisted on a German recognition of Lili'uokalani as Queen of Samoa. In exchange, the rights of German entrepreneurs and citizens in Samoa would be acknowledged and respected and compensations for losses by German citizens paid by the Cascadian and Hawai'ian governments. These concessions made the Cascadian terms acceptable to the German negotiators, although the Kaiser had wanted more. A proposal to grant a German base at Pago Pago in eastern Samoa was summarily rejected. This rejection might have derailed the peace agreement, but the Cascadian agreement toward private Germans' claims in Samoa eased the situation sufficiently for the talks to conclude.

On the 18th of August, the two sides agreed to an armistice. It was literally only two days before Cascadian troops were to join the French in another advance into Alsace-Lorraine. The war, for all intents and purposes, had ended. By the end of the year the Westminster Treaty had been signed and ratified by the three belligerents, bringing an end to the short First Pacific War, or the War of 1903 as it was known in Europe.

 

[Big Steve]

September 1903


The Admiralty, Portland, Federal District
3 September 1903


With the new month the celebrations of the armistice were mostly over. Everyone was waiting for the final treaty to be finished by the delegations in London while the rest of the country waited and hoped nothing would undo their success. The end of the war had come just in time to prevent the first 40,000 Cascadian soldiers to arrive in France from going into battle. The only Cascadian casualties on land had been from the advance group sent to the front - wounds and a few deaths among those observers.

Of course, for the moment they would stay. Only the last wave sent out in late July had been recalled. Until an actual peace treaty was signed Cascadian would maintain a field army, dubbed the CEA - Cascadian Expeditionary Army - near the French border, now numbering nearly 140,000 men. It was unlikely any of them would be home for Christmas. But at least they would probably be coming home.

For Admiral Garrett the war had been a modest success. He'd gotten the Warrior and Ranger laid over Wilcox's conservative objections and the expanded naval budget had allowed him to build more of the Blake-class destroyers. Now, of course, the war was over, and the emergency spending bill had been repealed already by Parliament. A budget rebalancing would have to come into consideration.

"What do you think, Holmes?", the Admiral asked his aide.

"Sir?"

"On the proposal to return our entire battle line to the docks to be fitted with the new central firing mechanism?"

The bookish officer contemplated that. "A sound idea, Admiral. With the armistice signed and all indications being that the peace is going to hold, it may be the time."

"Yes. I suppose Germany would rather let the war end now with the terms they've won than try something again so soon. I'll make the recommendation to Admiral Wilburn, then." He put his hands together. "Anything more on the design work?"

"There are still some issues with the placement of the third turret, sir. But they should have it solved eventually."

"Well, it will be some time before we could lay such a vessel," the Admiral opined. "Tell them to keep at it."

"I will, sir. And… I believe you wanted to know the status on the Anchorage?"

"Her repairs, at least."

"The French yards believe she'll be ready to return home within eight weeks."

"Ah. Excellent." The Admiral put his hands together. Reggie had done him proud, very proud, with that battle. They had been completely vindicated. While he could never give him a shore post, bringing him home to be personally awarded the Legion of Merit and the Navy Cross was thankfully not out of the question.

And the children would be quite happy to see him again, if only briefly.

"Sir, have you been reading Jane's?", Holmes asked.

Admiral Garrett gave him a level look that was all the answer he needed.

"Ah, yes, of course. Silly of me, sir. I thought the war might have preoccupied you… you've seen what that Italian fellow Cuniberti has been writing about then? The idea of the all big gun warship?"

"So I have. It may be something to consider, when we have more money and our design teams think they can make such a design worthwhile." The Admiral looked wistfully out at the early autumn scenery. They were just about to end the summer dry season and go into the winter wet season. This would be some of the last open sunlight they'd see for months. "Can you imagine it, Holmes? If Cascadia were to be the first nation to field such a warship? With eight or even ten heavy guns, arranged to provide broadsides twice those of a modern battleship? What an achievement it would be!"



The armistice talks were proceeding amicably, but Cascadian-German relations were still quite tense. Neither power was satisfied with the end of the war. Time would tell if tensions would increase again.

Post-war tensions with Germany at 4.

The Cascadian fleet stood down. Many heavy fleet units were ordered back to their home ports in North America to save maintenance costs. The heightened gunnery and torpedo training was canceled as a further cost-saving measure.



October 1903

The two test submersibles Cuttlefish and Salmon were officially commissioned. Volunteer crews and officers would put the submersibles through their paces. Additionally the Nelson was completed early, showcasing the increasing capability of the Parker & Sons yard at Astoria.



Naval Engineering reported that an engineering team from Reilly & Colette had developed preheaters to improve machinery efficiency. Meanwhile design teams that had worked on the Cuttlefish-class submersibles had developed periscopes for the craft to enable captains to observe the surface while the ship was under the water.



Another border incident, this time in New Mexico, prompted protests between Portland and Washington, after a patrol of US Marshals and a squadron of the Cascadian Mounted Border Patrol shot at each other while the former pursued a criminal gang into Cascadian territory.

Tension with US up to 3


November 1903

Four of the new destroyers from the War Order were put into commission.

Naval Gunnery designers reported to Admiral Garrett that Burleigh & Armstrong's new Naval Projects teams had submitted a pneumatic recuperator mechanism design for use in naval guns.



On November 11th, the diplomats in London put their final signature on the Westminster Peace Treaty. By the end of the month both the German Empire and French Republic had ratified the treaty after heated debate.

In Cascadia ratification debates were also heated over the promised compensation to German citizens. A multipartisan clique of each party's hawks threatened to derail the agreement by refusing to pass the necessary budget appropriation to fund the enactment of the terms.


December 1903

After days of voting and arguments, Foreign Secretary McInnes and Secretary of State Crabbins were able to overcome the hawk resistance to the Westminster Treaty. On the 4th of the month the Senate ratified the treaty. The First Pacific War had officially ended.

The following Monday, the Admiralty signed the contracts for refitting the four battleships in the fleet with Central Firing gear. The contracts were split between Mare Island, Hunter's Point, Forsythe & Landers Shipbuilding in Vancouver, and Reilly & Collette in Bremerton. The two Californian yards would refit the British built battleships Fearless and Relentless while the Dauntless and Victoria would go to F&LS and R&CS respectively.

Burleigh & Armstrong completed the William L. Garrison.

President McGraw approached the Admiralty with a proposal to hold a shooting competition among the ships of the Navy, as a means to celebrate the end of the war and enhance their skills. The expense turned some minds off to the proposal, but Admiral Garrett, Admiral Wilcox, and Admiral Wilburn - in a rare sign of solidarity - openly backed the idea.



After days of intense competition, the raiding cruiser San Jose won the highest marks. The crew was granted extended Christmas leave as a reward.