Be careful during those "Happy Times"!
Today, April, 1940, I was sitting off the coast of England near Scapa Flow at Parascope depth waiting for a Merchant to come cruising by between the islands to the north and the mainland. Interesting enough, since I was sitting below the surface, I decided to turn my volume up pretty loud so I can jump back and forth between the sound-dial to listen for nearby traffic. Also, interesting enough, I was sitting at Parascope depth completely motionless.
Well, to make a long story short, I forgot that in GWX you will rise about 2 to 3 meters above your set depth when you are traveling less than 3 knots (I was completely motionless). So, my conning tower was definitely breaking the surface. While I was waiting using TC, reading "Operation Drumbeat" in front of me not looking at the screen, with the volume up fairly loud so I could use the sound-dial from time to time, an enemy aircraft dropped two bombs right next to me that nearly shattered the windows in my little room. It definitely woke me up. I jumped completely up out of my chair reaching for the volume knob. It completely scared me to death.
Anyway, the damage to the U-boat was minimal, and it was quickly repaired. I crash dived carefully since I was in fairly shallow water. I then peaked up to about 14-15 meters to allow my Observation Scope to break the surface occasionally to see what was going on. That plane, or other planes, were circling around my area for the next three hours until dark came on. I couldn't beleive it. I was pinned beneath the surface like it was 1944.
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