Weapons of Desperation by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Tags: HISTORY / Military / world War II
ISBN: 9781526713490
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Published: 2018-03-30T00:00:00+00:00

Somewhat strangely, the bonds between crews that had been forged during their Hecht training were now broken as commanders and engineers were reshuffled upon arrival in Wilhelmshaven. The boats lay in the northeast corner of the Tirpitzhafen, near the Jachmann Brücke, some in the water and the remainder under the netting with work being completed on them. While maintenance men for the Seehunds were quartered in the Seefliegerhorst barracks, the actual crews were quartered in the Roon barracks, spending two days in the yards getting acquainted with their boats and having each craft compensated for their individual weights. The Seehunds clearly impressed their new operators who waited impatiently for them to be released for service. It was also in this period that the young recruits met the man who was soon to take command of the Seehund operations in Holland, one of the two most highly decorated men of the Kriegsmarine, U-boat veteran F.K. Albrecht Brandi. The arrival of this illustrious figure helped to foster the sense of belonging to an elite service that Heye had strived to imbue his men with. However, despite their esteemed commander, it was still the ‘nuts and bolts’ of using the Seehunds that truly inspired the men of the flotilla.

As well as manoeuvring practice they undertook torpedo-firing drill, both surfaced and underwater. Tragedy of a kind familiar to trainee human torpedo pilots nearly overtook at least one crew as Oberfähnrich Pettenkofer and Oberbootsmaat Werner Schulz attempted their first submerged torpedo shoot.

I looked one more time at the compass, yes, it is all clear and I gently pulled the lever backwards. It refused to move. I pulled harder. Nothing happened, the handle was stuck, I couldn’t move it forwards or backwards. However, the torpedo propeller was turning, I could hear it clearly … but it wasn’t running off! I pulled more. No, it refused to move from its place.

‘Herr Oberfähnrich, the torpedo has not released!’

‘What?’ shouted the Oberfähnrich.

‘The torpedo hasn’t released!’

‘Are you mad?’

And then - the boat took off. Well, clearly the torpedo did, but with us attached! I can’t stop the boat, we are going on a ballistic trajectory!

‘Ten metres depth’ I said, surprised we had gone so deep.

‘Surface!’ ordered my commander.

I put the hydroplanes to rise and the boat obeys immediately, but what is that? A tremendous crash, it cracks like a grenade, we had hit an obstacle. The boat tumbles, I switch the electric motor off. The boat spins like a roundabout, we had hit steel.

‘Water leaking’ said the Oberfähnrich. Now what?! Water came from the periscope shaft, not much, but enough. A connecting joint must be leaking.

‘See if you can screw it more tightly’ I say. It works. The boat is not moving anymore. But we can’t rise either. Something is holding us down.

Then to add to the misfortune the lights went out, only the dull glimmer of emergency lighting flickered.

‘What’s the matter now?!’ screamed the Oberfähnrich.

‘Yeah … what now?’ I called back.

I changed the fuse and the lights came back on.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.