Second Front (Kirov Series Book 24) Read online

  Laddie, he said to himself inwardly. We’ve a gimpy leg now, and we cannot run. No use holding the destroyers and Sheffield here, but it looks as though we’ll simply have to stand and fight. “signal all destroyers to take a heading of 340, Sheffield to follow,” said Kinahan. “Step lively now, and run it up on the halyards.”

  The destroyers were already running, with the Marne taking a pounding from the Admiral Hipper and what looked like another smaller cruiser coming up from the south. If Kinahan actually knew what he was now facing, he might have put his money on the engineers getting the engines sorted out, and not on his guns. The entire German surface fleet had reached a predetermined rendezvous point, and now they had turned, forming a wide line of steel on the sea, and they were charging west. One of the two Type 275 radar sets had been smashed aboard Anson, and so she was like a fighter with one eye closed, and could not see the danger looming from the east. Then the ship shuddered heavily, another hard blow struck by two rounds from the Tirpitz. This time fires and flooding resulted. A 5.25-inch turret magazine had exploded.

  The fires were not serious, but the flooding was. That round from Tirpitz that had penetrated to the engineering plant had opened a good sized hole in the hull, and the ship was soon in a ten degree list. Kinahan counter flooded, but this did nothing to help his situation with the engines. Anson merely settled more deeply in the water, and he could make no more than 8 knots.

  Anson fired another full broadside, the tall spray of the shells straddling the dark silhouette of the Tirpitz in the distance. He saw no obvious hits, but suddenly the lookouts reported the Germans seemed to be breaking off to the north, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

  They’ve got that one good ship up here, he thought. Perhaps they have orders not to mix it up with our battleships, but from the looks of this encounter, we’ve taken the worst of it. In spite of that, there’s at least hope that we can control that flooding and get the ship west to rejoin Holland and the Hood.

  There the British had been pulling together all the elements of the distant covering force, the carrier Victorious with three destroyers and cruisers Kent and Cumberland. Jamaica coming up from the southwest, just a little east of Hood’s position now, and Nigeria bringing up the rear to the west.

  Kinahan had it in mind to try and limp back to join them, but he realized the situation with his propulsion system was going from bad to worse by the minute. No Captain ever wants to consider what was on his mind now—the fate of his crew of over 1500 men in the cold water. If he could just keep the ship afloat, he could spare them that fate. The engineers reported that they had finally managed to seal off the flooded compartments below, though the gash in the hull could not be repaired at sea.

  That was the game insofar as Anson was concerned. With her speed down to 8 knots, the ship was useless as any part of the distant covering force. He might limp west to stand with the merchantmen, as 8 knots was their cruising speed, but when he reported his ship’s condition to Holland and Scapa Flow, the order that came back was not unexpected. He looked at it, blinked, and clenched his jaw. ‘HMS Anson is to avoid any further contact with the enemy and immediately withdraw to Scapa Flow.’

  So much for our maiden voyage, he thought grimly. It’s back to the dry docks for us now.

  Chapter 14

  The problem Holland had now, was the dispersion of his force in fending off these initial challenges from the Kriegsmarine. With Anson ordered home, he now had only two battleships forward, his own ship and the American battleship Massachusetts with the close covering force. Howe was still at the tail of the convoy keeping an eye out for that German pocket battleship, and that was 300 nautical miles to his southwest. Arc Royal was also retiring towards the convoy, though that ship still had 11 planes operational.

  The only thing to do was to consolidate the force he had, bring up the close covering force to combine his forces into one strong battlegroup. Victorious sent up a fighter to have a look around, and soon reported where at least a part of the enemy force had gone. The plane overflew what looked like a pair of fast heavy cruisers, but to Holland’s mind they had to be something more.

  “Heavy Cruisers? Hipper is the only ship that’s been up here of late. No. That has to be those two fast battlecruisers, Rhineland and Westfalen—nothing to be trifled with, though he was confident he could back those ships off if it came to an engagement. No enemy planes had been seen aloft, and so thinking he had a slight edge with Victorious on the scene, he gathered his ships and steeled himself for the confrontation that lay ahead.

  Unknown to him, a Korvettenkapitan with a famous name was lurking right in the midst of his task force. Karl Brandenburg had taken U-457 in from the north, and sailed right through the heart of the British force at periscope depth. He was one of the boats in this North Cape group that was loosely organized as Wolfstrudel Eisteufel, the “Ice Devils.” At one point he lined up on the Hood, elated at the thought that he might get off a shot, but the speedy battleship was simply too fast. He was able to ascertain several ships by type and silhouette, identifying Kent and Cumberland, with four other ships, mostly destroyers. That dampened his ardor for a torpedo attack, but he lurked about, undiscovered, and then continued south to get to a safer position to key off a report to Admiral Carls on the Tirpitz.

  His intelligence gave the Germans a very good idea of what they were up against, and Carls, already confident in having beaten off the threat from Anson, decided to attack.

  “Let’s see how much stomach they have,” he said to Kapitan Topp. “They hardly put a scratch on us in that last engagement, but I think we hurt that battleship. We will swing slightly north, consolidate, and then move west again.”

  Peter Strasser was about 80 miles to the south, but with only five Ju-87s and six Messerschmitts remaining operational. He decided to commit those planes, hoping one of those Stuka pilots might get a lucky hit. If nothing else, the six Bf-109s up for air cover would do him some good.

  The Stukas lined up on the deck, taking off in the wet windblown sea spray. They did not have far to go before spotting the leading British ship, clearly a cruiser, and then seeing the much more menacing Hood not far behind. They put in their attack, prompting heavy AA fire from Hood and Jamaica, but the best they could do was get several near misses on the battleship. One enterprising pilot interpreted his bomb as having scored a hit off the starboard bow, but it was merely the close underwater explosion that gave him more to see than actual damage to report.

  More valuable to Admiral Carls was the information those planes obtained on the composition of the enemy force. He now knew that he was facing the Hood with three cruisers, and followed by two more cruisers and two destroyers. The presence of enemy fighters harassing and driving off the last of those Stukas also told him a British carrier was still close at hand. Against this force of eight enemy ships he had an equal number, and the scene was now set for what might be the decisive battle in the north. If he could prevail here, stop or savage this convoy, then he might close the sea lanes to Murmansk, choking off the only viable supply route to the Soviets. He gave immediate orders to begin the engagement, with the super heavy cruiser Westfalen engaging the lead enemy ship, and Tirpitz to fire on the Hood as soon as range permitted.

  * * *

  Aboard Hood, they received the sighting report from Sheffield at 05:53 in the morning, the 17th of June—One German battleship, course 270, range 10 nautical miles. That was over 20,000 yards, and both sides were closing on one another at high speed. Captain Arthur Wesley Clark was on Sheffield, and minutes later the watchman called out three more sightings, believed to be enemy heavy cruisers. His position in the vanguard was now feeling just a bit uncomfortable, and when the ship suddenly took a direct hit from a 5-inch gun off the Westfalen, he ordered a quick evasive turn, hard to starboard. That hit had already knocked out one of his own secondary 4-inch twin gun mounts and a 40mm Bofors. He ordered all guns to return fire, and turned.

  The ship woul
d not come out of that turn unscathed. German fire was exceptionally accurate, rocking ‘Shiny Shef” with four more hits that damaged one of her 6-inch guns, several more Bofors mounts, and the 533mm torpedo mounts on the port side, where a fire looked particularly threatening. The ships Huff Duff directional finding antennae was clawed by shrapnel, but the worst of it was a round that penetrated the forward hull, causing substantial flooding and immediate loss of speed.

  Yet Hood and the heavy cruiser Kent had the range now, and began pouring on fire. The dark form of the lead German ship was unmistakable, the Tirpitz. Holland sat in the Captain’s chair, a sudden queasy feeling coming over him. He had already faced this ship once before, and under the withering assault of Stukas that seriously damaged his ship. But there was something more, an unaccountable feeling of presentiment clawing at him now. It was as if he could somehow sense that his fate had been decided in a very similar duel at sea against a ship in this class, the Bismarck. It was an unreasonable fear, but he could feel it nonetheless, a coldness in his chest, a sense that doom was nigh at hand.

  Then Kent laid down a beautiful straddle of the German ship with her 8-inch guns and one of them got lucky. The range was about 20,000 yards, at the outer limit of what her guns could make. The sighting had been perfect, with calm seas, clear skies, and the wind fallen off to near zero. At that range, the plunging angle of fire was enough to penetrate the aft deck armor, and the resulting explosion below decks did serious damage to the main propulsion conduits when a secondary magazine went up as part of the bargain. It was a critical hit, most unexpected, certainly unlooked for given the toughness of a ship like Tirpitz at sea. But damage to propulsion meant sudden loss of speed, and that could be fatal.

  It was some minutes before Captain Topp got the bad news, the main turbines were seriously damaged, and within minutes the ship would be dead in the water… And Hood had the range. Westfalen and Rhineland could see the big battleship slowing, and knew there was trouble. They immediately began to concentrate fire on Kent, hoping to take that ship out of the fight quickly. Added to the fire by Tirpitz, which was still engaging both Kent and Hood, the British cruiser was soon awash in tall geysers from shellfall.

  A serious fire amidships was enough to prompt Captain Angus Graham to come about and attempt to withdraw to the northwest. He had put in his magic hit aft on Tirpitz, but now he was taking serious damage, with the fires expanding and difficult to control. He soon found that he could make no more than 8 knots, limping away from the fight, as was Sheffield. That cruiser had recovered speed to 14 knots, controlled her fires, and was now moving due west

  Holland could see what the Germans were trying to do. Tirpitz had lost propulsion, and the three other German heavy ships were now moving rapidly to positions where they could cover that ship and aid its withdrawal. In the meantime, there was nothing wrong with those 15-inch guns on Tirpitz, and added to the 11-inch guns of Scharnhorst and those of the other German ships, Holland decided he would do better here to maneuver with those cruisers to the west. The action ended at little before 06:00, with the Germans clustering around their stricken battleship, and the British falling off to the west. There would come Cumberland and Nigeria, and Holland had a mind to reconstitute his covering force, and possibly effect a rendezvous with the Americans.

  Captain Topp was lucky in that. It was reported that the damage to the propulsion shaft was so bad, that the ship would have to be towed. Admiral Carls ordered Scharnhorst to do the job, with the two heavy cruisers on either flank. Destroyers Grimhild, Gondul, and Odin were hovering as a screen. The cruisers Hipper and Koenig brought up the rear, and the entire formation lumbered off at 5 knots as Scharnhorst labored to get his stricken charge to safe water. A flight of five Me-109s off Peter Strasser were overhead for added protection, but both sides had had enough that day. Now it would be up to the U-Boats and German land based planes in the next layer of the defense.

  It was then that the freighter Hartlebury radioed that it was under fire from what looked like a German heavy cruiser. That ship had been detached from PQ-17B, and ordered back to Iceland, but it would never get there. That ‘cruiser’ was the Admiral Scheer, and Krancke finally had some solace for his lot in life, notching his belt with yet another merchantman. But he was still missing the Lutzow, and that wound festered.

  * * *

  At 11:06 local time on the 17th, spotters aboard Hood detected a periscope wake. The formation had been slowly assembling and preparing to move north to meet the American close covering force, but Holland immediately ordered Hood ahead full and into an evasive zig-zag course to the east. Destroyer Meteor was closest to the scene, and it went to flank speed, its sonar actively pinging out a warning as it searched. Both Kent and Sheffield were detached, heading south to join the wounded destroyer Marne en-route to Scapa Flow. They would make easy prey to any lurking U-boat. Low on fuel, minesweeper Halcyon was also detached to join them.

  The boat was U-251 under Kapitan Heinrich Timm, a cautious commander who never shirked from a combat opportunity, but one who valued his boat and the lives of his crew as well. He heard that destroyer pinging, and the rapid churn of its screws, and immediately dove deep, altering course to 218. His Sonarman heard the destroyer sweep by behind him, and then Timm came around to 308, intending to try and get behind the covering forces where the real meat was. He knew he would have to surface again soon to recharge his battery, so the last thing he needed now was a bothersome destroyer. This was the beginning of the next phase of the game, for the Ice Devils were still out there, in a widely dispersed wolfpack.

  One of his brothers, U-457, was only about 18 nautical miles to the south, and its Kapitan, Karl Brandenburg, was fortunate to be right in the path of those detaching British cruisers. Sheffield was making 14 knots, so he let that ship pass. Kent was limping along at just 8 knots, a perfect target, and he began to slowly maneuver into position, moving to periscope depth. It was then that he spotted a destroyer, but after watching it cautiously for some time, he determined it, too, was moving very slowly. There was no active sonar, and so after lining up on an intercept course for the British cruiser, he dove shallow, retracting his periscope to avoid any chance of it being spotted. It was going to be very close.

  The destroyer suddenly increased speed and turned, making a high speed run, its sonar starting to ping. It was a complete bluff, for the ship was a minesweeper, with no ASW depth charges aboard at that time. Yet her Captain, Collin Singleton, was determined, immediately executing another turn, and ordering his deck guns to fire at the water. He wanted to add the sound of those rounds exploding to his screw noise, and see if he couldn’t frighten this U-boat off. It worked.

  Rattled by those explosions, Brandenburg went deeper, just over the layer, but his speed at that depth was no more than 4 knots on battery power. He executed a ten point turn, adjusting to 185 south, and running as quietly as possible. He could hear the enemy ship right on top of him, wincing inwardly, but no depth charges fell. Again it turned, hunting him very skillfully. The sound of the screws slowed considerably, as if the ship was trying to match his speed. Halcyon was right on top of him, but no attack came. Then he heard yet more explosions from above, thanking his stars that he had chosen to go deep.

  In desperation, Brandenburg decided survival was preferable to a hit on that cruiser, and quietly gave the order to come about. He turned northeast, intent on joining his brethren, U-251, U-255, and now U-703 slowly arriving from the east. Their mission was to stop the convoy, and now he would forsake these straggling elements of the enemy covering force. Singleton’s bluff had just saved the heavy cruiser Kent, though he would not really know that, nor would he get any medals for his skillful attack on the unseen submarine. For him it was all in a day’s work.

  * * *

  At 13:00, a Kondor departed Tromso, heading northwest to see about finding the enemy convoy so it could vector those U-boats in. Peter Strasser, now heading south for Tromso, also sent up a pair of f
ighters to provide protection. They flew right over Sheffield and Kent, noting their positions but continuing on west to look for the real fish. The Kondor was already getting long range radar returns, turning to investigate, even as those fighters did the same.

  The Bf-109s took a good look, classifying the contact as a battleship. The second pass, now receiving flak, gave them a better look. It was A King George V class ship, completely alone. They had come across the battleship Howe, returning to the covering force after its duel with the pocket battleships.

  By 15:30, that Kondor had finally scored the jackpot, reporting two large formations of merchant ships escorted by three destroyers. Most of the Ice Devils were too far away to do anything about it, except U-255 under Kapitanleutnant Reinhart Reche. He was only about 16 miles away, and cleverly maneuvering his boat into a gap between the lead group of enemy ships and the two groups following. At about 18:40, he began to line up on the freighter Azerbaijan, and no one in the convoy saw the sleek eel in the water ahead. Once his first torpedo was in the water, the alarm was raised, but he was already calculating how to get at the ships following in the long line.

  Bellingham was next, then Bolton Castle. He missed the first, and his next lance raced right past that second ship only to strike the next vessel in the line, the Daniel Morgan. He was right in the midst of the formation, with ships on either side of him now, a wolf in the fold. He would turn easily and put out a full spread of four torpedoes, that last striking the Grey Ranger. Racing on, the sea spray awash at his bow, eyes lost in his field glasses, Reche fired a single fish at the next ship in the line, the Hoosier. It was only now that he began to receive fire from the merchantmen. Grey Ranger, hit badly with both flooding and fire scourging her decks, managed to get a 20mm Oerklion into action and began riddling the seas around the U-boat. Reluctantly, Reche gave the order to dive to periscope depth to avoid damage or casualties to his men on the sail.