[Laughing Swordfish]

I inspect my young crew on the fore deck. One or two are looking pretty green in every sense of the word.
Last night was a massive booze-up. A lot of our 'Lordships' in the fore-ends are regarding me with bright-eyed confidence. We sank a destroyer on our last patrol with a stern shot from long range in high seas, whilst busily running away. It was a petulant parting shot, that somehow hit home
A sheer fluke, but now they think I'm a genius
Now I have to take them out again, and bring them back in one piece
"Maybe the Hood or Ark Royal this time, Herr Kaleun!"
I smile at the cheeky remark and send them below to patrol stations; the First Lieutenant has reported U-46 ready for sea, but there is still much for the CPOs to do
Cast off bowlines, ahead standard both!
Otto, my Chief, is the last to go below
"Young pups!" he mutters as he lowers himself down the hatch
This is his eighth patrol. A good man to have in a tight corner, and I'd be worried if he wasn't pessimistic everytime we went out, balancing the youthful exuberance of the hands
I duck below the string bags of sausages and fruit hanging from the control room. The Quartermaster and Navigator are already poring over the chart table
We're going back to the Clyde approaches, some juicy targets to be found, sure, but it's the Royal Navy's living room, and we're not terribly welcome there
"Be ok again this time, Sir?"
Our Second Lieutenant ventures a wink
U-51 and U-107 have both failed to report in. That can only mean one thing. Good men, all of them
U-46 begins to purr out of the bunker
Back on the bridge I stand majestically as nurses wave enthusiatically from the dockside
No nurse can save us now
Only me
Back below, the Second Lieutenant is checking the signal flares, and spare binoculars
"Yes, Number Two, everything will be fine"
I close the green curtain on my cabin, and hope to God I'm right...

[Ula Jolly]

Care to give some more operational details about U-46?

[Der Schatten]

Great writing....what got me hooked on this forum was interesting "action reports" by fellow members......whenever you get a chance, WRITE MORE!

[Laughing Swordfish]

U-46 is a type VIIC with 7th Flotilla out of Kiel, it's August 1940, and this is our 9th patrol. We have the Happy Swordfish painted on our conning tower, the lads swear it brings us luck

Up to now they've been right. We've had a couple of narrow squeezes but come through ok so far, and put a bit of tonnage on the board. Mostly off Norway and north and west of Ireland.

Two patrols ago we lost Ernst, our flak gunner, north of Scapa. Where did that bomber come from? No time to dive, but he stuck to his gun and nailed him. But took some tracer in the chest in doing so. By the time we got him below, there was nothing we could do for him. Certainly saved our bacon that time, but there are already signs we're not going to have it all our own way for much longer

Last time out we bagged a destroyer in a running fight. The boys were cock-a-hoop afterwards, but as the Chief says, "That's one less to worry about, but let's not make a habit of it!"

Now that our stubble-hoppers have the frenchies on the run, we're hoping for a move to one of the Biscay ports. For the seniors it will mean not having to make the North Sea run around the British Isles anymore; the boys are only thinking about the champagne and mademoiselles!

We're on our way to AM53 now, a lively stretch of water, with lots of opportunity to get our feet wet!

Hope to see you back in the Mess soon

Lt de Bunsen, U-46

[Laughing Swordfish]

U-46 limps back into Kiel

Four white pennants flap from the periscope, there is only one torpedo left in the stern tube. We are trailing a little diesel oil, the deck plating is ruptured, and the port side of the bridge and saddle tank is buckled

Below amidships, wooden beams support the hasty repairs to the pressure hull. The last of the welding has just finished, and the bilge pumps are just about coping

I have broken out a case of beer, and the crew are responding with their usual young bravado, but it's easy to see they are exhausted, and not a little shocked

The patrol to the Clyde approaches had started well enough. A relatively easy passage across the North Sea, even pausing to dispatch a British trawler with the deck gun. One warning shot across the bows to let the crew row clear, then three into the waterline.

"Nice shooting!" remarks the second lieutenant
"Hardly the Ark Royal" is the Chief's laconic reply
"Well at least there's no kippers for Winston's breakfast tomorrow"
comes the cheerful rejoinder

We hail the survivors, fishermen from Hull, and pass down water, food , cigarettes and a navigational fix

"I wonder if they got an SOS off?" muses the First Lieutenant.
"Don't even think about it" I growl, but we dive anyway to be on the safe side

Later we pick up an unescorted coastal tramp. The sea is so bad it takes three eels to send her to the bottom

"The torpedoes probably cost more than she did" grumbles the Chief. "We're running at a loss"

I smile. Otto is only happy when he's pretending not to be

We reach AM53 on the first of August, and start our search pattern across the approaches to Clyde. The weather is atrocious, and the lookouts certainly earn their pay

"On today's menu is the U-46 house speciality!" announces the 2nd Lieutenant one evening in the wardroom. "Soup in the lap!"

We take the boat down for a trim dive and to rest the crew

Then the excited face of Hans appears around from the Sonar Room, his phones dangling from one ear

"Slow screws, many, bearing 276, medium range, approaching!"

Convoy!

With a clatter of plates and cutlery we hasten to our stations. and I bring us up to periscope depth. Can't make out the mast heads yet, but Hans has given us a good fix. They're coming right at us

We figure on a reciprocal course that will put us in a 45 degree attack run by nightfall, and blow to the surface full ahead both

Alarm!

A destroyer puts us down. We go into the cellar and rig for silent running. An occasional peek an hour later convinces me he has lost the scent. We blow again and move in. We get off a contact report but don't expect any help, as far as I know we are the only boat in this vicinity

Flooding tubes 1-4

The big fat guys are right in the middle. The tommies are screening the convoy with neutral ships. But it looks like the nearest escort is the other side of the convoy

The fox is in the chicken coop!

And look there's a big tanker on the outskirts. "Flank speed, master sight to bridge!"

We put two in her. She must have been full of aviation fuel. Went up with a hell of a bang

A smaller merchantman goes down to, and we cripple a larger cargo ship, I think

Alarm! We've upset them again

A bit tricky, it's shallow here. Took a bit of a pasting but wriggled out the back of the convoy ok. A lot of cursing going on in the torpedo room as they struggle to reload. "Quiet, Men!" the coxswain shouts before realising he should be whispering himself!

Come up again. The convoy is no longer in sight, but we've a fair idea where they've gone, and Joachim on the weapons desk reports all tubes reloaded.

"One last go, Number One?" I ask, and then we're thrashing through the storm eastwards again in hot pursuit

We get ahead and drop down

When we come up, we're slap bang in the middle of them. Too close for comfort really. The range is too short, searchlights are playing everywhere, and our firing solutions are rushed. A couple of duds, one wounding shot, and one that glanced off

Then it happened

"Brace! Brace!" screamed the Watch Officer

We watched in horror as a large cargo ship loomed up on our beam out of the rain at ramming speed

The collision nearly capsized us, and certainly made a mess of the boat. With a great crunch we were hit full on, but the momentum of the merchant actually pushed us off his bow

I didn't need to flood tanks, we were going down anyway

We had serious flooding amidships, and every available senior rushed to damage control.

It was touch and go for a while, but Otto managed to stabilise our depth, and eventually I got the report that all leaks had stopped

At dawn we could see the big cargo ship we had hit last night. It was burning, but wouldn't go down. We had one torpedo left, but we were in no condition to mix it with any destroyers hanging around

Time to creep home

"That was a patrol and a half" murmured the Chief and then promptly fell asleep where he sat

Lt de Bunsen, U-46

[Zie Chuckinator]

u just reminded me to conclude my own story "when the wolf attacks"

bravo bravo. U can be the script writer for the re-make of Das Boot or U-571

[Mike 'Red Ocktober' Hense]

i was trying to catch you before you went out on patrol...

if i had've... i would've said something like...

so... they've pushed you out to sea again...



--Mike

[redstorm101]

@Laughing Swordfish....Great reading!! please feel free to report more..... ..... :sunny:

[Laughing Swordfish]

"That will be all Kapitan Leutnant"

With those words, the Great Man dismissed me

I snapped to the salute, hoping that the CinC hadn't noticed the oil and salt stains on my white cap cover, and turned about smartly, pausing only to glance at the operational map busily being updated by some (very pretty) young naval clerks

So few boats, such a big ocean

The debrief hadn't gone so badly. My fault that we'd popped up right in the thick of things on the second attack run of course, and got the boat rammed.

But we had torpedoed the Devonshire Rose, a 10,000 ton tanker. And that had brought a smile to old Doenitz's face. It goes down well in Berlin, I suppose

Our Quartermaster, Willi, was more pragmatic at the time:
"Less tankers means less fuel, means less bombers" without lowering the binoculars one inch as he scanned the horizon. The Tommies are starting to bomb Germany now, and he has a young daughter growing up in Hamburg

I hovered around the receptionist's desk to file my report, but Heidi wasn't there; just some boot-faced old woman who sees a lot of front-boat commanders come and go, and clearly doesn't expect to see them again

Not for the first time, I wondered whether it was better to have a girl at home or not.
A lot of the lads just go whoring, I know. But I've seen Otto and the coxswain looking over cherished and well-thumbed photographs on patrol. The look on their faces is sometimes unbearable. But they're home on leave with them now, while I'm still here in Kiel overseeing the repairs, and keeping the kids out of jail

U-46 is tied up, more welding sparks fly all around her, and dockhands swarm in and out

The First Lieutenant makes his report:

"Decking repaired , Sir. Bridge casing not as bad as we thought, but needs a couple of days. The 88 and the 20 both back in action. Port saddle tank rupture repairs in place, soon have it as good as new. Electrics fine. Pressure hull a little longer, the dock mateys reckon still about 30% damage. We have a spot confirmed with the harbour master booked for a check dive. New torpedoes greased and loaded and full provisions, fuel and water ordered. Fuel lines checked and functioning"

"Thank you Number One. How long?"

"Three weeks, Sir"

A phenomenal effort, but BdU want's us back out in one. Big ocean, too few boats.

"Is Kurt here? Wilhelm?" I name a couple of the other crew members who, drenched to the skin, got us out of our last jam

"Yes Sir, working below"

"Summon all hands on deck, please Number One"

With as little ceremony as possible I hand out the gongs and the uboat clasps. Kurt is to pack his things and go to damage control school. I want him qualified before we sail again, if there's time. After all, he's already showed promise by keeping us alive, and he can always make a living as a plumber after the war

We'll head for Konigstrasse tonight. First beers on the Captain!

When I slump on my bunk back at the barracks there is a thick brown naval envelope waiting for me from BdU.

Not sailing orders already?

I shake the contents loose

The Old Man doesn't miss a trick

An officially stamped slip from CinC Kriegsmarine saying:

"You might need this" signed *Onkel Karl"

A brand new white cap cover drops into my lap......


Lt de Bunsen, U-46

[The_Pharoah]

dude I don't know who you are but you're a DAMN good author. Maybe you should consider writing something like this for real. I'm not kidding. Just from reading the stuff you wrote (and I read a lot of books as most people do I'm sure), I actually got the usual mental pic - pretty good.

[Laughing Swordfish]

Being a bit of a newbie to forums, I didn't get around to filling in my profile properly, but I do enjoy this forum, and I'm grateful for all the kind remarks about U-46. Glad you enjoy the postings


For the record I'm:
Raoul de Bunsen
Wimbledon
London
raoul@debunsen.wanadoo.co.uk

Once she's fixed she will be "pushed out to sea again" (!)

And I hope I can bring her back in one piece to tell the tale

Have to go now, my chief stoker has just been arrested in a brothel again...........I think they have a special cell reserved for U-46 when we come back in from patrol. God help us if we move to France!

Kind regards, Lt de Bunsen, U-46

[SmokinTep]

Good report.

[Laughing Swordfish]

The coxswain reports all men reported back from shore leave. The men are all sporting a tin laughing swordfish badge on their regulation caps. All are smiling and ready to go again. Marvellous what a hot bath, a cold beer or two, and the company of a 'friendly' girl will do

The last was Kurt, running back breathlessly to the dock with a very heavy kit bag

"How was Damage Control School, Kurt?"

"Good, Sir. But they seem to be missing some specialist tools, that aren't issued here in Kiel."

Despite his best efforts, his kit bag clanked suspiciously as he lowered it down

After our last prang, the Number One and the Harbour watch have performed miracles. Otto, the Chief, has been over everything twice with a fine toothed comb. Even he smiled once, and that's good enough for me

I opened our new patrol orders this morning. No transfer to France, but in a way we're going there all the same

BF12. That means the Bay of Biscay

Only Otto knows. He likes to conserve fuel on the way out. And I like to have some left for some hard running when we get there

Now Ernst is gone, our new flak gunner is going to have to be on his toes. I've ordered extra drills on the 20mm as soon as we are in open sea. Otherwise he'll be learning on the job

Bernhardt from U-217 has just come back from the same area. He looked tired, red-eyed and was drinking schnapps too fast last night

"Look to the skies" was all he mumbled

It was Heidi who passed me my orders this morning, not that other battle-axe. She smiled at me. Does she do that to all the Commanders, or is there any hope?

A succession of orders and the diesels kick in. The band starts up, and we dutifully stand to attention. Hard to tell whether she's standing on the dock. I'm told that she doesn't like to see the boats go off, only when they return; but I thought I caught a glimpse of blonde hair right at the end of the quay

Now I have other pre-occupations. U-46 and 51 men are going back in

I wish I had her picture, though.......

Lt de Bunsen, U-46

[Nopileo]

Great reading! I agree with the other poster, I got dragged into the story. I wish I had the rest of the book!

Plaese keep us posted.

[Laughing Swordfish]

U-46 chugs endlessly across the North Sea

Nothing to see in any direction. I suppose that will soon change

We are lounging in the wardroom, half listening to routine conversation from the Control Room, when the coxswain appears with young Muller, the most junior of the ratings. He is grinning like a Cheshire cat, and the twinkle in his eye makes even Otto put his engineering manual down

This should be good

"Beg to report, Herr Kaleun, a serious breach of naval discipline!"

"What on earth can it be?" I keep my side of it up with something like a straight face

"This miserable specimen has gone 17 years without shaving. Only today I have detected this bum fluff on his chin." (Conveniently forgetting the two days of stubble on his or our own sea-reddened faces)

"Hmmm"

There are indeed a a few tiny wisps of hair breaking through

"Get the medic here, I'd better hear his judgement"

The poor boy is twisting his cap nervously in his hands

"I'm sorry, Sir, I didn't mean, .... it's just that...."

"Quiet boy!" joins in Otto with mock solemnity. "Let's have the Doc take a look at you. Where would we be if this sort of thing was allowed to go on!"

Oscar comes in and studies the offending chin, scratching his head owlishly.

"Definitely a case of failing to shave on active duty. It's the Barber's Chair for you , my lad!"

Muller is gleefully sat down on a crate of cabbages by two burly seamen who are in on it.

Oscar, who's brother is in the paratroopers and has loads of little souvenirs as a result, brandishes an old belgian bayonet, and makes a great show of sharpening it

"Cover his eyes!"

While the terrified Muller is blindfolded, and soap and water applied none too gently to his face, Oscar swaps the bayonet for his own razor (one of the few on board who bother to bring one - but he's the medic)

A couple of deft strokes. The razor disappears and the bayonet is back in his hand before the lads whip the blindfold off

"Here Lad, keep this. You're a proper seaman now, but no more shaving until we're home"

Muller's young face is now beaming with pride. We can hear the laughter and back-slapping in the fore-ends for quite a while

The First Lieutenant, not much older himself, rolls his eyes.

"We'd better find a ship soon, before we all go crazy....."

Lt de Bunsen, U-46