I think we may have pattered enough rounds onto her foredeck to make her think twice. In any case she is losing us, and her own fire has abated.

"She's starting to swing North, Sir," says Bruno.

Rejoining the convoy that we can still see by the smoke on the horizon to our port.

"Cease fire Jurgen, well done gun crew. Is everyone all right?" They turned to face me and Bruno, and all three of their faces were streaked red or pink where the seawater had diluted it. "Lads you're bleeding, don't just stand there!"

"So are you, Sirs."

And for the first time I looked at Bruno, and he looked at me. There was blood running from a cut by his nose, and another up on his cheek. He reached to my left ear and his fingers came away red.

"Christ boys, it looks like in all that excitement we all got a British souvenir!"

"Jurgen, have those guns unloaded, properly cleared, and if you have any ammunition belts left after that Dodge City display, get them below and have Cox clean, oil and stow them for you. Then get yourselves into the Doc, We've all taken a scratch here and there. Then I want the three of you to join us in the ward room in one hour, verstehen?

"Yes, Sir!"

"Ok Bruno, how are you?" as the gunners drop below.

"Fine, Kap, just a scratch or two, but you've got red on your cap cover, should we stop the War?" he grinned.

"My God, I think we should if it's that serious!" I laughed

"That little chase has actually pushed us ahead of the convoy, Bruno, we can still see them chugging away, but now we can run back to them and lie in ambush. I reckon that escort will be whistling up it's coastal bomber friends anytime now. Tell Otto to submerge to periscope depth, and cut to slow speed; get Oscar to take a look at you, I think we probably both just need a little touch of iodine. I'll be with Willi at the chart table, make sure those three lunatics are looked after and when Oscar has seen them, get them into the Wardroom and dig out a bottle of schnapps. That was some ballsy performance."

Bruno smiled.

"I'm glad they're on our side , Sir"

LS

As the boat tilts down and the last hatch clangs shut, me and Bruno make our way through the quietly murmuring control room to Oscar's Med bay, where Christian is already resting, and the other three seamen are perched on a PO's bunk while the Doc busies around with scissors and bandages and ointment.

When he sees me and Bruno come through, he stands with his hands on his hips and adopts a matronly voice.

"Well! Have you boys been fighting again...?"

LS

MG34's on the deck of a U-Boat... I love it :up:

Looking forward to the next installment when the convoy gets their surprise.

Nice!!! I love this story so much! Add more!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Outstanding!!! I Read this poast and then went back to reed all of your others.:rock:

All of it First Class writing all the way!!

@Telgriff, next time you are in your conning tower... have a look around. There's two MG34's in there.;)

@LS... unexpected escapade there. Quite original!!! Can't wait to see what happens next.

".....Ok Otto, steer us back North, and stand by to surface", (my watch says it should be dusk soon) I reckon we're ahead of them, Hans can hear them, and now as they said over and over at U-Boot Schule, we must regain.

LS

Bruno, Jurgen, George and Dieter all duck into the Wardroom.

There are a number of small glasses on the table, and a bottle of the best SchwarzWald Schnapps.

"Sit, lads"

"I've never been in the Wardroom before, Sir!" beams Dieter.

"It's nothing to write home about Lad, you've been in roomier cells than this!"

"Let's fill these glasses, Bruno"

"Menschen, that was quite a stunt we pulled today.."

I looked around at the bandages or plasters on every face.

"...I want you to know that I am proud of the way you stuck to your guns and beat off that escort. It won't go unrewarded. Proust!"

"PROUST!"

The schnapps was tossed back with great relish, and Dieter smacked his lips and eyed the open bottle.

"Yes, one more, boys but then we're going back to work. We've already turned to head off the convoy, and will be coming to periscope depth shortly. We can still count on U-666 who is working the convoy to the north, and there may be another boat joining us, but she'd better be quick, lads, because when our last torpedo has gone, there won't be much left!"

A familiar, if slightly tired, face peeks through the wardroom curtain.

"Did I hear the word 'Proust'"

"Yes you did, Christian. Come in. Ok one more round gentlemen!

LS

Started to think someone was missing at sea :rock:

Great stuff!!! Love reading your installments, keep them coming!!

Cheers,

Dan

More!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and, MORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Keep it up and don't stop! Some people may be heading for the pacific and their glamor barges, but for the rest of us stuck in the cigar tube, keep the story going!:rock:

Now it was just me and Christian alone in the Wardroom.

"Are you ok, Christian?"

"Never better, Sir, and if we're in contact with a convoy, then I'd better get..."

"We are in close with them, Number One, and we've already taken a fat one, a smaller tanker and pushed a merchant out of the herd, even a destroyer!
We've just had fun and games with some small escort which we shot our way out of, and now we're turning back into the nose of the convoy. We have U-666 in contact on the northern side, my guess is that we're both underwater at the moment, but we must both attack soon while the convoy is relatively unprotected, and certainly before daybreak. There's also the U-645 making it's way into the vicinity, I will have Viktor listening out for both of them.

"Great Kap! let me get my things together and..."

"Steady Christian! It's now Third Watch. Willi's boys are going up."

I noticed his crestfallen expression, and Doc Oscar had appeared in the gangway, with a shrug and half nod behind Christian's shoulder....

"..But I'm going to need you in the Control Room you idle man! We need to make every torpedo count, and in any case Willi is good at picking out the good ones to go for, but not so much with judging distance and speed and course, maybe at some point we could both get some fresh air and see how he's getting on, hein?

"Yes Kap!"

"Now put your Cap on and tell Otto to bring us to 12 metres. You have first look through the periscope, I value your judgement. Let's have three or four high pay-off targets while the going's good, Christian."

"Jawohl, Herr Kaleun!" He beamed and bounced into the Control Room like the Number One of Old.

A few crisp orders later and I could feel U-46 tilt up slightly to use the attack periscope.

One last pull from the remainder of the Schnapps, a smile and a sigh, and I too, am rejoining the War.

LS

SINK EM ALL!! :arrgh!:

Soon the Boat is slipping through the waves on half-speed heading due North, the setting sun offering the perfect silhouette for the ships we have come to sink, and the darkness from which to do it.

Willi and Christian are upstairs. Christian back in his element, quietly murmuring about the dark shapes heading across our bow, and keeping the lads alert to every other point of the compass.

I have been below with Viktor checking on our other boats and also BdU.

Nothing from U-666 for a while, I ask Viktor to check again. Nothing yet. There was a lot of noise happening on his side of the convoy, I wouldn't be surprised if he's laying low, and licking a wound or two, but I bet he's still there somewhere, and even now thinking about his next attack.

Well we are anyway, and we have heard from U-645, Brentsche's boat. They are rushing back here from the mid-Atlantic with only two torpedoes left, and under constant harassment from the air. He is still a few hours away

That's our wolf pack, maybe one, two or three u-boats.

Well there's no time like the present....

LS