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Chapter XXX: A Controversial Decision
ORP Orzel, 14:00 hours, 17 April
Jan Grudzinski, commander of ORP Orzel, a Free Polish submarine, had had a very good few weeks. Towards the end of Orzel’s previous patrol, the submarine had sunk the transport Rio de Janeiro, full of German soldiers. The sub had been scheduled for a refit, but with the need to stop German supplies to Norway, she’d been sent to patrol off Oslo as soon as she was done reprovisioning in Scotland. Now, she was beneath the waters of the Skagerrak, waiting for the next convoy. Raising the periscope, Grudzinski spotted ships in the distance, coming south through the Oslofjord. Orzel moved to a better attack position, her twelve torpedo tubes loaded with Mark VIII torpedoes.
The convoy consisted of the old pre-dreadnought Schleswig-Holstein, withdrawing to Germany for repairs to Anton turret after unwisely engaging Oscarsborg Fortress, seven troop and cargo ships, an R-Boat, two M-class minesweepers, and a Type 37 torpedo boat, so desperate was the Kriegsmarine. A Ju 88 escorted the convoy, which was met by a patrolling Type 35 torpedo boat before entering the open sea, where Orzel lay in wait. The ships being escorted were mostly empty of supplies, but losing any of them would be a blow to Germany’s ever-shrinking merchant fleet, which Allied submarines were feasting on, with 20 non-warships sunk in the last four days alone.
Grudzinski ordered firing solutions for two of the merchants and Schleswig-Holstein, which Orzel had blockaded in Danzig 7 months prior before fleeing to Estonia and then the UK. The first torpedoes left their tubes at 14:47, the bow four heading for a large troop transport, two from a trainable mount on their way to Schleswig-Holstein, and the second pair from the trainable mount on course towards a cargo ship. As a precaution, Grudzinski took the submarine down 8 meters. Two explosions were recorded in the ship’s log before a minesweeper depth charged the submarine with no luck.
The first explosion was a torpedo sentencing the troopship to a watery grave. The second hit impacted Schleswig-Holstein, the ship that fired the first shots in the current war, almost perfectly amidships. Orzel surfaced a half hour later to see Schleswig-Holstein with a heavy list, lowering boats into the water, and the stern of the troopship descending into the sea behind her and to the west. The picture Grudzinski took through the periscope is an iconic photo of the Allied submarine campaign against German convoys to Norway, as well as the Norwegian Campaign itself; a Google Search of the latter shows the picture as the fourth from the top. The sinking was also meaningful for the Poles because Schleswig-Holstein had begun the invasion of their country when she fired on Westerplatte.
Berlin, 7:53 hours, 18 April
Eric Raeder waited outside Hitler’s office turning his cap in his shaking hands. The Kriegsmarine was in ruins. Total losses for the campaign were 1 battleship, 1 pre-dreadnought, 2 heavy cruisers, 5 light cruisers, 18 destroyers, 10 torpedo boats, 8 minesweepers, 2 training ships, 5 R-Boats, 1 S-Boat tender, 12 S-Boats, and 8 U-Boats. Two battleships, one heavy cruiser, and several U-Boats and torpedo boats required lengthy repairs. Raeder was very concerned with his future, for both his career and his family.
Raeder was told to enter the office. Hitler was sitting behind his desk, going over paperwork.
“You wished to see me, mein Fuhrer?”
“Yes, Raeder. Sit.” Hitler took a breath. “Raeder, what is wrong with the Kriegsmarine, all the money the Reich poured into it, all the great battleships and cruisers, and it is now virtually destroyed? Why did we waste money on these expensive ships that have been nothing but cannon fodder?”
Raeder could see Hitler was working himself into a frenzy. “Mein Fuhrer, the Royal Navy is much stronger than the Kriegsmarine. If we had waited until 1945, when our great construction program would complete-”
“What?! Those expensive ships would’ve been blown out of the water too?! The Reich began the war NOW, and the Kriegsmarine should’ve been ready for real combat NOW!!” bellowed Hitler. “Your great battleships did NOTHING, your commanders are incompetent, your U-Boats have yet to sink anything greater than a DESTROYER, and most of your operations as part of Weserubung, which YOU pushed for, were failures!! Our greatest, easiest victory came at Stavanger, which was an attack carried out by the Luftwaffe and Heer!! Those two services have performed competently, while the Kriegsmarine has blundered about, losing ships to coastal guns, the tiny Norwegian Navy, obsolete BIPLANES, then sending a too small force to resupply Trondheim, which was promptly sunk by the Royal Navy WITHOUT CASUALTIES!! Next, those Allies start massacring our supply ships, which your great Kriegsmarine has done a terrible job of protecting!! WHY HAS THE KRIEGSMARINE LET GERMANY DOWN?!!” Hitler bellowed, red faced, now on his feet.
Raeder was pale. This was bad, this was very bad. “Mein Fuhrer, the Luftwaffe hasn’t provided sufficient air cover for our convoy-”
“The Luftwaffe has done more for the Reich than the Kriegsmarine!! I will no longer waste resources on the Kriegsmarine!! As of now, all ships larger than destroyers will be sent to the scrapyards, and destroyers and submarines will be limited in number!! The Reich has no need for the Kriegsmarine in its quest to unite the Aryan Race!!”
“Mein Fuhrer, you are making a mistake! Just give the Kriegsmarine time to complete Tirpitz, Eugen, and some destroyers, and repair our damaged ships, and it will redeem itself!”
“No!!” Hitler shouted. “The ships are useless if they can’t win battles, and they can’t win battles!! By the end of the week, I want all ships larger than destroyers in the scrapyard!!”
Raeder played his final card. “I cannot allow this. I therefore tender my resignation from the Kriegsmarine.”
By 25 April, a plan for the Kriegsmarine was in place. Schlesien and Leipzig would be retained as training ships, the destroyers and torpedo boats under construction would be completed, 20 U-Boats would be built each year until further notice, and everything larger than the above ships would be scrapped. This was one of the largest effects of the Norwegian Campaign.
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