Mart!jn
04-06-06, 10:32 AM
15 – 04
It was my 10th patrol. It was the 15th of April and the day we set sail was a nice day. It was about 11 o’clock in the morning and the sea looked clean and nice. No fog, no clouds and the weather forecast was great, also no clouds or fog. I just ordered ahead standard. My wife was waving to me. Maybe she cried, I couldn’t see it from this distance. I hoped not. When I saw my crew come aboard yesterday, they looked full of confidence in me and in themselves.
I was also full of self-confidence. The last 9 patrols were pretty good. The first 4 patrols were at the good old type II. After the last, the staff gave me a new one. The VIIB u-boat. I heard it was a pretty nice boat. More torpedoes, more space and a deck gun. It was faster, in speed and in maneuvering. It proved itself worth, we sank many ships and I achieved much awards for it. I had to recruit new crew for this sub, they were green that day when we set sail for the frist time in the VIIB. Now they are all hardened. They have seen everything. Even a dead person of ourselves. He died trying to defend us against airplanes. He shot one down but the other managed to let his bomb go. It hit him right in the front. I always wondered what he was thinking of when he saw his dead coming…. But now back to reality. I can’t see my wife anymore. I only hear music from the orchestra. It’s playing a nice song. We head out of the harbor of Brest. It’s the first time we operate from Brest. Before we came here, our home was Wilhelmshaven. Nice home, but from here we are able to reach further. I don’t see this point in my orders. We are ordered to patrol grid BF21. It’s not far from here. In a few minutes I will go down to my navigating officer. But for now I enjoy the wind, and I look at the harbor. I see it blurring out. Let’s get down.
It was my 10th patrol. It was the 15th of April and the day we set sail was a nice day. It was about 11 o’clock in the morning and the sea looked clean and nice. No fog, no clouds and the weather forecast was great, also no clouds or fog. I just ordered ahead standard. My wife was waving to me. Maybe she cried, I couldn’t see it from this distance. I hoped not. When I saw my crew come aboard yesterday, they looked full of confidence in me and in themselves.
I was also full of self-confidence. The last 9 patrols were pretty good. The first 4 patrols were at the good old type II. After the last, the staff gave me a new one. The VIIB u-boat. I heard it was a pretty nice boat. More torpedoes, more space and a deck gun. It was faster, in speed and in maneuvering. It proved itself worth, we sank many ships and I achieved much awards for it. I had to recruit new crew for this sub, they were green that day when we set sail for the frist time in the VIIB. Now they are all hardened. They have seen everything. Even a dead person of ourselves. He died trying to defend us against airplanes. He shot one down but the other managed to let his bomb go. It hit him right in the front. I always wondered what he was thinking of when he saw his dead coming…. But now back to reality. I can’t see my wife anymore. I only hear music from the orchestra. It’s playing a nice song. We head out of the harbor of Brest. It’s the first time we operate from Brest. Before we came here, our home was Wilhelmshaven. Nice home, but from here we are able to reach further. I don’t see this point in my orders. We are ordered to patrol grid BF21. It’s not far from here. In a few minutes I will go down to my navigating officer. But for now I enjoy the wind, and I look at the harbor. I see it blurring out. Let’s get down.