“Yes, I believe so,” said Fraser. “At least we know those planes can match the German Messerschmitts pound for pound, but we have all too few of them.”
“We had an order for 50 Sea Spitfires set to go,” said Pound. “I presume we’ll be calling them Seafires if we ever get them. I will see what I can do to move it along. There has also been some discussion about purchasing the American Grumman Wildcats. We’re calling them Martlets.”
“We already have hold of 81 of these American planes,” said Fraser. “The French had them on order, and we filched the delivery after that apple went bad. More will be coming.”
“All this is well and good,” said Tovey. “Yet we must also look to how we can augment the striking power of our carriers. At the moment it seems to be tit for tat. Our Swordfish may be a bit long in the teeth, but they still get hits, and we have the only torpedo bomber of note in that plane. The Germans have nothing comparable. That said, their seaborne variant of that damnable Stuka has been giving us fits. Those planes are largely responsible for a good bit of the damage that was put on our Battlecruiser Squadron. Our battleships have better deck armor, but even they won’t like 500 pound bombs careening down in the thick of a fight at sea. We must look to a similar design.”
“The Fulmar is being adapted as a fighter bomber,” said Fraser.
“Yes? Well I’m afraid it may not handle either role well enough to get the job done.”
“We’ll also have the Albacore to help out.”
“Another torpedo bomber by trade,” Tovey said quickly. “Yes, they’ve been fitting bombs to the wings, but it will simply not match what the Germans have in that Stuka.”
“Agreed,” said Pound. “We will do what we can on this matter, but tell me, Admiral, what about these naval rockets the Russians have? I understand that they can serve in a dual role, and strike both aircraft and ships. Is that so?”
“I witnessed as much,” said Tovey with a quiet thrum of anxiety. If he could tell Admiral Pound the full measure of what he had witnessed and now knew about the Russian ship… but no, that would be tantamount to talking of gremlins and leprechauns with the man. He was lucky Pound had found the backbone to admit his own meddling when fleet deployments had ended in disaster. Yet he knew there was no way he could disclose what he knew about the Russian ship, and the men who had come here from that impossibly distant future. He could still scarcely believe it himself.
“Well? What about these rockets then?” said Pound. “Might we have a look at similar development?”
“I’m afraid we have no real projects active in that regard,” said Fraser.
“The Russians clearly have them, and you seem rather cozy with them, Admiral Tovey. What about it? Might they share this technology with us?”
“Perhaps, sir, though from all I could learn of this ship, it is a prototype—one of a kind. It’s the only ship the Russians have using these weapons and, as far as I know, there are no similar land based variants.”
“That seems odd,” said Pound.
“I thought as much,” said Tovey, thinking he had to lead this discussion along another path soon. He knew the Russians had a limited inventory of their wonder weapons, and that back-engineering them would take considerable time and effort, if it could be done at all. They had told him the rockets had computing machines in the nose, and radar as well, to guide them unerringly to their targets. He knew that was beyond the capability of Great Britain for the moment, and perhaps any other nation on earth, so he wisely said nothing of this. “It could be these weapons take enormous resources to design and build,” he said. “The Russians may only have this handful allotted to that ship, and nothing more.”
“Well, you might ask about that,” said Pound. “If they are forthcoming, perhaps we could speed things along with their development.”
Tovey smiled inwardly at that, knowing it would be long decades, the better part of a century, before Britain would ever have such weapons, or so he had been told by the young Russian officer, Fedorov. “In the mean time, we should not count on this technology to come on line any time soon. We’ll have to do with good old fashioned guns and steel, and some better aircraft, as we’ve been discussing here.”
“Indeed,” said Pound. “Well, now gentlemen, what to do about this war. We’ve lost Gibraltar. Churchill wants our recommendation as to how soon we can get on with plans for the occupation of the Cape Verde and Canary Islands. I can report that the planned occupation of the Azores went off without a hitch. Operation Alloy has concluded, but we must move quickly. The Germans will have eyes for the remaining islands as well.”
“Indeed they will,” said Fraser. “As to Operation Puma against the Canaries, Lieutenant General Alexander proposes to deploy the troops that were earmarked for the failed Dakar operation. Puma will commit 101 and 102 Royal Marine Brigades, and units of the new Special Boat Squadron in the initial assault. As to the Cape Verde Islands, Operation Sackbut, now renamed Shrapnel, can go as well. Brigadier Campbell has 2nd and 3rd Battalions, Royal Marines, ready at a moment’s notice.”
“Can we mount both operations concurrently?” Pound looked to Tovey now.
“The Azores Carrier Force will be assigned to Operation Puma,” said Tovey. “Somerville has moved Force H there to refuel, and he’ll provide the heavy covering force for Puma. The Cape Verde operation will launch from Freetown, but it will need either surprise or considerable naval support. The French Force De Raid is still operating out of Casablanca, and the Dakar battlegroup has moved there, at least the heavy ships. This will make Casablanca a very tough nut to crack in the foreseeable future. The French will now have Jean Bart, Richelieu and Normandie there, a formidable task force. Both groups are well attended with cruisers and destroyers, and we must also consider that Toulon could send further reinforcements if the French get wind of these operations.”
“Formidable indeed,” said Fraser. “But the movement of these ships leaves Dakar open to attack if we move quickly. We have spoken with General de Gaulle again on the matter, particularly after these reports that he was unwilling to commit his troops against fellow Frenchmen.”
“What?” Tovey seemed surprised. “Well who did he think would be there, the Bulgarian Army?”
“Exactly,” said Fraser. “Well our Mister de Gaulle seems to have found his backbone after learning that Darlan has put a price on his head. He was considering a move into Equatorial Africa from Cameroon, but we’ve convinced him Dakar is the real prize now.”
“Cunningham wants to roll up his sleeves and have another go,” said Pound. “I think we should recommend it, only this time no mistakes. I’ll want the whole of Force H in attendance. If this Force De Raid wants to do anything about it this time, they’ll have to get past Rodney and Nelson.”
“Agreed,” said Tovey. “Eliminating Dakar is a vital necessity. It’s a dagger right on the throat of all southbound convoy traffic.”
“Correct,” said Pound. “With Gibraltar lost, and Force H operating from the Azores, we remain in dire straits, particularly now that the Germans have heavy ships at Brest and Saint Nazaire. We’ve lost Barham, and Resolution was brought home for repairs after the engagement off Dakar. That, if anything, has shown us that we can not underestimate the French Fleet in any subsequent engagement.”
“True sir,” said Tovey. “Those are fast, capable ships, and the French have their blood up after Dakar. Now, we pulled Ramilles and Revenge off convoy escort for the Azores operation. I propose to keep those two ships assigned as the close covering force for Puma and Shrapnel. Then we can let Somerville take a more aggressive stance against the Force de Raid. But make no mistake, gentlemen, He’ll be playing defense. Somerville has Valiant, Rodney and Nelson at hand, but none of those ships could really serve to get after the French unless they chose to engage us further. Somerville’s battleships are simply too slow. He’ll have to operate as distant cover, and our first line of defense for these operations. As to carrier assignments, w
e will stay with Glorious and Furious for the moment, and the escort carrier Argus remains at the Azores. That leaves us Ark Royal and Illustrious to watch the northern passages. That said, the German heavy metal is now sitting in French ports, and so Home fleet must deploy accordingly.”
“What do you suggest?” After HX-69, Pound had decided to let Tovey have the bit between his teeth and let him run.
“That is the problem,” said Tovey. “We very nearly caught up with the Germans, but they slipped away. It’s coming down to speed, gentlemen, that’s what we need in a good capital ship now. Thank God we have Renown and Repulse back on their feet, and in a pinch I could get Hood out of bed if necessary, though that ship, and Admiral Holland as well, might need a little more time convalescing.”
“Holland tells me he’s fit and ready,” said Pound.
“He will certainly be welcome if that is so,” said Tovey. “I propose that Holland take up the watch here on the Northern Passages. We’ll put two heavy cruisers and one of the two battlecruisers in each passage, the Denmark Strait, and the Iceland-Faeroes Gap. Hood will have to play on the back row, and reinforce either group as necessary. The German threat there is still significant. They’ll have Tirpitz, and the Twins, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. On top of that there’s Graf Zeppelin to worry about.”
“And what if they make a run at the inside passage again?” Pound did not want a repetition of the maneuver the Germans had just used so successfully.
“With Spitfires at R.A.F. Vagar now, that should prevent any recurrence of what we just suffered with HX-69. Once burned, twice prepared. As soon as these operations conclude I shall return Ramilles and Revenge to Scapa Flow to watch that inside passage.”
“Good enough,” said Pound. “But what if the Germans bunch up on either of the Northern Passages as they planned it with Operation Valkyrie?”
“That’s where my squadron comes in. I propose to move Invincible and the two new battleships south from Scapa Flow to the Bristol Channel. I could operate from Cardiff or Bristol itself, but it’s a good hundred miles from those ports to the Celtic Sea, and I might want to post my squadron further west.”
“Where? Plymouth will be under German bombers.”
“Milford Haven,” said Tovey. “Yes, I know the German bombers can reach that too, but they’ve largely ignored it. The place will need facility development, fuel depots, but it’s ideally positioned to allow my fast battleships access to the Celtic Sea and Western Approaches. From there I can mount standing patrols against any possible sortie by the German heavy units in French Ports. They’ll have Hindenburg, Bismarck, and we’ve identified what appears to be alight escort carrier. Beyond that, the Germans got hold of two new French ships in the docks, Joffre and DeGrasse. The former is an aircraft carrier, and given their success with Graf Zeppelin, I have no doubt that they will do everything possible to get that ship rigged out for operations.”
“Admiralty estimates that will be a long year at best,” said Pound. “But I agree that the threat is real, and it is certainly something Bomber Command will be having a look at soon. One other question, Admiral Tovey. The Russians ship, is it still in the Atlantic?”
Chapter 5
Tovey shifted uncomfortably. The Russian ship… the ship that had come from the depths of his long remembered dreams, from that impossible, unseen future, with weapons and technology that dazzled the mind and power that had not yet been fully engaged. Yet its very presence here was exerting a strange gravity on the war, bending the lines of history ever so subtly. Tovey had little doubt that it would soon emerge from the shadows and take a much more prominent role in the plans they were now forging. But how could he possibly wield this weapon that had come into his hands, or even explain the ship’s presence to men like Dudley Pound?
“The Russian ship is presently at Reykjavik, sir, relieved by HMS Renown and a pair of cruisers.”
“I see. And I certainly hope the Russians were not put off now that we have asked them to hold our coat and let the Royal Navy handle the Germans.”
“They were very understanding. Admiral Volsky fully appreciates the political issues involved. The staff work done on opening the Arctic convoy routes to Murmansk is well underway. In that event, Admiral Volsky has offered to meet our outbound convoys with a flotilla of Soviet ships and serve as escorts in the Norwegian Sea.”
“And if the Germans interfere?”
“After the hand off, sir, the convoy will be officially flagged as Russian. If the Germans want to take issue with that, then they shall have to take it up with Moscow. Frankly, I don’t see how the Soviets can sit on the fence for long as things stand. They’ve thrown in with us, but haven’t declared war on Germany, yet something tells me that will change soon enough.”
“Agreed,” said Pound. “Very well, gentlemen. These dispositions are sound. “God help the boys who went down on the Rock.”
“We knew Gibraltar was lost the moment the Germans began their attack,” said Fraser, “in spite of Churchill’s sabre rattling to the contrary.”
“Believe me, the Prime Minister knew we could mount no serious relief operation for Gibraltar. He wasn’t happy about it, but at least he’s made a good speech now that it’s done. The question now is Malta. The Germans will soon have a strangle hold on the Straits of Gibraltar, with guns on both sides, Stukas overhead, and U-boats freely entering the Mediterranean. This is a disaster of the first order, and we haven’t taken the full measure of it yet. Without Gibraltar, relief convoys to arm and supply Malta cannot have any chance of success trying to run the Straits. They will have to be mounted from Alexandria, and Admiral Cunningham still has the Italian Navy to keep an eye on. We have therefore decided to see if we can catch Mussolini napping and visit him at Taranto. We have HMS Eagle there at Alexandria, and we’re sending Hermes up through Suez to join the party now that it has come off refit at Port Elizabeth. That should allow a fifty plane raid against the Italian fleet anchored at Taranto. Our intention is to even the odds in the Eastern Mediterranean, if we can, and give Admiral Cunningham a little breathing room.”
“I’m afraid the whole center of gravity of the war will be shifting his way, sir,” said Tovey.
“Indeed. The War Cabinet and Bletchley Park both agree. With Gibraltar lost, the Germans can now move troops to Oran or Algiers, and from there they can move overland to the east.”
“They can save themselves a long haul and just land at Tripoli,” said Tovey. “Malta is a thorn in the central Med, but can do little to prevent or hinder such a movement by the enemy as things stand. What do we have there to stop them?”
“A garrison no bigger than the one we had on the rock, and no more than thirty six planes, six Gladiators and twenty-eight Hurricanes and two Sunderlands.”
“We’ll need to stiffen that garrison up,” said Fraser, “particularly in the case of aircraft. That will be the only bite Malta has if the Germans take an interest there.”
As soon as these Atlantic Island operations are concluded, we’ll have a look at using those same troops to springboard to Dakar. That taken, our convoy route south around the Cape of Good Hope will be secure. Then it will be our job to get as much in the way of troops and material to Alexandria as possible. The Army wants to beef up the Middle East Command, and they are worried the Germans may soon attack the Balkans.”
“We’re seeing a buildup for that now,” said Fraser, and the Italians have eyes on Greece.”
“Yes, well we both know where that leads this war,” said Tovey.
“The Germans can waltz right through the Balkans to the doorstep of Turkey at Istanbul, and the Turks will be the last neutral state between the Third Reich and the Orenburg Federation. So that is where the War Cabinet believes the fighting will lead us. Right into the thick of the Middle East and Turkey. That’s where the oil is, gentlemen, and Herr Hitler will be eager to get at it. He knows that even if he takes the fields at Ploesti in Romania, it will not be enough to fuel his war machine,
or navy. The Bosporus is a chokepoint for all that oil traffic coming out of Baku.”
“The Army has plans to reinforce Greece,” said Pound. “If the Germans do move on the Balkans, then I doubt they’ll politely stop at the Turkish frontier. Should Turkey to cooperate, or worse, if they invade there, then we will have to be prepared to occupy both Iraq and Persia. The Royal Navy won’t be doing the fighting, but it will be our job to get the troops where they need to be. We’ll also have Greece, Crete, Cyprus and Rhodes to worry about in due course, and even Palestine if the Germans make such a move. But all that remains to be seen. For now, gentlemen, let us catch our Canary and snatch the Cape Verde Islands in the bargain. One day at a time.”
Yes, thought Tovey. That is the only way we can work it now. We can make all these speculations and grand plans for battles we might fight, but one day a man with a rifle or a good ship will have to face down an enemy and make them come true. One day at a time will have to do.
It was then that he thought he might make his announcement concerning the Russians. Admiral Volsky had recently sailed to Murmansk, ostensibly to survey the convoy route through the Norwegian Sea. They were also going to establish another lonesome Ice Watch with the fledgling weather station on Jan Mayan. With one of their radar sets posted there, and the other already watching the Denmark Strait, his job was much easier.
Yet Admiral Volsky had sent him an urgent message concerning a new development. He seemed very eager to meet with the British and bring the Soviet Government abreast of these plans. How to broach this subject without getting Admiral Pound worked up about it? He took off his shoes and waded in.
“Gentlemen,” he said quietly. “The Russians have communicated with me recently, and they propose a meeting of the minds at Suez to coordinate strategy and resources.”
Three Kings (Kirov Series) Page 4