(Story) U52 - Another Wolf plays its part

[Bosje]

U52 – Another wolf plays its part

December 2nd 1939

Wilhelmshafen quickly vanished from sight as the boat cut through the cold fog which had settled in at sunset on this winter afternoon. Gray, cold and desolate, even 10 miles out of port. Some six weeks of loneliness lay ahead and the north Atlantic was not likely to be very hospitable this time of year. The Old Man lit up a cigarette on the bridge of the U-boat and inhaled deeply. Immediately he coughed with a sound like his grandfather and his mouth filled with the taste of blood. He had a bad cold but it would pass, he assumed. No point staying in bed, they had a job to do. He straightened himself up, still coughing and ignored his watch officer who looked at him in a disconcerted way. 'I'll be fine,' he grumbled and he continued to smoke his cigarette, trying hard to suppress the disgustingly unhealthy sounding old man's cough. After all, he was only 34 years old.

[Bosje]

Occasionally, ships and snow-covered shoreline fluttered in and out of view as they made their way to the open sea. Their orders were clear and simple: Patrol the northern channels of the Western Approaches. KM grid AM51 was their assigned grid but first they had to get there: A long trip around the British Isles, a great big curve around the naval bases on the Eastern coast and in Scotland, theoretically avoiding most enemy air and sea patrols. The men had spent the last months on shorter patrols close to the English East Coast. They had been quite successful but it was slow and dangerous. Lots of enemy patrols and lately, the big merchants avoided those shores. So now they had a new hunting ground. The crew were quite eager to join the convoy battles in the Northern Atlantic and the Old Man didn't blame them. First things first however: get there in one piece. Two weeks of boring travel while trying to keep a sharp lookout. It would become routine soon enough.

[Bosje]

December 6th 1939, north of the Scottish Isles

Alaaaaaaaaarm! The watchcrew scrambled down through the open hatches as the forward ballast tanks were already being flooded. Twenty seconds after the call, the nose of the boat dipped below the waves and the boat drove itself into the depths of the darkgreen ocean. I was struck by a coughing attack while the LI called 50 meters. 'Deeper' I yelled in between the coughs, gesturing downwards with my hands. My cold had worsened and I ran a slight fever, much to the annoyance of my officers, it would be really bad form if the Old Man himself spread a flu throughout the crew. But they were all healthy young men, I assumed my cold would pass soon enough and the crew would probably be fine.

The boat reached 110 meters and I nodded to the LI. This was enough. We both grinned. All around us, the boys were looking up at the ceiling, their faces white with apprehension. What did we dive from? Escorts? Aircraft? 'All stop, check all valves and hatches.'
I grinned at the 1.WO who was also looking ill at ease. Practise drill, my grin told him.
Three hours later we were back on the surface, again on our way to the open ocean.
Alaaaaaaaaarm!! This time it was no drill. A double engine aircraft had been spotted briefly through the coulds. Or so the watch officer claimed. No bombs were dropped and for the next couple of hours we ran silent at 20 meters, no contacts were heard and we secured from battle stations. Had it really been a plane or just a shadow? We'd never know, better safe than sorry, it was all part of the routine.

[Bosje]

December 11th 1939, AM5153

I browsed the War Journal.
'dec9 Reached patrol area, grid search with hydrophone check every 4 hrs'
'dec10 20:30 multiple contacts very far away SSW, moving away, moving to intercept at full speed'
'dec11 03:00 getting closed to suspected convoy. New single contact approaching slow from WSW.'
'dec11 04:00 Hog Island freighter 4000 tons. Single hit from tube 5. On fire and sinking by the bow.'

I smiled, our first kill on this patrol. I scribbled in the margin to add: '20 shells from deckgun to quicken kill, convoy still in hydro range.'
'dec11 05:00 much closer to contacts, turns out to be a flock of whales. Resume patrol on surface.'
I looked at Benno and sighed. He is still very young and inexperienced, like all of us, but I had given him a very hard time for wasting 6 hours and invaluable gallons of fuel on a high-speed chase, going after a couple of whales.

The next day we had finished our 72-hour patrol of AM51 and we received new orders. Another 72-hour patrol, this time AN13. Quite close to the Royal Navy's bases in Scotland and a long way away from our current patrol area. I frowned when the navigator gave me the time and fuel consumption we would need for transfer but Befehl was Befehl. At least my cold was largely gone, just a slight cough remained.

We spent the rest of the week following the reports from the Southern Atlantic. Graf Spee had been doing amazing things, we were led to believe, until it somehow succombed to a couple of much smaller English cruisers. Hard to believe.
Beat down, we returned home when fuel and torpedoes ran out. Not a bad patrol but we not exactly beating the Royal Navy and winning the war at this pace.

[Bosje]

Hi there fellow Kaleuns,

back in the days of SH3 GWX I tought myself to play and fell in love with the modded subsim phenomenon and with this community. I wrote a story (U2 war diary) about three subsequent careers, that was some 5 years ago.

now I'm back, playing SH5 with Wolves of Steel and although there are some gameplay features from the devs that turn my stomach, I am seriously enjoying myself on my current career. hardly any CTDs and the modded game looks abolutely stunning. Also the gameplay is quite alright.
thanks to all the modders! hats off to you.

Now, because i have a week off from work, I thought I'd try my hand at some writing again. A little rusty but I hope you like it. feedback is most welcome

happy hunting,
bosje

[Defiance]

Hiya,

Gripping stuff, reads like you'd imagine in rl

In all the years of playing the sh series i'm yet to finish a career, what with mods and finding more mods etc etc new career starts become a fact of life hehe

i'll keep checking back on your war journal