“Triple,” said Pound.
“A pity we can’t sneak in a submarine.”
“Not possible,” said Tovey. “The port is six miles deep in the estuary of the Loire River. The sand bars restrict the approach to only one good channel, and its heavily covered by shore batteries and screened by anti-sub nets.”
“Well what do these bloody Commandos think they’re about? Do they plan to paddle in on rubber rafts?”
“Not quite,” said Tovey. “They want a destroyer. In fact, we gave them one, an old American ship from the lend lease lot, Campbeltown.”
“A destroyer? Through that gauntlet of shore batteries in the channel?”
“Actually they’ve proposed going right over the sand bars to avoid that, and gain a little element of surprise. But they’ve had to lighten the draft of the ship considerably. Everything but one battery’s been thrown off.”
“Good God,” said Pound, realizing what this plan must be contemplating. “You mean to say they are going to try and ram the steel gate to the main dry dock?”
“No sir… well… not entirely. Yes, they’ll ram it alright, but the destroyer has been packed chock full of amatol explosives taken from 24 depth charges, about four and a quarter tons I’m told, all rigged up with an elaborate delayed fuse. They’ve placed these explosives about 40 feet from the bow, so the collision is only meant to get the ship near the target. Those heavy steel gates would easily withstand that collision anyway. However, when that fuse runs out, the real thunder rolls, and that should do the job. Other Commando teams will accompany the Campbeltown on either side, and conduct raids against the Pump House and Winding Rooms for those gates.”
“I see… And assuming any of this is successful, how do the men get out?”
“That’s just it sir. They may not get out at all. This is very likely a one way ticket.”
“Preposterous!”
“Churchill likes it, and its either this or we pull at least two battleships off assigned duty and rush them to a position close enough to intercept the Hindenburg on its run north from Gibraltar. To do that we must issue the orders tonight. If the Germans persist, then we get another battle. I’m perfectly willing to take that on, if the Navy wants to assume the risk.”
Pound shook his head. “Six months ago I would have waved you forward into battle without a moment’s hesitation. Now, after losing six battleships and a battlecruiser, I’m not so eager. It would seem to me that we might better let this German ship sneak into Saint Nazaire, and then see about using the remainder of those RAF bombers. Even a few hits might keep her bottled up for some time, and if not, then we’ll muster a watch from the Azores again.”
“Which merely punts the ball concerning that engagement at sea, because one day or another, that ship will make a run for the Atlantic. They can choose any day they want in the year ahead, but we’ll have to cover them all, and with at least two battleships. Now… We’ll have Howe available this month. She’s ready to start sea trials now. But posting her to that watch with a green crew would be risky. I’d rather see King George V and Duke Of York on the job, and even those two may not be enough. Frankly, I think it will need Invincible again, which is yet another argument for more 16-inch guns on our battleships.”
“We could recall Nelson from Alexandria.”
“Too slow,” Tovey dismissed that at once. “So, Admiral, suppose we let these Commandos have a go. Yes, we may lose one old destroyer and some good men, but shutting down that dry dock is a heady compensation, and I think I can facilitate this little mission to ensure better chances of success.”
That was something Tovey had in his pocket now, a little ‘facilitation’ teed up from a ship Pound knew nothing about. The Argos Fire had been operating secretly in the Atlantic for some time, but was never officially listed or mentioned in any report. Yes, men saw the ship, and rumors flied about it, all heavily frowned upon and quickly squelched by Tovey and any other senior officer that knew the real truth about that ship. Admiral Fraser was one such man, one of Tovey’s early recruits to the Watch. The two men conferred on the matter before they went to Pound to obtain final permission to set Operation Chariot in motion.
“Admiral,” Tovey had said, “I think we have a little Ace in the hole here in Argos Fire.” He had briefed Fraser concerning that ship, and the true nature of the Russian ship Kirov as well. Like Cunningham at Alexandria, Fraser was now ‘in the know’ and a strong addition to the Watch.
“Argos has been serving us well as a convoy escort. It’s that advances radar and sonar that make the ship so valuable. They can locate German wolfpacks, and the convoy can give them a wide berth before they come into contact. We haven’t lost a single ship in any convoy where Argos Fire was prowling about, mostly well out in the vanguard, where even the Convoy Masters don’t know they have such a powerful guardian angel watching out for them.”
“What do you propose?”
“They’ve a pair of helicopters that are rather amazing—very fast, well armed, and capable of lifting in a couple heavy squads of Commandos. In fact, the ship carries a contingent of 50 such men. They fought for us on the sly in Syria during Operation Scimitar. Handy chaps in those helicopters. I believe they can help this Operation Chariot along, which will mean that we may not have to take in so many Motor Launch boats to get Commandos in after the Pump House and Winding Rooms. They can also carry demolition charges, and drop them right on the roof of that Pump House, or anywhere else the Commandos need them.”
“What about the German flak batteries?”
“These little birds have quite a sting,” said Tovey. “I’m told they can lay down some fairly effective suppressive fire, and in fact, that will be a good part of their primary role—to take out German gun positions. Then, when all is said and done, they can lift the men out. It will mean the raid can go with far fewer men—fewer to lose or leave behind.”
“And the Campbeltown?”
“Still invited. Yes, we’ll need the whole of that four plus tons of amatol to blow those steel gates. Not even Argos Fire has anything in its larders that can bother them.”
“When would this happen?”
“If Fleming’s boys have it right, Hindenburg is planning to steal into the harbor on the night of the 16th of May. Moon conditions are right, new on the 15th, though the sun is setting very late, at 21:37. I’d say the night would be thick an hour later, no moon, and pitch black. That’s when they want to bring her in, and we’ll have similar conditions two days prior, so we go the 14th, on a night when high tides will nearly hit 6 meters. That’s to help Campbeltown along. It had to be nearly gutted to lighten her draft for passage over the sandbars. As for those helicopters, they’ll be ready on a moment’s notice, and I might add this ship has a few other tricks up its sleeve. It can take down German air cover, see everything on its radars, and deal with those nasty German shore batteries.”
“At night? How would they spot them?”
“No worries there, Admiral Fraser. They have powerful night optics.”
“How very interesting,” said Fraser. “Might I have a look at this ship one day?”