Enigma: The Caldwell Series

By Dan Ryan

Engima is the continuation of the story begun in the novel LONDON. It is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents portrayed in this novel are the product of the authors imagination or have been used fictitiously. The characters are placed within the historical perspective of the signing of the Armistice on November 11, 1918 and the ten years immediately after this event. The events depicted in this novel were first presented in the Times Encyclopedia and Gazetter, 431 South Dearborn Street, Chicago, Illinois, copyrighted 1934. This collection of eight volumes contains a comprehensive, day by day narrative of the world war and years immediately following. The main characters are Admiral James Caldwell and his two sons, James Jr. and Louis Caldwell. James Sr. is the story teller as the navy family moves to London following the war until the depression of 1920.
The purchase of 1600 acres called Spring Well in the novel is based upon the purchase of Chart Well by Winston Churchill in 1921. Winston Churchill faced a similar situation in his life at this time in history. Churchill entered the British army in 1893, fought at the battle of Khartoum with the Nile Expeditionary Forces in 1898 and was in the Boer War of 1899. He was elected to parliament for Oldham in 1900, was Under-secretary of State for the Colonies in 1906, married Clementine Hozier in 1908 and was Home Secretary in 1910. He served as First Lord of the Admiralty, Minister of Munitions and Secretary for War and Air during the war. In 1921 he was voted out of office and the House of Commons.
The novel is a work of fiction. Its location was inspired by my time spent in London during the spring semester of 1974. The Rotary Foundation Group Exchange, district 114 in England invited a number of scholars from the United States to spend time in England living with various Rotarians of District 114. I was teaching at the University of Nebraska at the time, and I was chosen to represent District 565 of the United States. It was during this time that I came to know the people of Reigate, Redhill and Merstham, just south of London. This is where I met some of the characters for my novels London and Enigma. I stayed overnight in the Prince of Wales in Reigate, the Ashleigh Public House in Redhill and the Lakers Hotel in Merstham.
The historical events which are outlined in this book all took place. The dates and locations are accurate, but the characters are the products of my overactive imagination. Some persons mentioned, however, are real. You cannot write about this period of our history without making reference to commanding admirals or generals.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Dec 16, 2011
• ISBN: 9781468505894

Dan Ryan

Dan was born and educated in Melbourne in the state of Victoria, Australia. He found his heroes among the writers that he read and studied and found his passion in the countryside in the southeast of the state, among the forests and farms and wildlife, along the rugged coastline, on foot or more often, horseback. His message is that the spiritual world is omnipresent and therefore reachable through time spent with nature and by understanding the myths, symbols and lessons from our own and older civilisations. Dan divides his time between Melbourne and his small farm at Woodside.

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© 2011 Dan Ryan. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

First published by AuthorHouse 12/12/2011

ISBN: 978-1-4685-0591-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4685-0590-0 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4685-0589-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2011961779

Printed in the United States of America

Any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Cover photograph, by Connie Ryan, is London’s Albert Bridge, built in 1873 and is one of the less sturdy bridges. A notice warns marching troops to break step when crossing. The chimneys in the background are those of the Battersea Power Station built in 1923.

Contents

Prologue

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

40

41

42

43

44

45

46

47

48

49

50

Epilogue

Author’s Note

Preview of Dan Ryan’s e-Learning Modules

ALSO BY DAN RYAN

London

Merryweather USMC

The General

War of the Nations

Catywampus

Jigsaw

Admiral’s Son General’s Daughter

Admirals and Generals

Lull After the Storm

Death Before Dishonor

Calm Before the Storm

Reference and E-books

e-Learning Modules

History of Computer Graphics

Lean Modeling for Engineers

Lean Office Practices for Architects

Robotic Simulation

CAD/CAE Descriptive Geometry

Modern Graphic Communication

Technical Sketching and Computer Illustration

Graphical Displays for Engineering Documentation

Mini/Micro Computer Graphics

Computer-aided Manufacturing (Russian Language)

Planning, Organizing and Developing a CAD course

CAD for AutoCAD Users

Graphic Communication Manual

Computer Programming for Graphical Displays

Computer Graphics Problems Manual

Principles of Automated Drafting

Computer-aided Architectural Graphics

Computer-aided Kinetics for Machine Design

Computer Aided Graphics and Design

Principles of Drafting

This novel is dedicated to Taressa Linn Schneider, the most

determined individual I know. She has reclaimed her life more

than once and has rebuilt it to the amazement of her whole family.

Prologue

The recession of 1920–21 in the United States was characterized by extreme deflation, the largest one-year percentage decline in around 140 years of data. The Department of Commerce estimated 18% deflation, Balke and Gordon estimated 13% deflation, and Romer estimated 14.8% deflation. The drop in wholesale prices was even more severe, falling by 36.8%, the most severe drop since the American Revolutionary War. The deflation of 1920–21 was extreme in absolute terms, and also unusually extreme given the relatively small decline in gross domestic product.

Unemployment rose sharply during the depression. Romer estimated a rise to 8.7% from 5.2% and an older estimate from Stanley Lebergott said unemployment rose from 5.2% to 11.7%. Both agree that unemployment quickly fell after the recession, and by the end of 1921 had returned to a level consistent with full employment. The recession also saw an extremely sharp decline in industrial production. From May 1920 to July 1921, automobile production declined by 60% and total industrial production by 30%. At the end of the recession, production quickly rebounded. Industrial production returned to its peak levels by October 1922. The AT&T Index of Industrial Productivity showed a decline of 29.4%, followed by an increase of 60.1%, by this measure, the recession of 1920–21 had the most severe decline and most robust recovery of any recession between 1899 and 1922. Using a variety of indexes, Victor Zarnowitz found the recession of 1920–21 to have the largest drop in business activity of any recession between 1873 and 1922. By this measure, Zarnowitz finds the recession to be only slightly larger than the recession of 1873–79, recession of 1882–85, recession of 1893–94 and the recession of 1907–08.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average from January 1918 to December 1921 shows the index peaked at 119.6 on November 3, 1919 and bottomed at 63.9 on August 24, 1921, a decline of 47%. Stocks fell dramatically during the recession. The Dow Jones Industrial Average reached a peak of 119.6 on November 3, 1919, two months before the recession began. The market bottomed on August 24, 1921, at 63.9, a decline of 47% (by comparison, the Dow fell 44% during the Panic of 1907). The climate was terrible for businesses – from 1919 to 1922 the rate of business failures tripled, climbing from 37 failures to 120 failures per every 10,000 businesses. Businesses that avoided bankruptcy saw a 75% decline in profits. Factors that economists have pointed to as potentially causing or contributing to the downturn include: troops returning from the war which created a surge in the civilian labor force, a decline in labor union strife, a shock in agricultural commodity prices, tighter monetary policy and expectations of deflation.

Adjusting from war time to peace time was an enormous shock for the United States economy. Factories focused on war time production had to shut down or retool their production. A short post-war recession occurred in the United States following Armistice Day, but this was followed by a growth spurt. The recession that occurred in 1920, however, was also affected by the adjustments following the end of the war, particularly the demobilization of soldiers. One of the biggest adjustments was the re-entry of soldiers into the civilian labor force. In 1918, the Armed Forces employed 2.9 million people. This fell to 1.5 million in 1919 and a mere 380,000 by 1920. The impact on the labor market was most striking in 1920, when the civilian labor force increased by 1.6 million people, or 4.1%, in a single year (though smaller than post-war demobilization in other wars, it is otherwise the largest documented one-year labor force increase). In the early 1920s, both prices and wages changed more quickly than today, and thus employers may have been quicker to offer reduced wages to returning troops, hence lowering their production costs, and lowering their prices.

President Warren Harding convened a President’s Conference on Unemployment at the instigation of Commerce Secretary Herbert Hoover as a result of rising unemployment during the recession. About 300 eminent members of industry, banking and labor were called together in September 1921, to discuss the problem of unemployment. Hoover organized the economic conference and a committee on unemployment. The committee established a branch in every state having substantial unemployment, along with sub-branches in local communities and mayors’ emergency committees in 31 cities. The committee contributed relief to the unemployed, and also organized collaboration between the local and federal governments.

The Unemployment Conference stands as a watershed in federal policy with respect to depressions and unemployment relief. In sharp contrast to the total inaction and benign neglect that had characterized the response of previous administrations, the conference not only conducted studies aimed at preventing future depressions through better management of the business cycle, but also provided practical assistance to local committees and encouraged a variety of local actions. These included the stimulation of public works and clean-up projects, advice on the organization and techniques of fund raising, and exhorting employers to adopt work-sharing plans. The conference soon became an effective clearinghouse, disseminating ideas that local committees had found effective in providing jobs and temporary relief.

The recession was not world wide. In Europe, a rebuilding of war damage was underway and industry was booming. In 1918, German engineer, Arthur Scherbius, applied for a patent for a cipher machine using rotors and, with E. Richard Ritter, founded the firm of Scherbius & Ritter. They approached the German Navy and Foreign Office with their design, but neither was interested. They then assigned the patent rights to Gewerkschaft Securitas, who founded the Cipher Machines Stock Corporation and they began advertising a cipher machine, Enigma model A, which was exhibited at the Congress of the International Postal Union. The machine was heavy and bulky, incorporating a typewriter. It measured 21×15×11 inches and weighed about 110 pounds. No one seemed interested except Louis Caldwell, director of Caldwell International Corporation in London. He bought ten of the machines and the operating instructions.

When Enigma model B was introduced, he bought twenty. He sent these to Skokie, Illinois, for Caldwell International to offer for sale in parallel with their Teletypewriters. His brother, Admiral James Caldwell, had found an Enigma model A on board a U-boat he had forced to the surface in the Baltic Sea just outside of Helsinki, Finland, in 1919. When he questioned the radio operators of U-55, he found that the Enigma machine required a list of daily key settings as well as a number of auxiliary documents. The procedures for German Naval Enigma were more elaborate and more secure than the procedures used in other services he was told. The German Navy code books were also printed in red, water-soluble ink on pink paper so that they could easily be destroyed if they were at risk of being seized by the enemy. The code books taken from captured German submarine U-55 were sent to the National Intelligence Agency in Washington, D.C. Here the Enigma machine was studied to see how it worked. It was never returned to the US Navy.

Copies of the code books were given, off the record to Caldwell engineers in London and they began studying both models A and B. They found that they were quite unlike. They differed in physical size and shape, but also cryptographically, in that model A lacked the reflector. The reflector was an idea suggested by Scherbius’s colleague Willi Korn. It worked so well that it became standard in the Enigma C model. The reflector was the key feature of the Enigma machines that were under study at Caldwell International.

Model C was smaller and more portable than its predecessors. It lacked a typewriter, relying instead on the operator reading the lamps; hence the alternative name of glow lamp Enigma to distinguish it from earlier models. This version was widely used, with examples being sold to Sweden, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Japan, Italy, Spain, and Poland. The United States government did not seem interested.

In Germany, the Navy was the first branch of the German military to adopt Enigma, model C. This version, named Radio cipher C, was put into production in 1920. The keyboard and lampboard contained 29 letters (A-Z, Ä, Ö and Ü) which were arranged alphabetically, as opposed to the QWERTZU ordering. The rotors had 28 contacts, with the letter X wired to bypass the rotors unencrypted. Three rotors were chosen from a set of five and the reflector could be inserted in one of four different positions, denoted α, β, γ and δ. The navy machine was revised slightly in July 1921.

By July 1921, the German Army (Reichswehr) had introduced their own version of the Enigma. This was known as the Wehrmacht, or Services Enigma, and was used extensively by the German military services and other government organizations (such as the railways). The major difference between the navy Enigma and army Enigma models was the addition of a plug board to swap pairs of letters, greatly increasing the cryptographic strength of the machine. Other differences included the use of a fixed reflector, and the relocation of the stepping notches from the rotor body to the movable letter rings. The machine measured 11 inches × 13.5 inches × 6 inches and weighed around 26 pounds.

By 1922, the Army had suggested that the Navy adopt their machine, citing the benefits of increased security (with the plug board) and easier interservice communications. The Navy eventually agreed and brought into service the Army Enigma, designated Funkschlüssel M or M3. While the German Army used only three rotors at that time, for greater security the Navy specified a choice of three from a possible five. In December, the Army issued two extra rotors so that the three rotors were chosen from a set of five. Later, the Navy added three more rotors, to allow a choice of three rotors from a set of eight. The German Air Force also introduced the Wehrmacht Enigma for their communications in 1922.

A four-rotor Enigma was introduced by the German Navy for U-boat traffic, called M4. The network was known as Triton, or Shark, to the Allies, the United States military was still unaware of what Enigma was or how it worked. The extra German rotor was fitted in the same space by splitting the reflector into a combination of a thin reflector and a thin fourth rotor. There was also a large, eight-rotor printing model, the Enigma II. The Polish Cipher Bureau detected that it was in use for high-level military communications, but that it was soon withdrawn from use after it was found to be unreliable and to jam frequently.

The German Intelligence Agency (Abwehr), used the Enigma G (the Abwehr Enigma). This Enigma variant was a four-wheel unsteckered machine with multiple notches on the rotors. This model was equipped with a counter which incremented upon each key press, and so is also known as the counter machine or the Zählwerk Enigma. Other countries also used Enigma machines. The Italian Navy adopted the commercial Enigma as Navy Cipher D; the Spanish also used commercial Enigma during their Civil War. British code breakers succeeded in breaking these machines, which lacked a plug board. The Swiss used a version of Enigma called model K or Swiss K for military and diplomatic use, which was very similar to the commercial Enigma D. The machine was broken by a number of parties, including Poland, France and Britain with the help of Caldwell International (the latter codenamed it INDIGO). An Enigma T model (codenamed, Tirpitz) was manufactured for use by the Japanese.

It has been estimated that 100,000 Enigma machines were constructed until the great depression of October 1929. During the depression, Caldwell International sold Enigma models A and B machines, still widely considered secure, to a number of developing countries. The United States did not purchase any machines from Caldwell International.

1

It is the early part of October 1919. In London, the early morning white mist hangs in the squares and streets. Every leaf is wet. There is no wind, and, in the hush of morning, trees in the square are as still as a scene at the bottom of the sea. The Row in Hyde Park fades into mist from which, now and then, a horseman emerges, the phantom of a second, his horse’s breath white on the sharp air. Blackfriars Bridge pulses with traffic, and is loud with the rattle of wheels, the jingle of harness and the sound of motor horns. The river is a study in dark blues, the blue of cigar smoke, a lovely, subtle blue. The training submarine is silhouetted black like a ghost galleon against the graduated background as the young Admiral, James Caldwell, moves among his men. They are all volunteers from the US Navy assigned to England and Denmark. Secretary Daniels has authorized a special training mission from his office in Washington, D.C.

As soon as Secretary Daniels realized that he could not meet with President Wilson because of his stroke, he lifted the embargo against tracking German U-boats in the Baltic and North Seas. The young Admiral Caldwell would now be in command of the secret operation to identify German U-boats by the Neff devices installed in each of his submarines. German U-boats were operating out of the seaports along Finland’s coast. This would probably mean a confrontation with a U-boat and that is exactly what Joe Daniels did not want to happen. His orders to my son (the young Admiral) were very explicit and they dealt with what I had sent him about the German/Finlandia U-boats currently in service. I am James Caldwell, Sr., Admiral of the Navy, Army Navy Building, Washington, D.C.

Secretary Daniels called my son’s office in London and said, Admiral, your father has forwarded your report. I have read it and I wanted to talk to you. Where does your information come from? Is it an NIA source?

Secretary Daniels, my information comes from my captains. I am informed that the Germans still have two classes of submarines in service, the U class and the UC class. I have pictures of the U-55 boat taken off the coast of Finland.

Did you include that picture in your report to your father?

The picture that I forwarded with my report was taken with the periscope camera of F-34. It was coming out of Helsinki. My captain was testing our new listening devices and heard what turned out to be a tender making a delivery to U-55. You can see the tender in the back ground on the right hand side. U-55 has a unique sound pattern, it has not been tracked during the war, so we had assigned the code, U-55, to this German boat. It is probably 2500 tons, in a craft of that size, reasonable habitability and good sea-keeping qualities are possible. It could cross the Atlantic by itself. I have recalled a number of our submarines from the Mediterranean, but they are between 800 and a 1000 tons. We have nothing in our inventory to compete with U-55. We estimate that it has a length of 280 feet, beam of 26 feet, depth of 20 feet, surface horsepower of 7000, surface speed of 22 knots, submerged speed of 14 knots and a cruising distance of 6500 miles.

Can you keep track of U-55?

The trackers have already been assigned to the ports in Denmark and England as previously arranged by you and my father. We do not have many tenders assigned to the Baltic and it would be a good idea to locate a few more. U-55 can carry supplies for six to eight weeks. With 8 torpedo tubes, during simulated war time exercises, she needs new fish sooner than six to eight weeks

Simulated war time exercises are forbidden by terms of the Armistice.

U-55 is in clear violation, Sir. I counted 8 deck guns, some are anti-aircraft, notice the covered bridge and conning tower, the two collapsible boats are hard to see. U-55 has German officers (NIA has confirmed this),3 machinists, 1 medical officer, 5 petty officers and crew members.

How does NIA know this?

I asked my brother, Louis, and he said he could tell me, but then he would have to kill me. The Farm must be involved, right? Ask Admiral Lowe if he can confirm for you.

I will, anything else?

I have requested photographs of the UC class to forward in my next report. As you know UCs are designed for laying mines instead of firing torpedoes. They have tubes for squirting the mines out in a string. They carry 150 contact mines and the UCs have been raising hell with Great Britain around Norway and northern Scotland, but the Royal Navy won’t admit it. A UC is a lot larger, it is 5000 tons, 413 feet long, speed on the surface of 26 knots, submerged 16 knots with a radius of action of 20,000 miles. The Germans could mine all the harbors in both the Baltic and North Seas if they desired.

The second report was more specific. My son answered most of Joe Daniel‘s questions about the rules of engagement.

• Yes, we can stop a UC from laying mines. It would not result in loss of life aboard the UC and it depends upon if we can locate them. Every ship gives off a sound signal when its screws are turning in the water. We have patterns for most of US shipping so we don’t attack our own. We are being ordered into the Baltic to record the sounds made by German and Finland U-boats. The special weapons committee headed by Thomas Edison has given us the recording equipment and a device that can be placed inside our torpedoes that will home in on any sound pattern that we have. Once the sound patterns are known, we will be able to destroy U-boats underwater from a safe distance, they should not be able to detect us if we are careful.

• Neff is not only the removal of storage batteries and the venting of diesel fumes into the sea without fouling the air inside the submarine. It is, and let’s hope that is all the Germans think it is, a very accurate tracking device.

• I have never seen anything work as well during sea trials. We will continue using it this month in the North Sea. We will not use a torpedo with a warhead. Upon contact, the torpedo turns to scrap metal pieces and tears the submarine’s screws to pieces. We used it in the war against the Austrian submarine that sank the Persia.

• Before the war, Admiral Dewey would not allow one of his captains to admit that we broke our neutrality over the testing of the Neff System. The Austrians lost six U-boats under my command, total tonnage was estimated at 10,824. That would include some small coastal U-boats and not anything in the UC class.

• We lost one, F-4, in the Atlantic during the war. Japan lost 3, Portugal 1, Belgium 2, Germany 12, and Great Britain 69. The US Naval submarine operations and incidents of the war were not, aside from the battle of Jutland, particularly noteworthy. The British fleet continued to give the world a shining example of the value of sea power by shutting off Germany from all seaborne supplies except the small quantities which occasionally came across from Norway and Sweden and even this traffic was almost stopped. The prevention of import of cotton, copper, rubber, zinc, tin, petroleum and foodstuffs greatly hampered Germany, Austria and Turkey in the production of munitions of war and it is probable that it seriously interfered with their military operations.

• The German U-boat war against commerce during the war was the German government’s indefensible attitude towards neutral shipping. The present action by the German government is to test the limits imposed by the Armistice. A very considerable portion of the German people are probably unaware of any U-boat operations in the Baltic.

• The German Navy, except for this rouge U-boat service, is impounded and sitting on the German coast, not even venturing out into the Baltic.

The Department of the Navy

Washington DC

October 17, 1919

Admiral James Caldwell, Jr.

United States Naval Inspection Force

Port of South Hampton, England

Re: Rules of engagement

You are to put to sea immediately in the submarines at your disposal. Your submarine will be in command of all the others presently patrolling the Baltic Sea. My orders of engagement are clear. Defend yourselves and all American Navy ships in the North and Baltic Seas. Do not hinder any foreign national ships whatsoever, you are authorized to make recordings of any national ship for identification. Under the terms of the Armistice, you may stop and board any German vessel within these waters for inspection purposes. The Department of the Navy is interested in knowing the destination of, and the purpose of, any U-class boats. In the case of UC-class boats, you may board, inspect and seize any offensive weapons including mines. If you observe a UC in the act of laying mines, you are authorized to respond only after the vessel has begun the discharge of the mines. You are then required to respond with non-lethal means to disable the UC in question.

Your father shared your last communication with me. As of this date, all torpedoes are to have fragmental warheads, fired for non-lethal effect. If you are fired upon during the attempt to inspect a German vessel, I expect an immediate and lethal response. I do not expect the German vessel to survive the response, I expect it to be sunk.

Save this and show it to any Danish, Great Britain or American military personnel who do not cooperate in fulfilling any of your requests for assistance of supplies. I have forwarded copies of this letter to the following governments so that there can not be any misunderstanding: Denmark, Finland, Russia, Germany, Great Britain and the United States Senate.

J. E. Daniels

J. E. Daniels

Secretary of the Navy

After reading the communication, Admiral James Caldwell buzzed for his radio mate to take a message and send it to the Army Navy Building.

October 21, 1919

Rules of engagement received and understood, leaving today aboard the uss starfish.

James Caldwell II, Admiral USN

He then sent the following wireless message to all submarine captains in the Baltic and North Seas from the USS Starfish.

October 21, 1919

Affective this date, you are to replace live warheads on all torpedoes with fragmental. Upon order of the Secretary of the Navy, you are to track and record all German U-boats within striking range of your assigned inspection areas. You are authorized to stop and inspect all U and UC-class boats. You are to seize all offensive weapons found on board. If you witness any UC-class boat in the process of laying mines - you are authorized to use your fragment torpedoes. If your vessel is attacked, you are cleared to attack and sieze the U-boat or surface vessel involved in the attack. You are not authorized to seize any vessel unless that vessel has already attacked your vessel.

James Caldwell, Admiral USN

He then began the long wait inside USS Starfish as she slowly left the port of South Hampton to find the American submarine, USS Swordfish a F-34, on patrol along the coast of Finland. His patrol submarines had been transported to Europe, at the beginning of the war, aboard ships of the line. He had left Washington Naval Yard nearly two years ago for the Med. Now he would use them again to set up his patrol network within the Baltic and North Seas. By the 29th of October, nearly one year after the signing of the Armistice, the German U-boats in violation had been recorded and patterns of the sounds had been given to all submarines assigned to the inspection areas. On the 29th, F-34, an American submarine on patrol picked up the sound of a transatlantic liner headed for the Port of Helsinki, they also heard the sounds of a U-boat in close pursuit.

Captain David Ellingsworth of the F-34 had seen this before during his tour of duty in the Med. He sent a wireless message to the liner, U-boat close astern, please stop before proceeding to the Port of Helsinki. It is our intention to inspect the U-boat.

The U-boat must have been listening to wireless messages and they replied, "This is the Finlandia submarine Pride of Helsinki, the escort for the British Ocean Liner, Paradise. We are in the service of the Government of Finland and not subject to inspection."

Almost immediately, radioman Jake Turner, got this message from the liner. This is the Liner Queen Charlotte, we are unaware of any escort astern of our vessel, we are stopping as requested.

Radioman Turner parroted the message back to his captain, Queen Charlotte is stopping, she is stopping her screws, she is dead in the water.

Let’s hope she is in time, Mr. Turner. Open all outer doors on tubes 1 through 6, set homing device for sound pattern of that U-boat on tubes 3 and 4. Wait to fire 3 and 4 upon my command.

Sir, I hear outer doors of U-boat opening, he is going to fire!

Understood, Mr. Turner. Send the message to the U-boat to surface. Wait to fire upon my command. Do not jump the gun, if we are going to put the U-boat out of commission, let’s be justified in our actions.

But, Sir. He is going to fire!

He is trying for a Mexican standoff, we are the force that will put his boat out of commission if he tries.

Sir, torpedoes in the water. U-boat has two fish headed straight for us!

Understood. Distance to impact?

1500 yards more or less, it is hard to tell, U-boat is turning away from us and making a run for it.

Close the distance between us. Prepare to fire tubes 3 and 4.

Sir, fish one has missed us, port side. Fish two is not running smoothly, it will miss us on starboard side.

Torpedo room, do you copy?

Yes, Captain.

Are we close enough to the U-boat?

Range is difficult to determine, U-boat is headed for the bottom.

Fire tubes 3 and 4.

Both fired, Sir.

Radio, what do you hear?

Two fish running hot and going after the U-boat, Sir.

How many seconds to impact?

They should be there now, Sir. F-34 rocked softly from side to side as their torpedoes tore the screws off the U-boat. Sir, I am getting an SOS from the U-boat in simple Morse code. Do you want to respond?

Yes, Mr. Turner, repeat my request to surface for inspection. If they do not surface immediately, I will torpedo them again.

But, Sir we are not allowed to do that. Are we?

"We are, Mr. Turner. Contact the Starfish and let the Admiral know what we have done. U-boats travel in pairs, be listening for the other one."

Sir, outer doors opening on second U-Boat!!

Calm, Mr. Turner, which U-boat is it? Match the sound patterns.

It’s U-30, Sir. Oh my God, Sir, two torpedoes in the water headed directly for us.

Where is U-30, Mr. Turner?

Directly astern, Sir.

Torpedo room, fire stern tubes without setting homing devices, do it now. We have done this before everyone, brace for explosions astern.

Four fish in the water, Sir, approaching each other.

Distance from each other?

Less than a 100 yards, Sir.

Torpedo room, detonate stern fish now. F-34 rocked violently from side to side again as four torpedoes exploded between the two submarines. The torpedo room had sent a signal to the F-34 fish and they exploded taking the U-30 torpedoes with them.

Torpedo room, set homing device for sound pattern U-30 on tubes 1 and 2. Engine room, stop all engines.

More torpedoes in the water, Captain! They are equipped with homing devices. They are trying to find a sound pattern. They have passed us and are searching for U-30.

Distance to impact?

Unknown, Sir. U-30 is trying to close on us for another shot. F-34 rocked from side to side and the lights went out. Emergency lighting came on casting a reddish glow on the hundreds of tiny water sprays trying to fill the hull of F -34.

All hands – man emergency shutoff valves now!

Calm, Captain, the men know what to do. You have drilled us repeatedly on this. Mr. Turner was smiling and he began his checklist of items that needed to be restarted.

Engine room report damage.

Engine room is dry, no damage, Sir.

Torpedo room, report damage.

Torpedo room is dry, no damage. Outer doors closed, six fish loaded and ready for action. Standing by. F-34 went through the emergency shut down and restart in a matter of minutes.

"Incoming message from the Starfish, Captain."

Read it, Mister Turner.

All hands abroad the USS Swordfish. Sorry to rock your boat, had a bead on U-30 and took him out of action. He can not run without screws.

Admiral Caldwell

Captain David Ellingsworth sent a message to the U-boats, This is your last warning, surface immediately for inspection as per the agreement of the Armistice. If you refuse, we will inspect the remains of your boats. Where do you want the bodies sent?

Captain, three boats are surfacing.

Let’s join them and begin the inspection, Jake.

Aye, aye, Sir.

2

Messages began to be sent from the USS Starfish to both German U-boats.

The United States Navy is about to inspect your submarine. Your vessels have been disabled and will be towed to Helsinki after the inspection. If no violations of the November 1918, Armistice are found, the repairs will be made at the cost of the United States and you will be returned to duty.

The radio room on the USS Starfish waited for responses.

Admiral, the U-boats are sending coded messages to each other. I have no idea what they are saying.

Send the following message, Stop all coded messages and respond in simple Morse Code. If you attempt to resist our inspection, you will be sunk without warning. You have one minute to respond to this message.

The immediate response was, To US Navy inspection team. We will open our scuttle cocks and sink our boats before we submit to your unlawful demands.

The following reply from the USS Starfish was sent, To German U-boats. Our orders are to inspect your boats. We do not care if they are on the bottom or here on the surface. Your time is up, boarding parties are already in the water.

Admiral James Caldwell and Captain Ellingsworth watched as the boarding parties, in several small rubber boats, approached the two crippled German U-boats. A small rubber boat approaching a large submarine is a sitting duck. The deck cannons of the USS Swordfish and USS Starfish were trained on the decks of the two U-boats. If the German sailors were ordered to resist the boarding parties, the men in the rubber boats were dead.

Each rubber boat had a radio mate, a gunners mate and a crusty, old master chief with a machine gun. Common seamen paddled the few yards to the decks of the U-boats. The rubber boats bumped into the sides of the U-boats. No one threw them a line. The seamen, in each boat, reached into the bottom of the boat for a spike and hammer. They drove the spikes into the sides of the U-boats and attached hook and eyes and fastened the rubber boats to the side of the U-boats. They then threw grappling hooks onto the decks and they caught securely. The first American seamen began to pull themselves aboard a German submarine since the war ended. The German captains appeared on deck with their crews. Both submarines had surrendered.

The first Morse Code messages began to be sent to the USS Starfish from the U-boats by the American radio men.

U-55 and U-30 have sent messages to each other from strange looking typewriters. Have located code books and manuals for both. Vessels are armed with live torpedoes, deck cannons and live rounds in clear violation. Have informed the captains that they will be transported in the starfish to Helsinki. Awaiting further instructions.

Admiral Caldwell smiled as he read the first message and said, Send a flash message to all American vessels in the immediate area. Need transportation for the crews of German U-boats to Helsinki. Need towing of two slightly damaged U-boats to Port of South Hampton.

James Caldwell continued to read the flash messages from his patrol vessels and wondered if he had done the right thing. United States Naval Policy had always been that ships fight in pairs, never alone. His father and grandfather had always hammered that into his head. He had sent 18 submarines into inspection duty as single ships. He had been lucky, F-34 had taken on two U-boats and had survived, only because they were not expecting him in the USS Starfish to be shadowing F-34. He had a feeling about Captain Ellingsworth and knew what his response would be during the inspection patrol. Next time, the U-boats might be in packs, not in pairs. He radioed all submarines:

October 30, 1919

Single inspection duty ends this date. Begin pair rotations for reduced shadowing of U-boats from Finland to Germany.

James Caldwell, Admiral USN

He then sent the following message to the Department of the Navy:

October 30, 1919

Two German U-boats seized after inspection off the Port of Helsinki. Both have been impounded due to offensive weapons fired upon the USS Starfish this date. Officers have been arrested for violation of the terms of the Armistice and are awaiting transport for trial in the Netherlands. Enlisted men claim to be from Finland and they were released in Helsinki.

Inspection tour continues, we do not anticipate any further resistance from U-boats found in our assigned areas.

James Caldwell, Admiral USN

There was no mention of the strange looking typewriters found on the U-boats. They were given to the NIA station head in London, Louis Caldwell.

It is 9:30 AM on Blackfriars Bridge nearly a month later. The bridge still pulses with traffic, and is loud with the rattle of wheels, the jingle of harness and the sound of motor horns. The British public is unaware of what has happened near the Port of Helsinki. The river is still a study in dark blues. The training submarine is still silhouetted black like a ghost galleon against the graduated background as the young Admiral, James Caldwell, congratulates Captain Ellingsworth and his men. The volunteers from the US Navy assigned to England and Denmark‘s sub-pens have served with honor. Secretary Daniels’ authorized special training mission is over. It will be repeated, if necessary.

To the left, a string of tied barges is also black and in the reflection of the Southward side, the ragged wharves and tall chimneys are projected, trembling, in the water. Two men, coal dust on their faces and clothes lie on a pile of coal in one of the barges. One says to the other, Der Amerikanische Adrimal denki er gervonnen hat, und es ist vorbei.

Slowly a change comes. The Americans are conscious that above the mist is the sun. They can see Waterloo Bridge faintly etched in blue and gray, just a whisper that a bridge is there, as delicate as the first image that creeps over a photographic plate in the darkroom. To the right of the bridge, on one of the barges is a white blur as if something is trying hard to shine, it is the barrel of a high powered rifle. The river frontage of Somerset House, the roofs and chimneys of London appear out of the mist and come to life. The trees of the Embankment increase in number as visibility extends. The blank finger of Cleopatra’s Needle emerges. The German agents have lost their window of opportunity, the American Admiral is nowhere in sight.

He and his aide have left the black ghost ship and are walking down the Embankment into a silver-gray vista that extends as they advance, revealing the gray ghost of the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Bridge, then, behold, the sun is shining and London comes to life. A church clock strikes ten. Soon it will be noon in Piccadilly. One white glove holds up the power of a hundred motor cars. It falls, and the throbbing line of traffic surges on, the red double-decked buses, in skillful masses, go their ways. The crowds are in perpetual motion on the pavements. The women are questing around the shop windows. A man looks at his watch and the Admiral‘s aide says, We are being followed.

Is it the two shooters we saw on the barges?

Them or some others who are working with them.

Then the break-in at NIA was for the typewriters. Is our team in place?

Yes, Sir.

Good, let’s slow down a bit and let them catch up to us.

A girl hurries up to the man who has been glancing at his watch. She is wearing twinkling peach-colored stockings. There are other pretty faces in the crowd. Taxicabs are sliding up to the curb, a great going-in and coming-out of the shops covers the cry of two coal dust covered fellows carrying a case when they are whisked off the sidewalk and into a gray colored van. Over everything, the roar of wheels and the feeling that this is Piccadilly, the gray van disappears with four men bound in tape at the wrists and ankles.

This, of course, is Piccadilly at its best, Major. Don’t you agree?

I do, Admiral. I think it is safe to return to our offices now. If you ever need MI 5 again - do not hesitate to call.

And dusk comes down again a month later, with a saffron haze, and two men stand on Blackfriars bridge again. It is 7 PM, two American Admirals, father and son, look at the curve-of the Embankment outlined in little lights. The lights of the bridges are strung like strings of pearls around the dark neck of the Thames, a golden car speeds noiselessly towards Westminster. In the sky a dull, brown haze closes down on London. Above it the last glow of the sun, faintly pink, is shading to pearl gray. Each minute the light is drawn away. There is a red lamp on the river. The bridges are jet black, and through their arches is the shine of Thames water, faintly silver.

Thank you for coming here with me, Son. Your mother and I came here often when we were staying in our flat waiting for the cottage to be finished at Springwell.

Dad?

Yes, James.

How did you manage to get more time off from Washington?

Joe Daniels sent a message to the White House informing them that I was needed in London for the immediate future until all the Armistice violations were reduced or eliminated. We need to find out what the Germans have planned.

Will that be until the end of the Wilson Administration and your retirement?

It will.

Welcome home, Dad.

3

My son, Louis, called my office and wanted to tell me what he found out about the strange looking typewriters he had sent on to NIA head quarters in Washington, D.C. He said that they were Enigma machines.

What the hell is an Enigma machine?

An Enigma machine is any of a family of related electromechanical machines used for the encryption and decryption of secret messages. The first Enigma was invented by a German engineer, Arthur Scherbius, at the end of the war. This model, that you recovered from U-55 and its variants are probably used throughout the German military.

What else does Admiral Lowe tell you, Louis?

He indicates that the machine is now part of the NIA’s most closely guarded secrets and I am not to refer to it again in communications.

So, it is not going to be available to the US Navy.

Not in the near future. Would it interest you to know that Caldwell International has located a government services Enigma machine for sale?

What are you talking about?

"Hans Becker has contacted the Cipher Machines Stock Corporation in Berlin. He can purchase from the Gewerkschaft Securitas, a division of that company, a cipher machine, Enigma model A, which was exhibited at the Congress of the International Postal Union. The machine is heavy and bulky, incorporating a typewriter. It measures closely to the model that James found and weighs about 110 pounds, the same as his."

Buy one, Louis, and see if the manuals and code books that you have will give you any idea of how it works. If your brother and I are supposed to patrol the Baltic for rouge U-boats, it would be nice to read what they are sending.

We will need two, not one. They talk to each other, so to speak. I am not allowed to purchase a machine as a member of NIA. But as the director of Caldwell International in Europe, it seems a normal research project, don’t you think? Why don’t I purchase ten units and send some of them to our plant in Skokie, Illinois.

Do you think it has commercial value?

"I do. We can offer them for sale in parallel with our teletype machines. Within a few years, every embassy in Europe will