[VonApist]

Oberleutnant Karl Limbach sat alone at a table for two in the small but cozy restaurant of the Koehring Hotel. He took off his cap and placed it on the empty chair next to him.

He looked around. Apart from him, the restaurant was empty. He checked his wristwatch. 11.30am. Too early for lunch.
Well not for him. He was starving.

His trip from Munich to Kiel via Hamburg by train, had lasted all night.
He had arrived at the Koehring Hotel in the early morning hours, had taken a shower and left immediately for the Flotilla Headquarters.

Karl realized that he hadn't had anything to eat for more than 18 hours.
With the thought, his stomach groaned.

He nodded at the waiter and ordered a beef stew and a glass of beer.
As the waiter walked towards the kitchen, Karl lit a cigarette and retrieved a sheaf of paper from a yellowish manilla envelope stamped with the Kriegsmarine emblem.

He checked his wristwatch again. He had a little more than an hour to eat and check the crew files of U-21.

Then he would walk back at the pen, inspect the crew and take U-21 for a ride to check her out.

Type-II's were small but tricky. He needed to see if the helmsmen could trim her properly and keep constant depth. He wanted to push the diesels to the limit and take out every available knot. He wanted to time crash dives. But above all he wanted to check-out first hand the U-boats depth limits. His combat experience had taught him one thing. The deeper, the better. In wartime patrols he would have to take advantage of every extra centimenter of depth. This was the time to find out how strong his new tin lady was.

He placed the papers on the table and combed his hair.

With his left hand, Karl raised his beer glass as if toasting to an invisible friend and took a sip. Then, he took a last puff from his cigarette, put it out in the ashtray and started reading.