One of the fiercest battles in the Atlantic blitz would be the Second Battle of Bonavista Bay, when a German CTF attacked the 10th fleet head-on, hoping to relieve the Newfoundland garrisson that had come under heavy bombing.
The following events took place February 25, 1945, Bonavista Bay, Atlantic Ocean
The carrier rocked as entire salvos of depth bombs slammed into the deck, hurling Kriegsmarine sailors off the ships as pillars of fire erupted from all around them. The sound of explosions was deafening, and the sky was so filled with smoke from burning ships that fighter planes had trouble finding their targets. Grand Admiral Zieger dove to the side as another squadron of US bombers flew over the ships, followed by two Messerschmitts attempting to hold off the USAF. The Admiral stood up and ran towards the megaphone, as a fourth and a fifth explosion turned a nearby destroyer into a ball of fire. Slowly, the deck began leaning towards the left, and the demise of the KMS Stettin was inevitable. The Stettin, one of the most modern carriers of the Kriegsmarine, was now nothing more than a sailing bonfire, as German sailors dove off the edge attempting to escape a fiery death. But it was not over yet, Zieger thought. He would go down with the ship, and make one last, final kill before that. As he reached whatever was left of the bridge, he looked towards the massive ship sailing in front of them. The USS Midway.
More explosions rocked the carriers, while German cruisers dashed into the scene full-speed firing all they had at the US Fleet. Above them, a gargantuan dogfight was taking place, as over 150 planes rolled and looped through the skies, attempting to down each other before being shot themselves. Occasionally, a set of fighters detached from the deadly circus to dive down and deliver more deadly torpedoes to the fleets below. The ravaged and burnt-out bridge of the KMS Stettin was completely empty, save for a single navigator that was cowering behind a control panel. As Zieger approached, the man yelled, attempting to make himself heard over the deafening sounds of airplanes roaring past.
“TORPEDO BOMBERS INCOMING! WE HAVE TO ABANDON SHIP SIR!”
“WHAT?”
More smoking comets fell down from the sky, as airplane after airplane was being eliminated from the battle royale above them.
“TORPEDOES!” The navigator yelled again.
“DAMN THE TORPEDOES!” Grand Admiral Zieger yelled “FULL SPEED AHEAD!”
The navigator looked at the USS Midway in front of them, and understood the order. Crash the ship. Take down the Midway. The last heroic act of the KMS Stettin.
“YES SIR!”
The navigator began flicking whatever intact switches he could find, removing all safety limits from the engines, overloading the massive propellers that trusted the doomed husk forward.
“FULL SPEED AHEAD!”
The navigator grabbed hold of the handle controlling ship speed, and smacked it down with such brutal force that the handle snapped. Almost immediately, the lumbering and hurt beast came to life, and the KMS Stettin lunged forward at a speed of forty knots, headed straight towards the USS Midway. As the ship began it’s deadly advance, the Midway attempted to escape by performing a crash turn to dodge the incoming carrier. Alarms sounded, and more US bombers descended from the skies in a bold bid to destroy the Stettin before it had a chance to crash into the Midway. Zieger grabbed a telephone and attempted to contact the remainder of the fleet. Immediately as he flicked the switch, the radio emitted a high-pitched shrieking tone, as the circuitry burned through, as a consequence of the overloading of the carrier’s engine, and thus, it’s power source.
“GODDAMNIT!” Zieger ripped the phone out of it’s plug, and threw it out of the window.
“SIR! SIGNAL THE FLEET WITH THESE!” The navigator pointed towards a series of large spots attached to the rail of the bridge, sometimes used during nighttime operations. Zieger spat on the ground, and turned on the spotlights to signal a German carrier he could faintly see through the smoke. A squadron of British Spitfires roared past the bridge, followed by a series of burning US fighters, crashing into the sea and the side of the carrier with a series of volatile explosions.
On the KMS Stuttgart, Admiral Kirchner noticed the flashing lights. The Stuttgart had also received a severe amount of punishment, but was still capable of sailing. More explosions erupted above the Stuttgart as the Luftwaffe and RAF attempted to protect her leading carrier.
“Grab a pen and paper!”
“What?”
“The Stettin is signaling something, grab a pen and paper!” Several torpedo bombers missed their targets, the torpedoes exploded in the water, raising columns of bursting seawater over six meters high. A sailor quickly grabbed a pen and paper and sat down besides Kirchner
“Okay, he’s sending Morse. Write this down”
Attempting to focus on the flashing lights was a difficult task, while more squadrons of low-flying bombers attempted to fly at extremely low altitude to evade German and British interceptors. Their effort was to no avail, however, as more Messerschmitts immediately descended on the escaping squadrons, ripping them apart like a meteor shower. Finally, the message had been decoded. Kirchner grabbed the paper, and read it...
“COMMANDER ZIEGER OF THE KMS STETTIN
CARRIER HEAVILY DAMAGED AND SINKING
FLANKS YIELDING, NO ROOM TO MANOUEVRE, SAILORS HAVE FLED THE FLIGHT DECK
HAVE ORDERED TO CRASH INTO THE USS MIDWAY
DEATH TO AMERICA
LONG LIVE THE CHANNEL PACT!”
“Good god”
“What, sir?”
“He’s going to crash into the Midway”
Stunned, the men looked as the KMS Stettin drilled itself into the USS Midway. Almost immediately, both ships erupted into flames after their ammunition chambers exploded under the heavy pressure. Even above the blaring noise of attacking bombers, all men nearby could hear the horrible snapping of metal beams, after which both carriers completely collapsed, their bridges falling over and crashing into each other with another series of buoyant explosions. On the flight deck of the KMS Stuttgart, all sailors momentarily stopped their activities to stare at the colliding carriers in terror. With another flash, the flames on both ships burst even higher, after which the Midway snapped in half, and the two wrecks began their descent beneath the boiling oceans. With one final discharge, a tower of belching water burst forth from the ocean, followed by an underwater explosion that raised enormous waves, while below them the men could see the red fire being put out by the torrid water. After that, there was silence, and both the KMS Stettin and the USS Midway had forever left the war.
The KMS Stettin sinks after colliding with the USS Midway
Grand Admiral Zieger and his navigator would later be awarded
The medal of Extraordinary Bravery for the Channel pact post-mortem
