THE LAST DREADNOUGHT - PART ONE

Undisclosed Location
May 5, 1942.

My dearest Irene,
I am writing these few lines to let you know that I am alive and well. I did not die with my beloved ship, though I have no more right to be alive than any of my dead sailors. I have just gotten out of hospital and I will be returning to Kiel briefly in one week to collect you and little Erich. I have already been re-assigned to a new ship. One so secret that we cannot live in Kiel any more. Officially my love I am dead. We must move swiftly, Irene, and no loose talk. Our lives depend on it.

Karl Lindermann.

Limfi, Denmark
March 12 1943.

Karl Lindermann cursed his luck. And in the next breath, blessed his luck. It had been a daily routine for him these past two years, and longer, ever since the U-boat had plucked his half frozen and blasted body out of the frozen North Sea. His Ship...gone; murdered foully in an action that more resembled a gang beating than a naval battle. His sailors left to freeze in the oily water while the bastard British laughed. bastards. Lindermann felt his left arm clench with hate. He smiled dryly. That was impossible. His left arm was still on Bismarck's bridge. Along with his left eye.

The German officer let his mind wander to that day, that awful day. His crew got him out of the destroyed control center, and onto the boat deck. All the while the British ships had pounded his lovely ship to death. Each shell that hit her, he'd felt, as if it hit him. Then he remembered the water, and the sound of the laughter, the mocking laughter, coming from the Cruiser that had closed what remained of his command. His men were crying out for rescue, and the British had laughed. Then gradually he'd heard the cries die away, one by one, and his crew died. And he'd prayed for death also, begged God to let him die with his men, but God didn't listen, and neither did Willi. The U-boat had found them atop a chunk of decking, the 19-year-old gunnery Lieutenant keeping the Captain alive with his own body heat.

Lindermann shrugged off those thoughts. He was alive and he had a purpose. Revenge for the Bismarck. Revenge for her crew. Revenge for him. Yes, Revenge for him. And he had just the ship to do it.

"Herr Admiral!" A voice broke through his reverie, and he turned to see Willi-no, Captain Whilem Hornsech. Captain of a Keigsmarine capital ship. A rather rapid advancement for a 21 year old with one leg. Lindermann smiled faintly. 'Good afternoon Captain' he replied. The younger Officer fell into step alongside his commander. 'How's the leg?' Lindermann asked. Hornsech shrugged. He'd taken a piece of shrapnel in the leg, and the cold, coupled with the infection from the fuel oil in the water had caused the right leg to be amputated below the knee. He was used to the artificial limb by now, and walked with more or less no limp.

'There is pain' Hornsech admitted. There was pain, burning pain, but he wasn't paying any attention to it. His leg was terribly swollen, and hard to the touch, but Hornsech knew what would happen if he told the doctors about it.

Lindermann said nothing. He knew that Hornsech was in severe pain, had seen the horrible red stump above the artificial limb. But the new Rear Admiral understood the young man's motives. Like Lindermann, honor, or love for that short degenerate in Berlin did not motivate him. Lindermann shuddered inwardly as he remembered his first meeting with Hitler after the sinking. The pompous asshole had strutted back and forth spouting his trash, while all He'd wanted to do was strangle the piece of shit who'd hung his ship and his crew out to dry. No, this had nothing to do with Hitler. For both him and Willi, this was for Bismarck.

"Lets go Willi" Lindermann said. "The Destroyer is waiting"

Facility Odin
Molodezhnaya
Antartica. March 20th.

Facility Odin had been originally built in the late 1930`s. It was a Massive Shipyard, run with Slave labour imported from Europe. It was designed for the construction of one vessel, and one vessel alone. From afar, Lindermann noted, she looked like Bismarck. The resemblance ended once you got closer. This ship was massive. A full 1000 feet long, more like an island than a warship. He could make her out well now, her hull was colored splotchy white to blend in with the pack ice that surrounded her. Lindermann smiled. And she was his. "She gets bigger each time I see her" Capt. Hornsech said next to him. Lindermann noted the pride in his voice. This ship had been a virtual barge when he'd come to her. Now she was a warship, a battleship?no, A Dreadnought. The largest and most powerful ever built. The Ship he would use to make the Allies pay for what they'd done to his men.