Kirov by John Schettler

Author:John Schettler [Schettler, John]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Military, War & Military, Action & Adventure, Science Fiction
ISBN: 9780984946525
Google: 93ynuAAACAAJ
Amazon: 0984946527
Publisher: Writing Shop
Published: 2012-03-12T00:00:00+00:00

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Admiral Tovey got the news from his Chief of Staff Brind at mid-day on the 3rd of August. He was steaming due west aboard the veteran battleship King George V, on his best course to intercept the enemy raider should they hold their present course and speed. The news that Wake-Walker and his carriers could not even close on the target was somewhat disturbing.

“They’ve pulled a fast one on us, Brind,” he said. “This new rocket AA defense could change the war. It’s put Wake-Walker and his carriers right on their back foot. My God, thirty-one planes down in under ten minutes time! They got off one bloody torpedo, but no hits were observed. Walker says his boys were in it up to their hatbands and barely got out alive. If the Germans manage to mount these new rockets on their fighter planes do you realize what they could do to our bombers?”

Brind nodded, his face etched with concern. “Wake-Walker’s carriers are not much good to us now, sir. He’s consolidated what was left of his Squadrons on Victorious, and is detaching Furious to sail for Scapa Flow. We’ll get her another air wing, but I can’t see that it will do us much good under these circumstances. They can serve as scouts, provide fleet air defense, lay mines, but as offensive weapons they are pretty much a liability now.”

“Odd thing about this…” Tovey was obviously perplexed. “I’m sure it must have been bandied about at the Admiralty as well. If Jerry has this new weapon system, and can mount it on a warship like this, then why haven’t they used it anywhere else? It could be set up for airfield defense, port defense. My God, they’ve got over a thousand AA guns protecting Brest, and we send Coastal Command and RAF squadrons in there week after week against high value targets like Scharnhorst and Gneisenau with nary a whisper of these new rockets.”

“Perhaps it’s still in the offing, sir,” Brind suggested. “This may be the first application of the technology. Graf Zeppelin may be the test run for naval systems, and we could very well see it deployed, as you point out, for land based defense as well.”

“God help us if that turns out to be the case,” said Tovey. “It would completely neutralize Bomber Command. In the meantime, rockets or not, I’ve got ten 14 inch guns on this ship. Our task now is to bring this rogue to heel, just as we did Bismarck. Any developments?”

“Wake-Walker is still trailing the contact, sir. Apparently the Germans loitered in the vicinity of Jan Mayen for a few days before they put on speed and ran south for the Denmark Strait. Its all of a thousand miles from their first reported position near Jan Mayen before they get down and out into the Atlantic. That delay allowed Wake-Walker to get back in the game, sir. Though given what has happened to his squadrons, I’m sure he’s had his regrets about that.

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