John Schettler - Kirov

What about Volsky’s new lap dog, Fedorov? The Lieutenant had maneuvered himself very close to the Admiral in recent days. He dismissed him earlier, but it was clear that Fedorov had one thing that was useful in this situation-knowledge. He was, in fact, the keeper of the books now. Fedorov’s little library held information that would be vital to them all in the days ahead. He was using that information skillfully, doling it out, like honey in the Admiral’s tea. Perhaps he had underestimated the Lieutenant. The man was demonstrating an understated craftiness worthy of the Captain himself.

Menja naduli! He’s fooled me, thought Karpov, realizing he had been duped by the young officer. I warn him to watch his mouth and he gives me those big, innocent brown eyes. Yes, Fedorov had been very clever, and very bold. He was naive enough to believe what his eyes were telling him from the very first look he had at that long range video feed. Perhaps he saw what he wanted to see there, what he delighted in with his bookish reading and study. But he was correct; he has been one step ahead of me all along! He discretely fed this vital information to the Admiral while denying me access. Now he was going so far as to insert his opinions on the bridge, even contradicting me right in front of the Admiral.

The Captain had overlooked the man before, thinking him to be no real threat, but now he reconsidered the matter. Fedorov… What else did he have in his pockets? Perhaps he should have another little chat with the man and sound him out a bit more; see what else he knew. He might use Fedorov to help him persuade the Admiral. But that failing…

Karpov thought about that problem for some time. Then he closed the book, a wary and harried look on his face. The thought in his head now was unlike anything he had ever considered before. If he could not appeal to Severomorsk, and if there was no one else on the ship he could use to bend the Admiral’s mind on this, then he had no other choice but to act himself, boldly, directly. Somehow that thought made him very uncomfortable. Yet he let his mind wander down that corridor for a moment, considering his options. I will need Orlov, he thought, and Troyak. The rest will be of no concern.

Admiral Tovey was still fretting over the fact that his Prime Minister was now at sea in an active war zone as he sized up the situation. He realized that he may soon have a battle in front of him in which the presence of Prince of Wales could prove very valuable to him. But he could not afford to let that ship come anywhere near the Denmark Strait now, in spite of his earlier bluster with Brind, and so he strongly advised the Admiralty to route it by a more secure, southerly course. In fact, almost every convoy scheduled between the United States and Great Britain had also been deviously rerouted in the weeks from mid-July through tenth of August so as to clear the seas along the intended route the Prime Minister would travel. The logic was that if the convoys weren't there the U-boats would not be there either.

Admiral Tovey hoped the decision had worked in his favor as well, as he had already been forced to detach his destroyer screen to Iceland for refueling, and was now calling on Vian’s two cruisers in Force K to effect a rendezvous with him for additional support. The American PBY spotting confused as much as it helped, though he had not seen the valuable photographs taken of the enemy ship. The description of a large cruiser or commercial armed vessel dovetailed with what the British had already discovered about this mysterious new German raider.

“Could the Germans have modified one of their other cruisers and built a hybrid carrier, Brind? All the spotting reports mentioned smaller secondary type batteries aft, yet the forward deck was largely clear, except for these cargo hatches reported. Do you suppose the Germans have some way of deploying a makeshift deck platform there for launching planes? That would account for the relatively few air contacts we’ve had. If this is Graf Zeppelin I would expect to see more air activity, yet this American PBY just waltzed right in and got their sighting, completely unchallenged.”

Brind wanted to stick with his assessment that this was, indeed Graf Zeppelin, but with only a very few modified planes, experimental models the Germans were testing on sea trials with their new Ack-Ack rocket defense. “Suppose Wake-Walker simply spoiled the party, sir, and came up on this ship while it was testing. He forced it to run west and south, and it may have had no intention of breaking out until Force P got in on the hunt. And as for that PBY sighting, the Germans may have been cautious about engaging the Americans if they sighted that plane.”

“Whatever the case, these new German rockets are dreadful. I’ve read Wake-Walker’s report. They just cut his planes to pieces. Simply dreadful. We’ve got to bring this ship to heel, Brind. The Prime Minister is already at sea.”

Tovey wanted to put on all possible speed, and was now running full out at 28 knots. Considering that this was either a modified cruiser or indeed the Graf Zeppelin, he thought about turning his battlecruiser loose to run the enemy ship down.

“See here, Brind” he said. “Suppose we send Repulse out in front. She can run at over 31 knots, and deal with a cruiser handily. If we turn her loose, she may close the distance and get this enemy ship by the scruff of its neck until we come up and finish the job.”

Brind thought, looking at their plotting charts closely. “If we split the force we may get better coverage,” he said. “And we’d only be thirty miles or so behind Repulse over the course of a day, sir. That’s close enough if she can sniff this villain out for us. Vian has had to detach his two destroyers to refuel, but his cruisers can put on 32 knots and effect a rendezvous with us tomorrow as well.”

“Good,” said Tovey. “The better all around. Our experience with Bismarck taught us to pile it on if we want good results.”

“Right, sir, but detaching Repulse could also have its risks. Remember what happened to Hood, and Repulse has no better armor.”

“ Hood was up against Bismarck, with 15 inch guns,” said Tovey. “These secondary batteries on this new ship were estimated at no more than four or five inches, at least from the damage Wake-Walker’s destroyer sustained. In my view Repulse can handle herself well enough with her six 15 inch guns.”

“Yes sir, but she hasn’t the flak defense of a ship like King George V. Suppose the Germans hit her with an air strike?”

“Every indication is that the Germans have very few planes available. Perhaps it is just a cruiser, launching sea planes for spotting purposes. Let’s get a signal off to Sir William and turn Repulse loose, shall we?”

He was referring to Sir William George Tennant commanding Repulse as she followed quietly behind Tovey’s flagship.

“I’ll give the order, sir. Let’s see if we can run this fox down.”

Captain Tennant was more than happy to take the lead and scout out ahead. This was, in fact, what his battlecruiser had been built for, a fast yet powerful scouting ship that would lead in the heavier battleships. Laid down in 1916, she had been given slightly better armor protection in refits prior to the war, and thus far had served well. She had assisted the evacuation of Norway and teamed up with the light carrier Furious to go after German raiders before. Now Furious was part of a group up north that had already sniffed out this new German raider, and Tennant was eager to bring the first big British ship into the chase. He put on all possible speed, and slowly moved out in front of King George V, slipping ahead to form the new vanguard of the Home Fleet, such as it was. Most of Tovey’s available cruisers had been up north in Force P and Vian’s smaller Force K. Now they were all bending their course to intercept the enemy ship before she could break out into the Atlantic.