Admiral Calamai was shaking his head as he read the daily German naval bulletin and he turned to Commander Ferri:
“What I like about our gallant Teutonic allies is the speed with which they take credit for operations we undertake! Even though we both know there wasn’t a single U-Boat in that area off the coast of Nova Scotia at that time, less than two hours after the four ships blew up and sank to the bottom of the Atlantic, the Kriegsmarine and Admiral Dönitz is issuing a triumphant victory bulletin! The positive result is that this will keep the Americans off our backs for a few more weeks as they continue to concentrate on German subs and German spies.”
“Two weeks or less, Admiral.” said Commander Ferri as he rolled out the giant map of New York Harbor on the operations table.
The Admiral nodded as he glanced at a second folder marked ‘Top Secret’ in red block letters. It contained a decoded seven page report from agent U9 that had taken two hours to decrypt. The eleven digit number sequences used a double one-time pad coding system for the month and the day of transmission. The title of the month was the Italian translation of War and Peace (Guerra e Pace) while the one time day pad was an obscure 1932 Hungarian novel by Laszlo Molnar also in Italian translation. The decrypted text contained many facts and figures and the admiral took notes on a pad as he read through.
Ferri was busy plotting the position of ships at the New York piers as well as those lined up in the center of the harbor just off Liberty Island once they were loaded or waiting to load in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Staten Island. On the Brooklyn side there was a large blue patch indicated the location of the Navy Yard where the most important war ships were being serviced. Ferri commented,
“U9 says that all the approaches to the Navy Yard have now been effectively sealed off and that an anti-submarine net is being lowered deeper after British officers and engineers surveyed the location and issued a very alarming report. They are beginning to scatter those lethal floating mines and are making plans to cut off the harbor entrance at the Narrows just as they did during the First World War. The Americans are still expecting a classic submarine attack similar to the German torpedoing in Scapa Flow. The protective measures are happening much faster than we had originally projected.”
The Admiral cut in;
“I visited the Navy Yard when I was naval attaché in Washington in ’39. It was well patrolled by the coast guard and they showed us the kind of nets they intended to use in military emergencies. I thought they were much too flimsy to protect such an important area and could easily be penetrated. So we must reach the accessible targets as quickly as possible and expect to shut down Operation Neptune much earlier than originally planned.”
Ferri traced several locations with his red pencil over the piers:
“Troop ships, cargo supply transports, the Normandie which is moored right here Admiral, since the French surrender. It’s being converted to a troop transport and can accommodate an entire division: it has huge capacity and makes an easy and spectacular target.”
The Admiral took a closer look at the piers:
“Another prize the Germans would love to grab for their own propaganda purposes. But the Normandie is a mediocre military target. Given a clear shot U-Boats can dispatch it like a sitting duck, once she’s back at sea. She’ll also need very heavy protection which obviously the U.S. Navy can provide. Nevertheless the ship does have immense propaganda value and easy access. Let’s look into it as a potential mission for Neptune.”
Ferri placed a red pin on the location of Pier 88 and the Admiral returned to the report. After twenty minutes and several pages of notes Calamai was ready to tackle the substance of the agenda.
“Captain Spada has performed very well. I am hoping he can hold his cover for at least another two months and deliver what the Palazzo Venezia has requested. Then we can exfiltrate and bring the team back to the fight in the Mediterranean. Is U9 going to be rotated soon?” he asked.
“In another month Admiral, U9 has cultivated his sources since 1940. They are American citizens who risk the gallows in wartime but as long as America remains neutral…”
Calamai interrupted impatiently,
“Who will take over after that?”
“We will have to fall back on the local people.”
“That doesn’t sound very positive, Ferri. What about U7?”
“U7 is a target of the FBI because of the relationship with U9.”
“If U9 is brought home it may take the heat off the agent, don’t you think?”
“I wish it could be as mathematically certain, sir. But I doubt it very much.”
“Let’s take another look at U7 shall we?”
Ferri went down the hall to the records room, opened the safe and extracted a file with a green cover and red letters marking it top secret. He recited for the Admiral’s benefit:
“Nicolosi, Maria. Born in 1903 in Castellammare di Stabia near Naples…orphaned of both parents at age nine, lived in poverty with her grandmother, had an aptitude for music, a good singing voice, and a perfect figure. She was then ‘discovered’ at age 19 by Don Luigi Nicolosi, a much older man, also a Castellammarese and a notorious Brooklyn pimp who ‘bought’ her from her grandmother and brought her back to America where she is launched as a high priced companion for rich ‘honorable men.’ Luigi wanted to become an honorable man, he opened a restaurant in 1927, married Maria in 1932, and settled down at least for appearance sake. There are no children from the marriage. The depression hit Don Luigi very hard; he quickly returned to his former line of work out of necessity and ‘sells’ his better half to top gangsters who regularly visit his restaurant. Only the richest and most powerful Mafia bosses are allowed to keep company with his beautiful young wife… U9 then becomes one of the happy few as late as 1938 but the relationship that begins under mercenary auspices turns unexpectedly to romance! Don Luigi is a truly exemplary husband don’t you think? Can you guess what the rates were?”
The Admiral rolled his eyes and looked up at the ceiling:
“Ferri, I know you’re dying to tell me!”
“U9 said it was as much as $25 and bigger fish would go as high as $100!”
“What does this lady look like, if I may ask?”
Ferri produced a glossy photo of Maria Nicolosi in an evening gown in front of the Metropolitan Opera. The Admiral looked closely and nodded in approval.
“Even for such a great specimen, $100 is very high for a few hours of lust, don’t you agree Admiral?” asked Ferri as if he were talking about a commodity.
“Sex still ranks just behind power as the ultimate aphrodisiac, money being only third in line. That’s what Julius Caesar said. What other talents does the merry widow have?”
“She knows lots of people, has introductions everywhere even into the Mayor’s office and the New York Police Department!”
“The contrary would have surprised me, Ferri. Her weapons can do more damage than our torpedoes.”
They both laughed and privately found the lady extremely attractive.
“Make sure you remind Spada to exercise extreme caution with the fishing vessel. This is exactly what we need because with the new measures the SLC may quickly become unusable with so many protective nets around the harbor. Our options are to break it down which will take another two days or scuttle it. I think we’ll end up scuttling one way or the other to avoid detection. The fishing boat on the other hand can solve some of our access problems.”
A lieutenant delivered a document that Ferri read quickly before passing it to the Admiral:
“***TOP SECRET*** Next convoy of 122 vessels bound to England includes trucks and jeeps, tanks, large quantities ordnance, heavy artillery pieces, thousands of M-1 Garand rifles and light service pistols plus additional weapons and supplies going to Russia. Target sailing date November 13 or 14. Attack on ships at anchor in the harbor similar to previous deemed best approach. Decision required within next 10 hours. U9.”
The Admiral and Ferri looked at the map on the table. Calamai began placing little red pins in front of the Battery and Liberty Island. Then he said:
“Send our answer in the affirmative. Meantime we must perform a tight simulation.” He looked at his pocket watch, “It is now 0213 in New York so we should plot this action very carefully. Bring in the other officers so we can run through the entire operation before we issue the final orders. Make plans to stay up all night. I am canceling my return flight to Rome and will remain here to make sure the exercise is successful.”
Ferri was busy setting up the plan with Captain Neri while his colleague Commander Salerno was assembling other information. The object was to go through the motions of an attack in compressed time adding a number of variables including extreme potential mishaps to realistically measure the outcome. The objective was to forecast the probability of victory, failure or defeat. It took one hour to assemble the necessary data and Neri, stop watch in hand, slowly moved the pocket sub from its hiding place under the 59th Street Bridge to pause for twenty minutes at the Battery and then navigate cautiously to the center of the harbor where a string of Liberty ships already loaded were quietly waiting at anchor waiting for the rest of the convoy to set sail.
Ferri and his officers then began the simulation using five minute segments representing one hour with allowances for unforeseeable obstacles.
“The SLC can be at the Battery within 95 minutes. That gives the team sixty five minutes to set the mines but no additional time to attach larger bombs to the hull. They must clear the area and return within four hours and twenty five minutes. That is the true cover of darkness useful to us. It’s very tight, Admiral.”
Calamai looked at the map and nodded:
“A two man team should cut the time required for the attack. For safety the timers will be set to the maximum of 36 hours, in case the convoy is further delayed. We don’t want explosions inside the port area while the U.S. is neutral, it would give the Americans a perfect excuse to declare war.”
They went through the exercise once again checking the timing very carefully and assuming greater unexpected obstacles around the holding area. The final result was a much more favorable three hours and forty two minutes.
“How many ships are you targeting Ferri?”
“Ten transports, Sir.”
“That’s too much! Cut it down to eight fro two divers it’s a very honorable number. All right, transmit the orders. Set the schedule accordingly assuming it is received and delivered tomorrow in the usual manner.”
Clocks were synchronized while Ferri drafted the orders for encryption and transmitted them to U9. The message would almost certainly be intercepted by the British listening station in Bermuda but the Italians were confident that particular naval intelligence code hadn’t been broken because of the efficiency of the one time pads. Fred received his orders by messenger around nine the next morning and it took him less than one hour to decrypt and get started on the second mission of “Operation Neptune.”
The next day Calamai commented to Ferri
“Until now and during this coming phase of our American operation, we have faced a neutral United States.”
One of the officers protested saying that the Americans were hardly impartial in the European war but Calamai waved him to silence,
“No Neri, believe me, it remains true that a majority of Americans are opposed to entering this war. If they were to catch our men with all their equipment you would think they would have the perfect “casus belli” and the Roosevelt administration would at last be able to justify going to war. But even if they caught us in the middle of New York harbor with our pocket submarine and our mines I would still be ready to bet that many Americans would say: ‘The Italians are really attacking British and Russian supplies, even though the attack originates within American territorial waters, it’s not truly directed at us.’ They are so eager to avoid this conflict that they will use any excuse to do so.”
The officers nodded but seemed less than convinced as Ferri commented:
“Brilliant analysis, if I may say so Admiral!”
Calamai was in a good mood as lunch was being served:
“When I was in Washington, and I told the Duce this story because he asked me himself, I met with a few American naval officers and even some of our counterparts in naval intelligence. All of them were excellent sailors and could have made very effective spies and saboteurs but they are hampered by their convoluted democratic system and their almost complete ignorance of foreign languages. They can’t move quickly behind the scenes as we can, and require a long list of approvals from legislators who for the most part are completely in the dark about the issues they are called upon to decide. Not a thing.”
Ferri then commented,
“But the American navy is potentially very powerful, Admiral. We are in a David versus Goliath battle right now. Hundreds of ships sailing out in convoys every two to three weeks! It boggles the mind! They are building them faster than they can find crews to put on board.”
All the officers agreed and the Admiral concluded,
“Goliath is still asleep and David can operate almost with impunity. But any major incident where hundreds or even thousands of Americans are killed in battle may very well have Goliath awakening and we must be prepared for that moment. The window that exists right now will only remain open for a few more months, but after that…”