Hammond looked a little ill at ease with the question, but Shranski smiled at him. “I could tell you weren’t really buying all that hogwash about building ships. Quite frankly, I don’t either. But I kind of want to know if I’m out on the limb by myself,” he said looking around again.
Hammond became more relaxed. “Not only do I not believe it, but I have the feeling Granger is going to be handed his head on a plate for just suggesting it. But that won’t be my call. Look,” he said making his point, “first of all we don’t even know who the enemy is yet, so we can’t say what we will need. Second, we already have a bunch of ships that may need only minor work to get them back in some sort of shape, and third, despite what he thinks, the purse strings are not open. The President has made that abundantly clear to me and a lot of others. The only problem he seems to have is a bunch of senior officers who are looking for political points and more toys,” he said in somewhat disgust. Then he caught himself. “Present company excluded, I hope.”
Shranski almost laughed at that one. “Present company excluded. The way I see it, we do need some assets. We just don’t have enough to meet all the commitments. It’s like you said, we don’t know who yet, and if it’s far away or in more than one place, there will be hell to pay getting enough in place for any invasion.”
Hammond nodded. “I’ve been talking to General Black. His Marines are going to have to hit a beach somewhere and right now we don’t have much to get him there or to soften that beach up. We also don’t know if more nukes can be thrown at us. That means we have to be ready for strong weapons or more EMP. I know we’ll have some building to do to get these assets, but we don’t know what or how much. We can’t afford to throw money away on things we don’t need,” Hammond said.
“I totally agree. I’m supposed to be going down here to be ready to execute some contracts, but nobody has thought of what they will look like or what for. This trip is a thrown together mess,” Shranski said in disgust.
“Oh I don’t know. Admiral, I was told you are the contract czar. What could we do on short notice if we found some answers?”
Shranski smiled. He liked Hammond and the way he thought. “Call me Mike. Look Roger, we find an answer or two, I can generate a contract like nobody has ever seen and have these shipbuilders running around like there was heaven on earth. But before we wheel and deal, we both need some answers. I suggest we keep our ears open and see what happens,” he said.
The food came and both men settled into some general banter about ships and the sea. During coffee Shranski looked over at Hammond. “Roger do you know anybody we will be seeing today?”
“Not really.”
“Well, Tim Reardon is the head of Newport News. We’ve worked some before. He’s a straight up kind of guy that knows ships and contracts. You won’t be able to pull any wool over his eyes. He is shipbuilding and nothing but, and his loyalties are to the company, not the Navy. However, he is also a patriot,” he said emphasizing the word. “I don’t mean fair weather either. If he knows something will be good for this country, he will back it and put the company on the line. He may seem to be a little pompous, but his heart is in the right place. I would suggest being open with him if we find something. He’ll lay it on straight,” Shranski said.
“Good to know. And that tells me our esteemed Admiral may come home with some bruises if not a few good cuts,” he grinned.
Shranski raised his coffee cup. “To cuts and bruises,” he said with a smile. The two men tapped their cups together and shared the moment. Shranski was a good man, Hammond thought. Nice to know there are more on our side.
Thirty minutes later the car took the three men out the gate and toward the highway leading to Newport News.
“So we need you to begin building frigates, cruisers, and destroyers as soon as possible. We would like the first ones available by January of next year,” VADM Granger said to the men seated around the table. He sat back in his chair.
Tim Reardon had listened patiently. He knew it was all bullshit from almost the second sentence. It was blatantly obvious this man didn’t have the faintest idea how ships were built or the situation they were currently in. More than that, this jerk was trying to tell him to build his ships for practically nothing because of the current emergency. That really pissed him off. He looked over at Mike Shranski and the other captain sitting with him. Both were playing their cards close to the vest, but he knew Mike and could tell in his eyes that he thought the same things. That made his job a little easier.
“Admiral, I appreciate your bringing your ideas to us. Newport News Shipbuilding is the primary builder of naval ships in the world. If we can’t do it, it can’t be done.” He got up and walked around the table a little, more to organize his mind than to stretch his legs. “You propose we take your plans and begin building ships we have not built here before. You also propose that we have the first ones out to you within 8 months. Granted, back in the Second World War the Kaiser people turned out a merchant ship in a week. But those were merchant ships, not warships. I can gear up and build them, but the costs would be astronomical. Why, because we no longer have the laser cutting capabilities, the bending and the shaping we could do with the computers. In other words, we are back to the good old World War II days of shipbuilding and it all has to be done by hand.” He pointed out the window at the far drydock. “You see that old battleship out there? I could put her and four others like her back in commission for less money than it would take to build one of your frigates. Aside from piping and some refurbishing, everything is already there,” he said.
With that comment both Hammond and Shranski glanced at each other. The idea needed some cultivating.
Reardon continued. “I don’t have the manpower or the equipment to do what you are looking for, and I can tell you none of the other shipyards will be able to do it either. So I suggest you go back to Washington and rethink all this,” he said. Reardon sat down before Granger exploded.
“Then we will take our business other places. You are not the only shipyard around and you can’t tell the Navy what it can and can’t do!” Granger stormed.
Reardon laughed out loud. “Go take your business elsewhere. We are the only ones that can build your submarines and aircraft carriers. I am one of two that builds the DDGs. I am telling you it is a waste of time and money to build all these ships in the timeframe you are giving. If I did, each frigate would cost two billion. The DDGs would jump to four. Carriers simply can’t be built that fast. Now are you telling me that we suddenly have the funds to do this?”
“I am the one that makes these decisions and in the name of national security I am ordering your shipyard to do it!” Granger shouted.
Shranski and Hammond stared wide eyed. Granger had just made the ultimate blunder. That became immediately apparent when a voice came over the speakerphone on Reardon’s desk.
“Actually Admiral, I am the one that makes decisions like that,” the President said before the men in the room. “Mister Reardon, I appreciate your allowing me to listen in, it appears the Admiral does not wish to hear any suggestions. You are quite right. The purse strings are not as open as some may wish. Admiral, I thank you for your time. Could you please leave while I discuss some things with these people?”
The room was silent. Granger looked as if he had been stabbed in the head with an ice pick. He stood suddenly; growing angrier by the moment. “Come with me gentlemen,” he said to Hammond and Shranski.