Altered States – Volume II. Darkest Hour

Chapter 21

July 11, 1940 ~ 01:00 Hrs

Kranke was furious. The rounds had come like the chiming of a clock. Two hits at the top of the hour, another at quarter past, a fourth at half past the hour, and on it went.

“This is ridiculous, Schorner! How can they hit us like this at such range?”

“Amazing gunnery, Kapitan. I have never heard of a small caliber weapon firing with such accuracy. They must have superb opticals.”

“What about our guns. Surely we can get them at this range. Elevate higher!”

“Sir, I am reading the target at 27,600 meters. If we hit them it will be one for the record books, and we do not seem to have the speed to close.”

“Damn it, Schorner! They are hitting us! Signal Nurnberg to go to their top speed and close. They are four knots faster than we are. Get a seaplane up if you have to correct your sighting. I want hits!”

Nurnberg turned, but thirty seconds later the distant shadow on the sea turned as well, and Kranke could barely see it now on the horizon. The seaplane fluttered up, launching from the catapult amidships and slowly gaining altitude. It banked and began to head for the Russian ship, and then he saw it… Something erupted from the shadow, a white streak in the sky, a fiery light and then the explosion. The seaplane was gone!

Kranke slowly lowered his field glasses, a look of shock on his face. He kept staring at the sky, watching the fading contrail that connected the enemy ship to the place in the sky his seaplane had been flying. Heintz was quickly at his side.

“A rocket!” He pointed at the smoke in the sky, then lowered his arm and looked at Kranke. “Herr Kapitan,” he said slowly. “I believe we smoked those cigars too soon.”

“That light cruiser is turning on an intercept course,” said Rodenko. The two ships are breaking formation.”

“Yes, said Fedorov. If we maneuver to maintain our range then Admiral Scheer will slip over the horizon.”

“I believe it is time for us to strengthen the brew,” said Volsky. “How many of those P-900s from Kazan remain?”

“Six missiles, sir.”

“Let us use one here on that light cruiser. That will get their attention, and I think we can use it in mode one with this ship, correct Fedorov?”

“Mode one?” Fedorov passed a moment of embarrassment, not knowing what the Admiral was referring to. He had never been a combat officer, and still felt more comfortable at the navigation station, in spite of his position as the ship’s Captain now.”

“On mode one this is a standard sea skimmer” said the Admiral. “It will not execute a last minute popup maneuver. Would you recommend this approach?” Volsky could see he had caught his young Captain at a disadvantage and he was wise enough to bolster him a bit by making it seem as though he was seeking his advice.

“There were only two ships in this class, and I believe this one is the Nurnberg, sir. If that is so it received the newly developed Wotan Hart steel instead of standard cemented armor. That said, the ship has only 50mm side armor. The P-900 should easily penetrate that and do considerable damage.”

“Then we will fire one P-900 on mode one, Mister Samsonov, You may target and proceed.”

“Aye sir. Setting mode command. Missile reports ready. Firing now.”

The warning claxon sounded and the missile was up and on its way with a loud roar, climbing and then immediately dipping towards the sea to cross the short distance right over the wave tops. Seconds later it struck Nurnberg amidships, just above the water line on her side armor, and Fedorov’s assessment was on the mark as well.

The 200kg warhead easily penetrated the 2-inch armor there. Wotan Hart steel was much harder than cemented armor, but the ship would have needed at least six inches to have any chance of stopping the missile. The hull was badly breached, the explosive force ripping a hole from the weather deck to well below the water line. Fire broiled in the blackened gash, and heavy smoke engulfed the ship. Nurnberg rolled heavily as the sea rushed in, a benefit as well as a curse. The water helped to douse the terrible fire from all the excess missile fuel, but it was also dragging the ship into a bad list.

The ship would not recover, but counter-flooding would buy enough time to get most of the crew off safely. Volsky watched on the Tin Man display, his face serious, eyes troubled. The lessons of war were hard, whether you were the teacher or the student, he thought. Let us hope the Captain on this other ship does not need further prodding.

“That will be enough for the moment,” he said to Samsonov. “Let’s see if Mister Nikolin can get a response now.”

Aboard Admiral Scheer Kranke was aghast. He had clearly seen the missile fire from the thick of the shadow that had been taunting him with small caliber fire, infuriated to think that this new Russian weapon could outrange his 11-inch guns. The rocket that took down his seaplane was shocking enough. He knew the old British battlecruisers once mounted a rocket system, but it was designed to deploy a small parachute and trail long cables at the bottom to act as an obstacle against planes. This was something else entirely, a lightning fast javelin that skewered his Arado and dropped it into the sea in seconds. Then came the rocket that struck Nurnberg, and he soon surmised that they were going to lose that ship. The Russians had evened the score.

So this was the ship Hoffmann warned me about, he thought darkly. Smoke one cigar if you find it, one if you can get close enough for a photograph, the third if you return alive. Now he knew just what Hoffmann meant, and it was a most uncomfortable feeling. One moment he was a jaunty, ebullient officer, fresh from victory, a good meal and a long sleep. Now he looked harried and anxious, struggling first to comprehend what he was seeing, weighing the implications of these new weapons. With each passing minute he realized the inadequacy of his ship now when pitted against this unknown foe.

“The battlecruiser Kirov,” he said to Heintz. “Well now I can see why it gets the name. This ship is a little something more than we expected. They have saved the best for last.”

“Schorner can’t hit the damn thing unless we can close the range, sir, and it is obvious that they are faster than we are. There are probably 500 men going into the sea out there now, and if we continue this engagement we could lose most of them.”

“Kapitan,” the signalman called. “They say that if we do not cease firing and comply with the return of their nationals they will sink us too!”

“Calm down!” Kranke said sharply, hands clasped behind his back. “Alright then… first get a coded message off to Group North. Notify Hoffmann that we have found this ship. Call it Fafnir, he will know what I mean.” He was referring to the legendary dragon in Norse Mythology.

“This one certainly breathes fire,” said Heintz.

“That it does. Signalman… Tell the Russians they can have their damn prisoners. We have over 500 men on Nurnberg out there that will need our help. Ask them to cease fire.” He shrugged, pulling his gloves off slowly, a defeated look on his face. Then the light of an idea kindled in his eyes.

“Let them come in to retrieve their comrades,” he said to Heintz in a low whisper. “Then when they are nice and close, Schorner can blow them to hell.”

Kranke would not be able to order his planned deception. The Russians were simply too cautious. The Germans were running past the long finger of Hopen Island off Svalbard, or Spitzbergen as it was then called. A signal came ordering them to set all the Soviet prisoners ashore there, saying their names and identities were known and stressing that they had best be unharmed and well treated. The Kapitan complied, then went about his rescue operation under the watchful eye of the Russian ship, always lurking on the horizon, a distant, threatening shadow.

Three hours later the Germans had recovered the great bulk of the crew of Nurnberg, and set off scuttling charges to make certain the Russians would not get the ship. Then, his decks crowded with cold, bedraggled men, Kranke turn and sailed on, a chastened man.

Fafnir, he thought. Yes, and now where is Sigurd? It will take something better than this old pocket battleship to get after that monster. Hoffmann fared no better, and he had both Scharnhorst and Gneisenau with him. And Lindemann had Bismarck and Tirpitz and he still broke off his engagement as well.

“I’m afraid they have evened the score,” Heintz said dejectedly. “I wonder why they did not turn those rocket weapons on us? We’ve been in range for some hours, and they have every reason to avenge what we have done.”

“This Russian Captain is a cagey and cautious man,” said Kranke. “Yes, he’s trumped us with these new weapons they’ve developed-for the moment. Lindemann turned for home on Raeder’s orders, but I heard the damage to Bismarck was not significant. Against a lightly armored cruiser like Nurnberg those rockets were very effective. I doubt if Bismarck would be bothered by them, and that ship has 15-inch guns.”

“I hope you are correct, sir.”

Kranke gave him a long look. “Yes, I hope I am correct as well. Otherwise we may have awakened a sleeping bear here, and I was the man who gave the orders.” He turned, walking slowly off the bridge, his gait slow and deliberate, shoulders slumped.

“Well,” said Volsky. “I have accomplished my purpose here, and that was more than the recovery of Zolotov and the others.”

Volsky waited until the Germans had completed their rescue operation and sailed off. They followed slowly, shadowing the Germans for some time, and then turned towards Hopen Island to pick up the Russians that had been taken from Siberiakov and Port Dickson.

“I know it appeared to you that all we did here is break another ship and crew,” said Volsky. “But we have built something here as well.”

“What is that, Admiral?”

“A reputation, Fedorov. It will precede us wherever we go now, like a long shadow. The next time a German Captain sees my ship on his horizon, they will remember us. Let us hope they respect the way this was handled.”

“I would think they realized they were overmatched, sir,” said Fedorov.

“Good. Fear is a useful weapon. Now when they see any Russian ship at sea they may not be so eager to engage. Perhaps they will think that all our ships might have the weapons we used. It could save some lives.”

“Let us hope as much, Admiral, but in time they will see that is not the case. We will soon be deemed the exception, and not the rule, and that will deepen the mystery for them somewhat as well.”

“They still have a lot to learn.” Volsky nodded.

“Will we be returning to Severomorsk now?”

“No, I think we have other business at the moment, Mister Fedorov. “The ship has been well repaired, and we have replenished our stocks of food and fresh water. I know the men were eager for home, but in many ways, seeing it that way, barren, everything we knew gone… Well it may have done more harm than help.”

“I understand, sir. Then what course should I set now?”

“I think we will continue west into the Norwegian Sea again. I told Golovko I would handle this matter and then scout the German buildup near the North Cape area. The KA-40 should be useful in that regard. After that we have business further south. I had a private talk with Sergie Kirov before he left. He has authorized me to make formal offers of Alliance with Great Britain, and to reinforce the diplomatic talks now underway in back channels with an official visit.”

“I see,” said Fedorov, very impressed by this, and heartened by the news. “Then we are going to rendezvous with the British? Where sir? Scapa Flow?”

“We can arrange that soon enough,” said Volsky. “Plot a course for the Faeroe Island Group. I think that would make a convenient place to have another chat. I think you might also see what you learn with signals intercepts and use that gizmo you have.”

“Gizmo, sir?”

“That application that deciphers the German Enigma Naval code. I think Admiral Tovey might be pleased to learn that we have broken that code.”

‘That would be a major development, sir. It was instrumental to the British war effort.”

“Yes, well that will be a nice little cherry we can put on the ice cream, yes?” Volsky sighed. “It was my intention to find friends here, Fedorov. That we have done, but I’m afraid that every choice has its implications, and we have made enemies here as well.”

“The Germans may have been surprised and intimidated here, sir,” said Fedorov. “But they will not give up easily. They’ve lost a destroyer and a light cruiser, but all their other capital ships will return to service. I think things should quiet down here for a while. They will want to make those repairs and the winter ice will be setting in sooner than we realize.”

“Where is the hot table in the casino now, Fedorov?”

“Sir? If you mean the history, the British are worried about Operation Seelowe now, and the French Navy.”

“I will tell Admiral Tovey that they need have no worry over the prospect of a German invasion. That I could easily prevent. As for the Battle of Britain, I’m afraid we don’t have enough SAMs to stop the Luftwaffe just now.”

“Agreed, sir. Unless you are willing to reconsider another shift attempt, I think we must be very conservative in the application of our remaining missile inventory. We have 23 SSMs remaining.”

“You say the British are worried about the French?”

“Yes sir. The center of gravity now shifts to the Mediterranean for the balance of this year. France has just capitulated, and the French have some very powerful and useful ships. The British may have settled the matter. The attack on the French fleet at Mers-el-Kebir took place on July 3rd in our history, but this recent German operation may have changed that. I doubt if it occurred. Most of the ships that were to be assigned to Admiral Somerville to create Force H at Gibraltar were up here for this operation, including HMS Hood and the two carriers that were supporting Tovey’s operation against the Germans. But all things considered, the British will now be looking south. They could be planning an operation against the French fleet even as we speak.”

“Let us hope they sort it out. You have the bridge, Mister Fedorov. I’m going below to see Zolotov and the other Russians we took aboard. They may be with us for some time, and that may require a little management.”

“I understand, sir.”

Fedorov saluted as the Admiral left, thinking. It appears that everyone has finally chosen sides. Soon the real fighting will begin.