Det som går ned må komme opp-An Alternate Royal Norwegian Navy TL
- Thread starter CV(N)-6
- Start date
Very similar to the Dutch subs, which I believe were based off them, at least the newer ones.
Driftless
Donor
Well, that's high marks. By all accounts I've seen, Dutch subs were state-of-the-art
I'm not sure but weren't the three Sveriges designed to operate together?
If that's the case, to engage them the Germans would've to bring at the very least(ish?) two heavy cruisers, and even then that's not a garantee of success. Of course you can always bring a battleship but then if the Swedes limit their operations to shallow coastal waters how do you get to them? Yeah I wouldn't want to be the German Admiral in charge of that operation....
Coulsdon Eagle
Monthly Donor
Better that operation than the one coming up involving their old friends the RN!
As I am in habit of pointing out in these discussions, Norway staying free of German occupation, and from becoming a part of the Axis would not get Finland off the hook by itself. Germany would still control the southern Baltic Sea and be in a position to stop most Finnish maritime trade. Petsamo would be practically the only Finnish trade outlet, and its capacity was woefully inadequate for Finland's needs. IOTL, Finland turned to Germany because it was the only realistic source of all the food, fuels and fertilizer Finland sorely needed. After the loss of the Karelian Isthmus and Ladoga Karelia, Finland could only produce c. 70% of the food it needed. To avoid famine, the rest would have to be imported, in the middle of a major war. If the Western Allies want to keep Finland out of the German orbit, they would have to really make the effort to support Finland politically and economically in 1940. IOTL the British, especially, appeared to be quite unwilling to see and appreciate Finland's precarious situation and actually, well and truly support Finland. Rather vice versa, the British actually were making Finland's position more difficult by, say, confiscating Finnish ships in the Atlantic for their own transport needs, and being stingy with navicerts which the Finnish ships would have needed to operate in Allied-controlled waters.
To keep Finland neutral, outside the German sphere, the British (especially) would need to offer the Finns a better deal than the Germans did, and IOTL they seemed unwilling to do this. To wit, to keep Finland as a neutral, Britain would need to practically treat it as a valued ally, to deliver different goods to it even if it would be costly to the British, and send it weapons when Britain needed those weapons, too. The British would also need to lean on both Norway and Sweden to get those goods to Finland through their territory, as Petsamo's capacity would not be enough for any more trade that took place IOTL. I am also sceptical about the idea that the Allies would be ready to lean on Moscow to play nice towards Helsinki. In the big picture, Finland was a mere detail, and when fighting Germany is the overriding concern, you don't want to get hung up on details if you want to make cooperation with Stalin possible.
I think that a key thing is to understand that in 1940 Finland is mortally terrified about a renewed Soviet attack, does not trust Stalin at all (with good reason) and thus does not want to be neutral. That is, if "neutral" looks very much like "alone". Finland wants a committed, major ally on its side to have support against Moscow's further encroachments and violence. Britain (and the rest of the Allies) could be that ally instead of Germany. I just can't see why Britain would suddenly commit so many resources and diplomatic capital for helping Finland here when it was apparently quite unwilling to do that IOTL.
If the British seem at best lukewarm towards the Finnish cause, Helsinki will turn to Berlin instead - here as well as IOTL, they would be much more enthusiastic about sending Finland weapons and necessary goods, and by being a Baltic Sea nation themselves, would also be able to realize that in a short order. Proof of the pudding is in the eating, and proof of support will be in seeing cargo steamers with their holds full of grain arriving into southern Finnish ports from Stettin or Danzig.
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Paternas
Donor
Is there not enough port/rail capacity from Norway to Sweden to supply Finland as well? Sweden has a lot more leverage vs Britain here compared to OTL, as Britain wants to buy as much ore and other materials as possible to deny them to the Germans. There is also the prospect of buying American weapons for Sweden and Finland. OTL that was a lot more difficult than here with Norway holding. I'd say compared to OTL where Finland had no choice, Finland has to weigh its option more carefully here.
@DrakonFin
The ATL variable here is Norway largely defending itself and being, in its united whole, a committed and active Ally.
Norway is more than a passive gate then, it is a political influence to compound the Swedish one.
Norwegian influence would be one reason Britain treats Finland as a valued ally.
The ATL variable here is Norway largely defending itself and being, in its united whole, a committed and active Ally.
Norway is more than a passive gate then, it is a political influence to compound the Swedish one.
Norwegian influence would be one reason Britain treats Finland as a valued ally.
Chapter XXVII
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Chapter XXVII: Seek and Destroy
Approximately 50 nautical miles southwest of Bergen, 16:03 hours, 16 April
Cruising at 163 knots, its crew of two scanning the sea below, the Skua flew through the evening air. One of 18 of its kind aboard HMS Ark Royal, part of the 803 squadron, the aircraft was scouting the area to the southeast of the Bergen force to make sure there were no nasty surprises. Had the Skua not been aloft, there wouldn’t have been a nasty surprise for the ships headed for Bergen, but Valiant and Resolute wouldn’t have had a good time at Trondheim.
The Skua’s pilot blinked, and focused on the same spot he thought he’d seen something. There. Wakes. He counted: three big, one medium, five small. There were no friendly forces in this area that he knew of. He brought the Skua as low as he dared, confirming his observation. His radio report said three battleships, one cruiser, five destroyers, and it gave their location, heading, and estimated speed.
Northwest of Bergen
Sommerville couldn’t believe it. Here was a chance to destroy even more of the Kriegsmarine. Somehow, those bloody Germans had a large force at sea despite their losses and the damage to Gneisenau and Scharnhorst. Many would have made sure and disengaged. Not James Sommerville. Despite being faced with three German capital ships, equal to his numbers, Sommerville also had his two carriers, both with large torpedo and dive bomber wings aboard, plus a significant advantage in cruisers and destroyers. Had Sommerville known at the time that two of the ‘battleships’ were Europa and Bremen, he would’ve been disappointed, but even more confident in victory.
16:20 hours, 16 April
Ark Royal’s 12 Skua’s not scouting, along with 18 Swordfish, were launched one by one beginning at 16:20 hours. 9 of Glorious’ 11 Skua’s joined the strike. 9 Swordfish would attack the ships from each side, three from each pincer targeting each ‘battleship, while 7 Skua’s would go for each ‘battleship.’ The bombers headed southwest, towards the largest group of warships the Germans could summon at the moment. HMS Enterprise, laid down in the Great War but completed nearly a decade after its conclusion, and still one of the fastest cruisers in the Royal Navy, was dispatched to shadow the Germans during the night with HMS Sheffield, twelve years her junior.
Over an hour later, the airstrike found its target. The Swordfish came in their two pincers, while the Skua’s nosed over. The sun, fairly low as it was evening, silhoutted the Germans as they frantically maneuvered to avoid bombs and torpedoes, spewing flak all the while. Europa’s Captain expertly avoided the torpedoes, but two semi-armor piercing 500 pound bombs found their mark, both in the superstructure, plunging through the unarmored vessel, exploding deep in her guts fairly near her keel. The near misses rocked the transport as well. Damage control teams consisting of every free sailor frantically tried to contain the damage, which included fires as the ship still had some of her flammable fittings.
Bremen, Europa’s sister, didn’t have the luck of the latter. A torpedo detonated on the starboard side, adjacent to the aft funnel, and water began flooding the engine rooms. A bomb penetrated the deck on the forecastle, almost missing, and detonated a fraction of a second before it would have exited via the bow on the waterline, blowing a hole that took in water right on the bow. A second SAP bomb smashed through the bridge, miraculously not harming anyone, before detonating several decks below. Two near misses completed the damage for the moment. One of the dive bombers allocated to Bismarck dove on Nurnberg by mistake, but its pilot, possibly scared by being the lone aircraft diving at the ship, or maybe just incompetent, missed by a long ways. Moments later, a 2cm mount tore through his Skua’s body as it pulled up, and the plane crashed at sea, the Germans not stopping to pick up survivors. The gunner was picked up by a Norwegian submarine the next morning in his life raft.
Bismarck, the target of six Skua’s and six Swordfish, received the least damage. One 18” torpedo from a Swordfish hit her side, right on the belt, wounding several men, but causing little actual damage. One Skua put a bomb on top of Bruno turret, which was defeated by the armor, and another planted its explosive on the number three port 10.5cm mount, destroying it and the Arado on the catapult, as well as starting a quickly contained fire. One Swordfish was shot down by Bismarck, despite her light AA being locally controlled as the guns weren’t calibrated with directors yet. With daylight running out, it was decided to not launch another strike on the German fleet, now identified as a Bismarck, the only ship of her class that could be in commission, Nurnberg(since it was known that all K class cruisers were sunk and Leipzig couldn’t have been repaired yet), and five destroyers.
Sommerville decided to go after the Germans with most of his ships, as he could use the fact that he was currently north of the Germans to head them off in the morning. Warspite, Rodney, Ark Royal, Glasgow, and 8 destroyers, including the Polish Grom and Blyskawica, would intercept the German fleet, while Repulse, Glorious, Devonshire, and 6 destroyers would escort the convoy safely to Bergen. Sheffield and Enterprise would participate in the engagement as well, as they would be on hand after shadowing the Germans.
19:41 hours
The two blips on Bismarck’s sporadically operating radar had been there for the past fifteen minutes. Lütjens and Lindemann decided that the radar wasn’t acting up, and ordered Nurnberg, Z5, Z6, and Jaguar to drive off what he believed to be two British cruisers shadowing the force, while Bismarck would attempt to provide support though she would stay with the convoy, protecting Europa and Bremen.
Sheffield signaled Enterprise when her radar detected German ships leaving the convoy. The two cruisers moved off, but stayed within radar range so as to not lose track of the Germans. A brilliant flash was seen as Bismarck fired a 38cm salvo at Enterprise, missing badly, this being just her fourth time ever firing her main armament, and her fire control, which, like that of many German ships, required some major work to make it operational at first, but hadn’t had the work done, wasn’t performing very well. Bismarck never scored a hit in the night engagement.
Sheffield engaged the destroyers, using her radar the best she could. Her twelve 6-inch guns, with a rate of fire of 8 rounds per minute, gave her an optimal destroyer killing armament, and she quickly scored hits on Z6, lighting the ship on fire and slowing her. Enterprise engaged the approaching ship with the largest flash when she fired, her officers correctly believing they were engaging the German cruiser. Enterprise took three 15cm hits, and answered with five from her own guns on Nurnberg. As the range quickly closed between the cruisers and destroyers, Sheffield shifted from the crippled Z6 to Jaguar, once again quickly finding the range.
Enterprise and Nurnberg continued to duel, while Jaguar’s crew abandoned ship, and Z5 turned away from Sheffield to avoid the fate of the other two vessels. Sheffield added her firepower to that of Enterprise, and Nurnberg quickly disengaged when a 6-inch shell from Enterprise disabled Caesar turret. The British cruisers declined to press their luck, instead electing to wait until morning and numerical superiority.
07:02 hours, 17 April, Bergen
Repulse, Glorious, Devonshire, and the six destroyers had successfully escorted the convoy to Bergen fairly uneventfully despite the fact that Sommerville had taken many of the escorting warships on a goose chase after some German ships. The main mission had been accomplished, with the first major Allied land units now setting foot in Norway
07:03, 17 April, South of Alesund
Bismarck’s lookouts reported aircraft coming from the west. They were 18 of Ark Royal’s Swordfish, each with an 18” torpedo mounted under the fuselage. Not far behind were 16 of Ark Royal’s Skua’s.
All aircraft focused on Bismarck, the biggest threat in the group, as the transports were helpless without her in a surface engagement. Two torpedoes hit the ship. One detonated, as the previous day, against the belt, with minimal damage, but the other hit forward of the citadel, causing flooding. Seven hits were recorded by the Skua’s, starting two fires, knocking out another 10.5cm mount, and destroying the officers’ mess. Bismarck was still in fighting shape when masts were sighted to the northwest.
09:37
Sommerville watched from the Admiral’s Bridge aboard Warspite as the Germans slowly came into view to the east southeast. The reports from the previous day’s air attack that his ships were up against only one battleship, and the description of her made it clear this wasn’t a Scharnhorst, so it had to be Bismarck, gave Sommerville mixed feelings, because on one hand he could’ve wiped out the entire German battleship fleet, but on the other he had a lot better chance of winning. Rodney was leading the two battleships in an attempt to force Bismarck to fire on one of the best protected ships in the world, while Warspite would fire undisturbed. The cruisers would engage the German cruiser, while the destroyers would engage their counterparts and torpedo the larger German ships. Given that of the eight destroyers, three were Tribals, three were J class, and two were Polish Grom class, the destroyers had more than enough firepower to fight Z5, the surviving large German destroyer, and two torpedo boats, though the British thought they were destroyers.
Bismarck opened up first from approximately 28,000 yards at 09:41, while the destroyers and torpedo boats charged towards the British, attempting to make the British pay dearly for a victory. Nurnberg and the two troopships would make a run for Trondheim, attempting to complete the mission while the other vessels sacrificed themselves.
Warspite and Rodney opened fire moments later, their weapons systems fully operational. Bismarck’s first pair of salvoes missed, as did those of the two British ships. Warspite drew first blood when, at 09:46, at a bit over 27,000 yards, one of her 15-inch shells hit Bismarck’s deck, disabling the latter’s fire control, which the designers had placed on top of the horizontal armor in a vulnerable position. Bismarck’s shooting now had to be done without the help of the fire control, and this began to show as she failed to straddle Rodney once during the engagement. Warspite didn’t obtain another hit until 09:57, by which time Rodney’s guns were training to a new bearing as Bismarck moved, on their way to obtaining their first straddle. The second hit on Bismarck punched into the conning tower forward of the bridge, penetrated the armored deck, and exploded, destroying the insides of the fore superstructure. Rodney’s straddle followed less than a minute later.
Meanwhile, Sheffield and Enterprise were closing on Nurnberg and the fleeing transports. Nurnberg was wrecked by a hail of 6-inch fire from the two cruisers, and was finished by a torpedo from Sheffield. Europa and Bremen, with a total of 8 3.7cm and 11 2cm guns between them and slower speeds than the two cruisers, surrendered. Glasgow and the destroyers swamped the three German torpedo vessels, and quickly closed on Bismarck, whose 15cm and 10.5cm guns unsuccessfully attempted to drive off the attackers. By this time, Warspite had achieved eight hits, and Rodney had six. Bismarck had lost several turrets, and several areas of the ship had no power. Enterprise was the first ship to get within torpedo range, dumping eight of her sixteen torpedoes into the water. Three of them struck Bismarck, still capable of maneuvering, and heavily damaged her, though she wasn’t sinking quite yet, but several destroyers soon fired their 21-inch weapons, and Bismarck couldn’t evade enough of them. The ship rolled over and sank at 11:03, with both Polish destroyers credited with a torpedo hit. Of her crew of 2,200, 1,247 were saved from the cold North Sea. Until the damaged ships were repaired, the Kriegsmarine was down to small torpedo boats and the two pre-dreadnoughts for a fleet. 6,000 German infantry were captured aboard Bremen and Europa in one of the stranger episodes in the campaign, which was heavily publicized by the Allied press upon the ships’ arrival in the United Kingdom.
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Chapter XXVII: Seek and Destroy
Approximately 50 nautical miles southwest of Bergen, 16:03 hours, 16 April
Cruising at 163 knots, its crew of two scanning the sea below, the Skua flew through the evening air. One of 18 of its kind aboard HMS Ark Royal, part of the 803 squadron, the aircraft was scouting the area to the southeast of the Bergen force to make sure there were no nasty surprises. Had the Skua not been aloft, there wouldn’t have been a nasty surprise for the ships headed for Bergen, but Valiant and Resolute wouldn’t have had a good time at Trondheim.
The Skua’s pilot blinked, and focused on the same spot he thought he’d seen something. There. Wakes. He counted: three big, one medium, five small. There were no friendly forces in this area that he knew of. He brought the Skua as low as he dared, confirming his observation. His radio report said three battleships, one cruiser, five destroyers, and it gave their location, heading, and estimated speed.
Northwest of Bergen
Sommerville couldn’t believe it. Here was a chance to destroy even more of the Kriegsmarine. Somehow, those bloody Germans had a large force at sea despite their losses and the damage to Gneisenau and Scharnhorst. Many would have made sure and disengaged. Not James Sommerville. Despite being faced with three German capital ships, equal to his numbers, Sommerville also had his two carriers, both with large torpedo and dive bomber wings aboard, plus a significant advantage in cruisers and destroyers. Had Sommerville known at the time that two of the ‘battleships’ were Europa and Bremen, he would’ve been disappointed, but even more confident in victory.
16:20 hours, 16 April
Ark Royal’s 12 Skua’s not scouting, along with 18 Swordfish, were launched one by one beginning at 16:20 hours. 9 of Glorious’ 11 Skua’s joined the strike. 9 Swordfish would attack the ships from each side, three from each pincer targeting each ‘battleship, while 7 Skua’s would go for each ‘battleship.’ The bombers headed southwest, towards the largest group of warships the Germans could summon at the moment. HMS Enterprise, laid down in the Great War but completed nearly a decade after its conclusion, and still one of the fastest cruisers in the Royal Navy, was dispatched to shadow the Germans during the night with HMS Sheffield, twelve years her junior.
Over an hour later, the airstrike found its target. The Swordfish came in their two pincers, while the Skua’s nosed over. The sun, fairly low as it was evening, silhoutted the Germans as they frantically maneuvered to avoid bombs and torpedoes, spewing flak all the while. Europa’s Captain expertly avoided the torpedoes, but two semi-armor piercing 500 pound bombs found their mark, both in the superstructure, plunging through the unarmored vessel, exploding deep in her guts fairly near her keel. The near misses rocked the transport as well. Damage control teams consisting of every free sailor frantically tried to contain the damage, which included fires as the ship still had some of her flammable fittings.
Bremen, Europa’s sister, didn’t have the luck of the latter. A torpedo detonated on the starboard side, adjacent to the aft funnel, and water began flooding the engine rooms. A bomb penetrated the deck on the forecastle, almost missing, and detonated a fraction of a second before it would have exited via the bow on the waterline, blowing a hole that took in water right on the bow. A second SAP bomb smashed through the bridge, miraculously not harming anyone, before detonating several decks below. Two near misses completed the damage for the moment. One of the dive bombers allocated to Bismarck dove on Nurnberg by mistake, but its pilot, possibly scared by being the lone aircraft diving at the ship, or maybe just incompetent, missed by a long ways. Moments later, a 2cm mount tore through his Skua’s body as it pulled up, and the plane crashed at sea, the Germans not stopping to pick up survivors. The gunner was picked up by a Norwegian submarine the next morning in his life raft.
Bismarck, the target of six Skua’s and six Swordfish, received the least damage. One 18” torpedo from a Swordfish hit her side, right on the belt, wounding several men, but causing little actual damage. One Skua put a bomb on top of Bruno turret, which was defeated by the armor, and another planted its explosive on the number three port 10.5cm mount, destroying it and the Arado on the catapult, as well as starting a quickly contained fire. One Swordfish was shot down by Bismarck, despite her light AA being locally controlled as the guns weren’t calibrated with directors yet. With daylight running out, it was decided to not launch another strike on the German fleet, now identified as a Bismarck, the only ship of her class that could be in commission, Nurnberg(since it was known that all K class cruisers were sunk and Leipzig couldn’t have been repaired yet), and five destroyers.
Sommerville decided to go after the Germans with most of his ships, as he could use the fact that he was currently north of the Germans to head them off in the morning. Warspite, Rodney, Ark Royal, Glasgow, and 8 destroyers, including the Polish Grom and Blyskawica, would intercept the German fleet, while Repulse, Glorious, Devonshire, and 6 destroyers would escort the convoy safely to Bergen. Sheffield and Enterprise would participate in the engagement as well, as they would be on hand after shadowing the Germans.
19:41 hours
The two blips on Bismarck’s sporadically operating radar had been there for the past fifteen minutes. Lütjens and Lindemann decided that the radar wasn’t acting up, and ordered Nurnberg, Z5, Z6, and Jaguar to drive off what he believed to be two British cruisers shadowing the force, while Bismarck would attempt to provide support though she would stay with the convoy, protecting Europa and Bremen.
Sheffield signaled Enterprise when her radar detected German ships leaving the convoy. The two cruisers moved off, but stayed within radar range so as to not lose track of the Germans. A brilliant flash was seen as Bismarck fired a 38cm salvo at Enterprise, missing badly, this being just her fourth time ever firing her main armament, and her fire control, which, like that of many German ships, required some major work to make it operational at first, but hadn’t had the work done, wasn’t performing very well. Bismarck never scored a hit in the night engagement.
Sheffield engaged the destroyers, using her radar the best she could. Her twelve 6-inch guns, with a rate of fire of 8 rounds per minute, gave her an optimal destroyer killing armament, and she quickly scored hits on Z6, lighting the ship on fire and slowing her. Enterprise engaged the approaching ship with the largest flash when she fired, her officers correctly believing they were engaging the German cruiser. Enterprise took three 15cm hits, and answered with five from her own guns on Nurnberg. As the range quickly closed between the cruisers and destroyers, Sheffield shifted from the crippled Z6 to Jaguar, once again quickly finding the range.
Enterprise and Nurnberg continued to duel, while Jaguar’s crew abandoned ship, and Z5 turned away from Sheffield to avoid the fate of the other two vessels. Sheffield added her firepower to that of Enterprise, and Nurnberg quickly disengaged when a 6-inch shell from Enterprise disabled Caesar turret. The British cruisers declined to press their luck, instead electing to wait until morning and numerical superiority.
07:02 hours, 17 April, Bergen
Repulse, Glorious, Devonshire, and the six destroyers had successfully escorted the convoy to Bergen fairly uneventfully despite the fact that Sommerville had taken many of the escorting warships on a goose chase after some German ships. The main mission had been accomplished, with the first major Allied land units now setting foot in Norway
07:03, 17 April, South of Alesund
Bismarck’s lookouts reported aircraft coming from the west. They were 18 of Ark Royal’s Swordfish, each with an 18” torpedo mounted under the fuselage. Not far behind were 16 of Ark Royal’s Skua’s.
All aircraft focused on Bismarck, the biggest threat in the group, as the transports were helpless without her in a surface engagement. Two torpedoes hit the ship. One detonated, as the previous day, against the belt, with minimal damage, but the other hit forward of the citadel, causing flooding. Seven hits were recorded by the Skua’s, starting two fires, knocking out another 10.5cm mount, and destroying the officers’ mess. Bismarck was still in fighting shape when masts were sighted to the northwest.
09:37
Sommerville watched from the Admiral’s Bridge aboard Warspite as the Germans slowly came into view to the east southeast. The reports from the previous day’s air attack that his ships were up against only one battleship, and the description of her made it clear this wasn’t a Scharnhorst, so it had to be Bismarck, gave Sommerville mixed feelings, because on one hand he could’ve wiped out the entire German battleship fleet, but on the other he had a lot better chance of winning. Rodney was leading the two battleships in an attempt to force Bismarck to fire on one of the best protected ships in the world, while Warspite would fire undisturbed. The cruisers would engage the German cruiser, while the destroyers would engage their counterparts and torpedo the larger German ships. Given that of the eight destroyers, three were Tribals, three were J class, and two were Polish Grom class, the destroyers had more than enough firepower to fight Z5, the surviving large German destroyer, and two torpedo boats, though the British thought they were destroyers.
Bismarck opened up first from approximately 28,000 yards at 09:41, while the destroyers and torpedo boats charged towards the British, attempting to make the British pay dearly for a victory. Nurnberg and the two troopships would make a run for Trondheim, attempting to complete the mission while the other vessels sacrificed themselves.
Warspite and Rodney opened fire moments later, their weapons systems fully operational. Bismarck’s first pair of salvoes missed, as did those of the two British ships. Warspite drew first blood when, at 09:46, at a bit over 27,000 yards, one of her 15-inch shells hit Bismarck’s deck, disabling the latter’s fire control, which the designers had placed on top of the horizontal armor in a vulnerable position. Bismarck’s shooting now had to be done without the help of the fire control, and this began to show as she failed to straddle Rodney once during the engagement. Warspite didn’t obtain another hit until 09:57, by which time Rodney’s guns were training to a new bearing as Bismarck moved, on their way to obtaining their first straddle. The second hit on Bismarck punched into the conning tower forward of the bridge, penetrated the armored deck, and exploded, destroying the insides of the fore superstructure. Rodney’s straddle followed less than a minute later.
Meanwhile, Sheffield and Enterprise were closing on Nurnberg and the fleeing transports. Nurnberg was wrecked by a hail of 6-inch fire from the two cruisers, and was finished by a torpedo from Sheffield. Europa and Bremen, with a total of 8 3.7cm and 11 2cm guns between them and slower speeds than the two cruisers, surrendered. Glasgow and the destroyers swamped the three German torpedo vessels, and quickly closed on Bismarck, whose 15cm and 10.5cm guns unsuccessfully attempted to drive off the attackers. By this time, Warspite had achieved eight hits, and Rodney had six. Bismarck had lost several turrets, and several areas of the ship had no power. Enterprise was the first ship to get within torpedo range, dumping eight of her sixteen torpedoes into the water. Three of them struck Bismarck, still capable of maneuvering, and heavily damaged her, though she wasn’t sinking quite yet, but several destroyers soon fired their 21-inch weapons, and Bismarck couldn’t evade enough of them. The ship rolled over and sank at 11:03, with both Polish destroyers credited with a torpedo hit. Of her crew of 2,200, 1,247 were saved from the cold North Sea. Until the damaged ships were repaired, the Kriegsmarine was down to small torpedo boats and the two pre-dreadnoughts for a fleet. 6,000 German infantry were captured aboard Bremen and Europa in one of the stranger episodes in the campaign, which was heavily publicized by the Allied press upon the ships’ arrival in the United Kingdom.
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Cue Hitler Rant in Berlin. I really wouldn't want to be Raeder right now.
If he is lucky he just gets sacked and have to hear Hitler cursing at him
Given the pre dreads are training ships , so minus many guns and armor, venturing out of the Baltic with anything other than U-boats does not seem to be on the cards for many months.
Hmmmmm...no more Bismarck , most of the cruisers and destroyers gone, and what's left mostly in the shipyard...how many end up getting scrapped?
An interesting butterfly to me is the capture of Europa and Bremen...are they still in good enough condition to be put to work as troopships?
An interesting butterfly to me is the capture of Europa and Bremen...are they still in good enough condition to be put to work as troopships?
Very few people would
Europa has some bomb damage, but can be repaired fairly easily.
Bremen took a torpedo and suffered damage when her Captain put her at flank speed in a last ditch attempt to get away from the leak in her bow, so will need more repairs, but she isn't a ctl.
Hitler is very pissed, and when he's very pissed, he tends to make decisions that aren't the most intelligent in hindsight
I did a little research and Europa was actually in service with the French until 1960...and was used as a prize ship to haul GIs back from Europe in 1945...so all of a sudden you are gifted with two large and fast troopships with hot bunking and proper troopship conversion of carrying 6-7000 troops a trip ---