[VonApist]

Back at the command room, the mood was more relaxed. Heinrich’s latest report of the destroyers activity, pinpointed that the two Black Swans were depth charging an area 2.5km away from U-53’s current position. That gave everyone breathing space and the near certain belief that they have actually been through the hardest and more dangerous part of their encounter with the British destroyers.

“It seems that we are out of it Wolf” Stephan remarked, still whispering, just in case.

"It seems so Kaleun” his second replied moving away from the map table where Franz was giving him an update of their estimated position.

The captain looked at his wristwatch. “Herbert will be here in 10 minutes to discuss something I had asked him to prepare before we left port. I think that you will both find it very interesting”.


“What is it about?” Franz enquired.
“Close call escapes” the captain replied with a grin. “Heinrich, update on those destroyers?”

“Bearing 190 and 210, medium distance, moving away Sir. It seems that they have lost us” the sonar man replied from his box, earphones glued to his ears.

“Has anyone ever seen Heinrich without a set of earphones attached to his head?” Franz asked playfully, turning towards the crew in the command room.

“I think that he sleeps with them sir” Jurgen replied. “Rumor has it that they screwed them to his head when he was born” Joachim whispered from the other end of the Zentrale.”I think that he has them on even in his wedding photo” he continued causing everyone to silently laugh and relieve some of the stress built up during the past 2 hours.

“What’s so funny?” the Chief enquired, entering the command room.

“Joachim is just taking the piss out of Heinrich” Stephan replied.

“Ha.. The Shrimp” Herbert acknowledged.

“Who’s The Shrimp?” Franz turned to the Chief.

“Heinrich… Redheaded with antennas on his head. That’s how my boys in the engine room call him” Herbert concluded with a grin, shooing the rest of the command room crew who were about to burst out laughing.

“Ok boys, enough” Stephan interrupted still mindful of their situation.

“Wolf, Franz, the Chief is here to discuss an idea we both contemplated while at base.”

Walking towards the map table he continued “It’s no secret that our job is becoming more and more difficult as the Allies beef up their escorting presence in convoys.”

“On top of this, their air coverage is becoming thicker and they seem to have made significant progress in their ASDIC and spotting equipment. Hence from now on we should expect to be discovered more often than not. Evading 2 amateur destroyer crews in relatively deep waters is one thing. But during our patrols we may come up with much more challenging situations were odds will be against us” Stephan said leaning against the table.

“Like the 3 US Navy buggers that had us pinned down, depth-charging the Bejesus out of us for 9 hours in the Bay of Biscay last month” Herbert commented, looking around only to see the concerned faces of the crew. The ordeal had proved tough, even for the most experienced members of U-53.

Stephan took the lead again “This experience made me think of alternative ways to make an escape, non conventional if you wish, in case we get ourselves in a similar mess. The Chief and I had a discussion over a bottle of Schnapps before our patrol. This is the idea we came up with”.

Wolf and Franz moved closer in anticipation.

“We were thinking of measures of last resort” Stephan continued. “To be employed in circumstances where the survival of the ship and the crew are under serious and imminent threat. So what if there was a way to make the destroyers believe that they hit us? Wouldn’t that give us a window of opportunity, a breather to make an escape if the surface ships believed that we were hit?” Stephan enquired.

“Others have thought of that. The main disadvantage is that if you fill your tubes with diesel and debris and flood them to give the impression of a hit, you give away your position” Wolf commented, a dismissive tone in his voice.

“Exactly…But what if you could send the debris and the diesel to surface 300 meters away from your actual position? Wouldn’t that give you a small break?” Stephan enquired. “I agree, This should be a last resort..." he continued "...when all other methods of evasion have proved fruitless, when your oxygen levels deplete or when you’re running out of batteries. But it may help. Might give you some minutes to make a silent escape as destroyers will be trying to figure out if they got a hit or not. And trust me, destroyers will be more inclined to believe that they got a hit, because they want to believe it. Vanity again, my friends. We all suffer from it"
"Herbert this is where you come in” Stephan concluded.

“Gentlemen, I am proud to present to you Das Bruchbude. Here is a brief description; I will try not to be too technical.” The Chief cleared his throat. “This is a canister 4m long and with a diameter of 50cm. It is made of 3 compartments.

"The first two are for storing debris and diesel. The top of these compartments is secured by two small hatches rigged by springs placed on an arch. These springs keep the hatches closed up to a depth of 20 meters. Shallower than that, the hydrostatic pressure is lower that the force applied by the springs, hence the hatches open, releasing the contents. Upon release, propulsion stops and after some seconds, the Bruchbude starts to plunge to the bottom.”

Herbert scratched his chin and continued. “The aft compartment is reserved for propulsion, provided by 3 tubes of highly compressed air, enough to propel the canister to an estimated 300 meters at a speed of around 4 knots. If at any point of its course the Bruchbude reaches a depth of 20m or less then the compartments open giving the impression of a hit. Hence to fire it, the Uboat’s aft has to be at an angle of at least 30 degrees facing the surface.”

“Here I have to say that Obermaschinist August Kruger has to take the credit for sneaking all the parts to make this thing – I didn’t even ask whom he bribed to find the 3 compressed air tubes” Herbert grinned. “Not peak technology, but maybe it’s worth a try”.

Franz and Wolfed looked at each other and shrugged.

“I guess that this has never been tested” Franz asked with a skeptical look on his face.

Stephan took a step forward. “Worst case scenario, it doesn’t work. But that would mean that since we chose to use it we were already in really deep s**t. What do you think boys?” the captain enquired, only to receive half hearted approving nods from his two officers.

“Let’s hope we will never use it” Wolf whispered to Stephan as everybody made their way to their combat stations.