Normandie in New York

[cardboard_killer]

[80 years ago Yesterday] "• In New York harbor, the French liner Normandie, the largest in the world, is undergoing conversion to troopship USS Lafayette when a welder accidentally ignites a pile of flammable life preservers. Frantic efforts to put out the fire manually fail, and the ship’s state of the art fire suppression systems have been disconnected due to the conversion. New York City Fire Department hoses do not fit the French inlets, so efforts are reduced to shooting water into the ship from fire trucks and fire boats. The liner begins to list due to the tons of water being poured into her, and the ship’s designer begs to go aboard and open the sea-cocks, letting her settle to the shallow bottom on an even keel. Rear Admiral Adolphus Andrews, commander of the 3rd Naval District, refuses to allow it as it would delay repairs.

 

- In the early morning of February 10th, Lafayette capsizes, almost crushing a fireboat. The event is not documented as Admiral Andrews orders all press out of the area in an attempt to minimize publicity.

 

- Attempts will be made to salvage and repair her, but it will be found too difficult and costly, and she will be scrapped. The official blame will be placed on “careless workers” but the Navy’s Bureau of Ships had been rushing the conversion in order to meet a deadline imposed by Chief of Naval Operations Harold Stark to have her ready by February 14th. BuShips estimated it would take 60 to 90 additional days, and the ship’s firefighting system had been disconnected ahead of schedule prior to removal of the extensive varnished woodworking in an attempt to meet the CNO’s deadline.

 

 

• In the aftermath of wild speculation over the loss of the liner Normandie, mafia boss Albert (Umberto) Anastasia releases a rumor that someone in his organization was contracted to do the job by German agents, and that the mafia were willing to work with authorities to prevent such from happening again. The Office of Naval Intelligence takes the bait and cooperates with the mafia to prevent sabotage, prevent German submarines from using American ports, stop American fishermen from supplying u-boats, and to crack down on union activities in shipyard industries and docks. Strikes will abruptly halt with a spike in the murder rate of organizers. The amount of money changing hands is unclear. After the war, Charles “Lucky” Luciano, will have his sentence for running a prostitution ring commuted by New York Governor Thomas Dewey in part citing his assistance to the Navy.

 

- Anastasia will nominally join the US Army as a Technical Sergeant, training soldiers to replace striking longshoremen. Honorably discharged in 1944, he will be granted US citizenship and continue running “Murder Inc”."

[JG1_Vonrd]

Sounds like the literal definition of SNAFU with SUSFU tacked on in the aftermath.