A Better Rifle at Halloween
- Thread starter diesal
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The only nation I could see joining in might, might, might, be the Danes now the HSF is mostly gone and a BEF could arrive.
Jackie Fisher would like that very much, methinks. As would the Tzar.
Well it's 50 years since the Germans solved the Schleswig Holstein problem.
Indeed. I meant the Danes would be the least unlikely of the neutrals to join the war. I can’t see the Netherlands or Switzerland joining the war on the Allied sides barring a German invasion.
In OTL towards the end of the war one of the senior German officer lamented that the Danes would have been able to invade northern Germany very easily. And the matter must have been fairly close to peoples hearts because the Schleswig referendum returned northern Schleswig to Denmark in 1920. To be honest with a slightly more opportunistic government and a worsening situation Denmark might make a play for it. But then again they may feel that they will get it back without a fight.
The Dutch will look less to joining the Central Powers because the Entente powers in the area of the DEI would have no problems with taking them over. They know that if they were to take the German side the Entente powers would not be inclined to return any of their places to them in a timely manner if at all because of the way this happens at this juncture. They will be a watchful neutral right now to keep either side from bringing them in to the war in a way that would cause them problems.
The Dutch government would have to be drinking lead paint to even consider joining the Central Powers at this point. The East Indies would go away for ever, the British took it from them during the Napoleonic War and then gave it back. I doubt they would a second time, more likely they would split it up with Borneo and Sumatra going to Britain, perhaps Java going to the Belgians and bits to Japan and Australia? I could see Australia wanting Bali, Flores and the rest of Papua. Not going to happen but it would make an interesting POD of its own.
Dutch national sympathy ran closer toward Germany but it was far from unanimous. And Dutch government preoccupation was very much toward maintaining neutrality between two alliances that could both do them significant harm.
I don’t see any opportunity for the Dutch to join the war.
The Danish government very much skewed towards pro-German neutrality. As far as they were concerned it was the only survivable strategy. The general population and the King (whose powers were still pretty absolute at this point) was pretty anti-German, but I doubt that extended to a strong desire to jump in. If the Germans invade Denmark, then the King would probably remove the government and appoint one who would join the Entente. But short of that, I think they would stay out of it at least until the Entente are on the North German plain.
A Clean Sweep
11th October 1914, North Sea
Kapitänleutnant Rudolf Schneider had been sleeping soundly in his cot, he was roused from sleep by the shaking of a junior officer, the youngster sounded excited. “Sir, the lookouts have spotted a pair British battleships, they are bearing down on us abaft the port beam at a range of 8000m”
U24 was surfaced recharging her batteries, she had remained submerged for some hours after sinking the merchant cruiser during which time, Schneider had moved to the northern end of his patrol box. He was patrolling from east to west, looking again to intercept British shipping sailing for the Belgian ports.
Springing lightly out of his cot he slipped his sea boots on and moved up to the conning tower, climbing the ladder he emerged into the night. No lights were showing aboard the submarine, and she was dark against the wavelets, the North Sea was as calm as a mill pond. Given the rough conditions of the previous day its rapid transformation was uncommon, but heaven sent. Schneider grasped the large night glasses handed to him by the Navigator. There was little cloud, and the British ships was clearly visible, an occasional spark flicking up from their funnels. The pair must have been making their way across from Belgium, perhaps they had been sent to protect the seaways between Belgium and Britain.
Suddenly a searchlight flickered on, its bright light highlighting the position of the ship, Schneider was able to clearly identify her, she was a Formidable Class Battleship, as was her comrade. The searchlights continued to play uselessly on the sea, U24 was too far away to be seen but the lights made her enemies course and speed obvious. As with the previous ship they stuck to ruler strait track.
Schneider issued the necessary orders he would attack, he uncovered the voice pipes and issued the commands down to the helmsman, obediently U24 turned to her new course, a swell at her stern as the full power of her engines was put to the task of driving her forward at her full speed.
Schneider would attack on surface, much riskier but his additional speed would enable him to close and engage with both his bow and stern tubes. The risk was significant, both ships carried a heavy arsenal of light guns intended to protect them from torpedo boats. But in the cold-blooded calculus of war sinking two British battleships was worth risking a submarine and its crew.
Schneider was able to use the torpedo director, which was mounted on the conning tower, he would fire at the further ship first before swinging the stern about and firing on the second ship. Now was just the waiting, the two ships sailing in line abreast, less than 250m separating them, at 4000m Schneider had the U-Boat rigged to dive, he slowed to 8 knots, allowing the British warships to overrun his position, at 2000m he slowed further, to mere steerage way. He was already well within range of his torpedos but with only three left he had to maximise the damage. As was his experience the day before their was no deviation from the course the ships had been following. As an example of station keeping it was commendable, Schneider almost cursed the British Ships captains, they were making it all to easy. But that was a tiny and inconsequential complaint, one he would only share with his brother officers over a bottle of schnaps.
At last he was in a position to fire, close enough to almost touch he had been aiming at the first funnel, he estimated the range as 800m which allowing for the speed of the torpedo and of the target ship would give it a run time of less than 30 seconds. Once again the commands came quickly, first the order to fire, then the helm order, then once the stern tube was bearing on the target the second firing order. Then the came the order to dive the submarine. The first torpedo ran true, striking just below the armoured belt near the engine room, the blast straddled a transverse bulkhead. The sea flooded, HMS Formidable was doomed her old hull designed before the risk of torpedos was appreciated simply not up to the task of surviving.
For her sister HMS Irresistible, the situation was initially not as dire, the torpedo which struck her also hit below the belt armour. But forward of the main gun, it tore a large hole in the hull, the Officer of the watch, ordered the crew to action stations and slowed the ship lest her forward motion flood her faster than the pumps could handle. She was already slightly down at the head the weight of flooding causing additional hogging in a ship known for it.
The captain pulling on his frock coat appeared on the bridge, followed by the First Lieutenant, order was slowly restored, but HMS Irresistible was almost stationary, rolling gently in the calm seas.
On U24 Schneider was once again bent low over the Periscope, he watched the death of the first British Battleship, less than 5 minutes after the torpedo hit she was listing at 30 degrees, she suddenly rolled over, her boilers exploding in a great cloud of steam as they flooded. Then she was gone, nothing to show for a proud ship but a few desperate swimmers and some floating wreckage.
The other ship was in trouble, the flooding clearly bad but already power jets of water were dashing over the side as her pumps fought the flood. If left unmolested she might survive, certainly with her engines still providing power she could radio for help. Already other ships of the Royal Navy would be altering course, to succour their fellow and punish U24, Schneider knew he would be long gone before a hunt could be organised, but he wanted a clean sweep of the seas. He would be the first man to sink not one but two battleships, adding yesterday’s cruiser to his tally his had been a highly successful war.
By this stage U24 was 500m from the Battleship, she was at periscope depth and maintaining steerage way, Schneider gave the order to fire his final torpedo, it left U24 mere seconds passed when it struck the side of HMS Irresistible exactly amidships. The blast ruptured her hull, a hull that was already strained by the previous torpedo hit and the hundreds tonnes of water she had taken on forward. Rivets sheared throughout the hull as gigantic forces acted on a vessel that was already strained. The flooding of the engine room was as catastrophic as had been the case with HMS Formidable, the only difference being that she settled on an even keel, the bulkhead dividing her engine rooms failing quickly, this allowed the sea to invade her hull rapidly. Her death took longer than her sister, with more than half the crew, making it to the boats and rafts, drifting in a widening circle as they waited for rescue.
U24 surfaced and set course for home, her Captain lost in dreams of Glory, perhaps the Kaiser would award his Pour Le Merite, who else had struck a harder blow for Germany than him. He would have the Coxswain lash a broom to the conning tower before they came into port, that would let his fellow captains see how he had swept the seas clean of the Kaisers enemies.
Kapitänleutnant Rudolf Schneider had been sleeping soundly in his cot, he was roused from sleep by the shaking of a junior officer, the youngster sounded excited. “Sir, the lookouts have spotted a pair British battleships, they are bearing down on us abaft the port beam at a range of 8000m”
U24 was surfaced recharging her batteries, she had remained submerged for some hours after sinking the merchant cruiser during which time, Schneider had moved to the northern end of his patrol box. He was patrolling from east to west, looking again to intercept British shipping sailing for the Belgian ports.
Springing lightly out of his cot he slipped his sea boots on and moved up to the conning tower, climbing the ladder he emerged into the night. No lights were showing aboard the submarine, and she was dark against the wavelets, the North Sea was as calm as a mill pond. Given the rough conditions of the previous day its rapid transformation was uncommon, but heaven sent. Schneider grasped the large night glasses handed to him by the Navigator. There was little cloud, and the British ships was clearly visible, an occasional spark flicking up from their funnels. The pair must have been making their way across from Belgium, perhaps they had been sent to protect the seaways between Belgium and Britain.
Suddenly a searchlight flickered on, its bright light highlighting the position of the ship, Schneider was able to clearly identify her, she was a Formidable Class Battleship, as was her comrade. The searchlights continued to play uselessly on the sea, U24 was too far away to be seen but the lights made her enemies course and speed obvious. As with the previous ship they stuck to ruler strait track.
Schneider issued the necessary orders he would attack, he uncovered the voice pipes and issued the commands down to the helmsman, obediently U24 turned to her new course, a swell at her stern as the full power of her engines was put to the task of driving her forward at her full speed.
Schneider would attack on surface, much riskier but his additional speed would enable him to close and engage with both his bow and stern tubes. The risk was significant, both ships carried a heavy arsenal of light guns intended to protect them from torpedo boats. But in the cold-blooded calculus of war sinking two British battleships was worth risking a submarine and its crew.
Schneider was able to use the torpedo director, which was mounted on the conning tower, he would fire at the further ship first before swinging the stern about and firing on the second ship. Now was just the waiting, the two ships sailing in line abreast, less than 250m separating them, at 4000m Schneider had the U-Boat rigged to dive, he slowed to 8 knots, allowing the British warships to overrun his position, at 2000m he slowed further, to mere steerage way. He was already well within range of his torpedos but with only three left he had to maximise the damage. As was his experience the day before their was no deviation from the course the ships had been following. As an example of station keeping it was commendable, Schneider almost cursed the British Ships captains, they were making it all to easy. But that was a tiny and inconsequential complaint, one he would only share with his brother officers over a bottle of schnaps.
At last he was in a position to fire, close enough to almost touch he had been aiming at the first funnel, he estimated the range as 800m which allowing for the speed of the torpedo and of the target ship would give it a run time of less than 30 seconds. Once again the commands came quickly, first the order to fire, then the helm order, then once the stern tube was bearing on the target the second firing order. Then the came the order to dive the submarine. The first torpedo ran true, striking just below the armoured belt near the engine room, the blast straddled a transverse bulkhead. The sea flooded, HMS Formidable was doomed her old hull designed before the risk of torpedos was appreciated simply not up to the task of surviving.
For her sister HMS Irresistible, the situation was initially not as dire, the torpedo which struck her also hit below the belt armour. But forward of the main gun, it tore a large hole in the hull, the Officer of the watch, ordered the crew to action stations and slowed the ship lest her forward motion flood her faster than the pumps could handle. She was already slightly down at the head the weight of flooding causing additional hogging in a ship known for it.
The captain pulling on his frock coat appeared on the bridge, followed by the First Lieutenant, order was slowly restored, but HMS Irresistible was almost stationary, rolling gently in the calm seas.
On U24 Schneider was once again bent low over the Periscope, he watched the death of the first British Battleship, less than 5 minutes after the torpedo hit she was listing at 30 degrees, she suddenly rolled over, her boilers exploding in a great cloud of steam as they flooded. Then she was gone, nothing to show for a proud ship but a few desperate swimmers and some floating wreckage.
The other ship was in trouble, the flooding clearly bad but already power jets of water were dashing over the side as her pumps fought the flood. If left unmolested she might survive, certainly with her engines still providing power she could radio for help. Already other ships of the Royal Navy would be altering course, to succour their fellow and punish U24, Schneider knew he would be long gone before a hunt could be organised, but he wanted a clean sweep of the seas. He would be the first man to sink not one but two battleships, adding yesterday’s cruiser to his tally his had been a highly successful war.
By this stage U24 was 500m from the Battleship, she was at periscope depth and maintaining steerage way, Schneider gave the order to fire his final torpedo, it left U24 mere seconds passed when it struck the side of HMS Irresistible exactly amidships. The blast ruptured her hull, a hull that was already strained by the previous torpedo hit and the hundreds tonnes of water she had taken on forward. Rivets sheared throughout the hull as gigantic forces acted on a vessel that was already strained. The flooding of the engine room was as catastrophic as had been the case with HMS Formidable, the only difference being that she settled on an even keel, the bulkhead dividing her engine rooms failing quickly, this allowed the sea to invade her hull rapidly. Her death took longer than her sister, with more than half the crew, making it to the boats and rafts, drifting in a widening circle as they waited for rescue.
U24 surfaced and set course for home, her Captain lost in dreams of Glory, perhaps the Kaiser would award his Pour Le Merite, who else had struck a harder blow for Germany than him. He would have the Coxswain lash a broom to the conning tower before they came into port, that would let his fellow captains see how he had swept the seas clean of the Kaisers enemies.
It’s a challenge, is it up against the wall? Or here have the blue max?
Ramontxo
Donor
Or he has an driving accident with an steamroller passing over him several tens of times...
Motoring accidents eliminated two difficult but admirable military leaders I can think of. Give him a motorcycle and a ribbon and emotionally corner him before the formal complaint is made in his particular. I don't know if Imperial Germany had a system of handling things quietly for everyone concerned though?
Why not both? Stood against the wall. presented with the Blue Max then expected to command his own firing squad.
And then they will have his report where he genuinely believes he observed an auxiliary cruiser acting as a Q ship, the trap only being rumbled due to observing the cruiser making contact with a hostile zeppelin acting as spotter.
We know he hit an fully civilian vessel loaded with children. The germans only know what he observed and what his crew can corrobate. And as he wasn't aware at any point that his observation/assumption was wrong and neither is his crew. They also know by this point that that newspapers aren't very accurate (or at least think they are) because they think they know what their army is doing in Belgium and the stories in british newspapers aren't a match at all*
*The newspapers are probably closer to correct than what the germans at this point think is true.
We know he hit an fully civilian vessel loaded with children. The germans only know what he observed and what his crew can corrobate. And as he wasn't aware at any point that his observation/assumption was wrong and neither is his crew. They also know by this point that that newspapers aren't very accurate (or at least think they are) because they think they know what their army is doing in Belgium and the stories in british newspapers aren't a match at all*
*The newspapers are probably closer to correct than what the germans at this point think is true.
That's a good point. He did something awful because he didn't follow his rules of engagement so he was very definitely at fault, but he wasn't knowingly committing an atrocity and genuinely believed it was a legitimate target.
I'm glad I'm not a lawyer.
Ramontxo
Donor
Err. The liner was sunk by a sub firing three torpedos in two salvoes. And there are hundreds (I hope) of witnesses of that. Whatever history Berlin concocts (Churchill ordered a British sub to do it...*) will not be believed even by the Germans themselves
*A month later the Völkischer Beobachter, the Nazi Party's official newspaper, published an article which blamed the loss of Athenia on the UK, accusing Winston Churchill, then First Lord of the Admiralty, of sinking the ship to turn neutral opinion against Germany.
en.wikipedia.org
*A month later the Völkischer Beobachter, the Nazi Party's official newspaper, published an article which blamed the loss of Athenia on the UK, accusing Winston Churchill, then First Lord of the Admiralty, of sinking the ship to turn neutral opinion against Germany.