(Story) U-46 puts to sea again

[Laughing Swordfish]

"What do you want first, Rollie?"

"Well I have to say operational matters first, please Doc. How's she looking, the 217?"

"You know I don't know a lot about these things Rollie, but she was down slightly by the stern, despite them pumping ballast forward. Young Theodore waded in - quite literally actually - with some of their damage control and off-watch crew while I was treating the engine room hands. Here.."

He rummaged in his bag and brought out three pages of scribbled and damp notes

"Theodore made some notes and so did their Chief and Max himself."

Otto seized them and pored over them owlishly.

"Two battery cells leaking...stopped.. chlorine gas averted with lime ('Well done young Theo' Otto murmured). Rear deck plates up.. water underfoot wiring to electric motors checked as a priority. Faulty or loose connections repaired and extra wiring installed. Trimming tank valves fixed and essential lighting.

"Main diesels jarred but not broken....." 'What they mean is there are a couple of poor sods drenched in oil and water trying to replace or realign some cogs, and pistons, but they do have limited surface propulsion"

"That's pretty much what I saw Rollie. Max is quite confident he'll certainly stay up, and still be able to fight." says Oscar.

"He'll certainly be limping quite a bit, and his diving times are going to be shot to hell" was Ottos's expert view.

"Well Max isn't giving up, that's for sure. We may need to stay closer, that's all."

A silence.

"What about the crew, Doc?"

Oscar ran his hands through his hair. He had tried repeatedly to wash his hands in the sea on the way back to U-46, I could see him doing it, but there were still blood stains up his sleeves and on the front of his jacket.

"That Konrad, the 217's MO, he's quite something. He'd lost one finger in the first blast, and the second was cut badly. Very badly."

Oscar's own hands were trembling, as he recounted it.

"He diagnosed amputation himself. And at first I protested and hesitated. He just yelled at a passing seaman on damage control duty to lend him his wire shears, and snipped his own finger off just like that."

"Jesus Christ, Doc!"

"And then he talked me quite calmly through the cauterizing, sealing and suture procedure. But even if they can make it back, Max still wants to stay out even though his MO is risking serious infection, he'll never go back to sea again, or even civilian practice, at least not as the surgeon that he was."

"The other men were all in the aft part of the boat when the bombs dropped, engine room, aft torpedo, electricals...four with concussion, two fractures, and one fatality. His head was stoved in by the sudden lurch of the boat on a valve wheel. It looks like he died instantly, according to Konrad, he couldn't have felt a thing the poor old fellow...."

"Wait a minute, Doc...what do you mean 'old fellow'..Keppler was only just turning twenty years old?"

"Well ok, here's his effects anyway"

And he dug out of the oilskin bag some sad items, a carefully nutured chocolate bar with only three squares gone, a lucky charm in the shape of a four leafed clover, and also one in chrome of a pig his boat's lucky emblem, some dry socks, a racy novel well-thumbed, and a cigarette case. A letter from his wife, enclosing a picture of his family on holiday by the sea in peacetime, and one he had started writing probably before his last watch, which I folded without reading....and his Soldbuch.

'Keffler. Fritz Keffler. Senior Engineer. Age 30'

He looked around at our open mouths...

"What's up, Kap?"

"What about young Heinz Keppler, spelled with a P, also in the engine room?"

"Oh yes, strong as an ox, I treated him for some cuts and bruises, and he was straight back out there shoring up the engine. Good lad.

"Oh my God. Doc we've had the most almighty cock up"

And I explained Joachim's supposed bereavement.

"Cox! Cox! Wake the Weapons Officer up and get him in here quick!"

"Yes Sir!"

We looked around the Ward Room table not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

"Who's going to tell him?"

"Well if it helps.." says Oscar reaching into his pouch for the last time. These might make it easier..."

And he produced three bottles of the finest Jamaican Rum.

"Max's own private stock! How did you pull it off, Doc?"

"I didn't Rollie, Konrad did on our behalf. And we all now know what a light-fingered bastard he is!"

LS

[Jurgen Prochnow]

Thank you for posting this great story.

i had much fun reading it.

[Kpt. Lehmann]

Thanks for the fuel RdB.

Grand as always.

[Jimbuna]

Dark Rum....my favourite....lucky Joachim

[NiclDoe]

For some reason the story nevers gets bored which I like.

[Laughing Swordfish]

".......so you see, Joachim, Heinz is fine. A couple of cuts and abrasions, but absolutely ok, I saw to him myself". Oscar patted our dumbstruck Weapons Officer on the shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Joachim" I said for the second time that night. There was a mix up somehow between me and Max. The poor guy who died was an older fellow with a similar name."

He just shook his head slowly smiling, and gulped some rum down.

"Thank you, Kap. Thank you Doc. Thank you, thank you."

"Two seamen to see you, Sir" announced Cox at the Wardroom entrance, and I beckoned Hals and Michel in. Their caps off and looking unsure of themselves.

"Boys, I know you're tired but I wanted to congratulate you on your work with the Doc and Theodore over at the 217. It will not go unnoticed. Theo too. You saw Heinz Keppler alive and well didn't you?"

"Oh yes Sir!" piped up Michel. "Complaining of wet feet though!"

"Here lads, will you take some rum with us?"

Silly question.

"Stick the rest of the bottles up your jumper and give everyone in the foreends a tot"

Whether they had time to enjoy it is another matter. Back up on the surface, we picked up two merchants soon after, chancing it and blacked out heading North.

Joachim was like a man possessed. Not surprising after the night he'd had, not to say the quantities of brandy and rum we'd poured down him.

Willi worked a good position for him up top, but he managed to calculate all four to hit on separate targets, two each in one salvo. Willi reckons 6,000 and 8,000 tons respectively. All hits and timed to hit each ship at the same time, so no zigging.

Great cheers in the Lordships, as the sinkings were announced and we could hear their bulkheads buckle.

"That'll more likely be the rum being broken out!" murmurs Christian.


LS

[Jimbuna]

Business as usual....all is well

[Laughing Swordfish]

A quick message off to BDU with the tonnage, and we are down as dawn rises.
Nothing fom Max. He is far too far away underwater to pick up. He decided in his notes to me to scrub the original plan, which was a more aggressive patrol outside the straits, now he's heading north of us back where we came, concerned about any leaking oil showing and staying closer to a neutral Spanish port in case the boat suffers worse. He'll pick up what we miss or disperse. That's the plan. And also he has closer to get home.

"He'll be furious we took those two and left him with nothing! Bloody good shooting downstairs!"" laughs Willi as he come off watch and hands over to Christian.

"Sir! Sir! I'm getting something intermittent on the phones.... too fast to be a merchant, yes......yes..........I'm picking up fast screws closing 301 degrees in and out could be long or medium range., and some bigger noises behind.

"Surface!"

I'm up the ladder like a squirrel.

"What can we see to our port quarter, Christian?"

LS

[Laughing Swordfish]

"Nichts, Rollie. Christ, these waves could hide a battleship."

"Perhaps they are Christian.... Bridge to Control!"

"Ja Kaleun?" came the answering pipe from Reuben.

"Cut speed to give Hans's ears a chance. I want regular sound reports up here!"

"Jawohl Kap!"

Going at slow speed in heavy seas and storm on the surface is a nightmare for something as relatively light and slender as a u-boat. The sea really takes over, and everyone and everything gets thrown around. it's worse for those of us on the Bridge.

"Buckle up boys!" shouts Christian, as we lash ourselves to the conning tower.

"Goggles on!"

This was a stroke of genius that he and Cox pulled with Auer's Panzer Grenadier Regiment. In exchange for some surplus leather jackets, which he and and his Company Quartermaster now proudly wear whenever they can or on exercise in the rain, we got a box of 20 motorcycle despatch rider's goggles. Excellent for keeping the worst of the salt water out of the eyes. Not to be used too much with binos, but even our excellent Zeiss lenses are not much use in this sea and weather. Peripheral vision is more important.

After half an hour of being tossed around and half drowned, at some point all of us six on the bridge had to be helped to our feet after being knocked down, deluged or thrown off their feet by a wave....

"Control to Bridge. Fast screws bearing 85. Medium range and closing heading North. Some background noise longer range."

"Thank you Control, bring us up to flank speed, new course 30. We'll head them off at the pass! Second watch standby to take the bridge in five minutes. Tell Hans, well done and keep it coming. Hot coffee from Kuki please, for the off-coming watch. It's been quite bracing up here.....!"

LS

[bookworm_020]

Could the U-46 be on the verge of bagging a capital ship??? Bring on the next installment!

[Laughing Swordfish]

Sheer luck.

Most of what we do, or how we survive is sheer luck. Or double guessing

We thought we had caught a large capital ship

Otto is up from his nap and barking for information.

"They've got some sort of destroyer screen that we're trying to outrun because we have bigger fish to fry.

"Have damage crew up, we're at battle stations, wake the children!"

"I'm sorry, Sir. Big but she's no battleship."

"No and neither is the other one behind. They're full of oil menschen, tankers, they are our target, mind that destroyer and get to anything near 1,000m. We have to cut off the oil first instead of any big prizes men!...Back to your stations....as me and Joachim read the data down. Bruno calls the Swordfish to it's new bearing and flank speed.

There is an explosion on the eastern side of the convoy.

(Damaged as you are, good for you Max!)

"Christian, Max has given us our moment. Attack run! Those two!"

A salvo of two at each, all but one hitting, most of the Lordships sneaking up on deck to see the display. And a massive couple of bangs from ships daring to carry aviation fuel or oil across the ocean. We could feel the heat and roar as their oil bunkers combusted and exploded. Soon we were lit up from the flames as if we were under a porch light.

"Time to go, boys, show's over. Get yourselves back in. Control, dive to 13 metres

We took one more good-sized tanker before the seas and/or our torpedoes ran out, and even that was on the way home. There had been no signals from U-217, but there rarely is from the grumpy bastard.

No warships, but a huge tonnage. We come back in back through the Biscay, and get the order to return to St Nazaire instead of L'Orient. The approach waters and the pens are now deemed safe and operational, and overflown for once by our own gentlemen in the Luftwaffe.

Five ships and about 28,000 tons.

In normal military etiquette, the men are to be first down the gangplank, and so on by seniority. Thats because historically we feed the Horses first; then Men, then Officers. And rightly so.

So baskets of bread, cheese and ham are waiting. The french don't all exactly love us, and some put a face on. But many a Maman puts aside some brioche, jambon, fromage et du vin, in an old dockside tradition, as she sees a young seafaring boy of her own, in the weary youthful faces of ours.

But when we come off the U-46 after a long and good haul, who can tell the difference from one beard from another, nothing more than stubble in most cases, and the subject of fierce competition and conjecture in the Fore-Ends.

We always go out as eager young boys, and each time come back so much older.

Heidi and Josie are waiting and waving.....

LS

[Laughing Swordfish]

I would have liked to say that I was first to sweep Heidi off in my arms, but this time I was dragged into a short ceremonial parade, where you present you boat back in harbour, state your crew, and your results which are evident from the huge white pennants flying from the periscope mast.

Myself, Oscar, Christian and even Bruno are the only ones not putting Heidi and Josie on their shoulders and marching them off to the nearest bar in town.

LS

[rizZO_77]

Found this thread a few days ago and spent hours reading it all. I must hand it to you LS; you truly are gifted with finding the right words to tell a great story . I loved every word of this!! Count me in as hooked on this thread.

MORE!!!

[donw]

Join the club Mate! Did you read it all here on the forum, or at the website?

[rizZO_77]

Thanks for the welcome.
I found it here on the subsim forums and started reading. Since i liked to read all the reactions i decided to read it all here.
Really wonderful stuff!