Writing mood. U-137 hitting the convoy routes.

[Mowgli]

Originally Posted by VonApist

Sorry mate! Wife came back earlier than expected. Have to babysit. Tough to write with a 10m old kid on yout lap. Will continue later

I was going to point out that there is a war on and the Fatherland needs you and then I slipped back into the real world.

Great news that you have a young child. Trouble is they grow up so quick.

Hope you have many more. I have four brothers. Great times.

[Cybermat47]

Awesome

[TwoGamers]

It jsut keeps on gettting better

[VonApist]

Stephan sprinted up the ladder, climbing to the tower watch.

"British ASW trawler to our right. Bearing 040, Heading 020. In the limits of our visibility" the U-Boat's second in command reported, pointing to his right. "I dont think they have spotted us in this weather".

Stephan took a pair of Zeiss binoculars from the hands of one of the sailors and scanned the horizon. He had forgot to put his oilskin on and his uniform was becoming wet, fast. He could feel a trickle of cold water running down his spine.

"She is not changing course or speed. It seems that they havent spotted us yet".

"Should we go under?"

"No Gerald. We will remain on surface. I want to have first hand visual on her" Stephan replied and leaned over the communication tube.

"Chief. Reduce speed to 2 knots. Be on your toes to crash dive, we have a Tommie trawler out here".

He then turned towards his 2nd. "It seems that they have no radar or a verry crappy radar operator. Thank God we are in this tiny tincan and the weather is crappy. Hell Gerald, your scream was so loud, I wonder how the British were unable to hear it. Good job for spotting it early."

A faint smile formed on the 2nd's face. "Pretty close call, sir"

"Well we still are not out of the woods. We will keep an eye on her until she is out of visual, ready to crash dive if she makes a turn. We will then submerge to 20m and use our hydrophones. I dont want to risk getting spotted. The incoming convoy is my priority. What the hell is a Trawler doing so far out of shore, anyway" Stephan wondered only to receive a grimace of wonder from his second in command.

Ten minutes later the British trawler dissapeared from view. Stephan turned to the watch crew. "OK men. Everybody down. We are going under."

"Speed one third. Dive, Dive,Dive. Take her to 20m Chief. We are coming down" U-137's Kaleun ordered as the rest of the men were already climbing down the ladder to the Zentrale.

(To be continued)

[sublynx]

Originally Posted by VonApist

Sorry mate! Wife came back earlier than expected. Have to babysit. Tough to write with a 10m old kid on yout lap. Will continue later

Well that really is a good reason to stop writing for a while. And a happy reason as well Hope you get the chance to continue when the kid takes a nap!

[flag4]

@ Dowly

i can make three and a half minutes, then sleep.

[VonApist]

****
It was just after midnight when Stephan entered the Zentrale. He had taken a two hour nap to recharge is batteries. He now felt fresh and ready to go. He approached the map tables at the Zentrale to get an update from Otto.

"Good evening Herr Kaleun".
Stephan acknowledged with a nod.
Otto continued "They should be getting close now sir assuming they have kept the same course".

"Indeed Otto. Any contacts on the hydrophone so far?"
"No sir. Jorg has reported nothing so far".

U-137s captain moved towards the sonar box. Jorg was performing one of his customary sweeps. The sonarman brought his index finger close to his lips, indicating that he required some extra seconds of silence.

After a while he took off his headset and turned towards Stephan
"Nothing yet Herr Kaleun."
"Keep it up Jorg. They should be in the vicinity anytime now" Stephan replied. "Report as soon as you get the faintest sound from a screw"
"Yes sir" the sonarman replied and put on his headset for another sweep.

***

When Stephan entered the bow torpedo room, Torpedomechaniker Martin Blume called the torpedo-men in the compartment to a crisp attention.

"At ease gentlemen" Stephan ordered touching his cap.

"Martin it seems that your eels will see some action tonight. I want all tubes loaded with T1, setting impact depth 2.5meters. "

"Yes sir. Acknowledged. "All bow tubes with T1 impact at 2.5 metres. Tube 1 and 2 are already loaded with T1. We will replace the T2 in tube 3 with a T1. It shouldn't take us more than 30 minutes sir."

"Make sure that this is the case Martin. We will have to run in full silence in 45 minutes tops. Get ready and let me know when you're done" Stephan replied stepping out of the compartment, as Blume barked orders, organizing his torpedo-men.

***
Forty minutes later, Martin entered the Zentrale, cap on his hands. "We are all set sir. Bow tubes T1 2.5m impact, as requested" the Torpedomechaniker reported. "We had a small issue with tube 3 as a spring was jammed and..."

"Fast screws, warship, closing, bearing 265 sir" Jorg reported from the sonar room, agitation clear in his voice.

Stephan nodded Martin to return to his position. He pressed the intercom button. "Alarm.Alarm.Alarm. Crew to battle stations." his voice reverberated through the hull of U-137 as the crew raced to assume their positions.

"Chief. All stop. Silent running. I dont want to hear a sound".

Stephan watched Jorg taking another sweep with his hydrophones.

After 1 minute Jorg reported again. "Fast crews , Warship, closing, bearing 268....wait. Sir. We have more. Multiple contacts. Faint but approaching, speed slow. Merchants. Bearing 255. Long distance."

"Its the convoy" Gerald exclaimed,a wide grin on his face.

"Seems so Gerald" Stephan replied.

"Jorg I want a sweep every three minutes. Have your ears for warships. Lets try to see how many escorts are around this baby."

He then turned to the U-boats navigator. " Otto, bring your maps to the sonar room. We will try to plot their course and speed.

***

Twenty minutes later they had managed to get an idea of what was against them. And it didnt look promising.
Stephan grabbed the marked maps and moved towards the Zentrale asking his second in command to come closer.

"According to Jorg, the convoy moves at a perfect course to the East. It is pretty large, more than 20 vessels. The escort screen seems pretty thick. Our hydrophone picked 7 different warships flanking it." Stephan reported, taking out a pencil from his breast pocket and explaining the different markings to his second in command.

"They should make a pass at an approximate distance of 2.5Km from our current position. Tough nut. But I think we should try a shot at it"

"Sir, this prohibits an attack from distance. We need to be closer than 1000m to be able to attack as visibility is very low. And this increases the risk factor quite a bit. Not feeling very comfortable about it, to be honest sir. "

"And you are right not to, Gerald" Stephan replied. "We will move to reach a position WITHIN the lines of the approaching convoy. We will attack from within and then submerge and try to make an escape, silently from underneath. Hopefully the screws of the merchants will interfere with the ASDIC of the escorts. We have a good chance. As long as we stick to our plan and keep our heads cool."

Gerald nodded. He had doubts, but his trust on the Kaleun's ability was immense.

Stephan pressed the intercom button. "Chief. Silent running. Speed 1 knot, 75 RPMs. Depth 20m".

He then turned to the crew in the Zentrale.

"Show time boys. Lets do this thing."

[Mowgli]

Another excellent episode. I just thought though, if you are playing DID and this attack goes wrong this could be the last episode.

Be careful.

[VonApist]

Dead is Dead is how I play, my friend.
Will keep you posted. Getting ready for the attack

[u crank]

I'm hooked. Keep em coming. Good stuff.

[VonApist]

Stephan took of his cap and leaned on the map table. He knew that an attack against such a well protected convoy was a risk. He could not do it from distance as visibility on the surface was low. On the other hand, this fact was also an advantage. His Type-IID boat presented a pretty small target. Both on the surface and below the waves.

If worst came to worst he could try to make a run for it on the surface, decks awash, to present an even smaller radar target.

If he could move quietly within the convoy lines and attack from within, their chances for success would increase exponentially. Getting there without being detected was the first and maybe the toughest challenge. His second in command was right. It was a challenging attack. But he could not pass at the opportunity to attack such a juicy target. That was his job. That's the reason he was patrolling the Atlantic anyways.

For a moment, he was lost in his own thoughts. The crew's survival was on his shoulders. Twenty-five souls. Every call he made could spell the difference between survival and demise. And he had made a lot of calls in the course of the past 3 years . Every single day. Statistically, I am bound to make a mistake. He shook his head to clear his mind. Calm down. Typical pre-combat stress. You know better than that.

He straighten his back and put his cap on.

"Course 025. Speed 1 knot. 75 RPMs. Silent Running. Chief, take us to periscope depth and keep us there."

Gerald approached him. "Wouldnt it be better to do our approach from deep?" he enquired at a low voice, careful not to be overheard from the rest of the crew.

"No Gerald. Keeping close to the surface gives us two advantages. First, the escorts will have to come real close to get a fix on us as their sonar's cone of search is tilted downwards. Second, I want to be as close to surface as possible in order to to have a visual and get ready for the attack. Or to abort and make a run for it decks awash taking advantage of the bad weather if things turn unfavourable".

Gerald nodded in acknowledgment. He could learn a lot from this Kaleun. When he received his first post as a second in U-137, four months ago, he was sceptical. The U-Boats captain,Stephan Kloss, had the reputation of a maverick. Gerald now realised that risks were taken but they were well calculated and the approach was always methodical. Little was left to luck. He felt re-assured.

Stephan turned to Jorg. "Keep your ears with them. Escpecially escorts. If you hear any of them changing course towards us, let me know immediately."

"Yes sir" Jorg replied and put on his headset for another sweep.

***
Ninety minutes later they had reached their desired attack spot. It had been a stressful journey as the convoy and escort screen was approaching and they had to stop the U-Boat 4 times in order to make sure that the destroyers were not onto them.

Stephan checked his wristwatch. 02:00. Jorg could hear the screws of the approaching vessels loud and clear now. The escorts were circling the merchants as bees around a hive. According to his calculations their U boat was positioned right ahead of the convoy, between the lines of approaching ships. He moved towards the periscope.

"All stop. All silent. Chief, trim and make sure we stay below. Periscope UP"

U-137's Kaleun slung his arms around the periscope's handle and performed a quick sweep. He turned the scope towards the heading were the convoy was expected to make a pass. He could see nothing....wait...There was a silhouette. A Black Swan destroyer at the limits of his visibility making a pass. The front screen destroyer. Her course suggested that they hadnt spotted them. Good.

"Destoyer, dead ahead, distance 1Km." He reported to his second. "Course east. Sailors, I dont want to hear a sound. Keep your mouth shut and ask permission even for a fart."

"Jorg, update on warships" he then whispered..
It took a minute for the experienced hydrophone operator to perform his sweep.

" Bearings 220 long distance, 240, 270 long, 315 long, 340 long, 015 medium."

" I have the 015 on visual. Thats six Jorg." Stephan replied. "Where is the other one? The seventh? We had seven warships in the vicinity 10 minutes ago."

Jorg put on his headset again. After a minute he reported again. "I get six, Herr kaleun. Cant get a fix on the seventh".

Stephan took his face off the periscope's eyepiece and turned towards Jorg.

He didnt like this. He didnt like it at all.

(To be continued)

[VonApist]

Apologies in advance for typos/syntax. English is not my native language

[TwoGamers]

Totally ok I could find none. This is amazing, I just hope this doesn't end badly for U-137 and I'm waiting eagerly for this destroyer to come out of no where

[HW3]

Apologies in advance for typos/syntax. English is not my native language

I couldn't tell. Your English is better than that of most of the kids coming out of school here in the United States these days.

[sharkbit]

Originally Posted by HW3

I couldn't tell. Your English is better than that of most of the kids coming out of school here in the United States these days.

Agreed!

Keep the stories coming!