“What do you make of all this talk of rocketry, Adler,” he asked his young Kapitan.
“Rockets? I find it hard to believe, Admiral. Most of this talk comes from Kurt Hoffmann, which surprises me even more. He is not a man given to exaggeration, or one to back down from a fight at sea.”
“Bohmer says he saw the rocket that sunk the Heimdal. Lindemann saw them too,” said Lutjens. “He’s a fighting Kapitan, but elected to terminate Operation Valkyrie when these weapons struck his ships.”
“That was also surprising, sir. He had Bismarck and Tirpitz! Those two ships could have backed down anything the British have.”
“Agreed, but after seeing the damage to Gneisenau, I have come to believe Lindemann was correct to be cautious at the outset. In spite of all the fanfare at the docks when we slipped our berth, we may have to be cautious here as well.”
“Tell that to Axel Faust,” said Adler, referring to the ship’s burly gunnery officer. His name meant “fist” and he was the hard master of the Hindenburg’s real power, and an ex-champion boxer for the navy as well.
“Something tells me Faust will get his chance this time around,” said Lutjens. “We have orders to get down to Saint Nazaire. Raeder wants to make sure nothing bothers that new French aircraft carrier in the shipyards there. I told him the Luftwaffe would provide all the defense he needs, but he insists that we must establish ourselves there to gain access to the Atlantic without first having to fight our way past the British up here.”
“I agree, sir. We will be right astride the convoy routes there, and it will give the British fits. We can sortie at any hour and there is no way they can stop us.”
“Perhaps,” said Lutjens, with far less enthusiasm. “But we have to get there first, Adler. And Axel Faust may be busier than he realizes in a few days time.”
Adler looked at Lutjens, thinking something, but saying nothing. He had come to feel that the Admiral was becoming too sour of mind and heart, and did not think he had the same iron in his backbone that the builders had put into his ships. “Well sir,” he said at last. “Perhaps we may soon be able to call on Gibraltar! The operation is underway on the Franco-Spanish border this moment. Five days from now our troops will be ringing the doorbell there.”
“That would be most promising if we could take Gibraltar,” Lutjens agreed.
“Of course, sir. And if it comes to a fight up here, I do not think Axel Faust will disappoint us. I heard him talking with Hartman down in Bruno turret yesterday. The men are eager for battle. They are tired of shooting up garbage scows for target practice, and want a real British battleship to sink this time around. This is not Gneisenau, sir.”
“True,” said Lutjens, “but may I remind you, Kapitan, that Gneisenau had 350mm on her side belt armor, only 10mm less than we have here. That was a very sturdy ship, and it will be months before we can put it to any use after the beating it received from those naval rockets. Most of the damage was on the superstructure, where the side armor was of no help.”
“Don’t worry, Admiral. With Graf Zeppelin alongside we will find the enemy long before they even know we are close at hand. And he who finds his enemy first also has the option to strike first. This is the difference. Gneisenau was taken by surprise. From what Otto Fein told me, they thought they were steaming up on a slow British man-of-war when it fired those rockets at them. Forewarned is forearmed. We will have air cover over us, and more than sufficient warning of the enemy’s dispositions.”
Lutjens smiled. “That was whatKapitan Bohmer thought aboard Graf Zeppelin last time out. Then the missile found his task force before his planes ever had sight of the ship that fired them. I will tell you one thing, Adler, if that is true then it changes everything. All our ships would be rendered obsolete overnight! So I find myself of two minds. I want to see these rockets first hand and learn for myself what their capabilities might be-assuming they do not sink us first.”
Adler said nothing to that, as he could not imagine it possible. Then Lutjens looked at his watch, noting the time.
“Speaking ofBohmer,” he said, “we had better signal our intentions. Tell him I plan to steer 240 for the next three hours, but then we are heading south. See that Lindemann gets the message as well. Bismarck will be in the lead position.”
“So soon, sir?” That will put us on a course for the Faeroes. I thought we were heading out to Iceland.”
“Not this time,” said Lutjens. “No… This time we are going to be just a little more direct. The British will be thinking we will try the Denmark Strait or Iceland passage again, just as before. We will do everything to strengthen that notion, as Hoffmann has orders to demonstrate there with Scharnhorst and Hipper. Alfargruppe is already operational, but that is just a feint, and this time we play our hand out with an inside strait. I have a few surprises planned for the British as well.”
Chapter 27
Admiral Tovey received the warning through channels from the Admiralty, his eyes darkening with concern. The Germans were on the move, and the operations now seemed to be associated with an even more ominous prospect-an attack against Gibraltar! Tovey had been there with the Cruiser Squadron just before being promoted to Admiral of Home Fleet. He knew the place well, yet had no illusions about its prospects of resisting a determined attack from the land. There were no more than four battalions in the garrison, and it was unlikely Gibraltar could be reinforced by sea once the attack began.
The Admiralty was of the same mind, in spite of the vital nature on the base and its intrinsic value as a symbol of British power. Gibraltar was a hinge of fate in so many ways, and yet the screws were weak, and rust had crept in over the long decades of British rule. The War Cabinet had long known that if Spain cooperated with Germany, the airfield at Gibraltar would be useless within hours, and the harbor within a day. Now the Admiralty was already casting about for some alternative place to base the units of Force H while also mounting some effective counter to the juggernaut of the German military.
Churchill was flabbergasted to learn that the Admiralty had no firm plan to reinforce Gibraltar. When it was explained that it would be impossible to land fresh troops in a harbor under fire from enemy artillery, the grim reality of the situation became apparent. Gibraltar would have to stand or fall with the garrison it had, but Force H would do what it could to lend support if the Germans actually carried out an attack.
The instant Tovey received the warning that Hindenburg was missing he ordered his ships to four hour steam, and put to sea immediately thereafter. Yet now he had a new problem to deal with. Admiral Pound had never been easy with the posting of a Russian battlecruiser to the watch on the Denmark Strait. He made the obvious point that even though Russia had signed a pledge of alliance with Great Britain, the Soviet Union had not gone so far as to declare war on Germany. Still involved in obvious negotiations with France and Spain, Germany had also refrained from declaring war on Russia, and so an uneasy tension remained all along the Polish frontier.
“Suppose this Russian ship is capable of defending the Denmark Strait,” Pound had said at the Admiralty meeting. “That alone would be a stretch, but even if it were so, this creates some rather thorny political problems. The Russians are not keen to engage in open hostilities with the Germans-this Admiral Volsky you speak of aside. Unless they go so far as to declare war on Germany, I find it inappropriate to have that ship posted to such a vital position. The Denmark Strait is the route most often chosen by German raiders.”
“Believe one thing,” said Tovey. “This ship can fight. I have no doubt it can hold its own on that watch. That said, I agree with your political assessment of the situation. If, however, I ask the Russians to withdraw, then I shall have to take up that watch myself in HMS Invincible, and leave the Iceland Faeroes Gap to the debutantes.” Tovey was referring to the two new King George V class battleships, still untried and out for their first combat sortie.