Read Online Paradox Hour by John Schettler - Free Book Online

as well. His third turret was super-mounted above the aft main guns and could not join in just yet.
    Neither side scored hits in that first exchange, and the British gunners enjoyed a speed advantage in reloading their guns, firing again 8 seconds later. This time they drew first blood, with a round from Sheffield striking Kaiser on the long deck, forward of Anton turret. But the ship’s armor had been designed to counter the bigger 8-inch guns of the British heavy cruisers. The deck armor there was just under three inches, which was enough to absorb most of the punishment without serious damage below deck, yet a small column of smoke now trailed from Kaiser’s nose. The ship was hit, but not hurt, and it would shrug off the 6-inch rounds easily enough.
    At 18,000 meters the British cruisers turned hard to port to get all their guns into play, and it was then that disaster struck when Kaiser scored a direct hit on Gloucester , right on her forward turret, which put it completely out of action, its guns elevated and twisted like broken fingers. The fire below decks spread quickly to B turret, which had to flood its magazines to avoid further explosions. In one swift blow, the odds had shifted considerably, and now Kaiser turned to starboard, coming around to bring her aft guns into action.
    Aboard Gloucester, Captain Henry Rowley had just lowered his field glasses to note the damage forward. He turned his head, looking for his executive officer and started to give an order, but his words were cut short with a tremendous crash when a second German round blasted right into the bridge and conning tower. Not a man there would survive. The explosion was seen by everyone on Sheffield , being about 500 meters behind Gloucester when the turn was made.
    There was a moment of shock, stunned silence as eyes widened with the broiling fire and smoke that engulfed the cruiser’s conning tower. Then, as though dazed and drunk, Gloucester wallowed to starboard, her bow coming round in a turn toward the German ship. It was soon clear to both sides that the cruiser was no longer under control, though her aft turrets let off one more salvo as the ship turned.
    Sheffield dashed behind the chaotic scene, her gunfire temporarily blocked by the intervening hulk of Gloucester . Captain Larcom could see his brave challenge was not going to do anything more to dissuade the enemy than the destroyer rush had accomplished, and the sea around him soon erupted again with wild spray from the big 15-inch guns. His own batteries scored yet another hit, flush against Kaiser’s conning tower, and another very near the aft turret, which was flayed with shrapnel from the deck where the round struck. The heavy turret, with over 8 inches of armor, was not harmed, and it soon boomed out a reprisal, the rounds straddling Sheffield and rocking the cruiser as it turned away, making smoke.
    Meanwhile, the men aboard Gloucester realized their ship was describing a wide, uncontrolled circle, with no one alive on the bridge to issue commands. Both her forward turrets were out of action, and the Germans shifted fire to finish off the ship, scoring two more heavy hits with those fearsome 15-inch guns. The hit amidships was the worst, penetrating all the way to the boiler room and ending the ship’s mad dance as it lost all steam, her guts ripped apart by the explosion of the heavy round.
    Kaiser Wilhelm slowed to 28 knots and continued her turn to starboard to swing around and resume her course in pursuit of the carrier. It was then that Kapitan Heinrich was handed a message from Admiral Lütjens. He was ordered to break off and assume a course to the northwest.
    Break off? He was not happy with the order, folding the message and slipping it into his pocket, eyes narrowed with thought. He raised his field glasses, looking to find the British carrier, but it was lost in a heavy roll of black smoke. The cruiser action had done one thing in buying Wells a little time, and