A war of the Icy Sea

Chapter 1, the chase

The sun barely penetrated the low lying grey clouds, making the sea a cold iron grey. Everything seemed at peace, until the white bow wave of a very large ship cut through the water. This ship was HMS Norway, the second most famous ship in the British Royal Navy. She was a WW1 era battle cruiser of the same class as the former HMS Hood but since the latter's sinking, the Norway was the sole survivor of her class.

She had a very active war, participating in many a battle including the hunt for the Bismarck. Norway was to sail with Hood and Prince of Wales but problems with the Aging ship's engines forced her to delay setting sail. But when the Bismarck was finally cornered, the attacking British fleet made sure to save the final few shots for the Norway since the Hood was her sister ship and it was very rare to see the two ships apart.

After that fight, Norway underwent lots of modifications to bring her up to modern standards including thicker armour and an augmented Anti-Aircraft Battery. Her main armament of 8 15 inch guns in four twin gun turrets had been replaced with newer, more accurate ones and its seaplane had been replaced with an old Fairey Swordfish biplane equipped with floats.

On this voyage the Norway had been up in the arctic, hunting for the German Battleship DKM Tirpitz and had been relieved by a more modern King George V class Battleship so the Norway could sail back to harbour and let her crew have some much needed shore leave.

Everyone was tired, none more so than Lieutenant Commander Alexander McDonald, the Norway's commanding officer. He was a very young man at 21 years of age. The youngest captain of a capital ship in the royal navy no less. He wasn't an imposing man at 5ft 10' but his short brown hair and tired Milk Chocolate coloured eyes gave an impression that he had seen a lot more action than a man his age should have ever seen.

He had been in command for only a few months and was becoming very popular amongst the crew. At first, Alexander had hoped for a posting to a Sleek, new King George V class Battleship maybe as a gunnery officer. It came as a surprise though when he was given a command. Not the new battleships he had hoped for but it was one of the most famous ships in the world!

Alexander sighed to himself as he watched the bow of the Norway battle through the sea's swell. His hand grasped at the piping hot mug of tea in his hands. The clock ticked rhythmically behind him.

But as Alexander was about to turn and exit the bridge the intercom crackled.

"Bridge, this is radar. I have a large contact bearing down on us at high speed, coming in on the port quarter!"

Alexander took out his binoculars and pointed them in the direction the Radar had specified. Yes, there was a contact on the horizon and it was bearing down on them fast!

"Increase speed by 6 knots" Alexander ordered.

"Aye sir" the helmsman replied as he moved the engine telegraphs higher in speed.

The deck quivered as the turbines increased in speed, forcing the Norway to accelerate. The distant ship drew closer and closer. Until the unmistakable shape of a Bismarck class Battleship drew into view!

"Sound General Quarters" Alexander ordered. But even as the general alarm sounded, he knew that it was unlikely for the Norway to escape this fight afloat.

As the German Battleship drew closer, Alexander pointed to it and said "That Gentlemen is the Berlin."

"How do you know that sir?" Lieutenant Davies, the Norway's second in command asked.

Alexander smiled before he said "see that bulge in her B turret? I know it's her because of that bulge which was caused by a turret explosion"

Just as he said that the guns on the Berlin turned to face the Norway!

"Bring all turrets to bear and open fire!" Alexander ordered with a grim smile on his face.

As the Norway's gun turrets turned to face the Berlin, Alexander said quietly to himself "This war isn't finished yet"

The Berlin fired her guns first but the first salvo went wide and created huge splashes in front of the Norway's bow. Norway's guns replied and they got better luck with accuracy. Norway's first shells slammed into the Berlin creating several huge holes in its upper structure. The two adversaries kept on pounding away at each other but the Berlin was far more modern and her crew were fresh and the best in the German Navy. Despite this, the Norway kept on firing, having taken many more hits than the Hood during her fight with Bismarck.

The German's on the Berlin knew that Norway couldn't last much longer but salvation for the Norway was about to appear out of the blue.

"Sir, Lookouts report that they have sighted a large snow storm to the west!" Davies yelled over the noise of the battle.

Alexander knew that this was the Norway's only chance of survival.

"Helm, head for that snow storm, all ahead flank" Alexander ordered.

The Norway lurched around and made its desperate charge towards the storm. Smoke began billowing in huge quantities from the twin funnels in order to cover her tracks. Berlin followed but her engines had been hit by a stray shell from Norway's first few salvoes so it couldn't keep up with the Norway easily. Shells fell close behind the Norway as it sailed headlong into the storm.

But this was no ordinary snowstorm, Alexander and all of the crew knew this as soon as the Norway ploughed into the storm. The snowflakes just hung there in the sky, they did gather on the deck of the Norway but apart from that, they were very different. For starters the snowflakes were a sort of minty green!

"What the Hell?" Davies exclaimed.

"You can say that again" Alexander agreed.

Now the only noise was the steady crashing of the water against the hull as the Battle Cruiser charged forwards like a charging rhino. But then as soon as the snowstorm had started, it stopped!

Instead of a cold grey sky, the sun now shone brightly down in a bright blue sky with little clouds!

Alexander was very suspicious now as was Davies, but luckily there was no sign of the Berlin anywhere.

"What just happened back there?" Alexander asked himself as he looked out over the port bridge wing at the repair gangs who were currently repairing the damage caused by the Berlin's shells.

"I want a report from all stations" Alexander said to Davies who hurried off to get said report.

Something was wrong, Alexander could feel it in his bones but he wasn't sure just yet.