enemies. We also pose a strategic threat, and this is irrefutable. You spoke earlier about certain weapons we possess, Admiral, weapons that we must not use, and weapons that we must allow no other to use as well. But understand this, the Americans, Germans, and Russians are even now in the early stages of their programs that will eventually lead to the development of the atomic bomb. The first detonation is only a few years away. If we use just a single warhead, and demonstrate the power that we have, our words may then speak as loud as our guns and missiles. And we do not have to destroy London or New York to make a demonstration of this power. A deserted rock like Bear Island will do just fine or, if you prefer a warmer clime, perhaps a deserted Caribbean island. The British and Americans will be our most formidable foe if we move into the Atlantic, and they are the ones we must persuade, to put it lightly.”
“I agree with the Captain,” said Orlov, stirring from his reverie. “With all due respect, Admiral, a demonstration such as he proposes would put fear into the hearts of our enemies, and give them pause before they set loose their navy or even think of hunting us down. For the moment we are an unknown, a ghost ship, and we have not done much harm aside from frightening off an old destroyer. But if we cruise out into the Atlantic, we will have a knife to the jugular of Britain's lifeline.” He flicked open his pocket knife, illustrating his point. “We have just given them a little shove on the shoulder, that is all, but if they push back? Fedorov is correct, the British will defend those convoy routes, the Royal Navy will fight, unless we convince them that to do so would be suicidal. But how to accomplish this?”
The Admiral thought deeply. “I believe I just might have a solution, gentlemen. That book you lent me was very enlightening, Mister Fedorov. I did some reading myself, and it seems to me there is an event of considerable significance looming on the near horizon, assuming this is 1941. And I think we are finally coming to an agreement on that. A small notation caught my eye beginning August 9, 1941. On that day President Roosevelt and Churchill meet on board the British battleship Prince of Wales and the heavy US cruiser Augusta in Argentia Bay, Newfoundland for the proclamation of the Atlantic Charter. If I am not mistaken, this agreement forms the basis of what became known as the United Nations in our day. Some believe it also underlies the foundation of NATO, the two demons that continue to haunt us in our day, yes? This being the case, we may find ourselves in the interesting position of being able to kill two birds with one stone, and influence both the past as well as the present we have come from.”
“Roosevelt and Churchill?” said Karpov, his eyes brightening. “Do you realize what we could do?”
“I realize all too well what we could do, what this ship is capable of doing if we chose to operate her aggressively,” said the Admiral. “But as you yourself argued so ably, Captain, we must be judicious, careful, and plan it well. And yes, words may speak as loud as our weapons in time. I will be relying on each and every one of you in the days ahead. But now hear this, gentlemen. My order concerning the use of nuclear weapons is this: There will be no deployment or use except on my expressed order. Yet I will consider what we have discussed here, and who knows,” he smiled. “Perhaps Mister Roosevelt and Churchill would like a front row seat to the theater. We must consider this situation carefully.”
Chapter 14
July 31, 1941
That evening the Admiralty was abuzz with the electrifying news of the sighting of another large German raider out near Jan Mayen. What could it be? Latest intelligence indicated Tirpitz was laid up at Kiel for repairs, but the Fleet Air Arm was immediately ordered to send two Beaufort fighter bombers to have another look. In the meantime, First Sea Lord, Admiral Dudley Pound was taking no chances. He was on the phone to Scapa Flow, using the long red line that had stretched from London over the Scottish Highlands for decades, hopping buoys as it finally left the land and reached out to the command Flagship of Fleet Admiral Sir John Tovey aboard King George V.
Admiral John “Jack” Tovey looked at the list of all his available ships that morning. A professional man, well schooled in the operational arts and dedicated to the Navy from an early time in his life, Tovey was an amiable, quick to smile, but just as likely to redden up with a temper when things did not suit him. Strong-willed and highly disciplined, he could be relentless when focused on a mission or a particular naval objective. Yet in the heat of battle his one great virtue was that he would remain cool under fire in spite of the temper that he was all too willing to show if things did not go as he expected.
A natural leader, Tovey was a student of tactics and ship handling, as capable a captain as the Royal Navy possessed until he was promoted to acting Admiral of the Home Fleet. He was a sea going admiral, seeing the duty aboard ship as essential to morale. What was good enough for his sailors was good enough for him, and his men had both great admiration and respect for him. The man at sea, he believed, had the best information at hand to make a decision in any engagement. As such he sometimes resented the overweening interference by desk laden officers in the Admiralty, including the First Sea Lord, Admiral Pound, who had a predilection for sticking his thumb in the pie whenever possible.
This evening he was looking at the long list of ships still operational under his command, still the most extensive and well armed navy in all of Europe, and by a considerable margin. He had all of fifteen battleships, with one sunk and one consigned to the far east, leaving thirteen of the big ships in theater. Admittedly, it was an aging fleet, but still imposing on paper. Only three on the list would be considered modern battleships by 1941, his own flagship King George V, and her sister ships Prince of Wales and Duke Of York, the latter still running through trials. He wouldn’t even have that third ship were it not for Churchill’s earlier urging that the Germans were up to something in their shipyards and the Royal Navy had better be ready to answer. Two more ships in that class would come on the line later in the war, Anson and Howe, but these three were the only true fast battleships he had in hand, and that said, they could make only 28 knots on a good day. For modern ships they had very little range but compensated with decent firepower and very good protection.
The heart of his fleet, however, were the ships laid down before or during the Great War, all aging, yet proven and capable designs, even if they looked somewhat antiquated with their reverse inclined bows and stodgy smokestacks. He had three Revenge class battleships and five in the Queen Elizabeth class. They could plod along at 18 to 21 knots under normal circumstances, but had good firepower with their 15 inch guns. The two Nelson Class battleships were the only ships in the fleet carrying larger 16 inch guns. With an ungainly design they were well armored yet also slow at a maximum speed of 23 knots. For all practical purposes, these ten ships would be excellent convoy escorts, enough to deter lighter and faster German raiders, and also capable of standing with anything bigger.
Tovey also had a small squadron of fast battlecruisers, once led by the pride of the fleet, the mighty HMS Hood. A little over 60 days ago, Bismarck had run this stalwart knight thru with a fatal lance from her fearsome 15 inch guns, and put Hood, along with Admiral Sir Lancelot Holland, at the bottom of the Denmark Strait. The Renown and Repulse were the last of the British battlecruisers, with a little less firepower, carrying only six 15 inch guns for the extra speed that gave them. Yet, their speed alone made these ships suitable for hunting and interception roles, and he could pair these lighter ships with his three King George V class battleships to form fast search and intercept groups capable of confronting and dealing with any known German raider. The campaign against Bismarck proved that, even though both Hood and Prince of Wales had a rough time of it in that first, awful engagement.
This role would be ably supported by divisions of strong and capable cruisers, both heavy and light, and these ships could serve as escorts to any convoy or capital ship squadron he put to sea. They were also excellent as picket line scouts along the main breakout corridors used by the Germans. At any given time a string of cruisers stretched from Iceland to Scapa Flow, plying the seas with forward searching radars and the eyes of many able seamen.
Tovey also made good use of his fleet of aircraft carriers, though these were lighter ships carrying anywhere from sixteen to fifty planes, mostly old bi-planes: Swordfish torpedo bombers or other search aircraft, and a few Fairey Fulmar dive bombers. They had only a fraction of the striking power of the bigger modern carriers in the Japanese or American navies, but they served him well as escorts, hunters at sea, and could manage a sting or two if their torpedo squadrons could close with an inviting target.
In all it was a capable fleet given the primary role it had in securing the vital Atlantic shipping lanes. If anything, it lacked speed in its heavy ship elements, and range. Yet the Royal Navy made up for its deficiencies by sheer weight and quantity, and the considerable experience it had at sea. It tripled the size of the German Fleet,
