WesWorld

Quoted from "Rooijen10"

Kinda confuses me. The storm is east of them and heading east so won't pass north of them. An error on Hartmann's part?

Hartmann is anticipating a northward turn of the typhoon that could take it over central Japan (as this storm did historically). Typhoons normally move in a northwesterly direction, and Hartmann thinks this one will eventually do so. Therefore, he will mark time until the situation clarifies and if the storm behaves as he anticipates, he will be well behind by the time he resumes a northward course.

I don't know. I'm not sure that the knowledge about Typhoon movements exists in that time period to allow Hartmann to think that that Typhoon would go North... I'm not even sure if radar is being used to track storms at this point of time...

Also, the way I read the bit is completely different to what you are saying. They head southwest, while they can easily and safely go north with the storm so far east of them and heading eastward. The only reason for them to move like that is either because Hartmann misreads the map regarding their location and the storm's location or they are actually some 400 kilometers Southeast of Okinawa instead of some 900 kilometers West-southwest of Okinawa.

... but like I said, that is the way I read it...

Quoted from "Rooijen10"

I don't know. I'm not sure that the knowledge about Typhoon movements exists in that time period to allow Hartmann to think that that Typhoon would go North...

Actually, that sort of information would have been well-known from the mid 1800s onward.

Well, to be honest, that sounds more like a guess to me than a fact, Brock. The way I see it, during part of that era there was no radar, no radio, definitely no satellite imagery, ships that would most likely sink when getting hit by a typhoon giving those aboard no opportunity to report it to anyone. The storm that hits area A does not necessarily have to be the same storm that hits area B that is 1000 kilometers to the North-northeast. It could be considered two completely different storms to the people of that time. Of course the opposite could easily be true as well with storm A hitting area A and storm B hitting area B and people thinking that storm A and storm B are one and the same storm.

Looking at a whole bunch of track maps on wiki, it seems more likely for a Typhoon heading in an easterly direction to keep on going in a generally eastern direction or at the most turn to the northeast. One turning North like Typhoon Susan seems to be more uncommon so based on that I do not see anyone assuming that a Typhoon would turn north when it is heading east.

As for 'Typhoons normally move in a northwesterly direction', I'm not sure about that either having seen all those track maps. I see quite a few Typhoons heading into directions other than 'northwesterly' (west, north, east; hell, they even seem to make +250 degree turns on a few rare occasions and go south during the process).
... unless of course you count it as heading northwesterly whenever it does a right turn and at one point during the turn the storm is heading northwest...

... or if it moves around in all kind of directions, one of them being northwest...

... or if it moves into a generally west/west-northwest direction (or north/north-northwest) by assuming that anything between west and north is 'northwesterly'...

Tracks of all 2010 Pacific typhoons.

While precise tracking was irregular prior to radar and meteorological satellites, statistical evidence was compiled in navigational treatises such as American Practical Navigator from a relatively early date. Pick any period source you like - that information is pretty well proven.

Okay, so it seems to be with those statistical stuff you mentioned that if a storm hits area A and a storm hits area B that is 1000 kilometers to the North-northeast and considering he timeframe, it has got to be the same storm. They could be right about that, but they could be wrong about that as well (but I am no expert so I could be the one who is wrong about that).

As that image with the storm tracks shows, they go west, they go northwest, they go north, they go northeast and they go east. A few exceptions also head southeast, southwest or south-southwest at one point of their journey.

... and when you look at that image, the storms that are heading into an easterly (i.e. NE to E) direction generally keep on going into an easterly direction (having looked around at the period 1945-1959, about 80% of them) so it seems very unlikely that someone would think "The storm is south of the Ryukyu Islands and it is heading east, so during the next couple of days it will turn north and cross Japan into the Sea of Japan and threaten the route that I have chosen to travel along."

Abwehr Outstation Breslau, Saturday, 25 August 1945

Walter Schellenburg read the message by ‘The Spider’ to his agent “Wolfgang” with positive glee.

Polish Military Intelligence in Warsaw had apparently grown apprehensive about the difference between the picture painted by the information supplied by Pajak’s network and the Polish Foreign Ministry’s own assessments of relations between the two nations. They were demanding that Pajak produce much more definitive information – a demand that ‘The Spider’ had passed on to his agents. Through his controlled agents Schellenburg had done his best to fulfil this need – but had them indicate that they might be burning bridges behind them and would need ‘extraction’. To oversee “Wolfgang’s” ‘flight’ to Poland with a satchel Pajak had consented to break his own rule and visit the border region. Schellenburg, in the guise of “Wolfgang” would meet him there.

“And then we can land the fish,” he said with a smile


Heavy Cruiser Admiral Hipper, 19 dgs 10 min North, 118 dgs 18 min East, Sunday, 26 August 1945

Kapitän zur See Werner Hartmann read the report from the ship’s aerographer and consulted the chart plot. He judged that his small squadron had marked sufficient time to avoid the typhoon reported to the northeast.

“Signal to all ships,” he ordered. “Come to course zero-two-five, speed fifteen knots.”

They would retrace their steps before turning northward toward the Korea Strait; it would delay their planned arrival in Vladivostok but not unduly disrupt their visit.


Handelsblatt, Monday, 27 August 1945

The Commercial Registrar of Aachen reports the listing of the firm Chemie Grünenthal of Stolberg. The firm will manufacture pharmaceuticals

Not sure exactly what the plans of the Germans were but if they planned to sail the route at 15 knots, then they could still arrive in time if they were to travel at a minimum speed of 33.78 knots... *looks at sims of the ships*... uhm... I guess not.

The North Atlantic, 54 dgs 10 min North, 37 dgs 2 min West, Tuesday, 28 August 1945

The three German ships were holding a loose formation, the tanker Spessart in turn fueling the patrol ship Roter Löwe and the tanker Lahn; they had already transferred mail, provisions, and other stores from the Spessart to the other two vessels. When they were finished, they would part company; that was the part Korvettenkapitän Rudolf Eberling was not entirely happy with.

The Lahn was fresh from a visit to Leivsborg, where her crew had a brief but welcome liberty; she would head northeast to resupply the Goldener Löwe, operating east of Iceland. The Roter Löwe, in her turn, would have a few days at Leivsborg; Spessart – though a big tanker – would remain on station to take weather observations in the patrol ship’s absence. That was the part of the plan Eberling disliked.

Running circles in the North Atlantic was not his idea of what a support tanker ought to be doing, and he had to wonder which of the bright staff officers in Berlin had thought his idea up. In the high latitudes summer was already drawing in, with the possibility of storms and perhaps an iceberg or two. The only comfort he could take was that as soon as the Roter Löwe returned to station Spessart could go home. All things considered, Eberling began to wish he and his ship were back in Dakar.


The Straits Times, Shipping News, Wednesday, 29 August 1945

The German vessels Tiger, Wolf and Gustav Nachtigal, which had called here last week, departed late yesterday to join the German East Asia Squadron presently at Cam Rahn Bay in French Indochina.

Corvette Jaguar, the East China Sea, Thursday, 30 August 1945

Korvettenkapitän Heinz-Joachim Neumann popped his head into the enclosed station of the hydrophone operator.

“What is it?” he asked.

“A faint contact on the hydrophone sir,” the operator replied. “The sound of submerged screws somewhere to starboard.”

Neumann thought a moment. A submarine contact in this area would not be unexpected – Japanese, Chosenian or even Chinese – all were possible.

“Start a track, if possible,” he ordered. He checked the Seetakt plot which showed nothing at the moment, and ordered the lookouts to redouble their efforts. He then notified Kapitän Hartmann aboard the Admiral Hipper that it was possible that an unknown submarine was operating in the vicinity.

Corvette Jaguar, the East China Sea, Thursday, 30 August 1945 – some time later

Neumann checked with the hydrophone operator again, “Still tracking the unknown?”

“Yes Herr Kapitän,” replied the latter. “The contact is growing in strength. Its course now matches our own.”

Neumann reported the developments to Hartmann aboard the Admiral Hipper, who was quick to respond – giving Neumann discretion to track the unknown.

“Hard to port,” he ordered, “put us on course one-nine-zero”. The Jaguar heeled as Neumann reverse course; as she steadied up on her new heading he ordered the ship to slow to ten knots.

“Unknown is now passing us to port,” the hydrophone operator reported. “Unknown continues on course zero-one-zero”.

Neumann waited as the relative distance between the Jaguar and the unknown opened. “Port your helm Quartermaster!” he then ordered. “Resume course zero-one-zero.” The Jaguar turned again, with the expectation of sliding in behind the unknown submarine.

“Hydrophone,” he said firmly. “Go active. Let him know that we are here.”

The operator threw the switch on his equipment and powerful sound waves filled the waters of the China Sea.

Course 305 degrees? I thought the Germans were heading to Vladivostock...

Quoted from "Rooijen10"

Course 305 degrees? I thought the Germans were heading to Vladivostock...

-

I'm sorry - I thought that was the course you had them steering when they were spotted by your submarine. What course do you think it ought to be? :D

Very well - I will adjust my post.

Actually, made a bearing error myself in the initial part which should be correct now. Your current storyline course is what is probably to be expected for ships heading towards the Korea Strait and beyond.

Corvette Jaguar, the East China Sea, Thursday, 30 August 1945

Hans Schmidt, the current watch-stander at the hydrophone station, had little trouble finding the unknown submarine once his system had gone active. He zeroed-in the unknown’s heading, distance and speed and relayed the information to the bridge; he then continued tracking the unknown. He had never seen hydrophone returns from an underwater object this big – the unknown submarine must be huge!

“Unknown has increased speed – now approaching fifteen knots – and continuing to increase. I have cavitation noises…” Schmidt continued to keep the bridge apprised of the unknown’s movements.

“Target now turning to port; speed still increasing…” He could secure the hydrophone system now – at that speed the unknown could be heard from here to the Chosen coast.

Neumann ordered the Jaguar to match the unknown’s turn – which now put him on a course away from the Admiral Hipper and Prinz Eugen. Based upon the data provided by the hydrophone operator, the unknown must be Japanese – one of their new very large fleet boats.

The underwater ping from the unknown echoed through the Jaguar’s hull and sounded ominously in Schmidt’s headphones. “Unknown has just gone active with hydrophone…” he reported, and then flipped the switch to activate the sound recorder.

Neumann kept the Jaguar on the unknown’s tail, seeing how long it could run flat out on its batteries, and how well his own crew could track it with only passive systems. What data could be mined from the frequency, signal strength and pulse repetition of the unknown’s hydrophone system would be a bonus.

The Polish-German Border, near Gleiwitz, Friday, 31 August 1945

Jan Pajak, with two of his own operatives, had driven to the old hunting lodge in the forest that morning to prepare to extract the agent ‘Wolfgang’; now he sat in the lodge alone. His men, familiar with the forest tracks from previous cross-border excursions, had gone to bring ‘Wolfgang’ safely into Polish territory. ‘The Spider’ waited patiently in the shadows, the lodge lit only by the dim glow of a camp lantern.

At last he could hear footsteps approach – and out of habit he laid his palm on the small automatic pistol that lay on the table before him – he was not expecting trouble. The door opened to admit a figure – a man of medium height, with a cap pulled low over his face.

“Welcome ‘Wolfgang’”, said Pajak in good German; and with that he turned up the lamp to illuminate a small circle around them. “Please sit down,” he added. The visitor nodded, and did as he was asked. “Come on in fellows,” Pajak said in a louder tone, calling to his two companions who had escorted ‘Wolfgang’ across the border.

“I fear that your friends cannot hear you,” said the visitor, raising his cap to reveal a wry smile. “They are rather sleepy at the moment.”

“I know your face…” exclaimed Pajak.

“Quite possibly,” replied Walter Schellenburg, “but that is unimportant. What is important is the choice you make in the next few minutes.”

Pajak had seen a photograph of the man before him, and knew him to be a German officer. His words suggested that Pajak had fallen into an elaborate trap; and Pajak was sufficiently experienced not to panic but to hear the German out.

Schellenburg now began to outline in good detail the depths to which he had penetrated Pajak’s network – the agents who had been turned, the totally fictitious agents that had been introduced to the network, the amount of false information that had been passed on to the Polish intelligence authorities, and the amount of money Pajak had spent to acquire the spurious secrets.

“You see,” the Abwehr officer explained, “tomorrow we will move against those of your agents whom we have not yet turned, and expose those we have already taken under our control. Your entire network will be compromised.”

Pajak started to reach for the pistol but Schellenburg raised a hand. “Shooting me will not stop the move against your agents – it will only cause my men outside to deal harshly with you. I have come to make you an offer – you should not refuse.”

“What do you mean?” asked Pajak.

“You have the choice of coming with me back to Germany, where you can tell us in comfort the complete details of your organisation, or, in an hour or so, your men will have awakened and freed themselves from where they are tied, and you can explain what happened as best you can; and then tomorrow, when all hell breaks loose, you can explain yourself to your superiors in Warsaw – particularly when the details of the Swiss bank account in your name becomes common knowledge.”

The German fell silent for a moment, allowing Pajak to consider the implications. In the rather arcane world of Polish military intelligence, failure was not suffered gladly; and there were many operatives there who would happily rejoice at his downfall. For the sums of money paid to agents in Germany he was fully responsible – and it the Germans now made it look as if he had lined his own pockets with it Pajak would not be able to talk his way out of prison at best, a bullet at worst.

“And should I choose to follow you?” he asked.

Schellenburg replied. “After a thorough debriefing, we can provide a new identity – if you wish – and arrange your travel to somewhere far from Warsaw. We might even give you access to the Swiss account that now has a very substantial balance.” The Abwehr officer checked his watch. “I will leave you to make your decision in quiet.”

Schellenburg rose and put the cap back on his head. He seemed assured that the Pole would not try to stop him from leaving. “I think you have a least twenty minutes, perhaps a few more. I will leave several of my people outside to guide you across the border should you choose wisely.”

With that, the German left. Pajak made no move to stop him; eliminating one German would not change the results. Of course, there was a third choice, which the German had not mentioned. “The Spider” patted the pistol and pondered his possible courses of action.

For his own part, Schellenburg followed the track from the lodge that led to the border, collecting some of the men he had brought with him, leaving two to monitor the situation. They returned to the cars that had brought them to the border and waited.

At last three figures emerged from the forest to join them – “The Spider” had decided to cut his losses and accept Schellenburg’s offer. Pajak had left his pistol in the lodge, where his own men found it sometime later, wondering what had happened…

Heavy Cruiser Graf Spee, Cam Ranh Bay, Saturday, 1 September 1945

Hans Langsdorff greeted the arrival of the Gustav Nachtigal and her escorts with some relief; while his French hosts had been most gracious in providing support for his squadron the German admiral was happier now that he had his own resources available for routine maintenance tasks. After the official rounds of visits that would introduce the new arrivals to the local authorities there was a long-list of minor repair jobs that the specialists aboard the Nachtigal would have to attend to.


Hamburger Abendblatt, Sunday, 2 September 1945

The Ministry of Justice announced late yesterday the arrest of seven individuals on suspicion of espionage. Few details have yet been released but there is speculation that those involved must have some link to the infamous Kraft Spy Ring, broken up by the Abwehr last year.


Heavy Cruiser Admiral Hipper, 43 dgs 4 min North, 131 dgs 53 min East, Monday, 3 September 1945

With the small Gostinitsa class patrol boat in the lead the three German warships nosed their way into the waters of the Bukhta Uliss and entered the outer roadstead of the Russian naval base at Vladivostock. In the distance Kapitän Hartmann could make out the upper works of many large warships moored in the inner harbour. He had been assured that the Etappendienst had arranged for fuel supplies, which was a major concern for the corvette Jaguar; but at least he was in a friendly port.

Following their encounter with a submarine – all indications suggested it was Japanese – the flotilla had been overflown on numerous occasions by patrol aircraft – most of which bore the Rising Sun of the Japanese Navy; a few were Chosenian. While transiting the Korea Strait Hartmann had kept the ships at first degree readiness – many sea mines had been laid during the hostilities, and it was not impossible that they might run into one or more; thankfully, that had been avoided. They had seen many merchantmen during their run across of the Sea of Japan, but other than air patrols, nothing of substance.

Hartmann looked forward to paying his official respects to Admiral Volkov, commander of the Russian Pacific Fleet; but first he had to assure that all proper respects and salutes were exchanged, and that his ships were properly moored in their assigned anchorage. Having arrived later than expected, Hartmann did not wish incur any further embarrassment.

Abwehr Headquarters, Berlin, Tuesday, 4 September 1945

Wilhelm Canaris set down his copy of the preliminary report on the results of Operation Küster and rested his eyes a moment.

“Young Schellenburg has done well again,” he thought. “With the revelations from Pajak fuelling our counter-espionage efforts we will soon have the Polish intelligence apparatus falling apart like a house of cards.”

That was true enough. Between the tame agents already under the Abwehr’s control and those known prior to Pajak’s flight they had arrested no less than a dozen well-placed individuals; Pajak had already identified a half-dozen more, and revealed much about the internal workings of his former employer’s internal workings. Of course, those agents who had cooperated with the Abwehr would have their actions taken into account; lighter sentences, easier confinements perhaps. The larger question was how to treat Pajak?

Putting him on trial was a possibility but as a foreign national the question of German jurisdiction over him was unclear – and could open a Pandora’s Box of legal precedents. Quietly eliminating him was out of the question too – he had defected in order to avoid a bullet from his own people. “Perhaps,” Canaris mused, “a quiet rustication to somewhere distant – or” and here he smiled, “Erhard Milch could find work for him?”


Dagbladid (Reykjavík, Iceland), Wednesday, 5 September 1945

The German ice patrol ship Goldener Löwe arrived here today for a brief port call to take on fresh water and stores before resuming her duties patrolling the shipping lanes in the Norwegian Sea.


Handelsblatt, Thursday, 6 September 1945

The recent visit a trade delegation to Bharat and Persia has borne less immediate fruit than was hoped for; however, given the difficulties that have arisen in relations between Germany and the two nations any immediate change in status would have been unlikely. The decisive but necessary steps taken by the Government in the face of Bharati expansionism has left the new leadership in Hyderabad disinclined to make quick commitments. However, the improvements in relations do set the foundation for further discussion and may deliver results in the future.

Deutsche Presse-Agentur, Friday, 7 September 1945

The Reichstag has given final approval to the Naval Estimates for the forthcoming year, despite spirited debate led by the deputies of the Left. In addition to the six large air defence destroyers authorised under the novella of the 1945 Estimates the programme for 1946 comprises:

Two air defence cruisers of new design, details yet to be released; eight additional destroyers of the Allenstein class, following on to current construction; eight air defence frigates derived from the basic Klagenfurt design; and six additional submarines of the Haifisch class.

Four small coastal escorts for patrol work in the North and Baltic Seas have been ordered as replacements for the numerous small Vorposten craft that have recently been disposed of. Acquisition of four small harbour tugs rounds out the construction programme – action was deferred on the construction of other small harbour craft due to disagreements on funding. The fleet aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin will be refurbished during the coming year. Investment in works will see expansion of facilities at the Wilhelmshaven dockyard and at the Deschimag shipyard at Hamburg.


Autozeitung, Saturday, 8 September 1945

The Berlin auto show opens today with many entries from across the Continent, from America and from as far away as Japan.

(Stay tuned for further special coverage of the show in future posts)


Kieler Nachrichten, Sunday, 9 September 1945

The light cruiser Stettin was launched yesterday and has moved to the fitting out wharf for further construction. She is the penultimate member of the Dresden class, and her sister, Regensburg, continues construction here.