At leat you have better aim with torps!

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

YEEEEEEHAWWWWW!!!! :arrgh!:

BDU to U-46... BDU to U-46...
Request mission update and status...

"We can't send this to BdU, Sir.."

"Why not?"

Viktor sighed. And glanced at his piece of paper

"Because, Sir:

'Where is the Ark R and and where is Auntie B, what are our KM idiots doing about it?'

isn't going to go down too well, I'd guess"

"Nor, Sir, is this doodle of a little Alpine house, and this man and a woman having a picnic with 'Ich liebe Heidi' scrawled underneath. That's hard to translate into morse, Herr Kaleun."

"Give me that here, Viktor! That's just some doodlings and scribbles, the message form is on the reverse side"


"I'll re-write it. Step across the gantry"

" U-46 to BdU. DTG (put in the time and date when you send it, Viktor?)
In patrol box BE as ordered.
U-513 confirmed lost with all hands by enemy air action.
U-100 and U-711 proceeding to designated patrol areas.
Last heards as my previous message.
Two merchants sunk by U-46 of 2,000 and 8,000. Could not ascertain name of ship, or type of cargo due to weather, but laiden and heading NE.
11 torpedoes ready, and all other weapons systems and crew intact
Request new ops area or permission for independent action, to anticipate the big ships. Ours or theirs. U-46"

"Well that's better, Sir,"

"Thanks Viktor, I'm glad my message to the GrossAdmiral has your approval"

I took my cap off and ran my fingers through my hair

Some medicinal rum should have been forthcoming, but of course He had a better supply than me. I'm not supposed to know about it, and they can store stuff in ingenious places.
(I'm thinking now of the time when a depth charge ruptured a couple of pipes in the Control Room, and the hands were incredibly quick to see to it)

(It's a busy time to say the least, when you're being depth charged , and the crew were very conscientious in stemming this particular flow with their mugs)

Only later I learned, that an illicit bag of schnapps had been burst behind one of our air pipes by the Royal Navy. Christian told me much later when he found out himself, after me, him and Otto were busy saving the boat. We had already gone past 220m down.
"Are you annoyed , Sir?"
("Of course I'm annoyed, Number One! Where was our last tot? I had a throat as dry as Rommel's boots!")

Anyway,

"Sit down Viktor. Pour a couple of shots and talk to me"

"This thing about Heidi..."

"Sir, the crew have known for ages; she loves you, and that was obvious to any of us who had to go to Headquarters, the other crews in the Flotilla know too, and they're taking bets on you against that fly boy from Abbeville."

"You're running a book, aren't you, Viktor?"

"Not any more, Sir, the whole of U-46 wants their money on you, I can't place enough of it out with the luftwaffe groundcrews and the army at odds to make a turn"

"Get back to her, Sir"

"By that you mean, don't take any risks with the boat, and get us all back in one piece, isn't that it?"

"That thought hardly crossed my mind, Sir"

The green curtain swayed, and I could catch a glimpse of Viktor's famous paperback collection, rocking back and forth on his shelf.
Most were trashy detective novels to be sure, but I happen to know there were some extremely romantic stories of love in the 18th century that he never lent out.

"We'll all be getting back safely, Viktor, but one thing at a time..."

Lt de Bunsen, U-46

Mr. De Bunsen... where do we place our bets on the good captain?

:up: :up: :up:

My Flack crew are gunning for the captain!! :arrgh!: :arrgh!:

"They are fast screws, Sir. Someway distant. Bearing North-Northeast about 280 on our port bow."

I grabbed one of his earphones. And listened as Hans rotated his sonar wheel.

He's always right of course. We all in our tasks have to be right all of the time.

"Destroyer, Sir"

"Steer 350, and give me my periscope please, Reuben. Bruno get your bridge watch together, and get some soup down them from the galley, ready to go up in thirty minutes. Rouse Christian and Willi. Don't wake Otto, he's only just got his head down, and ease us up on the dive planes. He's very tetchy if we use up compressed air unless in an emergency.

"In an emergency we're all blowing air out of one valve or another.." Bruno mutttered as he went to rouse his watch.

"Get on with it, Number Two!" I laughed, as the murmured orders in the control room and the gentle tilt and swing of our boat obey my and Reuben's commands.

Back to the Sonar desk.

"I know it's a destroyer, Hans. But only one? Nothing bigger beyond it?"

We had been waiting for more news on linking up with the Bismark.
The reports we received were fragmented. She had clearly come in for a bit of attention after sinking the Hood, and some damage to her oil bunkers were clearly going to curtail a long voyage.

Plus we could make out that she had been attacked by destroyers, cruisers and planes. So the element of surprise perhaps wasn't there, but she'd obviously swatted them all away.

The last we heard was a sustained attack from bi-plane torpedo bombers. One of which may have scored some damage impeding her movement into the shipping lanes.

Ironically, as Joachim pointed out, those torpedo bombers are called swordfishes.

And now we're not receiving anything from our people. I suppose I'm starting to fear the worst. Auntie B has huge guns, but she can't hide as well as we can.

So, while we would always duck away from a destroyer contact, we might be close to a surface battle, or who knows what, and we must close in.

"Twelve metres, Sir! Periscope depth"

"Thank you Reuben"

And I swing my cap round the other way, and take a peek...

Lt de Bunsen, U-46

.... well tell us what ya see sir! :arrgh!:

He's just building the tension...

:yep: :yep: :yep:

It took me a while to acquire the destroyer through the scope. It was still a long way off, and although we had set us to converge, we were still in any ASDIC blind spot.

Destroyers don't hang about on their own. It looks like a tribal class, which usually escort capital ships, and are used for fleet actions.

There!

For a second, I'm sure I saw it. A Flat Top!

"Joachim! Christian! Get here and have a squint! It's hard to spot at this range and with the sea, but I think we have a Carrier here on this bearing?"

Christian stared endlessly, rotating the scope in small sweeps, before, swearing in frustration.

"I can't see it, Sir"

"Let me see." Joachim, as our weapons officer is uncanningly good at spotting and recognising enemy warships and planes.

For a long time he was silent, as me and Christian paced behind him.

Eventually he let out a long low whistle.

"Better wake up Otto after all, Sir"

"He's always wanted to sink the Ark Royal".

Lt de Bunsen, U-46

LS
I gotta know....are you making this ALL up as you go along...(the at sea encounters) ..or are you actually reporting what you are experiencing in the game??

Yes, the patrols do represent my own perfomance in the SH3 game, in terms of missions, sinkings, damage etc.

Obviously I have created names and personalities for my crew, and other captains, and characters like Heidi.

Which is why I might embellish the story of each patrol, or mess with historical facts, but never exaggerate the results of any mission. And why if the U-46 is sunk, I suppose this thread will have to die with her.

I'll do my best to make sure that doesn't happen.

LS

Bloody nice writing (I asume you use that term in Britain)!
You should write a book, quite impressing indeed. :up:

Don't you dare let her (U-46) sink Kaleun!!! :o

I want a movie with the story of the U-46... (not a movie game, a real action feature,well made of course...) :)