..................

Good luck, Gord, We're off the WSW coast of Ireland. (AM74)
LS

"Surface!"
"Willi plot us ahead of them, so that we arrive just in time to take them out for the evening!"

Battle stations, but as we raced up the ladder, I couldnt help but notice that Christian was wheezing a little.

"What do you see Number One?"

A quick scan then back again, then a moment's concentration.

"There, Sir! Silhouettes against the Moon! You'll see their smoke soon, after the next sea swell!"

"Nice call, Christian!" And soon we are pounding away on full diesels. "Get Viktor to send a contact report off. Let's get some other boats in. I'm sure I can see a couple of tankers in there.

LS

Oh COOL!!! I have some catching up to do.

Just wanted to say again what a fantastic read this is:up:

Good luck Kaluen,don't do anything too risky:up:

The convoy is starting to take shape now even without our binoculars.

Christian is still calling even the smallest changes down to the Control Room.

"That destroyer hasn't seen us, Sir, but she'll be coming around at the first loud bang. Those two tankers are obscured by smaller fry. We can't get a clear shot. We could get rid of them, and run ahead again?"

"They'll probably only close up again, Christian, that's what I would do, but not so easy with nearly 30 ships to look after...or we just charge right in. It's the tankers we want most of all. Ease us around to starboard and come back to course at my command. Have Otto trim the boat right down, tell him we want the water up to our chin, he'll know."

Soon the U-46 is sailing so low in the water that the lowest exposed part of the vessel is the diesel intakes and exhausts, and that is a hazardous and expert job from my Chief, which I know he will take me to task over later.

But it now means we have crept in, and Christian is already reading the target data downstairs. Two for the big tanker, a T2, I'd say, one for that big fat C3 merchant ship with tanks and containers on it's upper deck, and another for that smaller tanker in the middle.

A complex firing solution. But all handed down, efficiently and....

SPLASH! SPLASH!

Shells are landing around our starboard stern side. He's overshooting for the moment.

"Escort! Port left astern, Sir!

"Alles Los!! ................Alarm!!!!"

Christian has already hit our crash button, and the shrill of the bell is coming up to us. Like the good watch officer he is, he pushes his men down the hatch and then turns one last time to face the danger, just as I am.

"Two of them Cap! Straight out of the fog!"

"Downstairs, Christian. Now!"

We had to hit the deck running, but Christian was doubled over and coughing, not helped by the upheaval as Cox swore and shouted and urged the men forward to tilt the boat down.

"Oscar! See to the Number One. He's had the wind knocked out of his sails, for a minute. Otto how are we doing? Get us deeper, and steer hard to port. We'll try to duck under them, and then veer off, standby on the wheels Lads, we need you now. Any Damage Kurt? Good, well I'm sure I'll find you some. Get anyone you need up to help on my orders. We're about to get the good old bone-rattling; but the good news is we got our torpedoes off (any chance of them hitting, Joachim?)"

"Yes, Sir. they're all running true......"

But really he was thinking and even looking up, as I know we all do, to the sound of fast screws and the death they bring coming ever closer.

LS

The loss of weight from our bows by firing that hurried salvo has slowed our descent, despite having every available man crammed in there.

Only 25 metres when we get it from Hans.

"Wasserbomben!"

"Hold tight menschen!"

Boom, Bang BOOM, BOOM, BANG!

That last one was close.

We are hurtled from one side to the other, and water spurts from a dozen pipes. Valves are tightened. "Fifty metres, Sir" says Otto and all eyes are on me again.

"Silent Running, Chief. Hey lads, have you forgotten they're getting their own payback? We've got four eels running, and any time now....."

We heard three explosions out of the four, and we can't see but I'm guessing they went into the two big ships, I'm guessing from the underwater noises, that we've sunk at least one, and that would be the big tanker that we were most sure of aiming for.

"Shut up men! We're not out of it yet". I poke my head into the fore-ends.

"Ok we've got the angle of descent and we're going down to somewhere even safer boys. Get back to your stations or report to the damage control staff, we've just given them a whack or two, and now they want to chase us for a bit.

I slapped everyone on the shoulder as they passed back to their jobs or bunks, and an extra hard slap for Hessler. "Seeing enough action now, Junge?"

Here they come again, damn them. The destroyer's engines are thrashing ever more noisily.

"Full speed Otto! Forty Five starboard, and dive planes down. Hold on!

Crash Boom Smash, SMASH!

"Deeper Otto! Cut speed until their next run, and then drop her and speed her up. We'll dart down and under, and bit by bit creep away."

Kurt comes forward breathlessly and soaked in water and oil. "A small leak to the pressure hull, contained and not serious Sir, But there was a hell of a bang above our stern."

"That's great, thanks Kurt"

"But Sir, I think you should look in on the Medical Officer." He glanced down at his bloodied hands, "I tried to help but..."

"Thanks Kurt, get back looking after your team, they'll try another set of depth charges soon."

As soon as he had tunnelled his way back through the hatches, I followed him to the Doc's Med Bay. There was Oscar with his back to me, ministrating to Christian sitting up straight and who had blood seeping from his nose and mouth, and staring vacantly ahead.

"How is he Doc?"

"Concussion, Kap, not helped by you allowing him back out to sea after a serious chest wound, or by you knocking the boat around like this."

"We're under attack, Oscar!"

"Yes, well can you just stop it, Herr Kaleun?"

"Just stop it?"

"Yes just stop it. He can't even see you. Just stop them or I can't treat him.

All eyes were on me as I clambered back through to the Control Room. The last set of depth charges were well off the mark, relatively speaking just chalk marks for Willi. Who now voiced the question of them all.

"What now, Sir?"

LS

"Joachim, if we secure from silent running, how fast can you reload?"

Even Bruno, crazy as he sometimes is, said:

"That's quite a risk, Sir...."

"I can give you two in twenty minutes, Sir." said Joachim watching me intently.

"Do it Joachim, take all the hands you need. I can't expect you to be totally quiet, but try to keep it down. I'm going to keep them off our backs while you get on with it. Try and do anything noisy right after an attack; they won't hear us then. Go, go now!"

With a few whispered commands my Weapons Officer took his men and chose some others and rose to the challenge.

Above, we could hear them circling round again.....

LS

AWESOME!! LS :rock:

The next time, the charges fell behind us in a line, four dull crumps to our stern, which even there pushed us forward through the water and caused a fuss among the younger ones.

Immediately the charges had gone off and the destroyer was turning away (and so were we) Joachim had his men hard at it, working the pulleys in the torpedo room isn't exactly a stop-start job, but they forced that first torpedo home, well, as if their lives depended on it.

Of course the destroyer can hear us loud and clear, it's hardly even bothering to ping us. But the brief respite of being astern of her was shortlived, as she came around again, despite Joachim's efforts we're making more noise than a pod of whales.

"Keep going Joachim, we'll buy you some time...Otto steady, but drop the boat when they come again. Listening for the engines thrash again, second guessing...

"Hard port rudder, down 50 to 120metres!"

We can't allow them to put one under us. Even every animal knows about having a soft underbelly. Instead if we can trick them through three dimensions we can make it. And the deeper we go, the longer it takes for the depth charge to explode, and so longer we have to evade it as it sinks, and also the water pressure is greater and helps to nullify the effect of the explosion. But it also helps to crush a U-boat like an egg shell if the time comes.

"Wasserbomben!"

"Quick now Otto! Everything hard to starboard. Let's scoot away, and hold us south east for a moment".

I looked at the young sailors staring at me, and realised that hardly any of them had any idea of what was going on, in these elaborate mind games, or where we were in relation to the enemy ship. So I fixed my white cap at a jaunty angle and pretended I did.

The six distant booms that followed were also well astern.

"That hardly rattled a cup, boys!"

Joachim's sweaty and grimy face comes through the forward hatch.

"Five more minutes, Kap."

"Hurry up Joachim!" I whispered through gritted teeth. "And tell them not to drop another spanner!"

"Up 50, Chief!"

The next pattern would have been right under our stern but we weren't there any more. And if anything it up-ended the boat, and helped the second torpedo into it's tube without much more effort from the exhausted lordships in the bow compartment.

"Tubes One, Two and Five loaded and ready Sir!"

Joachim reported, and then threw himself and his cap down in a tired heap on the chart table.

"Don't get too comfortable, Joachim, I haven't had you loading those tubes for nothing. She's turning away and is still making the same sweep. Periscope depth, Chief, and let's see how she likes it....

LS

Oh no!

After reading to a climax on the site (got the link from another thread on these forums), i went searching for another. Found this thread, read the rest today, and can't wait for the next installment.

Best story I've read since Red October. Re-watched the movie afterwards, and was appauled at how much they left out, I suppose a 10 hour sub movie would have been too much though.

Quite a story don't you think :rock:
Welcome aboard kaleun Stormshado :arrgh!:

Where is she, the bitch? I hurriedly scan our immediate view, nothing. I turn the periscope in a more measured circle....

"My God!.....Open Tube Five! Now men, Hurry!"

I can't believe it, she is sitting square across our stern, I can't believe she's stopped, but she's certainly slowed right down. She's listening for us, while we are now watching her.

"Ready Sir!"

A perfect 180 Joachim, 500 meters and 87 degrees off her bow, making maybe 2 knots.

"That's a sitting duck, Sir!"

"Yes, well bloody well shoot it Joachim! Nummer Funf.."

".....Funf fertig!"

"...........Funf los!"

LS

haha. gotta love it when you come upon a ship and find them perfectly lined up for your shot :up:

Where's my boat? Im in the same convoy.:hmm: