Grand Alliance (Kirov Series) (20 page)

Now he realized what must have
gone through Karpov’s mind when he was faced with the convergence of both
British and American fleets in that very first run he made through the Denmark
Strait. Karpov knew he had one weapon to clear the seas of his enemies, and one
that would still leave his primary missile inventory intact. It made ruthless
sense now as Volsky looked at the hard numbers before him.

“Mister Rodenko? Have we obtained
any battle damage assessment?”

“We don’t have the KA-40 for long
range visuals, but from radar returns the lead ship we targeted has fallen off
and reduced speed. I think we can assume a good amount of damage there. We hit
two ships, the British hit three. One of those was a smaller class ship,
probably a cruiser.”

“And we have 28 missiles
remaining…” Volsky thought, and Rodenko was watching him very closely. He had
seen what Karpov’s choice would have been—argued against it, and suggested they
disengage from Admiral Togo’s fleet, but Karpov had been determined. It took
the mutiny of the entire bridge crew, and Doctor Zolkin’s timely intervention,
to stay the Captain’s hand. One thing in Rodenko’s mind was still unanswered.

“Sir,” he said. “We haven’t heard
from
Kazan
of late. Do you have any idea where Gromyko is?”

Volsky looked at his watch. “He
is most likely on the other side of Sicily. I told him to see about closing the
Sicilian narrows, but he is running silent until 16:00. Then we will see what
his situation is, so that leaves this battle to us.”

“We could step aside now sir. The
British have four battleships out there.”

“Yes? Well the Italians still
have six. We do not yet have good battle damage assessments. So I am inclined
to proceed here, but I would prefer to conserve my missiles.”

“We could try one more salvo of
four, sir.”

“Would four more P-900s do the
job? I wonder. Let us try another approach, Mister Rodenko. Activate our
Vodopad system. When will we have range with that?”

“The Vodopads?” Volsky was asking
about their torpedoes. The name meant “Waterfall,” probably meant to describe
the way the torpedoes would fall from the side of the ship, dipping into the
sea before they ignited their rocket engines. For a time they would become a
missile, streaking out to their assigned targets before entering the sea again
to finish their approach as a wake homing torpedo.

“Yes,” said Volsky. “I’ve never
been really happy with the performance of those torpedoes, but this is a target
rich environment now. If we fire we are almost certain to find targets. Is that
system cleared for action?”

“Yes sir, and we still have nine
Vodopad torpedoes ready. I saw to the inventory myself after the maintenance
evolution.”

“Good. Let’s use a few. We have
the range now, if I am not mistaken. Samsonov?”

“That system is on Tasarov’s
board, sir.”

Tasarov had been lost in the sea
again, listening to the Italian fleet, memorizing the sounds as he filed them
away in his mind. Then he dimly heard his name and sat up at attention.

“No undersea contacts, sir.”

Volsky smiled. “Good to hear
that. Am I to understand you are the firing officer for the Vodopad torpedo
system we are now discussing?”

“Sir? Yes sir. The Vodopad
system. I have that on my board. My inventory reads nine torpedoes.”

“Good enough. Do we have range on
this system yet, Mister Tasarov?”

“Yes sir. We can fire now with
the Vodopads, or use the UGST type 53 at 50 kilometers.”

“Very well. Vodopad system.
Target the heart of the enemy formation. Salvo of four torpedoes please.”

“Aye sir.” Tasarov finally had
something to do.

* * *

When
the torpedoes fired
they appeared again as rockets in the sky. The Italians were on edge and began
firing at the oncoming streaks as soon as they saw them, the battleships
putting out a barrage of flak that was totally useless. They did not know that
however, and when the torpedoes completed their rocket assisted phase and fell
into the sea, there were cheers on the bridge of the
Littorio
and throughout
the fleet.

“See there!” said Iachino. Our
gunners have a keen eye today! These new British rocket weapons can be stopped
after all.”

He had no idea what was
happening, that four lethal torpedoes were now boring in on his formation at 50
miles per hour. The torpedoes made a wakeless approach, and homed in by seeking
the frothing wakes of the ships they targeted. The cruiser
Pola
was the
first to feel their bite, with a large explosion aft from the big 300kg warhead
that nearly blew the entire stern off the ship. The cruiser was still fighting
fires in the van from the missile hit it had taken, then it suddenly exploded.

Before the shock and surprise had
set in,
Caio Duilio
took a hit. The torpedo had run up beneath the
battleship’s hull, exploding to send a massive shock dome of water that was
intended to break the ship’s back. These were not torpedoes that would aim to
strike a ship on the side and simply blow holes in the torpedo bulwark. The old
ship was severely shaken by the heavy explosion, her hull breached at the
bottom of the ship and water flooding in.

A destroyer was unfortunate to be
the third victim. There were fourteen hovering about, largely on the flanks of
Iachino’s formation, and the
Folgore
was the fish that was speared, with
an explosion that did break the ships back, sending the ship into the dark sea
within minutes. Admiral Iachino’s battleship
Littorio
took the fourth
hit, right on her rudders and screws, with catastrophic damage there. The
Vodopads had acquitted themselves, but Iachino believed he had been hit by
lurking submarines!

Outraged by the attack, he bawled
orders to his destroyer captains, which immediately set the ships frothing
about and pinging wildly with their sonar sets to look for the suspected
British submarine. None would be found. The culprit was fifty kilometers away,
and a grim smile slowly settled onto Admiral Volsky’s face when Rodenko
reported four more hits, and two on primary contacts. Within ten minutes
Rodenko was able to report that a second capital ship had dramatically slowed
and appeared to be wallowing, then a third.

The Italians had suffered a
severe blow, and all without ever seeing an enemy ship.
Conte Cavour
was
still burning badly, her boilers involved, and unable to make more than 12
knots. She had fallen out of Iachino’s battle line and was now attended by four
destroyers. Cruiser
Pola
was gone,
Caio Duilio
wallowing with a
near broken back aft of her mid section. Now
Littorio
had lost all
propulsion on three screws, and had severe rudder damage that sent her into a
wide, slow circle.

Iachino was forced to transfer
his flag to the nearest ship, battleship
Veneto
following right behind
the
Littorio
. Admiral Bergamini had also decided to move to the
battleship
Andrea Doria
, which had only taken one rocket hit and had
managed to control the resulting fire. Now three battleships were decidedly out
of the action, and it was a naval disaster of the highest order. Iachino knew
he would be foolish to proceed under these circumstances, and set about issuing
orders for heavy cruisers to take the stricken battleships in tow. He would
form a new covering force with his remaining three battleships,
Roma, Veneto
and
Andrea Doria
, but this fight was over, all thoughts of seeking the
enemy now banished from his mind. Instead it would be all he could do to try to
get these wounded warriors safely back to a friendly port before he lost a
battleship.

But that was not to be.

Pleased with his torpedo attack,
Admiral Volsky informed Tovey that if he so desired, the battle was now his,
and Tovey was quick into action.

Chapter 17

HMS
Invincible
was
an awesome beast when it bared its fangs that morning. Tovey had rejoined
Cunningham’s fleet, then decided to scout on out in front with
Invincible
and a couple fast heavy cruisers. He took
York
and
Kent
, leaving
Berwick
with Cunningham, though he also borrowed a fist full of destroyers. The
remaining three British battleships increased speed, and the hunt was on.

Tovey signaled Captain Bridge
aboard the
Eagle
and told him to prepare to launch everything he had.
When he finally heard the high mast call out enemy ship sighted, he was eager
for action. All thoughts of time travel and altered history were gone for the
moment. He would make some new history here in the anger from the nine 16-inch
guns of
Invincible
.

He had been late to the party
when Admiral Holland got himself into trouble up north, and he had been unable
to find and chase down the
Hindenburg
when it fled south after that
dastardly attack on the Faeroes. He did manage to sight the German task force,
but wisdom had advised him to wait for
King George V
and
Prince of
Wales
, but they were too slow to catch up to the action.

This time things would be
different. He looked over his shoulder, almost expecting to see the young
officer he had taken under his wing there with eager excitement in his eyes,
Christopher Wells. But the man was long gone, now serving as the Captain of the
carrier
Glorious
with Somerville’s Force H.

Never mind. Now it was time to
fight. He opened the action at long range, more to announce his coming than
anything else when he finally found the Italian Fleet. Iachino immediately
answered with the guns from
Veneto
and
Roma
, his two best ships. Tovey
got lucky with the first hit, adding insult to the injury Iachino’s fleet had
already sustained. A 16-inch round struck the
Andrea Doria
forward, very
near the main turret there, the blast canting one of the three 12-inch guns
upward with the violence of that explosion. The shell penetrated deep, setting off
the forward magazine, and Iachino’s fate was sealed.

He stared, wide eyed at the
massive explosion on
Andrea Doria
, cursing under his breath. Damn the
British! Damn them to the deepest hell, because that is where they are sending
my ships, and the only place I am ever likely to get my revenge!

He stayed in the fight. His honor
demanded it, though all the while he fretted that the enemy would unleash
another barrage of those rocket weapons upon him. None came.
Roma
acquitted herself well, framing the British battleship with good, accurate
fire, but getting no hits. Thinking his battleships finally had the range, and
knowing he still outgunned the British with
Veneto
and
Roma
,
Iachino took heart, until his lookouts reported a large formation coming up from
the southeast. Cunningham’s fleet had arrived, and the distant flash from the
dark shadows on the horizon told Iachino the enemy was firing.

Then the last straw came when flights
of British torpedo planes came buzzing in off the
Eagle
and
Hermes
.
The skies were soon filled with hot fire and smoke, even as he felt his ship
roll heavily from a near miss of a heavy round. He gave his destroyers the
order to make smoke, and reluctantly turned. Only his speed could save him now.
Andrea Doria
was lost. The British gunners would make short work of her,
but his two fast battleships might yet escape.

The next minutes were a wild
gauntlet of attacking
Swordfish
torpedo bombers trying to cut off his
retreat, vectoring from every side and forcing him to make hard turns to avoid
the torpedoes. The adrenaline of the moment chased the bile of defeat from his
throat, but he knew he was as badly beaten as any Admiral at sea. Only one
British battleship had the speed to stay with his retreating covering force,
and Iachino was in a hot gun duel with
Invincible
for the next twenty
minutes. The British ships unique gun turret placement allowed all three to
fire if Tovey simply made ten point turns. His central turret, forward of the
two vertical stacks, could then easily engage any target he was pursuing. So as
Invincible
approached, the ship seemed to be tacking this way and that,
like an old sailing ship. even though he was outnumbered two battleships to
one, he was able to use nine main guns against only six from the rear turrets
of the fleeing enemy. He would score two more hits, neither enough to slow
Iachino down. Then his radar operator picked up the main Italian fleet, and
this was reinforced by a message from
Kirov
, giving him the position and
size of the formation he was now approaching.

Good enough, thought Tovey. We’ve
given them one hell of a beating, haven’t we? His destroyers were out dueling
with the Italian destroyer screen, and his cruisers were following in his wake,
but now he could see they were up against a large number of Italian ships, too
many to wisely engage with his much smaller task force. So he decided to break
off, turn about, and rejoin Admiral Cunningham. When he returned to the scene,
he could see that
Queen Elizabeth
had taken at least one good hit, with
a small fire amidships, but the British had beaten the
Andrea Doria
to a
pulp. Cunningham had already given the order to cease fire, humanely, and he
had ordered several of his escorting destroyers to rescue the Italian crew gone
into the sea.

For their part, the airmen off
Eagle
and
Hermes
were unable to get a hit on Iachino’s remaining fast
battleships, but two flights found the main body, and bravely charged in to put
another two torpedoes into
Conte Cavour
, and one more into the
foundering
Caio Duilio
. The Italians would lose more than half of their
battlefleet that day, with
Caio
Duilio, Conte Cavour
and
Andrea
Doria
all going down with the stricken heavy cruiser
Pola
. Two
cruisers vainly tried to tow away the
Littorio
, but her rudders were so badly
damaged by the Vodopad torpedo hit that the ship could not be steered. The
British fleet was soon on the horizon again, and rather than suffer an
ignominious pounding at the hands of the enemy. Iachino sullenly ordered the
ship to be scuttled, saving as much of the crew as he could.