This has been a long week. Starting with Memorial Day and going on to the anniversary of the D-Day landing that started the end of the Third Reich. There is a lot of sacrifice we remember this week. Lives ended while fighting for the world we live in now. Two entire American generations have grown up never seeing fully-mobilized war, thanks to those we remember this week. Thanks to this fateful day on Normandy. Never Forget.
The Kings Bay submarine base in Georgia had a difficult Second Great Depression. The entire United States Navy ballistic and cruise missile submarine force was homeported at Kings Bay. It was a powerful force, capable of devastating any nation on Earth. One of their submarines, USS Georgia, followed Federal orders and fired those nuclear missiles at Virginia. Nobody knows why their missiles did not detonate, and we probably never will. A nearby attack submarine, ironically the USS Virginia, sunk the Georgia with torpedo fire immediately after the larger boat began firing her missiles. That kept the Georgia from firing the full volley most military historians believe she was attempting to fire, and removed all chances of finding out why her crew executed the order in the first place. It was a horrible blow to both the tight-knit submarine fleet, and to Kings Bay itself. They had all known that they were meant to fight America’s enemies. The fact that they had been ordered to kill Americans, and that one of them had actually attempted to do so, shook them all to the core of their beings. That attack would change America’s submarine service forever.
Wilmington, North Carolina had long been home to various Coast Guard cutters, usually named Diligence, long before the Second Great Depression began. The last of them had departed for Florida decades before due to the changing nature of the Coast Guard’s mission, but when that ship was retired, Wilmington purchased her and brought her home again. They kept her seaworthy, took her out on celebrity cruises, and generally treated her as the city’s most welcome guest and attraction. Then the Second Great Depression began, and North Carolina realized it required a navy of its own. They had very little to work with. They were no longer blessed with major United States naval bases, but they did have multiple Navy and Coast Guard reserve stations, filled with naval reservists looking for a what to serve their State. And they had Diligence. That was how a 210 foot retired Coast Guard cutter became the flagship of a major American State Navy. She did not serve in that capacity for long. They acquired better ships in time. But she was the first flagship of the North Carolina Navy, and Wilmington does not let anybody walk by her dock without telling them of that fact.
Charleston, South Carolina was a major Coast Guard base when the Second Great Depression began. They supplied naval fleets from Charleston, and a half-dozen deep-water Coast Guard cutters kept their homeport there. South Carolina was quick to “nationalize” them into their new navy once the Federal government effectively collapsed. While not as heavily armed as “proper” United States warships, these cutters were more heavily armed and armored than most warships in the world. They also supported light aircraft and drones via their flight decks. The Coast Guard had used these for customs and rescue missions. South Carolina replaced them with attack helicopters and defense drones, making the former cutters a far more credible threat to those harboring ill will towards their State. They would prove an integral part of the South Caroline Navy in the decades that followed, and set sail with the Confederation Navy numerous times before the end of the century.
The USS Iwo Jima was homeported as part of the Mayport reserve when the Second Great Depression began. She was an old amphibious assault ship the size of a World War II carrier that had long since been placed on the reserve roster, and had not set sail in years. Florida was quick to “recruit” the crew to their cause. Technically, the recruitment had happened long before when they made certain that the entire reserve crew was composed of native Floridians. Florida had put similar thought into securing a Marine fighter unit capable of flying off the Iwo Jima, so when it came time for Florida to cast off the surly bonds of an abusive Federal government, they were more than ready to patrol their own coastlines. Various destroyers and frigates escorted her at all times, and when Florida eventually joined the Confederation of Dixie, the Iwo Jima proved to be a powerful addition to the Confederation Navy.
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