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.