The twist.... US jumps in to the war in 1915.
Midday 23 Jan 1915 just North of the Dogger Bank after heavy morning fog the SS Mechanicsville a 3500 gross ton (10,000 ton displacement) single stack freighter with a crew of 45 and 222 Belgian refugees and 181 American expat passengers in staterooms and the holds, after delivering load of 850 tons of copper consigned to Denmark (and avoiding the Royal Navy) and now enroute to England is intercepted from the SE by the HMS Undaunted and 4 destroyers. She is mistaken for the SMS Odenwald a KM blockade runner/ collier that is actually interned at the time and the British flottilla moves to engage. The American freighters smoke obscures her jack and the British lamps but a lookout reports the closing warships. Mistaking the ships for Germans the captain makes a turn to the NNE hoping to find a British patrol flottilla- not realizing that is who is chasing him and that he is already to the North of the British naval units. The turn convinces the Undaunted that the ship is trying to run to Sweden and at 1344 she opens fire at 7000yds. She scores her first hit at 1410. the 152mm shell blows through 3 state rooms killing a number of people but leaving the ship mechanically intact. A second hit is scored on the bridge at 1411 killing the captain, all three mates and navigator plus the on duty bridge crew. As a result the ship does not slow down or deviate from her course. Several more shells hit starting large fires. Then at 1421 a shell hits the coal bunker nearly depleted after the long voyage across the Atlantic. The earlier hits have shaken the ship hard and the lifted the near empty bunkers coal dust. As a result the shell hit causes a massive explosion that blows the back third of the ship apart and the stern is underwater within 3 minutes. The rest of the ship is quickly sliding backwards into the depth of the North Sea with no time to launch boats. As the destroyers move in to rescue survivors a look out on one of the war ships gets periscope fever and they pull back for 45 minutes watching the ship go down. By the time the destroyers move back in all but 2 persons have died. The elation in the British flotilla at sinking a blockade runner obviously filled with munitions for the commerce raiders turns to horror... As a result the 1 Phillipino Able bodied seaman and Ms. Tina Vanderhesk a 16 year old Danish American girl who lost both parents in the sinking get front row seats to the sinking of the SMS Blucher the next day.
The reaction a week later from America is furious. 446 people died in what the American yellow press is calling an act of British Piracy worse than anything America has ever been subjected too before. The press likewise latches on to the British"impressment" of Ms Tina. Several British MP's argue for a quick apology and a promise of better safeguards but another faction led by First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill argue that an an apology and loosing of the blockade will only encourage more neutral ships to load down with raw materials desperately needed in Germany. Instead they argue to let the sinking of the Mechanicsville serve as a warning and they prevail.
This sets off a diplomatic fire storm. The British seizure and transfer to prize courts of 15 more freighters in rapid succession through Feb-April: in reality not uncommon but now fodder for the papers which paint a tale of a secret British war on US commerce waged to insure Britain's post war economic advantage. The tales of secret attacks make much better print than simply reporting how many thousand men died in France today. As happened in real life most people ignored the German warnings about the RMS Lusitania and the German declaration of a war zone around the British Isles and she dutifully and tragically enters the history books with 1198 souls on May 7, 1915. The loss of so many lives outrages the Americans and that rage is naturally directed the passenger killing British Navy and for once the German's are not hungry for a big helping of foot in mouth stew and they remain quiet. The British know they've been had... they know the Germans did it, but they also know what the Lusitanian was carrying. So once again the never apologize faction wins out. In fact the British Ambassador in Washington D.C. delivers a message to President Wilson in response to a formal American protest from PM Asquith stating only that the British government is confident that the trade links between the US and UK and the flow of loans will continue despite the recent unpleasantness...
Upon being completely blown off by the British, Wilson always a prideful imperious man, but a humanitarian has Charles Hamlin the chairman of the Federal Reserve stop all NEW British Loans that were pending and to require payment in gold when servicing existing loans. While neither American intends this as a long term punishment, more a nose tweak to get some respect, the reaction in London is more extreme. Because of light pre-war gold holdings by the Bank of England and the continued existence of the London Gold Market sparked a panic when the news arrived just after lunch. Not unlike what would be seen in 1929 when radio and automobile stocks collapsed the panic ran like wildfire as speculators feared the loss of convertibility of gold stocks the next day.. This quickly spread to silver and the pound sterling and the other currencies pegged to the Royal Sovereign got flooded by speculators holding French and Belgian paper while it was still convertible.
By the close of business the bank of England was facing a balance sheet disaster. The contracts she was being forced to sing for the delivery of specie while not much in total terms would end up hammering the pound sterling if the Americans did not re-extend credit. Plus any long delay would quickly exhaust the private ad public Gold reserves on the Island of Great Britain. Hamlin listened with dread as the reports of the panic came across the trans-Atlantic cables and without even talking to President Wilson cabled the governor of the Bank of England to inform him that the loan restriction would last no more than 7 days in total.
So while the Bank of England got the proper message, the crowds near the Western Union Telegraph branch quickly morphed the message as they played the game telephone with thousands of ears. The message transformed from one of reassurance to a total restriction of all British loans in 7 days. Here the British government and its bell helmet bobbies lost control as thousands of young men already in a militant mood and waiting shipment to training centers as part of Kitchener's New Army marched on the port of London and the American vessels anchored there. What resulted as a night of fire that ended up leaving scores people dead and injured and 6 ships, sunk, on fire or sinking at the quays. Then one of the 6, an ammunition ship which had been abandoned to fire after the crew opened the sea cocks exploded. The ship had settled into the mud and not lost watertight integrity once the sea cocks were blocked. When the fire reached a load of explosives intended for the newly formed Royal Engineer mining companies in France the whole ship exploded, she took another ammunition ship with her and all told 2,213 tons of ordnance exploded.
The explosion at the port of London was not nearly as big as Black Tom Island, but was even more densely packed than Texas City. 3200 people are known to have died in the immediate area of the port and broken glass at Buckingham Palace severely lacerated the arm of Mary of Teck. Big Ben stopped turning forever and the Tower of London had several sections of stone and mortar rocked loose. Most tragically to blood and cultural was the fate of the Crystal Palace. The Crystal Palace once iconic symbol of the London's World Fair shattered and collapsed under the shock wave burying hundreds of young recruits who had been sightseeing in London for the first time.
It also knocked out the telegraph line in London, deafened most members of Parliament and other high ranking British leaders and government servants. For the First time since the laying of the first cable London went silent- those in power could neither say nor hear.... Other locations however reported a huge explosion in London
By the end of the day.....
to be continued
Midday 23 Jan 1915 just North of the Dogger Bank after heavy morning fog the SS Mechanicsville a 3500 gross ton (10,000 ton displacement) single stack freighter with a crew of 45 and 222 Belgian refugees and 181 American expat passengers in staterooms and the holds, after delivering load of 850 tons of copper consigned to Denmark (and avoiding the Royal Navy) and now enroute to England is intercepted from the SE by the HMS Undaunted and 4 destroyers. She is mistaken for the SMS Odenwald a KM blockade runner/ collier that is actually interned at the time and the British flottilla moves to engage. The American freighters smoke obscures her jack and the British lamps but a lookout reports the closing warships. Mistaking the ships for Germans the captain makes a turn to the NNE hoping to find a British patrol flottilla- not realizing that is who is chasing him and that he is already to the North of the British naval units. The turn convinces the Undaunted that the ship is trying to run to Sweden and at 1344 she opens fire at 7000yds. She scores her first hit at 1410. the 152mm shell blows through 3 state rooms killing a number of people but leaving the ship mechanically intact. A second hit is scored on the bridge at 1411 killing the captain, all three mates and navigator plus the on duty bridge crew. As a result the ship does not slow down or deviate from her course. Several more shells hit starting large fires. Then at 1421 a shell hits the coal bunker nearly depleted after the long voyage across the Atlantic. The earlier hits have shaken the ship hard and the lifted the near empty bunkers coal dust. As a result the shell hit causes a massive explosion that blows the back third of the ship apart and the stern is underwater within 3 minutes. The rest of the ship is quickly sliding backwards into the depth of the North Sea with no time to launch boats. As the destroyers move in to rescue survivors a look out on one of the war ships gets periscope fever and they pull back for 45 minutes watching the ship go down. By the time the destroyers move back in all but 2 persons have died. The elation in the British flotilla at sinking a blockade runner obviously filled with munitions for the commerce raiders turns to horror... As a result the 1 Phillipino Able bodied seaman and Ms. Tina Vanderhesk a 16 year old Danish American girl who lost both parents in the sinking get front row seats to the sinking of the SMS Blucher the next day.
The reaction a week later from America is furious. 446 people died in what the American yellow press is calling an act of British Piracy worse than anything America has ever been subjected too before. The press likewise latches on to the British"impressment" of Ms Tina. Several British MP's argue for a quick apology and a promise of better safeguards but another faction led by First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill argue that an an apology and loosing of the blockade will only encourage more neutral ships to load down with raw materials desperately needed in Germany. Instead they argue to let the sinking of the Mechanicsville serve as a warning and they prevail.
This sets off a diplomatic fire storm. The British seizure and transfer to prize courts of 15 more freighters in rapid succession through Feb-April: in reality not uncommon but now fodder for the papers which paint a tale of a secret British war on US commerce waged to insure Britain's post war economic advantage. The tales of secret attacks make much better print than simply reporting how many thousand men died in France today. As happened in real life most people ignored the German warnings about the RMS Lusitania and the German declaration of a war zone around the British Isles and she dutifully and tragically enters the history books with 1198 souls on May 7, 1915. The loss of so many lives outrages the Americans and that rage is naturally directed the passenger killing British Navy and for once the German's are not hungry for a big helping of foot in mouth stew and they remain quiet. The British know they've been had... they know the Germans did it, but they also know what the Lusitanian was carrying. So once again the never apologize faction wins out. In fact the British Ambassador in Washington D.C. delivers a message to President Wilson in response to a formal American protest from PM Asquith stating only that the British government is confident that the trade links between the US and UK and the flow of loans will continue despite the recent unpleasantness...
Upon being completely blown off by the British, Wilson always a prideful imperious man, but a humanitarian has Charles Hamlin the chairman of the Federal Reserve stop all NEW British Loans that were pending and to require payment in gold when servicing existing loans. While neither American intends this as a long term punishment, more a nose tweak to get some respect, the reaction in London is more extreme. Because of light pre-war gold holdings by the Bank of England and the continued existence of the London Gold Market sparked a panic when the news arrived just after lunch. Not unlike what would be seen in 1929 when radio and automobile stocks collapsed the panic ran like wildfire as speculators feared the loss of convertibility of gold stocks the next day.. This quickly spread to silver and the pound sterling and the other currencies pegged to the Royal Sovereign got flooded by speculators holding French and Belgian paper while it was still convertible.
By the close of business the bank of England was facing a balance sheet disaster. The contracts she was being forced to sing for the delivery of specie while not much in total terms would end up hammering the pound sterling if the Americans did not re-extend credit. Plus any long delay would quickly exhaust the private ad public Gold reserves on the Island of Great Britain. Hamlin listened with dread as the reports of the panic came across the trans-Atlantic cables and without even talking to President Wilson cabled the governor of the Bank of England to inform him that the loan restriction would last no more than 7 days in total.
So while the Bank of England got the proper message, the crowds near the Western Union Telegraph branch quickly morphed the message as they played the game telephone with thousands of ears. The message transformed from one of reassurance to a total restriction of all British loans in 7 days. Here the British government and its bell helmet bobbies lost control as thousands of young men already in a militant mood and waiting shipment to training centers as part of Kitchener's New Army marched on the port of London and the American vessels anchored there. What resulted as a night of fire that ended up leaving scores people dead and injured and 6 ships, sunk, on fire or sinking at the quays. Then one of the 6, an ammunition ship which had been abandoned to fire after the crew opened the sea cocks exploded. The ship had settled into the mud and not lost watertight integrity once the sea cocks were blocked. When the fire reached a load of explosives intended for the newly formed Royal Engineer mining companies in France the whole ship exploded, she took another ammunition ship with her and all told 2,213 tons of ordnance exploded.
The explosion at the port of London was not nearly as big as Black Tom Island, but was even more densely packed than Texas City. 3200 people are known to have died in the immediate area of the port and broken glass at Buckingham Palace severely lacerated the arm of Mary of Teck. Big Ben stopped turning forever and the Tower of London had several sections of stone and mortar rocked loose. Most tragically to blood and cultural was the fate of the Crystal Palace. The Crystal Palace once iconic symbol of the London's World Fair shattered and collapsed under the shock wave burying hundreds of young recruits who had been sightseeing in London for the first time.
It also knocked out the telegraph line in London, deafened most members of Parliament and other high ranking British leaders and government servants. For the First time since the laying of the first cable London went silent- those in power could neither say nor hear.... Other locations however reported a huge explosion in London
By the end of the day.....
to be continued
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