had broken into two groups, one out in front slowly gaining on their position, and a second body falling behind.
“What do you make of this?” Admiral Volsky asked Karpov.
“They are deploying a screen,” said the Captain. “They want to make sure they can adequately protect their carriers.”
Fedorov could not help overhearing the conversation, and though he thought it risky to contradict the Captain, he cleared his throat and ventured to speak up. “If I may, sir, we know the exact composition of this task force. It's been matching our speed for the last six and a half hours now, and we're running at thirty knots. The only ships in that force that could move out in front like this would be the destroyers, they could make thirty-five or thirty-six knots, which is why that leading group is slowly gaining on us. I believe they may have decided to try and catch us with these fast destroyers, sir. They did the same against Bismarck, detaching destroyers assigned to convoy duty to catch up with her and harass her until the bigger ships could come up.”
“More of those tin cans?” said Karpov. “We should've sunk that first destroyer when she came upon us earlier. That would have given them pause.”
“Mister Fedorov has a point,” said Volsky. “Keep an eye on this leading group, Mister Rodenko.”
“They are at the edge of our surface radar coverage now, sir. Unless we keep a KA-40 up I won't have a good fix on them at this range. But if they do close on our position, I'll see them in plenty of time. Our difference in speed is no more than five nautical miles per hour. At the rate they are gaining on us they could not pose a threat for quite some time.”
“In that case, I do not think it's necessary to keep the helicopter airborne. We must conserve aviation fuel whenever possible.”
Kirov, in its original configuration, had used a combination nuclear and steam turbine propellant system. The new ship relied entirely on its nuclear propulsion system, and the space used by the old steam driven turbines had been utilized to add reserve stocks of aviation fuel for the three helicopters. But even this was a finite supply, and the Admiral was looking far ahead in his thinking.
“In the meantime,” said Volsky, “there is another consideration we must discuss. According to Mister Fedorov's history book the Americans are now taking over garrison duty for the bases on Iceland. They have their flying boat patrol craft at two locations, and there may still be American naval units in this sector as well. I don't have to remind you that the United States has not yet entered the war, and will not do so for another four months. We must be careful, and do nothing that might prompt them to reconsider their situation.”
“Why should we worry about that?” said Karpov.
“Because at this time Roosevelt is struggling with strong anti-war sentiment within the United States,” said Fedorov. “If we are reported as a new German raider, and we make a direct attack against American ships or planes, that could quickly change the situation. An early entry of the United States in this war would serve to undo your plan, Captain. Suppose the Americans end up getting to Berlin four months early?”
“Thank you, Mister Fedorov,” Karpov said dryly. He resented a junior officer countering him, particularly in front of the Admiral. Fedorov was becoming just a bit too forward, and he decided to have a word with Orlov about him. Then Volsky continued, extending his reasoning as he now saw the situation.
“Very well… the British believe we are a German raider as Mister Fedorov suggests. What else? At this very moment they're trying to determine what ship we might be, and eventually they will narrow down the list and find the Germans have nothing whatsoever that can do the things they have been observing. They may well be wondering now what could have destroyed their aircraft so easily, and at such range. They're not stupid, and soon their intelligence system will begin to put the pieces of this puzzle together, just as we did. We had the advantage of longer range detection systems and high-powered HD video. We faced the impossible question first, and eventually realized what had happened. At some point they will do the same. But until that time, we have the considerable advantage of surprise, in more ways than one. They have not yet seen a fraction of what we are capable of doing. I want to keep them in the dark as long as possible. We have played out the Jack, but still hold the Queen, King and Ace close to our chest.”
“And let us not forget the trump cards,” said Karpov. When they see those, there may be very many other things they pause to reconsider.”
“All things in time, Mister Karpov,” said the Admiral. “All things in time. Just remember your bridge game… Never lead into a suit unless you know you can pull their high cards and win.”
Aboard Victorious, Admiral Wake-Walker could see that his destroyers could not keep up their advance for very much longer. They were simply burning up too much fuel running full out in the ever more difficult seas. But at least they were headed the right direction. The Allied bases and fuel depots of Iceland lay ahead of them at Reykjavik and Hvalsfjord where the Americans were setting up their long range PBY patrol squadrons.
His thinking on exactly what this enemy ship might be had been given a nudge in an unexpected direction when Admiral Tovey sent him a message with Brind’s idea about the German carrier Graf Zeppelin. As far as they knew that ship was still in the dockyards. In fact, naval intelligence believed the Germans had removed many of her AA guns due to a shortage in Norway, where they were now deployed. That thought struck him-what if they were installing these new rockets in their place?
When the Admiralty relayed intelligence that they had finally gotten a clear look at Kiel and found Tirpitz and two other large ships resting quietly in dry-dock, the list of possibilities grew ever narrower. Subsequent photo analysis revealed that the other two ships were indeed the Deutschland class pocket battleships Lutzow and Admiral Scheer.
It was therefore decided to send a long-range reconnaissance bomber to Gotenhaven in the Baltic, where the Germans had towed Graf Zeppelin over a year ago. Much to the surprise of Royal Navy intelligence, the ship was not there! What they did not know, however, was that the Germans had decided to move the ship to Stettin after invading Russia in Operation Barbarossa, in order to safeguard her from possible Russian air attack. Preoccupied with the hunt for the Bismarck at the time, the British failed to pick up the move. The missing carrier therefore seemed to be the only possible ship the Germans could have at sea now, yet they could not understand how they could have completed her so quickly, or why they would risk such a unique and valuable vessel for a solo mission in the Atlantic, particularly without an adequate escort.
Capable of thirty-four knots, Graf Zeppelin clearly had the speed of the unknown contact ahead, which was traveling at a consistent thirty knots. This eliminated Wake-Walker’s ideas about a merchant type raider like Atlantis, which could make no more than eighteen knots at best. And none of the Deutschland class pocket battleships could do better than twenty-eight knots. Furthermore, from time to time Grenfell’s shadowing radar equipped Fulmars had seen what looked like airborne contacts in and around the ship they had been tracking. These clues, and suspicions that the Germans had somehow developed some new defensive anti-aircraft rockets that were used in conjunction with spotter planes, led Royal Navy planners to the conclusion that it was Graf Zeppelin that was now on the loose.
That being the case, Wake-Walker was given the go-ahead for another airstrike with his remaining Albacores. The pilots were none too keen to hear this, but in a preflight briefing it was stressed that they would be making an extreme low level attack, traveling right down on the deck the whole way, and splitting off into multiple groups of four planes each instead of one massed formation as had been the case earlier. With 828 Squadron all bunched together the Germans had managed to get a bull's-eye with their new weapon system, taking out the heart of the squadron in one stunning blow.
This time the planes would fly very low, and would be widely dispersed. And to improve their chances of getting in close without being spotted, they were also going to make their approach in darkness, attacking in the early dawn. It was the most difficult assignment the aircrews had been given, especially after they had seen what had happened the last time out. But with stiff upper lips, they buckled down, mounted their aircraft and were assembled over Force P a half hour before dawn, late on August 3, 1941.
Wake-Walker was going to throw everything he had at the Germans this time. With the range closed to 125 miles, he would send nine Albacore from 817 Squadron, and another nine Swordfish from 812 Squadron off the Furious. 800 Squadron would send out all nine of its Fulmars with bombs as well, just in case the Germans had modified Me-109s aboard their suspected carrier. If they met fighter opposition they could jettison their bombs and engage-if German air cover was minimal, they could go in as makeshift dive bombers.
From his own flagship, Victorious, Walker could send only ten remaining Albacore and a half dozen Fulmar fighters. The fighters had the toughest assignment, for they were going to go in at much higher altitude in an
