January 19, 2001 to March 1, 2001 – Last Submarine in my campaign as a player
The strike force that had already seen action in Grenada and Texas was reinforced with men drawn from the 5th as well several USN members and dispatched on the Corpus Christi to obtain vitally needed spare parts and weapons to be able to restore her and several of her sister submarines to full operational status.
Over the next few weeks the force successfully raids the Weymouth Naval Station (under marauder control) as well as warehouses in Rhode Island under the control of Governor Britt and manages to obtain most of the needed spare parts. A total of twenty two Mk48 torpedoes and four fully functional Harpoon missiles are found between the two areas, as the Rhode Island Isolationists have what is left of the Newport Torpedo Station under their control and several weapons in their warehouses came from there. The parts to restore the Christi’s faulty fire control systems were also found as well.
In addition the team recovers information from files in Rhode Island of a biodiesel plant that has been put into operation on Cape Cod that is capable of producing enough biodiesel to keep several of Carlucci's ships operating on diesel instead of alcohol or sail.
During this period they also contact the 43rd Military Police Brigade, managing to barely escape with their lives when a mutiny by lower level officers and men loyal to John Carlucci kills the commander and much of his staff, bringing the Brigade under his control and ostensibly under CivGov as well. A small group of twenty two personnel remain loyal to MilGov and escape with the team.
The team learns, from information obtained during the raid on Britt’s warehouses that Carlucci has control over the SSN Newport News, presumed lost at sea but actually found beached on Cape Cod and abandoned by all but five of its crew. He has had it brought to Nantucket to be repaired by the UBF to be used by them (ostensibly under CivGov control) to dominate the East Coast. The submarine only lacked reactor technicians which were due to arrive soon from CivGov and repairs to be made to her diving tanks to allow her to submerge.
Using crewmen drawn from the Christi the Newport News is boarded and taken from Carlucci’s men and taken out of the harbor using the emergency diesel engine, which was fueled with biodiesel. During the escape, one of four operational torpedoes on board the submarine sinks the destroyer DD 793 Cassin Young, which was also at Nantucket being refitted by Carlucci’s men.
Using crewmen and experts from the Christi, the Newport News’s reactors were started and both submarines proceeded to Norfolk. Repairs on the Corpus Christi were started immediately as she was needed on an urgent mission. The information on the biodiesel plant is also passed on to MilGov.
Elsewhere
January 25, 2001
The 278th Armored Regiment, reinforced to 600 men and 4 M47 Chaffee tanks as well as a dozen HMMVW Fire Support vehicles and five converted civilian armored cars is sent to Memphis to assist the 197th Infantry Brigade in operations in Tennessee.
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