Q: Did you have any further luck in the area?
No, not particularly. The last two days were uneventful except for that plane showing up, and after a final check on the approaches to Porsanger-fjord and Lakse-fjord, we rounded Cape Nordkin and set off back towards Murmansk.We did run into numerous small vessels on the way back, off the towns of Hamnvik and Berlevag, but they turned out to be armed patrol boats which stayed close inshore, and we decided not to take risks with them.
Our only other success was one more small coastal schooner, looking much like the one we sank on the 14th, that we found in the early morning on the 17th of July. Unlike his fellow, this one refused to cooperate with us, and tried to escape without evacuating. We fired several rounds from the 45mm into him, but they continued running and maneuvering. Eventually, we had no choice but to dispatch them with more 45mm fire, which thoroughly wrecked their boat.
Q: Were the crew alright?
Not so sure with that one. Again, we were quite close inshore - maybe some 6-7km - and we did not want to risk staying. They did not have a chance to launch their lifeboat, and I think I saw some bodies floating in the water among the debris. But we did not stay, because we were worried that he’d reported our position. With partly cloudy skies and constant sunlight, this was prime weather for airplanes.
Airplanes continued to be our biggest problem, and the patrol wouldn’t be complete without one last bad encounter with them, which gave us a bit of a fright.
To be continued...