11Bravo
01-26-07, 04:30 PM
***** FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE *****
Der Seeesel of Dover
Herman Engel and the officers of the Type IIA U-boat U-13 "der Seeesel" were awarded Iron Crosses Second Class for their daring raid on the port of Dover England that resulted in the sinking of the HMS Mauritius, a Fiji-Class Light Cruiser. The mission also saw the sinking of the British flagged Vesuvius, a Pyro Ammunition ship of 7360 tons. The mission, Engel's fourth of the war, saw him move into second on the total tonnage scoreboard and just edge out Gunther Prien 37602 to 37420. When asked about his more famous rival, the Bull of Scapa Flow, Herman had this to say. "What?! I am a little hard of hearing. Six hours of depth charge attack have that effect on you".
The mission took place the night of November 12, 1939. Egon Hagan the U-13's new weapon officer, tells the story. "I was a last-minute replacement for one of the officers who got transferred under the SH3 Commander system. Even though this was my first patrol, it was immediately apparent that I had more qualifications and experience than any other member of the crew. Not that qualifications and experience means anything to this bunch--all they wanted to talk about was the "new skin" a fancy gray and red paint job and the smutty pinups in the sonar shack.
Hans Dieter and Ernst Bachman serve as Watch Officers and Navigators and take up the story. "I was a little surprised when Herman read the orders to us. Sure, we knew we were patrolling AN84, they tell you that in Kiel, but the SH3 Gen orders aren't revealed until you leave port. So Herman starts reading and its stuff about dark ships are all targets and torpedoes aren't running right and then he says the Channel is closed to U-boats. And I'm thinking la-de-da. And the very next words out of his mouth are that we are going to raid Dover! ********n' U-Boat Force! Isn't that just like them? Sending us in a Type IIA boat through a closed channel filled with mines and armed with torpedoes that don't run right. At least we got a cool skin and some decent pinups in the sonar shack.
Horst Eichler is the Chief Engineer. He has been with the U-13 since its keel was layed in 1935. "Ja sure I'm an old timer. Old enough to know you don't send a Type IIA to Dover. And I'm old enough to thank God I'm back. I always stow away a little extra fuel in some apple juice bottles. Usually, I let the crew find that out themselves, but this time I needed it. We didn't make it back to Kiel, but we had just enough to make it to Wilhelmshaven. ********n' U-Boat Force.
Egon Hagan continues the story. "The rest of the crew was clueless so I designed the strategy. We hugged the French coast line during the six day run into Dover. Then we timed a high speed run into the port to arrive at 2000 hours. We had to submerge a few times to avoid patrol craft and destroyers--a total of six. I was the one who saw the Mauritius. The rest of the crew kept pointing to part of the orders that said "absolutely do not attack" but I insisted we "press the attack" I learned that from my previous assigment on the staff of BDU. I set up a tricky but perfect shot and sank the cruiser with a mix of electric and steam torpedoes, magnetic triggers, and all set to run 2m more shallow than draft. Attention to details is what will win this war. Then it was my idea to back into the pier and hug the wreckage while the six British warships wasted hundreds of depth charges in their futile attacks. Afterward I insisted we return to patrol AN84 for the whole 24 hours. In my humble opinion, the mission would not have successful without my leadership.
We asked Herman Engel, der Seeesel of Dover, how he felt after his historic poke in the British eye. "I'm just glad to be back"
Der Seeesel of Dover
Herman Engel and the officers of the Type IIA U-boat U-13 "der Seeesel" were awarded Iron Crosses Second Class for their daring raid on the port of Dover England that resulted in the sinking of the HMS Mauritius, a Fiji-Class Light Cruiser. The mission also saw the sinking of the British flagged Vesuvius, a Pyro Ammunition ship of 7360 tons. The mission, Engel's fourth of the war, saw him move into second on the total tonnage scoreboard and just edge out Gunther Prien 37602 to 37420. When asked about his more famous rival, the Bull of Scapa Flow, Herman had this to say. "What?! I am a little hard of hearing. Six hours of depth charge attack have that effect on you".
The mission took place the night of November 12, 1939. Egon Hagan the U-13's new weapon officer, tells the story. "I was a last-minute replacement for one of the officers who got transferred under the SH3 Commander system. Even though this was my first patrol, it was immediately apparent that I had more qualifications and experience than any other member of the crew. Not that qualifications and experience means anything to this bunch--all they wanted to talk about was the "new skin" a fancy gray and red paint job and the smutty pinups in the sonar shack.
Hans Dieter and Ernst Bachman serve as Watch Officers and Navigators and take up the story. "I was a little surprised when Herman read the orders to us. Sure, we knew we were patrolling AN84, they tell you that in Kiel, but the SH3 Gen orders aren't revealed until you leave port. So Herman starts reading and its stuff about dark ships are all targets and torpedoes aren't running right and then he says the Channel is closed to U-boats. And I'm thinking la-de-da. And the very next words out of his mouth are that we are going to raid Dover! ********n' U-Boat Force! Isn't that just like them? Sending us in a Type IIA boat through a closed channel filled with mines and armed with torpedoes that don't run right. At least we got a cool skin and some decent pinups in the sonar shack.
Horst Eichler is the Chief Engineer. He has been with the U-13 since its keel was layed in 1935. "Ja sure I'm an old timer. Old enough to know you don't send a Type IIA to Dover. And I'm old enough to thank God I'm back. I always stow away a little extra fuel in some apple juice bottles. Usually, I let the crew find that out themselves, but this time I needed it. We didn't make it back to Kiel, but we had just enough to make it to Wilhelmshaven. ********n' U-Boat Force.
Egon Hagan continues the story. "The rest of the crew was clueless so I designed the strategy. We hugged the French coast line during the six day run into Dover. Then we timed a high speed run into the port to arrive at 2000 hours. We had to submerge a few times to avoid patrol craft and destroyers--a total of six. I was the one who saw the Mauritius. The rest of the crew kept pointing to part of the orders that said "absolutely do not attack" but I insisted we "press the attack" I learned that from my previous assigment on the staff of BDU. I set up a tricky but perfect shot and sank the cruiser with a mix of electric and steam torpedoes, magnetic triggers, and all set to run 2m more shallow than draft. Attention to details is what will win this war. Then it was my idea to back into the pier and hug the wreckage while the six British warships wasted hundreds of depth charges in their futile attacks. Afterward I insisted we return to patrol AN84 for the whole 24 hours. In my humble opinion, the mission would not have successful without my leadership.
We asked Herman Engel, der Seeesel of Dover, how he felt after his historic poke in the British eye. "I'm just glad to be back"