Perhaps I share a story about a young oberleutnant from the early days of the war:
Having just graduated as a U-boat commander from naval academy he was eager to put his skills to the test. He was an academic person and loved to read books as he believed the truth lied in them. He read all the books written by experts of U-boat warfare as well as reports by veterans from WW1. He couldn't care less of his class mates who were spending their free time in clubs drinking and sharing stories.
He was designated to 7th flotilla and was assigned to patrol British east coast when the war broke. He had little success on the slow merchant vessels although the eels did not find their mark; he had to rely on the gunnery crew to sink tonnage. This should have been a waking call but he thought he knew everything.
And so when the British dispatched their ASWs the problems start. Youngster here tried to put his learnings to use but struggled with the destroyers as they seemed to always know were he is. He managed to avoid the few first encounters and head for the English channel to hunt the easy prey, although someone had warned him about it back in the port. He couldn't care less about tales of some drunken old sailors.
As he sailed boldly through the channel he was soon spotted by British task force. The young captain sounded the alarm and the boat dived rapidly. Navigator reported shallow waters so the boat could not go deep enough. Captain tried to slither through the destroyer formation and even though he was unsure whether he was detected or not, the depth charging was heavy.
When escaping started to seem impossible captain remembered having read from a book about how U-boats can be manouvered to the bottom of the sea softly for prolonged time period. He thought this way he could be dead silent and let the destroyers believe he was either sunk or escaped.
And so he ordered the chief to put his boat to the bottom. They creeped ever so slowly to make the impact as smooth as possible, but as the keel hit the bottom all hell broke loose: the impact, even though as slow as possible, caused massive damage to boat. Multiple leaks were reported all over the boat. Fearing the pumps might give away their position the captain hesitated too long before ordering the repairs. He tried to blow ballast to escape from the bottom but the boat did not move. Slowly the boat filled with water and so ended the maiden voyage of the young captain.
Moral of the story?
Spend more time in the pub!
If you catch my drift...
