It was the name, it doomed the op ;) :salute:

Great reading as always LS :shucks:

Uncle Karl led us back down the corridor and to where his huge mercedes was parked.

His driver snapped to attention and opened the doors.

"Kapitan your swordfishes are hard men to kill...." he gestured inside.

There was a huge roar from the back seat.

"KALEUN!!"

Gerhardt was bobbing up and down on the back seat in drunken excitement. A half empty bottle of brandy waving and sloshing in one hand.

Bruno and I roared in delight. I let Bruno clamber in first, they were Second Watch comrades after all, who have been through much together, particularly on the last trip.

The driver allowed his boss in and with one last rearwards glance of distaste at another of the Admirals whims, and a certain wrinkling of the nose in our direction put the staff car in gear and it purred into life across the French cobblestones.

All rank forgotten for the moment, Bruno and Gerhardt were chatting away like a couple of Berlin housewives, alternatively swigging from the bottle and demanding to know about the subsequent fortunes of U-46 and the crew after Gerhardt got shot and transferred back on another boat; and then once it had been established we'd all made it back more or less in one piece not a couple of hours ago, an animated discussion on the merits of life in 'neutral' Portugal and Spain compared to rainy Germany, and more importantly the particular attributes and other skills of the nurses Gerhardt had encountered on his adventures.

Uncle Karl turned backwards and smiled ruefully.

"That was very expensive cognac...my private stock. Anyway we're going back to 7th Flotilla officers quarters. Get yourself washed and shaved and dressed in twenty minutes and take him with you. Then all of you back in the car".

"Back in the car, Sir?"

"Why yes, I assume you'll want to hit the Chat Noir tonight?"

"Yes Sir!" we all exclaimed.

"And also, you won't object if I come in as your guest?"

"No Sir!" We were dumbfounded.

Besides Kapitan, there's something I want to discuss with you...."

LS

Don't go making arrangements to share Heidi with the dirty old bugga whilst your away on your next patrol :o

:03:

Great stuff LS http://www.psionguild.org/forums/ima...s/thumbsup.gif

I think that would be the lesser of two evils! When words like that are said, you look for the falling anvil that comming toward you from a great height!:oops:

As we shower and shave, and keep Gerhardt sober enough to find our naval blues and lay them out, Bruno is putting on his shoes from a locker he thought he may never see again, and asks:

"Apart from ours, which other boats and commanders are back in at the Black Cat tonight.......?"

LS

I don't think Alfons Elrich of U35 leaves there unless they carry him out to the boat and kick him out to sea :03: The Black Cat is where it is at, as they say. :salute:

It certainly is Alfons! What's your conning tower emblem, and what has your boat been up to lately?

Looking forward to clinking glasses very shortly!

LS

Great to read another thread, and cheers to the U-46!
The boys of U-104 sure enjoy your adventures while at sea, it's keeping morale high.

Good hunting and bring her back safely.

It's the Schwarze Wyrm and here's his record:

The last patrol was only 13 days due to a run in with HMCS Assiniboine. She was hiding behind a merchant and steamed out firing all guns much to our horror, we fired a T2 from our stern tube and prepared to dive for our lives and then blam, the torpedo hit just under the forward gun of the destroyer and down she went! Having taken a pounding we judged it better to return to port than risk having something come off during patrol. :salute:

Oh my, i feel so rash when i look at yours. my trusty U-103 has been down to 2-7% HI a few times! (something that might become a good story in the chat noir ;) )

"Go in first, Kapitan, with your shipmates, I'll be along. Perhaps I need to finish what's left of my best brandy first before hitting the bar with you pirates!"

I knew Onkel Karl didn't mean it. He's so close to all the crews but he had never made a personal appearance at the Chat Noir before. And never one for a grand entrance, I appreciated that we should dive in to the bar first.

And so we did.

As soon as a homecoming boat crew throws their cap into the Chat Noir, there is a massive Hurrah! and they are carried to the bar amid great exhortations, which is what happened when the last of the U-46 officially stepped ashore that night, and certainly why our Uncle gave it a while before stepping in.

The beer was flowing, and already the questions were being asked.

"Where have you been you slackers...!"

"...messing about on a Spanish holiday..?"

"..Shagging nurses while we do the work...?"

Gerhardt by this time was on the shoulders of the Swordfish crew and already beyond any naval discipline. It'll take me a while to get through the throng to my own crew, let alone the person I really want to see.

And here is Alfons, pressing a glass in my hand, Elrich of U-35. I'm glad to see him back safe. Good patrol too by all accounts, and we both pride ourselves on keeping a low-numbered boat sea-worthy against all odds!
They call his boat the Black Snake, he's a good friend and no stranger to the Chat Noir, but at sea as dark and cunning as his namesake.

Where's Heidi?

Before I know it I am lifted from my feet in a wild bear hug. No wild bear, just good old Max who I haven't seen from that last patrol we were on when he got roughed up pretty badly in U-213.

"I couldn't hang around too long for the old girl to get fixed up, Rollie, so I made them give me a new one. A new Type Nine, the best of the old gang and some youngsters for them to whip into shape. Same number too, and..." He drained his champagne...we keep the same number (it confuses the Tommies!) and also our pig, you really should get one yourself instead of that Type VII you're always mucking about with..."

..and where's Heidi, as the party goes on..

LS

Drink it down my friend, you've earned it! :salute: We've both outwitted the Tommies and lived to fight another day, and that's more than enough reason for a drink! :up:

Thanks for adding Alfons, LS! :D

Hehe I wonder how many of our drunk comrades will be able to snap to attention when Oncle Karl steps in :D
(Or even realize it for that matter!)

I doubt heidi will like that :oops:

Then there's young Walter, home again in one piece with his U-711, for a Berlin boy he is quite shy, as he hugs the wall and sips his champagne, but of course I clasp his hand.

It was him on his first patrol with our small wolf pack that took on the jabo while we rushed down below. He shot it down too, although we did lose a boat and all of those comrades in that attack out in the Bay.

His crew have drawn a huge cartoon image of a bear on the lavatory wall. It's a tribute to the symbol of Berlin, where most of his roughs come from, and also the chosen emblem of Walter's boat.

Now where is Heidi...?

LS