Kirov (35 page)

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.

Like
most men who had risen to captain one of Britain’s capital ships, Tennant had
joined the navy as a young lad of 15 years in 1905. Beginning as a navigator,
he had a ship shot from under him and sunk at Jutland in 1916, then joined HMS
Renown
,
the sister ship of
Repulse
, when King Edward had toured the world on her
in the 1920s. He made Captain quickly, and in this war he had skillfully
masterminded the British evacuation at Dunkirk, earning the nickname “Dunkirk
Joe.” Yet he had seen quite enough of sinking ships and stubborn retreats. Once
he was seated aboard
Repulse
, he had put her to good use, chasing down
and engaging the “Twins,” battlecruisers
Scharnhorst
and
Gneisenau
in the Norwegian campaigns, and driving them off. The loss of
Hood
galled him, and he was eager for a chance to even the score.

“It’s
a man’s game now,” he said to his Executive Officer. “Convoys are all routed south
with the Prime Minister at sea. That means it’s all run and gun up here for the
warships. I’ve been wanting to get into a scrap ever since
Hood
went
down, god bless her. They wouldn’t let me try and sink my teeth into
Bismarck
after that, but this new contact is rumored to be a cruiser, or perhaps a fast
carrier.”

“
Graf
Zeppelin
, sir?”

“Daddy
Brind seems to think as much.”

“Our
15 inch guns will deal with that easily enough, sir.”

“That
they will. The question is finding the damn thing out here. The weather is
gray, though this front looks to be passing and we might get better seas in
time. Let’s see if we can make 32 knots. We’ve only just come within a nip of
that before. Let’s push her all out and find this enemy ship.”

“Right,
sir, but I wish we had better eyes. They’re still working up that radar
equipment.”

The
ship had only just completed another minor refit, getting fifteen more 20mm
Oerlikon AA guns and a type 284 surface gunnery radar set that the technicians
had still been working on when Home Fleet sailed. They were kept aboard,
stringing up the wiring and testing the antennas, but could get nothing more
than a wash of noisy static when they tried out the new equipment.
Repulse
was also carrying six sets of the Type 286 Surface to Air radar, earmarked for
ships in the Indian Ocean. She was slated for transfer that way with
Prince
of Wales
after this official business had concluded, and eventual
deployment to the Pacific as a deterrent against possible Japanese attack
there.

~
~ ~

Some
100
miles to the
west, there was nothing wrong with the radar sets aboard
Kirov
, and other
eyes were watching the approach of both
Repulse
and
King
George
V
very closely. Admiral Volsky was on the bridge near the end of his watch,
a sullen mood on him with the return of that bothersome headache that had been
plaguing him for days now. He was tired, feeling the stress of the last few
days and still making the interior adjustment to the bewildering fate of his
ship and crew. He thought he might go and see the doctor, leaving Orlov on the
bridge for the last hour of his watch before Karpov returned at 08:00 hours.

The
brief night had slipped by uneventfully, and the ship was now a little over 200
miles due west of Reykjavík. Though the British force that had been shadowing
them continued to follow, they remained at a respectful distance and Rodenko
saw no further signs of hostile activity. Apparently Karpov had given them
quite a beating in that second air raid, and they were now licking their wounds,
yet stubbornly holding on, even though the ship was now jamming most of the
known frequencies British World War II radar would tend to operate on. They
were most likely groping in the dark now, following on the last known heading
they had on his ship. For the moment, geography was their friend in the matter.
The Denmark Strait was a fairly narrow channel, and the only obvious route
Kirov
might have taken.

Kirov
was sailing south, well west of
Iceland towards the tip of Greenland as she now hurried on at 30 knots. Two
hours ago, Rodenko had spotted yet another contact, bearing in on them from the
southeast on an intercept course. In a conversation with his history
consultant, Fedorov, the Admiral deduced that this must be his counterpart, Sir
John Tovey, commander-in-chief of the Royal Navy’s Home Fleet. Rodenko spotted
only two ships, however another signal was tracking in on them as well, northeast
of their position, yet some distance away. It was just as Mister Fedorov had warned
them, the British were reacting, almost antibody like, against the incursion of
any foreign element that might threaten their vital convoy routes.

Volsky
watched the approach of what he assumed could only be heavier British units, and
Fedorov had deduced that the most likely candidates would be
King George V
and
possibly the battlecruiser
Repulse
or another heavy cruiser.

“These
were the only two capital ships in Scapa Flow at this time, sir,” he said.
“Aside from
Prince of Wales,
and I do not think the British would be
sending that ship against us. It was supposed to ferry the Prime Minister to
Newfoundland.”

“And
what about the Germans, Fedorov,” asked the Admiral. “There were several
entries in your book covering this time period, and it looked like a large
concentration of U-boats was gathering south of Iceland.”

“I
did some research on that, sir,” said Fedorov. “I’ve got the whole database
from uboat.net here on my pad, and that wolfpack, designated
Grönland
,
does not form up until mid August. The only boat that gets anywhere near us on
this heading would be
U-563
under Oberleutnant zur See Klaus Bargsten.
That boat is prowling due south of Iceland right now, according to my data,
sir. But we’re well to the west. I don’t think we have anything to worry about
from the Germans, but Admiral Tovey might want to keep a sharp eye. He’ll be
bringing his task force right through the
Grönland
wolfpack assembly
area.”

“Very
well, Lieutenant. Then I guess Mister Tasarov will be able to listen to his
music under those headphones and actually get away with it!”

“There’s
only one thing, sir…” Fedorov hesitated, not quite sure of himself now.

“Speak
your mind, Fedorov,” Volsky urged him on.

“Well,
sir, that first undersea contact we encountered, just after the detonation. I
thought it might be
Orel
, sir, but if the accident aboard
Orel
was the cause of our dilemma here, then I assumed it must have been a German
U-Boat.”

“And
what of that?”

“I
checked the database, sir, but could find no German U-boat on patrol on those
waters for July 28th. It must have been one of ours.”

“One
of ours?”

“A
Russian submarine, sir, from 1941.”

“I
see… Then it is good that we did not fire on that boat.”

“Right,
sir. I just wonder if they might have spotted us before our helo chased them
away.”

“If
they did, then they would also assume we were a big German ship, yes?”

“Most
likely, sir.”

“Then
I think we have no worries there. That contact was not close enough to learn
much about us, or see the ship clearly. I don’t think we need to worry that Papa
Stalin knows about us. What would he do about it anyway?”

As
they made these deductions, Rodenko was recording signal return characteristics
of each contact, and trying to build a library file on them. The Admiral
watched the range close between
Kirov
and this contact for some time,
considering moving further west, but not wanting to get his ship boxed in
against the coast of Greenland. He concluded that he could probably break free
into the North Atlantic south of Greenland well before these British ships
could possibly come within firing range, which suited him well enough.