StarTrekMike
12-30-08, 11:35 PM
It was a dark night in Lorient, the party inside the officers lounge was loud and could be heard throughout the base as the men inside cheered and drank to the success of comrades and freinds. I looked inside a window while smoking a turkish cigarette to see the big band play a happy tune while crews from many boats attempted to dance and drink at the same time (a nearly possible feat).
This was a good time for my crew and I, we had two solid patrols under our belt and the boat was still intact and all were well. Our last patrol yielded three confirmed merchants but they were only small boats and all were travelling alone. The boat was still young and we all felt as though the next patrol could bring us within range of a larger target or even a convoy, a convoy would be a true test of skill and I relished the thought of executing a successfull assault and scoring enough hits to sink at least four or five boats.
The next morning I dragged myself out of the very comfortable bed and ate my last full breakfast with the morning sun shining into my large window next to the table. The base newspaper was spread before me showing our victories in the atlantic and the stories of a couple of commanders who completed daring attacts with spectacular results against the royal navy...I hope that I will see myself in this paper after my next patrol, my men need to feel like they are getting recognized and my vanity would be fulfilled.
A couple of hours later and at least four cups of coffee and I finally arrive at my boat. It was a type IXB with the latest engine and battery upgrades, it looked very large in it's dock compared to the smaller type VII's next to it and gave me a sense of pride that my men had a little more room to move around in than the other folks...this was a boat made for longer distances and armed for longer battles. The men were gathered on the deck in tight ranks and full uniform to greet me.
"Good morning Kaleu, the boat and all hands are ready for departure" my second in command Karl Kahler said happily. He was the best friend of everyone on the boat and also mine...he could make anything happen with these men and they trusted him to the end.
I stood straight and at attention and passed my eyes over all the men in line. "good good Karl...we have our orders and I want to get out of here straight away".
Karl broke formation and stood facing the crew, "Dismissed!...get to your departure stations, first watch starts now!"
I took position in my usual spot in the control room and leaned against the map table. "take us out and into open water Karl...ahead standard".
The shuddered and lurched forward as the two massive diesel engines came to life and made the sound I have come to know as the heart beat of the boat. We exited the port and made open water in a very short time while a small trawler ahead of us waved us off and bid us good hunting.
Three days pass en route to our patrol grid without any real action as the men enjoy the sunny weather and the still fresh food. I take the time to read a couple of good books and catch up with my letters to not so close family (I will mail them on return).
SHIP SPOTTED! comes down the ladder and I leap out of bed to find out if this is a joke from a bored crew...it's not. I climb the ladder and grab my binoculars to see a medium sized merchant with a british flag waving ignorantly on the mast.
"Karl give me flank speed, Peter get your men on the gun and get it loaded." I say as I search the deck of the merchant for possible deck guns or AA.
The boat rushes to the merchant at almost 20 knots while the men start ranging in the gun for a easy surface attack after I give them the warning shot to abandon ship.
"Get off your boat! we sink it in 20 minutes!" I yell while waving my arms. The sailors on the merchant look at me odd as if they can't understand what I am saying till I tell my men to open fire off her bow. All at once I see life rafts hit water and men leaving the boat for her fate.
"Such arrogance to sail alone and unarmed in these waters, eh Kaleu?" Karl says over my shoulder while I smile in agreement as the last of the sailors is safetly away from the doomed merchant.
"offenen Feuer!" I yell before round after round slam into the hull below the waterline and the ship begins to give up.
Twenty rounds later the ship is broken and sinking to the bottom while my men look for usable debris to salvage for the trip. and I put another mark on the gun carriage for a total of three.
"Still only a single ship Karl...not enough." I say looking down at the oil slick in the water.
Karl looks at the men fishing clothing and some random cans of food out of the water. "It is still early Kaleu...we are sure to sink the royal navy before to long" he says with a smile.
We arrive at our patrol grid with no more sightings and only a couple of playfull diving drills to make sure we still know how to dive the boat and keep trim. The radio has been active with reports but all were just to far away for us to catch. I tell the men I plan to set up a patrol coarse around the grid in a series of tight circles diving every hour to check for sound contacts.
Almost a day later we catch the sound of screws on a hydrophone check and it sounded slow...a promising sound that could be a large tanker or merchant. I order the boat to that coarse at the best possible speed while I cursed the sea for getting choppy hours ago.
We came up on the ship as the rain started and I struggled to see what flag she was flying and if she was armed before we got to close and they could spot us.
"Ready forward tubes one and two, set pistol on one for magnetic and two impact...fast speed." I yelled over the sound of the diesels and the rain hitting the deck.
I peered through the UZO to see the ship was a large merchant with a british flag on top...and one muzzle flash from the aft deck.
"Crash dive!" I yell as the first shell hits the water near us and we all scramble to the ladder. I take my position in the tower and get the attack periscope ready while yelling for the men to listen for a turn to port where we can get a decent shot and score at least one hit with the eels.
"ship zig-zagging Kaleu...I will try to find a pattern to time." Joachim at the hydrophones yells to me as I wait for the boat to dive to safety.
I hear a loud clang and a bang as a shell hits us and the boat shakes from the impact.
"Damage report!" I yell from the tower.
"We took the hit well but I need to take a look from outside to see if the shell did any real damage." Karl states calmly over the din of the men.
"Contact turning port!" Joachim yells with excitment as I yell for the men to get ready to fire.
"steady...not yet...tube one and two...Los!"
I feel the boat equalize as the eels leave the tubes and sail to the merchant just four hundred meters ahead. I take note of my stopwatch as I hear two large explosions and order the boat all stop.
"good job men!...the boat is going down!" I say as the crew erupts with cheers up and down the boat and Karl nods from below.
A day passes as we search our zone...I run the diesels slow to conserve the fuel and run underwater as much as possible while trying to wait out the storm before we head underway for the return trip...maybe another boat will send a weather report of our route home soon.
more on next post....
This was a good time for my crew and I, we had two solid patrols under our belt and the boat was still intact and all were well. Our last patrol yielded three confirmed merchants but they were only small boats and all were travelling alone. The boat was still young and we all felt as though the next patrol could bring us within range of a larger target or even a convoy, a convoy would be a true test of skill and I relished the thought of executing a successfull assault and scoring enough hits to sink at least four or five boats.
The next morning I dragged myself out of the very comfortable bed and ate my last full breakfast with the morning sun shining into my large window next to the table. The base newspaper was spread before me showing our victories in the atlantic and the stories of a couple of commanders who completed daring attacts with spectacular results against the royal navy...I hope that I will see myself in this paper after my next patrol, my men need to feel like they are getting recognized and my vanity would be fulfilled.
A couple of hours later and at least four cups of coffee and I finally arrive at my boat. It was a type IXB with the latest engine and battery upgrades, it looked very large in it's dock compared to the smaller type VII's next to it and gave me a sense of pride that my men had a little more room to move around in than the other folks...this was a boat made for longer distances and armed for longer battles. The men were gathered on the deck in tight ranks and full uniform to greet me.
"Good morning Kaleu, the boat and all hands are ready for departure" my second in command Karl Kahler said happily. He was the best friend of everyone on the boat and also mine...he could make anything happen with these men and they trusted him to the end.
I stood straight and at attention and passed my eyes over all the men in line. "good good Karl...we have our orders and I want to get out of here straight away".
Karl broke formation and stood facing the crew, "Dismissed!...get to your departure stations, first watch starts now!"
I took position in my usual spot in the control room and leaned against the map table. "take us out and into open water Karl...ahead standard".
The shuddered and lurched forward as the two massive diesel engines came to life and made the sound I have come to know as the heart beat of the boat. We exited the port and made open water in a very short time while a small trawler ahead of us waved us off and bid us good hunting.
Three days pass en route to our patrol grid without any real action as the men enjoy the sunny weather and the still fresh food. I take the time to read a couple of good books and catch up with my letters to not so close family (I will mail them on return).
SHIP SPOTTED! comes down the ladder and I leap out of bed to find out if this is a joke from a bored crew...it's not. I climb the ladder and grab my binoculars to see a medium sized merchant with a british flag waving ignorantly on the mast.
"Karl give me flank speed, Peter get your men on the gun and get it loaded." I say as I search the deck of the merchant for possible deck guns or AA.
The boat rushes to the merchant at almost 20 knots while the men start ranging in the gun for a easy surface attack after I give them the warning shot to abandon ship.
"Get off your boat! we sink it in 20 minutes!" I yell while waving my arms. The sailors on the merchant look at me odd as if they can't understand what I am saying till I tell my men to open fire off her bow. All at once I see life rafts hit water and men leaving the boat for her fate.
"Such arrogance to sail alone and unarmed in these waters, eh Kaleu?" Karl says over my shoulder while I smile in agreement as the last of the sailors is safetly away from the doomed merchant.
"offenen Feuer!" I yell before round after round slam into the hull below the waterline and the ship begins to give up.
Twenty rounds later the ship is broken and sinking to the bottom while my men look for usable debris to salvage for the trip. and I put another mark on the gun carriage for a total of three.
"Still only a single ship Karl...not enough." I say looking down at the oil slick in the water.
Karl looks at the men fishing clothing and some random cans of food out of the water. "It is still early Kaleu...we are sure to sink the royal navy before to long" he says with a smile.
We arrive at our patrol grid with no more sightings and only a couple of playfull diving drills to make sure we still know how to dive the boat and keep trim. The radio has been active with reports but all were just to far away for us to catch. I tell the men I plan to set up a patrol coarse around the grid in a series of tight circles diving every hour to check for sound contacts.
Almost a day later we catch the sound of screws on a hydrophone check and it sounded slow...a promising sound that could be a large tanker or merchant. I order the boat to that coarse at the best possible speed while I cursed the sea for getting choppy hours ago.
We came up on the ship as the rain started and I struggled to see what flag she was flying and if she was armed before we got to close and they could spot us.
"Ready forward tubes one and two, set pistol on one for magnetic and two impact...fast speed." I yelled over the sound of the diesels and the rain hitting the deck.
I peered through the UZO to see the ship was a large merchant with a british flag on top...and one muzzle flash from the aft deck.
"Crash dive!" I yell as the first shell hits the water near us and we all scramble to the ladder. I take my position in the tower and get the attack periscope ready while yelling for the men to listen for a turn to port where we can get a decent shot and score at least one hit with the eels.
"ship zig-zagging Kaleu...I will try to find a pattern to time." Joachim at the hydrophones yells to me as I wait for the boat to dive to safety.
I hear a loud clang and a bang as a shell hits us and the boat shakes from the impact.
"Damage report!" I yell from the tower.
"We took the hit well but I need to take a look from outside to see if the shell did any real damage." Karl states calmly over the din of the men.
"Contact turning port!" Joachim yells with excitment as I yell for the men to get ready to fire.
"steady...not yet...tube one and two...Los!"
I feel the boat equalize as the eels leave the tubes and sail to the merchant just four hundred meters ahead. I take note of my stopwatch as I hear two large explosions and order the boat all stop.
"good job men!...the boat is going down!" I say as the crew erupts with cheers up and down the boat and Karl nods from below.
A day passes as we search our zone...I run the diesels slow to conserve the fuel and run underwater as much as possible while trying to wait out the storm before we head underway for the return trip...maybe another boat will send a weather report of our route home soon.
more on next post....