John Schettler - Kirov

Tovey leaned back, stretching and scratching his head. “Well,” he said. “It looks like I’m headed out to sea with King George V and Repulse then-and first thing in the morning. We can't assume this new raider is all the Germans will bring to the party,” he warned. “We’ll have to keep a close eye on Scharnhorst and Gneisenau as well.”

“Whatever Jerry is up to, we’ll give him another bloody nose for it, sir.”

“Yes, Raeder may be taking on more than he can chew, Brind, but we'll have to plan for every possible contingency.”

An orderly rushed in, handing Brind a freshly decoded signal. The grey haired chief of staff read it with obvious frustration.

“Thick cloud cover over Kiel,” he said. “Fleet Air Arm says they can’t see a thing in this weather, and won’t be able to confirm the situation regarding Tirpitz until things clear up, sir.”

“Damn,” said Tovey. “We’ll have to assume the worst then. That’s what Admiral Pound will do.”

“That we will, sir,” said Brind. “May I suggest that we get orders off to Wake-Walker as soon as possible? We can’t very well have him dancing off to the North Cape in this light. Vian is up there as well, sir.”

“Better get them both moving west as soon as possible. Even if they can’t cover the Denmark Strait, at least they can seal off the Faeroes Gap.” Tovey thought for a moment. “And Brind,” he said, “I suppose we should also cable the Americans at Reykjavik. They’ve only just begun relieving our garrison there, and they’ll likely be in for a big surprise if this raider is heading for the Denmark Strait.“

“Indeed, sir. I nearly forgot about the Yanks. They’re not in it yet, but there’s a considerable naval presence assigned to the convoy routes between Newfoundland and Iceland. That’s going to be their watch now sir.”

“Yes, well whether they’re in the war or not, the Germans may have something to say about it soon enough.”

“I believe they’re planning to send a couple of PBY flying boat squadrons to Reykjavik,” said Brind. “If we put the word out those planes could come in very handy. And with that in mind, I’ll order Home Fleet to prepare to get underway first thing in the morning.”

August 1, 1941

Wake-Walker was having a terrible day. His whole operation had been turned on its head by this unexpected new contact. He should be up at the North Cape by now, but he was still southeast of Jan Mayen, and heading back along the track he had taken from Iceland. What he thought to be a wayward steamer with loose lips had since mushroomed into the considerable threat of a big German surface raider heading for the Atlantic. His scout detachment had found the ship, as he feared it might, and the destroyer Anthony had been a little too bold, getting a bit of a bloody nose for her effort, but managing to report the contact’s position nonetheless.

Just hours ago his only real worry was a few long range German Kondor recon planes nosing about. Now this! It was the same nightmare he had just gone through with Bismarck a few months ago. He was at least glad that his own instincts had prompted him to hold station the last two days. Something told him there was trouble afoot, and when the frantic reports came in from Anthony and Adventure he took it upon himself to turn about and render assistance, knowing this would most likely compromise his mission up north. Orders came in a few hours later advising him to head for the Denmark Strait with all possible speed. Now he was racing west at 28 knots, and he had Grenfell’s pilots up out in front of him with their type 279 aerial radars to try and re-acquire this phantom ship.

The Admiralty was all in a dither about it, and Admiral Tovey wanted him to do everything possible to ascertain the nature of the threat. It was a pity his destroyer captain could not provide a positive identification. If he determined it to be a Hipper Class Cruiser, he was authorized to engage. If however, he believed this ship to be Tirpitz, his orders were to attempt to maintain contact and shadow. There was nothing in his task force that was a match for the big German battleship. He could launch an air strike, but apparently Tovey wanted to coordinate this with his capital ships, only now getting up steam at Scapa Flow.

The boys at Bletchley Park missed something, he thought. They had been so busy rounding up German auxiliary oilers and weather ships after getting hold of the German enigma code boxes that they let something slip through the cracks.

~ ~ ~

Miles away, up a country lane outside Milton Keynes, the men at work on the estate known as Bletchley Park were wondering much the same. Naval intelligence was on the phone, curious as to any ciphers that might indicate the Germans were again planning some sort of breakout into the Atlantic with a commerce raider. A few of the analysts over in ‘Hut 8’ were kibitzing over a chess problem, just the sort of thing to delight a code breaker. Chess problems were said to be the church hymns of mathematics, and the brilliant Alan Turing had led the effort against Nazi Germany through the artful music of his craft.

“Riddle this,” said Atkins, a former student and close associate of Turing at the Park. Sir Dudley thinks the Germans have pulled another rabbit out of their hat. It seems there’s a been a sighting up north of what appears to be a large warship.”

“Odd,” said Turing, fiddling with the chess pieces. “Let’s see what it could be.” He was familiar with all the intelligence that had been passed on to the Admiralty late, and had the German Navy all set up in his head like the pieces on the board.

“Let's not worry about the pawns,” he began. “The two Rooks, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, are down at Brest taking a pounding night after night from the RAF. So no real threat there. The two bishops, Admiral Scheer, and Lutzow, are both down at Kiel with the Queen. That's where Tirpitz is as well, all three neatly on the back row. Now, there were only five Hipper class cruisers built. The Russians bought one, another's being converted to an aircraft carrier, and Blucher is sunk. So that just leaves the Admiral Hipper and Prince Eugen, the two knights. And guess what, the former is laid up at Kiel, and the latter is laid up at Brest! Jerry's got all his pieces on the back row; nothing is developed at all. So unless Bismarck truly is unsinkable, and has somehow miraculously refloated herself, I don't think we need put much credence to this report.”

“But we did get one cable saying that Admiral Scheer’s refit was just about complete,” said Atkins. She was the most successful of the German raiders, and since we put a torpedo into the Lutzow the last time she tried to break out, I don't think the Germans could have her fit for duty anytime soon. So I'm putting my money on Admiral Scheer.”

“Tirpitz would certainly be a surprise if she were out and about,” said Turing. “But I rather tend to agree with you, Atkins. One doesn't sortie with the Queen before there's been proper development of the minor pieces. And the minor pieces all appear to be coming apart at the seams these days. If I were the Germans, I'd keep Tirpitz safe and sound for a while. Just the fact that she's sitting there on the back row is enough to keep Admiral Pound on his toes and give John Tovey a case of indigestion every time the subject comes up. Yes, I rather tend to agree with you. If this contact is anything at all, it would most likely be the Admiral Scheer. Suppose we say so and get a message off to the Admiralty so they will leave us alone for a while and we can have a weekend in the country.”

Young Turing indeed had a brilliant mind, but it didn't take a genius to put these clues together and determine the ships most likely to be available for duty on the German roster. He would go on to lead the effort at crypto-analysis throughout the war, instrumental in deciphering and breaking the German Enigma code which they used to send and decode signals through a deviously complex machine, a kind of analogue computer with wheels and levers and rods that would all work in a harmony, like the inner workings of a clock, to plot the machinations of war.