THE SHOWBOAT engages THE IRON CHANCELLOR

[oscssw]

Sept 2, 2022 13:03:54 GMT stevep said:

Sept 1, 2022 12:48:32 GMT oscssw said:

See above Steve.

  Well I don't think Churchill looks better using Tovey as a scapegoat rather than keeping him and I was mentioning the other as a point of accuracy.  After all other people who read the story, especially if its posted elsewhere may not realise its hyperbola. 

  With the Queen Mary one alternative is that the USN intervenes to rescue it rather than not doing anything until after its sunk.  After all the Germans have been amazing lucky so far so its got to run out. 

Does  Das Glück des deutschen Teufels have to run out Steve!    Just because BB-55 and her TG will engage Bismarck and The Prince does not mean the USN prevails.   Mk 12 Torps with Mk 6 "Exploders" are loaded in TG 39.1's DD's tubes.  

Wait until you see what happens to force H; then you will really want my hide.  

OTL Ark Royal Air Group was drastically under strength with only 11 instead of the 36 authorized Swordfish biplane Torpedo bombers, the only proven ship killing aircraft in the RN. Bismarck and The Prince have already experienced the slow speed of the String Bags and have had time to develop gear adjustments and tactical changes to negate that strength. 

IMA, an ATL would be pretty damn dull if it did not really change history. 

Furthermore, IMA, nothing so far has been beyond the realm of possibility even the survival of the Hood. 

I especially am exploring what might happen if :

1. There is a different and much better TG Commander than Lutgens

2. The original German plan was adhered to

    2.a to provide tanker support to the raiders and the AOs survived long enough to give the raiders two or three unreps.

    2.b     Coordination and joint Ops  between the raiders and the U-boats to actually occurred successfully

3. TG Brinkmann is "blessed" with Das Glück des Teufels (the luck of the devil).

OK I've given away enough of my current thoughts, which may very well change before I submit the next update.

[oscssw]

Sept 4, 2022 9:59:17 GMT stevep said:

Sept 2, 2022 15:34:48 GMT oscssw said:

Steve I asked for your comments and appreciate the fact you took the time to respond. 

As for Winston's treatment of Tovey; I disagree with you. My version of the basket Screw in the Denmark Straight  should have got him hung from the "Highest yardarm in the fleet". By USN standards he was treated remarkably leniently by HIS political masters. Look what happened to Kimmel and his senior staff.  Look what happened to Gormley at Guadalcanal. So that is my perspective. 

Queen Mary must die.  IMO even if she were loaded with civilians, primarily UK evacuee mothers and their children, FDR would have wanted BB-35 to protect her BUT would not.    That was an act of WAR.  According to the US constitution ONLY CONGRESS could declare war.  Congress has always jealously guarded it's prerogative to Declaring war.

Furthermore, that illegal action really violating the wishes of the US still very, very isolationist general population. 

If she carried American Women and children your suggestion would be fine FDR could order BB-35 to "Protect Queen Mary to the point of attacking Bismarck and be pretty sure of Congress, especially with FDR's party in power,  bowing to the righteous will of the now POed American people and pass a toothless censure of POTUS.  BUT she as a commissioned HM Transport, loaded with troops and as such a legitimate combatant. 

  OK I'll bite.  Leaving aside as you say your made it a Britscrew to get the battle as you want it what could Tovey have done differently given that he's sitting in London, over a thousand miles away from the actual battle?  Even OTL with a fair chunk of bad luck the RN managed to get key damage on the Bismarck, which proved vital to its destruction.  Without the loss of contact at a key time by the chasing cruisers it and Prince Eugen could well have gone down in Denmark Straits.

  Also, while accepting its your story I disagree with your assumption that Queen Mary must die.  A stern chase, especially with the fuel issues the Germans would have is a long one when the prey is barely slower than the hunters and that could have gotten the ship close enough to the US neutrality zone that a clash occurs.  Or the Germans in hot pursuit detect the US force but either mis-identify it or assume given previous US actions that its going to intervene and open fire on it triggering the clash you want. 

Re: relative speeds of Bismarck and Queen Mary you are correct but there is an ace in the hole Bismarck could easily play.

She carries 4 Arado Ar 196s. Range: 580 nm  and speed 193 mph IMO, fast enough to catch the 28kt Queen. 


If you can get hold of a copy of the Anatomy of the Ship Queen Mary there is a drawing there showing position and type of armament.  Not to give too much away from my next update but as it sits now two Arado's conduct a strafing and bombing run on the Queen's bridge and stern.   Their two wing mounted 20mm and 3 forwarding firing 7.92 mm MGs should chew up the bridge and the Queen's senior officers along with suppressing the Queen's AA battery to allow all 4 110 lb pounds to score on her stern deck.  I had a very tough time finding the Queens Wartime armament.  The best I could do, so far, was a Thread called "Guns of the Queen Mary" from 2012. That references "The Anatomy of the Ship Queen Mary" in which there is a drawing there showing position and type of armament.  "Armament consisted of 20mm Oerlikon (photos show these to be single mounts), 3in HA gun, 6in positioned on the stern, 40mm Bofors Mk 1 (twin), and rocket launchers (not sure what). Also fitted were Mk 51 directors and 273 type radar"

The radar tells me this is a mid to late war armament.   The Type 273 is operating in the S-Band naval surveillance radar. It was developed by the end of 1941 and in production in 1942. The radar used a strapped magnetron CV56 and rectangular waveguides. The reflector had a diameter of 4 ft 6". Type 173Q in a big ship (i.e. less rolling) gave 46.000 yards against a Battleship, 15.500 yards against a U-boat and 12 to 15 miles against low flying aircraft.

"Posted April 8, 2012

Hi George,

If you can get hold of a copy of
Unfortunately I do not have a scanner at the moment so can't do the honours. Other than that, if I can help more, please pm me.

Interesting project, look forward to seeing the progress.

Regards

Chris
Armament consisted of 20mm Oerlikon (photos show these to be single mounts), 3in HA gun, 6in positioned on the stern, 40mm Bofors Mk 1 (twin), and rocket launchers (not sure what). Also fitted were Mk 51 directors and Type 273 radar.
Chris"

Armament
Guns:
2 x 20mm MG FF (in the wings).
1 x 7.92 mm MG (forward).
2 x 7.92 mm MG (twin).
2x 110 lb bombs(under wings).1)

[oscssw]

Question for the forum. Am I providing too much detailed technical info in Showboat engages The Iron Chancellor?
I do a lot of research because my navy time was well after WW II '67 to '95. Although I did serve aboard a Gearing FRAM1 that was at Okinawa, for a while, until she took a Kamikaze. Being a FRAM 1 she had a much reduced and partially upgraded weapons battery. Our ASW,radar, firecontrol, comms weapons and sensors were early '60s transistor technology which makes a big difference.
I'd appreciate your opinions. I am trying to write a somewhat barely plausible ATL for fun reading not a boaring thesis. Done that for my MBA and I really felt sorry for the academics that had to read through that to decide if it passed "Muster"; it did.

[lordroel]

Sept 11, 2022 15:24:43 GMT oscssw said:

Question for the forum. Am I providing too much detailed technical info in Showboat engages The Iron Chancellor?
I do a lot of research because my navy time was well after WW II '67 to '95. Although I did serve aboard a Gearing FRAM1 that was at Okinawa, for a while, until she took a Kamikaze. Being a FRAM 1 she had a much reduced and partially upgraded weapons battery. Our ASW,radar, firecontrol, comms weapons and sensors were early '60s transistor technology which makes a big difference.
I'd appreciate your opinions. I am trying to write a somewhat barely plausible ATL for fun reading not a boaring thesis. Done that for my MBA and I really felt sorry for the academics that had to read through that to decide if it passed "Muster"; it did.

Senior Chief (oscssw ), you can never have enough details in a TL, the author in the end is the one that runs the show, the readers, us members here on the forum are just along for the ride wich so far has been a good one.

[oscssw]

Thanks my friend I will continue as before. The poor RN is in for some more bad luck, especially Queen Mary and Force H. Got to get things to the point FDR tells Hewitt "Sink that Nazi bastard". I think I found a scenario that will spread the RN so thin Winston will use the private line to FDR to beg him to take out Bismarck while the RN's much overstretched forces go for the Twins TG before they go after a large troop convoy that left for the Egypt the day before Bismarck and the Prince broke out. The RN will have it's revenge but not on Bismarck and The prince, that is Hewitt and "Ching" Lee's job. It is going to be a hard fought classic BB surface action. Those defective USN Torps are going to cause some real problems, making TG39.1 DD screen only good for ASW work which they will have plenty of. It is going to come down to a 16", 15",8 inch and even the secondary DP battery gun action. No one is going to come out of this brawl whole or unbloodied. AHA Matey to the guns my boys and give them hot iron until they strike.

[lordroel]

Sept 12, 2022 7:03:34 GMT oscssw said:

Thanks my friend I will continue as before. The poor RN is in for some more bad luck, especially Queen Mary and Force H. Got to get things to the point FDR tells Hewitt "Sink that Nazi bastard". I think I found a scenario that will spread the RN so thin Winston will use the private line to FDR to beg him to take out Bismarck while the RN's much overstretched forces go for the Twins TG before they go after a large troop convoy that left for the Egypt the day before Bismarck and the Prince broke out. The RN will have it's revenge but not on Bismarck and The prince, that is Hewitt and "Ching" Lee's job. It is going to be a hard fought classic BB surface action. Those defective USN Torps are going to cause some real problems, making TG39.1 DD screen only good for ASW work which they will have plenty of. It is going to come down to a 16", 15",8 inch and even the secondary DP battery gun action. No one is going to come out of this brawl whole or unbloodied. AHA Matey to the guns my boys and give them hot iron until they strike.

Nice to hear that you will keep going Senior Chief.

[oscssw]

Sep 13 1707 UPDATE
THE SHOWBOAT Engages THE IRON CHANCELLOR
Green is the new stuff Blue is old stuff I think is necessary to support new stuff

29 MAY 1941 1503 Vice-Admiral Sir James Somerville commaning Force H was not the only TG west of Lands End. TG Ciliax consisting of the Battle Cruisres KMS Scharnhorst & Gneisenau, heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper and four type 1936A destroyers, under the command of Vizeadmiral Otto Ciliax had sortied in support of TG Brinkmann had left Brest oon 25 May. What the Vizeadmiral did not know was that on 28 May 1941 0425 : RAF Supermarine Spitfire PR Mk.IG of No. 140 Squadron out of RAF Benson, on a routine recon of Brest harbor was shot down by ME-109. The German pilot was severely reprimanded by his CO for operating out of his patrol sector. He did know the Kriegsmarine had set up, with the help of Leni Riefenstahln and his staff, a very realistic PHONEY Movie set showing Both Battle Cruisers and the heavy Crusier Admiral Hipper were in the shipyard undergoing maintenance. The RAF daily recon flights had been fooled by the Movie Prop for three days and the brass wanted them to keep being fooled for as long as possible. At 0845 a replacement Spitfire PR Mk.IG of No. 140 Squadron out of RAF Benson, completed a successful recon of Brest harbor and found the three capital ships were still there. The Intel was reported to RN HQ. One less headache for the overworked staff. PR Mk.IG and 28 MaAt 0845

Uboat and Condor recon flights had been very effective in guiding TG Ciliax away from the RN air and surface patrols but the reposoitioning of Force H had to be dealt with before he could carry out his primary mission Convoy Destruction.
TG Ciliax was a very powerful Surface Action Group (SAG) His flag Scharnhorst & her sister Gneisenau was, alternatively described as a battleship or battlecruiser, of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine. She was the lead ship of her class, which included her sister ship Gneisenau. Built at the Kriegsmarinewerft dockyard in Wilhelmshaven; The Scharnhorst Class were the German response to the French battlecruisers Dunkerque and Strasbourg. The smallest modern battleships built, their main battery consisted of 9 x 11 inch guns in three turrets, two forward and one aft. These ships had a very low freeboard and took a lot of seawater forward when steaming a high speeds. The adoption of the atlantic bow only partially improved her seakeeping capability.

 

Scharnhorst Current C.O Kapitän zur See Kurt Hoffmann Gneisenau C.O. Kapitän zur See Harald Netzbrand completed in January 1939 Full load: 38,100 long tons, Length 770 ft, Beam 98.5 ft Draft 32ft 6 in In stalled Power 159,551 shp Speed 31 kts Range 7,100 nmi at 19kts Crew 1,669 Armament 9 11" SK C/34, 12 5.9" SK C/28, 14 × 4.1" SK C/33, 16 37 mm/L83 SK C/30 10 20 mm C/30 Armor Belt: 13.8" Deck: 2.0 to 3.7", Turrets: 7.9 to 14.2" ,Conning tower: 14.2" Aviation facilities 3 Arado Ar 196A-3 1 catapult Radar Seetakt 

Admiral Hipper Heavy Cruiser current C.O. Kapitän zur See Wilhelm Meisel Commissioned April 1939: under. July-September 1939: Modifications. Atlantic bow, funnel cap added. Displacement: FL 18,200 long tons Length OA 665 ft 4in, Beam 69ft 11in, Draft FL 24 ft Installed power 132,000 shp, Propulsion 3 Blohm & Voss steam turbines 3 × propellers Speed 32 knots, Range 6,800 nmi at 20 kts Crew 42 officers 1,340 enlisted Armament 8 8 in, 12 4.1 in SK C/33, 12 37 mm SK C/30, 8 20 mm C/30 , 12 21 in torpedo tubes in tripple mounts and 6 depth charge launchers. Fire control: 5 x 21 ft base rangefinders. Radar 2 FuMO 26.

Armor Admiral Hipper-class ships were protected by Krupp steel armor, of both Wotan Hart and Wotan Weich types. The ships had two armored decks to protect the ship from vertical attacks. The upper deck was 1.2 in thick amidships to protect the ships' vitals. At either end, the deck was reduced to 1/2 inch .The bow and stern was not protected by deck armor. The main armored deck was 0.8 to 2 in thick. Both decks were Wotan Hart steel. The main armored belt was 3.1 in thick amidships and reduced to 2.8 in thick aft. An interior 1 inch thick torpedo bulkhead protected the ships' vitals from underwater attack. The ships' main battery turrets were protected by 4.1 in thick faces and 3 inch sides and roofs. The 4.1 inch guns were equipped with 1/4 to 1/2 in thick gun shields. The forward conning tower had 6 in thick sides and a 2.0 in roof. The after conning tower was significantly less well armored, with only splinter protection. It's sides and roof were 1 inch thick. with a 1 inch splinter The AA fire directors were also given splinter protection, with 3/4 inch thick shields.

The Type 1936A DD also known as the Z23 class, and known to the Brits as the Narvik class were built in Bremen by AG Weser (part of Deutsche Schiff- und Maschinenbau AG/Deschimag). Eight ships of the Type 1936A design (Z23 to Z30) were all laid down between 1938 and 1940. This class of fifteen destroyers were in common with other German destroyers launched after the start of World War II, were unnamed, known only by their hull numbers – Z23 to Z39. The Narviks were closer to light cruisers than the typical destroyer with their twin 5.9 in mounts. Despite being powerful the ships, they did, like all new classes of ships, have some initial problems. There were problems with the reliability of the high pressure steam engines and seakeeping in rough seas due to the newly designed bow and heavy forward artillery. The engine problems were soon solved but the yard birds were less successful with the bows. Another case of stuffing too much gun in too small a ship.

Z23, Z24, Z25, Z26, were chosen by the Vizeadmiral for their long endurance compared to most Kriegsmarine destroyers. Long is a very relative term. For a European Operations area fleet a range of 2,600 nmi on two boiler steaming was more than adaquate, but it was not impressive at all compared it's USN Gleaves class contemporary range of 6,500 nmi on half their 4 boiler plant. Their RN Contemporaries of the "J", "K" and "N" classes managed Range 6,300 nmi at 15 kts and 5,500 nmi at 20kts on half her plant. Special precuations had been built into the plan to unrep these short legged Eierschalen, bewaffnet mit Thors Hammer (Egg shells armed with Thor‘s Hammer).

The Narviks had an OA Length of 417 ft, Beam 39 ft 4 in, Draft 14 ft Displaced 2,543–2,657 long tons at standard load. Hulls were divided into 16 watertight compartments and they were fitted with a double bottom that covered 47% of their length amidships. Crew 11–15 officers & 305–20 enlisted. The type 1936As were powered by two Wagner geared steam turbine sets, each driving a single three-bladed 10 ft 6 in propeller, using steam provided by six high-pressure Wagner water-tube boilers with superheaters that operated at a pressure of 1,029 psi and a temperature of 842–896 °F. That is a very high pfressure and temp for a WW II DD Plant. The turbines were designed to produce 69,000 shp for Flank Speed 36 knots . The ships carried a maxim 822 long tons) of fuel oil. 

Armament Main Battery by May 1941 consisted of five 5.9 TbtsK C/36 naval rifles in a twin-gun turret forward and the three other guns in single mounts with gun shields aft of the main superstructure. The single mounts had a range of elevation from −10° to +30° while the guns in the turret could be elevated to 65°. The TbtsK C/36 gun fired 100 lb projectiles, vs USN DD 55 lb round, at a muzzle velocity of 2,740 ft/s which gave them a maximum range of 24,000 yds vs USN DD's Max surface range of 18,000 yards The hand-loaded gun had a maximum rate of fire of 7–8 rounds per minute. An average USN 5"38 crew in rapid Fire mode with integral hoists could manage 15 - 22 rounds per minute. The type 1936As carried a total of 480 man battery rounds.

AA Battery consisted of four 37mm (1.5 in) SK C/3 guns in two twin mounts abreast the aft funnel. These power operated mounts had a max elevation of 85° which gave the guns a ceiling of 22,300 ft; surfcae action range of 9,300 yds)at an elevation of 37.5° at 30 rounds per minute. The mounts were stabilized, but their gyroscopes were undersized and could not cope with sharp turns or heavy rolling. Also fitted with five to ten fully automatic 20 mm C/30 guns in quadruple and single mounts. The gun had an effective rate of fire of about 120 rounds per minute. Its projectiles were fired at a muzzle velocity of 2,740 ft/s which gave it a ceiling of 12,100 ft and a maximum surface action range of 5,200 yd.
8 21 inch torpedo tubes in two power-operated mounts. Two reloads were provided for each mount. The standard torpedo for the Type 36B destroyers was the G7a torpedo. It had a 660 lb warhead and three speed range settings: 15,000 yd at 30 knots, 8,700 yds at 40 knots and 6,600 yds) at 44 knots. They had four depth charge launchers and mine rails could be fitted on the rear deck, max capacity of 60 mines. 

Sonar/Asdic 'GHG' (Gruppenhorchgerät) passive hydrophones were fitted to detect submarines and a S-Gerät sonar was also fitted. Radar FuMO 24/25 radar set above the bridge

29 MAY 1941 1505 WAG-48's CO had a tough desision to make. His talk with the senior and only Commisioned survivor of HX-123 Lt. Joseph Hill and a Pork Chop (supply Officer at that) didn’t tell him much. The one thing he did learn was that COMMODORE: R-Adm H ROGERS MVO OBE had ordered his merchies to scatter at about 1900 yesterday. That was 20 hours ago. Those that survived would have cranked up to whatever was their max, plus some, speed and headed in every direction but East. That big Nazi raider could probably do 30 kts and she would have scout planes so the chances for the ships were pretty damn small but, so far this Nazi bastard has not machine gunned survivors, so any life boats and rafts that got away could hold a good bag of survivors. He had the last position of more than a few of HX-123’s ships because his Radio gang had recorded the desperate individual ships May Days and positions. His QMC had plotted those “posits” on the chart he was now staring at. Problem was 20 hours had passed and the winds had been variable. His best bet was to go for the closely spaced “Early” May Days. As time went on the posits were more spread out. He did some rough drift calculations and ordered the OOD to bring Muskeget to an intercept course at full speed. 

Lt. Moultron then drafted a message to Commandant First CG District in Boston, informed him of what he just found out, his intensions to look for survivor lifeboats and rafts, his best guess position of those boats and a request for air support from any navy units around with float planes. 

29 MAY 1941 1515 WAG-48's message was recieved at First CG District in Boston, given it’s high precedence it was immediately decoded, routed to the duty staff officer who ran it into his Boss.

29 MAY 1941 1600 the Commandant First CG District was on the secure line with Admiral USN Ernest King Commander-in-Chief of the Atlantic Fleet. King was eager to help out “The Coastie” and told him he did have some SOC equipped ships in the area. He would send out an immediate to the TG and order them to provide aerial search ASAP coordinated with WAG-48. King then transferred the call to his staff watch officer to work out the details and to send the message to Hewitt as an "immdeiate execute", high priority precedence over "King Sends". 

29 MAY 1941 1645 Rear Admiral Henry Kent Hewitt was reading Ernie Kings latest. Since he was already heading that way at 25 kts and he had plenty of SOCs he’d just have his COS (Chief of Staff), first acknowledge compliance to King and then contact that cutter skipper and work out where to send one of his scout planes as soon as TG39.1 came within range. The CoStaff was concerned about EMCOM and ordered his Comm officer to contact that cutter using the coasties own frequencies and make it look like two cutters talking search and rescue to each other. Since S&R transmissions are normally not encoded it would go out plain text. “Tell him we would comply with his Search Request but don’t mention the SOCs. Those Coasties are smart boys he’ll understand.” 

Between The Show Boat and Brooklyn TG39.1 carried 7 SOCs. So far those biplanes had been very reliable and accident free; it was unusual not to have at least 6 available for ops and for brief period all 7 were Up checked. He kept a continuos daylight sub search going that used up three, he also conducted pre dawn launch and late afternoon long range searches along sectors that covered his projected track and where he thought the Nazi TG would be operating in. Ching Lees TC team and was his staff were really doing a great job keeping track of what both the Brits and Germans were up to in his op area. He was pretty sure he was searching the right patches of ocean.

"29 MAY 1941 1500 RN HQ Bunker under the Admiralty . Fleet Admiral Sir Alfred Dudley Pickman Rogers Pound's" Communication's Officer stared in rage at the duty signals CPO. In his hand was a signal with a date time group of 282110AMAY41. It was an immediate priority spotting report from a Catalina returning RAF St. Eval from an ASW sweep of the area of 24 ship Troop Convoy UK Gourock to Suez WS 12. It had been delayed by a combination of equipment failure and bad "atmospherics" coupled by a change of the watch emergency. It had only been found an hour ago by the HQ duty signals CPO whose habit was to review all priority message traffic for the last few days after he had settled the watch down following the change over. The Commo then raced out the door heading straight for Pound's office.
Pounds aid tried to stop him but the Commo rushed past him and said "Pardon me Sir but you have tio read this now,many lives are at stake."

Fleet Admiral Sir Alfred Dudley Pickman Rogers Pound" read the message whose import was that a Kriegsmarine task group with three capital ships and four destroyers was in the vicinity of troop convoy WS 12. The only RN TG which could possibly intercept that TG was Force H which he had ordered out of it's station that was meant to cover a run by TG Lindeman to Brest and still cover WS 12. It had to be The twins had broken out of Brest some time before. His Recon flights must have been fooled because the last he heard they were still in harbor.   He then turned to the Commo "Prioity signals
First to Vice-Admiral Sir James Somerville Force H. Appriase him of the situation especially the vulnerbaility of WS 12, the last known position and make up of the Kriegsmarine TG, my opinion of who those ships are and that he was to postion himself to engage that TG before it could attack WS 12. 

Second to Commodore, Admiral Bertram I. Thesiger, WS 12 in was in Strathaird and the escort comander, advise them of everything we know and that Force H is making best speed to intercept the German TG. He is free to make whatever changes to his routing to increase the chances WS 12 will survive.

3rd to RAF Coastal Command. Inform them of all we know and request whatever aid they can supply, especially recon and bomber support. Go NOW.

He then picked up the private line to the Prime Minister. "Churchill here Alfred, I hope this is good news."
Pound "No sir it is not" and then he told Winston the situation and what steps he was taking to counter the Germans.
The PM "That convoy has over 20,000 troops don't you think you should scatter it NOW?" 

Pound " Somerville and force H should be able to deliver torpedo and bomber attacks against that task group before they come in range of WS 12. If Commodore Thesiger, " scatters them they will be easy prey for the U-boats sir."

The PM " Do you have that much confidence in your ability to tell the future Admiral? Of late you have not done particularly well against our German naval friends. I want to hear Ramsay's opinion before I endorse your plan.

Pound "Vice Admiral Ramsay is in transit. I can't get a coded dispatch to him while he is in the air. Time is of the essence Sir. I have already sent out my orders to Somerville, SW 12 commodore and the RAF. I will advise him of the situation as soon as I can get him on a secure phone line, that should be in about an hour and a half. Until then I must urgently request you to go along with my initial disposition Sir."

The PM there was silence on the line for about 5 minutes and then. "Very well Admiral I grant you your request, really nothing else I can do. If Ramsey agress with your plan YOU will still be MY First Sea Lord and in command of the upcoming action. For all our sakes, especilly those soldiers in WS 12 I pray you are victorious. If ther sisany assistance I can provide you ask immediately."

The line went dead. Winston took another big pull at his whiskey and muttered "Why did I want this Fucking Job. Is this HIS way of teaching a vain old man a lesson in humility? 

29 MAY 1941 2015 Rudel (Wolf Pack) Werwolf OTC Korvettenkapitän Unno von Fischel (U-87) rendezvoued at a point outside Ark Royals normal ASW patrol within easy striking distance of Force H's projected track. The type XIV 'Milch Cow' (U-459) Korvettenkapitän Georg von Wilamowitz-Möllendorf, had unrepped the Rudel on 25 May was waiting for the Rudel at the rendezvous and transfer fuel and torpedoes, spares, mail and food. The role of the Milch Cow was to support the operating VII and IX fighting U-boats by delivering supplies and ammunition. These boats were very successful, especially in extending the patrols of the smaller Type VIIs, until Enigma intercepts, vastly improved allied radar and better air coverage of the Atlantic eliminated them during 1943. The Milch Cows were a very high priority target for all Allied forces.
U-87 Korvettenkapitän Unno von Fischel Type VIIB,
U-102 Oberleutnant zur See Heinrich Bleichrodt Type VIIB, 

Wartime experience showed that the only real drawback of the VIIA was the small fuel storage for the role intended. This was mostly fixed in the VIIB which had additional 33 tons of fuel in external saddle tanks which gave them additional range of about 2500nm at 10 knots. They were also considerably more powerful and slightly faster than the VIIA . These boats (and all following designs) had two rudders instead of the one found on the VIIA. This gave them even more agility. The ability to turn inside an escort was a major factor in a U-boats survival.

VIIB had the same armament as the VIIA, 4 bow torpedo tubes and one tube at the stern. The only major armament difference was that 3 additional torpedoes could be stored for a total of 14. Type VIIB included many of the most famous U-boats during World War 2, including Kretschmer's U-99, U-48 which was the most successful U-boat, Prien's U-47 and Schepke's U-100.

U-208 Oberleutnant zur See Alfred Schlieper,Type VIIC
U-374 Oberleutnant zur See Unno von Fische Type VIIC ,
The VIIC was the workhorse of the German U-boat force in World War Two from 1941 onward. They were a slightly modified version of the successful type VIIB boats. They had basically the same engine layout and power, but were slightly larger and heavier which made them not quite as fast as the VIIB. 5 torpedo tubes (4 at the bow and one at the stern) were installed in all but a handfull of boats

U-325 Oberleutnant zur See Heinrich Heinsohn Type VIIC/41 Heinrich Bleichrodt
Type VIIC/41 was a slightly modified VIIC, with the same engine layout, power and Armament . The major change was these boats had a stronger pressure hull giving them more depth to evade attack under (operational 360 ft and crush depth at 750 ft VIIC's 300/600). They also had lighter machinery to compensate for the added steel in the hull making them slightly lighter than the VIIC.

The orders to Rudel Werwolf were simple. They were to penetrate Force H's destroyer screen and pump their G7s into the hulls of as many of Admiral Somerville's ships as they could, prior to TG Ciliax closing for a surface action. BdU, OKM and OKW were all looking to the Rudel and TG Ciliax to annihilate Force H. 

29 MAY 1941 2300 Thanks to Force H's course change the submerged 5 boat Rudle was  in position just outside Force H’s destroyer screen screen sooner than expected and began their runs in. OTC Korvettenkapitän Unno von Fischel (U-87) had decided on a modified surfaced action. It was now full dark; nautical dusk ended at 2258. They had to beat the Type 128 ASDIC. A 2250 BT drop had show a 10 degree temperature gradiant at 180 ft. SOP for his Rudle was to go in under the layer with a limited amount of quick ascents above to give their hydrophones a chance to update their passive solution. When they got past the screen they would make a few periscope sweeps and then pump Eels into everything in range, dive below the layer, wait for the confusion and then surface and make for the heavies. They did not have to sink Renown and Ark Royal but they did have to damage them enough to cut down their max speed and maneuverability. Of course a kill of either or both capital ships would not displease their master at BdU.

They also had to reduce Somerville’s destroyers because the nasty little terriors armed with the reliable Mk IX with a ship killing 750 lbs. TNT warhead. Like every weapon it had a weakness; it's top speed of only 36 kts at 10,500 yards. With 8 Eels per each of 10 DDs that was 80 chances to at least damage one of “The Twins” and that would end their primary mission; killing convoys. Destroyers Duncan, Iris, Encounter, Jupiter, Jersey, Fortune, Firedrake, Fury, Foresight & Fearless were in a bent line screen with outside pickets ahead of the line if advance and on the port and starboard bows at between 5 and ten miles. 

These damn “Fegers” were all roughly the same. Speed of would be about 36 knots, main armament of armament of 4 single QF 4.7-inch guns, 1 rail, 2 throwers but only 20 depth charges, about half what the dedicated convoy escorts carried. The bad news was these destroyers carried the excellent L band Type 128 ASDIC. However there was the fact these “Battle Force” destroyers spent a lot of their time doing things other than hunting and killing poor honest U-Boat men Unno thought with a smile. They were not dedicated ASW ships and therefore the skill level of their ASDIC operators captains and ASW teams were not as consistently high as those in the dedicated escorts. 

So far his Rudel had beat both the outside pickets and those Radar equipped biplanes with their “Mückes (FuMB 25) A radar detectors and emergency crash dives. Once inside the formation Mücke was pretty much useless.

TG Ciliax was closing to finish off and annihilate FORCE H .

The battle cruiser HMS Renown, could make 31 knots and her six 15 inch guns could sink every ship in TG Ciliax. Scharnhorst and Gneisenau's also had a flank speed of 31 kts. They had to endure Renown's 15 inch shells until they closed to their 11 inch maximum effective range, (you raelly can't expect a lot of hits at max effective range) and get a lot closer to swamp her with their 18 main battery. Anyone one of Renown, 2,000 lb AP projectiles could defeat their armor and cripple the ship if they hit in the right place. Renown had a very well earned reputation as an excellent gunnery ship but German firecontrol, both optical and radar directed was superior what the Royal navy had. Furthermore, the Krupp special alloy steel in their armor was superior to Renown's WW I plates. 

HMS Ark Royals aircraft could also sink TG Ciliax 3 capital ships, especially those damn torpedo carrying String Bags. Fortunately TG Lindeman had transmitted a full account of Bismarck's experience with those unexpectedly slow biplanes. That lesson had been transmitted to ALL Kriegsmarine ships. TG Ciliax had made the neccessary adjustmenst to their fire control systems, using their own Arado's to duplicate the attack runs of the Swordfish. and had drilled the firecontrol and gun crews relentlessly. The Fulmars were not considerd much of a risk except to his scout planes. Glide bomb attack with 250 lb weapons were a recipe for suicide but they were piloted by highly skilled, brave men and they might just get lucky. Every sailor knows the old adage. Scheiße passiert besonders auf See (shit happens especially at sea).

[lordroel]

Sept 13, 2022 21:10:22 GMT oscssw said:

Sep 13 1707 UPDATE
THE SHOWBOAT Engages THE IRON CHANCELLOR
Green is the new stuff Blue is old stuff I think is necessary to support new stuff

29 MAY 1941 1503 Vice-Admiral Sir James Somerville commaning Force H was not the only TG west of Lands End. TG Ciliax consisting of the Battle Cruisres KMS Scharnhorst & Gneisenau, heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper and four type 1936A destroyers, under the command of Vizeadmiral Otto Ciliax had sortied in support of TG Brinkmann had left Brest oon 25 May. What the Vizeadmiral did not know was that on 28 May 1941 0425 : RAF Supermarine Spitfire PR Mk.IG of No. 140 Squadron out of RAF Benson, on a routine recon of Brest harbor was shot down by ME-109. The German pilot was severely reprimanded by his CO for operating out of his patrol sector. He did know the Kriegsmarine had set up, with the help of Leni Riefenstahln and his staff, a very realistic PHONEY Movie set showing Both Battle Cruisers and the heavy Crusier Admiral Hipper were in the shipyard undergoing maintenance. The RAF daily recon flights had been fooled by the Movie Prop for three days and the brass wanted them to keep being fooled for as long as possible. At 0845 a replacement Spitfire PR Mk.IG of No. 140 Squadron out of RAF Benson, completed a successful recon of Brest harbor and found the three capital ships were still there. The Intel was reported to RN HQ. One less headache for the overworked staff. PR Mk.IG and 28 MaAt 0845

Uboat and Condor recon flights had been very effective in guiding TG Ciliax away from the RN air and surface patrols but the reposoitioning of Force H had to be dealt with before he could carry out his primary mission Convoy Destruction.
TG Ciliax was a very powerful Surface Action Group (SAG) His flag Scharnhorst & her sister Gneisenau was, alternatively described as a battleship or battlecruiser, of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine. She was the lead ship of her class, which included her sister ship Gneisenau. Built at the Kriegsmarinewerft dockyard in Wilhelmshaven; The Scharnhorst Class were the German response to the French battlecruisers Dunkerque and Strasbourg. The smallest modern battleships built, their main battery consisted of 9 x 11 inch guns in three turrets, two forward and one aft. These ships had a very low freeboard and took a lot of seawater forward when steaming a high speeds. The adoption of the atlantic bow only partially improved her seakeeping capability.

 

Scharnhorst Current C.O Kapitän zur See Kurt Hoffmann Gneisenau C.O. Kapitän zur See Harald Netzbrand completed in January 1939 Full load: 38,100 long tons, Length 770 ft, Beam 98.5 ft Draft 32ft 6 in In stalled Power 159,551 shp Speed 31 kts Range 7,100 nmi at 19kts Crew 1,669 Armament 9 11" SK C/34, 12 5.9" SK C/28, 14 × 4.1" SK C/33, 16 37 mm/L83 SK C/30 10 20 mm C/30 Armor Belt: 13.8" Deck: 2.0 to 3.7", Turrets: 7.9 to 14.2" ,Conning tower: 14.2" Aviation facilities 3 Arado Ar 196A-3 1 catapult Radar Seetakt 

Admiral Hipper Heavy Cruiser current C.O. Kapitän zur See Wilhelm Meisel Commissioned April 1939: under. July-September 1939: Modifications. Atlantic bow, funnel cap added. Displacement: FL 18,200 long tons Length OA 665 ft 4in, Beam 69ft 11in, Draft FL 24 ft Installed power 132,000 shp, Propulsion 3 Blohm & Voss steam turbines 3 × propellers Speed 32 knots, Range 6,800 nmi at 20 kts Crew 42 officers 1,340 enlisted Armament 8 8 in, 12 4.1 in SK C/33, 12 37 mm SK C/30, 8 20 mm C/30 , 12 21 in torpedo tubes in tripple mounts and 6 depth charge launchers. Fire control: 5 x 21 ft base rangefinders. Radar 2 FuMO 26.

Armor Admiral Hipper-class ships were protected by Krupp steel armor, of both Wotan Hart and Wotan Weich types. The ships had two armored decks to protect the ship from vertical attacks. The upper deck was 1.2 in thick amidships to protect the ships' vitals. At either end, the deck was reduced to 1/2 inch .The bow and stern was not protected by deck armor. The main armored deck was 0.8 to 2 in thick. Both decks were Wotan Hart steel. The main armored belt was 3.1 in thick amidships and reduced to 2.8 in thick aft. An interior 1 inch thick torpedo bulkhead protected the ships' vitals from underwater attack. The ships' main battery turrets were protected by 4.1 in thick faces and 3 inch sides and roofs. The 4.1 inch guns were equipped with 1/4 to 1/2 in thick gun shields. The forward conning tower had 6 in thick sides and a 2.0 in roof. The after conning tower was significantly less well armored, with only splinter protection. It's sides and roof were 1 inch thick. with a 1 inch splinter The AA fire directors were also given splinter protection, with 3/4 inch thick shields.

The Type 1936A DD also known as the Z23 class, and known to the Brits as the Narvik class were built in Bremen by AG Weser (part of Deutsche Schiff- und Maschinenbau AG/Deschimag). Eight ships of the Type 1936A design (Z23 to Z30) were all laid down between 1938 and 1940. This class of fifteen destroyers were in common with other German destroyers launched after the start of World War II, were unnamed, known only by their hull numbers – Z23 to Z39. The Narviks were closer to light cruisers than the typical destroyer with their twin 5.9 in mounts. Despite being powerful the ships, they did, like all new classes of ships, have some initial problems. There were problems with the reliability of the high pressure steam engines and seakeeping in rough seas due to the newly designed bow and heavy forward artillery. The engine problems were soon solved but the yard birds were less successful with the bows. Another case of stuffing too much gun in too small a ship.

Z23, Z24, Z25, Z26, were chosen by the Vizeadmiral for their long endurance compared to most Kriegsmarine destroyers. Long is a very relative term. For a European Operations area fleet a range of 2,600 nmi on two boiler steaming was more than adaquate, but it was not impressive at all compared it's USN Gleaves class contemporary range of 6,500 nmi on half their 4 boiler plant. Their RN Contemporaries of the "J", "K" and "N" classes managed Range 6,300 nmi at 15 kts and 5,500 nmi at 20kts on half her plant. Special precuations had been built into the plan to unrep these short legged Eierschalen, bewaffnet mit Thors Hammer (Egg shells armed with Thor‘s Hammer).

The Narviks had an OA Length of 417 ft, Beam 39 ft 4 in, Draft 14 ft Displaced 2,543–2,657 long tons at standard load. Hulls were divided into 16 watertight compartments and they were fitted with a double bottom that covered 47% of their length amidships. Crew 11–15 officers & 305–20 enlisted. The type 1936As were powered by two Wagner geared steam turbine sets, each driving a single three-bladed 10 ft 6 in propeller, using steam provided by six high-pressure Wagner water-tube boilers with superheaters that operated at a pressure of 1,029 psi and a temperature of 842–896 °F. That is a very high pfressure and temp for a WW II DD Plant. The turbines were designed to produce 69,000 shp for Flank Speed 36 knots . The ships carried a maxim 822 long tons) of fuel oil. 

Armament Main Battery by May 1941 consisted of five 5.9 TbtsK C/36 naval rifles in a twin-gun turret forward and the three other guns in single mounts with gun shields aft of the main superstructure. The single mounts had a range of elevation from −10° to +30° while the guns in the turret could be elevated to 65°. The TbtsK C/36 gun fired 100 lb projectiles, vs USN DD 55 lb round, at a muzzle velocity of 2,740 ft/s which gave them a maximum range of 24,000 yds vs USN DD's Max surface range of 18,000 yards The hand-loaded gun had a maximum rate of fire of 7–8 rounds per minute. An average USN 5"38 crew in rapid Fire mode with integral hoists could manage 15 - 22 rounds per minute. The type 1936As carried a total of 480 man battery rounds.

AA Battery consisted of four 37mm (1.5 in) SK C/3 guns in two twin mounts abreast the aft funnel. These power operated mounts had a max elevation of 85° which gave the guns a ceiling of 22,300 ft; surfcae action range of 9,300 yds)at an elevation of 37.5° at 30 rounds per minute. The mounts were stabilized, but their gyroscopes were undersized and could not cope with sharp turns or heavy rolling. Also fitted with five to ten fully automatic 20 mm C/30 guns in quadruple and single mounts. The gun had an effective rate of fire of about 120 rounds per minute. Its projectiles were fired at a muzzle velocity of 2,740 ft/s which gave it a ceiling of 12,100 ft and a maximum surface action range of 5,200 yd.
8 21 inch torpedo tubes in two power-operated mounts. Two reloads were provided for each mount. The standard torpedo for the Type 36B destroyers was the G7a torpedo. It had a 660 lb warhead and three speed range settings: 15,000 yd at 30 knots, 8,700 yds at 40 knots and 6,600 yds) at 44 knots. They had four depth charge launchers and mine rails could be fitted on the rear deck, max capacity of 60 mines. 

Sonar/Asdic 'GHG' (Gruppenhorchgerät) passive hydrophones were fitted to detect submarines and a S-Gerät sonar was also fitted. Radar FuMO 24/25 radar set above the bridge

29 MAY 1941 1505 WAG-48's CO had a tough desision to make. His talk with the senior and only Commisioned survivor of HX-123 Lt. Joseph Hill and a Pork Chop (supply Officer at that) didn’t tell him much. The one thing he did learn was that COMMODORE: R-Adm H ROGERS MVO OBE had ordered his merchies to scatter at about 1900 yesterday. That was 20 hours ago. Those that survived would have cranked up to whatever was their max, plus some, speed and headed in every direction but East. That big Nazi raider could probably do 30 kts and she would have scout planes so the chances for the ships were pretty damn small but, so far this Nazi bastard has not machine gunned survivors, so any life boats and rafts that got away could hold a good bag of survivors. He had the last position of more than a few of HX-123’s ships because his Radio gang had recorded the desperate individual ships May Days and positions. His QMC had plotted those “posits” on the chart he was now staring at. Problem was 20 hours had passed and the winds had been variable. His best bet was to go for the closely spaced “Early” May Days. As time went on the posits were more spread out. He did some rough drift calculations and ordered the OOD to bring Muskeget to an intercept course at full speed. 

Lt. Moultron then drafted a message to Commandant First CG District in Boston, informed him of what he just found out, his intensions to look for survivor lifeboats and rafts, his best guess position of those boats and a request for air support from any navy units around with float planes. 

29 MAY 1941 1515 WAG-48's message was recieved at First CG District in Boston, given it’s high precedence it was immediately decoded, routed to the duty staff officer who ran it into his Boss.

29 MAY 1941 1600 the Commandant First CG District was on the secure line with Admiral USN Ernest King Commander-in-Chief of the Atlantic Fleet. King was eager to help out “The Coastie” and told him he did have some SOC equipped ships in the area. He would send out an immediate to the TG and order them to provide aerial search ASAP coordinated with WAG-48. King then transferred the call to his staff watch officer to work out the details and to send the message to Hewitt as an "immdeiate execute", high priority precedence over "King Sends". 

29 MAY 1941 1645 Rear Admiral Henry Kent Hewitt was reading Ernie Kings latest. Since he was already heading that way at 25 kts and he had plenty of SOCs he’d just have his COS (Chief of Staff), first acknowledge compliance to King and then contact that cutter skipper and work out where to send one of his scout planes as soon as TG39.1 came within range. The CoStaff was concerned about EMCOM and ordered his Comm officer to contact that cutter using the coasties own frequencies and make it look like two cutters talking search and rescue to each other. Since S&R transmissions are normally not encoded it would go out plain text. “Tell him we would comply with his Search Request but don’t mention the SOCs. Those Coasties are smart boys he’ll understand.” 

Between The Show Boat and Brooklyn TG39.1 carried 7 SOCs. So far those biplanes had been very reliable and accident free; it was unusual not to have at least 6 available for ops and for brief period all 7 were Up checked. He kept a continuos daylight sub search going that used up three, he also conducted pre dawn launch and late afternoon long range searches along sectors that covered his projected track and where he thought the Nazi TG would be operating in. Ching Lees TC team and was his staff were really doing a great job keeping track of what both the Brits and Germans were up to in his op area. He was pretty sure he was searching the right patches of ocean.

"29 MAY 1941 1500 RN HQ Bunker under the Admiralty . Fleet Admiral Sir Alfred Dudley Pickman Rogers Pound's" Communication's Officer stared in rage at the duty signals CPO. In his hand was a signal with a date time group of 282110AMAY41. It was an immediate priority spotting report from a Catalina returning RAF St. Eval from an ASW sweep of the area of 24 ship Troop Convoy UK Gourock to Suez WS 12. It had been delayed by a combination of equipment failure and bad "atmospherics" coupled by a change of the watch emergency. It had only been found an hour ago by the HQ duty signals CPO whose habit was to review all priority message traffic for the last few days after he had settled the watch down following the change over. The Commo then raced out the door heading straight for Pound's office.
Pounds aid tried to stop him but the Commo rushed past him and said "Pardon me Sir but you have tio read this now,many lives are at stake."

Fleet Admiral Sir Alfred Dudley Pickman Rogers Pound" read the message whose import was that a Kriegsmarine task group with three capital ships and four destroyers was in the vicinity of troop convoy WS 12. The only RN TG which could possibly intercept that TG was Force H which he had ordered out of it's station that was meant to cover a run by TG Lindeman to Brest and still cover WS 12. It had to be The twins had broken out of Brest some time before. His Recon flights must have been fooled because the last he heard they were still in harbor.   He then turned to the Commo "Prioity signals
First to Vice-Admiral Sir James Somerville Force H. Appriase him of the situation especially the vulnerbaility of WS 12, the last known position and make up of the Kriegsmarine TG, my opinion of who those ships are and that he was to postion himself to engage that TG before it could attack WS 12. 

Second to Commodore, Admiral Bertram I. Thesiger, WS 12 in was in Strathaird and the escort comander, advise them of everything we know and that Force H is making best speed to intercept the German TG. He is free to make whatever changes to his routing to increase the chances WS 12 will survive.

3rd to RAF Coastal Command. Inform them of all we know and request whatever aid they can supply, especially recon and bomber support. Go NOW.

He then picked up the private line to the Prime Minister. "Churchill here Alfred, I hope this is good news."
Pound "No sir it is not" and then he told Winston the situation and what steps he was taking to counter the Germans.
The PM "That convoy has over 20,000 troops don't you think you should scatter it NOW?" 

Pound " Somerville and force H should be able to deliver torpedo and bomber attacks against that task group before they come in range of WS 12. If Commodore Thesiger, " scatters them they will be easy prey for the U-boats sir."

The PM " Do you have that much confidence in your ability to tell the future Admiral? Of late you have not done particularly well against our German naval friends. I want to hear Ramsay's opinion before I endorse your plan.

Pound "Vice Admiral Ramsay is in transit. I can't get a coded dispatch to him while he is in the air. Time is of the essence Sir. I have already sent out my orders to Somerville, SW 12 commodore and the RAF. I will advise him of the situation as soon as I can get him on a secure phone line, that should be in about an hour and a half. Until then I must urgently request you to go along with my initial disposition Sir."

The PM there was silence on the line for about 5 minutes and then. "Very well Admiral I grant you your request, really nothing else I can do. If Ramsey agress with your plan YOU will still be MY First Sea Lord and in command of the upcoming action. For all our sakes, especilly those soldiers in WS 12 I pray you are victorious. If ther sisany assistance I can provide you ask immediately."

The line went dead. Winston took another big pull at his whiskey and muttered "Why did I want this Fucking Job. Is this HIS way of teaching a vain old man a lesson in humility? 

29 MAY 1941 2015 Rudel (Wolf Pack) Werwolf OTC Korvettenkapitän Unno von Fischel (U-87) rendezvoued at a point outside Ark Royals normal ASW patrol within easy striking distance of Force H's projected track. The type XIV 'Milch Cow' (U-459) Korvettenkapitän Georg von Wilamowitz-Möllendorf, had unrepped the Rudel on 25 May was waiting for the Rudel at the rendezvous and transfer fuel and torpedoes, spares, mail and food. The role of the Milch Cow was to support the operating VII and IX fighting U-boats by delivering supplies and ammunition. These boats were very successful, especially in extending the patrols of the smaller Type VIIs, until Enigma intercepts, vastly improved allied radar and better air coverage of the Atlantic eliminated them during 1943. The Milch Cows were a very high priority target for all Allied forces.
U-87 Korvettenkapitän Unno von Fischel Type VIIB,
U-102 Oberleutnant zur See Heinrich Bleichrodt Type VIIB, 

Wartime experience showed that the only real drawback of the VIIA was the small fuel storage for the role intended. This was mostly fixed in the VIIB which had additional 33 tons of fuel in external saddle tanks which gave them additional range of about 2500nm at 10 knots. They were also considerably more powerful and slightly faster than the VIIA . These boats (and all following designs) had two rudders instead of the one found on the VIIA. This gave them even more agility. The ability to turn inside an escort was a major factor in a U-boats survival.

VIIB had the same armament as the VIIA, 4 bow torpedo tubes and one tube at the stern. The only major armament difference was that 3 additional torpedoes could be stored for a total of 14. Type VIIB included many of the most famous U-boats during World War 2, including Kretschmer's U-99, U-48 which was the most successful U-boat, Prien's U-47 and Schepke's U-100.

U-208 Oberleutnant zur See Alfred Schlieper,Type VIIC
U-374 Oberleutnant zur See Unno von Fische Type VIIC ,
The VIIC was the workhorse of the German U-boat force in World War Two from 1941 onward. They were a slightly modified version of the successful type VIIB boats. They had basically the same engine layout and power, but were slightly larger and heavier which made them not quite as fast as the VIIB. 5 torpedo tubes (4 at the bow and one at the stern) were installed in all but a handfull of boats

U-325 Oberleutnant zur See Heinrich Heinsohn Type VIIC/41 Heinrich Bleichrodt
Type VIIC/41 was a slightly modified VIIC, with the same engine layout, power and Armament . The major change was these boats had a stronger pressure hull giving them more depth to evade attack under (operational 360 ft and crush depth at 750 ft VIIC's 300/600). They also had lighter machinery to compensate for the added steel in the hull making them slightly lighter than the VIIC.

The orders to Rudel Werwolf were simple. They were to penetrate Force H's destroyer screen and pump their G7s into the hulls of as many of Admiral Somerville's ships as they could, prior to TG Ciliax closing for a surface action. BdU, OKM and OKW were all looking to the Rudel and TG Ciliax to annihilate Force H. 

29 MAY 1941 2300 Thanks to Force H's course change the submerged 5 boat Rudle was  in position just outside Force H’s destroyer screen screen sooner than expected and began their runs in. OTC Korvettenkapitän Unno von Fischel (U-87) had decided on a modified surfaced action. It was now full dark; nautical dusk ended at 2258. They had to beat the Type 128 ASDIC. A 2250 BT drop had show a 10 degree temperature gradiant at 180 ft. SOP for his Rudle was to go in under the layer with a limited amount of quick ascents above to give their hydrophones a chance to update their passive solution. When they got past the screen they would make a few periscope sweeps and then pump Eels into everything in range, dive below the layer, wait for the confusion and then surface and make for the heavies. They did not have to sink Renown and Ark Royal but they did have to damage them enough to cut down their max speed and maneuverability. Of course a kill of either or both capital ships would not displease their master at BdU.

They also had to reduce Somerville’s destroyers because the nasty little terriors armed with the reliable Mk IX with a ship killing 750 lbs. TNT warhead. Like every weapon it had a weakness; it's top speed of only 36 kts at 10,500 yards. With 8 Eels per each of 10 DDs that was 80 chances to at least damage one of “The Twins” and that would end their primary mission; killing convoys. Destroyers Duncan, Iris, Encounter, Jupiter, Jersey, Fortune, Firedrake, Fury, Foresight & Fearless were in a bent line screen with outside pickets ahead of the line if advance and on the port and starboard bows at between 5 and ten miles. 

These damn “Fegers” were all roughly the same. Speed of would be about 36 knots, main armament of armament of 4 single QF 4.7-inch guns, 1 rail, 2 throwers but only 20 depth charges, about half what the dedicated convoy escorts carried. The bad news was these destroyers carried the excellent L band Type 128 ASDIC. However there was the fact these “Battle Force” destroyers spent a lot of their time doing things other than hunting and killing poor honest U-Boat men Unno thought with a smile. They were not dedicated ASW ships and therefore the skill level of their ASDIC operators captains and ASW teams were not as consistently high as those in the dedicated escorts. 

So far his Rudel had beat both the outside pickets and those Radar equipped biplanes with their “Mückes (FuMB 25) A radar detectors and emergency crash dives. Once inside the formation Mücke was pretty much useless.

TG Ciliax was closing to finish off and annihilate FORCE H .

The battle cruiser HMS Renown, could make 31 knots and her six 15 inch guns could sink every ship in TG Ciliax. Scharnhorst and Gneisenau's also had a flank speed of 31 kts. They had to endure Renown's 15 inch shells until they closed to their 11 inch maximum effective range, (you raelly can't expect a lot of hits at max effective range) and get a lot closer to swamp her with their 18 main battery. Anyone one of Renown, 2,000 lb AP projectiles could defeat their armor and cripple the ship if they hit in the right place. Renown had a very well earned reputation as an excellent gunnery ship but German firecontrol, both optical and radar directed was superior what the Royal navy had. Furthermore, the Krupp special alloy steel in their armor was superior to Renown's WW I plates. 

HMS Ark Royals aircraft could also sink TG Ciliax 3 capital ships, especially those damn torpedo carrying String Bags. Fortunately TG Lindeman had transmitted a full account of Bismarck's experience with those unexpectedly slow biplanes. That lesson had been transmitted to ALL Kriegsmarine ships. TG Ciliax had made the neccessary adjustmenst to their fire control systems, using their own Arado's to duplicate the attack runs of the Swordfish. and had drilled the firecontrol and gun crews relentlessly. The Fulmars were not considerd much of a risk except to his scout planes. Glide bomb attack with 250 lb weapons were a recipe for suicide but they were piloted by highly skilled, brave men and they might just get lucky. Every sailor knows the old adage. Scheiße passiert besonders auf See (shit happens especially at sea).

Good update Senior Chief (oscssw).

[575]

Nicely kept suspence oscssw;

[miletus12]

Jun 7, 2022 0:53:42 GMT oscssw said:

THE SHOWBOAT engages THE IRON CHANCELLOR

June 6 Update

Green is the new stuff Blue is old stuff I think is necessary to support new stuff

Please note you will find a few Green dates with blue log entries. This means I altered the chronology of events.

2 Mar 1941 BB-55 began rigorous training in gunnery in Chesapeak Bay and the use of her new search and fire control radars on the Dahlgren Virginia test ranges.
2 Mar 1941 1900 BB-55 "Ching" Lee, was not disappointed by the first days gunnery practice. It was what he expected from a raw crew. As a veteran member of the “Gun Club” he was well versed in USN gunnery exercises and their results. At this time he was thinking about the Long Range Battle Practice for 1939-40 objectives of training main battery personnel and spotters. To provide maximum training for Fire control parties and spotters, the Director of Fleet Training made partial salvos mandatory, to be fired by forward and after groups (each of which had their own spotting and control parties) in succession. This would really maximizee BB-55’s training time for her Firecontrol parties and spotters. They really needed as much training as he could reasonably cram into their time on the ranges.
He was convinced, given he was operating in the North Atlantic, unfavorable combinations of wind, sea, light, and visibility would be the rule not the exception. If he was lucky, BB-55 would fight in moderate wind and sea conditions but it was just as likely the wind and sea would be a hell of a lot worse. He also had to drill his guners while dealing with a bad sun glare, with surface haze about 200 feet deep which caused a mirage effect on the horizon. He would have to pound into the heads of his gunners, commmissioned, CPOs and senior POs that the usually more dependable stereo range finders were less accurate than coincidence types. He would have to make sure his OODs knew a change of 30° from approach to the deployment course must be made at "Commence Firing," and another turn of 30° away was made during the shift from the forward to after groups between salvos 7 and 8. He also had to find a way to factor in Casualty training of his GMs especially misfire proceedures under war time conditions and not get anyone seriously hurt or killed in the practice.

The silver bullet to all those problems was radar. He would find ways to get the most out of his sets and somehow Shangahi radar experts to instruct his crew and he better do it quickly. He smiled as he congratulated himself for already taking the the first steps.

7 MAY ‘41 BB-55 underway for local training ops off Boston. Tolley, O’Shea and ship’s company Quartermasters, Interior Communications, and Electricians mates augmented by some very experienced yard workers had Lee’s Chart House converted to the new Tracking Compartment. Tolley and his “Radar Gang” were now calling it Tare Charlie or simply “The TC”.
Lee, Tolley and RMC O’Shea had worked out a trial watch bill for “The TC”.

Condition 1 (GQ) and 2 would absolutely require a TC watch officer, preferably a LT trained and recommended by Tolley himself, a watch supervisor trained and recommended by RMC O’Shea with PO radar operator and his non rated striker , 2 plotters North and South for ther DRT, expereinced RM3, IC3 and 4 non rated for log keeping/radio guard with as much OJT as possible and other miscelaneous tasks.
Condition 2 would reduce the DRT plotters to one, the IC man to a designated Striker and miscelaneous nonrated of 2.

Condition 3 steaming a Chief or PO1 would be watch supervisor with PO radar operator and his non rated striker, plotter and his striker , and 3 non rated for log keeping/radio guard and training , (for the time being this was critical) and other miscelaneous tasks. Lee thought hard about a TC watch officer in Condition 3 but it would have to be an ensign or very junior JG and he knew the ship would be better off with an experienced, very reliable PO1 or average Chief.

Today and possibly for the next few days (no promises on the additional days) they had the survices of a Target towing Tug and he planned to make the most of it. Constant practice for the firecontrol teams, potters and gun crews was absolutely priority one. He also wanted his SOCs up and practicing their spotting priocedures. He had very full days planned and would keep shooting as long as he had target towing servcies. It would also give him a chance to see how far Tolley’s “Radar Gang” was progressing. He expect to do a lot of “Tweeking to the TC team before it was of real use. Hell he would spend part of his time in the TC because he had to be trained as well as his men. Fighting the ship from the TC, instead of the bridge and/or armored conning tower did not sit well with him. First off he couldn’t actually see anything. He had a lot more comfidence in the MK-1 Eyeball than the current state of radar. He was responsible for the safe pasage of BB-55 and he could not see doing that from the TC. Well he did have some good OODs in his LCDRs and the senior LTs were getting better every day. It would be a long time before he would trust the Conn to his JGs and hell would freeze over before he would trust a “Butter Bar.

15 MAY’41Convoy HX 123 departs Halifax Nova Scotia to Liverpool with 43 merchants

Was considered fast convoy made up of ships that could make 9–13kn. A parallel series of slow convoys, the SC series, was run for ships making 8kn or less, while ships making more than 13 knots sailed independently. The HX convoys were comparatively fast convoys, they were less vulnerable to U-boat attack than the slow convoys, but they were still very vulnerable to large surface raiders, like Bismarck and The Prince. Therefore the escort included an old BB if at all possible.

HX-123 escorts were:
1 Old BB HMS Ramillies
4 Town class Ex USN WW I DDs
including the future famous HMSCampbeltown, ExUSN DD 131, of the St Nazaire Raid
5 Flower class Corvets
3 old ASW sloops
1 Armed Merchant Cruiser

18 MAY 1941 2110 What the comodore and CO of Cambeltown strongly suspected but did not absolutely know was the type 9B U-105 although suffering shock damage to her long range radio had already signaled her sighting report to BDU. Roel’s 850 meters DF intercept was very strong proof of that. Three more of her type IXB long range sisters were sent by BDU to raise havoc as far east as possible, along the halifax to Liverpool convoy lane; well outside the type VIIC Uboats’ normal operating range. Two of the boats had already received U-105’s CO Hans “Petruchio” Becker’s sigting report and were closing on HX-123 from the West U-123 commanded by U-Boat “Ace” Kapitänleutnant Reinhard “Trommelschlag” Hardegen and U-107 skippered Kapitänleutnant Günther Hessler (Karl Dönitz's son in law). They doubled the lookouts and cranked up their 986 shp; diesles to 18 kts to close on HX-123 (which was moving in their gneneral direction) and should reach HX-123 by 2125 and 2330 respectively 19 MAY.

19 MAY 1941 0530 CO Cambletown calls off the search and orders his navigator for a two boiler run (Every CO of a Town Class DD, with it’s small bunkerage, has to keep in mind his fuel level) back to HX-123 current posit.
19 MAY 1941 0645 U-105’s CO Hans “Petruchio” Becker, orders his sonar rating to do a 360 degree sweep with his GruppenHorchGerät (GHG) Hydrophone underwater sound detector. GHG hears nothing. He then orders the boat to pariscope depth.
19 MAY 1941 0700 “Petruchio” finishes his visula search and orders another GHG search; still nothing.
19 MAY 1941 0708 Herr Becker orders the bridge crew assembled
19 MAY 1941 0712 U-105 surfaces . Bridge crew scrambles up the conning tower ladder lookouts do a full sweep of their sectors and report no contacts.
19 MAY 1941 0715 Herr Becker takes a long look at the Borkum (FuMB 10) radar detection device. Nothing. He orders course & speed to intercept convoy HX-123 by 2300 of the OOD and returns to the Zentrale (control room). The CHENG reports it will take at least four hours to repair all the shock damage from the Englander Feger’s (DD AKA Sweeper) “wasser bombs”. Herr Becker informs the Zentrale crew he intends to stay surfaced as long as possible to rendezvous with U-123“Ace” Kapitänleutnant Reinhard “Trommelschlag” Hardegen and U-107 skippered Kapitänleutnant Günther Hessler (Karl Dönitz's son in law) before they go in and tear the heart out of the convoy. He then orders normal staeming watch set to give his crew much needed rest and then conducts a full inspection of the boat with his Cheng.
19 MAY 1941 0740 FdU (Führer der Unterseeboote AKA U-boat C O) “Petruchio” returns to his cabin to write up his after action report. He is well pleased with both his crew and boat. He likes his type IX better than the Type VIIC. All Type IXB submarines have 986 shp while submerged and 4,340 shp when surfaced. As a result, they could travel at 18.2 knots while surfaced and 7.3 knots submerged. His Type IXB has a range of 12,000 nmi at 10 knots while on the surface and 64 nmi at 4 knots submerged. He has 6 torpedo tubes (4 in the bow, 2 in the stern) and carries a total of twenty two 21 inch Aals. Unlike the earlier Type IXAs, his Type IXB is equipped to launch 44 TMC mines but Uncle Karl did not favor them as they were not quite as effective as the torpedo and so U-105 carried nne this cruise. His Type IXB is armed with a 105 mm SK C/32 naval gun and 180 rounds on a Utof mount. He also has 2 standard 20 mm FLAK guns. Although his IXB could cram in up to 56 crew and “passengers” he was satisfied with his 46.
He also was thankful his U-105 was home ported in Lorient. Uncle Karl took very good care of his Boats and men. As MN base, Lorient had the facilities Dönitz needed, as well as numerous cafes and bars, and a red-light districts. The dockyard facilities were excellent and the Madamoisells were very, very friendly, as long as you had money and were generous to them. Well they earned every Reichspfennig they got. Could not have been fun “servicing” a virile, sex starved young U-boat man just in from a 30 day North Atlantic patrol. They also had to contend with the hatred of their own countrymen and especially women. To that there was also real danger from fear maddened youngsters who drank far too much and all too often took it out on their Huren.

The first area put into use as a U-boat dock was the fisherman's wharf of Keroman on the River Blavet. Work commenced in November 1940, and the installation comprised two wet docks capable of accommodating the larger Type IX U-boat. At the same time, in the trawler port, two large above-ground bunkers were constructed to protect U-boats that may require repairs or refit. These structures were reminiscent of church naves, and were nicknamed "Dom" bunkers (Dom being the German word for a cathedral).

9 MAY 1941 1130 Lt.Cdr. Lord Teynham was in his Gig heading back to his ship. He would rate his dressing down by the Comodore no more than a 5 on a scale of 10. The old man seemed preoccupied. He was right and he was pretty sure he knew why.
19 MAY 1941 1138 Roel’sintercept sure “smelled” like a sighting report that would bring in every U-boat in the vicinity in looking for blood. The Comodore of HX-123 did not absolutely know it but suspected he had U-boats getting into position for a coordinated night attack after dark. This was still pretty far West to be hit by one of the large Type VII Wolf Packs. Did the type IX fight in the packs? Until now most of the long range sub attacks were by individaul Type 9s operating alone. Just as well they were rid of Ramillies but he did not like loosing a Town class DD and the little ASW sloop.
What could Roger’s do to make good use of that time? Refueling the escorts seemed very prudent.
19 MAY 1941 1145 The comodore ordered the escorts to refuel by signal hoist. Precedence would be the two remaining old ASW sloops, the three remaining Town class Ex USN WW I Dds with Campbeltown first, and finally the 5 Flower class Corvets.
It required juggling the screen but the weather was moderate and they have plenty of time.
He would have loved to fire off that Seafire for a recce but that would loose him his air cover and probably a fine, brave young man to no good purpose. He was worried about U-Boats not surface raiders.
19 MAY 1941 1630 Refueling completed with only minor damage to an oiler and two escorts. Really nothing much more than a few dented hull plates and the loss of a spann wire from a refueling rig and a cleat ripped out of the deck of one of the Town Class Dds, both easily replaced. Those Yankee Gifts Horses were absolute beasts to handle alongside an oiler. No one had been killed or even injured so, all in all, a good evolution. Most important no matter what was in store for HIS convoy the escorts had plenty of fuel, for now. Those old Dds hull lines were too narrow which gave them a vicious roll. The OODs didn't like the way they handled either. They had propellers that spun the same way, 2-screw ships usually have the Prop Shafts spinning in opposite directions to reduce the effects on the rudder when conning, especially when coming alongside and staying at the proper distance for an unrep. Their turning circle was huge, as big as most Bbs, a real dangerous flaw in ASW which demands tight manoeuvres. This was topped off by unreliable "chain and cog" steering gear laid across the main deck. Even their fully enclosed bridges caused problems with reflections in the glass at night. The last, in Roger’s opinion, was a bit of just plain bitching for the sake of it as the DD’s had perfectly adaquate OPEN bridge wings and a well equipped open conning station right above the enclosed pilot house.

21 May 1941 1415 CO Brooklyn told Hewitt his ship was ready and able to carry out all assignemnts issued. He had no major CASREPS and absolute confdence in his men.
“Admiral I need to know what your interpretation of the Nuetrality Patrol ROE’s.”
Hewitt replied. Captain, most of it is exactly as laid out in his TG39.1 Standard Operating Doctrine you received a few minutes ago.”
What I think you are asking is IS there anything off the record you should know!
TG39.1 will:
1. Locate and positively identify unknown contacts"
2. I will signal “unfriendly contacts" position and identity to my boss.
3. I and I alone in TG39.1 will determine the level of hostile intent and make the shoot, no-shoot" decission based on MY assessment of the risk posed to MY command by the "unfriendly contact".
4. This does not in any way keep you from returning fire. In fact, your duty is once the Germans shoot at you, my standing instruction along with well established fleet wide SOP is to destroy the hostile contact. You are to sink the bastard.
Clear enough Captain?
Aye,Aye Sir.
There was silence for the next few minutes to let this sink I.

22 MAY 1941 TG39.1 spends the day and a good portion of the night on various courses and speeds conducting a succession of ever increasingly difficult battle exercises while still maintaining a tight watch on actual events. Hewitt is satisfied with TG39.1 individual ship’s performance and is concentrating on improving the coordination of his entire force. He also wants to test the individual seamanship and nerve of his Captains. So far they are a mixed lot; a few real stars, most pre-war competent and just a couple who could use a good kick in the Ass and he was just the Flag officer to administer what they required.

24 MAY 1941 0800 Vice-Admiral Lancelot Holland shifts his flag to POW.
He orders Norfolk, despite the fact she that only the 1.5 m fixed-antenna type 286M, the one that required swinging ship for direction, to shadow Bismarck and Prince Eugene.
He orders, Hood, POW, Suffolk, Antelope and Electra to make best speed 5 kts while POW is towing Suffolk stern first to Reykjavik.

25 MAY 1941 1130 Rescue Tug Bustler (1,118 tons, 3,200hp max spd 16 kts one 3in, one 2 pdr, two 20mm and four Mgs. ) and arrives from Reykjavik. Her “escort” is HMT Coriolanus (545 long tons, 164 ft ,Max spd 12 kts, crew 40 , one 12pdr, Three 3 20 mm and 30 × depth charges). Tug Bustler takes over tow of Suffolk. However, she is able to tow Suffolk at 8 kts.
25 MAY 1941 1400 Suffolk, Bustler and Coriolanus detach and head for Reykjavik. It was another tough decision for Vice-Admiral Lancelot Holland, NOT to assign one of his remaining ASW escorts. He had been advised about 30 minutes ago by flashing light SitRep Hood was now capable of 12 kts, about the best she can maintain with her damaged bows shored. Counter flooding has reduced Hood’s list to 5 degrees. All fires out, serious dewatering effort underway and DC teams continue to patch battle damage to hull. Medical teams still overwhelmed but by ruthleesly adhereing to Triage SOP Senior MO and his staff aided by whoever can be spared from absolutely necessary watch keep and DC teams are saving those they can but the butcher bill grows by the minute.
25 MAY 1941 1500 Vice-Admiral Lancelot Holland, orders his “force” to increases speed to 12 kts,
25 May 1941 1600 Holland reads Sitrep from POW’ XO “acting captain” ; Engaged in the same process as Hood but fortunately her damage and wounded are far less severe. Her Butcher’s Bill will be less than 100. Even with builders aboard no major repair of her main battery is possible. However, the civilian techs are of great assistance nursing her engineering plant and mitigating hull damage. 

26 MAY ‘41 1130 The Bismarck received a message from Hitler saying that "all our thoughts are with our victorious comrades."

27 May 1941: At 0530 hours, the Prince of Wales & Hood arrive at Reykjavik with Antelope and Electra. The battleships anchors in Reykjavik and immediately land their wounded. The destroyers imediately refuel and reprovisioned. While anchored there Holland transmits the first detailed battle report to the Admiralty about the engagement in the Denmark Strait.
27 MAY 1941 2200 Bismarck and The Prince pick up local “pilots” from Greenland fishing vessel. This same vessel had conducted a very thorough survey by a Kriegsmarine Officer and two local fishermen, former pre war harbor pilots of Kangerluarsunnguaq Fjord.
27 MAY 1941 2230 Bismarck and The Prince under complete blackout and guided by their radars and local Nazi sympathizers pass through the mouth of Kangerluarsunnguaq Fjord. They find Kapitan zur See Helmuth von Ruckteschell & his 10,000 ton 18 kt blockade running Oiler Weissenburg anchored over the “sea Bottom” (inner part of Fjord) close up to the walls of the very steep and deep fjord. Weissenburg guided by the same Greenland Nazi agents anchored at 2200 and made all preps to speedily discharge their fuel on both sides, in order to get Lutgens away before first light.
Kapitan zur See Helmuth von Ruckteschell invites the Admiral and his two captains to celbrate the defeat of the Royal Navy in the Denmark Straight and the continuned success Operation Rheinübung ("Exercise Rhine") in his plush sea cabin with Cuban cigars, French cognac and Sacher Torte. This cake is light and airy, made with melted chocolate, vanilla, butter, sugar, and flour, whipped egg whites, apricot coating, smothered in a dark chocolate glaze.
28 May 1941 POW Antelope and Electra. Departs Reykjavik for Rosyth.
28 MAY 1941 0200 Vice admiral Lutgens, has been feeling restless, sweaty and anxiety over the last hour. Suddenly he sits bolt upright in his chair, with a grimace of great pain on his face, spills his cognac and experinces heavy pounding of his the heart followed by loss of consciousness. Ruckteschell calls for his surgeon while Kapitäns zur See Brinkmann and Lindemann administer first aid. It takes the doctor seven and a half minutes to reach the sea cabin but the Vice admiral is already dead. The doctor states from the look of the Vice admiral and based on what the three officers told him Lindeman had suffered a massive heart attack.
28 MAY 1941 0230 After removal of the body the three captains each down a stiff congnac, refill their snifters and get down to business. Lindeman expresses his full support and obedience to Kapitän zur See (KzS—Captain at Sea) Helmuth Brinkmann of the PRINCE as he is senior Captain. Brinkmann thanks Lindemann for his words and orders they go over to Bismarck so he can read Lutgens orders for Operation Rheinübung. He makes it perfectly clear he intends to carry out those orders to the letter.
He also formally states all standing orders of the Vice Admiral will stay in place.
Lindeman asks Brinkmann when he will break his “command pennant” on Bismarck.
Brinkmann replies “I have complete confidence in you as Captain of Bismarck. Unfortuneatly my Executive Officer has been showing some strange behavior since the Denmark Straight battle. I think it best to stay aboard The Prince and support him during his transition to command. The Prince has plenty of room so I will have the staff transferred before we sail.
He turns to Ruckteschell, “How much longer to fill our bunkers.”
Ruckteschell replies “We will be done by 0330.”
Brinkmann replies “So be it, not a minute later. I want to be as far from this place as possible by daylight.”
“ Kapitan zur See Helmuth von Ruckteschell send in a yoeman, I must compose a short report of for our masters.” Brinkmann dictates a three paragraph message to include with the Vice Admirals report stating he bald facts of what happened, he took command and would carry out Operation Rheinübung to the best of his ability and he had every confidence of success. Also his condolences to Lindemann’s family.
At that Brinkmann & Lindemann hurry over to Bismarck. The Vice Admiral C of Staff is waiting in the flag space with the orders and other documents Brinkmann needs. The staff is busy packing up everythimng to transfer to The Prince. It will be tight but it will be done. Brikmann orders the Flag Lt. To move all of Lutgen’s personal poseesions to Weissenburg and then join him aboard The Prince.
28 MAY 1941 0340 Bismarck with The Prince leading ,heads for the mouth of Kangerluarsunnguaq Fjord conned by the Greenland Nazi sympathetic fishermen/pilots.
28 MAY 1941 0420 The Brinkmann TG clears Kangerluarsunnguaq Fjord , course SE and a rendezvou with as many Tommy Convoys as he has fuel and ammunition for. Why not? They had defeated the mighty Hood, badly damaged and driven off Prince of Whales. HIS TG had also slaughters the cruisers and destroyers sent to kill them with ease and suffered only very minor damage. He knew he was a much better leader and a much smarter sailor than poor Lutgens. In his present mood ALL THINGS WERE POSSIBLE. He sardonically laughed aloud when he said to his new Chief of Staff “I guess God really is on the Fuhrers side.” Then he turned serious. “Now to work, find me a large, ripe Tommy convoy.”

30 May 1941 POW Antelope and Electra arrives in Rosyth.
30 MAY '42 0730 USS Brooklyn CL-40 morning Curtiss SOC Seagull scout is spotted first by Bismarck's Arado Ar 196. At contact the Arado Ar 196 was above the Seagul and in the sun. The German pilot imediately dived for the Seagul in a blow through attcak. His two wing mounted 20mm auto canons and one forward firing 7.92 MG ripped through the tail and after cockpit of the SOC killing the Observer. The shaken and wounded Seagul pilot 's transmitted an aircraft sighting report but is killed before he could transmit his posit. The brief transmission was picked up by two only two ships in Hewitt's force, Brooklyn and Dunlap's DD-384. The incomplete sighting report gives him a first proof a German capital ship is in the area. No firm Datum, No course and speed, no confirmation of which ship or ships it is but he and Lee are very sure it is Bismarck/and or The Prince. They knew something else, based on an estimate the Seagull's last posit HX-123 was between TG 39.1 and the German Force.
30 MAY'42 0745, despite marginally acceptable flying conditions and sea state Hewitt orders Lee to launch a recon SOC to the last estimated position of the downed Seagull. Lee selected LT Stryker OIC of his Air Det and his observer Chief Craig on this very dangerous but vital mission because they would do the job no matter what the odds. LT Stryker was also the nephew of CMDR Joe Stryker, BB-55's Executive Officer. He informed both men what happend to the CA-40's aircraft. Pilot was ordered to conduct a sector search and if successful to take whatecer action he deemed neccessary to ensure his sighting report is acknowledged by Hewitt's TG. He was then to shadow the German force signalling posit, course and speed changes. Lee agin thanked God for Hewitt because the man had the iron to order a couple of good young men to their death. Also because Hewitt was taking a big chance, by breaking radio silence, Lutgens would pick up the acknoldgement and know the Seagull's home was a USN capital ship and atleast it's bearing from Bismarck.
30 MAY'42 0955 2nd scout reaches last position of Brooklyn's aircraft and begins sector search to the North West .
30 MAY'42 1240 Stryker and Craig spot The Prince steaming SOUTH WEST at 19 kts and imediately transmit sighting report which is not recieved by TG 39.1
30 MAY'42 1243 Stryker orders Chief Craig to keep sending that "Fvcking signal until he gets an acknowledgement" and then takes the SOC into a cloud bank. For the next half hour Stryker skips in and out of the clouds, varifying The Prince's Course and speed and avoiding another Arado Ar 196.
30 MAY'42 1313 Chief Craig recieves TG 39.1 acknowledgement of the sighting report. Actually BB-55 had transmitted it's first acknowledgment at 1250. Hewitt authorized further transmissions at 1255, 1305 and 1310.

I promised you a chart many a moon ago. Finally... here it is. I will have more later as I figure the situation out.

[oscssw]

Thanks miletus12. The Eastern Troop Convoy and Force H are positioned differently than in the OTL. In my ATL they are in for some real trouble from "The Twins". The Troop Convoy, my WS 12, is about 250 miles South West of La Caruna Southern tip Bay of Biscay. Force H is North West of WS 12 desperately trying to get between the convoy and The Twins TG. Rudel (Wolf Pack) Werwolf is between Force H and The twins TG and ready to strike. The Twins are heading toward Force H under an overcast of low lying clouds that have shielded them from Ark Royal's air search so far.

[miletus12]

Sept 18, 2022 4:54:43 GMT oscssw said:

Thanks miletus12. The Eastern Troop Convoy and Force H are positioned differently than in the OTL. In my ATL they are in for some real trouble from "The Twins". The Troop Convoy, my WS 12, is about 250 miles South West of La Caruna Southern tip Bay of Biscay. Force H is North West of WS 12 desperately trying to get between the convoy and The Twins TG. Rudel (Wolf Pack) Werwolf is between Force H and The twins TG and ready to strike. The Twins are heading toward Force H under an overcast of low lying clouds that have shielded them from Ark Royal's air search so far.

Who was the British individual who decided that it would be a good idea to route WS12 within JU-88 range of Bordeaux?

See Maps.




The massif just south of the Galicia Bank is where 'Werewolf', WS12, Force H, the Twins and the Luftwaffe meet for a SINK-EX.  That is perfect for U-boats and terrible for ASW defenders. 

Prognosis for Somerville is NOT TOO GOOD. 

==============================================================================

Commentary: It might be fun to restage Force Z from a certain point of view, but this confluence of events overlooks some quantities and limits known even in 1940. 

a. Spain was NINO (Neutral in name only.). German aircraft could skirt its airspace, and in some cases, flew through it to reach their LRMP sectors. 
b. Spain's own air patrols passed on info to the Germans.
c. That wolfpack "Werewolf" (as described) has no business being that far out of position if Doenitz' U-boat Command West has even the slightest idea how merchant shipping lanes come together in the Western Approaches, but here they are?
d. Somerville may be covering WS12, but what the expletive deleted is HE thinking? If he is supposed to cover the convoy...
---turn west (you idiots of WS 12) and open the air range.
---avoid the Galicia Massif.
---trail cover the rear of the convoy and draw the Twins away from their own air cover.
---like a boxer with reach advantage, jab at the Twins with his torpedo bombers. He does not have to slug it out in a losing surface battle, just create a mechanical that forces Marschall to retreat for repairs.         
---use THE WEATHER!. If the stormy conditions protect the Twins from his air recon, it works better for HIM to hide his convoy sheep and him. The Germans cannot hear him and they cannot find / see him as they go blundering around on the surface provided Somerville moves west into the storm tracks. And contrary to popular belief, as the Ark Royal proved on Bismarck in rough weather conditions, SWORDFISH can fly in this mid Atlantic slop that turned back CONDORS.  

==============================================================================

Comments on British overall tactical acumen, so far? 

1. The actions in progress in this ATL story reflect a distinctly different style and approach to American naval warfare doctrine as it evolves in the same period.
2. I have given above an example of how that works. In the master plot charting I have taken the naval theater moves given and tried to the best of my ability to give a SITREP (situation representation) in a set time and position along with a brief "staff assessment" of what is expected to happen in the immediate future, along with recommendations as to what ought to be immediate future adjustments to avoid certain preventable negative outcomes. 
3. The British apparently did not ever do this in WWII from a master plot. Each local admiral blundered his way blindly forward to handle his own segment of the overall picture as he received information from higher headquarters. 

So: in this ATL representation, I see the same mistakes.  

a. Convoys have not been "no-reply" warned of U-boat concentrations as discovered from London, nor been rerouted away from the concentrations.
b. Covering forces have not been supplied with LRMP patrol support at critical times as the German surface raiders put out willy-nilly and are lost as they move about freely. 
c. Aircraft carrier centric forces have not used their air recon properly. 
d. Naval forces (Tovey especially) have been split apart and squandered (Holland's command.) without regard as to how shoreline geography, and time and weather and weapon platform characteristics really function. 

British performance has been "unacceptable".      
 
===============================================================================

Instead of blindly flailing around for the Bismarck and the Prinz Eugen, the British Home Fleet and the British Admiralty has ignored the tried and proven method for handling enemy naval raiders. 

a. Use a convoy as bait. 
b. Lurk nearby as a cover force.
c. The raider has to come to you.
d. Pounce on him. 

The British kept thinking like WWI naval types in 1940 where they had cruiser scout lines and surface ships searching in little driblets. This is doing it the hard way. The Americans will fall into this kind of error during Drumbeat before Royal Ingersoll reminds them that CONVOY baiting has worked for U-boats as well as surface raiders. 

Proof? For the British it is the Battle of the North Cape in 1943. For the Americans it is numerous US HK actions in the eastern North Atlantic in 1943. Do not avoid the raiders, drive straight through them and fight them and kill them. 
 
This is about when both navies finally use the master plot method described above to collate information in real time and use synergistic and complementary systems effects to bring about desired results. 

In other words, combined procedures to detect, acquire, track, engage. (DATE)     
 
It maximizes concentration of effort and effect and conservation of means, times, and methods.   

[oscssw]

All good points, as usual miletus12. Myabe that is why you are an 06 and I am just an over the hill E-8.

[oscssw]

Oct 4,2022 at 2:14pm UPDATE

THE SHOWBOAT Engages THE IRON CHANCELLOR

I have been asked to post in black Hope this is better

29 MAY 1941 2330, the 5 boats of Werwolf Rudel, as previously ordered, made their runs on the escorts. The fact they could just "hover", bows on which greatly reduced the possibility the Brit's excellent 128 ASDIC operators finding them as the doomed (they hoped) escorts were making directly for them considerably. Each boat was assigned a specific escort starting from the starboard most of the bent line screen as #1 to the 5th from the end as #5 and moving to port to ensure a single Can did not eat all the G7s. Each boat fired two G7s at each escort, then dived below the layer, immediately reloading thier two empty forward tubes.,and proceeded inside the savaged screen making for their two prime targets Renown and Ark Royal.

Of the ten type 7's fired 6 found targets; two escorts Duncan (with the screen commander aboard) and Fearless were sunk outright and 2 more Jupiter and Iris were mission kills, in that they were out of the fight until the dockyard matey's could put them back together.

Once safely past the screen the boats surfaced to "decks awash" and made for their primary targets at best speed "on the electrics". During this time the TG was making a radical formation change away from the stricken escorts presnting their broadsides to the Rudel. Time was of the essence and the U-boats took great risks to get off their warshots as soon as they identified their game. Ark Royal was targeted by U-325 Oberleutnant zur See Heinrich Heinsohn Type VIIC/41 and Unno von Fischel U-87. Both boat's superbly trained Torpedomen had reloaded the forward tubes in record time and she was attacked by six eels fired at a fair angle at long but under max range at the high speed setting. Ark Royals "Pouncer" HMS Devoted's radar picked up the boats shortly after her first EEL launch, immediately warned Ark Royal and raced down the bearing to U-87 and ate one of the T7's with devastating results ( forward mag exploded no survivors) that damaged another T-7. Now The Ark had 4 T-7s chasing her but she was making Flank speed and maneuvering to clear the torpedo danger area.

Oberleutnant zur See Unno von Fische's Type VIIC U- 374 attack on HMS Jersey was catastrophically foiled by the DD's veteran PO ASDIC Operator. He decided to switch to flashlight mode i.e. Active Narrow Beam. Which concentrated all the power of the omnidirection beam into a very narrow 30 degree sector. This mode was usually only employed during an attack run but it was also helpful to check on a very minor return echo which almost invariably was just a school of fish. Not this time.

Jersey's XO was in the Asdic hut and instantly notified the CO it had to be a U-boat on an attack course and she was close. The CO immediately ordered a minor course change and then asked "Do you still hold that contact Jimmy?" The reply was "Yes sir and it has to be a U-boat". The CO ordered an emergency attack run on the sub. She launched a full pattern of DCs at shallow depth, as soon as the "instantaneous echo" report came from the ASDIC hut. Then came to flank speed and turned to port to avoid HMS Foresight. Two of the Mark VII's detonated 50 feet below and within 80feet of Oberleutnant zur See Unno von Fische's boat. The 420 lb charges with 290 lbs of explosive stove in part of the hull and caused the sub to broach. The after 4.7 inch mounts and the heavy 20 mm AA guns opened up at point blank range immediately. As the destroyer came around her forward main and AA battery mounts were unmasked and added to the salvoes hitting on and around the foundering sub. The combination of the MK VII's and the fusilade of short range AP gunfire sent U-374 down with all hands.

30 MAY 1941 0034 U-102 Oberleutnant zur See Heinrich Bleichrodt Type VIIB and Oberleutnant zur See Alfred Schlieper's,Type VIIC U-208 got into range of battlecuiser Renown, Somerville's flag ship. Pound initially had ordered Renown's captain Guy Tremain Tarlton not to close within range of Bismarck alone; that order was rescinded as these were desperate times. HMS Renown "Refit" to her prewar professional crew, was of 32,000 tons, 31 knots Battle Cruiser with 3 twin 15 inch guns, 10 twin 4.5 in DP guns, 3 octuple 40 mm AA guns and 4 float planes. Her armor had been upgraded but was still no match for Bismarck but had an even chance against the Twins and was proof against anything but a very, very lucky hit from The Prince.

Unlike Hood Renown had completed an extensive modernization in 1936. The ship's engines and boilers were replaced by Parsons geared turbine sets and eight Admiralty three-drum boilers. This saved some 2,800 long tons of weight. Her anti-torpedo bulges were deepened and reworked. The bulge was longer too, covering from the submerged torpedo room to “Y” barbette magazine. Its inner compartments were filled with crushing tubes. With these new bulges, the beam took 12 feet 8 inches while the extra weight made the draft deeper from 1 foot 4 inches.

The alarm was out and both U-boats were forced to shoot from extreme but effective range of the T-7s fastest speed. U-102 fired three fish at the Battle cruiser and U-208 fired three at Ark Royal, holding one forward tube for self defense and then crash dived to avoid the madly charging destroyers. All three of Bleichrodt's torpedoes hit the Battle Cruiser but one's warhead was only a low order detonation causing no shock damage and only a few minor leaks.

EEL 2 hit low on the anti-torpedo bulge and the anti-torpedo "system" held strong with moderate flooding of the spaces provided for that and the main hull still intact. She had lost very little combat effectiveness at this point.

It was the third T-7 that did the real damage. The Torpedo hit between two fire rooms and although the bulge and remainder of the anti-torpedo system did mitigate the impact of the warhead so much shock damage was done to the boilers that her 31kts speed was reduced to 25. She was still a very formidable warship.

Oberleutnant zur See Alfred Schlieper's,Type VIIC U-208, like her packmate, was also forced to fire her three 660 lb warhead T-7es from extreme but effective range of the T-7es fastest speed. Ark Royal's 102,000 shp driving 3 shafts from 3 geared steam turbines were driving her at 30 knots. Her armor was limited to 4.5 inch belt and 3.5 over Deck boiler rooms and magazines. She had a three-layered anti-torpedo & side protection system. A void-liquid-void scheme. It was designed to resist a 750-pound warhead torpedo. Below deck, machinery spaces were protected by 4.5-inch of belt armor. There was also a waterline armored deck to “enclose the box”, 3.5 in thick over the boiler rooms and magazines. Compartmentalization helped to mitigate the effect of a torpedo hit, but bulkheads were thin, and there was no proper bulge. In fact only one T-7e hit at the #2 main machinery space but the combnation of shock damage and flooding reduced Ark Royals flank speed to 22 kts. That was just fast enough, with a moderate head wind, to launch and recover her String Bags and Fulmars. SeaHurries and Sea Spits would have been a real problem.

Vice-Admiral Sir James Somerville, was determined to engage TG Ciliax before the Nazi's could sink WS 12. It would be good if the RAF could find TG Brinkman again and then slow down the Nazi's but he was relying more on Force H. He had air scouts and he had both torpedo and bomber aircraft of his own. He also had the 15 inch guns of his Battle Cruiser his own Heavy cruiser and six of his torpedo loaded destroyers. Force H might be bloodied but they were still a match for the Nazi TG, with just a bit of luck. "Jimmy" Somerville had always been lucky when it really counted. The RN had not had much luck lately and it was about time that changed.

30 MAY 1941 0230 OTC of Ruder Werwolf Korvettenkapitän Unno von Fischel (U-87) Transmitted his after action report to BdU, Info Vizeadmiral Otto Ciliax OTC TG Ciliax aboard Kapitän zur See Harald Netzbrand Gneisenau. The Vizeadmiral shared the messsage with Netzbrand and his COS., For the loss of One boat and 62 good men , the damage of one boat that had to return to St. Nazaire and the modorate damage of two boats that could make repairs at sea with the help of the The type XIV 'Milch Cow' (U-459) Korvettenkapitän Georg von Wilamowitz-Möllendorf, Milch cow, Ruder Werewolf had damaged both Ark Royal and the accursed Renown along with eliminating half of the RN destroyers force. Kapitän zur See Harald Netzbrand's Gneisenau welcomed the upcoming battle especially with HMS Renown. It was Renown that badly mauled his Gneisenau and killed his men off the southern coast of the Lofoten Islands. He would sink that Englander and wipe clean the record of his ship.

30 May 1941 0500 (WAG-48) CO Moultron was writing his report on the HX-123 survivor rescue. On the plus sign they did not miss a weather transmission so his primary mission was accomplished. The actual rescue Op was a mixed bag. It had started off much better than he feared with the recue of Robert Squires AB, Crackers’ Rushall, Joseph Hill (SupO), CPO Tom Hanlon, All from HMS AMC Derbyshire. Muskeget’s boat picked John ‘Barker, Harry, Bonneyand and John Aylard from HMS Chelsea. He thought that Nazi BB or CA would have blown that converted liner and those spavin old Cans out of the water with all hands lost. There were a lot of stories about the Nazi’s machine gunning life boats and the poor bastards who had to abandon without a boat of raft would be killed by hypothermia, in less than an hour, even in May this far North.

The modified expanding square search had found nothing initially. Things began to look up at 29 May 1206 when one of the lookouts reported a “life boat” bearbing 030 degrees relative. He had ordered the OOD to bring the cutter to that heading and 15 minutes later they found one lifeboat and three carly rafts roped together with 43 survivors from HM Corvette DIANTHUS, SS KINROSS, SS OSTENDE, SS PACHESHAM and HMS VERITY (modified W-class DD).

That made the score 50, although all of the the “survivors” were in rough shape; the burn cases were least likely to survive. The CO of VERITY, LCDR George Ericson RNR, was in good enough shape to help plan the continued search. His knowledge of the particulars of the convoy was invaluable. Based on his info Moultron modified the box searched.

They came across the next Lifeboat at 29 May 1356. There were only 9 survivors from the Dutch freighter JAARSTROOM. She had been carrying ammo and blew up ejecting the lifeboat into the sea. The survivors had been topside aft, part of the old World War I surplus 12-pounder, ‘DEMS (Defensively Equipped Merchant Ships and Service), Gunners. Sgt (Gunner) Keith Lockhard, senior survivor, said they found themselves blown off the ship and landed right next to the bleeding boat. Well all but Nobby Banks who landed in the boat. He has two broken ankles but was able to throw us a rope. That made the bag 59 and counting.

TG39.1’s Seagull found them at 29 May 1515. Using blinker light Moultron and the SOC crew established search arcs for the aircraft. The SOC had three hours on station before they had to return to USS Brooklyn CL-40. In those three hours the Seagull lead (WAG-48) two 136 survivors. That made it 195 seaman rescued. Not a bad day’s work for the Coasties. By this time Muskeget was well outside her weather ship box. For the last minutes of his time the SOC Pilot had conducted a very thorough area search and informed Moultron there was no sign of any additional boats, rafts or wreckage.

30 May 0615 WS 12 and what was left of Force H are in for some real trouble from "The Twins". The Troop Convoy, WS 12, is about 250 miles South West of La Caruna Southern tip Bay of Biscay. Force H is North West of WS 12 desperately trying to get between the convoy and The Twins TG. Rudel (Wolf Pack) Werwolf has savaged Force H, sinking 2 destroyers, damaging two so badly they were unable to keep up with even the reduced speed of Force H 22 kts and damaging both Ark Royal and Renown. Both capital ships were still combat effective, as their man batteries were intact but with reduced engineering capabilities. Renown had taken three torpedo hits and Ark Royal one. The Twins are heading toward Force H under an overcast of low lying clouds that have shielded them from Ark Royal's air search so far.

30 May 0630 HMS Cambletown was now making 9 kts on her way to Halifax for major repairs to her after deck house and engineering plant. Her capatin, Lcdr Lord Teynham , had gotten some very much needed shut eye on his bridge chair (with the safety belt to keep him in it), as did his crew.

The one bright spot out of the HX-123's massacre was when The OLD Gift Horse's starboard lookout spotted a lifeboat almost dead ahead a day ago. It contained 19 cold and angry seamen including Captain Roel Hendrikx from a crew of 43 from the Dutch freighter JAARSTROOM, 2,480 tons, launched in 1922 whose cargo of peanuts would never reach Liverpool. Two of the Stokers were not likely to live because of their steam burns. Captain Hendrix had made it clear although he was furious with the Mofs (Germans) he was not too well disposed toward the Royal Navy just now after loosing 24 good men because the escort did not do their job. Lord Teynham just let that true but unfair remark pass.

He was also quite pleased with his mostly young and inexperienced crew. Thank God for the all to light sprinkling of old hand RN PO's he had. Asdic PO Miletus had done exceptionally well and was in for a “bump” soon. Miletus had a really thankless job teaching junior ASDIC Operator Benny Hill; not that he was not intelligent enough it was just he was so damn new. There was only so much the Senior ASDIC PO could do, while standing watches and doing repairs to the ASDIC in the short time. Another one of his headaches was “ASDIC Watch Officer” in name only at this point, Sub Lieutent Peter Sellers RNVR, with all of 4 months service. Lord Teynham was pretty sure in time, with luck, which was in very short supply in HMS Cambletown, he would become more of an asset than a hazard to the Old Gift Horse.

They were steaming in the RN equivalent of USN condition 3 (wartime steaming) with 1/3 of the weapons and ALL his sensors manned. The Chief ERA had done wonders along with the Engineering Officer and even the newest "Stoker" under hellish conditions. Once again he and the old Gift Horse had failed and once again they had survived. Out of six fired one or two torpedoes should have at least slowed down that Nazi bastard , but the Nazi's Luck of the Devil held. The Raider thought so little of his Cambletown that she just brushed by her with a few shots from the secondary battery, one of which did more than enough damage, on her way to savage her charges and did not even come back to finish the Gift Horse off. As he took a pull of his rum laced Tea he thought "And I alone am left to tell the tale!" That Melville could coin the right phrase for the occasion.

30 May 0700 Veteran, civilian cryptologist Elizabeth Smith Feldman of USCG Lcdr Jones’ Code and Sypher Branch “Unit 387” had come across some intel that prompted Commandant First CG District to send an urgent message to his friend Admiral USN Ernest King Commander-in-Chief of the Atlantic Fleet. The message contained the recently decoded signal to a senior Nazi Agent in New York regarding death of Admiral Lutgens and the appointment of his Uncle, Kapitän zur See Helmuth Brinkmann as OTC of TG Brinkmann.

30 May 0730 Ernie King appraised ONI of the change and wanted his file on his desk in one hour. He also wanted an assessment of the character, tactical and strategic competence of Kapitän zur See Helmuth Brinkmann and anything else that would help himself and Admiral Hewitt understand what this new opponent was likely to do. "And I want it Yesterday!"

He then told his aide to get his COS in here ASAP. When the long suffering staffer came in Ernie and he hashed out if King had the authority to inform the Brits of the finding. Given that the USN was still operating under the “ABC-1” Joint Staff agreement which defined what roles US and UK forces would play while the United States was still neutral he had some leeway. ABC-1 formally authorized and encouraged the long established, tactical and technical information sharing between OpNav and the Admiralty. It also authorized cross posting of USN and RN Officers to share latest operational practices and TIMELY intel sharing. They decided to go through OpNav.

30 May 0750 CNO Stark's COS (Chief of staff) replied to King's message that OpNav would contact the Brits immediately with the news about TG Brinkmann. He would also request whatever the Brit's had on Kapitän zur See Helmuth Brinkmann and forward it to King as soon as they got it.

30 May 0900 TG39.1 Admiral Hewitt had his orders to find the Brinkmann TG. He was to continuing on his course to intercept the Nazi Capital ship(s) unless otherwise ordered. King also told Hewitt to give the crew of the SOC a well done from him.

The information about the massacre of HX-123 brought back by Helenna's Seagull yesterday at 1930, was followed by a brief, but concise message to Admiral King about the rescue and fate of the convoy and escorts. King shared that message with the CNO who soon called "Ernie" back asking for any additional info or intel on the Bismarck TG. King had a little but not much to add. The CNO informed King POTUS FDR had heard about HX-123, was furious and had ordered Stark to report to the White House ASAP for an update and "Strategy session". The outcome of that Session was to mobilize more assets in the hunt for the Nazi TG and to reiterate King's spoken, secret special ROE's to Hweitt about what he was to do when, not IF, he found the Nazi raiders. Hewitt had shared those ROE's with his second in command Ching Lee, who was itching to match HIS BB against the Buismarck.

30 May 0915 an execute to follow signal was two blocked to BB-55's yardarm. Signal read TG39.1 will engage in exercises to be used against a Force of One BB and one CA without a destroyers screen. Light off all boilers and prepare for rapid course, speed and formation changes. Advise, by signal light, when your command is in all respects ready for today's exercises.

30 May 0918 The signal was hauled down and Executed.

30 May 0925 CO BB-55 Ching Lee ordered all boilers to be brought on the line ASAP without endangering the plant. He then went to the TC where he found LT. Tolley and RMC O'Shea. The XO and Navigator (Ops Boss today) soon joined them. They reviewed Rear Admiral Hewitt's Battle doctrine and the status of the radar, firecontrol, main and secondary battery.

GM1 Borgnino USN (AKA Ernie Borgnine) and 1st Sgt Carlo Morano were inspecting the heavy machine gun / light Marine manned AA Battery's ready use weapons and ammo per the battle bill when the "Growler" screeched. It was the Assistant Gunnery Officer ordering him to assist the GM3 working on the train mechanism of mount 52. He turned to "Carlo" and said "You sea going bell hops fucked up mount 52 again." 1st Sgt Carlo Morano, upholding the honor of the USMC fires back "Everyone knows you Swab Jockeys always give the Marine Det the most fucked up mount to play with. If it wasn't for our Gunny that piece of shit would never work."

Ernie, chuckled and said. "More likely that drunk was the cause not the cure of that mount's problems. I keep telling you Jar heads to leave the maintenance of the mounts to us GMs but you guys are way too smart to listen. It would save all of us a lot of work if you just practiced loading and firing those 5"38's because they are way too complicated for you Mud Maroons" to mess with."

Carlo's parting shot as Ernie slung a bag of tools over his shoulder and went through the hatch double time was. "Someone has to take up the slack for you lousy canon cockers. "

31 May 0800 Message From Fleet Admiral Sir Alfred Dudley Pickman Rogers Pound
To: CNO, Admiral Harold R. Stark
Subj: Kapitän zur See Helmuth Brinkmann's from Office of Naval Intelligence dorsier
DATE OF BIRTH: 12 March 1895
PLACE OF BIRTH: Lübeck

1 April 1913-2 August 1914: Initial training and training aboard the protected cruiser Vineta.
• 1 April 1914-2 August 1914: Naval School Mürwick.
• 7 August 1914-6 January 1915: Assigned to the pre-dreadnought battleship Kaiser Friedrich III.
• 7 January 1915-5 March 1915: Assigned to the pre-dreadnought battleship Kaiser Karl der Große.
• 6 March 1915-28 October 1915: Radio Officer aboard the light cruiser Regensburg.
• 29 October 1915-31 July 1918: Assigned to various torpedo boats in the 2nd Torpedo Boat Half Flotilla (see below).
• 29 October 1915-3 June 1917: Watch Officer aboard the torpedo boat G 196.
• 19 August 1917-29 September 1917: Watch Officer aboard the torpedo boat G 192.
• 30 September 1917-12 November 1917: Watch Officer aboard the torpedo boat V 190.
• 8 June 1918-31 July 1918: Watch Officer aboard the torpedo boat S 133.
• 1 August 1918-20 September 1918: Attended the Navigation Course.
• 21 September 1918-30 November 1918: Watch Officer aboard the torpedo boat G 86 in the 1st Torpedo Boat Half Flotilla.
• 1 December 1918-16 May 1920: Watch Officer and Adjutant of the torpedo boat V 130 in the 2nd Torpedo Boat Half Flotilla and then the 2nd Iron Flotilla.
• 31 July 1920-29 September 1922: Commander of the tender T 144.
• 30 September 1922-10 February 1925: Commander of the torpedo boats G 7, G 10 and S 18 in the I. Torpedo Boat Flotilla.
• 12 February 1925-17 September 1926: Company Leader in the Baltic Sea Ship Cadre Division.
• 18 September 1926-2 October 1928: Consultant in the Baltic Sea Ship Cadre Division.
• 3 October 1928-5 November 1930: Second Adjutant on the staff of the Command of the Baltic Sea Naval Station.
• 6 November 1930-21 December 1932: Navigation Officer of the light cruiser Königsberg.
• 10 January 1933-31 March 1935: Consultant in the Reich Defense Ministry.
• 20 May 1935-6 May 1938: Commander of the state yacht and fleet tender Grille [this ship served as Adolf Hitler’s state yacht].
• 9 May 1938-26 October 1938: Consultant in the Marinewehrabteilung in the Kriegsmarine High Command.
• 27 October 1938-24 July 1940: Chief of the Marinewehrabteilung in the Kriegsmarine High Command.
• 1 August 1940-4 August 1942: Commander of the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen.
Decorations & Awards:

• Prussian Iron Cross, 1st Class: 24 July 1920
• Prussian Iron Cross, 2nd Class (1914): 10 October 1915.
• Cross of Honor for Combatants 1914-1918: 15 October 1934.
• Armed Forces Long Service Award, 3rd Class (12-year Service Medal)
• Commemorative Medal of 1 October 1938
• Commemorative Medal for the Return of the Memel District
• Spanish Order of Naval Merit, 2nd Class: 8 November 1934.
• Order of the Crown of Italy, Commander: 8 October 1937.
Brinkmann’s Prinz Eugen sortied from Gotenhafen with the new battleship Bismarck on “Rheinübung” (Rhine Exercise), a breakout into the Atlantic to conduct commerce raiding.

Promotions:
• Cadet.Seekadett: Entered the Imperial German Navy as a Sea 1 April 1913
• Fähnrich zur See: 3 April 1914
• Leutnant zur See: 18 September 1915
• Oberleutnant zur See: 7 January 1920 (Patenting reserved)
• Oberleutnant zur See: 14 May 1921 (Patent 7 January 1920)
• Kapitänleutnant: 1 May 1925
• Korvettenkapitän: 1 January 1933
• Fregattenkapitän: 1 January 1937
• Kapitän zur See: 1 October 1938

[lordroel]

Oct 4, 2022 20:18:11 GMT oscssw said:

Oct 4,2022 at 2:14pm UPDATE

THE SHOWBOAT Engages THE IRON CHANCELLOR

Green is the new stuff    Blue is old stuff I think is necessary to support new stuff

29 MAY 1941 2330, the 5 boats of Werwolf Rudel, as previously ordered, made their runs on the escorts. The fact they could just "hover", bows on which greatly reduced the possibility the Brit's excellent 128 ASDIC operators finding them as the doomed (they hoped) escorts were making directly for them considerably. Each boat was assigned a specific escort starting from the starboard most of the bent line screen as #1 to the 5th from the end as #5 and moving to port to ensure a single Can did not eat all the G7s. Each boat fired two G7s at each escort, then dived below the layer, immediately reloading thier two empty forward tubes.,and proceeded inside the savaged screen making for their two prime targets Renown and Ark Royal.

Of the ten type 7's fired 6 found targets; two escorts Duncan (with the screen commander aboard) and Fearless were sunk outright and 2 more Jupiter and Iris were mission kills, in that they were out of the fight until the dockyard matey's could put them back together.

Once safely past the screen the boats surfaced to "decks awash" and made for their primary targets at best speed "on the electrics". During this time the TG was making a radical formation change away from the stricken escorts presnting their broadsides to the Rudel. Time was of the essence and the U-boats took great risks to get off their warshots as soon as they identified their game. Ark Royal was targeted by U-325 Oberleutnant zur See Heinrich Heinsohn Type VIIC/41 and Unno von Fischel U-87. Both boat's superbly trained Torpedomen had reloaded the forward tubes in record time and she was attacked by six eels fired at a fair angle at long but under max range at the high speed setting. Ark Royals "Pouncer" HMS Devoted's radar picked up the boats shortly after her first EEL launch, immediately warned Ark Royal and raced down the bearing to U-87 and ate one of the T7's with devastating results ( forward mag exploded no survivors) that damaged another T-7. Now The Ark had 4 T-7s chasing her but she was making Flank speed and maneuvering to clear the torpedo danger area.

Oberleutnant zur See Unno von Fische's Type VIIC U- 374 attack on HMS Jersey was catastrophically foiled by the DD's veteran PO ASDIC Operator. He decided to switch to flashlight mode i.e. Active Narrow Beam. Which concentrated all the power of the omnidirection beam into a very narrow 30 degree sector. This mode was usually only employed during an attack run but it was also helpful to check on a very minor return echo which almost invariably was just a school of fish. Not this time.

Jersey's XO was in the Asdic hut and instantly notified the CO it had to be a U-boat on an attack course and she was close. The CO immediately ordered a minor course change and then asked "Do you still hold that contact Jimmy?" The reply was "Yes sir and it has to be a U-boat". The CO ordered an emergency attack run on the sub. She launched a full pattern of DCs at shallow depth, as soon as the "instantaneous echo" report came from the ASDIC hut. Then came to flank speed and turned to port to avoid HMS Foresight. Two of the Mark VII's detonated 50 feet below and within 80feet of Oberleutnant zur See Unno von Fische's boat. The 420 lb charges with 290 lbs of explosive stove in part of the hull and caused the sub to broach. The after 4.7 inch mounts and the heavy 20 mm AA guns opened up at point blank range immediately. As the destroyer came around her forward main and AA battery mounts were unmasked and added to the salvoes hitting on and around the foundering sub. The combination of the MK VII's and the fusilade of short range AP gunfire sent U-374 down with all hands.

30 MAY 1941 0034 U-102 Oberleutnant zur See Heinrich Bleichrodt Type VIIB and Oberleutnant zur See Alfred Schlieper's,Type VIIC U-208 got into range of battlecuiser Renown, Somerville's flag ship. Pound initially had ordered Renown's captain Guy Tremain Tarlton not to close within range of Bismarck alone; that order was rescinded as these were desperate times. HMS Renown "Refit" to her prewar professional crew, was of 32,000 tons, 31 knots Battle Cruiser with 3 twin 15 inch guns, 10 twin 4.5 in DP guns, 3 octuple 40 mm AA guns and 4 float planes. Her armor had been upgraded but was still no match for Bismarck but had an even chance against the Twins and was proof against anything but a very, very lucky hit from The Prince.

Unlike Hood Renown had completed an extensive modernization in 1936. The ship's engines and boilers were replaced by Parsons geared turbine sets and eight Admiralty three-drum boilers. This saved some 2,800 long tons of weight. Her anti-torpedo bulges were deepened and reworked. The bulge was longer too, covering from the submerged torpedo room to “Y” barbette magazine. Its inner compartments were filled with crushing tubes. With these new bulges, the beam took 12 feet 8 inches while the extra weight made the draft deeper from 1 foot 4 inches.

The alarm was out and both U-boats were forced to shoot from extreme but effective range of the T-7s fastest speed. U-102 fired three fish at the Battle cruiser and U-208 fired three at Ark Royal, holding one forward tube for self defense and then crash dived to avoid the madly charging destroyers. All three of Bleichrodt's torpedoes hit the Battle Cruiser but one's warhead was only a low order detonation causing no shock damage and only a few minor leaks.

EEL 2 hit low on the anti-torpedo bulge and the anti-torpedo "system" held strong with moderate flooding of the spaces provided for that and the main hull still intact. She had lost very little combat effectiveness at this point.

It was the third T-7 that did the real damage. The Torpedo hit between two fire rooms and although the bulge and remainder of the anti-torpedo system did mitigate the impact of the warhead so much shock damage was done to the boilers that her 31kts speed was reduced to 25. She was still a very formidable warship.

Oberleutnant zur See Alfred Schlieper's,Type VIIC U-208, like her packmate, was also forced to fire her three 660 lb warhead T-7es from extreme but effective range of the T-7es fastest speed. Ark Royal's 102,000 shp driving 3 shafts from 3 geared steam turbines were driving her at 30 knots. Her armor was limited to 4.5 inch belt and 3.5 over Deck boiler rooms and magazines. She had a three-layered anti-torpedo & side protection system. A void-liquid-void scheme. It was designed to resist a 750-pound warhead torpedo. Below deck, machinery spaces were protected by 4.5-inch of belt armor. There was also a waterline armored deck to “enclose the box”, 3.5 in thick over the boiler rooms and magazines. Compartmentalization helped to mitigate the effect of a torpedo hit, but bulkheads were thin, and there was no proper bulge. In fact only one T-7e hit at the #2 main machinery space but the combnation of shock damage and flooding reduced Ark Royals flank speed to 22 kts. That was just fast enough, with a moderate head wind, to launch and recover her String Bags and Fulmars. SeaHurries and Sea Spits would have been a real problem.

Vice-Admiral Sir James Somerville, was determined to engage TG Ciliax before the Nazi's could sink WS 12. It would be good if the RAF could find TG Brinkman again and then slow down the Nazi's but he was relying more on Force H. He had air scouts and he had both torpedo and bomber aircraft of his own. He also had the 15 inch guns of his Battle Cruiser his own Heavy cruiser and six of his torpedo loaded destroyers. Force H might be bloodied but they were still a match for the Nazi TG, with just a bit of luck. "Jimmy" Somerville had always been lucky when it really counted. The RN had not had much luck lately and it was about time that changed.

30 MAY 1941 0230 OTC of Ruder Werwolf Korvettenkapitän Unno von Fischel (U-87) Transmitted his after action report to BdU, Info Vizeadmiral Otto Ciliax OTC TG Ciliax aboard Kapitän zur See Harald Netzbrand Gneisenau. The Vizeadmiral shared the messsage with Netzbrand and his COS., For the loss of One boat and 62 good men , the damage of one boat that had to return to St. Nazaire and the modorate damage of two boats that could make repairs at sea with the help of the The type XIV 'Milch Cow' (U-459) Korvettenkapitän Georg von Wilamowitz-Möllendorf, Milch cow, Ruder Werewolf had damaged both Ark Royal and the accursed Renown along with eliminating half of the RN destroyers force. Kapitän zur See Harald Netzbrand's Gneisenau welcomed the upcoming battle especially with HMS Renown. It was Renown that badly mauled his Gneisenau and killed his men off the southern coast of the Lofoten Islands. He would sink that Englander and wipe clean the record of his ship. 200 .

Burner-cycle, 264 hp @ 41 kThe "Ark" was designed in 1934 to fit the restrictions of the Ark Roya30 30 May 1941 0500 (WAG-48) CO Moultron was writing his report on the HX-123 survivor rescue. On the plus sign they did not miss a weather transmission so his primary mission was accomplished. The actual rescue Op was a mixed bag. It had started off much better than he feared with the recue of Robert Squires AB, Crackers’ Rushall, Joseph Hill (SupO), CPO Tom Hanlon, All from HMS AMC Derbyshire. Muskeget’s boat picked John ‘Barker, Harry, Bonneyand and John Aylard from HMS Chelsea. He thought that Nazi BB or CA would have blown that converted liner and those spavin old Cans out of the water with all hands lost. There were a lot of stories about the Nazi’s machine gunning life boats and the poor bastards who had to abandon without a boat of raft would be killed by hypothermia, in less than an hour, even in May this far North.

The modified expanding square search had found nothing initially. Things began to look up at 29 May 1206 when one of the lookouts reported a “life boat” bearbing 030 degrees relative. He had ordered the OOD to bring the cutter to that heading and 15 minutes later they found one lifeboat and three carly rafts roped together with 43 survivors from HM Corvette DIANTHUS, SS KINROSS, SS OSTENDE, SS PACHESHAM and HMS VERITY (modified W-class DD).

That made the score 50, although all of the the “survivors” were in rough shape; the burn cases were least likely to survive. The CO of VERITY, LCDR George Ericson RNR, was in good enough shape to help plan the continued search. His knowledge of the particulars of the convoy was invaluable. Based on his info Moultron modified the box searched.

They came across the next Lifeboat at 29 May 1356. There were only 9 survivors from the Dutch freighter JAARSTROOM. She had been carrying ammo and blew up ejecting the lifeboat into the sea. The survivors had been topside aft, part of the old World War I surplus 12-pounder, ‘DEMS (Defensively Equipped Merchant Ships and Service), Gunners. Sgt (Gunner) Keith Lockhard, senior survivor, said they found themselves blown off the ship and landed right next to the bleeding boat. Well all but Nobby Banks who landed in the boat. He has two broken ankles but was able to throw us a rope. That made the bag 59 and counting.

TG39.1’s Seagull found them at 29 May 1515. Using blinker light Moultron and the SOC crew established search arcs for the aircraft. The SOC had three hours on station before they had to return to USS Brooklyn CL-40. In those three hours the Seagull lead (WAG-48) two 136 survivors. That made it 195 seaman rescued. Not a bad day’s work for the Coasties. By this time Muskeget was well outside her weather ship box. For the last minutes of his time the SOC Pilot had conducted a very thorough area search and informed Moultron there was no sign of any additional boats, rafts or wreckage.

30 May 0615 WS 12 and what was left of Force H are in for some real trouble from "The Twins". The Troop Convoy, WS 12, is about 250 miles South West of La Caruna Southern tip Bay of Biscay. Force H is North West of WS 12 desperately trying to get between the convoy and The Twins TG. Rudel (Wolf Pack) Werwolf has savaged Force H, sinking 2 destroyers, damaging two so badly they were unable to keep up with even the reduced speed of Force H 22 kts and damaging both Ark Royal and Renown. Both capital ships were still combat effective, as their man batteries were intact but with reduced engineering capabilities. Renown had taken three torpedo hits and Ark Royal one. The Twins are heading toward Force H under an overcast of low lying clouds that have shielded them from Ark Royal's air search so far.

30 May 0630 HMS Cambletown was now making 9 kts on her way to Halifax for major repairs to her after deck house and engineering plant. Her capatin, Lcdr Lord Teynham , had gotten some very much needed shut eye on his bridge chair (with the safety belt to keep him in it), as did his crew.

The one bright spot out of the HX-123's massacre was when The OLD Gift Horse's starboard lookout spotted a lifeboat almost dead ahead a day ago. It contained 19 cold and angry seamen including Captain Roel Hendrikx from a crew of 43 from the Dutch freighter JAARSTROOM, 2,480 tons, launched in 1922 whose cargo of peanuts would never reach Liverpool. Two of the Stokers were not likely to live because of their steam burns. Captain Hendrix had made it clear although he was furious with the Mofs (Germans) he was not too well disposed toward the Royal Navy just now after loosing 24 good men because the escort did not do their job. Lord Teynham just let that true but unfair remark pass.

He was also quite pleased with his mostly young and inexperienced crew. Thank God for the all to light sprinkling of old hand RN PO's he had. Asdic PO Miletus had done exceptionally well and was in for a “bump” soon. Miletus had a really thankless job teaching junior ASDIC Operator Benny Hill; not that he was not intelligent enough it was just he was so damn new. There was only so much the Senior ASDIC PO could do, while standing watches and doing repairs to the ASDIC in the short time. Another one of his headaches was “ASDIC Watch Officer” in name only at this point, Sub Lieutent Peter Sellers RNVR, with all of 4 months service. Lord Teynham was pretty sure in time, with luck, which was in very short supply in HMS Cambletown, he would become more of an asset than a hazard to the Old Gift Horse.

They were steaming in the RN equivalent of USN condition 3 (wartime steaming) with 1/3 of the weapons and ALL his sensors manned. The Chief ERA had done wonders along with the Engineering Officer and even the newest "Stoker" under hellish conditions. Once again he and the old Gift Horse had failed and once again they had survived. Out of six fired one or two torpedoes should have at least slowed down that Nazi bastard , but the Nazi's Luck of the Devil held. The Raider thought so little of his Cambletown that she just brushed by her with a few shots from the secondary battery, one of which did more than enough damage, on her way to savage her charges and did not even come back to finish the Gift Horse off. As he took a pull of his rum laced Tea he thought "And I alone am left to tell the tale!" That Melville could coin the right phrase for the occasion.

30 May 0700 Veteran, civilian cryptologist Elizabeth Smith Feldman of USCG Lcdr Jones’ Code and Sypher Branch “Unit 387” had come across some intel that prompted Commandant First CG District to send an urgent message to his friend Admiral USN Ernest King Commander-in-Chief of the Atlantic Fleet. The message contained the recently decoded signal to a senior Nazi Agent in New York regarding death of Admiral Lutgens and the appointment of his Uncle, Kapitän zur See Helmuth Brinkmann as OTC of TG Brinkmann.

30 May 0730 Ernie King appraised ONI of the change and wanted his file on his desk in one hour. He also wanted an assessment of the charcater, tactical and strategic competence of Kapitän zur See Helmuth Brinkmann and anything else that would help himself and Admiral Hewitt understand what this new opponent was likely to do. "And I want it Yesterday!"

He then told his aide to get his COS in here ASAP. When the long suffering staffer came in Ernie and he hashed out if King had the authority to inform the Brits of the finding. Given that the USN was still operating under the “ABC-1” Joint Staff agreement which defined what roles US and UK forces would play while the United States was still neutral he had some leeway. ABC-1 formally authorized and encouraged the long established, tactical and technical information sharing between OpNav and the Admiralty. It also authorized cross posting of USN and RN Officers to share latest operational practices and TIMELY intel sharing. They decided to go through OpNav.

30 May 0750 CNO Stark's COS (Chief of staff) replied to King's message that OpNav would contact the Brits immediately with the news about TG Brinkmann. He would also request whatever the Brit's had on Kapitän zur See Helmuth Brinkmann and forward it to King as soon as they got it.

30 May 0900 TG39.1 Admiral Hewitt had his orders to find the Brinkmann TG. He was to continuing on his course to intercept the Nazi Capital ship(s) unless otherwise ordered. King also told Hweitt to give the crew of the SOC a well done from him.

The information about the massacre of HX-123 brought back by Helenna's Seagull yesterday at 1930, was followed by a brief, but concise message to Admiral King about the rescue and fate of the convoy and escorts. King shared that message with the CNO who soon called "Ernie" back asking for any additional info or intel on the Bismarck TG. King had a little but not much to add. The CNO informed King POTUS FDR had heard about HX-123, was furious and had ordered Stark to report to the White House ASAP for an update and "Strategy session". The outcome of that Session was to mobilize more assets in the hunt for the Nazi TG and to reiterate King's spoken, secret special ROE's to Hweitt about what he was to do when, not IF, he found the Nazi raiders. Hewitt had shared those ROE's with his second in command Ching Lee, who was itching to match HIS BB against the Buismarck.

30 May 0915 an execute to follow signal was two blocked to BB-55's yardarm. Signal read TG39.1 will engage in exercises to be used against a Force of One BB and one CA without a destroyers screen. Light off all boilers and prepare for rapid course, speed and formation changes. Advise, by signal light, when your command is in all respects ready for today's exercises.

30 May 0918 The signal was hauled down and Executed.

30 May 0925 CO BB-55 Ching Lee ordered all boilers to be brought on the line ASAP without endangering the plant. He then went to the TC where he found LT. Tolley and RMC O'Shea. The with the XO and Ops Boss soon joined them. They reviewed Rear Admiral Hewitt's Battle doctrine and the status of the radar, firecontrol, main and secondary battery.

GM1 Borgnino USN (AKA Ernie Borgnine) and 1st Sgt Carlo Morano were inspecting the heavy machine gun / light Marine manned AA Battery's ready use weapons and ammo per the battle bill when the "Growler" screeched. It was the Assistant Gunnery Officer ordering him to assist the GM3 working on the train mechanism of mount 52. He turned to "Carlo" and said "You sea going bell hops fucked up mount 52 again." 1st Sgt Carlo Morano, upholding the honor of the USMC fires back "Everyone knows you Swab Jockeys always give the Marine Det the most fucked up mount to play with. If it wasn't for our Gunny that piece of shit would never work."

Ernie, chuckled and said. "More likely that drunk was the cause not the cure of that mount's problems. I keep telling you Jar heads to leave the maintenance of the mounts to us GMs but you guys are way too smart to listen. It would save all of us a lot of work if you just practiced loading and firing those 5"38's because they are way too complicated for you Mud Maroons" to mess with."

Carlo's parting shot as Ernie slung a bag of tools over his shoulder and went through the hatch double time was. "Someone has to take up the slack for you lousy canon cockers. "

31 May 0800 Message From Fleet Admiral Sir Alfred Dudley Pickman Rogers Pound
To: CNO, Admiral Harold R. Stark
Subj: Kapitän zur See Helmuth Brinkmann's from Office of Naval Intelligence dorsier
DATE OF BIRTH: 12 March 1895
PLACE OF BIRTH: Lübeck

1 April 1913-2 August 1914: Initial training and training aboard the protected cruiser Vineta.
• 1 April 1914-2 August 1914: Naval School Mürwick.
• 7 August 1914-6 January 1915: Assigned to the pre-dreadnought battleship Kaiser Friedrich III.
• 7 January 1915-5 March 1915: Assigned to the pre-dreadnought battleship Kaiser Karl der Große.
• 6 March 1915-28 October 1915: Radio Officer aboard the light cruiser Regensburg.
• 29 October 1915-31 July 1918: Assigned to various torpedo boats in the 2nd Torpedo Boat Half Flotilla (see below).
• 29 October 1915-3 June 1917: Watch Officer aboard the torpedo boat G 196.
• 19 August 1917-29 September 1917: Watch Officer aboard the torpedo boat G 192.
• 30 September 1917-12 November 1917: Watch Officer aboard the torpedo boat V 190.
• 8 June 1918-31 July 1918: Watch Officer aboard the torpedo boat S 133.
• 1 August 1918-20 September 1918: Attended the Navigation Course.
• 21 September 1918-30 November 1918: Watch Officer aboard the torpedo boat G 86 in the 1st Torpedo Boat Half Flotilla.
• 1 December 1918-16 May 1920: Watch Officer and Adjutant of the torpedo boat V 130 in the 2nd Torpedo Boat Half Flotilla and then the 2nd Iron Flotilla.
• 31 July 1920-29 September 1922: Commander of the tender T 144.
• 30 September 1922-10 February 1925: Commander of the torpedo boats G 7, G 10 and S 18 in the I. Torpedo Boat Flotilla.
• 12 February 1925-17 September 1926: Company Leader in the Baltic Sea Ship Cadre Division.
• 18 September 1926-2 October 1928: Consultant in the Baltic Sea Ship Cadre Division.
• 3 October 1928-5 November 1930: Second Adjutant on the staff of the Command of the Baltic Sea Naval Station.
• 6 November 1930-21 December 1932: Navigation Officer of the light cruiser Königsberg.
• 10 January 1933-31 March 1935: Consultant in the Reich Defense Ministry.
• 20 May 1935-6 May 1938: Commander of the state yacht and fleet tender Grille [this ship served as Adolf Hitler’s state yacht].
• 9 May 1938-26 October 1938: Consultant in the Marinewehrabteilung in the Kriegsmarine High Command.
• 27 October 1938-24 July 1940: Chief of the Marinewehrabteilung in the Kriegsmarine High Command.
• 1 August 1940-4 August 1942: Commander of the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen.
Decorations & Awards:

• Prussian Iron Cross, 1st Class: 24 July 1920
• Prussian Iron Cross, 2nd Class (1914): 10 October 1915.
• Cross of Honor for Combatants 1914-1918: 15 October 1934.
• Armed Forces Long Service Award, 3rd Class (12-year Service Medal)
• Commemorative Medal of 1 October 1938
• Commemorative Medal for the Return of the Memel District
• Spanish Order of Naval Merit, 2nd Class: 8 November 1934.
• Order of the Crown of Italy, Commander: 8 October 1937.
Brinkmann’s Prinz Eugen sortied from Gotenhafen with the new battleship Bismarck on “Rheinübung” (Rhine Exercise), a breakout into the Atlantic to conduct commerce raiding.

Promotions:
• Cadet.Seekadett: Entered the Imperial German Navy as a Sea 1 April 1913
• Fähnrich zur See: 3 April 1914
• Leutnant zur See: 18 September 1915
• Oberleutnant zur See: 7 January 1920 (Patenting reserved)
• Oberleutnant zur See: 14 May 1921 (Patent 7 January 1920)
• Kapitänleutnant: 1 May 1925
• Korvettenkapitän: 1 January 1933
• Fregattenkapitän: 1 January 1937
• Kapitän zur See: 1 October 1938

Another good update Senior Chief.