by David Row
The main force of the Home Fleet was the fleet carriers Illustrious and Formidable, the light carrier Colossus, the battleships KGV, Prince of Wales, Nelson and Rodney, and the battlecruiser Hood. A number of cruisers were also available. Coastal command was also put on alert, both to try and keep the German ships under surveillance in Norway, and then to hopefully track and attack them if they ventured out. In addition, two other carriers were put on readiness to join the Home Fleet; the light carrier HMS Ocean, currently at Liverpool having just escorted in a convoy, and HMS Glorious, just finishing working up after a recent refit.
The aim of the operation was to cause as much damage and disruption to the British convoys as possible, then slip back home. The fleet would then be a constant threat to a repeat foray, and would require the Royal Navy to keep heavy units tied up in Scapa Flow as a response. This would then make them vulnerable to a heavy air raid on the base itself (provisionally planned for the autumn). The start of the operation would be the breakout from Norway. The ships would be covered for the first part of their trip by land-based Luftwaffe fighters, allowing them to proceed without having to worry about the Graf Zeppelin flying off aircraft. As this was going on, high level Luftwaffe reconnaissance planes would check Scapa Flow. If the British Home Fleet was still an anchor, then the Graf Zeppelin would conduct an air strike on the base (aided by Norwegian based bombers) as a distraction, and would then retreat to Norway, allowing the surface units to slip past to the north before the British discovered them. If the Home Fleet heavy units were at sea (especially the carriers), then the Graf Zeppelin would accompany the surface force to provide air cover and a strike capability against the Royal Navy. While the carrier could only launch a small strike, it was thought this would be adequate against the biggest threat to the breakout, patrolling Royal Navy cruisers.
While the Luftwaffe kept up a constant air patrol over the fjord to discourage the RAF, a reconnaissance Whirlwind managed to get over the ships and get a set of photographs. The results concerned the Royal Navy; they had assumed this was one or two of the German heavy ships aiming to slip out to raid, not all four. The disposition of the Home Fleet was therefore split into four parts.
First, the carrier Glorious and the cruisers Norfolk and Suffolk, along with a number of destroyers, would cover the Denmark straight between Iceland and the Greenland ice barrier. The cruisers would be deployed to the east of the carrier in order to protect her if they ran into the German ships without warning. Second, the light carrier Colossus and her escorts would cover a light cruiser force consisting of Galatea, Aurora, Kenya and Neptune between Scotland and the Faroes. The most likely route between the Orkneys and Iceland would be covered by the fleet carriers Illustrious and Formidable with the battleships Prince of Wales and KGV, and the battlecruiser Hood. This force could also reinforce either the northern or the southern force if the Germans used one of those routes. Finally the battleships Nelson and Rodney would remain at Scapa to block the escape route. They would be joined by the light carrier Ocean as soon as she arrived (she was currently escorting a convoy). The biggest worry was the weather. Poor weather, not uncommon at this time of year, could allow the German force to slip past, or catch one of the light carriers by surprise. The risk was, it was felt, worth taking, as such a powerful force could not be allowed to break free into the Atlantic convoy lanes.
In addition to the naval forces, Coastal Command was also put on alert and asked to add its reconnaissance planes to the search north of Scotland, In particular the A/S-radar equipped Stirlings. There were only a small number of these available, and so far they had been kept busy on the convoy routes looking for and keeping down submarines. It was hoped their range and radar would allow them to spot the raiding force even in bad weather. For the next few days the convoys would have to take the risk of less air cover. While the chances of them being intercepted by the German carrier was of course a risk (the RN knew, from its own experience of intercepting Kondors, how vulnerable a large plane could be to fighters), the hope was that the radar would allow discovery at sufficient range to keep safely back and in range of cloud cover. Finally a squadron of SeaLance torpedo planes, normally based in East Anglia in case of an attempted invasion, were put on alert to move to Scotland at short notice to provide a strike capability off Scotland in case the German fleet attempted to slip by closer to land.
At 2100 on the 25th April, Operation Rheinübung began.
Admiral Lutjens's fleet had first headed north towards Trondheim. Reports from the Luftwaffe had indicated that the Home Fleet seemed to not be in Scapa, so he intended to keep his carrier with him. Shortly before dawn the destroyers accompanying the force were detached to Trondheim, having insufficient range to accompany the heavy ships. He intended to take the ships out through the Denmark Straight, rather than through the Iceland/Faeroes gap, as he felt this would be too heavily patrolled by British aircraft. By midnight on the 26th the ships had turned west to head directly for the Straight.
Meanwhile the British had confirmation that the force had sailed; reconnaissance over the fjord had shown the absence of the heavy ships, and it was assumed that a breakout into the convoy lanes was intended. However until more was known about what route the German fleet would take, Admiral Tovey decided there was no reason to change the disposition of his ships. The ships had left the fjord before a strike on them could be arranged; the weather in Norway had delayed the possibility until it was too late. He had therefore moved his fleet carriers to cover the capital ships, and be ready to move north or south if the German fleet didn't take the central passage into the Atlantic. In case the Germans slipped past them in bad weather, Force H was ordered to leave Gibraltar and sail north to take up a blocking position.
The weather on the 27th was poor, and as the British ships took up station only the ASV-equipped planes were of any use, and searches from the fleet carriers and Coastal Command found nothing. The situation was of course the same for the Germans; with no ASV equipped planes, they were operating without any aerial reconnaissance at all. The German ships were not in fact spotted until late in the evening, and not by an aircraft but by the radar of HMS Suffolk, on patrol in the Denmark straight. The large echoes on the radar set could hardly be anything other than the German force that was expected, and the cruiser radioed a sighting report even as she retired westward, keeping the enemy under contact by radar.
The cruiser had also been spotted by the German radar, and although the one, smaller echo could have been anything, the fact that it was retreating at 27 knots to keep the distance between them indicated a warship of some sort. Meanwhile Coastal Command on Iceland was asked to send out a radar-equipped Stirling to confirm the sighting; this was done at 0100, and an hour later a confirmation was received. Four large echoes (assumed to be capital ships) heading west out of the Denmark Straight.
While a night strike from the nearest carrier, HMS Glorious, was a possibility, the poor weather made the attempt difficult. With the enemy now under observation, Tovey decided to have the carrier retire west to keep the range open (she was around 120 miles from the German fleet), in preparation for a dawn strike, when the weather might not be better but at least they would have daylight.
Lutjens had no night strike capability at all (the planes carried by the Graf Zeppelin were modified Me109 fighters and Ju87 dive bombers), so the only option seemed to be to cripple or sink the cruiser tracking them at first light, and then search for any other ships in front of him. If the cruiser was alone, he still felt he had a good chance of breaking out before other ships could intercept his force.
The strike from HMS Glorious was spotted on deck well before dawn on the 28th. The Admiralty was still uncertain as to the number of planes that the German carrier could handle. Intelligence had given the ship's displacement at around 25,000 tons, about the same as a British fleet carrier. They estimated she could be carrying up to 60 - 80 planes, probably split evenly between dive bombers and fighters (no sign had ever
been found of a carrier-operable torpedo plane). Glorious was carrying 18 TBD, 18 DB and 20 fighters. The fleet carriers and the battleships had altered course to the north during the night, but they would not be in a position to send off a strike until the afternoon. The decision was made to have Glorious attack the carrier, as without air support it would be relatively easy to hunt down the rest of the German force. With luck, Glorious would hit the carrier before she got her own strike off.
At 0430 the Glorious started to fly off her planes. Given the unknown quantity of aircraft on the German carrier, it was a maximum strength strike in two waves. First eighteen SeaLance armed with torpedoes, escorted by six Goshawks, then a second strike of eighteen Cormorants with another six Goshawks. The remaining eight Goshawks would be retained for defence.
Meanwhile Lutjens was still only aware of the cruiser loitering at the edge of his radar range. During the night, it had been decided to send out an air search at first light, to sweep in front of the ships. While the weather was still poor, he needed to know if there were any British ships apart from the cruiser close to him. The Graf Zeppelin was carrying 20 Me109's and 24 Ju87. The Ju87 had a secondary function as a search plane, and twelve would be flown off to start the search as soon as it was light. The other twelve would attack and sink the cruiser, who's shadowing was beginning to annoy the German Admiral. As a result the German planes would have cleared their carrier by the time the FAA strike arrived.
The first ship to be subject to air attack that morning was the cruiser HMS Suffolk. The weather was clearer today, although the German ships were not quite visible over the horizon, and the ship was at action stations at dawn. Radar emissions from the German ships made it possible they had been spotted, and the intelligence reports indicated that there may be a carrier with the group. If so, it was going to get interesting when the sun rose.
At 0600 the cruiser saw the black dots of a flight of Stukas heading for them. The ship worked up to full speed and puffs of AA fire started to pockmark the sky around the dive bombers as they moved into their attack formation. As soon as the planes turned over into their dives, the close range AA joined in as well. Despite the lack of fighter cover, the Stukas did not escape without loss; two of them were shot down by the cruiser. This did not stop them getting three hits on the ship with 500kg bombs. The first hit just aft of the bridge, splinters killing and wounding many of the men on the bridge, and penetrating deeper to put the forward boiler room out of action. The second hit further aft, destroying the aircraft hangar and killing many of the crews serving the AA weapons, although fortunately none of the splinters from the bomb caused serious damage to the machinery space below. The third struck her on X turret, destroying the turret and causing additional damage to the engine room forward of the turret. Prompt action to flood the aft magazine prevented an explosion, but the ship was on fire and temporarily out of control and not under power.
While the attack on the Suffolk was taking place, the German ships radar reported the echo of the first strike from Glorious, her torpedo planes. These were escorted by six fighters, who moved to intercept the four Me109's that were the German CAP. As the fighters wove into a dogfight, the torpedo planes moved into attack formation. It was only when they dropped their torpedoes that things went badly wrong. In order to achieve the maximum damage, the torpedoes were using the magnetic duplex fuse. When the torpedoes hit the rough water of the Denmark Strait, instead of heading for the carrier they exploded on contact with the water. Only two torpedoes launched successfully, and the carrier managed to avoid both of them. The shooting down of two Me109's and damaging one more for the loss of one Goshawk hardly compensated for this, especially as two of the torpedo planes were lost to AA fire.
By now, it was obvious to Lutjens that a British carrier was in the area. Since his force was now located, the direction the British planes had come from was passed to his scouting force. It did not take long for one of the Ju87's to spot the Glorious and her two escorting destroyers. While that plane dodged in and out of clouds to avoid the attention of defending fighters, and a second plane was sent to join her as a back-up, the remaining scout planes were recalled. They would hopefully be recovered after the second British strike, already visible on the radar screens, had been fought off.
All the available fighters had been launched, seventeen Me109's. Facing them were the 18 dive bombers and their escort of six Goshawks. While the Goshawks did their best to keep the fighters off the dive bombers, it was almost impossible, and as a result the attack was severely disrupted, five of the Cormorants and four of the Goshawks being shot down for the loss of two Me109's. Only eight planes managed to attack the carrier, and the need to keep dodging the fighters and the AA fire from all four of the German heavy ships meant that only one hit was achieved on the Graf Zeppelin. The 1,000lb bomb penetrated her flight deck well forward, wrecking her forward elevator and causing serious damage to the forward part of the hanger. Luckily for the ship, all her planes were in the air, and as a result there were no large amounts of inflammable material or fuel to spread the blaze. However the thick plume of smoke towering in the sky over the ship did little to reassure the worried pilots, who were wondering if they would have anywhere to land shortly. Even as the last of the British aircraft headed back to their carrier, the damage-control parties were racing to bring the fire under control.
It seemed that the Graf Zeppelin was a lucky ship. While it took some time to get the (thankfully minor) fire under control, the position of the hole in the deck was far enough forward that planes could still land, although moving them around to allow more to land on was a complex undertaking, especially as it was necessary to strike the dive bombers below to rearm them - a strike on the now-located British carrier was urgently needed, and being pushed by the Admiral.
While this was happening, Lutjens was deciding on the course of action for his force. He obviously needed to sink, or at least incapacitate, whatever carrier was out there, or his heavy ships would be attacked before they could break clear into the Atlantic. The question was, should he scatter the ships now, and leave the carrier on her own, or should they remain together until the carrier was dispatched. In the end he decided to remain together for the time being. As it turned out, a mistake. His decision was, however, fortunate for the Suffolk. Taking advantage of the delay and confusion in the German force, she had cross-connected her remaining boiler and engine rooms and was limping Northwest at her best speed, hoping to close the icepack where she was likely to find fog to hide in. If the German ships had split up at that point, it is likely one of them would have been close enough to finish her off, however as a result of the flying operations the force was in fact heading south.
On Glorious, there was consternation as to the problems with the torpedoes, and the resulting survival of the German carrier. While a bomb hit had been reported, it was not clear if this would be enough to cripple her or even stop her making an attack on them. So while she recovered her planes, the carrier and her escorts turned south to close on the approaching fleet carriers and battleships, hoping to draw the German fleet after them.
It was still only 0900, and even though the British force was indeed drawing the Germans towards the heavy Home Fleet units, it would be a few hours before the fleet carriers could launch. The information as to the torpedo problems had already been passed on, and preparations were underway on Glorious for a second strike, using the contact fuse on the torpedoes. The Germans were still being tailed by a radar-equipped Stirling out of Iceland, and the carrier air commander was sure he could get off a strike before the German carrier, even if the damage done wasn't enough to stop her flying off aircraft.
This estimate was in fact quite accurate; it had taken the Graf Zeppelin well over an hour to get the fire under control and land her planes, and by the time the fire was out two hours had passed. Under normal circumstances this would have given the Glorious ample time to rearm, refuel, and get a second strike on the way before the Germa
n carrier could respond. However something was to happen which made this impossible.
At 0955, a lookout on the Glorious yelled a warning as he saw three torpedo tracks heading for the port side of the carrier.
Almost immediately the carrier swung hard to port to try and comb the tracks, an emergency action which was hardly appreciated by the crews trying to attach torpedoes onto planes. The carrier nearly managed to evade; two of the torpedoes missed by a matter of feet, watched by the men on the AA guns with a sort of horrified fascination as the white wake passed close down the port side, but the third hit the old carrier about 1/3 of the way down her hull. The shock caused chaos in the hangar, a number of crewmen being injured as they and the equipment were thrown around - the attack had been so unexpected there hadn't been time for any of them to prepare for the impact. The carrier slowed drastically to prevent more damage due to the flow of water into the gaping hole, rapidly taking on a list which increased to 15 degrees.
Meanwhile the carrier's two escort destroyers were attacking the underwater contact which they hoped was the submarine, who had given herself away by the torpedo attack. No-one was sure how a U-boat had slipped in so close with the carrier moving at speed, but it was later assumed this was some expert German planning to aid the breakout (in fact, as came out after the war, it was pure chance - the U-boat was on anti-convoy work, and had stumbled upon the carrier and found itself in a position to attack - just good luck, at least from the German point of view). While the damage control parties on the carrier worked to shore up bulkheads and bring the flooding under control, the ocean heaved in white columns as the two destroyers enthusiastically depth-charged their contact. Some 30 minutes later, they were rewarded by a thick film of oil on the water, and debris floating on the surface
