A New Balance
- Thread starter Jim Smitty
- Start date
Convoy MR-4
HMS Rodney
Atlantic Ocean
April 14 1939
The Rodney Class had been designed for one thing, and one thing only. This was to raid enemy merchant shipping lanes. About 25 years ago they would made great battlecruisers, but now they were meant to outfight anything below here or out run anything more powerful. At 31 knots she could outrun many capital ships in any navies. But there were a few ships that could catch her, but many had more important roles than keeping the merchant lines open. The Rodney was based out of Freeport. So far she had been raiding the French Western African Coast as the British Army and their colonial troops the Queen African Rifles to take control of German, Italian, French, and Belgian colonial possession. Yet now she was hunting merchant shipping off the Brazilian coast.
Currently they were about 100 miles off the coast of Brazil, with the nearest city being the port city of Recife. They were on the hunt for an American convoy bound for the city. They knew about this convoy thanks to the fact they could read American merchant radio traffic. They had intelligence stations in Haiti and Dutch Guiana that had been set up during the interwar years. They had been set up as attachments to the embassy in Pout-au-Prince and the newly built consulate in Fort Zeelandia. The SIGINT gained from these stations had been so-so, but they were now paying off. This was thanks to help from their “ally” the Soviet Union.
The OGPU had been able to get a copy of the US merchant radio code book back in 1937. To the OGPU all code books were scared and must be in OGPU hands. Even through the OGPU knew the Soviet Navy lacked the means to defeat the United States Navy to the point they could effetely attack American merchant traffic in a war they still paid up the money for the code book that held the codes to US merchant radio traffic. For the most part the OGPU did very little with these codes because again they really couldn’t. However as per their treaty with the British they handed the codes over as the British could do something with them. So British submarines were raising hell on US merchant traffic. But today would be the first time one of the Rodney class would get a crack at the American merchant fleet.
As for the American convoy known as MR-4 was being escorted by the old American battleship the USS Cuba BB-42 with 4 destroyers. Like the Cuba the destroyers were Great War era, but had been modernized over the years. The Rodney was operating by itself, but the differences between the two heavy ships was such the British believed that the Rodney would win the match. After all they sunk a sister ship of the Cuba during the Great War. Further this is the kind of mission the crew of the Rodney had been training for since see was commissioned last summer. They already had radar contact with the convoy and had already sent its float plane to check it out, but the Rodney was closing the distance as it was positioning itself to do as much damaged as it could as quickly as possible.
The Rodney Class was a throwback in naval design for the Royal Navy. All of their battleships and battlecruisers designed after the Great War or World War One take your pick of name had their main turrets grouped forward. This was to allow them bring as all of their main guns on their target all at once. But the Rodney Class was a more standard design used by most other navies. This is because the Rodney class used old battleship turrets along with their old guns instead of building new ones. Then again most navies were reusing 12 inch or smaller guns for designs like the Rodney Class whereas the British were using 13.5 inch guns.
Between their spotter planes and their radar the crew of the Rodney opened fire over the horizon on the USS Cuba. They were also firing outside the effective range of the main guns of the Cuba right now. Which means they were effectively safe from anything the Cuba could do to them right at the moment. Plus they had their spotter aircraft over the Cuba and they were directing fire on to the Cuba. Even through it was just over 13.8 miles away it was on the fifth salvo that the first of the 13.5 inch shells stuck the Cuba. The 2.5 deck inch armor didn’t stand a chance against this modern 13.5 AP shell and it when off deep in the bows of the Cuba.
As the Cuba was under fire her crew tried to close the distance with their unknown attacker. The convoy commander on the Cuba ordered the merchant ships to scatter and try to get away from this unknown attack as the Cuba and the escorting destroyers when to destroy it. The only problem with this was the British had a pair of submarines in the area waiting for the convoy to scatter. They wanted to get more in the area but distance was a factor here. That said they had vector another two submarines to this area with the hope they could get in on the action before the merchants get into port.
For the Cuba through once the British got the range the shells started to come in fast and hard. With the plunging fire from the Rodney and the thin deck armor even with the reinforcements done during its overhaul, it was overmatched by the AP shells being fired by the Rodney. It was the seventh shell that crashed through the deck armor that doomed the Cuba when it destroyed the turbines that was powering the Cuba. As she died in the water the destroyers that were escorting here charged forward. But the Rodney via her spotting aircraft noticed that the Cuba was dead in the water and listing to port even though she had barely had come over the horizon by this point. With this the Rodney switch fire to firing on the destroyers. It was becoming a blood bath for the USN.
Atlantic Ocean
April 14 1939
The Rodney Class had been designed for one thing, and one thing only. This was to raid enemy merchant shipping lanes. About 25 years ago they would made great battlecruisers, but now they were meant to outfight anything below here or out run anything more powerful. At 31 knots she could outrun many capital ships in any navies. But there were a few ships that could catch her, but many had more important roles than keeping the merchant lines open. The Rodney was based out of Freeport. So far she had been raiding the French Western African Coast as the British Army and their colonial troops the Queen African Rifles to take control of German, Italian, French, and Belgian colonial possession. Yet now she was hunting merchant shipping off the Brazilian coast.
Currently they were about 100 miles off the coast of Brazil, with the nearest city being the port city of Recife. They were on the hunt for an American convoy bound for the city. They knew about this convoy thanks to the fact they could read American merchant radio traffic. They had intelligence stations in Haiti and Dutch Guiana that had been set up during the interwar years. They had been set up as attachments to the embassy in Pout-au-Prince and the newly built consulate in Fort Zeelandia. The SIGINT gained from these stations had been so-so, but they were now paying off. This was thanks to help from their “ally” the Soviet Union.
The OGPU had been able to get a copy of the US merchant radio code book back in 1937. To the OGPU all code books were scared and must be in OGPU hands. Even through the OGPU knew the Soviet Navy lacked the means to defeat the United States Navy to the point they could effetely attack American merchant traffic in a war they still paid up the money for the code book that held the codes to US merchant radio traffic. For the most part the OGPU did very little with these codes because again they really couldn’t. However as per their treaty with the British they handed the codes over as the British could do something with them. So British submarines were raising hell on US merchant traffic. But today would be the first time one of the Rodney class would get a crack at the American merchant fleet.
As for the American convoy known as MR-4 was being escorted by the old American battleship the USS Cuba BB-42 with 4 destroyers. Like the Cuba the destroyers were Great War era, but had been modernized over the years. The Rodney was operating by itself, but the differences between the two heavy ships was such the British believed that the Rodney would win the match. After all they sunk a sister ship of the Cuba during the Great War. Further this is the kind of mission the crew of the Rodney had been training for since see was commissioned last summer. They already had radar contact with the convoy and had already sent its float plane to check it out, but the Rodney was closing the distance as it was positioning itself to do as much damaged as it could as quickly as possible.
The Rodney Class was a throwback in naval design for the Royal Navy. All of their battleships and battlecruisers designed after the Great War or World War One take your pick of name had their main turrets grouped forward. This was to allow them bring as all of their main guns on their target all at once. But the Rodney Class was a more standard design used by most other navies. This is because the Rodney class used old battleship turrets along with their old guns instead of building new ones. Then again most navies were reusing 12 inch or smaller guns for designs like the Rodney Class whereas the British were using 13.5 inch guns.
Between their spotter planes and their radar the crew of the Rodney opened fire over the horizon on the USS Cuba. They were also firing outside the effective range of the main guns of the Cuba right now. Which means they were effectively safe from anything the Cuba could do to them right at the moment. Plus they had their spotter aircraft over the Cuba and they were directing fire on to the Cuba. Even through it was just over 13.8 miles away it was on the fifth salvo that the first of the 13.5 inch shells stuck the Cuba. The 2.5 deck inch armor didn’t stand a chance against this modern 13.5 AP shell and it when off deep in the bows of the Cuba.
As the Cuba was under fire her crew tried to close the distance with their unknown attacker. The convoy commander on the Cuba ordered the merchant ships to scatter and try to get away from this unknown attack as the Cuba and the escorting destroyers when to destroy it. The only problem with this was the British had a pair of submarines in the area waiting for the convoy to scatter. They wanted to get more in the area but distance was a factor here. That said they had vector another two submarines to this area with the hope they could get in on the action before the merchants get into port.
For the Cuba through once the British got the range the shells started to come in fast and hard. With the plunging fire from the Rodney and the thin deck armor even with the reinforcements done during its overhaul, it was overmatched by the AP shells being fired by the Rodney. It was the seventh shell that crashed through the deck armor that doomed the Cuba when it destroyed the turbines that was powering the Cuba. As she died in the water the destroyers that were escorting here charged forward. But the Rodney via her spotting aircraft noticed that the Cuba was dead in the water and listing to port even though she had barely had come over the horizon by this point. With this the Rodney switch fire to firing on the destroyers. It was becoming a blood bath for the USN.
Admiral Halsey
Banned
So let me make sure I have this straight. The British BB and BC designs since the war are basically a version of the OTL Nelson and Rodney with how their main guns are?
The ITL HMS Rodney is nothing like its OTL counterpart. However the British have went to group forward designs like the N3 Battleship designs from OTL.
The ITL Rodney looks like this
Rodney Class Battlecruiser
34,500 tons displacement, oil fired boilers, turbine driven, 31 knots, 8 x 13.5/45s in twin turrets (Reused turrets and guns, but modernized), 8 x 5.25/50s in twin turrets, 16 x 2 pdr AA Cannons (Quad Mount)
The rest of the Royal Navy can be found here. The Renown Class forward for BBs they are groupped forward. The only BC class like that though is the Admiral Class which is basically a G3 BC/
Judge Jury and Executioner, Ecuador
Quito
Carondelet Place
April 18 1939
Unlike in Peru or Colombia, the Communist in Ecuador had not yet been able to purge the Ecuadorian Military of the non-believers. They simply hadn’t been in power long enough to perform a purge of the Ecuadorian Military. Indeed, unlike Peru and Colombia there was a power struggle between the Communist Government and the Ecuadorian Military. This was primary because the communist had yet to fully take all the reins of power in Ecuador. The communist were working on taking over the reins of power but the fact the Peruvians have decided to join in with the god damn Fascist of Bolivia and Argentina meant the communist of Quito were stopped well short of bring the Ecuadorian Military under their control. Indeed they still hadn’t even come up with a plan do to that yet. They had been hoping for rapid economic growth that would firmly bring the people of Ecuador behind them. Once that happen they could remove the non-believers in the Ecuadorian Military and get their own people in power there.
Now a few months into a war with the United States the tables had turned. The American blockade had cut off Ecuador, and indeed the rest of the South American Communist Pact from the European Communist. Ecuador still hadn’t recover from the Depression of 28 nor the American bombardment of Guayaquil from after the communist coup. The Galapagos have been occupied and most likely lost forever. Then the war started and the Americans have been able to effectively shut down the trade with the European communist. Thanks to the bases in the Galapagos the Yankees had made that happen very fast. Now shortages even worse than before the communist coup was happening. Ecuador was too depended on imported goods and export based economy of agriculture goods to make it any length of time in a blockade.
The general and admirals both knew how this was going to end. They had no illusions about that. The Euro Communist and Fascist might be able to force the United States to accept a status quo ante bellum peace, but by then it would be too late for the South American Communist nations. The same held true for the South American Fascist. They had been buying their time before they made their move, but that time has done come. Three days ago, the United States launched their first bombing mission on Quito. Defense against this raid was simply put, well there was none. None of the anti-aircraft weapons the Ecuadorian Army had here could reach the 20,000 feet the Americans were flying at. The only few they did have were at Guayaquil. The small air corp in Ecuador simply didn’t have the parts needed to fly as the communist aircraft they had been promised have never reached them and the Yankees had cut them off from spare parts for the planes they did have. After months of flying without resupply the Ecuadorian Air Force was grounded.
It just wasn’t the bombing of Quito, even though it was the straw that broke the camel’s back. The Colombians were on the ropes following the Yankee breakout from Panama and landings at Barranquilla. This followed their failure to capture Maracaibo back in March. Even through the oil industry at Maracaibo was wrecked from the battle between the Venezuelan and Yankee Armies they held than counterattacked. Things against Chile wasn’t much better as the Peruvians and Argentines were finding out. The Chileans were proving themselves to be masters of defensive warfare and had an army that was first rate.
The generals and admirals in Ecuador knew the fate of the war at least in the Americas was not in doubt. The fight for control of the world, that was another story but in America they knew they were on the losing side at the moment. That needed to change. It was why the 2nd Infantry Regiment was now assaulting the Carondelet Place. The generals and admirals knew the officers in the 2nd Infantry could be counted on. That was not to say the assault on Carondelet Place was an easy one as it was guarded by the Red Guard of Ecuador, the party’s thugs. They had the best gear but little training as their primary role before the coup had been to beat the shit out of anti-communist leaders. After the coup it was to arrest anti-communist leaders.
For the leaders of this coup against the Communist they had one simple rule, none of the communist would live to see the sun rise tomorrow. Any party leaders found by the men of the 2nd alive were brought to the generals and admiral where they were given a five-minute trial with the generals and admirals being the judge, jury, and executioner. Around Ecuador other army and naval units were performing their own assaults against the communist. It was the same there, the generals and admirals, or in some cases the Colonels and Captains were being the judge, jury, and executioner with captured communist.
Carondelet Place
April 18 1939
Unlike in Peru or Colombia, the Communist in Ecuador had not yet been able to purge the Ecuadorian Military of the non-believers. They simply hadn’t been in power long enough to perform a purge of the Ecuadorian Military. Indeed, unlike Peru and Colombia there was a power struggle between the Communist Government and the Ecuadorian Military. This was primary because the communist had yet to fully take all the reins of power in Ecuador. The communist were working on taking over the reins of power but the fact the Peruvians have decided to join in with the god damn Fascist of Bolivia and Argentina meant the communist of Quito were stopped well short of bring the Ecuadorian Military under their control. Indeed they still hadn’t even come up with a plan do to that yet. They had been hoping for rapid economic growth that would firmly bring the people of Ecuador behind them. Once that happen they could remove the non-believers in the Ecuadorian Military and get their own people in power there.
Now a few months into a war with the United States the tables had turned. The American blockade had cut off Ecuador, and indeed the rest of the South American Communist Pact from the European Communist. Ecuador still hadn’t recover from the Depression of 28 nor the American bombardment of Guayaquil from after the communist coup. The Galapagos have been occupied and most likely lost forever. Then the war started and the Americans have been able to effectively shut down the trade with the European communist. Thanks to the bases in the Galapagos the Yankees had made that happen very fast. Now shortages even worse than before the communist coup was happening. Ecuador was too depended on imported goods and export based economy of agriculture goods to make it any length of time in a blockade.
The general and admirals both knew how this was going to end. They had no illusions about that. The Euro Communist and Fascist might be able to force the United States to accept a status quo ante bellum peace, but by then it would be too late for the South American Communist nations. The same held true for the South American Fascist. They had been buying their time before they made their move, but that time has done come. Three days ago, the United States launched their first bombing mission on Quito. Defense against this raid was simply put, well there was none. None of the anti-aircraft weapons the Ecuadorian Army had here could reach the 20,000 feet the Americans were flying at. The only few they did have were at Guayaquil. The small air corp in Ecuador simply didn’t have the parts needed to fly as the communist aircraft they had been promised have never reached them and the Yankees had cut them off from spare parts for the planes they did have. After months of flying without resupply the Ecuadorian Air Force was grounded.
It just wasn’t the bombing of Quito, even though it was the straw that broke the camel’s back. The Colombians were on the ropes following the Yankee breakout from Panama and landings at Barranquilla. This followed their failure to capture Maracaibo back in March. Even through the oil industry at Maracaibo was wrecked from the battle between the Venezuelan and Yankee Armies they held than counterattacked. Things against Chile wasn’t much better as the Peruvians and Argentines were finding out. The Chileans were proving themselves to be masters of defensive warfare and had an army that was first rate.
The generals and admirals in Ecuador knew the fate of the war at least in the Americas was not in doubt. The fight for control of the world, that was another story but in America they knew they were on the losing side at the moment. That needed to change. It was why the 2nd Infantry Regiment was now assaulting the Carondelet Place. The generals and admirals knew the officers in the 2nd Infantry could be counted on. That was not to say the assault on Carondelet Place was an easy one as it was guarded by the Red Guard of Ecuador, the party’s thugs. They had the best gear but little training as their primary role before the coup had been to beat the shit out of anti-communist leaders. After the coup it was to arrest anti-communist leaders.
For the leaders of this coup against the Communist they had one simple rule, none of the communist would live to see the sun rise tomorrow. Any party leaders found by the men of the 2nd alive were brought to the generals and admiral where they were given a five-minute trial with the generals and admirals being the judge, jury, and executioner. Around Ecuador other army and naval units were performing their own assaults against the communist. It was the same there, the generals and admirals, or in some cases the Colonels and Captains were being the judge, jury, and executioner with captured communist.
Have you talked about the American offensive from Panama yet? There's no way anybody would be able to push a significant amount of troops south from Panama. They would have to traverse the Darien Gap, where the land is either swamps or mountainous rainforests. The Gap has actually prevented completion of a road connection between Panama and Colombia, so it's almost as if there was a gap in the Cordillera. If the Americans already have naval superiority in the area, there's no way they would try to mount a ground offensive through the Gap.
Cryostorm
Monthly Donor
Unless the landings at Barranquilla happened first and siphoned enough strength for someone to attack, add an inexperienced officer in charge of the Colombian side who panics and causes a route and you have a recipe for an impossible assault to succeed.
It would be an impossible assault without any opposition at all. A multi-division amphibious assault would be easier than trying to get through the Darien Gap. Imagine the Kokoda Track but also it's a swamp.
RamscoopRaider
Donor
Yeah I would have to agree. You might get light infantry battalion sized forces through there, but I doubt anything heavier
Half Way There
Fuzhou, Japanese Colonial Holdings
Imperial Federation Consulate
April 27 1939
Even with things being tense between the Imperial Federation and the Empire of Japan and the British Empire they were doing everything in their power to keep the peace. Since their almost clean break with London that meant forming a diplomatic service and setting up diplomatic offices overseas. Prior to this war the Imperial Federation only had oversea missions in Washington, Tokyo, London, Berlin, San Francisco, Singapore, and Taihoku. Yet with the British refusing to allow the Imperial Federation to perform diplomatic business from their embassies and consulates now had forced the Feds to set up their own embassies and consulates. Not the easiest of task under normal conditions.
The thing of it was it was not normal conditions for the Imperial Federation. They were quietly mobilizing their military as they had major doubts they could stay out of this war. Indochina and the Southern Philippines had already fallen to them. The Mariana Islands had already fallen but only after a bloody series of battles. The position of the Dutch in their East Indies Colonies were looking increasing weak as signs were already being seen that the Japanese with British help were about to launch an invasion of the Dutch East Indies. In Europe the Dutch were trying to play both sides but failing. They had already angered both by shooting down lost British, Belgian, and German aircraft over their skies. Further both the British and the Germans they were starting to simply not even try to give a damn about Dutch neutrality and fly over their nation in combat missions against the others. And with what happened in Switzerland, the Dutch were walking a very fine line as they don’t want to be invaded.
For the Feds through the task of building their own diplomatic corp was somewhat helped by the fact they were able to draw from career British foreign service personal who were forced out by the CEP as they were either viewed as too pro-American or not loyal enough to the CEP. Indeed many career civil servants had to join the CEP or their allied parties to advance their careers. They were bring brought into the fold by the Feds to help fill out their needs, but even then there was only so many people. This had only led to new embassies in Paris, and Rio de Janeiro. As for consulates new ones had been set up at Vladivostok, Manila, and here in Fuzhou. Plans were in the work for more growth but they have to get people ready for these jobs first.
The Imperial Federation Consulate here in Fuzhou was staffed by 45 citizens of the Federation. That was it for a job that needed at least double that. Then throw in the fact 15 of those citizens were members of the newly formed Imperial Federation Marine Corp made the stress of working here that much greater. Even through the Federation had recognized the new massive Japanese colony here in China, many of the Chinese had refused to accept it. Terror bombings and shootings were common in this part of China and it was why there were two squads of Marines guarding this small consulate.
Beside, having to deal with the ongoing mess of the Japanese occupation of China the marines of the Federation had to deal with beggars on a regular basis. The Japanese were simply looting anything and everything of value in China and sending back to the home islands or areas that the Japanese have decided to Japanize. That was leaving very little for most Chinese. This was by designed even if that wasn’t common knowledge yet. Tokyo knew it had to get the Chinese population down to more manageable numbers and they were trying to do that by starving the Chinese people. The Federation had a policy of not helping so they would not anger their Japanese host.
So when the Marines spotted another poor looking person in Chinese dress making their way to their gateway to the consulate they wonder if someone hadn’t gotten the message that they don’t give handouts. The lance corporal in charge of the gate spoke in a piss poor Mandarin with the words what he thought would say, “Get lost, no food for you.” What he was really saying through, “I want to have your mother in my bed.”
Much to the surprise of the lance corporal, “Sorry corporal, my mother is married and my father would kill you if you tried.” The man said in English.
“What the bloody hell?” The Lance asked.
Pulling out his diplomatic passport Louis showed the stunned Lance that he was really an American. “Lance, for the love of fucking god let me in.” Louis had listen to the radio enough on the boat trip here to know the Feds were still out of this clusterfuck of a war.
The dumb founded Lance looked at the passport than the man standing in front of him. Then back at the passport. “Right this way sir.”
Imperial Federation Consulate
April 27 1939
Even with things being tense between the Imperial Federation and the Empire of Japan and the British Empire they were doing everything in their power to keep the peace. Since their almost clean break with London that meant forming a diplomatic service and setting up diplomatic offices overseas. Prior to this war the Imperial Federation only had oversea missions in Washington, Tokyo, London, Berlin, San Francisco, Singapore, and Taihoku. Yet with the British refusing to allow the Imperial Federation to perform diplomatic business from their embassies and consulates now had forced the Feds to set up their own embassies and consulates. Not the easiest of task under normal conditions.
The thing of it was it was not normal conditions for the Imperial Federation. They were quietly mobilizing their military as they had major doubts they could stay out of this war. Indochina and the Southern Philippines had already fallen to them. The Mariana Islands had already fallen but only after a bloody series of battles. The position of the Dutch in their East Indies Colonies were looking increasing weak as signs were already being seen that the Japanese with British help were about to launch an invasion of the Dutch East Indies. In Europe the Dutch were trying to play both sides but failing. They had already angered both by shooting down lost British, Belgian, and German aircraft over their skies. Further both the British and the Germans they were starting to simply not even try to give a damn about Dutch neutrality and fly over their nation in combat missions against the others. And with what happened in Switzerland, the Dutch were walking a very fine line as they don’t want to be invaded.
For the Feds through the task of building their own diplomatic corp was somewhat helped by the fact they were able to draw from career British foreign service personal who were forced out by the CEP as they were either viewed as too pro-American or not loyal enough to the CEP. Indeed many career civil servants had to join the CEP or their allied parties to advance their careers. They were bring brought into the fold by the Feds to help fill out their needs, but even then there was only so many people. This had only led to new embassies in Paris, and Rio de Janeiro. As for consulates new ones had been set up at Vladivostok, Manila, and here in Fuzhou. Plans were in the work for more growth but they have to get people ready for these jobs first.
The Imperial Federation Consulate here in Fuzhou was staffed by 45 citizens of the Federation. That was it for a job that needed at least double that. Then throw in the fact 15 of those citizens were members of the newly formed Imperial Federation Marine Corp made the stress of working here that much greater. Even through the Federation had recognized the new massive Japanese colony here in China, many of the Chinese had refused to accept it. Terror bombings and shootings were common in this part of China and it was why there were two squads of Marines guarding this small consulate.
Beside, having to deal with the ongoing mess of the Japanese occupation of China the marines of the Federation had to deal with beggars on a regular basis. The Japanese were simply looting anything and everything of value in China and sending back to the home islands or areas that the Japanese have decided to Japanize. That was leaving very little for most Chinese. This was by designed even if that wasn’t common knowledge yet. Tokyo knew it had to get the Chinese population down to more manageable numbers and they were trying to do that by starving the Chinese people. The Federation had a policy of not helping so they would not anger their Japanese host.
So when the Marines spotted another poor looking person in Chinese dress making their way to their gateway to the consulate they wonder if someone hadn’t gotten the message that they don’t give handouts. The lance corporal in charge of the gate spoke in a piss poor Mandarin with the words what he thought would say, “Get lost, no food for you.” What he was really saying through, “I want to have your mother in my bed.”
Much to the surprise of the lance corporal, “Sorry corporal, my mother is married and my father would kill you if you tried.” The man said in English.
“What the bloody hell?” The Lance asked.
Pulling out his diplomatic passport Louis showed the stunned Lance that he was really an American. “Lance, for the love of fucking god let me in.” Louis had listen to the radio enough on the boat trip here to know the Feds were still out of this clusterfuck of a war.
The dumb founded Lance looked at the passport than the man standing in front of him. Then back at the passport. “Right this way sir.”
Another Offensive
Patrouillenstaffel 9 Aircraft
Over the North Sea
May 2 1939
There was the old saying that dated to the Great War, the sky belonged only to the dead. The saying was making a return in German naval aviation units assigned to patrol over the North Sea and the Baltic. The Kaiserliche Marine didn’t have any fighters to spare and with the Soviets starting a major offensive yesterday the Luftstreitkräfte didn’t have any fighters to spare between that and operations against the Swiss and Spanish. So the patrol squadrons were going out into both the North Sea and Baltic with no fighter escorts. Losses in some units of the Kaiserliche Marine was running as high as 20% so far since the start of the war. Yet the need for long range maritime patrols meant the crews still got in their aircrafts and faced the unknowns of the North Sea or the Baltic.
Currently this KM XIX[1] was still northbound into the North Sea as it was looking for any signs the Royal Navy has sortied from their home ports. Since their defeat in the Battle of Denmark Straits the Germans haven’t seen a major sortie from the British. Then again the Americans did work them over good at Denmark Straits. But the Americans since retaking Iceland had been focused on knocking out Mexico and Com Block in South America before going on the offensive anywhere else. So Germany was taking the same approach it took during the Great War at the moment. Save its fleet and wait for the right moment to strike and use raiders to eat up British shipping.
Technology through had changed how they when about doing this. Aircraft were playing a much larger role than they had in the Great War. They also were much better when it came to attacking British shipping as well. They were also much more able to bring U-boats into play than they had been 20 years prior. However the crews that manned the KMs knew full well that finding what you were looking for was a matter of luck. Some would joke that they were getting paid to go fishing, but those who did say that were using their humor to coop with their fear of being shot down. Because there were no atheist in combat.
Then the forward gunner spotted something moving in the distance. The pilot moved the aircraft to get a better look. It took a few minutes for them to get a better idea what they were dealing with but they had just found British invasion force that was bound for Bergen. They started to blast that out over the radio but they wouldn’t live to see base again. They were shot down by a British fighter that was escorting the invasion fleet.
[1] Close to the performance of the BV 138
Over the North Sea
May 2 1939
There was the old saying that dated to the Great War, the sky belonged only to the dead. The saying was making a return in German naval aviation units assigned to patrol over the North Sea and the Baltic. The Kaiserliche Marine didn’t have any fighters to spare and with the Soviets starting a major offensive yesterday the Luftstreitkräfte didn’t have any fighters to spare between that and operations against the Swiss and Spanish. So the patrol squadrons were going out into both the North Sea and Baltic with no fighter escorts. Losses in some units of the Kaiserliche Marine was running as high as 20% so far since the start of the war. Yet the need for long range maritime patrols meant the crews still got in their aircrafts and faced the unknowns of the North Sea or the Baltic.
Currently this KM XIX[1] was still northbound into the North Sea as it was looking for any signs the Royal Navy has sortied from their home ports. Since their defeat in the Battle of Denmark Straits the Germans haven’t seen a major sortie from the British. Then again the Americans did work them over good at Denmark Straits. But the Americans since retaking Iceland had been focused on knocking out Mexico and Com Block in South America before going on the offensive anywhere else. So Germany was taking the same approach it took during the Great War at the moment. Save its fleet and wait for the right moment to strike and use raiders to eat up British shipping.
Technology through had changed how they when about doing this. Aircraft were playing a much larger role than they had in the Great War. They also were much better when it came to attacking British shipping as well. They were also much more able to bring U-boats into play than they had been 20 years prior. However the crews that manned the KMs knew full well that finding what you were looking for was a matter of luck. Some would joke that they were getting paid to go fishing, but those who did say that were using their humor to coop with their fear of being shot down. Because there were no atheist in combat.
Then the forward gunner spotted something moving in the distance. The pilot moved the aircraft to get a better look. It took a few minutes for them to get a better idea what they were dealing with but they had just found British invasion force that was bound for Bergen. They started to blast that out over the radio but they wouldn’t live to see base again. They were shot down by a British fighter that was escorting the invasion fleet.
[1] Close to the performance of the BV 138
Battle of the North Sea Pt I
SMS Fürst Bismarck
North Sea
May 3 1939
I Battle Squadron was sortieing for the first time in this war. The squadron was made up of four ships, both Fürst Bismarck Class ships and the two new Mecklenburg Class battleships. They were being supported by II Battle Squadron which was all four of the Brandenburg Class battleships and I Scouting Squadron which was the three strong Blücher class battlecruisers. It was somewhat odd to some of the more senior officers Hochseeflotte that I Battle Squadron had faster ships than I Scouting Squadron however time had over taken the Blücher class as the Fürst Bismarck was treaty battleships with the Mecklenburg Class were post-treaty. The Schwaben had been rushed through her pre-commission work ups during the winter months how her crew and the ship was as able as any in the fleet.
Germany knew from its embassy in Oslo the British were invading Norway. It further looked like the British had the services of someone in the Norwegian Government. The former Defense Minister Jens Quisling who still had a seat in the Storting had taken to the air waves and ordered the Norwegian Army to stand down. It was clear some units did and others didn’t. Oslo was still under Norwegian Control as the British hadn’t tried to slip heavy units into the Skagerrak to take it but Quisling hadn’t been found yet. Frankly the whole of the Norwegian picture was just about as clear as muddy water at this point. Yet the Hochseeflotte was looking for the British Royal Navy to engage it and destroy some of it.
The Germans had their radar operating at the moment and were closing in on a target that had been spotted by their float planes. Currently they were still about 50 kilometers away from the outer most ship of the formation they were tracking. The problem with German radar was they could perform ground sweeps or air sweeps, but they couldn’t do both at the same time. It was a weakness that Germans were working to fix in their naval base radar but they were running into dead ends at the moment. At the moment the Germans had their radar set up for ground base radar sweeps. Their radar was telling them they had a large fleet ahead of them.
Only the British had found a way to detect radar waves at greater distances than they could bounce back usable returns. It wasn’t a perfect system and had been rushed into operational use following their defeat at Denmark Straits. The British had detected the German radar at a range of over 250 miles away. Granted it could happen that freak atmospheric conditions could allow them to detect radar waves at well over 1,000 miles as the science was still not fully understood. The British however had called in the Royal Air Force to attack the Germans to try and pick a few of them up.
The British had a mix batch of aircraft coming in to attack the Germans. They had Thunder fighters escorting the strike mission. They had a few old Hurricanes acting as radar scouts leading a large wing of Stirling Mk II bombers[1] to hit the Germans. Each of the Stirlings were carrying a single 24.5 Inch Mk IV Torpedo[2]. The British were the only nation currently using an aerial torpedo that was bigger than 21 inches. The British however had been more willing to take chances on ordnance ideas if they offered a big return than most. That had been the 24.5 Inch Mk IV Torpedoes. Big risk, but big return. Currently only the Stirling could carry them but it was worth it to get the extra explosives on target. There was currently work to allow other aircraft carry it, but it was limited to the Stirling at the moment simply due to its massive weight.
For the Germans they had a squadron of D XXVIIIs overhead giving the German fleet air cover. Giving the distances the Germans hadn’t sortied their I Carrier Squadron believing that the XXVIIIs would perform the job well enough. XXVIIIs up against Thunder fighters was a bad match up for the XXVIIIs. The Thunders cleared the sky of XXVIIIs and gave the Stirlings the ability to get in cleanly to attack the Germans. The German fleet opened fire with their anti-aircraft guns and started a series of rapid turns to throw off the British. Of the 80 Stirling bombers only nine were down by German anti-aircraft guns before the remaining 71 were able to drop their torpedoes and break off. Another six were shot down as they broke off. But their ordnances were on their way to their targets.
It was a deadly day for the Germans, the Wettin took four torpedoes and sunk within minutes. The Roon and Yorck also were hit with multi-24.5 inch torpedoes and their anti-torpedo defensives weren’t up to the task and they were both sunk within hours of the attack. A light cruiser took a pair of torpedoes meant for the Fürst Bismarck and sunk almost in seconds as the force of the explosion ripped the light cruiser apart as the 24.5 inch torpedo had been design to attack capital ships and against lesser ships it was overkill.
[1] The Mk II Stirling still has the basic airframe of the OTL Avro Manchester. They however had been given an engine upgrade and now have something akin to the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine along with other upgrades. All in all the Mk II is a much better aircraft.
[2] Basically an aerial version of the OTL British 24.5 Inch Capital Ship torpedo as carried by the Nelson class.
North Sea
May 3 1939
I Battle Squadron was sortieing for the first time in this war. The squadron was made up of four ships, both Fürst Bismarck Class ships and the two new Mecklenburg Class battleships. They were being supported by II Battle Squadron which was all four of the Brandenburg Class battleships and I Scouting Squadron which was the three strong Blücher class battlecruisers. It was somewhat odd to some of the more senior officers Hochseeflotte that I Battle Squadron had faster ships than I Scouting Squadron however time had over taken the Blücher class as the Fürst Bismarck was treaty battleships with the Mecklenburg Class were post-treaty. The Schwaben had been rushed through her pre-commission work ups during the winter months how her crew and the ship was as able as any in the fleet.
Germany knew from its embassy in Oslo the British were invading Norway. It further looked like the British had the services of someone in the Norwegian Government. The former Defense Minister Jens Quisling who still had a seat in the Storting had taken to the air waves and ordered the Norwegian Army to stand down. It was clear some units did and others didn’t. Oslo was still under Norwegian Control as the British hadn’t tried to slip heavy units into the Skagerrak to take it but Quisling hadn’t been found yet. Frankly the whole of the Norwegian picture was just about as clear as muddy water at this point. Yet the Hochseeflotte was looking for the British Royal Navy to engage it and destroy some of it.
The Germans had their radar operating at the moment and were closing in on a target that had been spotted by their float planes. Currently they were still about 50 kilometers away from the outer most ship of the formation they were tracking. The problem with German radar was they could perform ground sweeps or air sweeps, but they couldn’t do both at the same time. It was a weakness that Germans were working to fix in their naval base radar but they were running into dead ends at the moment. At the moment the Germans had their radar set up for ground base radar sweeps. Their radar was telling them they had a large fleet ahead of them.
Only the British had found a way to detect radar waves at greater distances than they could bounce back usable returns. It wasn’t a perfect system and had been rushed into operational use following their defeat at Denmark Straits. The British had detected the German radar at a range of over 250 miles away. Granted it could happen that freak atmospheric conditions could allow them to detect radar waves at well over 1,000 miles as the science was still not fully understood. The British however had called in the Royal Air Force to attack the Germans to try and pick a few of them up.
The British had a mix batch of aircraft coming in to attack the Germans. They had Thunder fighters escorting the strike mission. They had a few old Hurricanes acting as radar scouts leading a large wing of Stirling Mk II bombers[1] to hit the Germans. Each of the Stirlings were carrying a single 24.5 Inch Mk IV Torpedo[2]. The British were the only nation currently using an aerial torpedo that was bigger than 21 inches. The British however had been more willing to take chances on ordnance ideas if they offered a big return than most. That had been the 24.5 Inch Mk IV Torpedoes. Big risk, but big return. Currently only the Stirling could carry them but it was worth it to get the extra explosives on target. There was currently work to allow other aircraft carry it, but it was limited to the Stirling at the moment simply due to its massive weight.
For the Germans they had a squadron of D XXVIIIs overhead giving the German fleet air cover. Giving the distances the Germans hadn’t sortied their I Carrier Squadron believing that the XXVIIIs would perform the job well enough. XXVIIIs up against Thunder fighters was a bad match up for the XXVIIIs. The Thunders cleared the sky of XXVIIIs and gave the Stirlings the ability to get in cleanly to attack the Germans. The German fleet opened fire with their anti-aircraft guns and started a series of rapid turns to throw off the British. Of the 80 Stirling bombers only nine were down by German anti-aircraft guns before the remaining 71 were able to drop their torpedoes and break off. Another six were shot down as they broke off. But their ordnances were on their way to their targets.
It was a deadly day for the Germans, the Wettin took four torpedoes and sunk within minutes. The Roon and Yorck also were hit with multi-24.5 inch torpedoes and their anti-torpedo defensives weren’t up to the task and they were both sunk within hours of the attack. A light cruiser took a pair of torpedoes meant for the Fürst Bismarck and sunk almost in seconds as the force of the explosion ripped the light cruiser apart as the 24.5 inch torpedo had been design to attack capital ships and against lesser ships it was overkill.
[1] The Mk II Stirling still has the basic airframe of the OTL Avro Manchester. They however had been given an engine upgrade and now have something akin to the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine along with other upgrades. All in all the Mk II is a much better aircraft.
[2] Basically an aerial version of the OTL British 24.5 Inch Capital Ship torpedo as carried by the Nelson class.
Including the little blurbs from the 1937 updates for each ship class you mention might be a good idea.
I second I'm assuming Furst Bismarck is otl Sharnhorst or Bismarck
And Thunder fighter equals spitfire ?
And Thunder fighter equals spitfire ?
I'm kind of surprised that a pair of 60,000 ton battleships that were beginning construction in 1937 are ready for action in 1939. I also noticed that these Blucher class battlecruisers weigh as much as Mackensens but have 38 cm instead of 35 cm guns. I know oil fire would save some weight, but I don't know if it would be enough to maintain German battlecruiser armor standards considering the increased size of the main battery, especially considering that the switch to oil would remove coal stores that the Germans considered as part of the armor scheme.
Gas or Nerve Agent
Berlin
Stadtschloss
May 7 1939
Kaiser Wilhelm the Third was walking to his war room in this palace as he was staying in Berlin at the moment. All he knew that Chancellor von Kaspar and Generalfeldmarshal von Friedhold had said it was critically important and needed his personal input on the subject immediately. All that told Wilhelm it was bad. But it didn’t tell him what had happened which was critical. As such he was hurrying to his war room in this palace which keep him informed of the course of the war. He however really didn’t get in the way of his generals. He had commanded an army during the Great War, but he had lean heavily on his chief of staff to properly command it. It one of the reasons he took the lead to make it were German princes couldn’t command an army because of their birth. If they climbed through the ranks, that’s a different story, but what he did during the Great War was a thing of the past.
Even with that Wilhelm was still in a uniform at the moment. Even through he liked wearing suits, it was a message to the nation that the country was at war. However he kept it simple. It was a uniform that a general officer would be found wearing on the front and not a full dress uniform with all the different awards he had. He saved that for when he had to give speeches or other times when it was called for.
It took only a few moments to reach the war room and saw the different staff officers working at the tables. Unlike in peace time none of the officers jumped up and snapped to attention. Wilhelm had ordered those working for him don’t do it as every moment was important right now. They could go back to that in peacetime, but Wilhelm understood that his nation was fighting a war that could destroy it or push forward to being the greatest nation in European history. Only time would tell through.
He saw his chancellor and his chief of staff at the other end of the room in what looked like was a heated debate. “Gentlemen, what happened?” The Kaiser asked.
“Sir,” von Friedhold started, “The Soviets have used chemical weapons in the Wilna sector. So far reports are coming that this is an army wide front.”
“Jesus Christ.” The Kaiser said. He had seen the horrors of chemical warfare first hand during the Great War as he had visited hospitals that housed those wounded and some had been chemical wounds. One of the many studies done by the general staff in the aftermath of the Great War had proven that chemical weapons only were really effective when the other side didn’t have gear that could defend them against the gas. Further it would slow down their own offensive as their own troops would have to cross the ground that all that gas had went.
It was this study that had led to new doctrine being developed in the late 1920s and early 1930s on the use of chemical weapons by the German military. It called for the use of chemical weapons at logistical hubs and artillery parks that were 10 kilometers or farther behind the lines. At those distances through meant only the longest range of artillery could reach so they had when to designing aerial bombs to deliver gas. However he had already given approval to use chemical weapons if the other side used them.
“Herr, field marshal do we know what kind of agents they used against us?”
“Sir we believe it to be some kind of mustard gas and lewisite mix.” The field marshal answered.
Von Kaspar spoke, “Sir, the field marshal feels its best to answer with our stock piles of nerve agents.”
“Yes we need a counter that will make it clear to the Bolsheviks that playing with chemicals is not a good idea.”
The German Chemical Branch had come up with nerve agents in the early 1930s. They were known to be very deadly but unstable and easy to destroy as all it took was water to break up the chemicals. However the Kaiser had let it be known the use of these weapons rested with him and him alone. Now he had least knew what the heated debate had been about. “No we will not use our nerve agents to answer this.” The Kaiser said. “We will save these truly horror weapons for if the Bolsheviks decide to use something worse than this.”
Stadtschloss
May 7 1939
Kaiser Wilhelm the Third was walking to his war room in this palace as he was staying in Berlin at the moment. All he knew that Chancellor von Kaspar and Generalfeldmarshal von Friedhold had said it was critically important and needed his personal input on the subject immediately. All that told Wilhelm it was bad. But it didn’t tell him what had happened which was critical. As such he was hurrying to his war room in this palace which keep him informed of the course of the war. He however really didn’t get in the way of his generals. He had commanded an army during the Great War, but he had lean heavily on his chief of staff to properly command it. It one of the reasons he took the lead to make it were German princes couldn’t command an army because of their birth. If they climbed through the ranks, that’s a different story, but what he did during the Great War was a thing of the past.
Even with that Wilhelm was still in a uniform at the moment. Even through he liked wearing suits, it was a message to the nation that the country was at war. However he kept it simple. It was a uniform that a general officer would be found wearing on the front and not a full dress uniform with all the different awards he had. He saved that for when he had to give speeches or other times when it was called for.
It took only a few moments to reach the war room and saw the different staff officers working at the tables. Unlike in peace time none of the officers jumped up and snapped to attention. Wilhelm had ordered those working for him don’t do it as every moment was important right now. They could go back to that in peacetime, but Wilhelm understood that his nation was fighting a war that could destroy it or push forward to being the greatest nation in European history. Only time would tell through.
He saw his chancellor and his chief of staff at the other end of the room in what looked like was a heated debate. “Gentlemen, what happened?” The Kaiser asked.
“Sir,” von Friedhold started, “The Soviets have used chemical weapons in the Wilna sector. So far reports are coming that this is an army wide front.”
“Jesus Christ.” The Kaiser said. He had seen the horrors of chemical warfare first hand during the Great War as he had visited hospitals that housed those wounded and some had been chemical wounds. One of the many studies done by the general staff in the aftermath of the Great War had proven that chemical weapons only were really effective when the other side didn’t have gear that could defend them against the gas. Further it would slow down their own offensive as their own troops would have to cross the ground that all that gas had went.
It was this study that had led to new doctrine being developed in the late 1920s and early 1930s on the use of chemical weapons by the German military. It called for the use of chemical weapons at logistical hubs and artillery parks that were 10 kilometers or farther behind the lines. At those distances through meant only the longest range of artillery could reach so they had when to designing aerial bombs to deliver gas. However he had already given approval to use chemical weapons if the other side used them.
“Herr, field marshal do we know what kind of agents they used against us?”
“Sir we believe it to be some kind of mustard gas and lewisite mix.” The field marshal answered.
Von Kaspar spoke, “Sir, the field marshal feels its best to answer with our stock piles of nerve agents.”
“Yes we need a counter that will make it clear to the Bolsheviks that playing with chemicals is not a good idea.”
The German Chemical Branch had come up with nerve agents in the early 1930s. They were known to be very deadly but unstable and easy to destroy as all it took was water to break up the chemicals. However the Kaiser had let it be known the use of these weapons rested with him and him alone. Now he had least knew what the heated debate had been about. “No we will not use our nerve agents to answer this.” The Kaiser said. “We will save these truly horror weapons for if the Bolsheviks decide to use something worse than this.”