Griffin W.E.B. - Honor Bound 01 - Honor Bound

"Aye, aye, Sir," Chief Schultz said.

[TWO]

Bureau of Internal Security

Ministry of Defense

Edificio Libertador

Avenida Paseo Colon

Buenos Aires

0905 28 December 1942

"The American battleship Thomas sailed at three-thirtyp.m. yesterday, mi Coronel," el Comandante Carlos Habanzo reported, reading from a manila folder. "It dropped the Armada Argentine pilot—"

"A question of precise terminology, Habanzo," el Teniente Coronel Bernardo Martin interrupted.

"¿S?,mi Coronel?"

"While the Thomas is in fact a battleship, a warship, it is not a battleship, but a destroyer. A battleship is much larger. You remember the Graf Spee?'

"Of course, mi Coronel."

"The Graf Spee was much larger than the American destroyer Thomas, no?"

"It was enormous, mi Coronel."

"The Graf Spee, Habanzo, was a battleship. It was a warship and a battleship."

"I understand, mi Coronel."

"Actually, it was a 'pocket battleship,' " Martin said, "implying that it was not quite as large or as powerful as other warships called battleships."

"I see, mi Coronel."

"For your general fund of naval information, Habanzo, there are 'battleships'; then, somewhat smaller, 'cruisers'; then, smaller still, 'destroyers'; and finally, generally speaking, 'corvettes,' which are even smaller than destroyers. The vessel you are talking about, Habanzo, is a United States warship, the destroyer Thomas. ''

"I understand the distinction now, mi Coronel," Habanzo said. "Thank you."

"Proceed."

"The American destroyer, the Thomas, sailed at three-thirtyp.m. yesterday, dropped the Armada Argentina pilot immediately outside the port, then proceeded down the Rio de la Plata accompanied by the Armada Argentina battleship—" He stopped and quickly corrected himself: "Warship, the corvette San Martin. Upon entering the upper limits of Samboromb?n Bay, the destroyer engaged in a series of slow-speed maneuvers, the purpose of which is not clear..."

I don't suppose the notion that they were taking soundings of the Bay ever entered your mind; but since I am not in a mood to deliver another lecture, “The Importance of Accurate Charts to Naval Operations,” I will let that pass without comment.

"... these maneuvers lasting until the lower limits of Samboromb?n Bay, and thus Argentinean waters, were reached. Whereupon, the American destroyer headed on a due east course into the Atlantic Ocean at a high rate of speed. The corvette San Martin lost sight of her approximately thirty minutes later."

Which means what? That the American Captain wanted to rub in the face of the Captain of theSan Martin the overall technical superiority of a U.S. Navy destroyer over an Armada Argentina corvette? Or that he didn't wish the San Martin to guess which course he assumed when he reached the Atlantic Ocean? Or that he had a schedule to keep, a rendezvous with another vessel?

"Habanzo, I presume the Armada was monitoring the radio frequencies the American warship was likely to use?"

"Of course, mi Coronel."

"And did the American warship use its radios?"

"Twice, mi Coronel. First, there was a message to the Captain of the San Martin, just before he left Argentinean waters. I have it here."

He handed Martin a sheet of typewriter paper:

FROM: CAPTAIN USS ALFRED THOMAS DD-107

TO: CAPTAIN ARMADA ARGENTINA VESSEL SAN MARTIN

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ASSISTANCE, COURTESY AND COOPERATION.

COME SEE US SOMETIME.

JERNIGAN, LIEUTENANT COMMANDER, USN

"And shortly after they began to move at a high rate of speed, there was another message," Habanzo reported, handing Martin another sheet of typewriter paper.

OPERATIONAL IMMEDIATE

FROM: USS ALFRED THOMAS DD-107

TO: CHIEF OF NAVAL OPERATIONS WASHDC

ALL RECEIVING USN VESSELS AND SHORE STATIONS TO RELAY

USS ALFRED THOMAS DD-107 LEFT ARGENTINE WATERS 0125 GREENWICH 28DEC42. RECEIVED COMPLETE

COOPERATION IN ARGENTINA.

PROCEEDING.

JERNIGAN, LTCOM USN COMMANDING

This was sent in the clear. As a courtesy? Or because they wanted to lull us into thinking that they have no other intentions in this area?

"Was there anything else of interest, Habanzo?"

El Teniente Coronel Habanzo smiled.

"Some of the destroyer's men found Argentina, or perhaps Argentinean woman, impossible to leave, mi Coronel."

"What, precisely, does that mean, Habanzo?"

"Several of the destroyer's sailors missed the sailing of their ship, mi Coronel," Habanzo said. "Just before the pilot left the vessel, the Captain gave their names to the pilot, together with a letter to the American Ambassador, asking him to inform the proper Argentine authorities, and to arrange for the men to be held in custody when they finally turn up."

"Let's see the names," Martin said.

There were three names on the list: Chief Radioman Oscar J. Schultz, USN; Chief Ordnanceman Kenneth B. Daniels, USN; and Seaman Second Class Horace K. Williams, USNR.

"We have no idea where these people are?"

"I have checked with the various police agencies, mi Coronel. No."

"No idea at all?"

"The Chief Petty Officers attended a reception given for them at the Escuela de Guerra Naval, mi Coronel. They were last seen there entering a taxi, presumably to return to their ship."

Martin turned in his chair and took out his English-Spanish dictionary and looked up the word "ordnance." He found what he expected to find, but it never hurt to be sure.

"Habanzo, I want you to meet with el Coronel Savia-Gonzalez and tell him that I consider this a matter of the greatest importance. I want the Polic?a Federal to find these sailors, if it means they have to visit every brothel in Buenos Aires, every bar, and the residence of every woman who has a reputation for not keeping her knees together in the presence of an American dollar bill."

“S?, mi Coronel. You suspect they missed their ship on purpose, mi Coronel?"

"I do not know that, of course, Habanzo, but I think we should err on the side of caution, don't you?" "Of course, mi Coronel."

"Assign as many of our men as you think appropriate to assist the Polic?a Federal, Habanzo." “S?, mi Coronel."

"And I am to be notified, no matter the hour, when any one of them is located." “S?, mi Coronel."

By now,Martin thought, all three of these American sailors are at Estancia San Pedro y San Pablo, doing for young Frade and his men whatever they are unable to do by themselves.

And Se?or A. F. Graham will doubtless be there too. That "Vice-President of Howell Petroleum"— according to his visa and passport— who hasnot once visited the offices of Sociedad Mercantil de Importacion Productos Petroliferos. But who has visited both the American Embassy and the Destroyer Thomas, where he was saluted by the Officer of the Deck as he went aboard. And who was last seen in el Coronel Frade's Buick station wagon on the road to Pila and Estancia San Pedro y San Pablo.

But no one will be able to accuse me of closing my eyes if the sailors who "missed their ship" are caught trying to sink theReine de la Mer— possibly by affixing a mine to her hull; a chief ordnanceman works with explosives— or if they disappear after doing something else in violation of Argentine neutrality; or if such an act causes one or more of their bodies to wash up on the beach. I might be looking in the wrong direction, possibly, but not closing my eyes.

"That will be all, Habanzo. The sooner we find these sailors, and find out what they're up to, the better." "S?, mi Coronel."

[THREE]

Estancia San Pedro y San Pablo

Near Pila, Buenos Aires Province

1315 29 December 1942

Second Lieutenant Anthony J. Pelosi, CE, AUS, was alone when he drove a Ford Model T pickup truck up to the ranch house.

First Lieutenant Cletus H. Frade, USMCR, Colonel A. J. Graham, USMCR, Suboficial Mayor Enrico Rodriguez, Argentine Cavalry, Retired, and Staff Sergeant David G. Ettinger, USAR, were sitting on the verandah.