Zedwardson
08-21-10, 10:16 PM
Lt. Kurt Zipfel sat at his quarters, looking at the report fresh from the radio room, blocks of characters from the engma machine.
Lt. Zipfel was the black sheep of the Navy, he almost lost his boat after the first wartime patrol, the war with Britain had started the day before, and off the Irish coast a large Ore Carrier came within sight in a horrid gale, seeing no lighted flag, he did what he was trained, and three Electric Eels later, the ship was going down, but much to his despair, it was a Irish neutral, and only the fact that he had sunk two tramp steamers on the western reaches of the channel had saved his commission. They made it clear, if he didn't do well on this patrol, he might find himself being the XO on a minesweeper.
And the Patrol wasn't much, finding a British Tug and motor boat off the coast of scotland, which he quickly put to the bottom by the 88, and then, Nothing.
Then there was this report. A task force was sited headed right to Lock Ewe, and Lt. Zipfel decided this was his chance to keep his boat, if he lived.
"Navigator, I have a new course" and Kurt showed the course, the navigator nodded, but sweat was on his brow. U-28 headed south for the Western Scottish Coast.
"Headed to the Hens House?"
"Exactly"
At dawn, U-28 dived and went silent, creeping towards Lock Ewe, this was a timing run, they knew where they where, as they had sited land, and now it was just running at set times at set courses, and hope for the best. German Naval intelligence indicated the protected harbor was in the South West, so that is where U-28 was headed towards.
For hours, as the air grew stale, the boat slowly moved ahead. Most of the crew sat in the bunks, waiting. Lt. Zipfel almost wanted to turn around, as his men where brave, even excited, it was a young crew and they where dreaming of glory, though the officers knew that a good chance death would be the only glory that would meet the unlucky U-28.
The Crew was startled when they heard a grinding sound, this was deep enough water, so Lt. Zipfel just grimaced as the boat groaned over the sub-net, wondering if he was spotted. The sonar operator indicated no change in the movement of the ships in harbor, and U-28 went on.
Lt. Zipfel confirmed with Lt. Alfred. the weapon officer, all the torpedoes where set with impact pistols, and set to run as shallow as they could, as he was sure there would be more sub-nets in harbor. It was the moment of truth,
"Raise attack scope" and Lt. Zipfel looked in, and was speechless.
About 20 degrees off his port bow was a British Battleship, most likely the Rodney, however, right off his bow, at 1500 meters in a ideal shot, was the flagship of the Navy, HMS Hood.
"Alfred, give me a salvo, four torpedoes, Minimum spread. Navigator, set course for us to turn around and get out of here after we fire."
"Torpedoes ready Sir!"
"Open outer doors"
Lt Zipfel listened as he heard the doors open, he waited till all four where open."
"Now Helmsman, make sure our bow doesn't pop to the surface when we fire. Fire all tubes."
Kurt Zipfel listened as all four torpedoes released"
"Set in the new course, lets get out of here, down scope!"
Kurt watched the timer as the boat turned around, now wanting to sneak out of the hens house. As the time came for impact, Kurt couldn't help keep the excitement from his voice "Scope up"
"Torpedo should hit...NOW...."
Kurt watched, in horror, he could hear each tick of the watch, dread and dispair washed over him, he would be forever known as the Commander who couldn't hit a battleship that wasn't moving at 1500 meters.
Tick...tick..tick..BOOM..
"Torpedo Impact!"
BOOM
"Torpedo Impact, that hull is groaning sir!"
BOOM
"Torpedo Impact"
BOOM
"Torpedo Impact, all four hit sir!"
"Open the door for tube five"
Kurt set in the numbers for the Rodney, once the solution was set.
"Fire! and Scope down"
Navigator, lets get out a little west of where we entered, don't want to hit that sub-net again"
"Roger Sir"
Kurt smiled, even though they where on noise watch for hours, even though the air was somewhat stale, everyone was smiling.
Sir, I can confirm the target is sinking"
"Good, its a very bad day for the British Navy."
"Sir, the escorts are pinging the wrong area, they are east of us, if nothing..."
Suddenly, there was the grinding noise, and worse, the sound of shells flying overhead.
"Flank, get us over the damn net!, schnell!"
"Escort is closing fast."
"Get the repair teams ready, looks like we will have to earn this victory after all."
"Sir, three more escorts are coming in from the North!"
One of the Seaman made a joke "They are acting like we sank the Hood!" There was a lot of laughter, then Kurt grinned.
"Well Men, we DID sink the hood"
The warrant officers had to do there best to keep noise discipline as the news quickly spread, they had sunk the Hood!"
Ping...Ping....
Lt. Zipfel took out a family heirloom, a mechanical counter that his father, a railroad worker, used to keep count of passengers, now he was to use it to count depth charges.
.....
Three hours later, U-28 was grinning, they where almost home. Four of the escorts had focused well behind where U-28 was now at, there was a just one escort pinging in the area, but it was not dropping depth charges, and was just pinging on the shallow waters of Ewe. Still there was distant depth charges in the background to count.
127...128..CLANG!
Suddenly there was screams from the rear and Ziphel ordered the repair teams in action. the wounded XO was shouting "Damn thing, it ran over us without it knowing where we where at, how unlucky can we be?"
Zipfel groaned with the boat as he heard the stern settle on the shallow bottom. He ordered a report from the repair team.
"Sir, I have bad news, and worse news"
"Bad news?"
"Even with the pumps and us working on it, we are slowly still flooding in the stern. In about a half hour it will be full of water."
"worse news?"
"Its breaking apart back their, even at this shallow depth, we have nine, ten minutes before that entire section implodes, killing us all."
Lt. Zipfel nodded, what else was there to do. He ordered that the deck gun and watch get ready, and prepare for a emergency blow. He ordered that the papers and Engma be destroyed, and once this was complete, he explained his plan.
We will emergency surface, the gun crew will go to the gun, I will dump the codebooks overboard, and we will making a hard starboard turn, I want the guncrew to aim for the command deck of any ships in the area, while I want the rest of the crew to get up on deck and start to dive overboard, we won't last long, but hopefully a few men can hit the water.
"On my mark...NOW..."
The boat Groaned, engines at flank, compressed air flowing though the tanks, and the boat was still on the bottom. So he used more of his air, and like a cork, U-28 made its last, final rise from the depths.
Men ran into positions, and after dumping the code books, as he heard gunfire all around him he saw the J&k right behind U-28, baring down on them, the boat engines where roaring, one man made it to the drink, when a shell hit the control tower, and the screams of medic filled the boat. finally the gun had a shot, and with shouts of glee, the J&K bridge erupted in flame as the shell slammed into the bridge. However it by then was nearly on top of U-28, and with a slam, it collided with the Uboat, For a brief moment it looked like U-28 might break free, then Lt. Zipfel world went black, and U-28 went under the seas, never to return.
Lt. Zipfel was the black sheep of the Navy, he almost lost his boat after the first wartime patrol, the war with Britain had started the day before, and off the Irish coast a large Ore Carrier came within sight in a horrid gale, seeing no lighted flag, he did what he was trained, and three Electric Eels later, the ship was going down, but much to his despair, it was a Irish neutral, and only the fact that he had sunk two tramp steamers on the western reaches of the channel had saved his commission. They made it clear, if he didn't do well on this patrol, he might find himself being the XO on a minesweeper.
And the Patrol wasn't much, finding a British Tug and motor boat off the coast of scotland, which he quickly put to the bottom by the 88, and then, Nothing.
Then there was this report. A task force was sited headed right to Lock Ewe, and Lt. Zipfel decided this was his chance to keep his boat, if he lived.
"Navigator, I have a new course" and Kurt showed the course, the navigator nodded, but sweat was on his brow. U-28 headed south for the Western Scottish Coast.
"Headed to the Hens House?"
"Exactly"
At dawn, U-28 dived and went silent, creeping towards Lock Ewe, this was a timing run, they knew where they where, as they had sited land, and now it was just running at set times at set courses, and hope for the best. German Naval intelligence indicated the protected harbor was in the South West, so that is where U-28 was headed towards.
For hours, as the air grew stale, the boat slowly moved ahead. Most of the crew sat in the bunks, waiting. Lt. Zipfel almost wanted to turn around, as his men where brave, even excited, it was a young crew and they where dreaming of glory, though the officers knew that a good chance death would be the only glory that would meet the unlucky U-28.
The Crew was startled when they heard a grinding sound, this was deep enough water, so Lt. Zipfel just grimaced as the boat groaned over the sub-net, wondering if he was spotted. The sonar operator indicated no change in the movement of the ships in harbor, and U-28 went on.
Lt. Zipfel confirmed with Lt. Alfred. the weapon officer, all the torpedoes where set with impact pistols, and set to run as shallow as they could, as he was sure there would be more sub-nets in harbor. It was the moment of truth,
"Raise attack scope" and Lt. Zipfel looked in, and was speechless.
About 20 degrees off his port bow was a British Battleship, most likely the Rodney, however, right off his bow, at 1500 meters in a ideal shot, was the flagship of the Navy, HMS Hood.
"Alfred, give me a salvo, four torpedoes, Minimum spread. Navigator, set course for us to turn around and get out of here after we fire."
"Torpedoes ready Sir!"
"Open outer doors"
Lt Zipfel listened as he heard the doors open, he waited till all four where open."
"Now Helmsman, make sure our bow doesn't pop to the surface when we fire. Fire all tubes."
Kurt Zipfel listened as all four torpedoes released"
"Set in the new course, lets get out of here, down scope!"
Kurt watched the timer as the boat turned around, now wanting to sneak out of the hens house. As the time came for impact, Kurt couldn't help keep the excitement from his voice "Scope up"
"Torpedo should hit...NOW...."
Kurt watched, in horror, he could hear each tick of the watch, dread and dispair washed over him, he would be forever known as the Commander who couldn't hit a battleship that wasn't moving at 1500 meters.
Tick...tick..tick..BOOM..
"Torpedo Impact!"
BOOM
"Torpedo Impact, that hull is groaning sir!"
BOOM
"Torpedo Impact"
BOOM
"Torpedo Impact, all four hit sir!"
"Open the door for tube five"
Kurt set in the numbers for the Rodney, once the solution was set.
"Fire! and Scope down"
Navigator, lets get out a little west of where we entered, don't want to hit that sub-net again"
"Roger Sir"
Kurt smiled, even though they where on noise watch for hours, even though the air was somewhat stale, everyone was smiling.
Sir, I can confirm the target is sinking"
"Good, its a very bad day for the British Navy."
"Sir, the escorts are pinging the wrong area, they are east of us, if nothing..."
Suddenly, there was the grinding noise, and worse, the sound of shells flying overhead.
"Flank, get us over the damn net!, schnell!"
"Escort is closing fast."
"Get the repair teams ready, looks like we will have to earn this victory after all."
"Sir, three more escorts are coming in from the North!"
One of the Seaman made a joke "They are acting like we sank the Hood!" There was a lot of laughter, then Kurt grinned.
"Well Men, we DID sink the hood"
The warrant officers had to do there best to keep noise discipline as the news quickly spread, they had sunk the Hood!"
Ping...Ping....
Lt. Zipfel took out a family heirloom, a mechanical counter that his father, a railroad worker, used to keep count of passengers, now he was to use it to count depth charges.
.....
Three hours later, U-28 was grinning, they where almost home. Four of the escorts had focused well behind where U-28 was now at, there was a just one escort pinging in the area, but it was not dropping depth charges, and was just pinging on the shallow waters of Ewe. Still there was distant depth charges in the background to count.
127...128..CLANG!
Suddenly there was screams from the rear and Ziphel ordered the repair teams in action. the wounded XO was shouting "Damn thing, it ran over us without it knowing where we where at, how unlucky can we be?"
Zipfel groaned with the boat as he heard the stern settle on the shallow bottom. He ordered a report from the repair team.
"Sir, I have bad news, and worse news"
"Bad news?"
"Even with the pumps and us working on it, we are slowly still flooding in the stern. In about a half hour it will be full of water."
"worse news?"
"Its breaking apart back their, even at this shallow depth, we have nine, ten minutes before that entire section implodes, killing us all."
Lt. Zipfel nodded, what else was there to do. He ordered that the deck gun and watch get ready, and prepare for a emergency blow. He ordered that the papers and Engma be destroyed, and once this was complete, he explained his plan.
We will emergency surface, the gun crew will go to the gun, I will dump the codebooks overboard, and we will making a hard starboard turn, I want the guncrew to aim for the command deck of any ships in the area, while I want the rest of the crew to get up on deck and start to dive overboard, we won't last long, but hopefully a few men can hit the water.
"On my mark...NOW..."
The boat Groaned, engines at flank, compressed air flowing though the tanks, and the boat was still on the bottom. So he used more of his air, and like a cork, U-28 made its last, final rise from the depths.
Men ran into positions, and after dumping the code books, as he heard gunfire all around him he saw the J&k right behind U-28, baring down on them, the boat engines where roaring, one man made it to the drink, when a shell hit the control tower, and the screams of medic filled the boat. finally the gun had a shot, and with shouts of glee, the J&K bridge erupted in flame as the shell slammed into the bridge. However it by then was nearly on top of U-28, and with a slam, it collided with the Uboat, For a brief moment it looked like U-28 might break free, then Lt. Zipfel world went black, and U-28 went under the seas, never to return.