Battle of the Atlantic (X)

gord96 · 02-19-09, 08:49 PM

Continued from last post...

"Up periscope."

There she was. A lone little freighter. After a quick pursuit it was now 0600 and through the periscope Beck could see the merchant struggling through the heavy seas. He looked down and thumbed through the identification book.

"Hmmm. Yeah. This is it. A coastal type freighter. Not much tonnage, but we gotta do what we gotta do." Beck said to himself. The boat was directly in front of U-111 at about 1100m, stern swinging wildly in the waves. "Not the best setup for a shot but a good time to test out these new torpedoes."

He looked over at Georg and began to feed him the target info. He thought about trying out the new sonar system that U-111 was equipped with, but decided to do it the old fashioned way. He wanted to see what these acoustic eels could do.

"Ok. Flood tubes 3 & 4. Set both for 8m. Steady. Tube 3......LOS!"

Beck heard and felt the torpedo leave the boat. Just over a minute until impact. The wait went by quick as the eel detonated under the stern of the freighter. A explosion and large fireball soon followed. The crew cheered as Beck watched the boat veer to port.

"Tube 4. Come to 350. Steady. Tube 4.....LOS!"

The second eel left U-111. This one a standard type. The freighter's sharp turn setup the perfect shot.

BOOOOM!! The freight disapeared in a massive explosion. Beck could see sailors and large pieces of the boat fly off into the darkness.

"She was carrying something big Georg. Ammo or bombs perhaps."

Georg nodded. The crew cheered. Beck said a prayer.

"Radio message sir!" came a voice from below. Beck climbed down into the control room and read the paper that the radio operater handed him.

TO: U-111

FROM: BdU

Proceed to Spanish port of Cadiz to rendezvous with German supply ship Thalia.

"Hmmm. I wonder where they are sending us now?" asked Beck to himself. The original plan was to go to a grid just off Freetown. Perhaps with these new orders BdU had something else in mind.

"Surface the boat. Ahead standard. Come to 090."

gord96 · 02-20-09, 01:39 AM

3 days later....

Beck let the warm water wash over him. This was the life. After spending so much time on the older U-Boat variants where you would go weeks without washing or a shave, the inclusion of a shower on the Type X was a very welcome thing. Almost as welcome as the freezer in the galley. Fresh food was important for crew morale.

The last few hours had been quite exciting. As they made their way towards Cadiz, they picked up a small French convoy on the hyrdophone. After a spirited pursuit they had attacked, sinking a medium cargo vessel and another small merchant. The escort, an armed trawler, was helpless to prevent the sinkings. The pursuit had taken them further out into the Atlantic. After the battle, Beck ordered the boat to snorkel depth to recharge the batteries. Within an hour they picked up another possible convoy. Upon making contact with BdU they were told to scrap Cadiz and pursue the second convoy. Now back at underwater using the snorkel, Beck decided he would have a shower as U-111 closed in.

"Perhaps a scotch will be in order tonight." Beck said to himself.

unterseemann · 02-20-09, 05:15 AM

Great story! I really enjoy the read, keep it up

gord96 · 02-20-09, 11:52 AM

Thanks. Glad you are enjoying it!

10 km from U-111, somewhere in the Atlantic

Phillip took a long drag from the cigarette as he watched the sun finally come out from behind the clouds. The seas had calmed down a bit. Since they left Africa, the Atlantic had been angry. The wind cut through his coat and he turned and walked back inside and up a flight of stairs to the bridge of the freighter Poppy.

"Hello Mr. Shank, I trust your having a comfortable journey." said the old grey haired captain as he saw Phillip approach.

"Yes captain. Besides the rough seas, I am doing fine. I will admit I was never much of a sailor." replied Phillip. "As long as my cargo gets to Brest as soon as possible and in one piece I will be happy."

The captain nodded and went back to looking at the map on the table in front of him. Phillip Shank was a dealer of rare artifacts. He had several operations on the African continent that were digging up all sorts of old treasures. Phillip would then sell them to museums or private collectors for a hefty price. Business had been good lately, until September that is. The outbreak of war had hampered Phillip's abilities to get his goods back to Europe. The heartbreaking loss of several valuable artifacts that went down on a small freighter that was sunk by a German U-Boat in November had been a big hit for him.

"Come to 085. Signal the Stephanie of the change of course." the captain said. The Stephanie was the small freighter that was following the Poppy. The captain looked back at Phillip. "We got an SOS when you were below checking your cargo. A convoy that left a few days ahead of us for Brest was attacked by a U-Boat. A medium cargo vessel like the Poppy was sunk, along with a smaller freighter. I have changed course to put us further away from the attacks."

A chill went down Phillip's spine. He remembered when he was a young man and U-Boats terrorized the seas in the Great War. He wished he was in his flat in Paris, but the possible reward for the cargo this vessel carried was to great to not oversee himself. He had sailed to Morroco a month ago to oversee the final excavation and secure transport back to France. The artifiact would make him a very rich man. A chilling thought then came to Phillip's mind. Was he more worried about losing the cargo? Or his life? He pondered this as the sun began to set on the horizon.

gord96 · 02-22-09, 10:43 PM

A few hours later...

Phillip poured a cup of coffee and took a seat at a table in the galley of the Poppy. A few crewmen were also in the room, but kept to themselves. It was getting late and the deck was not a pleasant place to be right now. The cold January wind was at its worst tonight. Phillip's mind wandered about, thinking about his cargo, and the wealth he would soon have. He hoped this war would be over soon. Last thing he needed was to be worried about France being attacked as he was trying to enjoy his earnings.....

Phillip looked around. What just happened? He couldnt hear anything. Was he bleeding. Why was the table he was sitting at a second ago, now on top of him.

"AHHOOOOGA! AHHOOOOGA!"

Phillips hearing came rushing back to the point of bursting his ear drums. He stood up. The galley was in shambles. Tables everywhere were overturned. The crewmen were unconscious on the floor as well. He touched his head. It was bleeding. What the.....

Phillip's thoughts were interuppted as the boat shook violently again and sent him flying into the wall. He was able to brace himself and regained his balance and fled towards the door. When he opened it a wave of heat hit him. Fire. All he could see was fire down the corridor. He heard explosions at the far end of the ship. He turned and went towards the other exit. Up a flight of stairs and he was outside on the deck. He didnt even notice the cold. All he saw was the whole rear of the vessel was in flames. Men were scrambling to fight the fire or to run from it.

"Mr. Shank!" came a voice from behind. It was the young first officer of the Poppy. He was walking down the gangway from the bridge. "Please make your way towards the life boats. We may have to abandon ship."

"No! What about my cargo!? We can't abandon it!!" screamed Phillip.

The man walked towards Phillip and looked him in the eye.

"Mr. Shank. We have been torpedoed by a U-Boat. The cargo hold is an inferno. We are trying to keep the boat from sinking but we need to be prepared."

Phillip stared out at the sea. It was very dark. He was all of a sudden scared. The ocean looked cold and very rough.

Boom!

The two men spun to see the Stephanie, the small merchant to the Poppy's port explode into a massive fireball. The boat's deck was completely aflame. Phillip stared in disbelief. Numb. Cold. Scared.

gord96 · 02-23-09, 02:11 AM

Meanwhile on board U-111....

Beck watched the medium cargo vessel list to starboard in the rough seas. Its stern was burning. There was surely something that was flammable on board. The smaller merchant ship most definitely had something explosive. One torpedo had set off a massive explosion that tore the vessel apart.

"Orders sir?" asked Georg from below.

"Set tube 2 to ten meters. Make ready in all respects." Beck mumbled a prayer. "LOS!"

Just over a minute later the eel detonated under the cargo ship, breaking its keel. Immediately it began to sink, explosions coming from the bowels of the boat as she went down.

"Let's surface. Ahead standard. Ready the watch."

Five minutes later U-111 was cutting through the rough seas, observing the final moments of the two ships. Beck and the first watch officer, a joker of a character named Otto, scanned the wreckages.

"Nothing captain. No lifeboats anywhere. Just wreckage. Some bodies I am afraid are floating in the oil slick." Otto was not in the joking mood now as he reported what he saw.

"True enough. The last torpedo opened this one wide. She broke up pretty quick." Beck reached down and picked up the intercom. "Resume original course. Ahead standard."

Beck took one last look and nodded at Otto before going below to send a report off to BdU.

Beck sat at his desk and read the reply from BdU. With only three eels left and limited fuel, he was ordered to return to Wilhelmshaven. They had netted nearly 29000 tons of enemy shipping. Beck was thrilled at the success of their first combat patrol. Now they just had to get back to Germany in one piece.

"Chief!" Beck yelled towards the control room. "Make our depth 50m. Maintain speed. Its time for a drink."

He reached into his bunks drawer and pulled out a bottle of 15 year old scotch. Beck smiled then head towards the control room.

gord96 · 02-23-09, 11:54 AM

February 15th, Wilhelmshaven

Leutnant Gordon Beck stood in front of Admiral Donitz. The commander of the Kriegsmarine was reading his patrol report. Finally after a few minutes he leaned back in his chair and looked up at Beck.

"Excellent work Mr. Beck. U-111 did very well. A good showing of what the Type X is capable of. Your a new commander, and there was some doubts about giving you command of a Type X. There was several other commanders in line with more seniority. But I was assured by your mentor, Hinkle, that your aggressive command style would be a good fit for our new boats."

"Thank you Admiral. The Type X and my crew deserves most of the credit."

Donitz waved his hand, "Nonsense. We need commanders that know when to take risks and when perhaps it is truely time to pause. The only way we can show these Brits and Frenchies that we mean business is by being aggressive. Taking it to them."

"Yes sir!"

Donitz stood up and walked right up to Beck. "Leuntant Beck. I like to talk to my commanders face to face. Each one. Just to show them that I am serious about the task at hand. Although you are a younger commander, your age of 31 puts you as an old man in the eyes of new commanders coming up. As we continue to put more and more boats out to see, the commanders will be younger and younger. Set and example they can all follow!"

"Yes sir!"

Donitz walked back to his desk and opened a drawer. He pulled out a box and handed it to Beck.

"Here is an Iron Cross 2nd class. Give it to one of your men that deserves it. Now go and relax. We will need you and U-111 back in action soon."

02-20-09, 05:15 AM	#3
unterseemann Soundman Join Date: May 2005 Location: lyon, france Posts: 144 Downloads: 53 Uploads: 0	Great story! I really enjoy the read, keep it up __________________

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02-19-09, 08:49 PM	#1
gord96 Commodore Join Date: Nov 2002 Posts: 627 Downloads: 57 Uploads: 0	Continued from last post... "Up periscope." There she was. A lone little freighter. After a quick pursuit it was now 0600 and through the periscope Beck could see the merchant struggling through the heavy seas. He looked down and thumbed through the identification book. "Hmmm. Yeah. This is it. A coastal type freighter. Not much tonnage, but we gotta do what we gotta do." Beck said to himself. The boat was directly in front of U-111 at about 1100m, stern swinging wildly in the waves. "Not the best setup for a shot but a good time to test out these new torpedoes." He looked over at Georg and began to feed him the target info. He thought about trying out the new sonar system that U-111 was equipped with, but decided to do it the old fashioned way. He wanted to see what these acoustic eels could do. "Ok. Flood tubes 3 & 4. Set both for 8m. Steady. Tube 3......LOS!" Beck heard and felt the torpedo leave the boat. Just over a minute until impact. The wait went by quick as the eel detonated under the stern of the freighter. A explosion and large fireball soon followed. The crew cheered as Beck watched the boat veer to port. "Tube 4. Come to 350. Steady. Tube 4.....LOS!" The second eel left U-111. This one a standard type. The freighter's sharp turn setup the perfect shot. BOOOOM!! The freight disapeared in a massive explosion. Beck could see sailors and large pieces of the boat fly off into the darkness. "She was carrying something big Georg. Ammo or bombs perhaps." Georg nodded. The crew cheered. Beck said a prayer. "Radio message sir!" came a voice from below. Beck climbed down into the control room and read the paper that the radio operater handed him. TO: U-111 FROM: BdU Proceed to Spanish port of Cadiz to rendezvous with German supply ship Thalia. "Hmmm. I wonder where they are sending us now?" asked Beck to himself. The original plan was to go to a grid just off Freetown. Perhaps with these new orders BdU had something else in mind. "Surface the boat. Ahead standard. Come to 090."

02-20-09, 01:39 AM	#2
gord96 Commodore Join Date: Nov 2002 Posts: 627 Downloads: 57 Uploads: 0	3 days later.... Beck let the warm water wash over him. This was the life. After spending so much time on the older U-Boat variants where you would go weeks without washing or a shave, the inclusion of a shower on the Type X was a very welcome thing. Almost as welcome as the freezer in the galley. Fresh food was important for crew morale. The last few hours had been quite exciting. As they made their way towards Cadiz, they picked up a small French convoy on the hyrdophone. After a spirited pursuit they had attacked, sinking a medium cargo vessel and another small merchant. The escort, an armed trawler, was helpless to prevent the sinkings. The pursuit had taken them further out into the Atlantic. After the battle, Beck ordered the boat to snorkel depth to recharge the batteries. Within an hour they picked up another possible convoy. Upon making contact with BdU they were told to scrap Cadiz and pursue the second convoy. Now back at underwater using the snorkel, Beck decided he would have a shower as U-111 closed in. "Perhaps a scotch will be in order tonight." Beck said to himself.

02-20-09, 11:52 AM	#4
gord96 Commodore Join Date: Nov 2002 Posts: 627 Downloads: 57 Uploads: 0	Thanks. Glad you are enjoying it! 10 km from U-111, somewhere in the Atlantic Phillip took a long drag from the cigarette as he watched the sun finally come out from behind the clouds. The seas had calmed down a bit. Since they left Africa, the Atlantic had been angry. The wind cut through his coat and he turned and walked back inside and up a flight of stairs to the bridge of the freighter Poppy. "Hello Mr. Shank, I trust your having a comfortable journey." said the old grey haired captain as he saw Phillip approach. "Yes captain. Besides the rough seas, I am doing fine. I will admit I was never much of a sailor." replied Phillip. "As long as my cargo gets to Brest as soon as possible and in one piece I will be happy." The captain nodded and went back to looking at the map on the table in front of him. Phillip Shank was a dealer of rare artifacts. He had several operations on the African continent that were digging up all sorts of old treasures. Phillip would then sell them to museums or private collectors for a hefty price. Business had been good lately, until September that is. The outbreak of war had hampered Phillip's abilities to get his goods back to Europe. The heartbreaking loss of several valuable artifacts that went down on a small freighter that was sunk by a German U-Boat in November had been a big hit for him. "Come to 085. Signal the Stephanie of the change of course." the captain said. The Stephanie was the small freighter that was following the Poppy. The captain looked back at Phillip. "We got an SOS when you were below checking your cargo. A convoy that left a few days ahead of us for Brest was attacked by a U-Boat. A medium cargo vessel like the Poppy was sunk, along with a smaller freighter. I have changed course to put us further away from the attacks." A chill went down Phillip's spine. He remembered when he was a young man and U-Boats terrorized the seas in the Great War. He wished he was in his flat in Paris, but the possible reward for the cargo this vessel carried was to great to not oversee himself. He had sailed to Morroco a month ago to oversee the final excavation and secure transport back to France. The artifiact would make him a very rich man. A chilling thought then came to Phillip's mind. Was he more worried about losing the cargo? Or his life? He pondered this as the sun began to set on the horizon.

02-22-09, 10:43 PM	#5
gord96 Commodore Join Date: Nov 2002 Posts: 627 Downloads: 57 Uploads: 0	A few hours later... Phillip poured a cup of coffee and took a seat at a table in the galley of the Poppy. A few crewmen were also in the room, but kept to themselves. It was getting late and the deck was not a pleasant place to be right now. The cold January wind was at its worst tonight. Phillip's mind wandered about, thinking about his cargo, and the wealth he would soon have. He hoped this war would be over soon. Last thing he needed was to be worried about France being attacked as he was trying to enjoy his earnings..... Phillip looked around. What just happened? He couldnt hear anything. Was he bleeding. Why was the table he was sitting at a second ago, now on top of him. "AHHOOOOGA! AHHOOOOGA!" Phillips hearing came rushing back to the point of bursting his ear drums. He stood up. The galley was in shambles. Tables everywhere were overturned. The crewmen were unconscious on the floor as well. He touched his head. It was bleeding. What the..... Phillip's thoughts were interuppted as the boat shook violently again and sent him flying into the wall. He was able to brace himself and regained his balance and fled towards the door. When he opened it a wave of heat hit him. Fire. All he could see was fire down the corridor. He heard explosions at the far end of the ship. He turned and went towards the other exit. Up a flight of stairs and he was outside on the deck. He didnt even notice the cold. All he saw was the whole rear of the vessel was in flames. Men were scrambling to fight the fire or to run from it. "Mr. Shank!" came a voice from behind. It was the young first officer of the Poppy. He was walking down the gangway from the bridge. "Please make your way towards the life boats. We may have to abandon ship." "No! What about my cargo!? We can't abandon it!!" screamed Phillip. The man walked towards Phillip and looked him in the eye. "Mr. Shank. We have been torpedoed by a U-Boat. The cargo hold is an inferno. We are trying to keep the boat from sinking but we need to be prepared." Phillip stared out at the sea. It was very dark. He was all of a sudden scared. The ocean looked cold and very rough. *Boom!* The two men spun to see the Stephanie, the small merchant to the Poppy's port explode into a massive fireball. The boat's deck was completely aflame. Phillip stared in disbelief. Numb. Cold. Scared.

02-23-09, 02:11 AM	#6
gord96 Commodore Join Date: Nov 2002 Posts: 627 Downloads: 57 Uploads: 0	Meanwhile on board U-111.... Beck watched the medium cargo vessel list to starboard in the rough seas. Its stern was burning. There was surely something that was flammable on board. The smaller merchant ship most definitely had something explosive. One torpedo had set off a massive explosion that tore the vessel apart. "Orders sir?" asked Georg from below. "Set tube 2 to ten meters. Make ready in all respects." Beck mumbled a prayer. "LOS!" Just over a minute later the eel detonated under the cargo ship, breaking its keel. Immediately it began to sink, explosions coming from the bowels of the boat as she went down. "Let's surface. Ahead standard. Ready the watch." Five minutes later U-111 was cutting through the rough seas, observing the final moments of the two ships. Beck and the first watch officer, a joker of a character named Otto, scanned the wreckages. "Nothing captain. No lifeboats anywhere. Just wreckage. Some bodies I am afraid are floating in the oil slick." Otto was not in the joking mood now as he reported what he saw. "True enough. The last torpedo opened this one wide. She broke up pretty quick." Beck reached down and picked up the intercom. "Resume original course. Ahead standard." Beck took one last look and nodded at Otto before going below to send a report off to BdU. Beck sat at his desk and read the reply from BdU. With only three eels left and limited fuel, he was ordered to return to Wilhelmshaven. They had netted nearly 29000 tons of enemy shipping. Beck was thrilled at the success of their first combat patrol. Now they just had to get back to Germany in one piece. "Chief!" Beck yelled towards the control room. "Make our depth 50m. Maintain speed. Its time for a drink." He reached into his bunks drawer and pulled out a bottle of 15 year old scotch. Beck smiled then head towards the control room.

02-23-09, 11:54 AM	#7
gord96 Commodore Join Date: Nov 2002 Posts: 627 Downloads: 57 Uploads: 0	February 15th, Wilhelmshaven Leutnant Gordon Beck stood in front of Admiral Donitz. The commander of the Kriegsmarine was reading his patrol report. Finally after a few minutes he leaned back in his chair and looked up at Beck. "Excellent work Mr. Beck. U-111 did very well. A good showing of what the Type X is capable of. Your a new commander, and there was some doubts about giving you command of a Type X. There was several other commanders in line with more seniority. But I was assured by your mentor, Hinkle, that your aggressive command style would be a good fit for our new boats." "Thank you Admiral. The Type X and my crew deserves most of the credit." Donitz waved his hand, "Nonsense. We need commanders that know when to take risks and when perhaps it is truely time to pause. The only way we can show these Brits and Frenchies that we mean business is by being aggressive. Taking it to them." "Yes sir!" Donitz stood up and walked right up to Beck. "Leuntant Beck. I like to talk to my commanders face to face. Each one. Just to show them that I am serious about the task at hand. Although you are a younger commander, your age of 31 puts you as an old man in the eyes of new commanders coming up. As we continue to put more and more boats out to see, the commanders will be younger and younger. Set and example they can all follow!" "Yes sir!" Donitz walked back to his desk and opened a drawer. He pulled out a box and handed it to Beck. "Here is an Iron Cross 2nd class. Give it to one of your men that deserves it. Now go and relax. We will need you and U-111 back in action soon."