Ordered to the head of the convoy, Achates emerged from her own smokescreen at 11.15, just as her adversary from earlier in the day arrived back on the scene. Admiral Hipper opened fire and the destroyer was immediately straddled. Lieutenant-Commander Johns took evasive action, increased speed and zigzagged in an attempt to upset the cruiser’s gunnery.
Down below with the repair parties, Lieutenant Peyton-Jones felt the increase in speed and made his way up to the gunnery transmission station below the bridge and wheelhouse. As he arrived there was a heavy explosion and the ship shuddered from what must have been a direct hit. Going out on deck he could see no immediate signs of damage, but as he made for the bridge he was met by a white-faced young seaman sent to fetch him. Arriving first at the wheelhouse, he could see that the hit must have been to the bridge above, as the deckhead now bulged ominously downwards. In the wheelhouse, Coxswain Daniel Hall endeavoured to revive two telegraphsmen who lay wounded and in shock beside him. As the usual way up to the bridge had been wrecked, Peyton-Jones stepped out onto the port Oerlikon platform and clambered up the remains of an outside ladder. The bridge was a shambles of blackened twisted metal, with the remains of a few recognisable objects sticking grotesquely out of the wreckage. Where the compass platform had been, Lieutenant-Commander Johns, the officers, signalmen, lookouts and asdic operators who had been standing there were all killed, their remains ‘mercifully unrecognisable’. Farther to the rear of the bridge the damage was less severe, but yet more bodies, some dead some wounded, lay scattered about. Yeoman Albert Taylor stumbled forward, dazed and in shock, but still able haltingly to tell Lieutenant Peyton-Jones of the recent exchange of signals with Obedient. However, a more immediate problem than the tactical situation intervened. In response to the last orders given, Achates steamed at 28 knots, circling to starboard under 20 degrees of wheel and with a consequent 20 degree list to port. The only way to communicate with the wheelhouse below was through a jagged hole in the deck and Peyton-Jones shouted to Hall to put the wheel amidships. He was much relieved to receive the coxwain’s reply that the steering appeared to be undamaged. The destroyer slowly came around to a south-easterly course, and the heel to port decreased. The engine-room telegraph was not working however, and orders had to be passed down by word of mouth.[95]
As Lieutenant Peyton-Jones attempted to take stock of the situation shells exploded on either side of the destroyer, sending columns of water mushrooming skywards as Hipper tried once more to finish the job she had started that morning. Word was sent to the only gun now working, the aft main turret, to open fire, but the message never arrived, the messenger almost certainly having been killed en route. The view from the shattered remains of the bridge was severely restricted by thick smoke belching from a cordite fire which had broken out on ‘B’ gundeck immediately forward, so Peyton-Jones could only guess at who and where Achates’ adversary might be. Shouting down to the wheelhouse for a sharp turn to port the first lieutenant heard and felt another loud explosion as the ship suffered another direct hit, while two near misses sent yet more shell fragments searing through her side. However as the destroyer came around into the wind, heavy seas shipped over the forecastle put out the fire on ‘B’ gundeck and, better able to see, Peyton-Jones peered toward the horizon for the next ripple of gun flashes. When they came he was relieved to see that Hipper was no longer firing at them.[96]
With Yeoman Taylor’s help he was able to establish Achates’ position. In the half-light Rhododendron, Hyderabad, and Northern Gem were just discernable shepherding the convoy southward. Away to the north-east a faster group, which it was assumed were the British destroyers, could just be made out, while to the north gunflashes still lit up the horizon. The tactical situation now was far from clear, but it did appear that whatever threat there was lay to the north; consequently Peyton-Jones decided to ignore his earlier orders to join Onslow, instead maintaining position astern of the convoy to recommence laying smoke – the only defence Achates was now in any condition to give to the merchantmen. As the black clouds rolled once more from the funnel, he conned the ship onto a broad weave across the stern of the convoy.[97]
CHAPTER 6
‘STEER FOR THE SOUND OF THE GUNS’
At 11.15 Kapitän zur See Stange altered course eastwards to 090° to take Lützow away from the snow squall, and out of the smokescreen laid by the convoy escorts. Gun flashes from Hipper’s engagement with Achates could be seen in the distance port side astern, and as there appeared to be no prospect of anything approaching a clear target in his present position, Stange made the decision to come around full circle, set course to link up with Hipper and attack in concert with the flagship. Starting at 11.26 Stange made his turn to starboard, subsequently increasing speed to 24 knots as he returned to the north-west.[98]
Shadowing Lützow in all these manoeuvres, the British destroyers Obedient, Obdurate and Orwell kept themselves between their menacing opponent and the convoy. It was now the turn of Obedient to find herself the target of accurate fire, Commander Kinloch initially being under the impression that Lützow had opened on her. It was, however, the ever-present Admiral Hipper away to the north-east. Having finished with Achates she shifted her fire, and at a range of 8500 yards (7760 m) straddled Obedient, putting the destroyer’s wireless out of action and obliging Commander Kinloch to hand over direction (but not overall command) of the destroyers to Lieutenant-Commander Sclater of Obdurate.
Still wary of torpedo attack, Hipper altered away to starboard, coming on to course 360° (due north), Kummetz intending to come around shortly to drive on the convoy again. At 11.32, on the submarine frequency, the Vice-Admiral signalled to Narvik: ‘Battle with protection forces. No cruisers with the convoy.’[99]
Conforming to instructions laid down by Captain Sherbrooke, as the range opened to Hipper the British destroyers altered to port to close on the convoy, (see map, p. 74).[100]
The battle had not gone entirely as Vice-Admiral Kummetz had planned, but this was probably not unexpected given the poor light and complications with the weather, which must have been anticipated. Nevertheless, with the time at just after 11.30 the two powerful German squadrons were undamaged, and coming together to brush the three British destroyers remaining in action aside and fall upon the merchant ships of the convoy.
98
1 Stange,
99
2 Kummetz, Vice-Admiral Oskar