Kirov Saga: Altered States (Kirov Series) (38 page)

Tovey kept the lunch conversation light, expressing his gratitude for the rescue of
Birmingham’s
surviving crew. But he slowly worked in a few points he wanted clarification on. Had the Admiral also seen a convoy further south? He found that this was, indeed, the same cruiser spotted by HX-49 and
Ausonia
, and the same reported to him by Flight Captain Partridge off
Ark Royal.

As lunch ended his curiosity was overpowering, but he correctly waited for the gin and cigarettes to be offered, noting that none of the Russians seemed to prefer tobacco, but that they warmly received the gin. Then he got round to the business of the day.

“You wished to see me, Admiral Volsky, and I was happy to take this meeting with you here. Yet I wonder if I might clear up one small matter at the outset. Your initial claim some days ago when sighted by our aircraft was that you were the cruiser
Kirov
. Yet my Admiralty tells me that very ship is presently in the Baltic. I must say I forget what ship I’m on at times the way I bounce about the fleet. But might you clarify this for me?”

Volsky thought that he had never been so politely accused of being a liar in his life, though he knew this question was coming. “Well Admiral,” he said. “The
Kirov
presently in the Baltic is an older ship, launched in 1936 if I am not mistaken.” He looked to Fedorov now.

“That is correct, sir,” said Fedorov in passing English. Then he spoke in Russian, with Nikolin translating quickly. “We have a bad habit of often renaming ships in our navy. There were six cruisers in the
Kirov
class, and two of those will be renamed. We are somewhat newer, but graced with the official name
Sergie Kirov
as well, though our ship is of another class entirely, and may not yet be known to your Admiralty or Naval Intelligence.”

“We are, in fact, not even well known among our own naval personnel,” said Volsky adding a little icing to the cake. “This ship was built under a cloak of considerable secrecy and security. I suppose we will not be the last ship to bear the name
Kirov
either, but for the moment I am happy to share it with our elder brother in the Baltic. I don’t think he knows we’re stepping on his toes yet.”

“I see…A reasonable explanation. Then your mission here is classified as well?”

“It was. We were to test new equipment and conduct exercises. We are presently en route to Murmansk, returning home.”

“Well I’m afraid you will find yourself in dangerous waters here,” said Tovey. “It is our intelligence that the German Navy is planning a major breakout operation here, which is the reason we have hastened to assemble this battle fleet. It may be wise of you to move south at this time to avoid the action that may soon unfold here. Given your size and silhouette, it would be easy for either side to mistake you for the enemy, and should you proceed north we cannot necessarily guarantee your safety.”

Volsky smiled. The low cards have been played, and now the British Admiral led with a spade, hoping to move me out of the theater of operations. But I am an old bridge player, and have a very long suit in spades. Time to play.

“Thank you, Admiral Tovey. But I
can
guarantee our safety as we sail north. In fact I may be able to guarantee yours as well.”

Chapter 33

Tovey
did not know what to make of Admiral Volsky’s last statement. “I’m sorry, Admiral, but I am not quite sure I follow what you mean.”

“Forgive me, Admiral. I do not mean to be coy, but we have been well north of your present position, and gained intelligence that you might find valuable. So it was that we came across the wreckage of your cruiser along our route home. I wonder if you are aware that the Germans will have more than this heavy cruiser at sea to the north.”

“Which is all the more reason for you to consider safer waters to the south, Admiral.”

Volsky took a sip of his gin, then set the glass down. “May I ask Captain Fedorov to speak briefly. He is somewhat of a naval historian, and I think he may be able to shed some light on what I am trying to tell you here. Mister Fedorov?”

Fedorov began to address the officers as if he were lecturing at the academy, looking to Nikolin, who translated skillfully as he spoke.

 “From what I have seen, you presently have a strong force assembled. You will be matched, however, by an equally powerful force. Our intelligence indicates the Germans will have
Bismarck
and
Tirpitz
, to put against your flagship here and HMS
Hood
. They will have two battlecruisers
Scharnhorst
and
Gneisenau
, to match
Repulse
, and two heavy cruisers
Prince Eugen
and the
Hipper
to set beside your own cruisers. They, too have carrier support, which is somewhat surprising to me, and I think it was also a surprise to you. We have confirmed this through analysis of signals traffic. And they have also brought three large destroyers, more like light cruisers really. To put it simply, sir, and I mean no disrespect, I do not believe you presently command sufficient force to prevail should it come to a major fleet action here.”

Holland raised an eyebrow at that, thinking the Russian Captain seemed a bit too young to be in that position, and here he was telling a pair of Admirals with combined service histories twice his years in age that all their considerable efforts would come to naught. He smiled, politely, but spoke his mind.

“My good man, I should think we will manage well enough if it comes to a fight here.”

“I would hope that you would, Admiral Holland, but we believe this flagship and other escorts were east of Iceland some 48 hours ago, and undoubtedly with the same mindset and confidence. Yet here you are, and we are aware that HMS
Renown
, once steaming by your side, is not here.”

The boldness of that statement struck through the British officers like a well aimed cricket ball. Flag Lieutenant Villers shifted uncomfortably, but deferred to Admiral Tovey.

“May I ask how you came by this information, Captain?”

“The same way you come by your information, Admiral. We listen to signals traffic just as you and the Germans do, and our ship is highly specialized in general area surveillance. In fact, we can tell you a great many things you may not yet know based on our reconnaissance north earlier today.”

“I see… Do go on, Captain. If you have information that would be pertinent and useful, we would certainly welcome it.”

Fedorov looked first to Admiral Volsky, something Tovey noted and looked on with approval. The young man seemed confident, knowledgeable, yet correctly deferred to senior authority. He watched the Russian Admiral closely as well, still wrestling inwardly with the impossible notion that he knew this man. Volsky spoke next.

“There is something more I will disclose to you now, and that is a decision I have made personally in this situation in consultation with our senior officers. You have said we cruise in dangerous waters here, and this we came to know, first hand. The German ships responsible for the sinking of your cruiser to the north also encountered us. I believe they were attempting to refuel with a replenishment ship hovering west near the ice floes. In any case, as it happened our course ran afoul of theirs, and there was a disagreement.” He folded his arms, watching Tovey to see what effect his words had as Nikolin finished the translation.

“Are you saying you engaged the Germans, sir?”

“Two ships. My Captain here tells me they were battlecruisers, and they did not seem to like the looks of us on their horizon. From our position at the time we were aware of your position as well, Admiral Holland, and it seemed to us that the Germans, after besting your cruiser screen, were now in a very good place to slip by you and gain the Atlantic. I do not have to tell you that would have created a most uncomfortable situation for your merchant marine, as we have also seen the convoy traffic further south. Taking all this into consideration, I made a decision to intervene.”

“Intervene?” Holland again has a bemused look on his face. “Now I mean no disrespect either here, Admiral, and please pardon me if I am as frank and direct as your Captain Fedorov. I have had a close look at your ship in the last hour. Your size and silhouette are quite impressive, a marvel of naval architecture, I would say. However how did you propose to ‘intervene’ with all of six 5.7 inchers on deck? The Twins, that is what we call the two German battlecruisers we are hunting, well…they will outgun you many times over, and I wouldn’t think your ship would survive such an encounter. After all, they bested two of our cruisers with twenty-four 6-inch guns between them. That is four times the firepower I saw on your ship.” Holland folded his hands.

Soft spoken if a bit smug, thought Volsky, but he understood the man’s argument and attitude easily enough. The British cannot see our teeth, and so of course they believe we are toothless. How to convince them otherwise?

“Mister Fedorov, kindly inform these gentlemen as to the decisions we made and relate the action taken.”

“Yes sir. Admiral Holland, while it may not appear from a distance that we carry much in the way of armament, appearances can be deceiving. We are, in fact, a prototype design, and considerably well armed with resources beyond the deck guns you have observed and commented on.” He noted how Holland folded his arms, his body language closed and clearly somewhat defensive at the moment.

“Some time ago we attempted to dissuade the Germans from attacking your cruisers, but did not apply sufficient force. We were uncertain as to what we should do at the time, so we first tried jamming their radar and communications, but they persisted. We did, however use those 5.7 inchers to prompt the Germans to break off their pursuit of the cruisers, whereupon they turned southwest at high speed.”

“You are telling me you drove off the Twins with your deck guns? I find that a bit of a stretch, Captain.”

“We were unseen at the time, Admiral, yet we were able to put accurate fire on the lead German ship. I do not think the German commander was driven off as much as he simply decided that bothering with your cruisers, which he believed to be the source of the fire we put on him, was of no further advantage to him. It was our assessment that the Germans were keen to rendezvous with a refueling ship before proceeding south. Though they had clearly broken through your cruiser screen and positioned themselves to evade your capital ships, the need to replenish was, in our estimation, their Achilles heel.”

Tovey was taking all this in with equal surprise, but with quite a different reaction. The Russians, a neutral state, had willfully violated their own neutrality to intervene on behalf of embattled Royal Navy units that were clearly overmatched by the enemy. He saw in that a ray of hope, but said nothing for the moment, allowing the young Russian officer to continue.

“On Admiral Volsky’s orders, we located their replenishment ship, the
Altmark
, and sunk it, hoping this might dissuade them from continuing south. It seemed we were wrong, for after rendering assistance to
Altmark
, the Germans took a heading due south, and on a course that saw them encounter us while we were performing routine maintenance some hours later. The Twins, as you call them, decided to attack. We suppose they believed us to be one of your ships, but we defended ourselves, engaging and damaging one ship, which we subsequently determined to be the
Gneisenau
. The Germans then broke off their attack and reversed their course. They are now well to the north effecting a rendezvous with the force Admiral Tovey encountered earlier northeast of Iceland.”

Fedorov finished, and the British seemed dumbfounded by what he had told them. Holland looked at Tovey, as if to see whether he believed what the Russians were saying here. It was clear that he had real doubts about it as he summed up what Fedorov had said, an edge of incredulity in his voice.

“You are telling us now that you attempted to aid our cruisers, then found and sunk the
Altmark
to prevent the Germans from refueling and beat off an attack by
Scharnhorst
and
Gneisenau
to send them north to look for assistance?”

“That sizes it up fairly well, Admiral Holland.”

“You left one thing out, Admiral Holland,” said Tovey diplomatically. “They also happened upon the wreckage of
Birmingham
and saved at least fifteen souls there, Captain Madden among them.”

“Here, here.” Captain Bennett, who had been listening quietly, took it upon himself to raise his glass of gin in a toast.

“Well you have been quite busy, it seems,” said Tovey. “I will gladly second your toast, Captain Bennett, and allow me to extend our thanks and appreciation for all these gentlemen have done. You realize, of course, that you have violated the terms of your own neutrality by taking these actions.”

“Admiral,” said Volsky. “Even though my backside has become much more substantial than I would like at this age, I found it most uncomfortable to sit on the fence in this situation. While we sail under the flag of a neutral country, I do not think there is much time for that luxury in this war. We are all going to have to choose sides here, at one time or another. Our homeland has not as yet made that decision, but you have just lost your only ally in Europe with the fall of France, and I can imagine that prospects look fairly bleak to you just now. So I would like to offer you my hand in friendship here, perhaps a gesture that you might see as having some value. I fear that as soon as Hitler settles himself in the house he had lately broken into, he will not rest there. No, he will quickly turn his greedy eyes on the villas up the street. There are only two directions he might take, and we are both his neighbors now, your country and ours. It seems to me our mutual cooperation and understanding would be a great help to you at this dark hour.”