[UKönig]

the last voyage of U-110, part 1.

From my sitting location on the chief's bunk in the officer's mess, I angle my head out for a look around at the shambles the radio shack and sound room are in. The stewards did a good job of cleaning up our off duty area, but work still continues on our electrical equipment. We really got it handed to us this time...
With me in the OM is my 2WO and my Chief engineer. He is standing slightly in the 'corridor', a look as grim as the beard on his face, holding a clipboard with an itemised list of our current damage (and hopefully news on completed repairs). The 2WO is seated at the table with his back against the fwd bulkhead, looking moodily into his cold coffee (It's all we've got left). We suffered casualties this go around as well. Looking at him, I can read his thoughts, and it takes me back to when our 1WO was on the bridge directing the gunnery crew, and our flak batteries were prepped for firing, when the freighters we came across, damaged though they were, returned fire. We took 3 direct hits from the 2 heavy cargo ships at less than 1km distant. In a flash, the after deck was destroyed and our flak crew killed by shrapnel. The next hit came at the conning tower, punching a neat entrance hole on the port side. The exit hole was another story and the mangled body of my 1WO lay slumped on the deck beside the attack periscope mast. Our electrics took a hit as well and we lost our radio antenna and radar warning device. Our 2WO took over in a hurry and despite great personal danger, and the horrible sight of the bloody command deck, was able to direct the gunnery crew to quickly finish the two freighters. We claimed both for a total of 13,600 tons and left the area.
We buried our three dead crew at sea and I promoted my ensign to take over for the missing officer. All that occurred on day 5 of our outbound journey, destination, BE18. We never made it.
We departed from our new base in Norway, home of the 11th fleet, April 30 1944 on our 40th patrol. By May 5th, our 3 crew were dead and my boat, U-110, badly damaged. But the patrol is nowhere near to complete, so we press on.
Those two freighters soaked up too many of our torpedos (4 each plus 1 that missed because of evasive action) so we surfaced to finish them off. One of them (the closest one) played dead, even taking a few hits, until we were in their sweet spot, and that's when the carnage began. The Admiral is still going to be mildly crazy about all this when HQ finds out...
We worked like mad in steadily swelling seas to get the external reload out of the forward locker and in just under an hour, had it safely aboard, loaded in tube 4.
We dove to 30m and I put my radio crew to work crafting a new aerial for both our radar warning and transmission antenna.
By May 8th we came across a nosy destroyer. Optimal firing position for the seeker loaded in tube 5. Fired tube 5 from 1400m away and hit, Destroyer sunk for 1350tons. The next morning, things had calmed a bit, so we surfaced and started making some head way. But within 10 minutes, the weather fell off so we dove again to ride it out. About 30 minutes later, our sound guy picked up a steamer heading in our direction. Possibly the destroyer we sank was to rendez-vous with the merchant, and escort him to safety, but we'll never know. Bad weather, high seas and thick fog make attack difficult. Missed our chance with the forward tubes, line up a shot with the aft tube and hit. No serious damage done and rather than waste more of our dwindling ammunition, I break off the attack, and let him go. This is really wrecking our morale.
May 11th was the worst day. We still hadn't made it into our patrol billet. Aircraft appear more often now. Although our boat has been outfitted with a snorkel about 3 patrols ago, the allied fliers still seem intent upon attacking, yes, even the snort mast. So we can only really use it at night, which is doubling our trip time. While we still have a decent quantity of AA ammo and deck gun shells, we have few torpedos. With all the failures, misses, and sheer number pumped into one target to seemingly no effect, we have only 4 left. And one of them isn't even loaded into anything yet, it's still in the aft external locker.
And then it happened. The nightmare scenario that every Captain dreads. We came across a lone Liberty cargo ship. Heavily armed too, I thought. Grid AL01. Sky and seas, light fog, raising, wind speed 12 m/s. At periscope depth. Sighting on the target and range. Sitting at the attack scope, I take stock. Tube 1 loaded with T3, tube 2, empty and will remain so. Tube 3 loaded with T4 seeker. Tube 4 loaded with T3. Tube 5 empty, but if you're ballsy enough you might be able to surface to get the exterior spare...(given this mission history, you'll probably have to.) I really want to use my remaining seeker on a destroyer, but if I get the boat close enough, maybe we can hamstring this merchant with it, and then finish him off at our leisure.
Then I see he tacks in a different direction, heading more towards us now. We are coming in from starboard, a nice bow-on shot. Open tube 1, open tube 4, stand by for salvo. I pass the orders on to the weapons officer and when the time is right, release the hounds...
At 900m from the target, the first torpedo detonates prematurely. Sigh. Oh, and of course the enemy watch saw that. A nice big fountain just for them. He's taking evasive action, but... he's tacking the wrong way! He's actually opening his flank, which predictably, allows our torpedo to strike. A hit!. Wait, how deep was that set? Not deep enough. It punched a hole in the side, slightly above and below the waterline, but far enough forward that his pumps and damage control parties could easily cope. Remember that seeker? I guess I will use it after all. I can't let this ship get away, I have to avenge my dead crew with some kind of success here. With careful plotting we take up position into the wake of the passing Liberty. Letting him get to 700m we let fly with the seeker from tube 3. Threading the eye of the needle....