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Enchanter · 12-23-07, 04:01 PM

Personal Diary of Gerhard Linden 15 May ’41 – 22 May ‘41

Once again, U49 takes to the seas to bring glory and honour to the Fatherland!
Ordered to the western coast of the English Isle, my men and I set sail in the late morning after a lengthy and pleasant shore leave.
We knew we were in for an interesting patrol when we spotted our first victim en route to the patrol zone. A small merchant crossed our path in relatively calm waters two days into our patrol. Submerging to periscope depth the crew set about preparing to attack the target.
Our extensive experience was evident as the solution was quickly plotted and a single torpedo fired at the hapless victim from 800 meters. A few seconds later we watched the ship burn and slip beneath the waves. Our patrol had gotten off to a pleasant start.
Not 4 hours later I received a report from my Radioman informing of a ship very near to our location. I quickly turned about and came across the second target of the day. We were in for two very large surprises!

Running on the surface in broad daylight, we soon spotted the target vessel. A look through the ‘scope showed a lovely fat tanker ahead. Rubbing our hands with glee, I ordered an excursion to periscope depth, having elicited that the wind speed was too high for accurate gunnery. As we slipped beneath the waves, I prepared for a submerged attack. Suddenly, I spotted a second ship sailing in the wake of the first! A C2 Cargo had come to join the party.
Long since had the crew and I dispelled the notion that C2’s were our bane. We set about preparing to attack with professionalism and efficiency.
At a dead stop in along our targets projected path, I prepared two torpedoes to magnetically explode beneath the T3 tanker. As she came into our sights, I loosed. The first torpedo ran beneath the target, but failed to detonate. The second however exploded as planned, slowing the vessel. This obviously alerted both ships to the presence of an attacker. They immediately began evasive manoeuvres, but I was pleased to see that the tanker was sluggish. Leaving her be, I turned to get a better position on the C2. That’s when our second surprise appeared.

As I began my attack run I heard the report. “We’ve been spotted, Sir.”
Not overly concerned with this, in such close proximity and with plenty of sea room to manoeuvre, I disregarded the report and continued with my solution. Suddenly the ship rocked and an explosion tore through the hull. Surprised, I called for a damage report as I scanned the horizon for a warship.
There wasn’t one. With growing horror I began to realise that the enemy had begun arming her merchant vessels! I turned full circle and set the periscope back on the C2 just in time to see a shot fired from her aft.
Fortunately, the enemy gunnery has much to be desired, but this new development has me quite worried.
Now forced to be far more circumspect in my attack it took a further two hours to sink both the tanker and the cargo ship, but we managed to do so without much in the way of damage.

Arriving on station, we once again spent an uneventful day searching for vessels. I had been thinking about the situation with the armed cargo ships and had decided on a new course of action. Consequently, our boat will now run submerged during the day, and surfaced at night. So too, our attacks against surface targets with the deck gun will only be prosecuted at night. Kals was decidedly unhappy to hear of this.
“That’s not very sporting of them, is it?” was his only reply to the news that our enemy had just gotten far more aggressive.

Our return home was similarly uneventful, except for a chance sinking of a small merchant. During a particularly horrid storm, I decided to submerge for the day run home. Within in a few hours I received reports of a ship directly ahead of us. I raised the periscope and spotted a small merchant at very close range. Some spur of the moment, manual plotting with the torpedoes resulted in a single hit, and a subsequent kill.

Arriving at base, I informed the Commandant of the newest developments. He seems very concerned about this and issued a warning to be included in all future briefing papers. Hopefully, no brother Kaleun will fall prey to this cowardly response to our naval might!

In other news, the reply to our letter arrived while I was at sea. When I returned home to find my beloved fiancé bustling around her apartment dusting, she threw her arms around me, kissed me then sat me down and read the whole letter, all of five pages, to me word for word. Combined with her chatty commentary on almost every paragraph, this conspired to make the letter a lot longer than would have taken me to read it. But I sat back in the couch, eyes closed as the woman I love sat on my lap and read to me.
Her mother and my mother burst into tears at the announcement, and the fathers immediately began arguing about possible names for their grandsons! They demanded details for the arrangements of their stay here in November. After she had finished reading the letter, she folded it neatly and put it on the table beside the couch. Then, still on my lap, she curled up in my arms and laid her head against my chest.
“Do you think this war will ever end Gerhard?”
“I don’t know lieben. All wars must end. It’s just a question of time.”
“Before our wedding?”
Her voice held such a tremulous whisper of hope. I felt my heart break for her.
“I don’t know Suzanne. I hope so. That would be perfect wouldn’t it?”
“Yes,” she murmured, clearly not convinced.

12-23-07, 04:01 PM	#30
Enchanter Bosun Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: South Africa Posts: 66 Downloads: 21 Uploads: 0	Personal Diary of Gerhard Linden 15 May ’41 – 22 May ‘41 Once again, U49 takes to the seas to bring glory and honour to the Fatherland! Ordered to the western coast of the English Isle, my men and I set sail in the late morning after a lengthy and pleasant shore leave. We knew we were in for an interesting patrol when we spotted our first victim en route to the patrol zone. A small merchant crossed our path in relatively calm waters two days into our patrol. Submerging to periscope depth the crew set about preparing to attack the target. Our extensive experience was evident as the solution was quickly plotted and a single torpedo fired at the hapless victim from 800 meters. A few seconds later we watched the ship burn and slip beneath the waves. Our patrol had gotten off to a pleasant start. Not 4 hours later I received a report from my Radioman informing of a ship very near to our location. I quickly turned about and came across the second target of the day. We were in for two very large surprises! Running on the surface in broad daylight, we soon spotted the target vessel. A look through the ‘scope showed a lovely fat tanker ahead. Rubbing our hands with glee, I ordered an excursion to periscope depth, having elicited that the wind speed was too high for accurate gunnery. As we slipped beneath the waves, I prepared for a submerged attack. Suddenly, I spotted a second ship sailing in the wake of the first! A C2 Cargo had come to join the party. Long since had the crew and I dispelled the notion that C2’s were our bane. We set about preparing to attack with professionalism and efficiency. At a dead stop in along our targets projected path, I prepared two torpedoes to magnetically explode beneath the T3 tanker. As she came into our sights, I loosed. The first torpedo ran beneath the target, but failed to detonate. The second however exploded as planned, slowing the vessel. This obviously alerted both ships to the presence of an attacker. They immediately began evasive manoeuvres, but I was pleased to see that the tanker was sluggish. Leaving her be, I turned to get a better position on the C2. That’s when our second surprise appeared. As I began my attack run I heard the report. “We’ve been spotted, Sir.” Not overly concerned with this, in such close proximity and with plenty of sea room to manoeuvre, I disregarded the report and continued with my solution. Suddenly the ship rocked and an explosion tore through the hull. Surprised, I called for a damage report as I scanned the horizon for a warship. There wasn’t one. With growing horror I began to realise that the enemy had begun arming her merchant vessels! I turned full circle and set the periscope back on the C2 just in time to see a shot fired from her aft. Fortunately, the enemy gunnery has much to be desired, but this new development has me quite worried. Now forced to be far more circumspect in my attack it took a further two hours to sink both the tanker and the cargo ship, but we managed to do so without much in the way of damage. Arriving on station, we once again spent an uneventful day searching for vessels. I had been thinking about the situation with the armed cargo ships and had decided on a new course of action. Consequently, our boat will now run submerged during the day, and surfaced at night. So too, our attacks against surface targets with the deck gun will only be prosecuted at night. Kals was decidedly unhappy to hear of this. “That’s not very sporting of them, is it?” was his only reply to the news that our enemy had just gotten far more aggressive. Our return home was similarly uneventful, except for a chance sinking of a small merchant. During a particularly horrid storm, I decided to submerge for the day run home. Within in a few hours I received reports of a ship directly ahead of us. I raised the periscope and spotted a small merchant at very close range. Some spur of the moment, manual plotting with the torpedoes resulted in a single hit, and a subsequent kill. Arriving at base, I informed the Commandant of the newest developments. He seems very concerned about this and issued a warning to be included in all future briefing papers. Hopefully, no brother Kaleun will fall prey to this cowardly response to our naval might! In other news, the reply to our letter arrived while I was at sea. When I returned home to find my beloved fiancé bustling around her apartment dusting, she threw her arms around me, kissed me then sat me down and read the whole letter, all of five pages, to me word for word. Combined with her chatty commentary on almost every paragraph, this conspired to make the letter a lot longer than would have taken me to read it. But I sat back in the couch, eyes closed as the woman I love sat on my lap and read to me. Her mother and my mother burst into tears at the announcement, and the fathers immediately began arguing about possible names for their grandsons! They demanded details for the arrangements of their stay here in November. After she had finished reading the letter, she folded it neatly and put it on the table beside the couch. Then, still on my lap, she curled up in my arms and laid her head against my chest. “Do you think this war will ever end Gerhard?” “I don’t know lieben. All wars must end. It’s just a question of time.” “Before our wedding?” Her voice held such a tremulous whisper of hope. I felt my heart break for her. “I don’t know Suzanne. I hope so. That would be perfect wouldn’t it?” “Yes,” she murmured, clearly not convinced. __________________ Hasta la wookie...baby.