Into The Great White Open – Main Story Line Part Two
– unpleasant surprises
A Letterstime side story
July 6th 1915
just before midnight, SMS Roon
Finally the darkness
had arrived. Not that it was a black night, for the northern horizon was
coloured as if the sun would rise very soon. And that was a fact indeed.
Darkness that far north in the height of summer was only about three hours
including the twilight time.
Ziethen had ordered a
speed reduction to 14 knots, first to give the stokers a bit of a rest and to
reduce the fuel consumption. So far those reports he had received were not
worrying him.
Already the 16 knots
flag was raised by the signals officer. All ships had acknowledged. Ziethen
planned to speed up when the sun would rise again.
This was the day of
the final breakthrough. The first British patrol lane between Lindesnes and the
Orkney's was be reached at about 7 am. Should things go well, the second line
between Stadtlandet and the Shetlands would be passed at about 2 pm. Thereafter
they would be out of the North Sea and beyond the immediate reach of the Grand
Fleet. Their BC escorts had left about an hour ago and as far as Ziethen knew
they were alone and undetected.
Ziethen was looking
at his Second Officer, who was standing in the doorway of the port bridgewing.
Kapitaenleutnant Trapp was holding a mug of hot tea in his hands. He was taking
a sip. Suddenly Ziethen felt thirsty,
too. Turnig backwards, he was filling his own mug with tea and taking a glass
of water in his other hand. He was so tired.
"Fregattenkapitaen
Ziethen“, Trapp was raising his voice, “it will be dark for the next two hours.
I recommend you to take a rest. Tomorrow will be an exciting day, again“.
Stepping much closer to Ziethen, he added with a hushed voice, "And you really
need some rest now. Korvettenkapitaen Findert will be on the Bridge in a short
time. Uwe, bitte“!
Knowing when having
lost a battle, Ziethen entered the small room behind the bridge with the narrow
bed in it. He was asleep before his head reached his pillow.
Many decks below,
Wilhelm Wudtke was sleeping soundlessly in his hammock. He was dreaming of
green landscapes. His mate Clemens Bock was unable to sleep. Not only that he
was hungry but he suddenly felt the urge to go to the toilet. Not that an easy
task in the overcrowded crew spaces below the front turret.
July 6th 1915,
2 minutes to midnight, SMS Amazone
Kontreadmiral Mischke
's forces had entered the Skagerrak some time ago, still in crusing formation.
When the sun would rise, he planned to control the traffic going to Goeteborg
in Sweden. Later he planned to show up in the vicinity of the Oslofjord. May be
he would order the retreat to Germany next evening.
He was not knowing
it, of course, but his enemies were not that far away. Soon however, that
information lack was going to change.
July 7th 1915,
predawn, SMS Roon
"Let him sleep a bit
longer“, Roon's first officer turned to Kapitaenleutnant Hoehne. "Very soon I
will have the best lookouts up there in the spotting top“.
"I will enter up to
the Fighting-Top. If need be, I'll direct my heavy guns from up there. After
our refit it is much easier to fight at long range, now. I can work with our
new large 6 meter rangefinder. And my gunners are quite well trained, now“,
Hoehne added with a smirk.
Shaking his head,
Findert saw him leaving. That one needs to be cooling down, it seems.
Stepping out
on the starboard bridgewing, he saw SMS
Undine about 2000 meters ahead and same distance to starboard. He assumed
that SMS Berlin had still taken that
position on the port side. Out he went on the bridgewing to get a glipse to the
south. His glances went along the four massive stacks with the painted canvas
between stack One and Two as well as between stack Three and Four. That way SMS Roon had turned into a two funneled
ship, unless one were very close. Behind the funnels and the massive crane in
between there was the main mast with its massive fighting top. "This is one of
the reasons Roon is looking so
obsolete“, he thought. Glancing over the two eight-eight of the after battery
his look rested on the "sleeping beauty“ of Bertha, the after turret. He had
the feeling that the "Beast“ would raise his voice today. About 500 meters
behind Roon he detected the slim form
of SMS Albatross followed by SMS Arcona, which was not far behind the
newer minelayer.
Findert was watching
the northeasternly sky. The few existing clouds where slowly turning pink.
Visibility as improving by the minute, already it exeeded 4 kilometers.
July 7th 1915,
predawn, SMS Berlin
Korvettenkapitaen
Walter Hildebrand, Berlin's first
officer was watching the port horizon, which was still dark. He felt ill at
ease. He sensed that something was out there and wondered if he should raise
the crew.
"Lookout,
signals from Roon“?
"No sir, still
hoisted 16 knots on the halyards“.
July 7th 1915,
predawn, SMS Undine
Korvettenkapitaen
Windmueller was watching Roon. She
had been a companion for a long time now. He was glad that that strong ship was
coming along. He felt relieved. Turning around, he looked to the north.
Visibility was improving fastly.
"Signals....“, he
raised his voice.
July 7th
1915, just before dawn, SMS Roon
bridge, 14 knots
"Signals, haul down
the 16 knots“!
Engine room, make turns for 16 knots“, Finderts
voice was audible.
"Did our companions
acknowledge again“?
July 7th
1915, dawn, SMS Albatross bridge
Korvettenkapitaen
West was watching the distance grow. Roon
was accelerating. Their daylight position is to stay behind Roon but with a larger distance of 1000
meters.
"Engine, prepare to
make turns for 18 knots“. "Just in case“, he added with a smile to his XO.
"Being the trail bitch is not that amusing“.
SMS Arcona
was already starboard between Albatross
and Roon. White frothed hard at her
bow. Clearly she was making 20 knots
now, to reach her planned position in front of Roon.
July
7th 1915, dawn, SMS Roon bridge, 16 knots, course 345
“Signals, to Berlin and Undine, take daylight positions“, Ziethen who had entered the
bridge minutes ago was commanding. The sun was rising above the water, now.
Visibility was improving.
"They have
acknowledged“.
"When Arcona reaches her planned position 5000
meters ahead, raise 18 knots, please“. "Maybe we need that speed“, Ziethen
added in his mind. There was no telling what full light would reveal and
Ziethen intended to hedge his bets the best he could.
Ziethen
watched SMS Arcona coming in line
about one kilometer ahead. Still he was not sure wether that was a good
position for her. But he could not let her cruiser component down.
Looking west
he saw Berlin's aspect change.
"Signals,
reports from U – 19“?
July 7th
1915, dawn, SMS Berlin, 18 knots,
accelerating
Fregattenkapitaen
von Buelow had ordered the increase of speed to reach his planned position 10
nm west and ahead of Roon as soon as
possible. At the moment he was steering course 300. Minutes ago he had received
Roon's orders. With that he ordered
the bosun to wake the crew.
Stepping ahead,
looking out of the bridge port windows, he watched the still darker west.
"Kapitaen, Undine is still in sight, steering 030“,
his second officer was stating.
Von Buelow
left the bridge through the door of his starboard bridgewing. He scanned the
eastern horizon to watch Undine.
"This is what
Windmueller thinks is 'smokeless cruising', heavens above she might be visible
in Bergen now“, he barked, thinking having made a good joke. His head turned to
his own stacks, irritated.
Some meters ahead and
above of him, one of the lookouts, scanning the horizon to the west stopped his
motion. "What was that“? he thought, blinking his eyes and looking again. "That
is no cloud, never“.
"Officer of the
watch, object in 320, distance not defined“, he shouted.
Many
binoculars where turning that direction. Coincidence or not, Berlin's artillery officer, Oberleutnant
zur See Karl Mentz was standing near the front range finder. At once he jumped
foreward and took a seat there. Turning the rangefinder he looked through the
occular. "There it is...“.
His eyes widened.
"Ship is a two
funneled passenger ship, course“, short hesitation, "about 060, estimated speed
15 knots. Distance about 120 hm“, his statements where already coming
distinctively.
"Verdammt“! von Bülow
shouted, "action stations“! He raced into the bridge. The alarm drums where
beaten.
"Have they...“, a
light was visible on the starboard side of their adversary. "This is answered“,
von Buelow thought.
"Engines, all speed
ahead“!
"Artillery officer,
do we have a solution? Prepare to open fire“!
"Torpedo Officer...“!
"Signals, to Roon, encountered passenger Liner,
probably AMC, we are spotted, trying to engage“. A thought entered his mind.
"Do not use W/T, but the searchlights as well as flags“.
"Ship is ready for
action, Fregattenkapitaen von Buelow“! Berlin's XO was stating just seconds
later.
The lights on the
passenger liner were blinking again.
"Repeat exactly that
signal“, Von Bülow commanded. "Signals, ask her 'What ship'!“?
"Bridge, this is the
Artillery Officer, Liner is raising more steam. Flags are going up on her“!
July 7th
HMS Cedric, dawn, speed 15 knots,
accelerating
"Can they be one of
our light cruisers“? Captain (R.N.) Wright was asking. That ship to starboard
was steering directly in their direction, showing only a very small silhuette. Her
"bows-on " aspect was making the ship class difficult to make out.
HMS Cedric,
build 1903, and commisioned as AMC after the war broke out, was on her way to
the patrol line, which in fact she not yet reached. They had left Rosyth
yesterday following a lengthy refit.
"Signals, prepare to
send a signal to the admiralty“.
"Ship is
signaling, Sir. Signal is as follows: T
H I S I S H M S
C R U I S E R S A P P H I R E.
They ask us 'what ship'? Captain, what shall we do“? The XO was clearly
concerned.
"Captain, all four
starboard 4.7'' guns report ready to fire“, the comments of the Artillery
Officer were heard off.
"Hold your fire! Why
haven‘t they responded to our authentification signal“?
Nobody had told
Captain Wright that that ship was still beyond their maximum range of 9,000
meters anyway.
July 7th
1915, dawn, SMS Berlin, 20 knots,
accelerating
"Distance“?
Fregattenkapitaen von Buelow demanded.
"Range about 95 hm“.
"Keep her bows
on,“ he repeated quite unnecessarily. "Has Roon
acknowledged“?
"No, Sir“.
The Britisher would
see through his thin ruse any second.
"Distance to Roon“?
"Why do they not
react“? he was thinking, getting more desperate. For all he knew, the AMC was
already burning the ether with her W/T messages.
July 7th
1915, dawn, SMS Roon, 16 knots, accelerating
"Undine and Berlin are on their course to take daylight positions“, Roon's
Third Officer was reporting. His unruffled, matter-of-fact tone suggested that
all was routine. Just another exercise off Wilhelmshaven.
Unfortunately
the signals and flags on Berlin were
not visible, partly because of the smoke coming out of the stacks.
"Gott im Himmel“,
Findert was swearing, "Berlin is smoking as if on fire“.
A light was seen
through the smoke. Blinking. Signals?
July 7th 1915,
dawn, SMS Vineta, Skagerrak
Kapitaen zur See
Adelung entered the bridge.
"Kapitaen auf
der Brücke“ (Note [1]),
the Officer of the watch stated.
Adelung went to the
port windows. "Anything unusual“?
"Nothing, Sir“.
July 7th
dawn, SMS Victoria Louise, Skagerrak
Fregattenkapitaen
Dominik was watching the distant horizon. It was not undangerous for
Kontreadmiral Mischke to enter the Skagerrak. In fact, it was bold. He was
satisfied with the passed day. The newly commisioned ship and its inexperienced
crew had performed well, so far.
Dominik knows well,
that this is one of the most dangerous parts of the day. The dreaded
sunrise. Dangerous for the prey, that
is.
For the predator, on
the other hand, it is the time of opportunity.
It is good to be the
predator, Dominik reflected.
July 7th
dawn, HMS E 4, surfaced, Skagerrak
Size alone does not
determine who is predator and who is prey.
Visibility had
improved a lot in the last minutes. The mission of HMS E 4 was to patrol well into the Kattegat. They were on their way.
"Contact, bearing
110“!
"What..“?
"Alarm, all men on
their fighting positions, prepare to dive“, the commander was shouting.
"This is a big one,
two funnels, turrets on the bow and stern, smaller turrets on the side“.
"Signals, to the
admiralty..“
"They have not yet
sighted us, open the doors of the bow tube and both beam tubes. We attack
surfaced“!
"Contact could
be the SMS Prinz Heinrich“, E 4's
commander was stating. Send that, too“!
"Commander, smaller
silhouettes in front of our target, probably destroyers“!
"Course 110, full
ahead, clear the bridge! Is the W/T signal sent?“
"Any moment, Sir“,
the reply from below.
"There are more
bigger ships behind this AC“!
"A whole fleet!
Status of the W/T transmission, immediately“!
July 7th 1915,
sunrise, SMS Vineta, Skagerrak
It was one those
coincidences that can only happen in reality. In a novel one would say it is
too unlikely.
Between the
front and aft 15 cm side-turrets was the location of the eight-eight midships battery.
After the lengthy refit of SMS Vineta
from 1909 to 1911 this was strengthened to three shielded guns. The third
Artillery Officer, a young Leutnant zur See, was inspecting those crews. The
sun was just rising. His glance went out to the see, where a strange low
hanging cloud was catching his eyes. He raised his binoculars.
"Verdammt“!
"U-Boot, port 270,
Alarm“!
"Boys, give
everything. Fire!“
Kapitaen zur See
Adelung was raised by the alarm and the barking of his port midships
eight-eight battery.
"Crackcrackcrack“.
July 7th,
sunrise HMS Cedric, speed 16 knots,
accelerating
"That can not
be HMS Sapphire, she is in the Med“!
the second officer was shouting from inside the bridge.
"Damn, open fire“!
Captain (R.N.) Wright ordered. A ship claiming to be someone she wasn‘t had to
be a hostile! Didn‘t she?
HMS Cedric
was armed with eight guns, but only four were on each side.
His misgivings grew
as the other ship‘s guns remained silent. This was a long way north for a
singleton German scout cruiser. Wasn‘t it?!
"Crack,
Crack, Crackcrack“. The quickness of his gunners indicated that
they, at least, had been suspicious from the start.
"Send a wireless,
stating we are engaging unknown light cruiser,“ he commanded. Should he have
sent that off first?
July 7th
1915, sunrise, SMS Berlin, 21 knots,
accelerating
"Scheisse“!
Fregattenkapitaen von Buelow shouted as he watched the flashes alongside that
vessel. She was huge, that was clear now.
"Fire! Course..“ Crackcrack,
crack, both bow guns opened up, as well as the
first port casemate, drowning his words. "Repeat, course 000. Port tube prepare
for launching“!
"Roon?“
July 7th
1915, sunrise, SMS Roon, 16 knots
The last
uncertainty was solved as Michael Hoehne used his ragefinder to watch Berlin. Clearly he saw her turn,
illuminated by flashes and shortly later he saw splashes erupting, but off Berlin's course.
"Berlin is under fire, shooter not
identified yet“, he spoke distinctively into the voice tube. He started to scan
the horizon. There!
Fregattenkapitaen
Ziethen was shocked. Had they been detected yesterday? Had the British waited
to lure them into a trap, just waiting for their escorts to depart? Armoured
cruisers, perhaps? Or those strong Town-class ones?
"Engines all speed,
course 300. Action stations“! Heavy and medium Artillery prepare to open fire“!
"Artillery Officer,
do we have a target“?
July 7th
1915, sunrise, SMS Berlin, 21 knots,
accelerating, course 060
Von Buelow has
brought Berlin on a parallel course
with his big AMC adversary.
The first three gun
salvo had gone astray, as has the second. Awaiting the new course, he hold the
third until the new course was reached. Then a full broadside was delivered.
Shooting was
brilliant, as two hits were obtained. One near the second funnel, the other
near the waterline admidships.
"Quickfire, give her
all we got“! For the next couple of minutes every four seconds five shells left
the hungry barrels. Scoring many hits.
"Korvettenkapitaen
Hildebrand, I want to keep Berlin
between our forces and the enemy. May be we can achieve that they do not detect
our force“.
"Whoosh, splash“!
July 7th
HMS Cedric, sunrise, speed 16.5
knots, course 60
Clearly this
three funneled enemy light cruiser was visible, about 6.000 meters to
starboard. Captain (R.N.) Wright had ordered the sending of a message,
containing this and their course and position to the Admiralty. The German was
shooting damnably well, already some small fires had broken out on Cedric at different places. But the
German caliber was clearly not 15 cm, so the immediate danger was not that
great. And she WAS a German. That confirmation had provided an eerie flush of
relief.
His Artillery
Officer, Luitenant (R.N.) had them shooting better now, frequently straddling
their target. "There, the first hit“, he shouted delighted. They weren‘t going
to come out of this pretty, but they should survive. That little Hun cruiser was not built to take
punishment.
Unfortunately, their
old 4.7'' L40 Mk II.s were a relatively slow firing weapon, with an average of
five to six shells per minute. Their opponent was getting off his lighter
rounds much faster. He could see five flashes with each broadside. "Must be one
of the older cruisers“, Wright thought, but he was not sure about the type.
Just a few more hits,
he thought, and that‘ll take some of the fight out of them. The final outcome
was not in doubt.
July 7th
HMS E 4, surfaced, Skagerrak, 13
knots, accelerating, turning
One can say it was
bad luck, but that depends on the perspective.
One of the
eight-eight shells, from the first salvo that is, was hitting the tower of E 4, passing through the thin plating of
the wall and detonated passing through the off side plating. Some splinters
were hitting the crew trying to get below. Wounded were groaning.
"Crumpf“!
"Damn, they detected
us. Bow tube fire!
"Whoosh, splash! Whoosh whoosh“.
"Bow tube fired“, he
heard from below, as another shell hit the deck in front of the tower.
"Emergency dive, hard
to port. Get below, they're shooting us to pieces“!
July 7th 1915,
sunrise, SMS Vineta, Skagerrak, 15
knots, turning
Kapitaen zur See
Adelung was watching fountains erupt all around the enemy submarine. She was
starting to go down. Her bow just started to submerge. Another hit was obtained
at the tower's starboard side.
He had commanded
"Hard to port“ seconds after his guns came alive. Obviously at least one
torpedo was fired at them, when the enemy started its turn. The hydrogenic path
of the torpedo' bubbles was clearly visible. It will pass in front of the bow.
But was only one fired?
Now the sub's tower
was submerging and the 15 cm front port turret was firing its first shot.
July 7th
HMS E 4, emergency dive, Skagerrak
Only the bow tube was
fired, unfortunately. So far the pressure hull seemed to have sustained not too
heavy damage. Water was trickling into the central from above the tower.
Department two was leaking a bit as well. But they seem to be out of danger.
Fast turning screws
were heard of. "The destroyers“, voices were whispering.
"Commander,
transmission was interupted due to the emergency dive“, his second officer was
stating.
The first officer and
the bosun was taking care of the three wounded. One has lost an arm above his
elbow.
"Does that mean we
did not get through?“
"That seems to be the
case, Sir“!
"We will send
this message after we resurface: 'Sighted
two German Armoured Cruisers, one possiblily identified as SMS Prinz Heinrich, at least one light cruiser and destroyers. Add
course and position'“.
More screws, many
more.
July 7th
1915, SMS Berlin, 21.5 knots,
accelerating, course 030
They were peppering
their target. Many hits were obtained. Already she was burning. Small fires in
different places. Unfortunately she was still at high speed and shooting with
four guns. One hit had detonated in a coal bunker below Berlin's port no. three
10.5 gun. Another had pierced stack number one.
"Torpedo away“, his
torpedo officer was reporting to von Buelow. Now they had achieved a position
in front of that passenger liner, slowly overtaking her. That was as good a
solution as one can get.
Roon
was finally coming to support it seemed. Von Buelow was turning his head in Roon's direction. Smoking she was
steaming on, her guns still silent. She might be away 8 kilometers or more in
von Buelow's guess.
He was watching three
new hits erupting on his target. One was high on the bridge, another penetrated
the waterline and the third hit their enemie's starboard number two gun, ,just
in front of the bridge. Secondary explosions followed that hit.
"Brilliant, that one
has hurt“.
July 7th
HMS Cedric, speed 16.5 knots, course
changing
Captain (R.N.) Wright
was getting to his feet again. Looking down to the former position of starboard
gun no. 2, he saw a bright fire, but the secondary explosions had subsided.
Already fire fighters were entering the scene.
Quite a few of his
bridge crew where killed or wounded now. His artillery officer was killed by a
German shell of the same salvo.
"Helm, hard to port,
reverse course“! Wright ordered.
One of his goals was
to shake of the German fire, the other was to bring the yet unengaged port
battery to bear. This move was fooling von Buelow's try to torpedo them, but
Wright did not know this, of course.
"W/T officer, new
signal, send details of this gun engagement. Call for help“. The bridge hit and
the loss of his Gunnery Officer had shaken his confidence in the outcome. Even
if they prevailed, there was every chance they‘d be on fire and soon without
power.
July 7th
1915, SMS Roon, 18 knots,
accelerating, course 300
"Bridge, we have a
solution“, Michael Hoehne's voice was heard through the voice tubes.
"Permission to open
fire“, Fregattenkapitaen Ziethen was stating. "Finally“, he thought. The feared
British Armored Cruisers had not shown up so far; their adversary was a huge,
at least 20,000 ts large AMC. She was burning in some places, but no list was
visible. The brightest fire was raging in front of her bridge. Nonetheless that
target was far from being fought down. The range was about 120 hm, target was
in the middle of a turn to port.
"Fire“! Hoehne was
commanding.
"KABOOOM“,
four heavy shells were fired.
"Hold
the fire of the 15 cm until we have straddled her”, Ziethen commanded to
Oberleutnant zur See Christian Knothe, the second artillery officer, who was
responsible for their medium guns.
Some
seconds later, the first salvo arrived. They were to starboard, but with a good
range.
Corrections
were made and the second salvo went out straddling the still turning target.
"Quickfire”! Hoehne
shouted. Ziethen could hear him through the tubes.
“Mittelartillerie,
Feuererlaubnis”! (Note [2])Ziethen
commanded.
July 7th
1915, SMS Berlin, 21.5 knots,
accelerating, course 000
Still they were good
on target, hitting the enemy many times, even in the turn and after. The
torpedo was clearly off target now, a fact which made von Buelow fume. They in
turn had received their fourth hit now, admidships, near gun no. four. A dud
had hit them before that, into the hull. That was pure luck.
Huge splashes
covered their target. Roon was adding
her weight to the fight, finally.