A busy day – part 2
February 3, 1940 AN79
1901 We were getting ready to cross the Channel when lookouts spotted a warship SW of us and coming our way. U48 is now at periscope depth and sonar just reported a merchant tailing the warship. We changed course to get a closer look. Warship sounds like an ASW Trawler...another merchant-trawler duo?
1909 An ASW Trawler with a what looks like a medium cargo in tow...sailing almost straight North at 7 knots...I'd like to get rid of the trawler....seems like it's keeping a steady course, perhaps I'll be able to shot a torpedo each and finish off the medium cargo using the deck gun if need be...let's close a bit more...
1927 here we go...opening tube 1...Ato running fast..depth 3.5 meters...impact pistol...aiming at the ASW Trawler...fire!...let's switch to the medium cargo...opening tube 2...Ato running fast...depth 10 meters....magnetic pistol....aiming at the bow mast...fire!....lower periscope...
1928 Torpedo aimed at the cargo just went of too early!....raise scope...open tube 3...Ato running fast, depth 4 meters, impact pistol...aiming at mid ship...searchlights!...Trawler is fir...Impact!...fire torpedo! Lower scope!...Ahead flank! hard to port! We got the Trawler just when it was opening fire on us! I could not see clearly where we got it, I hope it's enough to make it sink or else we will be in big troubles...
1929 Impact on the cargo! Trawler was coming our way but it's slowing down...let's slow to a crawl and see what happens.
1935 I'm about to raise the periscope and check what's going on out there...trawler seems to be dead on the wather now while the medium cargo keeps sailing and so far it's not slowing down...let's raise the periscope slowly and check on the Trawler first...where are you my friend?...here she is...ah...there are scorchmarks visible in the propeller area...I guess we damaged her propulsion...that's why she's not moving anymore...seems a bit low on the back too....let's check on the cargo....there she is...huge fire going on!...seems to be low on the water too...
1941 Big secondary explosion on the cargo!...she is very slow and low now...ASW trawler slowly drifting and definetly low on her back too...let's be patient.
1948 Medium cargo is going down right now!...Nice!...this ASW Trawler is being stubborn...
Ship sunk! SS American Farmer (Medium Cargo), 4664 tons. Cargo: Bauxite. Crew: 49. Crew lost: 17
2001 This trawler gave in to the sea at last...we've been putting some distance between us and I was considering to risk surfacing and use our deck gun when it began to slowly sink...time to surface and resume our plotted course....
Ship sunk! HMS Hampshire (ASW Trawler), 1100 tons. Crew: 43. Crew lost: 17
2113 U48 is now on the surface and ready to cross the Channel during nightime...weather is partly cloudy and not so windy, visibility moderate....that last attack was a tad too risky...we were lucky enough to critically damage that Trawler, that saved us from a very dangerous situation...four ships sunk today, two ASW trawlers and two merchants...4 torpedoes used, 7 left...a busy day really...
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