Alt-history writing project part 2

[randy]

Looks good.

The only thing that might be off is stating that Richardson had been CINC US Fleet, I believe a full admiral's slot, at least Vice Admiral in 1940-41, and he's a now Rear Admiral

Maybe have Nimitz state that "he got canned and reverted to his permanent rank of Rear Admiral"

The Navy also does Rear Admiral (Lower Half) 1 Star, and Rear Admiral (Upper Half), 2 stars.

Perhaps, since it is in the formal style, edit the sentence to Standing nearby was his new Chief of Staff, Rear Admiral (Lower Half) James Richardson, USN and there after just refer to him as Rear Admiral or just Admiral in less formal usage. Not sure if you intended him to be a one or two star so edit that appropriately.

[Captain Wheelgun]

Looks good.

The only thing that might be off is stating that Richardson had been CINC US Fleet, I believe a full admiral's slot, at least Vice Admiral in 1940-41, and he's a now Rear Admiral

Maybe have Nimitz state that "he got canned and reverted to his permanent rank of Rear Admiral"

The Navy also does Rear Admiral (Lower Half) 1 Star, and Rear Admiral (Upper Half), 2 stars.

Perhaps, since it is in the formal style, edit the sentence to Standing nearby was his new Chief of Staff, Rear Admiral (Lower Half) James Richardson, USN and there after just refer to him as Rear Admiral or just Admiral in less formal usage. Not sure if you intended him to be a one or two star so edit that appropriately.

Thanks, Randy. I’ll get that fixed.

[Cobar]

One of the few good things about being in the path of a hurricane is that I had a chance to read your books. No expertise to offer but I sure did like the books and am looking forward to number 4.

[Captain Wheelgun]

One of the few good things about being in the path of a hurricane is that I had a chance to read your books. No expertise to offer but I sure did like the books and am looking forward to number 4.

Thanks, Cobar. I’m sorry about the hurricane but I’m glad you liked my books.

[Captain Wheelgun]

Sorry for the long silence. I’m still alive, and so is the next ‘Republic of Texas Navy’ book.

I submit the following snippet for your approval…

June 27, 1942 - Off Western Iceland

The time between Karl’s return to the fleet in Sardinia and today had mostly been spent in meetings with his British and American counterparts, working out the last minute details of the operation. After reviewing the existing plan, Karl had agreed that no changes were necessary other then those needed to integrate the Texas forces into the three escort groups and to allow for the fact that he would be commanding at sea instead of from Whitehall, as Admiral Pound had planned on doing.

After adjustments for ships in need of maintenance or repair of combat damage, and a shortage of cold weather gear for the crews going north, the Texas Navy’s contribution started with eight T-200 class subchasers, two Fayette County class destroyers, and the light cruisers Odessa and Texarkana, which would be assigned to the close escort under Cmdr. Jack Broome, RN. This was the actual escort of the convoy, and would stay with the merchant ships all the way to Arkhangelsk, at the base of the White Sea in the Russian part of the Soviet Union.

Next was the Covering Force, under Rear Admiral Louis Hamilton, RN. Karl had assigned the Dallas class cruisers Houston and San Antonio to that force, along with another pair of Fayette Counties and the light cruisers New Braunfels and Beaumont. Dallas herself was still in the Med, replacing the lost Albuquerque as Vice Admiral Frank Buchanan’s flagship, along with all four of the Martiniques, which would have been of no use on this mission as Karl had no intention of launching any amphibious landings.

Finally, there was the Distant Force, under Admiral Sir John Tovey, RN, aboard the battleship HMS Duke of York. This consisted of a task force from the Royal Navy’s Home Fleet, which Tovey commanded, along with the U.S.Navy’s Task Force 39, which included the battleship USS Washington. To this, Karl added the remainder of his forces, the carriers San Jacinto and Tampico, armored cruisers Galveston, Brownsville, and Laredo, with four more Fayette County class destroyers. El Paso had finally completed her repairs and modernization and was sailing to Britain as fast as she could but would not take part in this operation. She would remain in Scapa Flow and work with the rest of the Home Fleet.

In all, Karl had at his command two battleships, three aircraft carriers, three armored cruisers, eight heavy cruisers, five light cruisers, three minesweepers, and a nearly uncountable number of destroyers, subchasers, corvettes, ASW trawlers, and anti-aircraft ships. Oh, and two British P-611 class submarines.

All of that to protect the 35 merchant ships carrying just over 78,000 standard tons of desperately needed war materials to the Soviet Union. Convoy PQ-17 began the journey north.

Copyright 2025 D.A. Brock

[randy]

Looks good to me. Hopefully Karl's timeline will have a better outcome than we had on this one.

I'll probably come back and look at it some more later, but right now nothing jumps out at me.