Die Welt Am Sonntag, Sunday, 13 April 1947
Berlin, Abwehr Headquarters, Monday, 14 April 1947
The portfolio before him held but a single sheet of foolscap, but reading it gave General Gehlen pause. The
residenz in The Hague had picked up rumours that the Dutch chiefs of staff were considering changes to the semi-independent Household troops of the Dutch monarch. “Near emasculation” was the phrase his chief agent had used in the report submitted to Berlin; Gehlen doubted that the Dutch would go that far, despite the high-handed manner in which the Household Troops had been used in suppressing the revolt in Oubangi-Shari. Still, any changes would modify the balances of forces in the West. Gehlen took up his pen and made a swift annotation.
“Confirm and obtain corroborating details immediately.”
Berlin, The Operations Room of the Admiralstab, Tuesday, 15 April 1947
Kapitän zur See Karl-Friedrich Merten was not surprised when word was brought to him of reports of British ship movements in the North Sea; he looked at the wall-clocks and saw it was a few moments after midnight, Greenwich Mean Time. “Their manoeuvres have begun,” he thought.
As chief of the Operationsabteilung of the Admiralstab it was his responsibility to recommend courses of action in reaction to any potential threat to German naval forces in the event of war; thus, for him, the British movements would be beneficial in exercising his own powers of divination and the ability of his staff to predict and respond. He was looking forward to this. He picked up the telephone on his desk and put a call through to Konteradmiral Werner Graf von Bassewitz-Levetzow, the assistant chief of the Admiralstab.
“Merten here,” he said by way of brief introduction. “The British exercises have begun.”
Concluding the call Merten walked from his office to the Operations Room, where the plotting map showed the positions of all the Kriegsmarine’s vessels at sea or in home ports, as well as the known positions of foreign ships across the wide Atlantic. Moments later von Bassewitz-Levetzow joined him there. “What is the situation?” the latter asked.
Merten began to explain. “We have reports from U-boats of heavy activity – ships sortieing from Scapa Flow and Rosyth, and traffic analysis suggests from elsewhere. If we begin preparations now, a morning air search should clarify what exactly is happening.”
“I will get on to the Marineflieger,” von Bassewitz-Levetzow noted.
“In addition to three U-boats on regular patrol in the North Sea we have the
Brasche to the east of the Orkneys – she made the initial report – and the
Tarpune near Trondheim,” Merten continued. “The
Goldener Löwe is on regular patrol in the Norwegian Sea.” He pointed to the map. “Her last reported position was here, 68 North, 5 West.”
“She should be well placed to keep an eye on our British friends if they operate that far north,” von Bassewitz-Levetzow said with a smile.
“Yes,” Merten agreed. “And a number of commercial trawlers have gone to see with observers on board with orders to report what they see.”
Von Bassewitz-Levetzow nodded. “And our carrier task force?”
“Admiral Ruge’s forces together with Operational Group Yunona 1.1 are operating here,” replied Merten. “North of the Azores – their last weather reports put them approximately 800 kilometres west of Corruna.”
“Do you have any recommendations at this point?” von Bassewitz-Levetzow asked.
“None yet,” Merten replied. “Until it becomes clear exactly what sort of exercise the British are running Admiral Ruge should stay at sea in his present position.”