Chapter 803 – Enemy on Capitol Hill

“All in all, it’s a threat to the free world.” General Mountbatten took seven turns to find a place to sit down, ready to chat with his old friend.

The Nautilus nuclear submarine pioneered the application of nuclear power, and submarines thus entered another new era of inestimable and immense value, and its political and military significance was far-reaching, and it was therefore considered one of the major milestones in the development of modern submarine technology.

But no matter what, the Nautilus as a trailblazer, although already much larger than the average submarine, but only four thousand tons of full load displacement, with the size of the Nautilus, coupled with the internal nuclear reactor, in fact, the internal space is relatively limited.

The taller Mountbatten is especially so, just a rare opportunity, Mountbatten to ignore the narrow space inside the submarine, to come in to visit a little, to get first-hand information.

According to the original four-nation occupation of Germany, the Ruhr area, the best part of Germany, was a British-occupied area. Allen Wilson at first focused on the British occupied area scavenge, the German shipyard completed submarine and talent, packaged and sent to Britain.

Just at that time Allen Wilson was a man of few words, did not know where the German submarine experts ultimately went, only know that this group of people Britain did arrange, Mountbatten is now the first Secretary of State for the Sea, of course, know where this group of people.

With the presence of these German experts, some of the submarine on the concept and design of the British no difficulty, but the nuclear submarine and conventional submarines are different lies in the nuclear reactor, which the Germans will not be able to help, the Germans in nuclear weapons are going the wrong way, this aspect is not as good as the United Kingdom.

In fact, Britain’s nuclear reactor of course there is progress, only now the news from the Soviet Union, so that London again want to speed up the progress, Mountbatten on the attention to the United States.

The United States went back on its word and tore up the Anglo-American nuclear agreement, of course Mountbatten knew about it, but this does not delay him to work on it, and now the United Kingdom, must learn to be smart. And if that doesn’t work, then go back to doing its own research.

An old acquaintance, Hyman Rickover, who happened to be a close friend of Mountbatten’s, decided to open a gap in the father of American nuclear power.

The two men sat in the crew’s room four eyes, because it is to meet the visit, the entire nuclear submarine crew are not in, Mountbatten look at a few Hyman Rickover’s entourage did not follow, directly spoke, “In fact, now the United Kingdom in the Navy to face the problem, and the United States is exactly the same, as you know, the Warsaw Pact countries chose to confrontation, and now the situation in Europe is not very reassuring. ”

With Yugoslavia’s Warsaw Pact on what to bring, Alan Wilson can see, Mountbatten in the political center of London for many years, of course, can also see, this Warsaw Pact has been able to enter the Mediterranean Sea at any time.

The first to bear the brunt of the U.S. Sixth Fleet in Italy, but at the same time does not mean that the United Kingdom will be fine, Mountbatten previously in the Mediterranean Fleet, will certainly also be under pressure.

Mountbatten is a politician general, opened his mouth to ask for help directly startled Hyman Rickover, hoping that the other party to help Britain, to create the Royal Navy all-nuclear fleet.

Hyman Rickover was deeply shocked that this was an internal discussion within the U.S. Navy, but when he thought about the fact that Mountbatten was the highest admiral of the British Navy, it was not surprising that he had this idea, but how could he agree? Even if Britain and the United States were in an alliance, in the middle of a military bloc, it was impossible to help Britain build an all-nuclear fleet.

Mountbatten put Hyman Rickover’s reaction in his eyes, of course he knew it was impossible, the Americans would never do this, even close allies can not. From the destruction of the Manhattan Project, it would be nice if the Americans didn’t trip up.

He was completely lionized, borrowing the special relationship between Britain and the United States to open a heavenly request to cover the real purpose.

Alan Wilson once gave his father-in-law a trick, borrowing a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to get assistance in nuclear submarines. Mountbatten took a direct step and brought out the concept of an all-nuclear fleet, which was more of a cover than any nuclear-powered submarine.

Now the U.S. Navy is indeed discussing the concept of an all-nuclear fleet, without refueling nuclear-powered ships can run for more than 10 years or even decades, but people are very red. Hyman Rickover certainly knew that the only roadblock, in a word, the enemy was on Capitol Hill.

“Dickie, you know, this is a big deal.” Hyman Rickover beat around the bush to express his refusal.

“Hyman, I know you’re an expert in nuclear power, and the Royal Navy now wants to adapt to the pace of the new era. Our aim is to downsize. Transform the current large conventional fleet into a smaller, and still cost saving, all nuclear fleet, and from that point on, we are on the same page.”

Admiral Mountbatten’s face was full of sincerity that fooled Hyman Rickover, the Royal Navy and the US Navy were built on the same thinking, before the war the Royal Navy was an enlarged version of the US Navy, and after the war it was a scaled down version of the US Navy.

So the more surprising it is to have the same thinking the less surprising it is, and knowing this, Mountbatten came up with the idea of a similar military build to the US Navy to hide his true purpose. He and his son-in-law have discussed similar things and don’t look favorably on the concept of an all-nuclear fleet.

And the Cabinet would not support a nuclear overhaul of the Royal Navy, Britain is not what it was back then, and hands are much tighter, but nuclear submarines are different, and that’s still something to be fought for.

There was no way Hyman Rickover would agree to it, he didn’t have the authority, and even if he did, there was no reason to do so.

But right away Mountbatten gave Hyman Rickover a reason to do so, “Hyman, in fact, the U.S. Navy should help me, our interests are aligned, in the perspective of an old Navy.”

“How’s that?” Hyman Rickover asked rhetorically with suspicion, he had no problem with it from a personal perspective, but how could the federal government agree to something as big as an all-nuclear fleet?

“Let’s put it this way, I don’t expect to get all of it, but from the point of view of some of the smaller nuclear powered ships. I can’t return empty-handed can I?” Mountbatten turned the tables and said, “As for the reason you’re helping me, because we’re all facing one thing in common, and that’s that the Navy costs money, and the Navy wants big money, and I’m sure you guys empathize with that. I have my enemies on Capitol Hill …… and you have yours, and we should solve this problem together.”

“So, how is this problem going to be solved?” Hyman Rickover blushed, as a supporter of advocating for a nuclear powered fleet, he was certainly not happy with the Congressional lords who were stuck with the budget, it was a true expression of emotion.

“Like I said, the Royal Navy and the U.S. Navy face the same problems, and as the father of nuclear power, surely you, Hyman, are in favor of an all-nuclear fleet? But without a frame of reference your support doesn’t quite work.” Mountbatten smiled and said with an I’m-our-man tone, “What if the British Navy had a similar program? Wouldn’t that serve as corroboration to go to the legislators on Capitol Hill and ask for money?”

Hyman Rickover was silent for a long time, then finally laughed out loud and said, “I’ll have to discuss that with my colleagues.”

“I very much look forward to it.” Mountbatten nodded, and the two men got up and continued to make their way among the nuclear submarines.

After a while, Mountbatten and Hyman Rickover came out of the nuclear submarine together, hooking shoulders, in the eyes of the onlookers, it was a walking Anglo-American special relationship, no one could find fault.

The next stage of Mountbatten’s itinerary was a meeting with a close friend in the USAF, while Hyman Rickover was going to approach another proponent of an all-nuclear fleet to talk about maneuverability. This man was Arleigh Albert Burke. A big favorite for Secretary of the Navy, and like Hyman Rickover, Arleigh Albert Burke was very supportive of an all-nuclear fleet.

This latter-day admiral, named after the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, was just fifty-four years old at the time, and not only was Arleigh Burke not too old for a high-ranking admiral, he was practically in his prime.

Arleigh Burke by President Eisenhower’s regard, in two years ago he became an admiral, but and other people are completely different is that he was promoted over the ranks, from the Navy Rear Admiral directly into the Navy Admiral, especially visible by Eisenhower’s regard.

“Mountbatten likewise wants an all-nuclear fleet in Britain?” Arleigh Burke frowned slightly as he listened to Hyman Rickover’s paraphrase, “It seems that he is advocating the same thing as us.”

Arleigh Burke thought that the most valuable sentence among Hyman Rickover’s paraphrase was that the enemy was on Capitol Hill. The creation of an all-nuclear fleet was bound to require a lot of money to back it up, but the Congressional lords who approved the budget never let the military men and women who were loyal to their country feel comfortable.

If the British side could help, once there was movement, it might actually make the Congressional lords, who often stuck to the budget, give the Navy more budget for its development.

“But on what grounds can we help the British?” Arleigh Burke said to Hyman Rickover, “It doesn’t make sense, we can’t help just because General Mountbatten asked.”

“Britain’s nuclear submarines are making a lot of progress, and we’re sort of giving Congress an answer by refusing to provide nuclear power support for aircraft carriers. And on the nuclear submarines, even if we don’t help, Britain will make progress a little later. Why don’t we offer to help so that we can also have an understanding of the progress of the British nuclear submarines.” Hyman Rickover then added, “General Mountbatten, indicating that there is a need for cooperation between the two sides on aircraft carriers, Britain could transfer the patent for the steam catapult in exchange for support for the carrier’s nuclear reactor. The support we give to nuclear submarine reactors in exchange should not be a problem.”

“Once the British nuclear submarines are available, they can be used as supporting evidence that an all-nuclear fleet should be established.” Arleigh Burke stood up and ferried back and forth, nodding, “Let’s keep it quiet for now, I hear the President has indicated that he wants to meet with him, we’ll see how the talks go first.”