Chapter 11 USNS HENSON

A win doesn’t mean very much in a war. You have to take it and advance it. Left to rest on its laurels means you barely won at all.

This weighed heavily on Brian, Jim, Chris and the others. It was 72 hours after the brazen attack on the enemy forces in Dublin Ireland. Immediately after the attack there was a tactical massive retreat to the farmland north east of Killarney, and the numerous marinas that now housed some 55 power and sailboats with American families on board.

The mainstream media did not speak of the attack in Dublin. The reports floated carefully onto the Internet from locations that would not bring a smart bomb into someone’s living room were immediately scrubbed. They were blocked, dubbed as terrorist propaganda, and mostly ignored. Reading them, however, was a crime. They, the new world order as it were, would make viewing news about terrorist material a crime.

A problem the group had was simple: there were no obvious targets. The Irish government wasn’t hunting them down, and in fact there were elements of the government trying to help. Before they were slapped down by the UN the Irish Government made good on US assets and handed off gold and Euro’s to the American’s at the embassy. The only attempt to get across the channel to England resulted in Lynda’s death and even with video footage of a thug soldier forcing her to the ground and shooting her in cold blood it wasn’t being seen by anyone.

It was hard to obtain news from the “legitimate” American government. A submarine of the American navy had reportedly launched a nuclear weapon at Venezuela’s capital in response to an attack on them at the Vatican. The Vatican in Italy was the last known headquarters of the US government as the group new it too exist. There was no way to communicate with it and no way to share the groups victory with it either. Air travel, commercially, was seriously off the table. The group in Dublin broke up the meeting fairly dejected.

Brian would recruit and promote the idea of getting Internet materials published for the world to see and he’d seek out short wave radio operators to help locate other Americans. Brian had recruited a good group of Internet bloggers who had focused on getting connections Irish locals for supplies and facilities. Chris would need to focus on the defense at Killarney. There were now 70 families at the Killarney cottages. The bulk of the military personnel and weapons were at this location, and losing it would be the end of the group. Chris goals were to create defenses that could overcome an attacker, and escape routes to keep the group together if needed. Jim would work to move several of the groups boats to marinas nearby.

The broker who helped Jim the most introduced him to the harbormaster at Samphire Island. Samphire was Jim’s ideal marina. The only problem with it was size. The small marina could only house about 120 boats, and if you put 5 or more American’s in one marina that size they stood out. What Jim wasn’t ready for was the nature of the marina. It was ocean coastal, and in the winter (December) it wasn’t used. There were only about 30 boats in the Marina, 90 vacant slips, and no one was living there but the harbormaster himself. Jim noted he was from New York and a retired police officer. The two clearly hit it off as Jim had once trained cops himself.

It took Jim about 4 hours to negotiate a term for the Americans to house 30 boats in Samphire. Jim was able to use a coded message on the UHF to communicate with the others to meet him there. 30 boats in that location was an ideal backup to Killarney. The people of Killarney could walk to Fenit village in a day, but could get there in less than an hour if roads allowed. Jim mapped it out. He and the Cockers would leave the Dublin marina behind. Another American family would take up residence there because it had been safe. The Cockers Hunter 40’ and Jim and Erin’s Beneteau 45’ would need at least two days great conditions to reach Samphire. Fortunately late November and early December created great sailing.

Sailing from Dublin to Samphire simply met heading South and bending around the Irish Island in a long horse shoe. The total journey 360 miles on the water. Sailing 12 hours a day and trying to time currents going in the right direction would enable the two boats to reach 150 miles a day. Two and a half days to Samphire.

The Cockers, Jim and Erin didn’t realize how good they’d have sailing. Both of their boats were designed for ocean sailing. The wind came from the north and blew the duo south with Jibs enabling them to take a steady line at top speed. Jim routinely saw 18 knots from a 12-15 mile per hour wind. The sea was a little rough, Erin wasn’t liking it much, but she felt better knowing Jim demanded and wore the safety belts. A trip over the side of the boat was a death sentence in these waters. It never got so rough that was a concern.

Jim didn’t really think they’d reach Youghal on the first day. He figured they’d have to stop short in one of the many towns along the way. There were Americans at Youghal and they were going to wait for the two larger boats to go with them to Samphire, but just about 45 minutes out Jim got a disturbing radio call. A message from one of the three American boats at Youghal harbor was reporting an unidentified military boat near the coast guard station. Soldiers were said to be sighted in military gear on board. Why would they send troops there, Jim felt like they were compromised and with the Cockers in agreement they turned due south. They headed out to sea and hoped they’d avoid any contact.

Going due south was again going with the wind. It would only take 30 minutes to get almost 10 miles further out. The Beneteau and Hunter sailboats couldn’t be seen from the harbor at Youghal despite being due south of it 12 miles. The couples both agreed an extra 3 miles though would not hurt. The American boats in the marina would stay put. There was a second report suggesting a small 44’ coast guard boat was headed out to sea, and a second smaller coast guard boat was tied to the large ship with soldiers on board.

It doesn’t make sense Jim communicated with David Cocker. They tied their sailboats up together, bumpers in place for the night and as previously planned each of the four would take a 2.25 hour shift to make sure nothing went snuck up on them in the night. They had pretty much no current at this location just a slight movement to the West which was ultimately where they wanted to go. They didn’t get settled though. They never got the chance. Jim was watching a radar connection from the moment they tied up. It was coming out of Youghal and it was on a direct path intercept them. The good thing, both Jim and Dave contended was that no one would charge right at them if they were coming for a fight. Still precautions were necessary. The boat was coming at about 18 knots. It’d be on them in 30 minutes as it was under 10 miles out. In 10 minutes the couples’ would split the two boats. One would go South West and Jim the more experienced sailor, would raise the mainsail and tack into the wind a polar opposite North East. It would only take 5 minutes or so to put a distance between them, and the oncoming boat would have to choose one or the other, but couldn’t take on both at the same time. Both families were acutely aware the fiberglass sailboats had about NO chance in a conflict.

The two sailing families executed their plan at the moment planned. The oncoming boat didn’t hesitate and selected the tacking inbound boat of Jim and Erin’s. Jim didn’t need to put more distance between him and the Cockers. They’d be able to watch from a mile and a half out. Jim brought up the AR-15’s they had on board, concealed the Beretta 9mm’s that he and Erin both had from their time at the Round, and said a distinct prayer. “God please let there be peace.”

Soon the radar screen rang true and the power boat pushed directly towards Jim and Erin. There was no doubt the Beneteau was their target. JIm could see through field glasses they were watching him as much as he was watching them. The coast guard boat had a belt fed machine gun, probably an older American M60, on the bow. It was not manned. The men had side arms but did not display rifles. Jim kept the AR’s under the side of the deck where they couldn’t be seen and his Beretta was concealed. Erin was in the cabin of the sailboat with the AR at the ready. As easy as the fiberglass boats were to shoot up it was just as easy to shoot out.

Sailboat bearing 05 degrees, sailboat bearing 05 degrees, Irish Coast Guard seeks to make contact, Irish Coast Guard bearing 137 degrees seeks to make contact. The VHF radio channel 16. Sailboat bearing 05 degrees Irish Coast Guard seeks to make contact go to station 33. Jim flipped the VHF to station 33. In seconds Sailboat bearing 05 degrees this is Irish Coast Guard bearing 137 we seek contact, peaceful contact, over. Jim didn’t respond. He didn’t have a license that would be valid to use the VHF radio. He didn’t want to give anyone a reason to cite him, board the boat, find the weapons, and that would be cause of arrest. Jim dropped the main sail and powered up the engine. He then turned to about 355 degrees bearing which put him on a collision course with the Coast Guard boat. There were within naked eye site now and that should be a clear message from Jim that he heard them.

The two boats came upon each other quickly. Jim noted the coast guard operators didn’t take up defensive positions, didn’t man the M60 machine gun, and were making a peaceful presentation. Of course that’s one way to easily wipe out an opponent. Jim prayed that wasn’t happening. As the coast guard got close an officer blared out over a PA system: “we have no intention to board your vessel, we need a face to face talk, we do not seek to board you” Jim raised his right arm and opened his hand towards to the coast guard vessel as in a passive waive. Soon the coast board boat was adjacent to the sailboat and its massive engines made it possible to hold its position. The coast guardsmen quickly put bumpers on their starboard side and Jim’s port. Jim glanced down at Erin who was still at the ready. What Jim perceived as the coast guard boat skipper stepped to the side.

Jim and the Irish Coast Guards’ skipper were now only 10 feet apart. The noise of the coast guards engines made it hard to hear. Can we tie on the skipper yeld out to Jim, if we can tie on we can cut our power for a few minutes; I want to speak with you. Jim agreed. One of the mates through a line over and Jim tied it to his clete. Seconds later the engines went silent. Jim had already turned down his and now everyone could hear easily.

“We had word of Americans traveling to the West Coast of Ireland from Dublin, and you were the only ones out there the skipper noted. We can’t broadcast openly on VHF. Not this message he said. The USNS Henson is in Youghal and the captain there would like to speak with you. He is looking for American’s. They have a pretty substantial contingent of Americans on board their ship and are looking for help I would assume. They are the one’s monitoring traffic and said you’d be here. Jim didn’t know the Henson. Does the ship bear a US Flag he asked the skipper? It bore no flag he said. I can tell you this. He said to tell you they are with the USS Mount Whitney and have communication with the provisional American Government in Rome. That was the message he asked me to give you. Jim felt like it was a trap. Very good, Jim said, I’ll set course for Youghal. The other boat will not JIm motioned to the second vessel. This was a test Jim knew. If the skipper had any issue with that - there was a problem.

The skipper’s genuine nature shined through for JIm. You want us to tow you in or do you want to sail into the wind? I’ll take the two Jim agreed; noting this coast guard skipper paid no further attention to the Hunter a mile away. Jim got on the VHF after flashing a bright light to the Cockers. The agreed upon channel was 55. Head on, Jim stated, all is ok but we’re going in and you are going on. Jim only heard Ms. Cocker state “ok” and they turned west and kept going. Jim took the tie on line to the bow of his boat and they coast guard vessel turned for home. The tow would take at least an hour.

Erin came up to steer in behind the tow which was an easy job. Jim went below and brought up the internet on their satellite connection. It was monitored he knew so he only used it for 2-3 minutes maximum. He wanted to look up the Henson: He saved the wiki page on the ship and then logged off.

The Henson could carry 50-60 personnel. It was a research boat and barely armed with anything. It was in active service at the time of the attacks on the United States. Jim didn’t know why anyone would go to such an elaborate means of communicating with him; they could have easily taken down the two sailboats. Captured by someone who wanted to know more wouldn’t get much from them except maybe the Killarney location. Jim passed it along to Erin how they’d have to go out fighting if this was some kind of trap.

The hour went by quickly. Jim immediately noticed the Henson, image of it that he downloaded online and the real view of it were close if not spot on. The couple powered up the sailboat motor and found a dock location only a short distance from the Henson. Jim noticed the 300 plus foot ship dropped a small boat into the water and a uniformed crew got on board and headed their way.

Soon a small group of dress uniform sailors were getting off the dock where Jim and Erin remained on their Beneteau. The oldest among them seemed to have the most decor and stripes on his dress navy uniform. He approached the Beneteau and addressed Jim quickly. I’m captain Mohr of the USNS Henson. I’m hoping you are the Americans headed for the westside of Ireland that we learned about, the people that attacked our country's enemies in Dublin and a member of the leadership here in Ireland. Leadership of the Americans.

Jim looked at Mohr and wanted to trust him, but he’d have a hard time doing so. Still it was time to talk. I’m Jim, he introduced himself and extended his hand to the officer. Jim and Mohr shook hands, and Jim introduced Erin. Mohr introduced a contingent of individuals who didn’t speak, but all had American names. Two wore Beretta 9mm sidearms and Mohr carried a 1911 probably in 45 Jim assumed. The final two did not appear armed.

I can’t confirm what you asked for, but I’ll gladly admit to being American, Jim said. In the last 9 weeks I’ve met other Americans in Ireland, but I’m shocked to see a Navy vessel here. Mohr figured he needed to take it up a notch to gain Jim’s trust. I don’t expect your trust just yet, Mohr said, we have about 90 people on a boat inclined to 60. Its a research ship, but we have weaponized it and aim to do our part in this conflict. I have a need for more people to help us out. I’d like to find more Americans to help us on our journey. Small craft like yours and if there were others could really help us on this trip.

Are you headed home, Jim asked, noting he had the inclination to take advantage of the winter season and travel along the lands to Canada and the US? Not exactly, Captain Mohr said. I recognize, Mohr went on, a provisional US Government based on the chain of command of the constitution and rules of succession. That government is currently overseen by the civilian rule leader Callista Gingrich. She is one of a few surviving ambassadors and by a vote of those surviving ambassadors she was made the interim President. US Military forces that have survived are almost unanimously following her commands.

The primary command she gave was to survive and evade the enemies of the United States until such a time as we can properly inform the world of our existence and the crimes against us. Callista has suggested that time is about to happen. We gathered some data from followers of yours about the attack in Dublin, the fight for the embassy, and there was a public execution of a woman who sought peace in London. We have that data, Mohr went on, and we’re going to use it in a presentation to the world that no one can shut down, shut off, delete, or stop people from seeing. We’re also going to inform the world that attacks on the US at the Vatican were repelled, also at Israel, and even in Turkey. The provisional US Government offered a truce to the enemies which was rejected, and so a nuclear launch against Caracas was deployed. Beijing and Moscow were told they’d be next if the hostility towards Americans didn’t stop. Well they stopped most of the organized military attacks, but the international efforts to wipe out Americans continues unreported. We need to bring light to that. However what we really need is justice, Mohr ended.

We are in need of a dozen or more small craft. I think sailboats would be ideal because they can run silent. What for Jim, was intrigued. We need to get the Henson to Narva in the bay of Finland. I don’t think we can just motor her right in there, Mohr said. I need some boats to quietly go ahead of us, we can use a VHF radio code and enable the Henson to follow. If we could set sail in a few days we could be there two weeks later. I really want to get there in 18 days Mohr said. That’s our timeline.

It was clear Mohr was trusting Jim more then Jim was trusting the captain right now. You could get there a lot faster than our sailboats, Jim said. I dare say you should be able to make 300 miles a day and be there in seven days as Jim knew where Narva was. I’m afraid if we try to power right through we’ll be stopped, Mohr said. I’d like to have small craft that will be ignored by the Russians and anyone else insure we have a clear path. Planes will stop the Henson long before a ship and our sailboats are not going to warn you against planes Jim said. What is in Narva dare I ask?

The captain clearly wasn’t ready to answer that question. Mohr pondered it a great deal. Can I tell you more later, he asked Jim? You can, Jim figured he’d been given enough detail. Just outline for me what you want and I’ll see if I can manage it.

Two things, Mohr concluded, I’m hoping for two things. Put it out there in pretty easy to decipher code that you and other boats are leaving England and Ireland for the states. You intend to band together and go back to America the long and quiet way leaving in 72 hours. They’ll wreck havoc looking for you in the Atlantic so don’t have anyone go.

Second, recruit a dozen or more ample sail boats to lead us to Narva. Simply sail ahead of us in a path, scope it out, give us a green light, and we’ll rush in behind you. We keep doing this until we get there and avoid any Russian ships. I don’t expect any Chinese ships in the area, and there is already a US Submarine waiting for us in Narva.

Jim agreed and settled in for the night on boat. He identified 15 sail boats including the Cockers that exceeded 40 feet in length and began putting out codes to reach them and steer them back to Belfast; they’d launch from Belfast North around the Scottish peninsula and into Northern Europe. Everyone would get there in 48 hours, and to do that Jim and Erin would leave at first light. The Henson would follow them.

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