U-Boat Commander Starts Over - Musings of Sorts

[Majestik 909]

1843 hours - target makes abrupt course change to 013 - reposition for optimal port side attack, slightly behind port quarter - range to target now 417 meters - recompute manual solution - range 417m - speed 5 degrees - length 500 feet - spread angle 5 degrees - angle on bow 162 degrees to port - gyros set to 000 - depth 8 meters - fire tubes 3, 4 & 5 at 15 second intervals.....at 30 knots, G7a covers 50.6 feet per second - time to first impact 25 seconds.....

[Majestik 909]

1844 - our feather must have been discovered - gun crews open fire with small caliber automatic weapons, short of our position - 3 or 5 inch aft turret fires one shell over us - torpedo #1 impact - large column of water rises near port forecastle - gun crews remain at station, appearing to fire wildly, possibly due to tracks from G7a's and not our feather - torpedo impact #2 - water column rises amidships, vessel takes a list to port and loses 2 knots quickly - gun crews continue to emit unaimed fire - torpedo impact #3 - aft of the flying bridge - large water column rises with simultaneous huge discharge of smoke/steam from ship's funnel - likely a hit to port boiler room - list begins to correct as ship settles by the stern - 6 feet of freeboard visible - fire and smoke erupt from ventilation funnels fore and aft - ship settles evenly and appears to have stopped sinking - I continue to observe from periscope depth....

[Majestik 909]

1859 - circle around submerged to starboard side - ship is low in the water, yet on an even keel - guns have gone silent - small fires are visible from ladderwells, but flooding appears ti have been arrested -

1903 - a tremendous explosion from the forward hold erupts skyward with orange light and ejection of debris - force of explosion forces starboard rail underwater and ship appears to bend downward amidships - more violent explosions - likely from stored munitions - bow and stern halves separate and begin to sink rapidly - less than 2 minutes from initial explosion to complete disappearance - surface and commence rescue operations - no lfeboats or survivors found - final position - Long 129 10' East x 11 32' South - 12,000 GRT

1933 - Head southwest to resupply from Milkcow before moving to grid KW

R.H.v.H. - U-847

[Rockin Robbins]

Well done!

[TorpX]

A nice, systematic approach.

[Majestik 909]

Sunday, June 27, 1943 - 2010 hours - 1,000 nm West of Fremantle - Rendevouz with tanker, replenish expended munitions and supplies - new Eniga rotors and Thetis M codebooks - morale is high - I keep the Gramaphone or radio on whenever possible - news reports on something called Zoot Suit Riots taking place in Los Angeles California - crew transfers mail to tanker - head as ordered to grid KW - thus far, fishing boats are the only contacts....

R.H.v.H - U-847

[Majestik 909]

Sunday, June 27, 1943 - 2315- a purple sky meets a black sea - making 20 knots surfaced - the crew are in great spirits - from the conning tower, I gaze out across the vast expanse of ocean - it is as if we are the only boat afloat - my tactics shall remain unchanged on this, the U-847's first combat patrol - attack aggressively and resupply as often as possible, staying close to supply sources - the final mission of U-196 consisted of 7 refits - hours pass and thus far, we have seen and heard nothing - always waiting it would seem.

It is s cold and silent, the sea. Such a peaceful place in many respects, broken only by the distant humming of our screws.

It has been weeks since we were home. My beard seems to grow by the hours and the air is humid and warm. "Wie gehts?" asks a commrade. I tilt my head and smile in response.

I often wonder, as I lay in my rack at night, what master do we serve? These vessels, these crews that we engage, do they feel the same as I do???

I recall one day, we surfaced to search for survivors. It was sad that we found none. I often wonder, in the galant struggle for victory, how many lives are lost needlessly?

I smoke. Not because I enjoy it, but because it breaks the monotony. The silence. The stillness...waiting for the next catstrophy.

I wonder how God could make such a being. One that would seek to destroy his own kind with amazing machines. When did we come to see things so differently?

So hard to write sometimes. The words get lost in my insanity of thought. The cold dark waters offer anonymity, but no escape from moral responsibility.

When I try to sleep, I hear the thunderous claps from above. The boat is shaken to its very core. Water seeps from fittings like rain, covering the iron floor.

Sometimes, it goes on for what seems like an eternity. Tempting fate, Deeper still, the only escape. Sometimes I wonder if the boys in Kiel ever imagined she could dive so deep. Water from welded seams, like salty tears, begin to weep.

The smell of sulfur hangs in the air, like a moist cloud, adding to my despair. I wonder why we play this deadly game. In the calmness of the sea, you can almost hear the sound of fear as it echoes against the steel.

As Oberleutnant, I must always be emotionless. Each and every Matrosengefreiter must see me as a man of iron. But in my heart, I miss Jutta and my son, days of fishing on the Elbe.

I must think that this war will end someday, but soon enough for me will it never be. Until then I shall count the days until we finally come home from the sea. Until then, I bow my head in private and recite quietly....

Ewiger Gott,

dessen kreative Hand Urmeere zu Ozeane breit machte und dessen allgegenwärtige Liebe so sein kann, fühlte scharf sich unten wie über ihrer wallend Oberfläche; steigen Sie mit uns jetzt in die leisen Tiefen als unser unfehlbarer Führer ab.

Wir Männer des leisen Services sind dankbar, zu den mit der Aufregung eines Tauchens zu begeistern wenigen, überhaupt, und bloßer Ekstase jeder Oberflächenbearbeitung zu gehören.

Mögen wir nie nach diesen Manövern als bloßes Programm, nach jedem suchen sind eine Erfahrung, die mit Herausforderung und keiner wenig Gefahr frisch ist. Mögen wir auf unsere einzelne Aufgabenverwirklichung überhaupt aufmerksam sein, die soviel von unserem Handeln unserer Aufgabe ohne Störung abhängt.

Mögen wir an das neue Mitglied unserer Mannschaft uns erinnern, die seinen ersten Abfall bilden soll, und atmen ein Gebet, dass er ein guter Matrose auf einem U-Boot ist. Mögen wir, die wissen, was es ist, einem Kurs zu folgen, kennen ihn auch, der " sagte; Ich bin das way." Mögen wir, die eilig in den ersten frischen Lüften schlucken, während es hinunter die Luke hetzt, die jedem Tauchen folgt, kennen auch thy erneuerngeist.

Mögen wir, die die Notwendigkeit für Begleitungfühlen unsere Teilhaberschaft mit thee kennen, wenn die Luken hartnäckig sind und wenn wir für Tauchen in Ordnung gebracht werden. Wenn alles sonst der Oberflächenwelt heraus geschlossen worden ist, können wir glauben thee in jedem Fach, so nahe zu uns als throbbing Maschinen-, pingingsonar und das Zischen von Druckluft.

Und wenn, wie, Matrosen auf einem U-Boot alternd, unsere Seelen in die Tiefen der Ewigkeit, können der abschließende Anruf zu uns sein abgestiegen sind; "Oberfläche, Oberfläche, Oberfläche," im Namen er, der als das ungesehene Mannschaftsmitglied auf jedes Schiff in Meer reitet.

Amen...Meine Brüder...