Quote:
Originally Posted by pikke
May 12, 1940 AF58
0022 Sound contact! True bearing 253°, very faint and moving away. Let's take a closer look.
0204 Contact lost. Storm prevented us to spot anything. Perhaps she changed course? Let's try sniffing around...
0412 New sound contact NW of our current position. Very weak, possibly on a western course. U48 resumes the hunt.
0558 Dived again. Target sounds much closer now. This storm is really hampering our efforts. Forces us to dive often to use sonar to keep track of our target. Let's move.
0703 Seems like we managed to catch up to our quarry, or at least we are very close. Heavy rain is making it impossible to spot anything through our periscope, but we should be almost level with our target. I think our best chance is to dash ahead, dive again and close is using sonar.
0739 Plan worked out just fine. We managed to get ahead of her and she is coming straight for us. Now comes the tricky part: spotting her through this mess...
0744 Lights in the mist! Is it a neutral? She is slowly becoming more than a ghost...masts and cranes...funnel slightly astern...medium cargo? Yes, Swedish medium cargo. Spent hours hunting her and she turns out to be a neutral ship. Let's break contact before I do something stupid and sink her.
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May 13, 1940
0622 Rain is still with us. We are soaked to the bone. Visibility very poor. At least wind dropped to 7 m/s and waves are not so terrible. Crew morale is very low. Will keep going on the surface till midday. We will then dive, have lunch and the perform maintenance on our batteries. No contacts to report.
May 14, 1940 AF78
1222 So the sun still exists...taken sun shot for navigational fix...38km off the mark, 224°T. Wind down to 2 m/s, very flat sea. We will stay on the surface for a while. I'll have each member of the crew spend some time in the Sun. Good for health and morale. Shall pay attention to our surrounding, though. We are now much closer to Scotland.
2204 Ship spotted! Bearing 204, long range. That looks like a destroyer...she is sailing away at a quick pace. She seems to be heading SE. Let's slow down and change course to NW.
2218 She is gone. 15 knots. She was in a hurry. I'm not complaining. Resuming plotted course, ahead one third.
May 15, 1940 AF77
1022 Nothing to report but for the fact that we had more than 24 hours of good weather. Light breeze from SW, almost no clouds. Fuel is slightly more than 70%, provisions still good.
1838 We have a sound contact! Very faint, bearing 112, closing. Time to hunt!
1912 Aircraft spotted! Bearing 122, long range! Where?...there! Quite far away but closing...ahead flank! Dive!
1922 No attack came our way. I therefore assume they did not spot us. Meier affirms it had two engines but could not be sure about the model. Our quarry is still coming our way. Will surface in a while.
2012 Ship spotted straight ahead, small steamer sailing ENE, still quite far away. Visibility is good, we will dive in a short while and close in submerged.
2028 I believe her to be a Coastal freighter. Light gray hull and structure, black masts. Speed 8 knots. We are maneuvering to get into attack position. If she has no weapons we may use our deck gun.
2041 British flag, crates and boxes visible on her deck. Time to surface and engage her. All men ready! Surface the boat!
2045 She just blew up! After the first few hits she was already engulfed in flames and being rocked by secondary explosions. Suddenly stopped than she went Bang! There are survivors in the water but I'm not going any closer until she sinks.
2058 Hull still burning, small explosions keep bursting, debris flowing everywhere. I'm not staying here any longer. Time to flee the area. A succes, at last!
Ship sunk! SS Aeneas (Coastal Freighter), 1869 tons. Cargo: Explosives. Crew: 31. Crew lost: 12