Apologies for the delay on this. Taking longer than I would like.
On the other hand, apparently the way to get me writing is to get me depressed. Because depressed Sky finally got TKA updated and also wrote a Minitoga bit in my snip thread. As for here? While I don't have a chapter put together, have a preview:
With a grimace of pain, Bismarck wiped away a trail of blood from her forehead. The crackle and thunder of gunfire permeated the air, echoing even inside her bridge. Training was one thing...actual combat was quite another thing entirely. She had not known exactly what the expect, when she finally entered combat. Her Admiral's words and the training she and her crew had been through could only do so much. And evidently, not enough. She felt the pain of a shell impact.
Her entire body ached with the strain of maneuvers and gunfire directed at the ships she was dueling. Bismarck had no doubt she would win. The tiny mustached man was wrong about her being the most powerful in the world. However, she did not doubt her strength nor the words of her Admiral.
She would win.
She had to win.
"Bismarck, are you alright?" Schreiber, of course, was right by her side. He always was.
"Of course!" And Bismarck was not about to show any worry in front of him. She stood at her full height, much taller than her old Admiral, and gave him a cocky grin. "It will take more than this to hurt me!"
Schreiber clearly didn't believe her, raising a single eyebrow. "Hm. Bismarck, let me know the moment anything serious happens. I want to make sure we can make Brest if need be."
Not giving her a chance to respond, the Admiral spun away and walked over to Captain Lindemann. The Admiral understood just how important it was to let a Captain fight his ship, and that his position was not to give orders like that. Though he would still offer advice, apparently.
"Captain, we should maintain as much distance as possible. We outrange the British, and while our own fire is inaccurate, it is more accurate than their own." Schrieber spoke calmly into his Captain's ear.
Lindemann turned his head, nodding along with Schreiber's words. "Of course. And I have Prinz Eugen and Blücher keeping the smaller vessels busy. Not one torpedo will hit Bismarck today."
"Good. However, we must finish this quickly. The longer we dally, the more the British will have a chance to get other forces here. Even aircraft." Schreiber's voice was deadly serious, when he spoke of the threat of aviation.
Part of Bismarck bristled at the implication she could not defender herself. The rest of her knew that her best defense was putting enough lead into the air that she hit something, somewhere. Not a great defense and not one that the Admiral wanted to put to the test. Still, however, she was quite confident that this little battle would not be the death of her. She could win if she just fought as well as she could and put trust in her crew...
And a cute that made me smile:
(WSG!Shigure, by the way)
If I can, I'll get the next chapter up tomorrow. I hope.
With a grimace of pain, Bismarck wiped away a trail of blood from her forehead. The crackle and thunder of gunfire permeated the air, echoing even inside her bridge. Training was one thing...actual combat was quite another thing entirely. She had not known exactly what the expect, when she finally entered combat. Her Admiral's words and the training she and her crew had been through could only do so much. And evidently, not enough. She felt the pain of a shell impact.
Her entire body ached with the strain of maneuvers and gunfire directed at the ships she was dueling. Bismarck had no doubt she would win. The tiny mustached man was wrong about her being the most powerful in the world. However, she did not doubt her strength nor the words of her Admiral.
She would win.
She had to win.
"Bismarck, are you alright?" Schreiber, of course, was right by her side. He always was.
"Of course!" And Bismarck was not about to show any worry in front of him. She stood at her full height, much taller than her old Admiral, and gave him a cocky grin. "It will take more than this to hurt me!"
Schreiber clearly didn't believe her, raising a single eyebrow. "Hm. Bismarck, let me know the moment anything serious happens. I want to make sure we can make Brest if need be."
Not giving her a chance to respond, the Admiral spun away and walked over to Captain Lindemann. The Admiral understood just how important it was to let a Captain fight his ship, and that his position was not to give orders like that. Though he would still offer advice, apparently.
"Captain, we should maintain as much distance as possible. We outrange the British, and while our own fire is inaccurate, it is more accurate than their own." Schrieber spoke calmly into his Captain's ear.
Lindemann turned his head, nodding along with Schreiber's words. "Of course. And I have Prinz Eugen and Blücher keeping the smaller vessels busy. Not one torpedo will hit Bismarck today."
"Good. However, we must finish this quickly. The longer we dally, the more the British will have a chance to get other forces here. Even aircraft." Schreiber's voice was deadly serious, when he spoke of the threat of aviation.
Part of Bismarck bristled at the implication she could not defend herself. The rest of her knew that her best defense was putting enough lead into the air that she hit something, somewhere. Not a great defense and not one that the Admiral wanted to put to the test. Still, however, she was quite confident that this little battle would not be the death of her. She could win if she just fought as well as she could and put trust in her crew...
Testing myself against a British battleship. This is what I was built for!
"I had wanted to avoid this," her Admiral spun back around, standing by her side as the bridge crew did their duties. His eyes were sunken and tired. His hand tightly gripping her own, if only because he couldn't touch her shoulder in this situation. "Fighting a battleship so soon."
"I may not agree with the Führer," Bismarck practically spat the word out, her ice-blue eyes narrowing to a slim point. "But I am better than any of these old antiques the English have!"
Schreiber didn't dispute the point. All he did was turn his eyes out on the distant enemy as he spoke. "Perhaps. Even so..."
The Admiral did not finish his sentence. The roar of Bismarck's guns firing did that for him. Sheets of flame. Thunder. These flashed from the massive barrels of her turrets, lancing out at the distant British forces. Ships far enough away that, to the Admiral, they were little more than distant masses with smoke and water flying into the air around them. And of course, fire from the largest of those masses as she returned fire with the same guns as Bismarck.
Who, for her part, could see with the same clarity as the man sitting in her firing top, calling out the fall of shot. And she knew exactly what was shooting back at her, despite the fact she was well beyond the effective range of her guns.
HMS Revenge or one of her sisters. Not the oldest battleship in the Royal Navy, but the least effective for certain. Bismarck had, before her Admiral sent her a disappointed look, sneered at the thought of fighting her. And if she was being honest, that feeling had not gone away in the slightest. As the British shells fell far short of her hull, it wouldn't go away. She was the most modern battleship in Europe against a relic from the Great War that had never been properly modernized. Was she supposed to not feel superior?
"You worry too much, Admiral," Bismarck turned a grin at her time-traveling superior. Despite the little line of blood running down her cheek, her enthusiasm for battle was undimmed. This was what she was meant to do. "I'll win this, no problem!"
Admiral Schreiber turned away from the windows, as increasing fire from the cruisers joined Bismarck's. His eyes stared directly into the lighter blue of Bismarck, searching her for...something. And whatever it was--
"That is what I'm worried about."
--he found it wanting, as he let go of her hand and walked back to Lindemann.
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"Feuer!!"
Captain Lange raised a single eyebrow, as he looked at Blücher perched on her bridge wing, arm flung out and pink hair blowing wildly behind her. A wide grin was on her face. An almost childish expression, matched only by the cheer in her voice. Like a little kid in a candy shop.
That her hand was directed at the form of a burning British destroyer didn't seem to occur to her. Rain still fell upon her hull. Her weapons were still firing. And yet, the cruiser showed no sign of caring. Perhaps he shouldn't have been surprised by that, nor the fact she was acting exactly as her sister did. From what he knew of Prinz Eugen, at any rate.
She's probably trying to act like big sister.
Forcing down the amused smile that brought to his face, Lange sucked in a breath and returned to fighting his ship. Blücher could do what she wanted, it made little difference in the end. It was his job to command these men and fight this battle. And so long as that was his duty, he would perform it to the best of his abilities.
"One destroyer sinking, Kapitän."
The report had Lange nodding slightly. His sharp eyes looking out at the smoke-choked deck of his cruiser, as Blücher dove through a particularly nasty swell. He hadn't taken any hits and the destroyer had not gotten off her torpedoes at Bismarck. Lange was doing his job. Part of it, at the least.
"Switch targets." The young Captain barked out, turning his gaze out- past the wildly gesturing form of Blücher -to the distant rumble of high-caliber British shellfire. He couldn't sink a battleship.
But damn if he couldn't hurt one.
"Elevation...twenty. Adjusting range-finders." The gunnery officer's voice served as a slight distraction, as Lange turned away and walked over towards another man.
Coughing slightly as smoke came into the bridge, the Captain placed a hand on the lower-ranked officer's shoulder. Grey eyes met Lange's, as he shouted over the sound of a rolling broadside from Blücher's eight-inch rifles.
"Get a message to Prinz Eugen. I want to coordinate our fire and take the pressure off Bismarck. The Admiral will move closer soon, and she cannot be damaged. Understood?"
The other officer nodded, "Understood, Kapitän. What of the destroyers?"
"Hm." Lange looked back out the bridgewing, and for the first time, his eyes met Blücher's. The violet was quite serious, despite the wide smile on the cruiser's youthful face. She shook her head slowly, before waving out at the water and mouthing words at him. Somehow completely visible despite the smoke and fire.
'Don't worry about destroyers. I'll warn you before any get close. You can rely on me!'
Nodding slowly, the Captain turned his eyes back to the confused man by his side. "Don't worry about them. Our lookouts and radar will spot them before they get close. Though..."
Coughing again, Lange reached into his pocket and pulled out a notepad. Quickly scribbling an additional message onto it, the Captain pulled the paper out and pressed it into the hand of his messenger. A serious expression crossing his face, without a single hint of remorse.
"If any of the transports try to flee, switch fire to them. Sinking a battleship is all well and good, but--" Lange frowned deeply, his next words chosen with utmost care. "It won't matter if the transports escape. The British have battleships to spare, they can't afford to lose transports with the U-Boat campaign."
Eyes widening in understanding, the younger officer nodded and clutched the note tightly. He clearly resisted the urge to toss a salute, instead settling for a squaring of his shoulders.
"Yes sir! I'll have this message sent to Prinz Eugen immediately!"
Without another word, the man rushed out of the bridge, as Blücher turned hard to port. The cruiser's lean hull sliced through the waves, a spout of water splashing just across her bow. The impact of a fifteen-inch shell enough to rattle Lange's teeth, even from a distance. Gripping the railing by his side so slightly that his hands whitened, Lange grit his teeth.
Well, I need to remember that she can shoot us just as well as we can shoot her. Get any closer, and if that Captain has any idea of what he's doing, he'll shoot at us. I'm not going to be the one to tell the Admiral that I got his daughter shot out from under him.
Honestly, he was far from blind. The Captain knew how those two acted around each other. That aside...a particularly close detonation had Lange nearly lose his footing. A sardonic smile crossing his face, while his crew scrambled to check for damage.
Assuming, of course, I live to tell about it.
"Hard to starboard!" Lange shouted, in full command-mode as he let go of the railing. His feet were steady despite the swerving vessel beneath him. His eyes sharp and focused. "Follow the shells. They won't shoot in the same place twice."
A classic tactic for ships of all sizes, in modern warfare. Weave towards the splash of shells from the enemy, banking on the idea they won't aim in the same spot twice. That they would have adjusted their rangefinders according to the miss. It worked...most of the time.
"Anton and Bruno are ready to fire!"
Lange allowed a small smirk to cross his face, when that shout reached his ears. His crew were well-drilled, and perfectly able to work without his direct orders. He didn't need to babysit them.
But for this? No, this was something that was his job.
"Fire!"
"Feuer!"
Blücher, of course, joined in. Both of their shouts drowned out by the roar of her forward eight-inch batteries firing at the distant British battleship. Blücher continuing her turn, to unshadow her stern turrets as well. In the distance, Prinz Eugen did much the same. And further still, Bismarck's massive bulk cut through the waves with no problems.
I understand why the Captain is worried. But this battle? There is no chance the English can win. They were outnumbered and outgunned from the start.
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The Captain was not wrong. Blücher's fire flew short, straddling the slowly maneuvering form of the British battlewagon. Prinz Eugen's shells impacted on the thick belt of the Revenge, the armor doing what it was designed to do. It would have deafened anyone near to the impact and left terrific dents in the plate, but it did not penetrate. Revenge, or one of her sisters, returned fire at the cruisers. Perhaps her Captain had decided to focus on the 'easier' targets first. Eliminate the cruisers, eliminate Bismarck's support.
And while she was old, the British warship was an excellent gunnery platform. Even in the soup that was the storm the warships fought in.
Her fifteen-inch rifles boomed, flame flashing from her barrels as shells lanced out. Shells weighing nearly a ton flew straight and true, straddling Blücher, just as she had done to the battleship. But where German eight-inch shells merely sent up spouts of water, British 15-inch shells detonated in the water. One close enough to pop rivets and buckle hull plates. Blücher heeled over sharply, her crew struggling to get her turned away.
A certain pink-haired girl holding her side. Cursing at the rapidly forming bruise and the tear in her thin uniform.
Gah! How did...how did that...
As both ship and ship girl struggled to turn and present a smaller target, Bismarck moved forward. The massive battleship, second to none in Europe, plowed through both waves and debris from a pair of British destroyers. The small escorts had spent themselves bravely. Attempting to close to torpedo range, even if it had brought them against two cruisers. Now there was nothing left but floating remnants and men desperately clinging to anything that could keep them above water.
Bismarck sailed proudly through this human debris, her guns glinting in the dim light that made it through the clouds. Each massive turret, weighing more than the destroyers that had spent themselves against her, turned in their mountings. From Anton at the bow to Dora at the stern, the best German shipbuilding could produce spit their own fire at the old battleship matched against her.
That's for Blücher! And for Admiral Schreiber!
The blonde woman, fiercely scowling on her bridge, followed the track of her shells. Her excellent radar and rangefinders- insulated against her fire by her Admiral's directions -were flawless. In her unbiased opinion. Perhaps she was not wrong. Certainly, her much more modern rangefinders and plotting equipment were superior to the antiques she faced. Spouts of water flew up around the Revenge, each shell coming dangerously close to hitting. Bismarck's rangefinders immediately adjusting to take into account the fall of the shot.
Of course, the British already had the range and a much larger target to shoot at, however. Retaliatory fire from the British guns slammed into her thick belt, doubling over the ship girl and shaking the warship. And yet her armor held. Outdated her armor scheme may have been, Bismarck's belt was meant for this. A close-range slugging match against a peer opponent.
For all the pain the ship girl felt, and for all the denting and buckling of her plates...her armor held. Admiral Schreiber and Captain Lindemann maintained the distance and refused to allow the British to bait them any closer. Bismarck even increased the distance, as her crew raced to load new shells into her guns.
This is it. The crew have the range, and we're far enough away for plunging fire. I'm sorry.
As her Admiral said a silent prayer for the lives he was about to take, even if not by his own hands, Bismarck's guns roared once more. Lighter shells crossed the distance between the two battleships quickly, flashing down on the sluggishly turning Revenge. Agile for a battleship, the weather worked against her just as it had Blücher. Her turn was too slow. Too late. And too little.
Shells from Bismarck's turret Caesar smashed through her unmodernized deck armor, coring through wood and steel alike. Decks buckled and men died along the path of the projectiles. The German shells, their momentum spent and their arming complete, detonated deep within the battleship. Great gouts of flame flashed skyward. Pieces of the battleship flew in ever direction, as her hull buckled outward and the ship lurched sharply to port.
No! How did they hit...no. No...I...
Slowly continuing her turn, Revenge gradually settled in the water. Her own guns desperately fired back, but the damage was done. Her rangefinders had been destroyed in the detonation. While one shell would clip Bismarck's tall mast and damage her radar, the remainder missed. And the British warship was spent. Not sunk, no, but unable to really fight back. The Revenge class had never been intended to suffer such a catastrophic hit deep inside her hull. It was only pure luck that her ammunition stores had not detonated.
Save for the six-inch casemates, heroic actions by one of her crew preventing more than one of them from detonating.
And as a final salvo from Bismarck knocked her fore turrets out of action, the battleship ceased firing. Her Captain was a man of many things. Suicidal, he was not. Willing to spend the lives of his crew, he was not. Revenge struck her colors and drifted to a halt, her crew doing everything they could to keep their warship afloat. And, in some cases, preparing to scuttle her should the Germans try to capture her. They needn't have worried.
For the damaged Blücher and undamaged Prinz Eugen had moved away, chasing down the slow transports and forcing them to come to a halt. Prize crews, loaded on the cruisers for exactly this purpose, were sent aboard to seize the valuable cargo and even more valuable transports and freighters. They would be sent back to Germany, under guard of Blücher. Prinz Eugen would escort Bismarck back to France, the need for repairs clear as oil leaked from her damaged fuel bunkers.
Aboard that warship, an old man let out a deep sigh.
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"This is a great victory, Admiral!" Captain Lindemann was normally a reserved man. However, in this case, he was just as exuberant as his crew.
They had crippled a battleship. Sank or driven off several destroyers. And captured a convoy, mostly intact save for a pair that had attempted to flee and refused to heave-to. It was a great victory, to drive off the shame of Gneisenau's sinking. Blücher and Bismarck may have been damaged, but it hardly mattered to this victory!
Admiral Schreiber just sighed deeply, "Perhaps. But we have not escaped without damage of our own. We will need to return to Brest."
"The Royal Navy has no idea where we are, Admiral. I am confident we can make it." Lindemann seemed to not be worried.
In a way, I almost envy him. That confidence borne of not knowing how the British will react.
"I only hope we can. The Führer is not a forgiving man." Schreiber looked at his Captain. A man whom he really, truly, did not know. Not like Lange. "And the damage we have taken is extensive."
That, more than his other words, got through to the Captain. Lindemann frowning slightly as he replied, "Ah, yes. You are worried about how the Führer will react?"
"Yes."
Schreiber did not say any more on that subject, though it was truly only one part of what worried him. Yes, he did worry- fear even -the reaction of Hitler. A successful raid this may have been. However, Bismarck had taken damage that would take weeks to repair. Adolf Hitler was notoriously, infamously mercurial. It was impossible to say how he would react. And yes, that did worry the time-traveling Admiral.
"I am equally as worried how the British will react." The old man rubbed his brow, studiously ignoring Bismarck groaning behind him. Her hands resting on her heavily bruised torso. "If I know the Royal Navy, they will not rest until they have avenged this defeat. And sunk Bismarck, no matter the cost. As I'm sure our Italian allies can attest."
Lindemann scoffed, "The Luftwaffe will never allow a repeat of Taranto. I share the prevailing opinion of the Italian's capability of fighting this war."
"Hm."
Diplomatically choosing not to comment on that, Schreiber looked out at the burning form of the Revenge in the distance. The fires appeared to be under control, yet even from this distance he could see the way her turrets bent. Barrels torn from their mountings. And her hull deformed from the detonation of at least two shells, deep within her poorly armored deck. Would this ship, whom he may have known in the future though he could not say which of the sisters it was now, survive?
Perhaps. Yet he couldn't say for sure. The white flag flying from her mast had almost been a relief, in a way. Despite everything, Schreiber did not want to kill someone who he may view as an ally one day. If everything worked out in the end...
"We may be fighting on the same side. I don't want to kill her. This will be more than enough if I--" shaking his head, the Admiral stopped speaking. His words had been soft. So soft that, if she weren't in pain, Bismarck was the only one who could possibly have heard him.
Turning away from the battleship, Schreiber looked at Lindemann. His Captain clearly wanted to say something. And the old officer had a feeling he knew what it was.
"We will not sink her," he spoke before the younger man had a chance. Schreiber sighed softly, shrugging his shoulders in an almost Gallic gesture. "She may yet sink without our intervention as it sits."
"Should we not deny the English one of their battleships, though?" Lindemann pointed out at the flaming wreck that was once a proud warship of the Great War.
Schreiber's lips twisted into a frown. "I daresay we already have. Even if she doesn't sink, the British lack the resources to repair that damage. She will be a hulk at best."
"And that is why we are not taking her under tow?"
That had been a suggestion, soon after the first crippling blows. Taking the battleship as a prize to replace the lost Gneisenau. It had quickly been shot down as impossible. Bismarck could not afford to be slowed down towing a barely afloat wreck and Germany could hardly repair that damage either. Nor were there enough men to form a prize crew.
"Yes, and why we are not sinking her. It would be a waste of ammunition, and this may serve our purposes better." Schreiber didn't elaborate beyond that.
Lindemann clearly expected him to, but the Admiral refused to. The best he would give his Captain was a simple--
"The British will know of us, no matter what we do. Perhaps allowing them to save the survivors of this battle will slow them down from hunting us."
--and very off-topic excuse. Sure, it was perfectly logical. By forcing the British to recover a full ship of survivors- and possibly the warship herself -they would have to use resources better spent hunting Bismarck. For Admiral Schreiber, however, it fit into his own plans better. This battle would almost certainly earn him a reputation of a hero back home, if the mercurial Hitler approved of it. A reputation he would need in the future were he to save Germany. As for the rest?
For all that she groaned in pain, Bismarck had sent a message to that crippled battleship-girl. A message that was equally as simple as his excuse had been.
'I wish to talk to your Admiralty. I know you can print messages. Get this to your Admiralty if you are able. I am not an enemy of the British Empire, nor of your Allies. I am merely a man trying to save Germany. I have information that can help us both, and the Americans as well.
-Gustav Schreiber
Commanding Officer- Bismarck.
Across the Atlantic Ocean, another man stood at the climax of his own plans. A deceptively simple hardwood door all that stood between him and what would decide his fate. And the fate of all that he had done. A man to meet, who would either believe him or throw him out of the Navy. The man who held in his hands the power to change everything. In a way that no other man could.
And for James Thompson, the idea of meeting this man had him quaking in his boots. Metaphorically speaking, as he refused to show even an inch of nervousness to the imposing Richardson and slim Stark on either side of him. He couldn't.
"This is what you wanted, Admiral Thompson," Stark's thin voice spoke up beside him. The bespectacled Admiral stared at Thompson, sizing the man up behind his round glasses. "I hope you are ready. I can assure you, this is not a man who will take any excuses."
"As can I," Richardson's voice was as gruff as ever- save for a hint of amusement. "In fact, I daresay that I am amazed he has not demoted me yet. We do not see eye-to-eye on many things."
That, if nothing else, Thompson already knew. From his increasingly vague recollections of historical works.
"I know. This is the culmination of everything I've done, and if I can't convince him, it was all for nothing. No pressure." Thompson forced a smile onto his face, as the door in front of him opened up at the hands of an orderly.
"The President will see you now."
This chapter...this chapter.
I went back and forth on this a dozen times. I looked through no fewer than fives books to try and get the research down. And in the end, I'm still not entirely satisfied with it. Hopefully it turned out well enough at least. The battle itself I tried to avoid 'World of Warships syndrome' in. When I say 'close in' that's a relative thing. These combat ranges are still at long-range and the ships trade broadsides, not try and angle against each other.
And it lasted a lot longer than the chapter. Along the lines of a few hours, a midpoint between the time the Terrible Twins ganged up on Renown and the (entire) Denmark Strait battle. That's why I started in the middle of the battle instead of the start. Assume that about the same amount of salvos as the Denmark Strait battle were fired. I clearly had this as a successful sortie because if Schreiber got anything but that, his story would be rather short
(The Brit BB getting ganked in a couple salvos is a direct shoutout to Hood, who lasted only eight minutes after Lindemann ragequit at Lutjen's lack of shooting and started firing)
For those who care:
As I've said before, Bismarck>Revenge. Even if you go for the memetic BISMARCK IS A WW1 BB IN DISGUISE thing, she's still a WW1 BB with better armor, guns, rangefinders and radar. And speed. Two of the books mentioned above are the excellent-if-not-Friedman-tier Burt British Battleship books (WW1 and WW2). And from these, I can say that the Revenge class got very minimum refitting and modernization. Most of the funds went to the QEs, and even then Barham and Malaya also got limited refitting. So Bismarck has literally every advantage in this fight, even if you consider her a deeply flawed design.
Which she is, though I feel the 'WW1 BB' thing is overstated.
I tried to show this in the battle. The R-class is outclassed, if still dangerous because Bismarck is not a great BB in her own right. It's why the first two bits are different from the third. Those are from biased perspectives (Bisko and Lange) while the third is more omniscient and less-biased. Which is why it goes from BISKO STRONK to BISKO DAMAGED so quickly. Just because the Revenge has unmodernized turrets and ranging systems (to some extent) doesn't mean she can't hurt Bismarck.
On that note, from what I've seen...well. The German sources are gone (or else very hard to find) but USN estimates- using 16/45's -have Bisko with a quite good immunity zone against those guns. For the important bits. So while Revenge gave Bismarck a good knocking, she can't quite get through the main belt at the range they're fighting at.
The upper belt, on the other hand...
Hopefully what I was aiming for came through. Being as it's 5 in the morning, I'm probably not lucid enough to elaborate properly. Will do so if needed later.
Phew.
Anywho, as per the ending, we move back to Thompson next chapter. FDR fun times!
There is yet another Chinese botegirl game now. Loli!Sara aside, I like quite a few of these designs. Some more than WSG counterparts. Though their KC counterparts are better in most cases.
Anywho.
While still not a perfect representation, their Hood is quite a bit closer to my Hood than WSG's. So for now, use this to visualize Hood when she crops back up.
There is yet another Chinese botegirl game now. Loli!Sara aside, I like quite a few of these designs. Some more than WSG counterparts. Though their KC counterparts are better in most cases.
Anywho.
While still not a perfect representation, their Hood is quite a bit closer to my Hood than WSG's. So for now, use this to visualize Hood when she crops back up.
"Captain, we should maintain as much distance as possible. We outrange the British, and while our own fire is inaccurate, it is more accurate than their own." Schrieber spoke calmly into his Captain's ear.
Lindemann turned his head, nodding along with Schreiber's words. "Of course. And I have Prinz Eugen and Blücher keeping the smaller vessels busy. Not one torpedo will hit Bismarck today."
"You worry too much, Admiral," Bismarck turned a grin at her time-traveling superior. Despite the little line of blood running down her cheek, her enthusiasm for battle was undimmed. This was what she was meant to do. "I'll win this, no problem!"
Admiral Schreiber turned away from the windows, as increasing fire from the cruisers joined Bismarck's. His eyes stared directly into the lighter blue of Bismarck, searching her for...something. And whatever it was--
"That is what I'm worried about."
--he found it wanting, as he let go of her hand and walked back to Lindemann.
Captain Lange raised a single eyebrow, as he looked at Blücher perched on her bridge wing, arm flung out and pink hair blowing wildly behind her. A wide grin was on her face. An almost childish expression, matched only by the cheer in her voice. Like a little kid in a candy shop.
That her hand was directed at the form of a burning British destroyer didn't seem to occur to her. Rain still fell upon her hull. Her weapons were still firing. And yet, the cruiser showed no sign of caring. Perhaps he shouldn't have been surprised by that, nor the fact she was acting exactly as her sister did. From what he knew of Prinz Eugen, at any rate.
So a WWI-battleship, some destroyers... this doesn't sound like a pursuit group. Did Bisko's group not get spotted somehow? Has the legendary british decoding capabilities not pulled through here?
The report had Lange nodding slightly. His sharp eyes looking out at the smoke-choked deck of his cruiser, as Blücher dove through a particularly nasty swell. He hadn't taken any hits and the destroyer had not gotten off her torpedoes at Bismarck. Lange was doing his job. Part of it, at the least.
"Switch targets." The young Captain barked out, turning his gaze out- past the wildly gesturing form of Blücher -to the distant rumble of high-caliber British shellfire. He couldn't sink a battleship.
Nodding slowly, the Captain turned his eyes back to the confused man by his side. "Don't worry about them. Our lookouts and radar will spot them before they get close. Though..."
Coughing again, Lange reached into his pocket and pulled out a notepad. Quickly scribbling an additional message onto it, the Captain pulled the paper out and pressed it into the hand of his messenger. A serious expression crossing his face, without a single hint of remorse.
"If any of the transports try to flee, switch fire to them.
Of course, the British already had the range and a much larger target to shoot at, however. Retaliatory fire from the British guns slammed into her thick belt, doubling over the ship girl and shaking the warship. And yet her armor held. Outdated her armor scheme may have been, Bismarck's belt was meant for this. A close-range slugging match against a peer opponent.
Shells from Bismarck's turret Caesar smashed through her unmodernized deck armor, coring through wood and steel alike. Decks buckled and men died along the path of the projectiles. The German shells, their momentum spent and their arming complete, detonated deep within the battleship. Great gouts of flame flashed skyward. Pieces of the battleship flew in ever direction, as her hull buckled outward and the ship lurched sharply to port.
Slowly continuing her turn, Revenge gradually settled in the water. Her own guns desperately fired back, but the damage was done. Her rangefinders had been destroyed in the detonation. While one shell would clip Bismarck's tall mast and damage her radar, the remainder missed.
The Revenge class had never been intended to suffer such a catastrophic hit deep inside her hull. It was only pure luck that her ammunition stores had not detonated.
Save for the six-inch casemates, heroic actions by one of her crew preventing more than one of them from detonating.
For the damaged Blücher and undamaged Prinz Eugen had moved away, chasing down the slow transports and forcing them to come to a halt. Prize crews, loaded on the cruisers for exactly this purpose, were sent aboard to seize the valuable cargo and even more valuable transports and freighters.
... prize crews? In WWII? How big is this convoy? The Royal Navy's going to turn that whole thing into scrap rather than let Germany get more resources. This is not remotely the optimal course of action, but you've clearly got a reason for it...
"This is a great victory, Admiral!" Captain Lindemann was normally a reserved man. However, in this case, he was just as exuberant as his crew.
They had crippled a battleship. Sank or driven off several destroyers. And captured a convoy, mostly intact save for a pair that had attempted to flee and refused to heave-to. It was a great victory, to drive off the shame of Gneisenau's sinking. Blücher and Bismarck may have been damaged, but it hardly mattered to this victory!
1. Bletchly Park is going to go into overtime to make up for this.
2. Yeah, this is going to be pull even more ships into the area to get Bsmarck's squadron.
For all that she groaned in pain, Bismarck had sent a message to that crippled battleship. A message that was equally as simple as his excuse had been.
'I wish to talk to your Admiralty. I know you can print messages. Get this to your Admiralty if you are able. I am not an enemy of the British Empire, nor of your Allies. I am merely a man trying to save Germany. I have information that can help us both, and the Americans as well.
-Gustav Schreiber
Commanding Officer- Bismarck.
... So that is why there's all this prize crew stuff. Schreiber playing the pr game, both for the German populace and with the British high command.
Schreiber may not be trying to defect, but get support for an assassination.
And it lasted a lot longer than the chapter. Along the lines of a few hours, a midpoint between the time the Terrible Twins ganged up on Renown and the (entire) Denmark Strait battle. That's why I started in the middle of the battle instead of the start. Assume that about the same amount of salvos as the Denmark Strait battle were fired. I clearly had this as a successful sortie because if Schreiber got anything but that, his story would be rather short
So this is all taking place in the Denmarck Strait... a convoy sailing that route, Bismarck not getting spotted... OK, sure. Brits had a bit of shit-to-the-brain, they're about to remedy that.
This is going to be real hard for the German Admiral.
The British are going to do anything, no matter the cost, to sink the Bismarck.
History Videos about the hunt below
Yeah, Extra History's good stuff. Video #3 is what has the details that'll make the next phase of the story though: Signal triangulation, transmissions both from Bismarck and mainland Europe, that'll be what gives the Royal Navy a handle on Schriber's location and destination.
And with two cruisers and a whole convoy of slow transports in tow, there's no feasible way to keep any sort of operational security, even with Schriber's knowledge of the British code-breaking. He's sitting in the most unsubtle ship afloat.
Glad to see the school kids haven't torn you to pieces yet.
Bluecher is a cutie as always, poor Pringles isn't getting any attention, nothing new there. I hope the radar getting damaged doesn't doom Bisko.
I like how Schreiber sent a message via Ship-girl. Won't this be interesting to British Command. If they listen.
Now we get to FDR, who I think there is a humorous chance that FDR knew about the Ship-girls before hand, just never said anything.
Yeah, Extra History's good stuff. Video #3 is what has the details that'll make the next phase of the story though: Signal triangulation, transmissions both from Bismarck and mainland Europe, that'll be what gives the Royal Navy a handle on Schriber's location and destination.
And with two cruisers and a whole convoy of slow transports in tow, there's no feasible way to keep any sort of operational security, even with Schriber's knowledge of the British code-breaking. He's sitting in the most unsubtle ship afloat.
Unlikely, Pringles will stay with her and she has working radar. Also, Bismarck had three radars, only one of which was in the tower mast (and none in the main mast).
Carried specifically for the purpose. OTL procedure. Bismarck carried prize crews in addition to her own. Of course, they were really unlucky prize crews.
Yeah, Extra History's good stuff. Video #3 is what has the details that'll make the next phase of the story though: Signal triangulation, transmissions both from Bismarck and mainland Europe, that'll be what gives the Royal Navy a handle on Schriber's location and destination.
And with two cruisers and a whole convoy of slow transports in tow, there's no feasible way to keep any sort of operational security, even with Schriber's knowledge of the British code-breaking. He's sitting in the most unsubtle ship afloat.
And with two cruisers and a whole convoy of slow transports in tow, there's no feasible way to keep any sort of operational security, even with Schriber's knowledge of the British code-breaking.
It's a high-value convoy escort group, something the R-class was still considered good for.
The trick is not to transmit once at sea, then Bletchley Park has nothing to intercept or decode to begin with. This is an OTL Bismarck used trick.
That is, if they could decode this particular Enigma at this point in time already.
Unlikely, Pringles will stay with her and she has working radar. Also, Bismarck had three radars, only one of which was in the tower mast (and none in the main mast).
Carried specifically for the purpose. OTL procedure. Bismarck carried prize crews in addition to her own. Of course, they were really unlucky prize crews.
They'll be snoring in their overtime as there will be no message traffic to decode.
No, this is in the open Atlantic, after a successful breakout by Biscuit, Pringles and the admiral's daughter.
1. ... what does that have to do with Bisko not being spotted?
2, 3, 6. You need to watch part 3 of Extra History's Bismarck for why European radio traffic's just as important, OTL Lütjens didn't go radio-silent, and yes they can decode Enigma by now.
7. That is contradicting what Skye said: That this is a Denmark Strait battle. And you still haven't answered my questions of why Bismarck's departure wasn't reported.
Yeah, Extra History's good stuff. Video #3 is what has the details that'll make the next phase of the story though: Signal triangulation, transmissions both from Bismarck and mainland Europe, that'll be what gives the Royal Navy a handle on Schriber's location and destination.
And with two cruisers and a whole convoy of slow transports in tow, there's no feasible way to keep any sort of operational security, even with Schriber's knowledge of the British code-breaking. He's sitting in the most unsubtle ship afloat.
Great gouts of flame flashed skyward. Pieces of the battleship flew in ever direction, as her hull buckled outward and the ship lurched sharply to port.
And as a final salvo from Bismarck knocked her fore turrets out of action, the battleship ceased firing. Her Captain was a man of many things. Suicidal, he was not. Willing to spend the lives of his crew, he was not. Revenge struck her colors and drifted to a halt, her crew doing everything they could to keep their warship afloat. And, in some cases, preparing to scuttle her should the Germans try to capture her. They needn't have worried.
And so the battle effectively concludes. Revenge and her attendant destroyers gave it their best, but unfortunately for them Bismarck and her heavy cruisers carried the day.
"We will not sink her," he spoke before the younger man had a chance. Schreiber sighed softly, shrugging his shoulders in an almost Gallic gesture. "She may yet sink without our intervention as it sits."
"Should we not deny the English one of their battleships, though?" Lindemann pointed out at the flaming wreck that was once a proud warship of the Great War.
Schreiber's lips twisted into a frown. "I daresay we already have. Even if she doesn't sink, the British lack the resources to repair that damage. She will be a hulk at best."
I know he means well in not sinking her, but from a certain point of view Schreiber is being quite cruel to her here. This is likely Revenge's final sortie with the damage she took, and with Britain's economy as strapped as it is, if she makes it back to port she'll likely just be left there to linger (injuries and all) until she's scrapped. Perhaps she'll get a measure of her namesake in the future with her last salvo knocking out one of Bismarck's radars.
Also, only one heavy cruiser to guard an entire captured supply convoy? Blücher's going to have a rough time fending off the British ships that will do their best to either retake the transports or destroy them.
"I know. This is the culmination of everything I've done, and if I can't convince him, it was all for nothing. No pressure." Thompson forced a smile onto his face, as the door in front of him opened up at the hands of an orderly.
2, 3, 6. You need to watch part 3 of Extra History's Bismarck for why European radio traffic's just as important, OTL Lütjens didn't go radio-silent, and yes they can decode Enigma by now.
Lutjens was radio-silent until he was spotted. Then he continued transmitting even though he had escaped and should have gone radio-silent again, that is why the Royal Navy knew he was going for France not Norway.
When Bismarck was radio-silent and there were no ships in contact with Bismarck, the British didn't know where she was. This is why OTL they had to guard every exit to the Atlantic and not just Denmark Strait even if they knew she had left Norway, and why it is called the 'Hunt for the Bismarck'.
Decoding Enigma ... was not a sure thing. Some Enigma were broken, then later lost again because of rotor and prefix changes. Luftwaffe enigma was broken almost from the beginning because the Luftwaffe had sloppy procedures. Gestapo enigma was IIRC never broken because they never retrieved rotors and because the Gestapo was grundlich with its radio security procedures.
If for this operation Schreiber insisted on new, separate rotors for his flotilla, then his enigma can't be broken.
He was Assistant Secretary of the Navy once. He ordered the preservation of Naval Aviation after The Great War. Carrier girls would owe him their very existence. He also created the Naval Reserve.
This was a great read. The battle felt authentic to several of the naval battles I've read, although I am surprised that the British didn't break off and make smoke once things started going poorly.
Ouch and thus one of the British Revenge class meets her maker. Something tells me that they had no idea that the British Battleship was their in the first place because of the storm. Still while Hitler may not be happy with the fact that they engaged a British Battleship, he'll probably be surprised at the fact that Bismarck effectively one-hit killed the thing. Which now means that the Germans know not to fear the Revenge class and that their Battleships can easily take one on. This is bad news, for the British at least.
Ouch and thus one of the British Revenge class meets her maker. Something tells me that they had no idea that the British Battleship was their in the first place because of the storm. Still while Hitler may not be happy with the fact that they engaged a British Battleship, he'll probably be surprised at the fact that Bismarck effectively one-hit killed the thing. Which now means that the Germans know not to fear the Revenge class and that their Battleships can easily take one on. This is bad news, for the British at least.
Not really. The Germans now know what Churchill has known for years - there's a reason the Rs were on escort duty instead of being fielded in the Far East or the Mediterranean.
Plus, even with this success, German naval supremacy over British capital ships is still spotty at best - there's still the counterpoint that the equally old Renown sunk Gneiseanu and chased off Scharnhorst.
Actually.
Will the American Admiral allow the Japanese to successfully attack Pearl Harbor?
As tragic day it was, the attack was vital in pushing the isolationist United States into finally declaring war on Japan which caused Hitler to declare war on America.
