The Revenge of U 564...

[Murr44]

Finally, after all the harassment (depth charging) that I've received, the RN got some well deserved payback! It was U 564's (Erich Merkel) first patrol from Brest in July '41. We were alerted to a large convoy in BF 15 & proceeded to intercept. Even though it was nearly pitch black out, we submerged after the watch crew detected a Black Swan sloop. After ordering silent running I proceeded to track her. Her captain must have been supremely overconfident because she was just ambling along at a sedate 7 knots, not even bothering to zig zag. She didn't appear to have any visible damage either. Setting a G7a to impact & a depth of 2.5 meters (the wave height was 8 meters & I didn't want to risk a premature detonation) I waited until she got to within 750 meters & then launched my torpedo. It hit her squarely midships & the effect was catastrophic. A huge explosion tore her apart and in seconds she was gone. There were no survivors.

As there was no immediate reaction from the other escorts I was able to latch on to a modern tanker. Again I waited until she got to within 750 meters before firing. Unfortunately she was rather stubborn; requiring a second & then a third eel. By this time the convoy's surviving escorts were aware that something very bad had just occurred & it was time to go. We dove to 125 meters and after 15-20 minutes of concentrated depth charging U 564 eluded her persuers & escaped unscathed.

I know it's a long story but that was my first GWX Black Swan. I normally avoid escorts like the plague but since this kill felt so good I think that I've earned some bragging rights.