Read Kirov Saga: Darkest Hour: Altered States - Volume II (Kirov Series) for Free Online Page B

conspired to build a fast destroyer that could run with
the carrier and have the endurance to stay at sea. Sometimes called Spähkreuzers ,
or “scout cruisers,” the ships were larger than any other German destroyer,
with a dual propulsion system that used diesel engines for long cruises, and
steam turbines for emergency speed.
    The destroyers had six 5.9-inch
guns in three twin turrets, a pair of 88s for high altitude AA defense, and a
lavish battery of eight 37mm flak guns with another eight 20mm caliber. Ten
21-inch torpedoes amidships finished off this impressive weapons suite for a ship
displacing just 5,700 tons. Two depth charge racks were also mounted astern so
the ships could also provide ASW defense. Unfortunately their designers could
provide no defense for the enemy they would soon encounter.
    Ritter saw it first, thinking he
was seeing a shooting star, a fast moving light in the hazy ocher sky. A billow
of slate grey clouds drifted across the glowing orb of the low sun, dimming the
light and making the contrast of the fire in the sky more noticeable. It was
high up, then began to fall rapidly, towards the sea.
    “Look there, Rudel. Are you sure
all our planes are back?”
    He thought it might be a fallen
angel, one of the missing Stukas that had managed to get close enough to
the carrier before eventually being forced to ditch. But no plane could move
like that. Seconds later his eyes widened as he saw the light swoop low over
the ocean and then accelerate! Its movement was inherently threatening, as it
came, heading right for the ship, surging in like a hot star thrown down from
the heavens. Then it smashed right into the hull of the Destroyer Sigfrid where it was keeping station two hundred yards from the carrier. The resulting
explosion vibrated the air and an angry red fire scored the red twilight. Fire
leapt up in a terrible sheet of flame.
    “Mein Gott!” he exclaimed. Then a
massive secondary explosion nearly shook them from their feet, and Rudel heard
the hard chink of metal on metal as fragments of the ravaged destroyer were
flung against the carrier’s hull. He felt a nudge on his foot and looked to see
one small piece of shrapnel had scuffed the toe of his boot. The torpedo mounts
amidships had gone up in the fire, and the destroyer’s back was broken.
    Graf Zeppelin swept on,
leaving the stricken destroyer behind. Ritter looked at Rudel, a stunned
expression on his face. “That demon was meant for us, Rudel! It must have been
a rocket! Sigfrid was just in the way. Get to your plane. I’ll be damned
if I’ll get caught on this deck if another comes in.” he eyed the heavens
darkly, as if another star would suddenly shake itself loose from the sable sky
and come hurtling from above, like a javelin cast by a vengeful god.
    Ritter threw his cigarette down,
tapped his companion on the shoulder, and ran to the forward catapult, making
for his fighter. Rudel wasted no time either, his feet taking him aft as shouts
of alarm and the signal for air alert resounded through the ship. The growl of
the hydraulics on the elevators seemed more urgent now. They were under attack,
but he could see no ship near them on any horizon save the foundering Sigfrid and now destroyer Beowulf , which had slowed to render assistance to its
fallen brother.
    Stop gawking and get to your
plane, he thought. Ritter is correct! The sooner you get aloft, the better. Yet
even as he had that thought, he wondered if the carrier would still be there
when he returned from this last mission.
     
     
    Chapter 5
     
    “Something has gone
amiss,” said Rodenko as he hovered over the radar scope. He pointed to the
screen, noting how the contacts they had been tracking had separated, one
moving on ahead, and two behind.
    “Any change of speed or heading?”
asked Fedorov.
    “No, I still read the primary
contact as bearing on eighty true, and look, those look to be aircraft now. I
think they are launching.”
    “Could our missile