- Location
- Pacific Northwest
Reposting to keep this visible
Feed the ShipGirls
Since the beginning of the Abyssal War, ports like San Diego, Seattle, and San Francisco had assumed major strategic importance. But Los Angeles and Long Beach still proved to be vital to the war effort. No other port on America's West Coast had Los Angeles' infrastructure and capacity for efficiently gathering massive amounts of goods and material from around the country, and packing it onto container ships. This made both Los Angeles and Long Beach the natural staging point for supply convoys headed to Japan, the Philippines and other nations of the Far East.
Long Beach Naval Shipyard had been closed for decades, turned over to the city of Long Beach and mostly converted to civilian use. All except for the long row of warehouses on Nimitz Blvd, right on the edge of Long Beach harbor. These have stood empty and abandoned since the base was closed in the last century. Some have withstood the assault by water, sun and time and were still standing. Others had proven to be less durable and had collapsed, but all showed signs of neglect and disrepair. It was inevitable the City Public Works department would soon order them torn down, and offer the land to commercial developers.
One day, a year or so after the start of the Abyssal War, four vehicles drove up to the largest warehouse. Three were nondescript, but the fourth one was an expensive foreign limousine, bearing the logo for Bally's International. Getting out of three of the vehicles were obviously construction people, dressed in rough work clothes. The occupants of the fourth vehicle were dressed in suits. Two of them were city officials, the mayor and the city planner for the City of Long Beach. The other two were elderly men, named John and Jack. At a nod from John, everyone dressed in work clothes opened the warehouse and swarmed inside. Some of them started minute inspections of the walls. Some of them shone bright lights at the ceiling and made detailed notes of what they saw. Some of the workers found the fuse boxes and began tracing down the wiring. Others began examining the doors and floor. Meanwhile, John, Jack, the mayor and the city planner stood by, waiting patiently.
After a few hours, the whole construction crew gathered together, and there were intense discussions about what they found. One of them, obviously the primary contractor, took notes, asked questions of everyone else and took more notes. After a lot of discussion, the primary contractor took his notes and went to John and Jack. He delivered a condensed report of what the various groups had found, what it would take to refurbish the building to meet code, what it would take to remodel it as John had laid out. He then quoted a price in the range of seven figures, and a time line that would take more than a year. He also cautioned that these were preliminary figures, subject to revision upwards, depending on what detailed inspections found and the availability of material and workforce to do the job.
John asked if the job could be done in 3 months. The primary contractor blanched. Such an undertaking would be prohibitively, even ruinously expensive. As he expressed this opinion, John turned to Jack and nodded. Jack handed the primary contractor a business card bearing the Bally's logo, with a number hand written on the back. Jack then explained that the number was a purchase order, and that all expenses were to be charged to it, no matter what. There would, of course, be periodic audits of the expenses and progress reviews by other contractors to assure that the project stayed on schedule.
The primary contractor looked at the card for a moment, before turning back to the gathered construction crew leaders waiting to hear from him. He gave a sharp whistle to catch their attention and when everyone was looking at him, he raised his right fist and pumped it up and down, and shouted,
"Let's do this! Deadline is 3 months! Move it!"
As one, all the construction crew leaders pulled out their cell phones, called their respective teams, and began giving orders. Within an hour, the first work parties arrived in big trucks hauling large amounts of construction material. John nodded approvingly at all the activity. He and Jack turned to the mayor and the city planner and nodded to them. The mayor and city planner nodded back and they went back to the limousine as one and drove off. The project was underway.
By that evening, over 300 construction workers were swarming all over and inside the building. Four construction cranes and half a dozen portable 50KW generators had joined them, as portable floodlights illuminated the exterior and interior of the building. The work continued on throughout the night, as trucks of various size carried in construction material and left empty to fetch the next load. There was a momentary pause in activity as a new shift of workers came in and the preceding shift left.
The next day, PG&E crews showed up to lay natural gas lines, and start construction on a power substation nearby. The work inside and on the outside of the warehouse continued unabated, with pauses for breakfast, lunch, dinner, shift changes and as required by law. This continued on for the next six weeks without interruptions. Finally, teams of inspectors came in and scrutinized all of the work. This process lasted for 5 days. At the end of it, the chief inspector certified that the building was now compliant with all federal, state and local building codes.
There was a brief break as another team began surveying the interior of the refurbished warehouse.
After a few hours and many sketches, they left and trucks with assorted equipment and materials began to roll up. Some were massive, hauling huge industrial freezers, refrigerators, ovens, griddles and other more exotic appliances. Others had huge slabs of drywall, rubberized flooring and granite counter tops. Still others had numerous lighting fixtures, wiring and other electrical supplies. Plumbers came with piping, fixtures, huge industrial dishwashers and other items.
The work continued unabated for the next 5 weeks. By the end of the 5th week, more inspectors from the City of Long Beach, Health Inspectors from Los Angeles County and others swarmed through the interior. They inspected the wiring, the plumbing, drainage, the newly built kitchen areas and the newly installed industrial refrigerators and freezers. The inspection was passed. In the final week, trucks carrying various furnishings, tableware, kitchen implements and huge loads of frozen, canned, bulk and other food items steadily streamed from warehouses, dropped their loads and returned to pick up another load.
Finally, everything was in place. The food storage areas were packed full. Final decorative touches to the dining areas had been completed. Volunteer chefs from various restaurants and culinary schools around Southern California had been signed up. All that was needed, was notification of the next supply convoy headed to the Far East.
That notification was soon to be coming. The signs were unmistakable. There was a sharp increase of rail and truck traffic heading west. Convoys of trucks jammed the westbound lanes of Interstate 10 and 15, as well as other convoys crowding the southbound lanes on Interstate 5, all of them converging on Los Angeles. Mile-long trains rolled relentlessly west to the Los Angeles' rail yards. Large container ships arrived at Los Angeles harbor and were directed to either dock, with the assistance of the harbor tugs, or to anchor and wait their turn to be loaded. The longshoremen and cargo handling crews worked feverishly to move the loaded containers off the arriving trains and trucks and load them on the waiting vessels. Even working at full capacity for three full shifts, it was going to take some time to load everything. In the meantime, a squadron of destroyer and destroyer-escort ship girls took up the duty of patrolling the waters off Los Angeles and Long Beach. It was time to open the show.
A text message flashed to all the volunteer chefs, notifying them of the time to report and the time of their shifts. All local news outlets were notified. To finish it off, a huge banner was hung on the harbor side of the warehouse "Bally's presents the ALL YOU CAN EAT SHIP GIRL BUFFET! FREE TO ALL SHIP GIRLS! COME AND EAT YOUR FILL! NO RESTRICTIONS!" In smaller letters was "In appreciation to the dedication and courage of all ship girls. Dedicated to the memory of Machinist Mate Third Class Daniel Morris, USS Antietam.
In local news spots that were picked up by national and international news outlets, showed an older man, dressed in an expensive suit, holding a picture of a young sailor. He introduced himself as John Morris, the owner of Bally's International. The picture he held was that of his grandson, Daniel. Daniel had enlisted in the Navy, and had been assigned to the USS Antietam at the outbreak of the Abyssal War. This was John's way to honor Daniel's memory and contribute directly to the war effort, by doing what he knew how to do best. He had gotten the idea for this venture, after seeing news reports from Japan on how the nationwide rationing often left the ship girls fighting the war going hungry. This was his response to that.
The reporters asked John questions. Ship girls were known to eat vast quantities of food. Were they prepared to feed such vast appetites? John pointed out that, just before the war, more than 75,000 people crowded through one of his casino's buffet to take advantage of a $9.95 New Year's Eve dinner special from 6 PM to midnight. Not only was everyone served, but everyone left full and happy, including the buffet staff. And that casino buffet in question had only one third the space and one quarter the staff he had planned for the Ship Girl Buffet.
"Why are you doing this for these creatures? They aren't even human!" Another reporter asked.
"If what the Navy has told us is true, these "creatures" have returned from the depths of the ocean and time. They have picked up the fight against the Abyssals, who are bent on wiping humanity from the seas. They are fighting on the front lines to defend us, expending their very lives in doing so. True, they may not be human, but they live, they think and feel, much like humans do. They understand and live such human concepts as courage, honor, and sacrifice. You ask any sailor, and they'll tell you that these ship girls are their comrade in arms. Should we not honor those who fight, bleed and die for our sake? My grandson fought and died to protect us from the threat of the Abyssals. I do this to honor those he would have welcomed as ship mates in this war." John stated emphatically.
"Of course. the buffet is open to all uniformed Navy personnel, as well as to the sailors crewing the container ships headed to the Far East as part of the convoy." John added
At his office at NAVSTA Everett, Admiral Williams was watching the newscast. Turning off his TV, he turned to his PIO, Cmdr Laura Michaels.
"Commander, is this guy legit?" He asked.
"Yes, sir, he is He's the owner of Bally's international. He was on Forbes' Top 10 most wealthy people in the world. Bally's owns the 10 biggest casinos in Las Vegas, five biggest in Atlantic City and 3 of the biggest in Macao. Bally's is privately held, and he's the sole owner. He's wealthy enough that he could probably buy a new carrier strike group, equip and supply it for a year, and pay all the crews for a year without breaking a sweat." she stated.
"What about this grandson of his? Did he really exist?" the Admiral asked, after picking up his jaw off the floor.
"Yes, sir. Machinist Mate Third Class Daniel Morris was aboard Antietam, when the Carl Vinson strike group encountered the Abyssals." Commander Michaels stated
Admiral Williams wrinkled his forehead, as if trying to remember something.
"Antietam? Wasn't she the one that led 'Pickett's Charge?'" he asked
When the Abyssals had sunk most Carl Vinson's escort screen, Captain Steven Pickett, commander of Antietam, turned towards the Abyssals, and charged them with the 2 surviving Burke-class destroyers. Carl Vinson turned west and sped away at over 32 knots, as Captain Pickett urged them to do. Antietam and the Burkes held off the Abyssals for two hours as Carl Vinson made her escape. The three vessels were lost with all hands, sustaining some of the heaviest losses the Navy had suffered since World War 2. The press called the action "Pickett's Charge", and Captain Pickett was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.
"Sir, will you authorize any ship girls on convoy duty out of Los Angeles to visit the Buffet? If what Mr. Morris has planned is true, it would be an incredible boost to morale of those ship girls headed east." Commander Michaels asked.
"You really think so, Commander?" the Admiral asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Sir, some of the bigger ship girls have never had a chance to eat their fill. I say we give it a try. It would be an experience for them, especially the Japanese girls." said Commander Michaels.
"Okay, Commander, Draft a statement for release.
'The United States Navy and its allies are pleased to accept Mr. Morris' most generous offer to feed the ship girls on convoy escort duty out of Los Angeles. We look forward to a long and harmonious relationship. As of now, all ship girls on convoy escort duty, as well as all active duty Navy personnel are authorized to visit The All-You-Can-Eat Ship Girl Buffet in Long Beach. We expect all participants to uphold the highest standards of behavior and to thank Mr. Morris and all those that have made this most generous offer possible'
Forward this to CNO, all PacFleet commands and all news outlets." Admiral Williams commanded.
"Aye, Aye, Sir` Commander Michaels replied, as she saluted, turned and went to her office to get the word out.
Feed the ShipGirls
Since the beginning of the Abyssal War, ports like San Diego, Seattle, and San Francisco had assumed major strategic importance. But Los Angeles and Long Beach still proved to be vital to the war effort. No other port on America's West Coast had Los Angeles' infrastructure and capacity for efficiently gathering massive amounts of goods and material from around the country, and packing it onto container ships. This made both Los Angeles and Long Beach the natural staging point for supply convoys headed to Japan, the Philippines and other nations of the Far East.
Long Beach Naval Shipyard had been closed for decades, turned over to the city of Long Beach and mostly converted to civilian use. All except for the long row of warehouses on Nimitz Blvd, right on the edge of Long Beach harbor. These have stood empty and abandoned since the base was closed in the last century. Some have withstood the assault by water, sun and time and were still standing. Others had proven to be less durable and had collapsed, but all showed signs of neglect and disrepair. It was inevitable the City Public Works department would soon order them torn down, and offer the land to commercial developers.
One day, a year or so after the start of the Abyssal War, four vehicles drove up to the largest warehouse. Three were nondescript, but the fourth one was an expensive foreign limousine, bearing the logo for Bally's International. Getting out of three of the vehicles were obviously construction people, dressed in rough work clothes. The occupants of the fourth vehicle were dressed in suits. Two of them were city officials, the mayor and the city planner for the City of Long Beach. The other two were elderly men, named John and Jack. At a nod from John, everyone dressed in work clothes opened the warehouse and swarmed inside. Some of them started minute inspections of the walls. Some of them shone bright lights at the ceiling and made detailed notes of what they saw. Some of the workers found the fuse boxes and began tracing down the wiring. Others began examining the doors and floor. Meanwhile, John, Jack, the mayor and the city planner stood by, waiting patiently.
After a few hours, the whole construction crew gathered together, and there were intense discussions about what they found. One of them, obviously the primary contractor, took notes, asked questions of everyone else and took more notes. After a lot of discussion, the primary contractor took his notes and went to John and Jack. He delivered a condensed report of what the various groups had found, what it would take to refurbish the building to meet code, what it would take to remodel it as John had laid out. He then quoted a price in the range of seven figures, and a time line that would take more than a year. He also cautioned that these were preliminary figures, subject to revision upwards, depending on what detailed inspections found and the availability of material and workforce to do the job.
John asked if the job could be done in 3 months. The primary contractor blanched. Such an undertaking would be prohibitively, even ruinously expensive. As he expressed this opinion, John turned to Jack and nodded. Jack handed the primary contractor a business card bearing the Bally's logo, with a number hand written on the back. Jack then explained that the number was a purchase order, and that all expenses were to be charged to it, no matter what. There would, of course, be periodic audits of the expenses and progress reviews by other contractors to assure that the project stayed on schedule.
The primary contractor looked at the card for a moment, before turning back to the gathered construction crew leaders waiting to hear from him. He gave a sharp whistle to catch their attention and when everyone was looking at him, he raised his right fist and pumped it up and down, and shouted,
"Let's do this! Deadline is 3 months! Move it!"
As one, all the construction crew leaders pulled out their cell phones, called their respective teams, and began giving orders. Within an hour, the first work parties arrived in big trucks hauling large amounts of construction material. John nodded approvingly at all the activity. He and Jack turned to the mayor and the city planner and nodded to them. The mayor and city planner nodded back and they went back to the limousine as one and drove off. The project was underway.
By that evening, over 300 construction workers were swarming all over and inside the building. Four construction cranes and half a dozen portable 50KW generators had joined them, as portable floodlights illuminated the exterior and interior of the building. The work continued on throughout the night, as trucks of various size carried in construction material and left empty to fetch the next load. There was a momentary pause in activity as a new shift of workers came in and the preceding shift left.
The next day, PG&E crews showed up to lay natural gas lines, and start construction on a power substation nearby. The work inside and on the outside of the warehouse continued unabated, with pauses for breakfast, lunch, dinner, shift changes and as required by law. This continued on for the next six weeks without interruptions. Finally, teams of inspectors came in and scrutinized all of the work. This process lasted for 5 days. At the end of it, the chief inspector certified that the building was now compliant with all federal, state and local building codes.
There was a brief break as another team began surveying the interior of the refurbished warehouse.
After a few hours and many sketches, they left and trucks with assorted equipment and materials began to roll up. Some were massive, hauling huge industrial freezers, refrigerators, ovens, griddles and other more exotic appliances. Others had huge slabs of drywall, rubberized flooring and granite counter tops. Still others had numerous lighting fixtures, wiring and other electrical supplies. Plumbers came with piping, fixtures, huge industrial dishwashers and other items.
The work continued unabated for the next 5 weeks. By the end of the 5th week, more inspectors from the City of Long Beach, Health Inspectors from Los Angeles County and others swarmed through the interior. They inspected the wiring, the plumbing, drainage, the newly built kitchen areas and the newly installed industrial refrigerators and freezers. The inspection was passed. In the final week, trucks carrying various furnishings, tableware, kitchen implements and huge loads of frozen, canned, bulk and other food items steadily streamed from warehouses, dropped their loads and returned to pick up another load.
Finally, everything was in place. The food storage areas were packed full. Final decorative touches to the dining areas had been completed. Volunteer chefs from various restaurants and culinary schools around Southern California had been signed up. All that was needed, was notification of the next supply convoy headed to the Far East.
That notification was soon to be coming. The signs were unmistakable. There was a sharp increase of rail and truck traffic heading west. Convoys of trucks jammed the westbound lanes of Interstate 10 and 15, as well as other convoys crowding the southbound lanes on Interstate 5, all of them converging on Los Angeles. Mile-long trains rolled relentlessly west to the Los Angeles' rail yards. Large container ships arrived at Los Angeles harbor and were directed to either dock, with the assistance of the harbor tugs, or to anchor and wait their turn to be loaded. The longshoremen and cargo handling crews worked feverishly to move the loaded containers off the arriving trains and trucks and load them on the waiting vessels. Even working at full capacity for three full shifts, it was going to take some time to load everything. In the meantime, a squadron of destroyer and destroyer-escort ship girls took up the duty of patrolling the waters off Los Angeles and Long Beach. It was time to open the show.
A text message flashed to all the volunteer chefs, notifying them of the time to report and the time of their shifts. All local news outlets were notified. To finish it off, a huge banner was hung on the harbor side of the warehouse "Bally's presents the ALL YOU CAN EAT SHIP GIRL BUFFET! FREE TO ALL SHIP GIRLS! COME AND EAT YOUR FILL! NO RESTRICTIONS!" In smaller letters was "In appreciation to the dedication and courage of all ship girls. Dedicated to the memory of Machinist Mate Third Class Daniel Morris, USS Antietam.
In local news spots that were picked up by national and international news outlets, showed an older man, dressed in an expensive suit, holding a picture of a young sailor. He introduced himself as John Morris, the owner of Bally's International. The picture he held was that of his grandson, Daniel. Daniel had enlisted in the Navy, and had been assigned to the USS Antietam at the outbreak of the Abyssal War. This was John's way to honor Daniel's memory and contribute directly to the war effort, by doing what he knew how to do best. He had gotten the idea for this venture, after seeing news reports from Japan on how the nationwide rationing often left the ship girls fighting the war going hungry. This was his response to that.
The reporters asked John questions. Ship girls were known to eat vast quantities of food. Were they prepared to feed such vast appetites? John pointed out that, just before the war, more than 75,000 people crowded through one of his casino's buffet to take advantage of a $9.95 New Year's Eve dinner special from 6 PM to midnight. Not only was everyone served, but everyone left full and happy, including the buffet staff. And that casino buffet in question had only one third the space and one quarter the staff he had planned for the Ship Girl Buffet.
"Why are you doing this for these creatures? They aren't even human!" Another reporter asked.
"If what the Navy has told us is true, these "creatures" have returned from the depths of the ocean and time. They have picked up the fight against the Abyssals, who are bent on wiping humanity from the seas. They are fighting on the front lines to defend us, expending their very lives in doing so. True, they may not be human, but they live, they think and feel, much like humans do. They understand and live such human concepts as courage, honor, and sacrifice. You ask any sailor, and they'll tell you that these ship girls are their comrade in arms. Should we not honor those who fight, bleed and die for our sake? My grandson fought and died to protect us from the threat of the Abyssals. I do this to honor those he would have welcomed as ship mates in this war." John stated emphatically.
"Of course. the buffet is open to all uniformed Navy personnel, as well as to the sailors crewing the container ships headed to the Far East as part of the convoy." John added
At his office at NAVSTA Everett, Admiral Williams was watching the newscast. Turning off his TV, he turned to his PIO, Cmdr Laura Michaels.
"Commander, is this guy legit?" He asked.
"Yes, sir, he is He's the owner of Bally's international. He was on Forbes' Top 10 most wealthy people in the world. Bally's owns the 10 biggest casinos in Las Vegas, five biggest in Atlantic City and 3 of the biggest in Macao. Bally's is privately held, and he's the sole owner. He's wealthy enough that he could probably buy a new carrier strike group, equip and supply it for a year, and pay all the crews for a year without breaking a sweat." she stated.
"What about this grandson of his? Did he really exist?" the Admiral asked, after picking up his jaw off the floor.
"Yes, sir. Machinist Mate Third Class Daniel Morris was aboard Antietam, when the Carl Vinson strike group encountered the Abyssals." Commander Michaels stated
Admiral Williams wrinkled his forehead, as if trying to remember something.
"Antietam? Wasn't she the one that led 'Pickett's Charge?'" he asked
When the Abyssals had sunk most Carl Vinson's escort screen, Captain Steven Pickett, commander of Antietam, turned towards the Abyssals, and charged them with the 2 surviving Burke-class destroyers. Carl Vinson turned west and sped away at over 32 knots, as Captain Pickett urged them to do. Antietam and the Burkes held off the Abyssals for two hours as Carl Vinson made her escape. The three vessels were lost with all hands, sustaining some of the heaviest losses the Navy had suffered since World War 2. The press called the action "Pickett's Charge", and Captain Pickett was posthumously awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.
"Sir, will you authorize any ship girls on convoy duty out of Los Angeles to visit the Buffet? If what Mr. Morris has planned is true, it would be an incredible boost to morale of those ship girls headed east." Commander Michaels asked.
"You really think so, Commander?" the Admiral asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Sir, some of the bigger ship girls have never had a chance to eat their fill. I say we give it a try. It would be an experience for them, especially the Japanese girls." said Commander Michaels.
"Okay, Commander, Draft a statement for release.
'The United States Navy and its allies are pleased to accept Mr. Morris' most generous offer to feed the ship girls on convoy escort duty out of Los Angeles. We look forward to a long and harmonious relationship. As of now, all ship girls on convoy escort duty, as well as all active duty Navy personnel are authorized to visit The All-You-Can-Eat Ship Girl Buffet in Long Beach. We expect all participants to uphold the highest standards of behavior and to thank Mr. Morris and all those that have made this most generous offer possible'
Forward this to CNO, all PacFleet commands and all news outlets." Admiral Williams commanded.
"Aye, Aye, Sir` Commander Michaels replied, as she saluted, turned and went to her office to get the word out.
