We had been tracking the distant rumblings of a north Atlantic convoy for most of the afternoon. The sun had set, and a heavy blanket of fog had encircled us. The lookouts stood on the conning tower of the Type VII U-boat with their eyes casting glances like daggers trying to cut through the thick veil to spot the slightest hint of an allied merchant.
The diesels throbbed like a slowing heart as the U-boat sliced a neat silent wake through the calm water.
Suddenly out of the gloom, a massive tanker came into view. a quick snapshot was readied and a spread of two torpedoes screamed forth from the tubes like hungry hounds.
Seconds later the tanker's back was broken, two parts slowly sinking into the sea, the darkness of dusk pierced by the golden glow of burning fuel oil.
We were directly in the center of the convoy - surely. The engines raced to life with renewed zest. the u-boat, with the scent of blood fresh in its iron nostrils lept forward with each turn of the screws.
another shadow
another ship
another spread
another victim sent to an icy grave, a prison, guarded by the vastness of time and the relentless, icy darkness.
other large and lumbering merchants soon came into view, maneuvering the stern tube into position was just a matter of coming about.
suddenly, an escort sliced through the wake frothing at the mouth like an angry shepherd dog running to save his keeper's flock from the hungry wolf.
loud concussions cracked through the dim sky.
a shell flew overhead, another landed so near the boat that the column of water collapsed onto the watch crew.
Crash dive!!!!
ALAAAAARM!
the sound of the alarm drowned out all else.
thats when i woke up to the realization - hey... the 7am alarm on my iPhone DOES sound a lot like a u-boat alarm bell.
Im having subsim withdrawals