Story of U-53 - part 1

[VonApist]

November 1942 , aboard U-53 somewhere in the North Atlantic

“This is pointless” the tall bearded figure mumbled, hanging his Zeiss binoculars around his neck. He had been alone on the bridge for the past 2 hours, his only company being his binos, a lighter and his still sealed pack of Mokri’s. He wiped his wet face for the third time in the past minute. Sea spray and the relentless rain had made Oberleutnant Stephan Kloss wet to the bone, water penetrating his thick, hooded anorak. He could feel ice cold water trickling down his spine. It made him shudder.
But he could cope with rain. It was the howling wind that was driving him mad. If this is not a gale force wind, then what IS a gale force wind? So much for BdU weather reports, Stephan snorted.

He leaned towards the hatch. “How much time left Herbert?” the Oberleutnant shouted, trying to make himself heard over the, almost unnatural, howl reverberating from the boat’s radio antennas.
“45 minutes Sir. We are approximately at 80%” his Chief Engineer replied.
“Ok Herby. I’m coming down. I had my share of rain for today. Ask Alois and Karl to come up for watch duty until batteries are fully recharged. No need for more people on watch, visibility is close to zero anyway. And ask Jorg to prepare a hot cup of tea, extra sugar for me”.

“Guten Morgen Herr Kaleun. Lovely weather. And what a refreshing breeze!” Alois shouted at the top of his lungs trying to get heard, as he emerged from the hatch.
“Guten Morgen, Alois. 45minutes and that’s it. Do you think your aristocratic ass can hold on that long in this weather?” Stephan enquired with a playful grin.

Alois’ Prussian heritage was one of the boat’s favorite subject for jokes. To his credit, Alois was fine with it. Well, most of the times. Teasing aside, the crew held their Bootsman in high esteem. And this was not only a result of his abilities and experience. Alois, despite being the offspring of a wealthy aristocratic family, chose to serve in the U boats - as opposed to many of his friends who chose to “skip” active duty on the back of their family connections. For this, Alois has earned a lot of respect from everybody on the boat and from most U boat crews back at the base.

“Here we go again” Alois sighed, taking the binoculars from Stephan’s hands as the captain climbed down the conning tower’s hatch.
With this, Alois turned to Karl.“ Son, if I see a smile on your face you’ll be up for watch duty 24/7 until we head back to St Nazaire” the blonde Bootsman hissed towards the youngest member of the crew.
“Now, I need you to keep your eyes open. It’s going to be daylight in less than an hour. No chit-chat. Keep focused. The only words I want to hear from you are either : Ship Spotted or I need to take a dump. Nothing else. Have I made myself clear sailor?” Alois barked towards the young buck, who sheepishly acknowledged.
With this, Alois raised the binoculars taking a sweep at the horizon, already soaked by the rain and the stinging sea spray.

[maillemaker]

Nice writing!

Steve

I approve of this thread. Bring me more.

[Jimbuna]

Most enjoyable...looking forward to the next offering.

[VonApist]

English is not my native language so plz bear with me

Originally Posted by VonApist

English is not my native language so plz bear with me

You should do fine, I understood the first passage.


Also, not to steal your thunder, but i was thinking about doing something like this.
Maybe U-101 and U-53 could even meet up

[Brag]

I like the accent on character development. Good read

[Fish In The Water]

Off to a good start, thanks for sharing!

[frau kaleun]

[VonApist]

Here we are. I will try to post one per day. Hope I make it..

In the relative dryness of the command room, two sailors helped Stephan to get out of his soaked coat. It was so wet, that the grey fabric was glued on the Oberleutnant’s uniform – it took the effort of all three of them to get rid of the damn thing. Relieved to be finally out of his wet outfit, Stephan put a blanket over his shoulder and headed towards his navigator.

“Guten Morgen Franz. What’s our current position?” he enquired, still shuddering from the cold. He would need to change pants and boots, fast. “Guten Morgen Herr Kaleun. We are currently 65km SSW of Rockall Banks, heading south. Assuming a speed of 4 knots we should reach our patrol grid in approximately… 6 hours and 40 minutes” the boat’s navigator replied checking his wristwatch.

“Where is Wolfgang” the Oberleutnant enquired referring to his second in command.

“He is in a private place where even kings go by themselves Sir ” Franz replied with a smile .“He is locked in there for the past 15 minutes. Doesn’t look good Herr Kaleun” the navigator added with a grin.

“OK Franz. For the next 45 minutes the boat is yours. Keep current speed and heading. Let me know as soon as the electrics are fully recharged – and ask Wolfgang to come to my cabin as soon as he re-emerges from the abyss.”

“Yes sir. Boat now with Navigator, speed 6 knots, current heading” Franz repeated out aloud to the helmsman, getting back to his maps.

With this, the Oberleutnant made his way towards his quarters. Walking by the Radio room, he peeked inside to see Heinrich performing one of his Hydrophone sweeps.

“Bit tough to spot any screws with the Hydrophone while surfaced and in this weather Heinrich.” Stephan commented. “But don’t take this as an excuse to stop.”

“You never know Herr Kaleun”. “I try one sweep every 8 minutes just in case. And anyways there’s not much I could do to keep myself busy at the moment. Unless there is a party in the torpedo room and nobody bothered to tell me” the red headed sonar man replied with a smile, earphones glued to his head.

Heinrich was one of the best hydro/sonar guys in the Flotilla. Never complacent, despite the boring chores of his task. He would stay glued to his earphones listening for sound contacts for as long as it took. Stephan was very glad to have him on board. While at base, he had to pull all his weight around to keep Heinrich part of the U-53 crew. Heinrich’s reputation as a sonar guy attracted the envy and transfer requests from many other U-boat captains, more often than not.

Stephan nodded and made his way towards his cabin. The ship was rocking violently as it cruised at 6 knots, surfaced, in the middle of the storm. It took an enormous effort to walk in a straight line. Jorg, U-53’s cook, handed him a mug of piping hot tea . The mug was half full to prevent a spillover. Stephan thanked the sailor and enjoyed a long sip. That was better.

He opened the cabin’s sliding door and placed his hot cup of tea on his desk. Stephan sat on the small stool next to his bed , took his boots and socks off and slipped to a new , dry pair of pants and jacket. According to regulations, smoking was not allowed in the U-boat. What the hell, I am the captain thought Stephan with a grin and lit his first Mokri of the day.

[VonApist]

Ten minutes later, there was a knock. “Come in” the captain nodded to the head protruding from the, now half open, sliding door.

Wolfgang Eizenholtz, U-53’s second in command, entered the tiny Kaleun’s cabin.
At a towering 1.90 with a deep voice and icy blue eyes , Woflgang was hard to ignore. He was eager to get a U-Boat as a Kaleun and run his own shop. But he didn’t show it. At least most of the times.

“Are you feeling better Wolf? Franz told me you had some issues back there”.
“I am ok Stephan”. ‘You know how Franz loves to overreact. It was just a bad stomach. Nothing else. I am pretty fine now” Wolfgang replied, slightly annoyed.

Typical Wolfgang. Too competitive to concede even the slightest case of diarrhea. Wolf was considered a veteran amongst second officers, having completed 6 patrols, 2 of which with the legendary U-47 of Gunther Prien – a fact that he was quick to remind to any poor soul that might have forgotten. This was his second posting. Well, he was lucky. Prien went missing in March 1941 with all hands.

Nevertheless, He is a very good second Stephan thought. Ambitious he might be but he would never question an order. He needed an experienced second next to him. And at the end of the day: Better ambitious and experienced than complacent and amateur Stephan concluded.

The crew respected Wolf despite his love for discipline (or maybe because of it) and his degree in Mathematics made the calculation of firing solutions so much easier. Especially in demanding situations of tight angles or bad weather. Or both…

“Glad to hear this Wolf. Helmut from U-72 reported heavy British warship activity near our patrol grid. We should be there in approximately 7 hours. Weather is awful, gale force winds and visibility close to zero. I want to recharge our batteries as soon as possible in order to continue our trip submerged. Otherwise we are blind. Tower watch is useless unless something is closer that 250m - which is too late and our hydrophones won’t pick up anything in this weather while surfaced. I need you in top shape. You’re one of the boat’s greatest assets” Stephan acknowledged, patting Wolf on the back. “Let’s go to the Room”.

In the command room they found Franz chatting with the Chief Engineer.

“Stephan, I was just updating Franz. Batteries are more than 90% charged, should not be long now. And I’m also glad to say that the minor oil leak from Diesel 1 is now fixed” Herbert reported, wiping his greasy hands with a cloth.
“When we return to base I want to run a full check as it was the second time this week that it leaked for no obvious reason and…” His phrase was suddenly cut by the excited voice of Heinrich:

“Kaleun! Sound Contact! Two fast screws approaching! Bearing 295 and 290! Medium Range!”
“The one at 295 must be a Black Swan Destroyer, cannot yet identify the 290 yet but it’s a warship all right! My best guess is they are at 1000meters, closing fast” the sonar man added.

“Sheisse” Stephan cursed under his breath. “Franz, report depth under keel. And bring Alois and Karl down from watch now! Move it”.

“Depth under keel 240m sir” Franz reported while shouting for the Bootsman and the young sailor to descend from conning tower and to secure the hatch.

“Do you think they have spotted us?” Stephan asked Wolf.

“Judging from their speed and course, I wouldn’t bet against it” the U-boat’s second-in-command replied. "Lets turn the boat towards them to provide for a smaller sonar target".

Stephan nodded in agreement. “Combat stations. Stop recharging. Switch to Electric Engines. Speed Ahead Flank, Rudder full left , depth 200m, DIVE, DIVE, DIVE” U-53's captain barked at the helmsman.

At the very same moment, Alois who had just finished securing the tower hatch preparing for the dive, slipped on the wet ladder, lost his footing and clumsily hit the command deck with a loud thump.

“The Wet Barron has landed” Franz joked, seemingly oblivious to the critical situation, only to receive an angry glare from the soaking wet Prussian Bootsman.

[VonApist]

The Chief Engineer left the command room, walking swiftly towards the engine compartment “Arno, Johan , Bretzler , Feldmann with me. You know the drill. Take positions and wait for my orders” Herbert ordered in a composed tone, putting a damage control team in place.

After the initial commotion, the crew was now on battle stations. The only sound that could be heard was the rhythmic hum of the electric engines pushing U-53 deeper and the slight creaking of the hull, as the submarine continued its dive.

The crew remained silent in anticipation of the events to come. Most of them have been chased by destroyers before, having endured depth charging and lived to tell the story. For the few new members of the crew though, sailors like young Karl, this was the baptism of fire.

“Current depth, 80m” Wolf reported. Stephan acknowledged with a nod. The captain moved towards the sonar room, struggling to balance against the boat’s steep dive angle. “Heinrich, contact update”.

“Two contacts, bearing 320 and 300, short range. They should be closer than 400m Herr Kaleun”

Stephan leaned against the Sonar Box’s wall “Any change in their approach pattern?”

“No sir, they have been moving in an almost straight line since contact was made” Heinrich replied, putting back his earphones for another sweep.

“Depth 100m” his second-in-command reported. Stephan resumed his position in the Command room and pressed the intercom button. “Herbert, reduce your RPMs to 100. Silent running”. He then turned towards the boat’s helmsman.

“Jurgen. Rudder, 5 degrees to starboard. And keep it that way”. “Yes sir. Rudder 5 degrees to starboard” the helmsman acknowledged, adjusting the boats course.

“They are on top of us sir” Heinrich whispered, his head popping out of the sonar box. With this, everybody in the Command Room instinctively looked upwards, as if their gaze could pierce through the hull and the 100 meters of cold water above them.

“Maintain course” Stephan ordered. “Report depth”
Wolf checked the gauge. “Current depth 115 meters, descending”.

They had reached 120 meters when they heard something resembling the sound of a diapason hitting their hull. “Enemy is pinging us sir” Wolf reported the obvious.

“Jurgen, rudder 10 degrees to port, keep it that way” Stephan whispered as the helmsman obliged. ‘Heinrich, contact update”

“One screw on top of us sir the other performs what it seems like a left turn, bearing 303. I can confirm that both contacts are Black Swan destroyers…wait… Depth charges in the water sir!” Heinrich reported, agitation evident in his voice.

“Maintain current speed, rudder full left” Stephan ordered. He then pressed the intercom button “Herbert, prepare your damage team, it’s going to be bumpy”.

“We are not deep enough”, the boat’s second-in-command-whispered to the Kaleun’s ear only to receive a raised eyebrow. “ I know Wolf, with some luck we will be fine” Stephan replied.

It took less than two minutes for the charges to reach their pre-assigned explosion depth. Three muted bangs were heard in succession, followed by 2 louder, the last one worryingly close. U-53 rocked violently for a moment causing Franz to almost trip over.

“Ahead Flank” the captain barked at the intercom “Report Damages”.

He took his stop-watch out of his uniforms breastpocket and pressed the starter, marking 7 minutes. Then turning to the helmsman he ordered a change of course.

“Rudder 20 degrees Starboard”. Continue diving, depth 200 meters”.

“We have 10 minutes until the Black Swans recalibrate their hydrophones after the explosions. I suggest keeping current speed for 5 minutes before reverting to silent running”. Wolf proposed.

Herbert’s voice from the intercom interrupted their discussion “We have taken no damages sir. Close but not close enough” the Chief Engineer reported.

“Maintain current speed and course” the Kaleun ordered. With this, Stephan turned to Wolf.

“We should reach 200m before the 5 minute mark. Then we switch to silent running. Otherwise we will keep current RPMs for as long as needed to reach 200m, cut off at 7 minutes.”

Wolf nodded with acknowledgement and moved towards the depth gauge. “Depth 140, descending” he reported as the hull made a groaning sound on its trip to the ocean’s bottom.

[Fish In The Water]

Very good... Thanks for the latest installment!

[sunvalleyslim]

outstanding

[VonApist]

Back at the command room, the mood was more relaxed. Heinrich’s latest report of the destroyers activity, pinpointed that the two Black Swans were depth charging an area 2.5km away from U-53’s current position. That gave everyone breathing space and the near certain belief that they have actually been through the hardest and more dangerous part of their encounter with the British destroyers.

“It seems that we are out of it Wolf” Stephan remarked, still whispering, just in case.

"It seems so Kaleun” his second replied moving away from the map table where Franz was giving him an update of their estimated position.

The captain looked at his wristwatch. “Herbert will be here in 10 minutes to discuss something I had asked him to prepare before we left port. I think that you will both find it very interesting”.


“What is it about?” Franz enquired.
“Close call escapes” the captain replied with a grin. “Heinrich, update on those destroyers?”

“Bearing 190 and 210, medium distance, moving away Sir. It seems that they have lost us” the sonar man replied from his box, earphones glued to his ears.

“Has anyone ever seen Heinrich without a set of earphones attached to his head?” Franz asked playfully, turning towards the crew in the command room.

“I think that he sleeps with them sir” Jurgen replied. “Rumor has it that they screwed them to his head when he was born” Joachim whispered from the other end of the Zentrale.”I think that he has them on even in his wedding photo” he continued causing everyone to silently laugh and relieve some of the stress built up during the past 2 hours.

“What’s so funny?” the Chief enquired, entering the command room.

“Joachim is just taking the piss out of Heinrich” Stephan replied.

“Ha.. The Shrimp” Herbert acknowledged.

“Who’s The Shrimp?” Franz turned to the Chief.

“Heinrich… Redheaded with antennas on his head. That’s how my boys in the engine room call him” Herbert concluded with a grin, shooing the rest of the command room crew who were about to burst out laughing.

“Ok boys, enough” Stephan interrupted still mindful of their situation.

“Wolf, Franz, the Chief is here to discuss an idea we both contemplated while at base.”

Walking towards the map table he continued “It’s no secret that our job is becoming more and more difficult as the Allies beef up their escorting presence in convoys.”

“On top of this, their air coverage is becoming thicker and they seem to have made significant progress in their ASDIC and spotting equipment. Hence from now on we should expect to be discovered more often than not. Evading 2 amateur destroyer crews in relatively deep waters is one thing. But during our patrols we may come up with much more challenging situations were odds will be against us” Stephan said leaning against the table.

“Like the 3 US Navy buggers that had us pinned down, depth-charging the Bejesus out of us for 9 hours in the Bay of Biscay last month” Herbert commented, looking around only to see the concerned faces of the crew. The ordeal had proved tough, even for the most experienced members of U-53.

Stephan took the lead again “This experience made me think of alternative ways to make an escape, non conventional if you wish, in case we get ourselves in a similar mess. The Chief and I had a discussion over a bottle of Schnapps before our patrol. This is the idea we came up with”.

Wolf and Franz moved closer in anticipation.

“We were thinking of measures of last resort” Stephan continued. “To be employed in circumstances where the survival of the ship and the crew are under serious and imminent threat. So what if there was a way to make the destroyers believe that they hit us? Wouldn’t that give us a window of opportunity, a breather to make an escape if the surface ships believed that we were hit?” Stephan enquired.

“Others have thought of that. The main disadvantage is that if you fill your tubes with diesel and debris and flood them to give the impression of a hit, you give away your position” Wolf commented, a dismissive tone in his voice.

“Exactly…But what if you could send the debris and the diesel to surface 300 meters away from your actual position? Wouldn’t that give you a small break?” Stephan enquired. “I agree, This should be a last resort..." he continued "...when all other methods of evasion have proved fruitless, when your oxygen levels deplete or when you’re running out of batteries. But it may help. Might give you some minutes to make a silent escape as destroyers will be trying to figure out if they got a hit or not. And trust me, destroyers will be more inclined to believe that they got a hit, because they want to believe it. Vanity again, my friends. We all suffer from it"
"Herbert this is where you come in” Stephan concluded.

“Gentlemen, I am proud to present to you Das Bruchbude. Here is a brief description; I will try not to be too technical.” The Chief cleared his throat. “This is a canister 4m long and with a diameter of 50cm. It is made of 3 compartments.

"The first two are for storing debris and diesel. The top of these compartments is secured by two small hatches rigged by springs placed on an arch. These springs keep the hatches closed up to a depth of 20 meters. Shallower than that, the hydrostatic pressure is lower that the force applied by the springs, hence the hatches open, releasing the contents. Upon release, propulsion stops and after some seconds, the Bruchbude starts to plunge to the bottom.”

Herbert scratched his chin and continued. “The aft compartment is reserved for propulsion, provided by 3 tubes of highly compressed air, enough to propel the canister to an estimated 300 meters at a speed of around 4 knots. If at any point of its course the Bruchbude reaches a depth of 20m or less then the compartments open giving the impression of a hit. Hence to fire it, the Uboat’s aft has to be at an angle of at least 30 degrees facing the surface.”

“Here I have to say that Obermaschinist August Kruger has to take the credit for sneaking all the parts to make this thing – I didn’t even ask whom he bribed to find the 3 compressed air tubes” Herbert grinned. “Not peak technology, but maybe it’s worth a try”.

Franz and Wolfed looked at each other and shrugged.

“I guess that this has never been tested” Franz asked with a skeptical look on his face.

Stephan took a step forward. “Worst case scenario, it doesn’t work. But that would mean that since we chose to use it we were already in really deep s**t. What do you think boys?” the captain enquired, only to receive half hearted approving nods from his two officers.

“Let’s hope we will never use it” Wolf whispered to Stephan as everybody made their way to their combat stations.