It was a typical day in the Control Room. The soft murmurings of Otto or Reuben with their team; the routine trudge of the new watch bobbing and ducking their way to the bridge, the squelch of the off-coming watch giving a last weather and situation report before climbing gratefully into their bunks like zombies.
There were times when they'd been too tired to even take their wet things off, but at least now, after a good few patrols they know better. The bedding is damp and rank enough as it is already.
And of course, me, Willi, and one or other of the watch officers always bending over the chart table, with dividers, slide rule and wax pencil, or hovering outside Viktor's radio cabin.
We had taken one ship. 2,000 laiden tons by the look of her. Up from the West coast of Africa. Freetown would be my guess. Bruno spotted her miles off and we were at periscope depth and ready long before she showed us her starboard bow at 2,000 metres.
Even then we tracked her for the last hour or so of daylight, and put her down with one shot in the dark. And we didn't even surface afterwards.
Dirty work perhaps, and I was nearly in two minds to let her go. The Gibraltar Fleet must be coming out, and following pretty much the same route, and we didn't want to show our hand. Or I didn't.
But BdU had been unequivocal in their orders though, no great lovers of fleet actions, it had been 'Business as Usual' and we had been allotted our grids. U-100 furthest West, then us, and U-711 on her first patrol, closest to home.
We were hundreds of miles apart by now, like a goal with only three strands of netting to stop the football.
But that didn't stop us endlessly speculating about the Bismark. She'd already seen them off once, and reports had been frustratingly patchy ever since.
Surely Auntie B had to be heading South or South West, depending where she broke out. Scattering convoys before her, and drawing the British capital ships onto her guns and our tubes!
As Bruno said, as only he can:
"It may be quiet now, but soon the North Atlantic will be a huge buffet table!"
We laughed, changed onto the next leg of our patrol pattern, and waited some more..
Lt de Bunsen, U-46
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