WesWorld

Marburg, Saturday, 19 April 1947

“The Deutsches Archäologisches Institut accepted our revised proposal?” ask Rolf Hachmann. His fellow archaeologist Hans Bessig had opened the letter.

“They acknowledge receipt, and thank us for answering their inquiries so promptly and completely. They are not saying that they approve or will fund us – yet – but their tone is somewhat favourable to us.”

Hachmann shrugged. “Bureaucrats and stuffy professors who have not been in the field for twenty years.”

Bessig opened another letter. “Ah, now this is good news. It’s from the Carl-Zeiss-Stiftung – in response to our grant request. They are willing to give us a grant of up to six thousand marks over the next three years.”

At last Hachmann had something to smile about. “We should let the Institut know – it may tip their decision.”


Hamburger Abendblatt, Sunday, 20 April 1947

Today the Deschimag shipyards here completed work on the new air defence destroyers Elbing and Pillau, while the yards in Cuxhaven and Bremerhaven completed their sisters Mainz and Augsburg respectively. The completion of these four fine vessels is but another milestone in the renovation of the Kriegsmarine that will allow it to fulfil its many duties upon the high seas.


Berliner Morgenpost, Monday, 21 April 1947

The Defence Ministry has announced that the Sixth Destroyer Flotilla, presently attached to the Expeditionsverband at Flensburg, will stand down this summer and will be redesignated as the Twenty-Third Destroyer Flotilla of the Reserve. Composed of refitted Z.214 class vessels the Sixth Destroyer Flotilla has been a part of the Kriegsmarine’s amphibious readiness force for several years, but with the advent of more modern vessels the Ministry has decided to retire them to the war reserve.

Berlin, The Admiralität, Office of the Director of Plans and Operations, Friday, 18 April 1947

Kapitän zur See Heinrich Bramesfeld was not directly involved in the oversight of exercise Viribus Unitas; his duties involved taking a long range view of how the Kriegsmarine would carry out a war at sea should such an eventuality ever come to pass. As the Kriegsmarine had grown in size and matured in capabilities the question of how to structure the staff and tactical organisation of the fleet had loomed larger in the halls of the Admiralität.

Prompted as much as anything by the ongoing Russo-German exercise, Bramesfeld had begun reviewing a budget of intelligence sent over from Referate Fremde Marinen of the Marine-Nachrichtendienst, covering the structure of the Russian Federation’s Northern Fleet. He found much food for thought therein. The Russians made use of Operativnyye gruppy, or Operational Groups, to structure the major elements of their navy - Operational Group Yunona was but one such organisation assigned to the Northern Fleet. What distinguished the Russian Operativnyye gruppy from the task force or Einsatzgruppe structure presently used by the Kriegsmarine was the variable vessel composition of the Russian OGs but the permanence of their commanders and staffs; in the Kriegsmarine’s present structure, senior officers and many of their staff were unfamiliar to one another.

He referred back to the report from Fremde Marinen. “There are four senior vice-admirals under Nikolay Kuznetsov, C-in-C Northern Fleet: Golovko, Levchenko, Sergeyev, and Alafuzov, each of whom acts as a task force commander for semi-permanent task forces designated Operativnyye gruppy Merkuriy, Jove, Mars, and Artemida; missions and ships are assigned to the task forces based on requirements. Note: OG Artemida generally tends to retain control of the Northern Fleet's amphibious assets but little else.”

Bramesfeld could see a number of valuable ideas here. Beyond maintaining familiarity of commanders and staffs with one another such flexibility would permit one commander and staff to conduct operations while another would plan and prepare for forthcoming operations – while the ships involved would be assigned as necessary to conduct operations. On the whole he could see advantages in time of mobilisation, and in time of war. Readiness of the fleet overall would be improved, not merely readiness of individual units. He pondered this for a moment but something nagged in the back of his mind.

According to the intelligence report OG Yunona was something of an ad hoc training organisation – and as the four Retvisan-class battleships were working up that made sense. But Levchenko, who was last reported to be in command of OG Jove, was now in command of OG Yunona. The OG Jove had been actively involved in training operations in the Barents Sea earlier in the year; did this mean that besides the four new battleships the Northern Fleet was adding a fifth operational group?

Fortunately, that was not Bramesfeld’s immediate concern; he made a note to ask his colleagues in Fremde Marinen. He then returned to examining whether the Kriegsmarine would benefit from adopting a similar and more flexible structure.

Nicely written. ;)

Quoted from "Brockpaine"

Nicely written. ;)

Thank you! This exercise will give the KM much food for thought, in several departments.

Wednesday, 16 April 1947 – The Operations Room of the Admiralstab and Elsewhere

Late the previous evening Merten had ordered a camp cot to be set up in his office, and had availed himself of it to catch a few hours’ sleep; with the British exercise rapidly unfolding he could not afford the luxury of returning to his home in Spandau. He awoke with a start at the sound of a knock on his door – it was the night watch officer.

“Herr Kapitän, you asked to be awakened should there be any developments.” Merten nodded and stepped out into the plotting room, and noted the time – 0430 GMT.

Despite the best efforts of the Marineflieger to maintain contact during the night he suspected that the plot showed only an approximation of the Royal Navy’s current dispositions. The “Albrecht” force was still reported in the area between Little Fisher Bank and the Eigersunds Bank, and a part of the larger “Julius” force was disposed to the north and west, presumably closing. The British were maintaining excellent wireless discipline, and the overnight reports from the traffic analysis and cryptanalysis desks of Referate Fernmeldeaufklärung were disappointingly bare. However, a report from the Luftwaffe’s air signals intelligence section suggested that land-based Royal Air Force units had been incorporated into the “Julius” force mix.

He had expected contact to be made between the two forces; and he secretly congratulated the commander of the “Albrecht” force for eluding his foe thus far.

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Marine-Aufklärungsstaffel 241 Dornier Do330 “O-Otto” had picked up the “Albrecht” force on its airborne funkmess and closed on it just before dawn. They were but the latest of the stream of patrol aircraft to fly out of Nordholz and having advised the base of the British ships’ location, estimated course, and estimated speed, began to orbit the area to keep the “Albrecht” force under long-range surveillance.

Aboard the aircraft the crew kept guard on the known frequencies of the British radio direction finding equipment – monitoring such technical things as frequency stability, pulse repetition rate, and estimated power output. They could occasionally pick up wireless signals as well.

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Von Bassewitz-Levetzow came into the Operations Room a little after 0700 GMT, and brought a visitor with him.

“Merten,” he said with a smile. “I believe you have met Vizeadmiral Lindemann.”

“Indeed Herr Admiral,” Merten replied. “An honour sir.”

The commander of the Kriegsmarine’s battle force looked at the large plot with interest. “You seem to be keeping the British under close observation… it is good that they know of our ability to do this.” Lindemann had spent years at sea under the watchful eye of British patrol aircraft, a fact of life that rankled nevertheless. With the shoe on the other foot he felt a surge of satisfaction. “I would have expected the two forces to have met by this time – if your plot is accurate, they are not too far apart.”

Merten admitted that he too expected there to have been first contact. “We should have reports soon; if nothing else Wiesbaden and Kolberg should approach the position of the “Albrecht” force in a few hours.”

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Dornier Do330 “O-Otto” had noted the appearance of aircraft launched from the “Albrecht” force just after dawn – no doubt search aircraft and combat air patrol. One of the aircraft’s funkmess operators was detailed to movements of the aircraft while another was assigned to hunt for and monitor the frequencies used by their communications. For a time matters were quiet, until the operator of the main surface search funkmess reported picking up a long-range contact.

And then matters began to happen rapidly. The operator who was monitoring the wireless communications of the British aircraft began to pick up many voice transmissions, and more aircraft appeared on the funkmess display – suggesting that the two British aircraft carriers in the “Albrecht” force were launching aircraft. The Dornier’s pilot widened his orbit and the long-range contact resolved into several surface vessels – cruisers it appeared. With the sun now well up the patrol bomber could see the flashes of aircraft manoeuvring in the air and it looked as if the aircraft of the “Albrecht” force had found and struck a part of the “Julius” group.

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Merten greeted the Marineflieger report with enthusiasm. “The “Albrecht” force has made contact,” he announced to Lindeman and von Bassewitz-Levetzow. “We should know more soon.”

Kieler Nachrichten, Tuesday, 22 April 1947

The tender Dänholm will relieve the inspection ship Goldener Löwe on ice patrol duties next month instead of the Roter Löwe; no explanation for the change in rotation was announced.


Handelsblatt, Wednesday, 23 April 1947

It is reported that the Ministry of Transport, the Reichsbahn, and the Reich Road Transport Operators Association have reached an agreement to implement the standards of the Reichsbahn’s Eisenbahntransportbehälter system on a national basis. It is anticipated that adoption of the new standards will significantly reduce transport cost to industry and improve productivity.


Risley, Derbyshire, England, Thursday, 24 April 1947

Walter Schellenburg had spent the last several days ostensibly vacationing in the English countryside, and the hotel at which he was staying, Risley Hall, was a pleasant enough place. To the outside observer he looked happy enough, but inside Schellenburg fulminated against his own impatience.

Earlier in the year he had received instructions from Berlin to begin inquiries about a the whereabouts and activities of a lengthy list of British physicists; much importance was attached to the results, but for Schellenburg the terrible English winter and the subsequent disruptions of the Thames Flood had delayed all but the most perfunctory inquiries. Knowing that too overt an investigation into the activities of British scientists would ring the tocsin for the security services Schellenburg had to revert to discrete inquiries by his irregulars and the careful sifting of press items and scientific journals.

The results were less than complete – the top men in the field – French, Curran, and Kemmer – were still at the Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge, and their work seemed – on the surface at least – to be innocuous. The same could be said for many of those physicists working at Oxford. Of the second-rank researchers however Schellenburg had noted that some had departed their University haunts for parts unknown and one of his irregulars reported overhearing a denunciation of a one of the fellows on the list who had “gone off to Risley”.

Assuming that Risley was the location of a new research laboratory he had taken the opportunity to investigate personally – and to get out of London for a change of scene. Three days of walking, talking, and listening had convinced him that nothing of the sort was in the area. The village was quiet and restful – nothing more – its most notable building being the former manor house that was now a country hotel; the only notable topic of conversation among the locals being the ‘lost Risley Park Lanx’, a Roman antiquity discovered early in the 18th Century and soon thereafter lost.

This lead had turned into a dead end.

Battleship Retvisan, 50 dgs, 11 min North, 22 dgs, 39 min West, Friday, 18 April 1947

The Russian battleship was carefully maintaining her course and speed as she eased up alongside the replenishment ship Ruhr. Lines were shot between the two vessels, and hoses passed, allowing the Retvisan to refill her bunkers with black oil. Not only fuel, but the Ruhr began transferring stores by jackstay and net – something new would likely be on the wardroom menu tonight.

Levchenko had to give the Germans credit – they had learned much in the last ten years about maintaining a fleet at sea. Admiral Ruge’s task force had been at sea for more than four months and while the ships of her train had made port calls to pick up fuel and supplies, the combat ships had not. The peculiar strategic situation facing Germany demanded such – otherwise it would be too easy for an enemy to bottle up the German fleet in its harbours – as in the Great War.

The signal for breakaway was given and the Retvisan sheared off; Levchenko looked aft saw the Georgi Pobedonosets manoeuvring to take her place alongside the Ruhr. Several other supply ships were paired up with other vessels of the task force while on the horizon Levchenko could see the oiler Altmark following in the wake of the tanker Elizabeth Entz – a commercial tanker pressed into service to keep the fuel ships themselves topped up.

The Russian knew that if necessary the German task force could have called at Brest – it was where his own ships were based while training – but he could see reasons for not doing so save in extremis. Despite the current amicable relations between France and Germany, as between Germany and Russia, old memories die hard. Better to not risk the sensibilities of an ally without good reason.

Wednesday, 16 April 1947 – By Air, By Sea, and By Land

The Marineflieger Dorniers that had been tracking the “Albrecht” and “Julius” forces were now joined by additional aircraft; and the additional eyes of funkmess and wireless operators, and ordinary observers were required to attempt to track the extent of combat playing out below them.

The “Albrecht” strike against a detachment of the “Julius” force had apparently gone well enough, but to the surprise of the circling airmen several vessels detached themselves from the “Albrecht” screen and headed towards the “Julius” force the aircraft had just attacked. This left the “Albrecht” force screen dangerously weakened, but might be justified as a calculated risk. Unfortunately on their long-range search equipment a large group of aircraft from the “Julius” force aircraft carriers to the north was detected. This did not bode well for the “Albrecht” force.

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Fregattenkapitän Günter Hessler of the Wiesbaden had brought his ship, and her sister Kolberg, to within forty kilometres of the reported position of the British “Albrecht” group. His orders were to observe and report; that his ships were quite prepared to do – their powerful funkmess equipment gave them a clear picture of the manoeuvrings of the British vessels and aircraft – both those launched from the “Albrecht” force’s own aircraft carriers and the in-bound strike of the “Julius” force further north. The electronics specialists were careful to record the wireless-telephony transmissions for further study – but it was clear that the inbound strike had caught the “Albrecht” force while it was recovering its own aircraft.

The strike apparently did its job well; it appeared as if one or more of the “Albrecht” force ships had been declared a casualty.

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In the Operations Room Merten calmly read each report as it came in, while the plot was updated with the situation as it developed. Some things were clear to him, others were not.

If their information was correct the “Albrecht” force had only launched a small morning air search and that in close proximity to the force itself. There was a report from one of the patrolling Dorniers that a powerful ‘noise’ signal had appeared in the vicinity of the detached “Julius” cruisers – Merten passed this information on to the proper quarter, and only briefly pondered what it might have meant.

He was taken aback by the decision of the commander of the “Albrecht” group to detach half his screen to engage the oncoming “Julius” force cruisers. “This is madness,” he thought.

Then came the reports of the air strike conducted by the “Julius” force – striking at a most opportune moment. Those cruisers of the “Albrecht” group that had been detached were not available to contribute to the overall defence of the task force and by themselves lacked the strength to overcome those “Julius” force cruisers that had been encountered.

Von Bassewitz-Levetzow and Lindemann followed the plot with interest. The latter shook his head.

“There are times when one can risk dividing one’s forces in the face of the enemy, and then there are times one cannot,” he opined. “This was one of the latter.”

“Knowing what we know Herr Admiral,” Merten replied, “that is so. The air search efforts of the “Albrecht” group were wholly inadequate and failed to detect the “Julius” force detachment until it was within one hundred kilometres of its position. Whereas the “Julius” force has been operating with the assistance of the Royal Air Force’s Coastal Command the “Albrecht” group has lacked such support.”

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Wiesbaden and Kolberg were in line astern as the British ships came into view. They were on a southerly course, which to Hessler suggested that a part of the British exercise were complete. Salutes were exchanged with all correctness and the German destroyers continued to the north, keeping watch all the while. They would do so unless or until recalled – and it appeared that juncture had not yet been reached.

Aircraft Carrier Karl der Große, 55 dgs, 47 min North, 23 dgs, 16 min West, Sunday, 20 April 1947

As with any warship activities on an aircraft carrier go on throughout the night; on the hangar decks of the four aircraft carriers of the task force maintenance crews were preparing aircraft for launch. In the pre-dawn gloom Haifisch scout-bombers were spotted on the decks of Karl der Große and Friedrich Barbarossa, while on Wallenstein funkmess-equipped Haifisch were readied to conduct the inner anti-submarine patrol. Pappenheim was preparing a division of fighter aircraft to take off as soon as the sun was up to form a combat air patrol.

Ruge stood on the wing of the flag bridge to observe the launch of the scout-bombers; each would launch eight aircraft to conduct a search out to two hundred fifty kilometres ahead of the task force. He watched their engines cough to life, propellers occasionally generating flashing blue light from static electricity. The ship came into the wind and one by one the scouts trundled down the deck and into the air, forming up in pairs to conduct their search. More aircraft would be launched later in the day to relieve them.

Somewhere to the north and northeast the Royal Navy was conducting exercises; and Ruge had no intention of blundering into their formations; his orders were to give them a wide berth. Reports from Berlin indicated that one phase of the British exercise was complete but it was believed that more were to follow. His scouts had orders to report the identity, location, course, and speed of any shipping in the path of the task force.

The sun was peaking over the eastern horizon when the last of the scouts was launched, and Ruge turned his attention to the vessels that ringed the aircraft carriers. Destroyers and frigates composed the inner ring, beyond them the great bulk of the Russian battleships; he knew that his own cruisers were ranging ahead and were invisible in the low light. He re-entered the flag bridge and checked the plot of the task force – their course was still north-north-easterly, heading towards the gap between Iceland and the Faroe Islands.

Berlin, The Operations Room of the Admiralstab, Sunday, 20 April 1947

Following the flurry of action between the two elements of the Royal Navy engaged in exercises there had been a pause, one which Merten appreciated. It allowed time to go back and re-examine the plot of movements with supplemental data from the U-boats and trawlers, and, more importantly, it afforded time to prepare for an anticipated second phase.

Merten had recommended to von Bassewitz-Levetzow that the air defence destroyers Wiesbaden and Kolberg remain at sea, patrolling in the vicinity of the Doggerbank; for the time being the British aircraft carriers were training to the east and to the north. This had been approved and further supplemented by deployment of the submarines Lotsenfisch, Makrele, Neunaugen, and Schelfisch to patrol the Fladengrund between Scotland and the Nordish coast. This, it was hoped, would relieve some of the pressure on the Marineflieger, whose fleet of Dornier long-range patrol aircraft had been severely taxed by the need to operate around-the-clock.

Merten’s own interpretation of the British exercise was not entirely favourable. Despite deployment of a large portion of its aircraft carriers, the British captains seem to rely overly much on ship-to-ship gunnery, and the failure of the “Albrecht” force to successfully break out seemed to him to be a foregone conclusion. He dismissed the idea that the exercise could have been aimed at potential counters to movement by his own service; the Netherlands fleet, perhaps – as the number of vessels assigned to the “Albrecht” force would be a substantial portion of the Dutch fleet deployed in home waters.

For the time being the British were, by all reports, confining their activities to gunnery and bombing training. Observations of such – even the monitoring of wireless transmissions – were quite useful.

Budapest, Headquarters of Hungarian Military Intelligence, Friday, 25 April 1947

Colonel Homlok made a habit of personally reviewing the package of intelligence being sold to the Abwehr prior to its release; this made certain that should there be a question of its contents he would know how to deflect any blame. This lesson he had ruefully learned in the wake of the game played by the English more than a year ago.

There were several reports from Almasy, the senior agent covering the Levant; his contacts in the military of Egypt had provided more revealing information on the state of British forces there. He also detailed contacts recently made with Jewish dissidents in Mandatory Palestine and their quest for armaments – apparently a Greek arms merchant had begun to supply their most immediate needs. The last several reports from the military attaché in Belgrade had been condensed and organised as a nice budget of information on developments in Yugoslavia – Homlok suspected that the Germans had their own sources there, but he wanted to prove that he was looking out for German interests, thus assuring the flow of funds from Berlin. London remained a disappointment – very little worthwhile information was coming from Esterhazy; all he had this month was a precis of a meeting with the physicist Sándor Szalay, who had visited Cambridge University’s Clarendon Laboratory, where the expatriate Ede Teller was working.


Rheinische Post, Editorial Page, Saturday, 26 April 1947

All eyes are turned on Belgium, where parliamentary elections are due to be held next week. Observers suspect that the Christelijke Volkspartij is likely to maintain a plurality of seats, though it may not have a clear majority. The pro-Union Vlaams Nationaal Verbond has suffered in the wake of the revelations regarding Dutch plans for reduction of the Royal Household troops – with the situation in the Netherlands in confusion the confidence required to overcome Walloon suspicions has been shaken. It is seen as likely that the Parti Ouvrier Belge, which is focused on social issues, will make a good showing and could be poised to enter a coalition with the Volkspartij.


Die Welt Am Sonntag, Sunday, 27 April 1947

Berlin, The Operations Room of the Admiralstab, Tuesday, 22 April 1947

The first reports of movement of the British fleet did not come to Merten as a complete surprise; when several units of the Royal Navy ceased to transmit the wireless silence suggested that a new phase in the British exercise was about to begin. In the morning the U-boat Brasche, still patrolling near Scapa Flow, had reported the departure of several vessels – two cruisers, three destroyers – on a course to the north-north-west. Merten had recommended that the Brasche remain on station while the nearby Makrele trail this force, which was labelled on the plot as Force “Bruno”.

There followed a flurry of contact reports from the Marineflieger; four supply ships with two small escorts had been located in the vicinity of the Eigersund Bank. These were clearly part of the original “Albrecht” group, and were plotted as such. The air defence destroyers Wiesbaden and Kolberg were detailed to close on and follow – at a respectful distance – this slow moving unit. It was shortly after 1200 GMT that the patrolling Dorniers noted that the “Albrecht” group had begun to head north.

Merten picked up the telephone and put a call through to von Bassewitz-Levetzow. “The British have apparently begun the next phase of their exercises”.

The admiral arrived in the Operations Room in a few moments, and Merten briefed him on the unfolding situation.

“The British are sending out the “Albrecht” group supply ships alone?” he asked incredulously.

“No Herr Admiral,” Merten corrected. “Air contact reports indicate two small sloops are providing close escort.”

“That is all?” Von Bassewitz-Levetzow shook his head. “Given what the British might deploy against it, they might as well as be sailing alone. What has happened to the aircraft carriers that were part of the original exercise?”

“Two aircraft carriers departed the exercise area within the last twenty-four hours; our aircraft have shadowed them heading south along the British coast,” Merten answered. “It would appear that they are returning to port.”

Merten could draw few conclusions from the British dispositions. The vessels which had ‘corked’ the bottle of the North Sea in the previous phase of the Royal Navy’s exercise were not reported as moving, yet. What did the cruiser force, “Bruno” represent? It was heading into the North Atlantic, unsupported by aircraft. He returned to the telephone and put a call through to the Marine-Nachrichtendienst.

Kronen Zeitung, Monday, 28 April 1947

The noted aerodynamicist Doctor Alexander Lippisch has joined the staff of the Luftfahrtforschungsanstalt Wien to continue his research into high speed flight. Active in aircraft design since the 1920s Lippisch is noted for his investigation into the delta-wing planform for aircraft; while at the Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Segelflug he designed and flew a series of gliders, numbered Delta I – Delta V. He refined his work at the Akademische Fliegergruppe Darmstadt while pursuing his doctoral degree. His current design, the DM-1, is undergoing test at the Erprobungsstelle Rechlin, and it is reported that Doctor Lippisch is now working on a high-speed research aircraft under contract to the Ministry of Defence.


Der Tagesspiegel, Tuesday, 29 April 1947

The Ministry of Defence has announced a revised accord between the Luftwaffe and the Marineflieger for the acquisition of training aircraft. A proportion of the current production of the BFW Bf243 single-engine basic training aircraft and the Junkers Ju252 multi-engine training aircraft will be delivered to the latter to support the overall naval aviation training programme, while the Marineflieger will contribute to the development costs of the new Vf191 advanced training aircraft, which will adopted by both services.


Marburg, Wednesday, 30 April 1947

Hans Bessig tore open the letter from the Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, scanned it, and shouted for joy. “They have approved it!”

His fellow archaeologist Hachmann grabbed the letter from his hand and read it for himself. “Wonderful, wonderful!”

There was still time to line up the equipment necessary for their planned excavation, to recruit assistants for the season, to arrange housing in Bahrain for themselves and their assistants, and to accomplish the other tasks necessary to support their research. And there would be money to make it all possible. It would require much work on their part.

Battleship Retvisan, 59 dgs, 8 min North, 17 dgs, 50 min West, Tuesday, 22 April 1947

The Retvisan and her consorts had separated from the German carrier task force and were now sailing south, saluting each of their companions of the last ten days in succession. His own sailors manned the sides of their massive warships while each of the German ships was a wall of white-clad sailors.

For Levchenko the departure of Operational Group Yunona 1.1 and the end of the joint exercise was tinged with regret. His men had performed well, and he was certain that their professionalism would be commented upon by Vizeadmiral Ruge and each of the other German commanders. There were reports that the Royal Navy had resumed its exercises not too far to the northwest – and the German aircraft carriers were heading that way – Levchenko had looked forward to showing the Royal Navy just what his service was capable of. But orders were orders, and his operational area was tied limited to sixty degrees north.

As they left the last of the German ships astern his four battleships assumed a diamond formation and turned southeast to rendezvous with their own tanker before returning to the French port of Brest. The official operational training period for his ships would soon be over and whatever regret he felt was overlain by anticipation of having these four fine vessels as part of the Northern Fleet.

Berlin, The Operations Room of the Admiralstab, Tuesday, 22 April 1947

The situation in the North Sea was developing.

The heavy units of the “Julius” force, which had been in the vicinity of Scapa Flow, were now at sea – both air and U-boat reports noted its progress. From the course it took it was clear that its mission was the interception of the “Albrecht” group. Even leaving the aircraft carriers aside should the battleships and cruisers of the “Julius” force intercept the tankers and their two escorts it would be a massacre.

Reports continued to flow in. The “Bruno” force, headed northwest into the Atlantic, was not only being tracked by the U-boat Makrele and the patrolling inspection ship Goldener Löwe, whose hourly weather reports allowed the Operations Room to know exactly where the ships of the “Bruno” force were located.

A force of two cruisers and a destroyer had been tracked across the North Sea and in the mid-afternoon it had made rendezvous with the “Albrecht” group of supply ships. Admiral von Bassewitz-Levetzow’s only comment on this was, “About time”. Merten was still mystified.

The destroyers Wiesbaden and Kolberg, which were shadowing the “Albrecht” group, reported that a Sunderland flying boat had been detected in the vicinity, and Merten presumed from this that the “Albrecht” supply ships had been spotted; a presumption that was confirmed when subsequent reports indicated that one of the aircraft carriers of the “Julius” force had launched an air strike on the supply ships of the “Albrecht” group.

“What do you think will happen next?” asked von Bassewitz-Levetzow.

Merten thought a moment before answering. “It is still not clear to me what the objective of the British exercise is meant to be.” He picked up a pointer and stood by the plotting board. “By all accounts the “Julius” force is here, still guarding the passages into the North Atlantic; their air strike on the “Albrecht” group indicates that destroying or otherwise intercepting the supply ships is a fundamental objective.”

“But Wiesbaden’s report suggested the air strike was carried out with not much more than a dozen aircraft,” von Bassewitz-Levetzow responded.

“Yes, and that is what concerns me,” Merten agreed. “Such a limited number of aircraft ought to have been successfully fought off, with minor damage allocated by the exercise umpires. If the “Albrecht” group continues on its northerly course, that will have been proven. However…”

Von Bassewitz-Levetzow finished Merten’s thought: “If the “Albrecht” group turns off to the south, as it did the last time, far more damage than expected would have been scored.”

“Precisely Herr Admiral,” said Merten, nodding his head. “And in that case I think that the British are engaged in wishful thinking.” He paused. “But the role of the “Bruno” force eludes me. Could it be that it is meant to represent an enemy force that has already broken through to the North Atlantic?”

“That would be a logical conclusion,” added von Bassewitz-Levetzow. "If they follow their present track they will come quite close to Admiral Ruge’s task force as it manoeuvres between Iceland and the Shetlands.”

Merten took a marking counter and placed it on the map. “I expect Admiral Ruge will report a sighting before the day is out; his last report placed him here. His regular air search ought to spot “Bruno” before nightfall.”

Tuesday, 22 April 1947 – The Operations Room of the Admiralstab and Elsewhere

Fregattenkapitän Günter Hessler of the Wiesbaden entered the destroyer’s operationszentrale for the latest update of the situation regarding the “Albrecht” group. Shadowing the British squadron was something he enjoyed – too many times in the past the shoe had been on the other foot. Following the small air strike carried out in the early afternoon the Wiesbaden’s funkmess equipment had tracked a single British aircraft orbiting the “Albrecht” group – obviously patrolling ‘snooper’. Transmissions from the Do.330s which also shadowed the British squadron confirmed that they were playing hide-and-seek with a Sunderland flying boat.

“Herr Kapitän,” said one of the funkmess operators. “New contact…”

Hessler watched as its position was plotted – it was north of the “Albrecht” ships – and the strength of the returns suggested that it was a large number of aircraft. It appeared that perhaps a follow-up strike from the aircraft carriers of the “Julius” force was on its way.

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The pair of Haifisch scout bombers from Friedrich Barbarossa had nearly reached the limit of their search radius when their pilots spotted the white wakes of ships below them. The element leader signalled to his wingman and the Haifisch turned to port and descended, being rewarded with spotting the British task force reported to be in their vicinity. The two cruisers and three destroyers were headed north-northwest. The wireless operator in the lead Haifisch tapped out a contact report and received acknowledgement from the Barbarossa.

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Merten was pleased when reports from the Marineflieger’s patrolling Dorniers, and from the Wiesbaden and Kolberg, indicated that the “Albrecht” group had shaken off the damage from the “Julius” force air strike and continued its simulation of breaking out into the Atlantic. “Their commander understands his mission, even against long odds,” he thought.

In the early evening though reports came in of a second air strike from the “Julius” force; much larger numbers of aircraft were estimated to be involved. Again Merten had to acknowledge that the British were now focusing on what he saw as the important elements of the exercise.

It was early evening when a report from Admiral Ruge’s task force indicating the sighting of the “Bruno” group, still headed north-northwest – at this point Merten had to concede that the Denmark Strait was their probable destination. He checked the position of the task force – 63-25 North, 10-11 West; not far from where he anticipated they would be at time of contact. Ruge would be turning eastward to pass north of the Faroe Islands. Now there would be great danger of the several groups of warships to run afoul of each other; Merten drafted another signal for Admiral Ruge reminding him of the whereabouts of all known British warships and the essential need to avoid incidents.

Tuesday, 22 April/Wednesday, 23 April 1947 – The Operations Room of the Admiralstab and Elsewhere

The air defence destroyers Wiesbaden and Kolberg observed the progress of the “Julius” force air strike on the ships of the “Albrecht” group on their funkmess screens and directly, albeit at long range. Without air cover of its own the “Albrecht” group was doomed – it was merely a question of how many ships were judged to be ‘sunk’ or ‘damaged’. Hessler ordered the two ships to maintain their distance until the outcome had been determined.

That the “Albrecht” group had been defeated was confirmed when its vessels reversed course, bringing them within easy distance of the shadowing destroyers. Again salutes were exchanged, though Hessler suspected that it galled the commander of the British flotilla to have German vessels observing his misfortune. He was about to order his own ships to turn to follow when the Kolberg reported that not all the British ships were accounted for; instead Hessler returned to his northern heading and was rewarded with funkmess returns identified one large and one small vessel continuing the attempt to break out into the Atlantic.

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Merten noted the initial report from Wiesbaden concerning the “Albrecht” group. With the cards stacked against it “Albrecht” had small chance of success; so Merten was not surprised at the results of the “Julius” force air strike. What did surprise him was the follow-up report from Hessler indicating that two “Albrecht” group ships were still attempting to move north at very slow speed. With night coming on a pair of vessels *might* have the opportunity to elude patrolling aircraft of the Royal Air Force and the scouts of the “Julius” force.

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With a major British exercise ongoing Vizeadmiral Ruge was taking few chances of an accidental encounter. As darkness fell his ships lit all their navigation lights – and any stalking Sunderland would see the ring-around-ring of lights of the ships against the darkness of the sea. He took further precautions – instead of turning eastward he prolonged his course to the northeast, giving the Faroe Islands – where the British seemed to be operating – a wide berth; and as the last of his day scouts returned the deck handlers on the aircraft carriers prepared funkmess-equipped Haifisch for launched as a night search, just as a precaution.

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Dawn found Hessler’s two destroyers to the north of the Faroe Islands, on a north-easterly track, still trailing the last of the “Albrecht” group – a slow tanker escorted by a single sloop. It was late morning when the Wiesbaden’s funkmess screens showed incoming aircraft – no doubt from the “Julius” force – to deliver another air attack. It was small in numbers – a dozen aircraft or so – but more than sufficient to overcome the single escort and cripple the tanker. As the “Albrecht” ships remained in position Wiesbaden and Kolberg did likewise – and some hours later watched two “Julius” force warships deliver a coup d’grace.

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Merten oversaw the update of the plot with the latest information from the shadowing destroyers; though the “Bruno” force was still at sea, headed towards the Denmark Strait, it appeared that another phase of the Royal Navy’s exercise was complete. Upon his recommendation Wiesbaden and Kolberg were ordered to rendezvous with Admiral Ruge’s task force and return with it to Wilhelmshaven.

Aircraft Carrier Karl der Große, 60 dgs, 28 min North, 3 dgs, 19 min East, Thursday, 24 April 1947

Vizeadmiral Ruge had taken advantage of the temporary cessation of the British naval exercise to turn his task force to the south. Bergen was over the horizon to the east and Viking Bank to their west. Patrol aircraft from the Marineflieger were able to scout for them, allowing the aircraft carriers to curtail operations; of course, the ever-vigilant Dorniers shared the air space with Nordish patrol aircraft and the occasional long-range snooper from the Royal Air Force. If the weather held he expected his ships to reach port in a little more than two days; Ruge knew his crews were longing for shore leave, but he still expected their vigilance.

The professional in him was happy that no incidents occurred between his force and the exercising British; whatever momentary pleasure he might have enjoyed in discomfiting them was outweighed by his respect for their experience. According the reports from Berlin, a part of the British fleet was still exercising near Greenland; and of course there was still a major concentration near Scapa Flow, not far to the west of his present position. These thoughts, and others, filled his mind as he began to mentally compose the lengthy report he would be obliged to write once his cruise was complete.

Thursday, 24 April 1947 – The Operations Room of the Admiralstab and Elsewhere

Von Bassewitz-Levetzow had returned to the Operations Room in response to a call from Merten. “I see a new group of British warships have been plotted” he remarked as he looked over the map.

“Yes Herr Admiral,” Merten explained. “Dorniers of the Marineflieger have noted a British cruiser and one destroyer closing on the position of our carrier task force.”

“So it would appear that the British intend to return us the complement,” the admiral said with a smile. “I am not surprised at all.”

“No Herr Admiral,” replied Merten. “Admiral Ruge’s force is here,” – he indicated a spot on the map “60 North, 3 East. At their current speed they should arrive in the Jade on tomorrow evening’s tide.”

“It will be good to have them home.” Von Bassewitz-Levetzow had spent much time over the last four months watching the progress of the carrier force; maintaining ships at sea for that long was still a challenge for the Kriegsmarine.

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Korvettenkapitän Hans-Rutger Tillessen of the inspection ship Goldener Löwe actually enjoyed his present assignment; tracking a force of British cruisers and destroyers as they exercised in arctic waters was a break from the constant round of weather reports and responding to the calls of fishing vessels in distress that was the lot of his ship. Ice patrol was a necessary but unpopular duty, but the prospect of learning something of the Royal Navy’s operational technique had put his men in fine fettle.

They had tracked the British force across the Norwegian Sea, relying on their funkmess equipment to maintain contact through the night and fog. The ship’s hourly weather observation broadcast permitted the high command in Berlin to know where the British force was, and at least twice a day Tillessen had supplemented this with a summary of what they had learned.

He suspected that the British were concentrating on training their crews to operate in this hostile environment; even in the short summers navigation in these waters was dangerous, as calving ice bergs might easily drift into a vessel’s course; the fate of the unsinkable Titanic was always in a sailor’s mind.

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Aboard the U-boat Makrele a constant watch on the gruppenhorchgerät had been maintained since the boat had picked up the British force north of Scotland. When possible Oberleutnant zur See Klaus Paepenmöller ran the Makrele on the surface, but during the daylight hours he relied upon the sound equipment and his periscope to keep the five ships in sight while operating submerged and running on the air mast.

Thus far at least the British had not reacted to his presence; whether this was due to an inability on their part to detect the U-boat – which Paepenmöller was not so bold to assume – or their desire to concentrate on the task at hand, which was the likelier case.

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Merten regretted that the “Bruno” force was beyond the range of air reconnaissance, as he suspected that the British exercise was not complete; some of the vessels that had been active in the North Sea were reported to have headed west instead of returning to port. Though unconfirmed, this suggested that a third phase of the exercise might pit the “Bruno” force against an unknown number of other British warships. He hoped that the two assets he had in the region – Goldener Löwe and Makrele – would be able to report something.

Hamburger Abendblatt, Thursday, 1 May 1947

Across the nation today SPD candidates for the Reichstag took advantage of the Labour Day holiday to stage rallies in an attempt to strengthen flagging interest in its electoral message. In key industrial centres in the Ruhr, Westphalia, and the Rheinland turnout was noticeably thinner than in previous years. This suggests that the forthcoming elections will see a handy victory for Chancellor Adenauer and the FDP.


London, The German Embassy, Friday, 2 May 1947

Walter Schellenburg read the despatch from Berlin, struck his forehead with the palm of his hand, and exclaimed “Dummkopf!”

Information had come to the Abwehr – he suspected Source Merlin – that the noted Hungarian physicist Sándor Szalay had recently visited England and spent a few days in Cheshire, near Warrington, at a place called Risley. Schellenburg felt he ought to have known that there might be more than one Risley in all of England, and after reporting the result of his wild goose chase to Derbyshire he felt a fool.

This he knew he must follow up on, but quite discretely. Haste driven by anger would not serve; so he sat down to ponder which of his ‘Baker Street Irregulars’ would be best to tap in order to plumb the secrets of a remote spot in the north of England.


Elbinger Volksstimme, Saturday, 3 May 1947

The corvettes Amazone and Gazelle were launched today in the Schichau yard at Memel. They are expected to be completed in the late autumn, and join the fleet next year.