I stayed up to watch.

The leading ship was hit plum amidships with a terrific bang and shower of spray, and was already breaking in half as our second eel struck home on the following merchant, towards the stern, and it must have wrecked their steering gear because she ploughed on erratically right into the sinking wreck of the first ship. Rearing up over her with a great crash.pushing the crippled stern deeper into the water, and mortally flooding her engine rooms.

Reuben has come up to see. He clenched the Wintergarten rail, and murmured "Come on Tommies, get out"

We can already see boats hastily dropped and swimmers in the sea, more sailors are diving off the hulks of both ships, but they are in a reasonably frequent shipping lane, so stand a chance of being picked up. That's why we are here.

Bruno turns to me with that irrepressable grin.

"Well I have to say, Sir, that being shot at was quite exciting; but nothing quite beats shooting back!"

LS

That one must have been fun to watch happen.

Shame there are no pictures!:arrgh!:

True, but screenshots actually detract from a story like this, I think.

Sadly noone had a camera to picture the spectacle. In any case I would probably have forbade it. Sinking ships is one thing; it's all we're supposed to do. But recording the demise of sometimes beautifully crafted ships, and always with sailors like us in them, unless for military or probably propaganda purposes, isn't something I encourage.

Some people on the bridge always do take pictures of course, and some of them are up in the photo gallery of the Chat Noir.

Of course Heidi knows what we do for a living, but I don't really want her to see them.

There's also a load of pictures taken in the fore-ends and the engine room, mostly half naked, oily grubby men larking about for the camera showing pennants, writing war-like joke messages on torpedoes, wearing silly hats, or just showing their arse; which makes the girls laugh and I am sure are shared around BdU and FdU where they both work. According to Dieter the Nurses ward too. The girls keep teasing me for a a picture of myself posing by the periscope.

I always smile and say no, and the last time I saw her I said "You can have the real picture when I come home".

That made Heidi cry.

And I'm starting to understand that war is harder on those who wait.

Now though we still have a patrol to complete, ships to sink, people inevitably to kill, and to avoid the same happening to ourselves.

We head back north-northeast towards the killing grounds of the Gibraltar Straits

LS

Especially if they turn out to be of bare backsides http://www.techzonez.com/forums/imag...s/assshake.gif :har:

Of course the way was still fraught with danger. I suppose the Brits knew we were in the area after that agent fiasco, and didn't want to let us go.

After the second crash dive, and being rocked again by a Sunderland's bombs, good call by Lehmann of Third Watch, Willi's gang who had us scurrying down that ladder like squirrels, and the boat already tipping down just in time, we're going to keep out of the way down here until nightfall.

It's slow but safer, and Hans is listening out for any contacts.

To while away the time, our coxswain "Cox" is entertaining us in the wardroom with some magic tricks from whatever he can find to hand.

He produces a string of white victory pennants from his sleeve, a mouldy orange from his side cap, an array of card tricks, and finally he makes some coins vanish.

"Excellent Cox! Especially that last trick with the disappearing money"

"Interestingly enough I received a memo from Flotilla Headquarters last time we were in, questioning our boat's requisition budget. We seem to have put in for a lot of things that wouldn't actually fit in the boat.

"Like what, Sir?"

"Like a Mercedes"

"Sir, I...."

"It's ok Cox, I performed a little magic trick of my own and made the memo vanish into thin air"

"Just take the car, give some of the boys a joy ride, and then use it to get yourself home to your family when we dock back in France."

"You think we'll still get back, Kaleun?"

"You can count on it, you rascal!"

LS

Sehr Gut
 

I especially enjoyed seeing in the mind's eye two merchants making like tractors at a monster truck show in Arkansas.

And good news about Gerhard, of course.

Great posts keep em coming!

Great way to answer a question by including it in the story!:up: Bravo!:03:

:haha::haha::har::yeah:

:yep::rock::salute:

Well there are enough 'Golden Pheasants' driving around in plush cars who do a damn sight less towards the war effort than Cox and his like does.

Also I know he takes Reuben back to Hamburg every time we get home, with as much rations and other goods he can scrounge to a poor family hiding in an attic in my own home town.

Hiding from fellow Germans like me. Or at least I thought we were all fellow Germans. I can't understand it. In any case, Cox can have a Rolls Royce and a Bentley and an Alfa Romeo and a whole fleet of Wehrmacht trucks for all I care (he probably does). He's basically a decent man doing a good thing. And he certainly takes care of us.

Cox's magic isn't so bad either. The last time we got back he begged me to stop short at the town at the mouth of the river. I indulged him and he ran ashore with some ship mates and returned carrying their booty with them.

So when we sailed into Saint Nazaire and the waiting band, we had a full barbecue going on the deck, with Kuki turning the bratwurst, and Cox handing out the french beers underneath a string of white pennants.

As Christian and I saluted the astonished Senior Flotilla officers, with our papers and log book in hand, a stream of nurses and other female staff orderlies were being invited down the gangplank for a party around the deck gun.

My First Officer got to do all the paperwork and reports that day. Heidi was waiting too.

LS

Lady sighted! Full Speed Ahead!!!:arrgh!:

:yep:

As I was a walking down Paradise Street
To my way, aye! blow the man down,
A pretty young damsel I chanced for to meet.
Give me some time to blow the man down!

She was round in the counter and bluff in the bow,
To my way, aye! blow the man down
So I took in all sail and cried, "Way enough now."
Give me some time to blow the man down!