John Schettler - Golem 7

Hamilton’s concernabout lurking U-boats was well founded. Wohlfarth on U-556 had only just lowered his periscope, amazed to see yet another large British warship steaming on in apparent haste, and without proper escort.

Someone is all in huff over Bismarck , he knew. Damn the Royal Navy. You could sink five battleships and they would still find a way to pull another one out of their hat when needed. He had been listening to signal intercepts and had been mentally putting together a picture of the action forming up to his west. He had already taken one British battlecruiser out of the action, sure to earn the Knight’s Cross for that. But there were at least three big ships, a carrier, and a gaggle of light cruisers still chasing Bismarck . He remembered the pledge he had made to Captain Lindemann, half in jest, and half to cover the brash incident where he had deliberately fired on Bismarck’s towed target ship during gunnery exercises months ago.

He smiled inwardly, remembering the day he had gone over to the great ship himself, awed by her fearsomely sleek lines and menacing stature. He had knocked on Captain Lindemann’s ward room door and introduced himself with a stiff salute. At that meeting he had presented Lindemann with a drawing he had made, depicting himself as brave Sir Persifal, rushing to the rescue of Bismarck as she was harried by three British Swordfish.

He remembered exactly what he had written: ‘We, U-556 , hereby declare before Neptune, Lord over oceans, seas, lakes, rivers, brooks, ponds, and rivulets, that we will provide any desired assistance to our Big Brother, the battleship Bismarck , at any place on the water, under water, on land, or in the air.’

A curse on the British! Those were steep enough odds already for Bismarck . Now a fourth battleship, was apparently steaming to get after her as well. He must notify Group West immediately of his sighting, and now he regretted his wanton attack on Convoy HX-126 in such an increasingly target rich environment.

“Damn,” he said aloud. “If only I had another few torpedoes!”

His navigator, Sub-Lieutenant Souvad returned at once. “But Captain, we do have two more torpedoes. They are in the reserve container on the outer deck.”

Wohlfarth spun about and looked at him, thinking. He had forgotten all about those last two fish because it was almost impossible to get them out of their casings and into the lower decks in bad weather. The weather was rough, and likely to get even worse according to the last meteorological report he had read. Yet if he could get at those last two torpedoes…. It was certainly worth a try at least. He waited for a few minutes, giving the big British ship ample time to steam on, then he gave the order ‘up periscope’ again and had a look around for safety’s sake, satisfying himself that there were no destroyers about.

“Bring the boat up at once,” he said sharply. “Make ready to load torpedo reserve.”

“In this weather, sir?” His executive officer had obvious misgivings. “They’ll never manage a winch with the seas like this.”

“Perhaps not,” said Wohlfarth, “but they’ll damn well try, won’t they. Order it at once!”

Minutes later the U-boat had surfaced, tossed in the heavy swells but still stable enough in Wohlfarth’s estimation to mount the winch and see if he could get those last two torpedoes down below and into his forward tubes. He set a double watch and assigned the strongest men he had on the boat to the job. They strained and cursed, and labored for a long hour, opening the deck container and slowly working the torpedoes down into the cargo access hatch, one by one.

On more than one occasion the boat was slapped by a heavy wave and a sleek torpedo swayed dangerously on its hoisting harness, but the men had hold of her from two sides, one nearly slipping and falling off the boat before a burly master chief grabbed his arm to steady the man.

All the while the watchmen nervously scanned every horizon for any sign of British ships or planes. They were in the Western Approaches, a dangerous zone for a U-boat to be spotted, but an hour later, with much sweat and toil, the crews had their weapons secured below and were closing off the upper hatches.

Wohlfarth scratched at his short cropped curly beard, beaming with satisfaction. It was as if he had been given a second life, and he had every intention of using it to best advantage.

“Chief of the Boat, come round to course 180 degrees south,” he said excitedly. “Increase to fifteen knots. All ahead full.”

“Aye, captain.”

Now, he thought. Let us not incur the wrath of Neptune, God, Fate or Captain Lindemann. If the British want a fight, I will give them one. I’m going to follow that big fat British battleship and see where she leads me! We will see if I can change the odds yet again…

Dawn broke, grey and cold, with the winds rising and the seas churning with the tumult of an oncoming storm. Rodney was a large ship, however, with a wide beam and she rode out the swells with good stability. The big Scot, Hamilton, was on the bridge, and he had invited the American officer to join him there as he considered his situation.

Hamilton was well accustomed to USN officers aboard his ship. Earlier that year he had hosted the American Rear Admiral Ghormley, Mr. James Forrestal, Under Secretary of the USN, and a baker’s dozen of American Air Corps Officers. Secretary Forrestal was en route to negotiate the Lend-Lease agreement with the British Government at the time, and he found the other officers bright, fit, and well skilled. This one seemed no different.

“It seems we have new orders,” said Hamilton.

“Sir?” Paul was immediately concerned.

“Yes, the Admiralty wants us to steer 225 degrees. They believe Bismarck may attempt to meet up with an oiler in the Atlantic.”

Paul expected this, and he had his argument ready in hand. “I see,” he began. “But if I may, sir… what good would that course change do us now? We’re already 200 miles east of Admiral Tovey. If Bismarck has turned on 225 for the Atlantic we’ll never catch up. Yet consider your situation here, sir. You have passengers aboard, your decks are stacked high with boiler tubes in packing crates.”

“Yes, and then some,” said Hamilton. He did not tell the American he was also carrying the famous Elgin Marbles from the British Museum and many cases of gold bullion in his lower forward holds, ordered to deposit them safely in the United States. Apparently the marbles were not deemed safe enough where they had been hidden in the concrete reinforced Tube tunnel near the Aldwych branch of the Piccadilly subway line.

“Well, sir,” Paul went on. “Sir Winston’s convoy will be just fifty miles east of us by now, and heading south. There’s no heavy escort there aside from Exeter . What if Bismarck turns east for that convoy instead? If I know about it, it’s likely the Germans know about it as well. Our southerly course has served two purposes. We moved to a much better position to intercept Bismarck if she does head for France, and we’re also covering Convoy WS-8B. In fact, sir, I would even come two or three points to port now if I were in your shoes, but steering 225 will put us out of the game.”