6
Position BE63
Smell level: moderately low
Sept 13, 1943
01:07 local time
"Jawohl. Ze british convoy...taskforce...Hah. Zat is a convoy led by military ship! Jawohl, I'm sure ze useless swine flying reconeissance planes made mistake...anyways, they must have switched direction. Intercept point shall be changed to BE39. But reduce speed to Große Fahrt or Halbe Fahrt."
"Jawohl! Große Fahrt ver aus!"
With that, the course was changed, and the preparations for the hunt continued. Der Kommandant, however, retired for the night. They still had several hours before interception.
Position BE63
Smell level: moderately low
Sept 13, 1943
07:44 local time
The sun was low above the horizon when U-1313 arrived in the predicted interception area. The tension was palpable now, the crew completely focused on their tasks - although der matrosen have carried out their preparations already, so they mostly just sat around, their gear in hand, ready to spring into action.
The officers manning both periscopes, and the ever-reliable sonarman von Dokken, whose ears for aural whale pornography have proven just as capable of recognizing ship movements as whale movements, would do most of the work now.
They were submerged, at periscope depth, awaiting hydrophone contact with the convoy. Leutnant Von Shapp was manning the observation periscope, while Der Kommandant hung around the smaller attack one. Seconds ticked by with agonizing slowness. Von Doofenberg was checking and rechecking his calculations, desperate for confirmation that he guided the boot to the proper interception area.
Only leutnant Skywalker was hoping they'd have missed the convoy, and that he wouldn't have to try and carry out his duties - which he still hadn't even began to dabble in, much less master.
But it wouldn't be so.
"Contact! Two...no, three...sweet Gott, that's a lot of screws!", von Dokken suddenly exclaimed, hearing the distant chorus of dozens of slow screws.
Der Kommandant barked from his hydrophone, "Be precise!"
"Jawohl, herr Kommandant! I have...ten...fifteen...twenty or more slow screws. Five fast screws...wait...one is closing! Bearing 356!"
Von Shapp was still leisurely watching another sector entirely when der Kommandant snapped his periscope to the indicated bearing and saw funnel smoke and a very clear bow wave.
"Dive! All ahead flank, rig for silent running once past 60 metres!", he didn't wait to give the order, "Down periscopes! BOTH PERISCOPES!"
The sailors sprung into action. Leutnant Zwingen began barking out orders for the divesmen,and the boot plunged into the depths, hoping to avoid a fate that met it just a few short days ago. It was U-1313 who was supposed to stomp on allied faces, not the other way around!
"What are we doing?", Skywalker quietly asked Doofenberg, using the fact the kommandant was busy overseeing the dive.
"Well...if I'm holding the map right...I think we're trying to slip below that destroyer and get at the convoy.", Doofenberg explained helpfully. He didn't notice Skywalker go pale.
"Silent running!", came Zwingen's command before the weapons officer could truly panic. It was repeated throughout the boat, like an echo. All noisy devices were stowed, all talk became hushed, and the engines slowed down to a crawl.
The tiefenmeter continued to count down. The hull groaned and creaked. The crew involuntarily looked up, hearing the distant, muffled sound of the destroyer's screws as the steel beat sailed high above them.
"Another destroyer, herr Kommandant! Coming up from behind!"
Silent curses sounded through the command room. Could the damnable Allies have found them?
Von Dokken concentrated mightily,all but ignoring the convoy in favor of the two closest escorts. He could hear something...splashes again...heavy ones...
"Depth charges!", he whispered and tore his headphones off.
Der Kommandant didn't budge, but the rest of his crew braced. They waited, as the deadly bombs undoubtedly floated straight down onto their heads...
And then they heard the detonations. Distant detonations.
Kommandant Thanas smiled.
"Increase speed to three knots. Maintain silent running."
"Jawohl, maintain silent running!"
Skywalker noticed his hands were shaking. The distant detonations continued, shock waves ringing on the boat's hull. Seconds ticked by again. Von Dokken read bearings to the merchant ships, and Doofenberg would mark them on the map, painting a picture of the rough location of the convoy.
"Enough. Chief, take us to periscope depth."
"Jawohl!", leutnant Zwingen said with just a bit of doubt.
Carefully, U-1313 went up. Carefully, the attack periscope was extended, to just above the water line. And Der Kommandant smiled again.
They were right in the middle of the convoy. And the escorts were none the wiser.
Like a fox in Aunt Hilda's hen-house. He chose a large and prominent Liberty Cargo ship.
"Weapons station!", he barked. Leutnant Skywalker realized, to his terror, that the command was directed at him, "Stand by firing solution. Bearing 340, distance...1640. Mark. Angle on the bow...close to 60 starboard."
Skywalker stood there frozen.
"I said mark! Vat are you standing around for!"
Doofenberg activated the stopwatch for him, glaring angrily at the Bavarian. Skywalker stood there with a sorry expression, holding a pencil.
"Two minutes, herr Kommandant!", Doofenberg barked.
"Bearing 348, distance 1400! Mark!"
Half-remembering something from his book, Skywalker marked the two "mark" points on the map. Roughly. VERY roughly. And then inspiration struck him: the Kommandant wanted him to calculate the convoy's speed! That's what the stopwatch was for!
He stared at the attack chart. A drop of sweat fell on it.
Oh, God, he whimpered.
That being said, I've never even been tempted...so I don't have to worry about Galley duty *shudders*
