"Defeated—utterly defeated? How could that be possible?" Admiral Harold Stark seemed unable to believe the result.
"How great are our losses, exactly?" Admiral James Richardson asked.
Admiral Ernest King stared intently at the officer as well, clearly unable to accept such a result.
"Sir, according to the Telegram sent back by General Nimitz, in the decisive battle against the German Navy, we lost fifteen aircraft carriers, nine battleships, nineteen heavy cruisers, twenty-eight light cruisers, and sixty-three destroyers." The officer answered with a stiff upper lip. Being stared down by three admirals—especially three men wielding such immense real power—placed enormous pressure on him.
"So many? How could it be like this? Is the German navy really that powerful?" Admiral Ernest King asked with a frown. This was completely different from their initial expectations! They had believed that even if the American Navy could not secure victory, the outcome should at least have been mutually destructive—not a crushing rout like this!
"General, the aircraft carriers we lost were the Randolph, Ticonderoga, Lexington, Saratoga, Hancock, Hornet, Yorktown, Ranger, Enterprise, Wasp, Princeton, Belleau Wood, Cowpens, Independence, and Monterey. As for Capital Ships, we lost the New Hampshire, Louisiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Kentucky, South Dakota, Indiana, Massachusetts, and Alabama," the officer said.
As the names of those ships were called out one by one, Admiral Harold Stark and the others fell silent. With even the specific names of the sunken aircraft carriers and battleships available, there could no longer be any doubt about the result. Clearly, the American Navy had truly lost this time—and lost the core of its fleet.
Although they still had nine aircraft carriers and six Capital Ships remaining, they clearly no longer had the strength to confront the Germans. Much less contend with them for control of the Atlantic Ocean.
"Furthermore, of